OLA/WLA Thanks

Thanks to everyone who attended our program. The energy was great, I had a lot of fun.

Conference Hand-Out

Reading B’Tween the Lines: Tween Literature

OLA/WLA Conference in Vancouver, WA
April 17, 2008

Presented by Jennifer Fenton and Sarah Evans

Recent Tween Books:
*Abbot, Tony. Firegirl.
Avi. Traitors’ Gate.
*Bagert, Brod. Hormone Jungle: Coming of Age in Middle School.
*Bateson, Catherine.The Boyfriend Rules of Good Behavior.
Birdsall, Jeanne. The Penderwicks.
*Cohn, Rachel. Two Steps Forward.
*Curtis, Christopher Paul. Elijah of Buxton.
Dunmore, Helen. Ingo.
Dunmore, Helen. Tide Knot.*Friesner, Esther. Nobody’s Princess.
*Gaiman, Neil. M is For Magic.
Giff, Patricia Reilly. A House of Tailors.
*Guzman, Michael. Finding Stinko.
Hale, Shannon. Book of a Thousand Days.
Harrington, Jane. Four Things My Geeky-Jock-of-a-Best-Friend Must Do in Europe.
Hemphill, Helen. Runaround.
*Homes, Elizabeth. Pretty Is.
*Jones, Kimberly K. Sand Dollar Summer.
*Jocelyn, Marthe. How It Happened in Peach Hill.
*Kinney, Jeff. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley’s Journal.
*Korman, Gordon. Schooled.
Korman, Gordon. Swindle.
*Landy, Derek. Skullduggery Pleasant.
*Larson, Kirby. Hattie Big Sky.
*Lasky, Kathryn. The Last Girls of Pompeii.
*Lord, Cynthia. Rules.
*O’Connor, Barbara. How to Steal a Dog.
*Paulson, Gary. Lawn Boy
Primavera, Elise. The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls.
*Schlitz, Laura Amy. Drowned Maiden’s Hair: A Melodrama.
*Schlitz, Laura Amy. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village.
Schmidt, Gary. The Wednesday Wars.
*Schrag, Ariel (editor). Stuck in the Middle: 17 Comics from an Unpleasant Age.Schrag
*Selznick, Brian. The Invention of Hugo Cabret.
*Spinelli, Jerry. Love, Stargirl.
St. Anthony, Jane. The Summer Sherman Loved Me.
*Stewart, Trenton Lee. The Mysterious Benedict Society.
Taylor, Laini. Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer.
Wilson, Jacqueline. Candyfloss. *booktalked title

Tween Series:
Allende, Isabel. City of the Beasts.
Alexander, Lloyd. The Chronicles of Prydain.
Anderson, Jodi Lynn. May Bird Trilogy.
Barry, Dave. Peter and the Starcatchers.Bryant, Annie. Beacon Street Girls.
*Buckley, Michael. Grimm Sisters.
Colfer, Eoin. Artemis Fowl.
Collins, Suzanne. Gregor the Overlander.
Cooper, Susan. The Dark is Rising Sequence.
Corder, Zizou. Lionboy.
D’Lacey, Chris. The Fire Within.
Duane, Diane. Young Wizards.DuPrau, Jeanne. The City of Ember.
Flanagan, John. Ranger’s Apprentice.
Funke, Cornelia. Inkheart.
Harrison, Lisi. The Clique.
Horowitz, Anthony. Alex Rider.
Hunter, Erin. Warriors.Jacques, Brian. Redwall.Jacques, Brian. Outcasts of the Flying Dutchman.Kerr, P.B. Children of the Lamp.Lewis, C.S. Chronicles of Narnia.Machale, D.J. Pendragon.Nimmo, Jenny. Charlie Bone.
Nix, Garth. Keys to the Kingdom.Paolini, Christopher. Inheritance.
Pierce, Tamora. Song of the Lioness.
Pratchett, Terry. Johnny Maxwell Trilogy.Pullman, Philip. His Dark Materials.
Riordan, Rick. Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter.
Snicket, Lemony. Series of Unfortunate Events.
*Stone, Jeff. The Five Ancestors.
Stroud, Jonathan. The Bartimaeus Trilogy.
Walden, Mark. H.I.V.E.: Higher-Institute-of-Villainous-Education.

