We are reading The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher for January. Summary: Ashlee Parker is dead, and Emily Shepherd's dad is accused of the crime. A former soldier suffering from PTSD, he emerges from the woods carrying the girl's broken body. "Gone," he says, then retreats into silence.

What really happened that wild night? Emily knows in her bones that her father is innocent -- isn't he? Before he's convicted, she's got to find out the truth. Does Damon Hilary, Ashlee's charismatic boyfriend, have the answers? Or is he only playing games with her -- the kinds of games that can kill?

The new Cafe Library book is in! We're reading Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. Summary from the publisher: "World War II is drawing to a close in East Prussia and thousands of refugees are on a desperate trek toward freedom, many with something to hide. Among them are Joana, Emilia, and Florian, whose paths converge en route to the ship that promises salvation, the Wilhelm Gustloff. Forced by circumstance to unite, the three find their strength, courage, and trust in each other tested with each step closer to safety. Just when it seems freedom is within their grasp, tragedy strikes. Not country, nor culture, nor status matter as all ten thousand people—adults and children alike—aboard must fight for the same thing: survival." Meeting date TBA.

January Cafe Library

We are reading The Spectacular Now by Tim Twarp. Summary: SUTTER KEELY. HE’S the guy you want at your party. He’ll get everyone dancing. He’ ll get everyone in your parents’ pool. Okay, so he’s not exactly a shining academic star. He has no plans for college and will probably end up folding men’s shirts for a living. But there are plenty of ladies in town, and with the help of Dean Martin and Seagram’s V.O., life’s pretty fabuloso, actually.

Until the morning he wakes up on a random front lawn, and he meets Aimee. Aimee’s clueless. Aimee is a social disaster. Aimee needs help, and it’s up to the Sutterman to show Aimee a splendiferous time and then let her go forth and prosper. But Aimee’s not like other girls, and before long he’s in way over his head. For the first time in his life, he has the power to make a difference in someone else’s life—or ruin it forever.
Starred Review from School Library Journal.

April Cafe Library

We're reading Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King for our April Cafe Library meeting. Summary: "When her best friend, whom she secretly loves, betrays her and then dies under mysterious circumstances, high school senior Vera Dietz struggles with secrets that could help clear his name." Meeting date: April 21st during lunch in the library. Pick up a copy today!

Cafe Library for February

Cafe Library is reading Gabi a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero. Summary: "Sixteen-year-old Gabi Hernandez chronicles her senior year in high school as she copes with her friend Cindy's pregnancy, her friend Sebastian's coming out, her father's meth habit, her own cravings for food and cute boys, and especially, the poetry that helps forge her identity."

Cafe Library is up and running again!We are going to read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I've read this book already and it's GREAT! Marina asked for this to be our first book club book this year, and of course I said YES! She has also agreed to lead the discussion. YAY!

Summary: It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist - books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement. 

Last Cafe Library Book for 2013-2014 School Year!

Our last Cafe Library read is Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. Summary: "Through journal entries sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions." Our very own Emma will be leading the discussion!

Next Book!!!!!!!!

We are going to read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green next. This was a hard book to get through inter library loan....but we're going to read it next no matter what!!! Summary: "Sixteen year old Hazel, who has cancer, meets Augustus at a kids-with-cancer support group and as they fall in love they both wonder how they will be remembered."

Pick up a copy!!! We're a really cool group!

Every Day by David Levithan for January

Every morning "A" wakes in a different person's body, in a different person's life, learning over the years to never get too attached, until he wakes up in the body of Justin and falls in love with Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon.

November Cafe Library Book

Cafe Library will meet on Tuesday Nov. 26th to discuss Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick. Summary: "Alex, a resourceful seventeen-year-old running from her incurable brain tumor; Tom, who has left the war in Afghanistan; and Ellie, an angry eight-year-old, join forces after an electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky and kills most of the world's population, turning some of those who remain into zombies and giving the others superhuman senses." So far, the reaction to the book is good. There is a MAJOR cliff hanger at the end...but this is a trilogy so you will want to read the next book! BTW, LMHS has copies of Shadows and Monsters, the next books in the series.

Last Cafe Library Book for this School Year!

We are going to read Thirteen Reasons Why: A Novel by Jay Asher for our last Cafe Library meeting of this school year. We read this book in the 09-10 school year but students have discovered it again as a great read.

