Illinois Abe Lincoln High School Book Awards - 2013 Nominated Titles

I wanted to tell you about a reading program that is near and dear to my heart. I know that many states have children's choice book awards, and Illinois has four of them. The one for high school students is called The Abraham Lincoln High School Book Award. This award is run by our Illinois school librarian association, and in past years, I have been on the committee to select the nominated titles. We select 22 titles every year, and there are always actual teens on the committee who get to give input and actually are allowed to chose four of the titles on their own. One of the requirements for nominees is that the book is available in paperback, so you will see there are some older books on the list, but they always come up with a great list.

Here's the 2013 List of Nominated Titles (links are to my reviews):

Anna & the French Kiss	Stephanie Perkins
Bruiser	Neal Shusterman
The Chosen One	Carol Lynch Williams
Clockwork Angel	Cassandra Clare
Dark Song	Gail Giles
Finnikin of the Rock	Melina Marchetta
The Help	Kathryn Stockett
Impossible	Nancy Werlin
Impulse	Ellen Hopkins
Leviathan	Scott Westerfeld
Little Brother	Cory Doctorow
Lockdown: Escape from Furnace	Alexander G. Smith
Matched	lly Condie A
The Monstrumologist	Rick Yancey
North of Beautiful	Justina Chen Headley
Paranormalcy	Kiersten White
Rikers High	Paul Volponi
Ship Breaker	Paolo Bacigalupi
The Sky is Everywhere	Jandy Nelson
Thirteen Reasons Why	Jay Asher
War	Sebastian Junger
Will Grayson, Will Grayson	John Green & David Levithan

Red titles = chosen by the Student Reader Panel

Students vote each year in February, so we don't have this year's winner. I think it will be announced March 20th, so I'll be sure to post it then. Past winners are:

• 2011 Suzanne Collins -- Hunger Games
• 2010  Cassandra Clare --  City of Bones
• 2009 Ellen Hopkins -- Crank
• 2008 Stephenie Meyer -- Twilight 
• 2007 Scott Westerfeld -- Uglies
• 2006 Jodi Picoult -- My Sister’s Keeper
• 2005 Dave Pelzer -- A Child Called “It”

I'm anxious to read the nominated titles that I haven't read yet. I only need to purchase two of the titles for my library--I have the rest already! Do you know what your state does for student choice awards? Feel free to share your lists -- sometimes the titles are very comparable, and sometimes they are very different, so I'd be interested to see them!

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Irresistably Sweet Blog Award

Today Kyanara at The Life of a Bookaholic awarded me The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award.  I love this picture - it makes me want to each strawberries!! Thank you so much for thinking of me.

Here's what I need to do:
1: share 4 guilty pleasures with you
2: Pass the award over to 6 other blogs

4 guilty pleasures

1.  Wine. I find it irresistible. I really look forward to having a glass with my dinner.

2.  Sewing. I spend a fair amount of money on this hobby. More than on books . . .

3. Camping. We have a fifth-wheel camper that I would spend a lot more time in if I could. But we do go camping quite a bit in the summer.

4.  Pedicures. I love them. I need to do this more often, but to me it's the ultimate in pampering.

I've recently received some awards that I passed on, and I really don't know who to pass this on to. It takes a lot of time to find blogs that will accept awards and that haven't yet received this award, and so I'm just going to say "Thank You!" (Now I understand why so many blogs are "award free!")

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Back to Annette's Book Spot Homepage Copyright © 2011 Annette's Book Spot. All Rights Reserved

Thanks for the Award!

The wonderful bloggers at A Writer's Review & The Cover have awarded my blog with the Stylish Blogger Award! Thanks sooo much!! 

The rules are simple:
1. Thank & link back to the person who awarded you with this award.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3.  Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers.
4. Contact the bloggers and tell them about it!

So here goes:
- I am a dog lover. I have a German Shepherd named Mollie, and she is like a member of the family. It seems this is common among book bloggers...

- My daughter recently got engaged, so we are in "wedding" mode. She's my only daughter, so this is a big deal, and of course, I want her day to be special!

- I love camping. We have a 5th wheel camper, and we go every chance we get--not in the winter, though :(

- I have another blog (The Housework Isn't Getting Done) for my other hobbies, cooking & sewing. There's a link on the side of this blog.

- I'm addicted to Google Reader. One of the things I look forward to the most every day is checking out all the posts of the many blogs I follow.

- I have the best job in the world - I'm a high school librarian.

- I drive a big 4WD pickup truck, and I love it.

I am awarding some blogger that I recently discovered with this awesome award:

 

Words & Whispers

The Social Frog

Irresistible Reads

Literary Explorations

The Crescive Library

Unputdownable Books

Thanks again for the awards! It's nice to get to know some things about other bloggers.

One Lovely Blog Awards–Passing It On!

I received the One Lovely Blog Award from Lost In Y.A. Wonderland.  Thank you very much.  I’m really honored.

Here's how it works:

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.
2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.
3. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I have chosen these people to pass it on to: (I tried to make sure you haven’t received this award before, but if you have, I guess you deserve it!)

1. Book Talks by the Library Lady
2. Literary Explorations
3. Miss Page-Turner’s City of Books
4. Irresistible Reads
5. Makeshift Bookmark
6. Kelly’s (Former) France Blog
7. Midnight Book Girl
8. Attack of the Book
9. The Mimosa Stimulus
10. The Teen Bibliophile
11. BookGirl’s BookNook
12. Forever Young (Adult)
13. Wooksy
14. Anna Reads
15. Recklessly Reading

I’ll be notifying each blog individually, but in the mean time, visit them and tell them CONGRATULATIONS!

A surprise award!

I am surprise and thrilled! I have been given the Versatile Blogger award by my new friend Pris over at The Benterud Bookshelf!! Check out her sight!

Here are the simple rules:

1) Link back to the blogger who gave the award;

2) Share seven things about yourself

3)  Pass the award on to ten bloggers; then contact each of them.

So here goes:

1.  I'm a dog-lover.  I haven't posted pictures of her here, but I will soon.

2.  I love to cook and sew.  I have another blog about those hobbies:  http://annetteshobbyspot.blogspot.com/

3.  My husband and I love to go camping in our 5th wheel trailer.

4.  I'm the proud mother of two beautiful children who are both in college (one in grad school.)

5.  Family means everything to me.  We have a very localized, close family and they are my best friends.

6.  I am the librarian at the school where I went to high school.  I love being around teenagers.

7.  I just got a new Kindle and I'm having a lot of fun with it.  So far, I think it's GREAT!

I tried to make sure my winners hadn't won this before, but if so, I guess you deserve it again!  It is my pleasure to now pass this award on, in no particular order, to:

1.  Murphy's Library

2.  Ladybug Reads

3.  One Librarian's Book Reviews

4.  Mike Draper

5.  Floor to Ceiling Books

6.  Theresa's Reading Corner

7. The Book Nerd Club

8.  Falcata Times

9.  YA Bookmarks 

10. A Casual Reader