Classic/Older Tween Titles:
Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women.
Almond, David. Skellig.
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Fever 1793.
Avi. Crispin: the Cross of Lead.
Bauer, Joan. Squashed.
Bloor, Edward. Tangerine.Choldenko, Gennifer. Al Capone Does My Shirts.Clements, Andrew. Frindle.
Creech, Sharon. Walk Two Moons.
Curtis, Christopher Paul. Bud, Not Buddy.
Cushman, Karen. Catherine, Called Birdy.
Fleischman, Sid. Seedfolks.
Funke, Cornelia. The Thief Lord.
Gaiman, Neil. Coraline.
Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust.
Hiaasen, Carl. Hoot.
Holm, Jennifer. Boston Jane.
Kadahota, Cynthia. Kira-Kira.Konigsburg, E.L. The View From Saturday.
L’Engle, Madeline. A Wrinkle in Time.
Levine, Gail Carson. Ella Enchanted.
McKinley, Robin. The Hero and the Crown.
Lowry, Lois. The Giver.
O’Dell, Scott. Island of the Blue Dolphins.
Park, Linda Sue. A Single Shard.
Paterson, Katherine. Jacob Have I Loved.
Paterson, Katherine. Lyddie.
Patron, Susan. Higher Power of Lucky.Paulson, Gary. Hatchet.
Peck, Richard. A Year Down Yonder.
Raskin, Ellen. The Westing Game.Reiche, Dietlof. Ghost Ship.
Sachar, Louis. Holes.
Spinelli, Jerry. Stargirl.
Staples, Suzanne Fisher. Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind.Tolkien, J.R. Hobbit.
Voight, Cynthia. Homecoming.

Finding Stinko

By Michael Guzman (a Seattle area author)

12 year old Newboy is a foster child on the run. When he finds Stinko, a beat up dummy, in the trash Newboy discovers that he has a voice only through Stinko. A sad, but uplifting story.

I enjoyed this little novel and would recommend it to younger tweens, ages 9-12.

So what is a tween anyway?

Well, you can come to our WLA/OLA conference session and find out the answer to that question! But in the meantime, here are two articles that help fill you in.

Much of the interest around making tweens a separate category comes from the marketing world. Read here for advertising guru James Myers' summary of what tweens are and how they are unique in today's culture.

To understand the specific developmental characteristics that define the needs and interests of this age group, read this research summary from the educators at the National Middle School Association.

Candyfloss

Another tweener from Jacqueline Wilson, I had a difficult time getting hooked into this one. Typical girl coming of age story British style.

How It Happened in Peach Hill by Marthe Jocelyn

Great tween novel for older tweens. This would pair nicely with A Drowned Maiden's Hair. Annie and her mother move around performing psychic readings for desperate people. Annie plays the village idiot in order to gain information for her mother and one day Annie decides she's had enough. An interesting coming of age story. For ages 11-14.

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

This is a reworked fairytale for tween girls. Pleasant, nothing too deep~but likely to attract girls 11-14.

Firegirl by Tony Abbott

Short, compelling novel about a burned girl who touches the lives of her classmates.

A House of Tailors

Small novel by Patricia Reilly Giff about a young German girl in the 1870s who comes to America. She thinks that she is escaping a life of sewing, but in fact finds that she must sew in America as well.

Quick read. I enjoyed it, although it is almost more of a novella.

Ages 10-14, true tween title.

Sand Dollar Summer by Kimberly K. Jones

This first novel is a lovely gem. A quiet story for younger tweens. Lise is 12 years old and her life changes in a moment when her mother (a strong single mom) is injured in a car accident. Lise and her 5 year old brother accompany her mother to an island in Maine.

Never having seen the ocean before, Lise is afraid of the waves and water. She strikes up a friendship with an elderly Native American man.

This summer at the beach novel is an emotional journey for Lise and her family. Hating the island and the sea turns into a new found respect and love for the sea by summer's end after a harrowing experience.

For children ages 10-14.