WLS Teens

2 Excellent & Short YA books

I have read 2 excellent and unusual YA books: The Pull of the Ocean by Jean-Claude Mourlevat, and The Braid by Helen Frost.

The Pull of the Ocean is translated from the French and is loosely based on Tom Thumb, by Perrault. The hero of the tale is Yann Doutreleau, a ten-year-old boy no bigger than 2 feet tall. He has six strapping older brothers  and they all live in abject, depraved poverty. Yann, though mute, manages to get his brothers to take him to the ocean where he can begin a new, and hopefully better, life. It is told as if a reporter has interviewed all the family members as well as the people he meets on his journey. Very clever and well-written!

The Braid  tells the story of very poor people living in the Scotish highlands forced to flee when the landlords throw them out of their shacks. The cross the Ocean and arrive in Canada, sick, poor, and homeless. Two sisters tell their story in poems. One, who stayed behind with her grandmother, and the other who crossed to Canada.

The best news about each book is the length .... short!

Happy Reading,
Lilly, Pel

 

Facebook

If you are having trouble connecting with kids using MySpace...chances are they just aren't there.  The good news is...they might just be on Facebook instead.  I am sure I am not telling you anything that you don't already know - but I just thought I would share my success with starting a Facebook page for connecting with the local high school kids.  Although it doesn't have the cool author and bands connection that MySpace has - and it doesn't have all of those funky design possibilities -- it simply does what we all wish we could do - gets you in touch with lots and lots of local kids.  All of the sudden it is VERY easy to announce a teen event, solicit feedback about what they want, and become visible and approachable in their community.  If you found MySpace turned into a meet other librarians & authors hotspot (not that this isn't a very cool thing!) rather than a meet lots of kids in town thing, try Facebook...

Amy BRI