Are you a young adult who enjoys listening to audiobooks?  Or an adult who enjoys listening to young adult (YA) audiobooks?  Or just someone with an interest in audiobooks?  Then let me tell you about a great program happening this summer. For the third year in a row, SYNC, sponsored by AudioFile, is offering two free audiobook downloads per week from May 30^thto June 5^th.  The downloads consist of one current YA title thematically paired with a classic title.  These eAudiobooks are yours to keep and listen to whenever you want to.  Just visit this page every week starting Thursday, May 30, 2013 to download the two titles.

See the selections from SYNC for Summer 2013 below!

And if you can’t wait or you want to preview the offerings, you can always check out some version of each title from SJPL.  See the link after each for SJPL’s offerings.

May 30 – June 5, 2013
Of Poseidon by Anna Banks (SJPL)
The Tempest by William Shakespeare (SJPL)

June 6 – June 12, 2013
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood (SJPL)
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (SJPL)

June 13 – June 19, 2013
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (SJPL)
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya (SJPL)

June 20 – June 26, 2013
Once by Morris Gleitzman (SJPL)
Letter From Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr. (SJPL)

June 27 – July 3, 2013
Rotters by Daniel Kraus (SJPL)
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (SJPL)

July 4 – July 10, 2013
Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford (SJPL)
She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith (SJPL)

July 11 – July 17, 2013
The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann (SJPL)
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (SJPL)

July 18 – July 24, 2013
Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers (SJPL)
Hamlet by William Shakespeare (SJPL)

July 25 – July 31, 2013
The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen (SJPL)
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain (SJPL)

Aug 1 – Aug 7, 2013
Death Cloud by Andrew Lane (SJPL)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (SJPL)

Aug 8 – Aug 14, 2013
Enchanted by Alethea Kontis (SJPL)
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll (SJPL)

Aug 15 – Aug 21, 2013
Sold by Patricia McCormick (SJPL)
Let Me Stand Alone by Rachel Corrie (SJPL)

Deadly by Julie Chibbaro can be found on Link+.  After reading an article about strong female lead characters in an article by Joanna H. Kraus in the San Jose Mercury News, I became interested in reading the titles she recommended.  Of course, this was after reading the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  I was interested in reading other young adult titles with strong female protagonists like Katniss Everdeen.

Prudence is a young lady who is much more interested in learning about science in the male-dominated early 1900's.  She applies as an assistant to an epidemiologist, Mr. Soper.  Soon, Prudence finds herself involved in finding the cause of several typhoid epidemics around the city. 

This tale is a fictional account of what happened to Typhoid Mary.  Mary Mallon was the first person who was identified as a healthy carrier of the typhoid disease.  It was unheard of at that time for a healthy person to spread disease.  Trying to convince the public, the courts, and Mary Mallon becomes an uphill struggle. 

Julie Chibbaro is also the author of Redemption, also a Link+ book.

Divergent is set in Chicago in the future.  Society has split into five different factions that all have different beliefs as to what caused the downfall of the world as we know it today. The Candor believes the fault lies with deceitfulness, and believes in always telling the truth, no matter the consequences. The Erudite believes the faults lies with ignorance, and are always striving to be educated. The Amity blames conflict, and always strives to keep the peace. The Dauntless blames cowardice, and always try to be brave. And the Abnegation believes it was selfishness that was to blame, and so they put the needs of other before their own.

Beatrice Pryor has to make a decision that will forever change her life.  Should she stay with her family in her faction and remain a member of the selfless Abnegation, or should she leave behind the lifestyle that she struggles to achieve for something different.  She has always been fascinated with the displays of courage by the Dauntless, but is that the right place for her?

This book is a great read for anyone who enjoys stories like  The Hunger Games or Legend set in a dystopian future.  Read it now before the sequel Insurgent comes out this May.

I lifted the rifle again and swung the tip of the barrel straight up into the air.  I figured I could gradually lower the barrel at the screen, aim, and pick off one of the Japanese troops.

BLAM!  The rifle fired off and violently kicked out of my grip.

"Jaaaack!"  I heard my mother shriek and then the screen door slammed behind her.

"If I'm not already dead I soon will be," I said to myself.

She pounced on me.  "There's blood!  You've been shot!  Where?"  Then she gasped and pointed directly at my face.  Her eyes bugged out and her scream was so high-pitched it was silent.

