South Carolina Junior Book Awards

Awesome Books for Middle Schoolers!!

The 2012-2013 South Carolina Junior Book Award nominees are in! Check out the results. They include dangerous underwater worlds, kids forced to work in sweatshops, and a talking origami Yoda. Yes, there is a book (or two or three) for all tastes. Click on any title to reserve a copy!

Start off with:



The Strange Case of Origami Yoda
By Tom Angleberger

When Dwight, the class weirdo, shows up with a talking origami Yoda, kids tease him. But Yoda seems to know things—and his advice is oddly wise. Is the Force really with him, or has Dwight fallen off the deep end?

Sequel: Darth Paper Strikes Back

Author Interview: Victoria Schwab

Author Interview: Victoria Schwab

Victoria Schwab is the product of a British mother and a Beverly Hills father. She grew up on the west coast but went to high school in the South at a girls' prep school, complete with plaid skirts that she used to doodle on during math. Talk about contrasts!

Today, she loves fairy tales, folklore and books that make her wonder if the world is really as it seems. Which might be why her debut novel, The Near Witch, is so creepily beautiful. It's about Lexi, a girl who lives on an enchanted moor and gets stuck solving a big mystery when, the day after an intriguing boy appears in town, children start disappearing. Ooohhh!

Read our interview with Victoria below before meeting her at YALLFest!



We’re all excited that you’ll be at YALLFest! What made you decide to come?

How could I resist? I’m a transplant in the South (originally from California), but I’ve lived here long enough for it to feel like home. Also, being a new author, I’m still adjusting to the idea that I get to see some of my favorite writers, not only as a fan, but as a colleague! That blows my mind.

Books Need Buddies, Too!

Duets: When One Book Isn't Enough

When are two related books better than one? How about when you want to get another character's perspective. Or to find out what happens next. Or to tie up all those loose plot threads. People aren't the only ones who like to pair up. Some books need buddies, too! Here are a few that prove it:

(Click on any title to reserve it at a CCPL branch.)

If I Stay and Where She Went

By Gayle Forman

In If I Stay, 17-year-old Mia's parents and brother are killed in a car wreck that leaves her in a coma. Should she fight to survive for her boyfriend, Adam, and the rest of the living? Or, should she let go to be with her family? Three years later in Where She Went, Adam is a rising rock star who reconnects with an old friend after the horrific events tore them apart.

Red Riding Hood Leads Pack of Fairy Tale Remakes

MY, HOW GORGEOUS YOU ARE

It's a fairy tale March! Fresh on the heels of Beastly, now Red Riding Hood comes out Friday. And never before has a movie trailer reeled us in so shamelessly...

Meet Valerie (Amanda Seyfried), a young woman who's in love with this brooding orphan guy (my, how sexy you are, Shiloh Fernandez). But her parents have arranged for her to marry this rich guy (Max Irons isn't shabby either). Then, Valerie's sister gets killed by a werewolf that stalks their medieval village. Turns out, the werewolf is masquerading as a human...but who? The movie is directed by Catherine Hardwicke (of Twilight fame).

Anyway, if you looked as gorgeous as Seyfried in a crimson cloak and had an afternoon to kill wandering in the woods (amid pure white snow, of course), what would be playing on your iPod? Someone at flavorwire thought of this very question and answered it for us! Check it out. 

So, if you like Little Red, check out these other "fractured" fairy tales. Beware: They aren't the versions Grandma told you: