Book Preview: Where She Went

Here's a book preview for Where She Went, the much anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestseller, If I Stay by Gayle Forman. For those of you who somehow missed the first book, If I Stay is about a teenaged girl named Mia's who finds herself in a coma after a car accident and has to make the hard choice between sticking around on Earth and passing on to the other side.

Where She Went is set three years after the end of If I Stay focuses on Mia's life amongst the living as she meets up with her old boyfriend for the first time in several years.

So what do you guys think? Have any of you read the first book? Are you psyched, bummed, or indifferent about there being a sequel? Do you like the cover?

Unfortunately, it's going to be a bit of a wait for Where She Went, as it is being publish in April 2011.



In the meantime, here's a list of book similar to If I Stay:

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
What if you had only one day to live? Samantha Kingston has it all: the best boyfriend, amazing best friends, everything. Feb 12th should be just another day in her charmed life, but instead is her last. Then she gets a second chance. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death-and discover the value of everything she is in danger of losing.

Bird Lake Moon by Kevin Henkes
Spencer thought the house might be haunted. Mitch knew it wasn't. And he knew why. The whole time Spencer and Mitch hung out together at Bird Lake that summer, there were secrets keeping them apart. And maybe a secret knowledge keeping them together, too-together like members of the same tribe. Like friends.

Once Was Lost by Sarah Zarr
As the tragedy of a missing girl unfolds in her small town, fifteen-year-old Samara, who feels emotionally abandoned by her parents, begins to question her faith.

Winter Girls by Laurie Halse Anderson
The story of friendship frozen between life and death. Lia and Cassie, best friends and competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the thinnest. When Cassie dies Lia is left behind, haunted by her friend's memory and racked with guilt for not saving her. Powerful and moving, Anderson explores Lia's struggle, her painful path to recovery, and her desperate attempts to hold on to the most important thing of all - hope.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
High school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing seven cassette tapes recorded by his crush, Hannah Baker, who committed suicide, and spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death.

On the Big Screen: Tomorrow When the War Began

I just found out that the book Tomorrow When the War Began has been made into a movie, and is being released in Australia tomorrow, September 2nd. Talk about being behind!

Did you guys know it was being made into a movie? I wonder what it's going to be like. For those of you who missed the book, here's a synopsis:

When Ellie and six of her friends return home from a camping trip deep in the bush, they find things hideously wrong -- their families gone, houses empty and abandoned, pets and stock dead. Gradually they begin to comprehend that their country has been invaded and everyone in the town has been taken prisoner. As the horrible reality of the situation becomes evident they have to make a life-and-death decision: to run back into the bush and hide, to give themselves up to be with their families, or to stay and try to fight.

Click here to check out more great books that have found their way into movie history.


If you'd like to read the book, don't forget to check it out in our catalog.

It's Finally Here!!!

Be sure to come in and reserve your copy today! It definitely won't stay on the shelves for long, so don't take any chances.

Book List: Back to School

from Flickr

It's that time of year again. Back to school. So in honor of your return to academia I've prepared a list of books about the serious (and not so serious) adventures (and misadventures) pertaining to that realistic (and not so realistic) and beloved (or not so beloved) time in one's life...

High School.

So if you're looking for an escape from calculus homework or something slightly more challenging than paper football during study hall, you might want to consider reading some of our high school-related picks, all of which are available at the library.

Title: The New Rules of High School
Author: Blake Nelson
Published: 2003
Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Max Caldwell has been the perfect high school student--on the honor roll, captain of the debate team, and soon-to-be editor of the school newspaper--but during his senior year, he begins questioning his approach to life and things start to change.

Title: The Rules of Survival
Author: Nancy Werlin
Published: 2006
Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Matthew recounts his attempts, starting at a young age, to free himself and his sisters from the grip of their emotionally and physically abusive mother.

Title: Generation Dead
Author: Daniel Waters
Published: 2008
Synopsis: When dead teenagers who have come back to life start showing up at her high school, Phoebe, a goth girl, becomes interested in the phenomenon, and when she starts dating a "living impaired" boy, they encounter prejudice, fear, and hatred.

Title: Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
Author: Dyna Sheldon
Published: 1999
Synopsis: In her first year at a suburban New Jersey high school, Mary Elizabeth Cep, who now calls herself "Lola," sets her sights on the lead in the annual drama production, and finds herself in conflict with the most popular girl in school.

Title: Story of a Girl
Author: Sara Zarr
Published: 2007
Synopsis: During the summer after her sophomore year, Deanna Lambert tries to come to terms with the reputation with which she was slapped in eighth grade when she was caught by her father in the backseat of a car with a high school senior. The Story of a Girl reminds us of our human capacity for resilience, epiphany and redemption.

Title: Skeleton Key
Author: Anthony Horowitz
Published: 2002
Synopsis: Reluctant teenage-spy Alex Rider, on a routine mission at the Wimbledon tennis championships, gets caught up in Chinese gangs, illegal nuclear weapons, and the suspect plans of his Russian host, General Sarov.

Title: Freak
Author: Marcella Pixley
Published: 2007
Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Miriam, poetic, smart, and quirky, is considered a freak by the popular girls at her middle school, and she eventually explodes in response to their bullying, revealing an inner strength she did not know she had.

Title: Dangerously Alice
Author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Published: 2007
Synopsis: During fall semester of her junior year of high school, Alice decides to change her good girl image, while major remodeling begins at home and some important relationships begin to change.

Title: Hate List
Author: Jennifer Brown
Published: 2009
Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Valerie, whose boyfriend Nick committed a school shooting at the end of their junior year, struggles to cope with integrating herself back into high school life, unsure herself whether she was a hero or a villain.

Title: Truth or Diary
Author: Catherine Clark
Published: 2000
Synopsis: Courtney, a Colorado high school senior, becomes the bane of her friends' and family's existence as she fumes over being dumped by her college-bound boyfriend--but a temptation named Grant may be enough to drag her back into happiness.


Don't forget to search our library catalog for these titles and lots of other great high school-related reads.