Fictional autobiography, Hell's Angels, history, mystery, comedy, death, horror...Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos is all and more.  Full of eccentric characters, this novel follows the life of author Jack Gantos during one action-packed summer in his hometown.  Meet Miss Volker, who is trying to revitalize a dying town.  Meet Mr. Spizz, who polices the town on his adult-sized tricycle.  Meet Jack's mother, who believes in bartering jam rather than paying cash.  Meet Jack's father, who worries about the "commies" in  town and who wants to build a runway in the backyard.

In addition to having a town full of loveable characters, Jack also suffers from nosebleeds that can be triggered by any excitement or surprise.  Is it hemochromatosis, like Hemingway?  Ugh!  This is problematical, of course, since he is helping Miss Volker to write all of the obituaries. 

Finally, a whole-summer grounding dampens his summer plans when he mows down a cornfield.  How does he get out of it?  Who is killing all of the senior citizens?  Will he have to move to Florida?  Read this extraordinary novel to find out!

Did you know that every branch of the San Jose Public Library has a youth advisory group of teen volunteers called teensReach? In addition to earning community service hours for participating in library activities, members also attend monthly meetings at their local library branch and act as advisors and advocates for the library. If you would like to learn more about what teensReach does and how to become a member check out the teensReach link from our website: www.sjpl.org/teensReach.

At a recent teensReach meeting held at the Dr. King Library, teensReach members were asked for their favorite books and movies that they would recommend to other teens. This is what they came up with…

Maximum Ride 

This popular teen series by James Patterson was listed twice by members of the teen group. The library has copies of the novels in print, e-book, audio book, and manga versions available for check out now.

Breaking Dawn

The fourth and final book of the wildly popular vampire series the Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer.  All of the books in the Twilight Saga series have now been made into movies and half of this last volume is in theaters now as Breaking Dawn Part One.  The book and the movie soundtrack are available now in the library.

Redwall

This classic animal fantasy tale was first published in 1987 and still holds its appeal today. It was also the first of the now 22 volume series by author Brian Jacques, with volume 22 – The Rogue Crew just published in 2011. If you are already a fan, you can place a hold in now and be one of the first to get a copy of the latest volume when the library’s shipment comes in.

Blood Red Horse

A historical fiction title by K.M. Grant set in the Middle Ages during the Third Crusades. If you like tales about the age of knights and would like to learn a little about what it was really like during those times, you might enjoy this book… the first of three in the  De Granville Trilogy.

Sucker Punch

It was not clear if this recommendation was for the fantasy film Sucker Punch released in 2011 about a girl in a 1950’s mental institution who creates an alternate reality and the quest she goes on to escape that world or if the recommendation was for the book Suckerpunch by David Hernandez about two teenage brothers who drive from Southern California to Monterey to confront the abusive father who walked out on them a year ago and now wants to return. Either way, library patrons are in luck as both are available for check out.

Easy A

Another teen film available at the library. A summary from the library catalog: After a little white lie about losing her virginity gets out, a clean cut high school girl sees her life paralleling Hester Prynne's in 'The Scarlet Letter, ' which she is currently studying in school. Hoping to become popular, she decides to use the rumor mill to advance her social and financial standing.

Steven Spielberg's most recent film, War Horse, is a grand Hollywood epic that depicts the losses and agony of war in a sweeping historical drama. Though the film stays true to the plot of the 1982 young adult novel on which it's based, the book and movie are sharply different in tone and mood. The film boasts Spielberg's signature lush cinematography, stirring musical score, and high drama.

The book, on the other hand, is a small, simple tale that approaches the same subject in its own original way. The book is narrated by the horse Joey, whose innocence and loyalty carry him from his early years as the beloved companion to English farmboy Albert, to the muddy trenches of World War I, after he is sold to the British army by Albert's destitute father. Part of the beauty of the book is seeing the events unfold through the horse's eyes, as he finds kindness and cruelty on both sides of the battlefield. Middle school and high school teachers might want to initiate discussions with their students, comparing the two very different treatments of the themes of war, loss, and the bond between man and horse.

For a third take on this story, theater lovers can look forward to the summer arrival in the Bay Area of the award-winning Broadway production.

Available from San José Public Library in paperback, hardback, and as a downloadable e-book.

Listen to an excerpt from the novel read by the author by selecting this LINK. War Horse is number 17 in the list of audio files.