Page2Screen: YA books into film

November will see the release of not one, not two, but three films released which started life as YA novels. Joining Nick and Norah's Infinite Play List, City of Ember, and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2,which have all graced theaters already this year, we have the highly anticipated Twilight, based on the astronomically successful novel by Stephanie Myers. You can see that one on November 21st. On November 7th, John Boyne's controversial The Boy in the Striped Pajamas will be released. And, if that's too heavy for you, there is always the direct-to-DVD market, which will welcome The Clique into the fold (don't want the Gossip Girls to have all the fun, right?)

Are you funnier than the Wimpy Kid?

To celebrate the release of the latest Wimpy Kid book, the publishers are sponsoring a do-it-yourself cartoon contest. If you think you (or your life) is funnier than Greg Heffley's, now is your chance to prove it!

Gossip Girl goes multimedia

Hey all you Gossip Girl fans--text or televised version: check out this article from The New York Times.

Are you ready to vote?

In case you haven't heard, there is a rather big election coming up in November, that has local as well as national repurcussions. If you are a high school junior or senior who is elligable to vote, and if you have any questions about the process, check out YouthvoteMA.org. To quote the informative email I received this morning:

"YouthvoteMA.org is a website created as a resource for students to find information and opportunities to register to vote. The site www.youthvoteMA.org is targeted at high school students who are, or soon to be, of voting age. Junior and Senior years of high school are incredibly busy for students, and having a resource they can access 24/7 is helpful to answer questions about registering to vote, absentee balloting, and actually voting."

It doesn't get any easier than that!

Dawn has broken, now we wait for Brisingr

With the arrival, at midnight Saturday morning, of the conclusion to Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Saga, it's time to turn our attention to the next big sequel. Brisingr, the third volume in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Saga, is due for release September 20, 2008. As the countdown commences, there's a new, dragon-appropriate display in the YA loft of Eragon read-a-likes. Fantastic dragon novels have been around long before 2003 (the pub date of Eragon.) There's Patricia Wrede's Enchanted Forest series, Jane Yolen's Dragon's Blood, and the classic Earthsea series by fantasy guru Ursula LeGuin. As the summer draws to an end, there's still time to enjoy some dragons,to tide you over until the big day arrives!

Jack Gantos and Meg Cabot on Teen Second Life

YA authors Jack Gantos and Meg Cabot will be appearing on Second Life this summer (Jack as early as tomorrow!) This is a unique opportunity to interact with favorite authors. Information about the program can be found here.

Jack Gantos is the author of the Joey Pigza books and the fantastic autobiography Hole in my Heart. And let's not forget Rotten Ralph! Meg Cabot is the author of, well, it seems just about everything these days. But to narrow the list down to a few highlights, I could mention The Princess Diaries, Avalon High, and the newly released Airhead. She is also the star of a series of rather humorous vids on Youtube.

New Series for the summer

A couple of new series have been added to the Series Collection at the far end of the loft. Well, they are new to us, but they have been wowing teen readers in the UK for awhile now.

The Hungry City Chronicles by Phillip Reeve
From Booklist Gr. 7-10. As the story opens, the great Traction City of London is chasing a small town. When one city takes over another, it processes all reusable materials to create power to run the motorized wheels that enable the city to travel over the land. London's mayor has bigger plans than the domination of a small town, plans involving the use of the weapon that laid waste to Earth millennia earlier. Several young people endeavor to stop the carnage--among them, Tom, an apprentice at the London Museum; a young woman who tries to kill the museum's head historian; the historian's daughter, Katherine; and an apprentice in the Guild of Engineers. The pace of the violence-filled story is frenetic, the sense of helplessness is palpable, and not all the young people survive. A page-turner, this adventure in a city-eat-city world will have readers eagerly suspending disbelief to follow the twists and turns of the imaginative plot. Sally Estes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Traces by Malcolm Rose
Welcome to the world of Traces. Imagine a place where technology rules, where London is a slum and the North is a cultural capital, where from the age of five The Authorities decide your future. In this fascinating parallel world, quick-thinking Luke Harding and his robot sidekick, Malc, make a top forensic team. Luke and Malc have the talent to crack any crime – and a good joke too. Aged sixteen, Luke is the youngest person ever to qualify as a Forensic Investigator. He hardly has time to celebrate before Malc, his Mobile Aid to Law and Crime, calls him to their first case. A student has been mysteriously shot dead with an arrow on the playing fields. An elusive killer is at large and all the evidence points to Luke himself…