Summary from our catalog: "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."

March/April Book Club

We are reading The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni. Here's the summary from our card catalog, "Sebastian Prendergast, having left the safety of the geodesic dome in which he lived after his grandmother had a stroke, meets sixteen-year-old Jared Whitcomb, and together the boys experience the angst of being teenagers while forming a punk rock band, but when Jared's grandma asks him to return to her home, he is faced with choosing between her dying wish and his newfound life." Elizabeth summed the book up in one sentence: "It was laugh-out-loud funny and times and really sad at times; it was a great book!!" I really loved this book too!  ~Mrs. Bade

February Read

We are going to read Mindblind by Jennifer Roy for February. Marina suggested the book and is going to lead the discussion. Here is a short summary from our library catalog: "Fourteen-year-old Nathaniel Clark, who has Asperger's Syndrome, tries to prove that he is a genius by writing songs for his rock band so that he can become a member of the prestigious Aldus Institute, the premier organization for the profoundly gifted."

Sidebar: This was a Battle of the Books book from last year so we know it will be good!

November-December

We are going to combine November and December and read Miss. Peregrine’s Home of Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. This is a Battle of the Books book so several of my Cafe Library members can kill two birds with one stone...speaking of killing...this book is reported to be pretty spooky. I haven't read it yet but I'm looking forward to reading it!

Summary: Sixteen-year-old Jacob, having traveled to a remote island after a family tragedy, discovers an abandoned orphanage, and, after some investigating, he learns the children who lived there may have been dangerous and quarantined and may also still be alive.

BTW, Lindsey M. did a fabulous job leading our discussion for Unwind. Thanks, Lindsey!!

October Cafe Library

Cafe Library at LMHS is beginning its 7th year of book clubbing! We are going to read Unwind by Neal Schusterman for October. Here's a one line summary: Three teens embark upon a cross-country journey in order to escape from a society that salvages body parts from children ages thirteen to eighteen. Talk about creepy!!!

We are shooting for meeting on October 31st during lunch in the LMC. I hope you join us.

The Fault in Our Stars

May's Cafe Library read is John Green's latest. This is a fitting end-of-the-year book as book club member, Alex O., is a senior and one of his favorite author's is John Green. I have heard lots of positive comments from students about this book. Here's the Amazon summary, "Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten." Take a look at this trailer by Green. I have started reading this and I have to say, it's hard to put down! I hope you all check it out!

Meeting date TBD.

April Read

The Cafe Library book for April is Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger. Here's the summary from the library catalog: "Grady, a transgendered high school student, yearns for acceptance by his classmates and family as he struggles to adjust to his new identity as a male. "

I have heard really good things about this book and am dying to read it! I think it will be my spring break read! Pick up a copy in the library!!

BTW, we did not meet in March...

February Cafe Library Pick

Alex convinced me to select Looking for Alaska by John Green for February's Cafe Library. Alex is a senior and to say the least LOVES John Green's work. He often visits Green's vlogs online and keeps me up-dated with what's going on in his world. The other reason I chose Looking for Alaska is that Alex volunteered to lead the discussion!

Summary: "Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great pranks, but is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash. "

Seems like John Green has the right combination of humor and real world issues for teens. I'm looking forward to Alex's discussion.

Bruiser

December's Cafe Library read is Bruiser by Neal shusterman. Here's a brief summary: "Inexplicable events start to occur when sixteen-year-old twins Tennyson and Brontë befriend a troubled and misunderstood outcast, aptly nicknamed Bruiser, and his little brother, Cody." Ok, that's a pretty lame summary...I got it from my library online catalog...not my original record!

But, this really is a good read...very different than anything I ever read. I'd give it two thumbs up! BTW, it's a Battle of the Books book too!

November Cafe Library Book

We are reading Room by Emma Donoghue for November's Cafe Library. This is also a Battle of the Book title so kill two birds with one stone! I have to admit I didn't want to read this book because the premise is a bit depressing/scary but after I started reading it, I could not put it down! I was going to write Battle of the Books practice questions for my WEMTA battle committee but I didn't even want to stop to write the questions I was so engrossed with the book. Here's a summary: "Five-year-old Jack has spent his life living in an eleven-by-eleven foot space his mother calls Room and while Jack uses his imagination to create wondrous fantasies to entertain himself, his mother dreads the day her son begins to question why they must remain in Room and tries to find a way to escape.