Archive for the ‘Author News’ Category
Posted by theunquietlibrary on October 21, 2009
The Unquiet Library Celebrated the National Day of Writing and Teen Read Week with our first ever virtual author visit via Skype! Our special guest was the amazing Sara Zarr, National Book Award finalist and author of Story of a Girl, Sweethearts, and her latest book, Once Was Lost.
We arranged a two hour visit with Sara to accomodate two groups of students. Students gathered in our presentation area of the library commons so that they could see her on our large projection screen. In each talk, Sara kicked off conversations about writing and reading by telling students about herself and her journey of becoming a writer. Students then came up to the webcam to speak to Sara personally and to ask a question they had. Questions our students had included:
- How do you balance your social life with work?
- Do you reread your books?
- With what character do you identify most?
- Which book did you enjoy writing most?
- How do you use social media?
- How do you get over writer’s block?
- Who are your role models and/or who inspired you to write?
- How do you get ideas for writing?
Zarr answered with honesty and passion in a conversational manner that kept us on the edge of our seats! We gained helpful and fascinating insights into the aspects of book publishing, how book covers are designed (and how most authors have limited input), different strategies for writing, realistic advice and what you might expect if you want to embark on a career as a writer, and what influences an author’s ideas for writing.
What was most striking to me was how conversational and intimate the visit seemed—one might think that a visitation via Skype might not equal a face to face presence, but Sara was so engaging that you felt as though she were in the room with you.
I highly recommend Sara for your next author visit! If you are interested in scheduling a Skype visit with her, please visit this link for more information. Thank you, Sara Zarr, for such a memorable and fun visit!
Posted in Author News, Celebrations, Teen Read Week 2009, YA Lit, YA Lit 2.0, writing | Tagged: Sara Zarr, Skype, virtual author visit | Leave a Comment »
Posted by theunquietlibrary on October 19, 2009
Creekview High School LibGuides – Georgia Peach Book Award Nominees and Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl 2009-10 – Home via kwout
We are kicking off Teen Read Week 2009 with a brand new research pathfinder for some of the most popular authors and books at The Unquiet Library! Check out our new Georgia Peach Book Award Nominees and Reading Bowl research pathfinder page! I have created a landing “home” page with general resources and information as well as book widgets for the Georgia Peach Award nominees and the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl.
I am also in the process of adding tabs for each nominated author that will include:
- RSS feeds for each author’s blog (if available)
- RSS feeds for each authors’ Twitter account (if available)
- YouTube videos featuring the author and/or his or her works
- Websites related to the author and his/her books
- The “Books from Our Catalog” feature spotlighting some of the books by each author; there is also a link to the Destiny catalog so you can search on your own
- Other links of interest, such as interview with the author or official websites for a book or for a series by the author
- Book widgets with previews of the author’s books when available
This is a work in progress, so please check back often!
Posted in Author News, Book Award News, Peach Book Award, Research Pathfinders, Teen Read Week 2009, YA Lit, YA Lit 2.0, reading 2.0 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by theunquietlibrary on October 7, 2009
It’s the moment you have been waiting for since school started: it is time to come to the library to sign up for our virtual visit via Skype with critically acclaimed YA author Sara Zarr! Sara will be visiting with us on Tuesday, October 20 during 4th and 5th period lunches. We will accomodate up to 50 students for each visit, so please come by early and often to sign up and secure your spot! On your sign up sheet, you will be asked to suggest a question to ask Sara, so put your thinking caps on and hopefully your question will be drawn from the pool for the Q&A part of our visit! Students who have 6th period lunch may participate, but you will be responsible for making up any missed work and turning in a makeup work form from your teachers, please.
You may come by the library any time to pick up your sign up sheet—all students must come by the library by Monday, October 19 to pick up their ticket in order to participate in the visit. The library will be closed to all other lunch visitors on Tuesday, October 20 so that we may fully enjoy our visit with Ms. Zarr.
If you have any questions, please see Ms. Hamilton or drop her an email at buffy.hamilton@cherokee.k12.ga.us .
Posted in Author News, YA Lit, YA Lit 2.0 | Tagged: author, author visit, Sara Zarr, Skype, YA Lit | Leave a Comment »
Posted by theunquietlibrary on September 21, 2009
Blogfest 2009 | Simon & Schuster via kwout
from the official Simon and Schuster Blogfest page:
What is Blogfest?:
Blogfest is a two-week event where 40 of Simon & Schuster’s top teen authors and their fan bases come together to share ideas on one single blog.
How does it work?
Each day of blogfest (9/21 through 10/4) will be devoted to one question submitted by a teen ahead of time through S&S’s teen advisory board—Pulse It. Authors will answer questions on a variety of topics from “If you were a Superhero—what powers would you have?” to “What is the first thing you wrote?” The participation of every author will vary depending on their schedule. Every author will answer at least 5 questions over the 2 week period.
Who is participating in Blogfest?
A veritable who’s who of teen authors including bestselling authors— Scott Westerfeld (Leviathan/ Uglies), Ellen Hopkins (Tricks), Rick Yancey (Monstrumologist), Holly Black (IronsideTrilogy), Lisa McMann (Wake/Fade), L.J. Smith (Night World), DJ MacHale (Pendragon) Kate Brian (Private) and many others. See the “Author” section for a full list.
How can I participate?
You may submit comments to any particular blog entry, which will appear below the relevant entry once the comment has been approved. Some authors will be coming on to the blog to address comments, or comment themselves on other authors posts.
Posted in Author News, Book Spotlights, Web 2.0, YA Lit, YA Lit 2.0 | Tagged: authors, blogfest, fun, Simon and Schuster, YA Lit | Leave a Comment »
Posted by theunquietlibrary on August 27, 2009
Posted in Author News, Book Spotlights, Book Videos, YA Lit, new arrivals | Tagged: fun, YA Lit, reading, authors, YouTube, Ally Carter, "Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover" | Leave a Comment »
Posted by theunquietlibrary on August 15, 2009
We are thrilled and proud to announce that critically acclaimed YA author Sara Zarr will be coming to The Unquiet Library via Skype on Tuesday, October 20. We will be announcing more details soon of this author visit, so stay tuned to our blog as well as the morning news.
In the meantime, check out these great resources on Sara as well as our library for her terrific books!
Posted in Author News, YA Lit, YA Lit 2.0 | Tagged: Sara Zarr, Skype, YA Lit | Leave a Comment »
Posted by theunquietlibrary on August 15, 2009
If you haven’t checked out the awesome lineup of podcasts at Harper Teen, then surf on over to their Podcast Page to get the latest scoop from all your favorite authors! You can also enter a contest to win an iPod Shuffle!
Posted in Author News, YA Lit, YA Lit 2.0, podcasts | Tagged: authors, contest, Harper Teen, podcast, YA authors, YA Lit 2.0 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by theunquietlibrary on August 2, 2009
Are you up for the 15 Minutes a Day Writing Challenge from Laurie Halse Anderson?
Go to Laurie’s blog at http://halseanderson.livejournal.com/254140.html for the “rules” (or what she calls the Pirate Code of Writing!) and writing prompts!
Let us know here at The Unquiet Library if you are participating!
Posted in Author News, Words, writing | Tagged: writing, Laurie Halse Anderson, challenge | Leave a Comment »
Are you a fan of Ally Carter? Did you love I’d Tell You I Love You But Then I’d Have to Kill You and Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy? Be sure to check out her new book, 
