(Click a cover to see its Goodreads page.)

If you’re into Westerns already, there are a couple here that might interest you. You may have seen True Grit, it’s been made into an Oscar-winning movie (twice!) and is definitely worth checking out. Hattie Big Sky would be a good one for any of you who might have enjoyed the Little House on the Prairie books growing up. And let’s be honest. You totally did. I still think about how they would blow up a pig bladder and play with it. Weird.

A book I just came across (so it’s not in the image above, dangit), is Ghost Medicine, it’s a traditional western set in modern day. It’s a good in between if you’re not sure you want to jump straight into a “real” Westerns.

A few of these are considerably less traditional. If you’re not sure Westerns are for you, maybe start here. Dark Life, for example, takes place in the first undersea settlement. That explains the jellyfish on the cover, eh? Do cowboys ride seahorses under water, do you think?

Daisy Kutter (currently not in the collection at CRPL) is a post apocalyptic graphic novel, as is Blood Red Road. It’s not really a surprise that many of these books have an Old West feel to them, the idea of starting over/putting the pieces of society back together lend themselves to a gritty frontier setting.

The Dark Tower series is a lot like this. Granted, it’s definitely not in the YA category (so reader beware), but I’ve got a major soft spot for The Dark Tower series. I love it. A lot. It’s western, fantasy, so many things, all rolled into one. The whole series is seven books and thousands of pages. It’s epic. That said, I definitely suggest giving it a try.

Find these and more on my YA Westerns Pinterest board.

Source: http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2012/04/06/teens-dont-read-westerns-or-do-they/

The CRPL Teen Advisory Group has a great opportunity to meet with the Director of the Cedar Rapids Public Library this Saturday, May 11th at 11:00 am to discuss the technology options in the teen space at the Downtown library.

Since we’d like to get a large range of voices, T.A.G. would like to welcome all library users between the ages of 11-18 to the meeting.  If you’d like to stop by and share you voice and ideas, please let me know by sending an email to bassmanm (@) crlibrary.org and I’ll put your name on a bagel – yes, food will be provided

It seems like a lot of people are fans of series books. If you’re one of them, check out Beautiful Creatures, The Lying Game, Department Nineteen, Divergent, or Fire. Fire is actually the second book in the Graceling Realm series. If non-fiction is your thing or you’d just like to give it a chance, try The Pregnancy Project, The Sacred Acre, or Heaven is for Real. There’s something for everyone in this list, so get clicking!

The Cedar Rapids Public Library is giving away TWO sets of TWO tickets to the Cedar Rapids Titans game  this Saturday, March 30th.   To win these tickets, just comment on this post or on Facebook with one thing you are looking forward to about this coming  Summer.  All ages are eligible to win. Two winners will be randomly chosen tomorrow, Thursday March 27th and notified tomorrow afternoon.  Thanks for entering:)

CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.  Congrats to Jamie and Sara, enjoy the game!  I will be contacting you with information on how to pick up your tickets soon.

TAG Meeting Minutes

Members present:

2/17/13 Bailey,Vanessa, Chloe, Arianna, Alea, Siera, Jocelyn, Lexi, Kayla, and Maddie 3/16/13 Bailey, Marcy, and Maddie

In February, TAG helped out with a children’s storytime and did a FANTASTIC job!  We also made paper chains to use in the grand opening of the library.

In March, we took a tour of the Ladd Library and picked some prizes and programs for the upcoming Summer Reading Program.  We are thinking an iPad mini as a grand prize, ear buds for all along with coupons donated by area businesses.  Ideas for Teens Create this summer include headphone beading, terrariums, book page and album cover art.

We also discussed a Lock-In to be held on July 26th from 5:00pm-12:00am.  Activities include sardines, movies, games, crafts, a scavenger hunt, pizza, prizes, a smoothie competition, board games, charades, karaoke, and a window decorating.

We have some great upcoming programs for 6th-12th graders at our new location, the Ladd Library (3750 Williams Blvd).   The April 30th Teens Create has been changed to April 23rd.

All programs are open to 6th-12th graders and are free of charge.

We asked for your drawings at the past few Anime Clubs and you supplied us with some very fun things.  Thanks to Amy they are now part of our 2013 Anime Club poster!  Hope to see all of you in the new Ladd Library at 3750 Williams Blvd SW on March 19th from 5:30-7:30 p.m.  Stop by to see the new library and make your own pocky and foldable pocky box while watching Anime at our March meeting.  Discuss what you’d like to do at upcoming meetings as well.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

I picked this book to review because of its in-depth description about the characters. There are three main characters names Peeta, Katniss, Gale. Gale is one character that isn’t thrown into the games.  It all starts when Peeta is one of the main boy characters who is thrown into the games in the first book. Haymitch says, “You know, you could live a thousand lifetimes and not deserve him.” This is a quote in the book that Haymitch say to Katniss about Peeta.  Katniss is the main girl characters who is also thrown into the game in the first book. These two are then thrown back into the games “I wish I could freeze this moment, right here, right now and live in it forever.” This is where Katniss is talking to Peeta about her feeling on their engagement. Katniss and Peta are being forced to get married because of what happened in hunger games. The first book has now been turned into a movie and has done really well in the box office. The target age group is for young adults and preteen people of all ages will love this book.   The book can be read by both boys and girls. I loved this book it kept my attention throughout the whole book and it was very interesting. This book was so amazing I gave it five stars because of the story line. This book has past all expectations it goes in depth on the story and how they survive in the wilderness. You should read this book because it is a great story about love and fear of the games. The main reason that I picked this book to read was because it was a great storyline that keeps people reading more. Before you read Catching Fire you should read the Hunger Games. The last book is Mockingjay and continues the story even more.

Check out  out Catching Fire in our online catalog here.

Divergent By Veronica Roth

This book takes place in future Chicago world where the city is split into 5 factions with different kinds of people in each.  Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Erudite (the intelligent), Candor (honesty), Amity (peace/friendship).  The main character, Tris, is  a 16-year-old girl who lives with her family in Abnegation. The way things work is when an age group teen turns 16, they all come together and have a choosing ceremony where the teen picks which faction they want to be apart of.  Most people stay in the faction they were born into, but some people transfer. if you transfer, you are basically disowning your own family and you never get to be with them again.  This is the first book in the series, and it goes through the struggles Tris faces when she switches factions to Dauntless.  She has to learn the ways of her new life, and try to make friends along the way.  This book is thrilling, humorous, and even a little romantic.  I recommend this book to anyone that liked the Hunger Games.  Some of my favorite quotes from this book are from the beginning when she is still trying to figure out what is going on in the Dauntless faction. -E.R.

“Tomorrow at the Choosing Ceremony, I will decide on a faction; I will decide the rest of my life; I will decide to stay with my family or abandon them.”  -Tris

“It will be difficult to break the habits of thinking Abnegation instilled in me, like tugging a single thread from a complex work of embroidery.  But I will find new habits, new thoughts, new rules.  I will become something else.”  -Tris

Check out  out Divergent in our online catalog here.