Sojourn, Vol. 1: From the Ashes

What’s the most-read graphic novel here in LibraryLand? Yup. It’s Sojourn, Volume One: From the Ashes, written by Ron Marz, penciled by Greg Land, and inked by Drew Geraci. Here is epic fantasy, complete with heroine, wizard, quest, magic, mystery, trolls, and grand, bloody, chaotic battles between the forces of good and evil. It’s true that Sojourn starts out a little slowly, action-wise, while the author catches us up on 300 years of backstory -- but what fantasy junkie doesn’t love that stuff? The more we find out about that other world, the better.

Plus -- unlike its 800+ page counterparts on the fiction shelf (think Jordan’s Wheel of Time or Martin’s Song of Ice & Fire, etc.) -- this is a comic! The art is splendid. Aside from all the fantastic detail work, the action and emotion drawn into each character, creature, and scene really bring Marz’ storyline to life.

Fellow fantasy freaks, speak up! If you’ve read Sojourn, pop us a comment. If you haven’t, give it a try.

Fallen Angels

Written as a memorial to his brother, who died fighting in Vietnam in 1968, Walter Dean Myers' Fallen Angels is an accurate and revealing account of one soldier's tour of duty in Nam. If you want the sights and sounds of war, you've got 'em here: mortar and rocket fire, choppers, and the eerie noises of night patrol. And underlying the horrors, the loyalty and camraderie, is that omnipresent soldier's emotion -- fear.

Felt the fear? Thrilled during the skirmishes? Ached with a fellow soldier's death? (all in the story, of course.) Share your stuff here and post a comment.

Oh, and you might want to try Tim O'Brien's Vietnam books, Going After Cacciato, and The Things They Carried.

Go Ask Alice

Long the “number one most stolen book” on our fiction shelves, Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous, continues its 35-year reign as one of the HHS Library’s most popular reads. If you’re a fan of gritty, realistic, don’t-end-up-like-me novels, then Alice has much to offer: drugs (lots of them), promiscuity, running away, abuse, hospitalization, suspicion, and death (to name a few.)

Some think that Beatrice Sparks, “editor” of other cautionary tales (Jay’s Journal, It Happened to Nancy, Annie’s Baby, Finding Katie) is the anonymous author behind Go Ask Alice. Many think the book is poorly written and not quite believable. But the fact remains: years after its publication in 1971, it still makes a splash.

Do you have thoughts on Go Ask Alice? Send ‘em in!

Startled by His Furry Shorts

If you're keeping up with current teen melodrama, then you will not be Startled by His Furry Shorts, Louise Rennison's latest installment in the hilarious English schoolgirl series. Georgia Nicolson is once more on the "rack of romance" and probably heading to the "bakery of pain." But don't worry, Georgia's antics, which began in Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging, will most likely leave you howling on the kitchen floor. Watch out, that's Angus' tail you just stepped on!

If you can drag yourself off the floor and wipe away the tears of laughter, let me know what you think. Post a comment, please.

Twilight

We've hardly seen Twilight: A Novel, by Stephenie Meyer, on the shelf at all this Fall -- someone's always reading it. Not your average vampire story, Twilight blends passion, suspense, and school into a feverish stew that will have you hanging on every word. This, my friends, is a whole new take on what can happen when there's a new girl in a small town high school.

If you've read Twilight, hit the comment button and register your thoughts.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Hopkinton High School Library's first experiment in blogging! We want to use this space as a forum for promoting the books that our high school and middle school students like best. These will not necessarily be the titles that publishers, teachers, parents -- or even librarians (!) -- think young people should like, but rather the ones about which our students have actually said: "I couldn't put it down."