The Michigan Library Association (MLA) Thumbs Up! Award committee has released the Top Ten Books and votes will be taken through August 31st.  Each year a committee of dedicated professionals from around Michigan read tons of teen books and then discuss and vote on favorites until the top ten are picked.  After a teen participation vote, the committee will select one winner and at least one runner up book.

TEENS: Read as many of the books from the list and then visit the MLA website to vote!  The top teen vote counts toward the book that will receive the Thumbs Up! stamp.

• The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
• Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne
• Every Day by David Levithan
• Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick
• How to Lead a Life of Crime by Kirsten Miller
• The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen by Susin Nielsen
• Revived by Cat Patrick
• Sons of the 613 by Michael Rubens
• Bomb by Steve Sheinkin
• Cardboard by Doug TenNapel

Do you love listening to audiobooks?  Do you want to get a start on your summer reading program goals? Start downloading audiobooks offered through the SYNC YA Literature into your earphones! Each week, SYNC offers a classic and a best selling YA audiobook for free.  Stop by the SYNC site today to start listening.

The creator of Lyle the Crocodile died on Monday, May 16. Bernard Waber was 91 years old. He introduced Lyle in 1962 with “The House on East 88th Street.” His final book, “Lyle Walks the Dog,” was produced with his daughter, Paulis. He also wrote many other picture books, including “Ira Sleeps Over,” in which a young boy is afraid he will be teased for bringing his teddy bear over to a friend’s house.

Reading a Sarah Dessen book is like taking a long stroll with a close friend.  Her characters seem like the girl living next door; someone you know from school. Her newest book, set to be released at the beginning of June, will feel very familiar to her readers.  The Moon and More is set in the beach town of Colby, just like Along for the Ride.

Emaline has the perfect boyfriend and a comfortable life working for her grandmother’s real estate firm in a small beach town. But the unexpected arrival of a demanding film director, and the cute assistant, change Emaline’s outlook. Will she be content attending the local college or should she reach farther? Her mostly absent father is pushing her to attend an Ivy League school, but how can she leave the familiar world of Colby?

This is a great book to take to the beach this summer!

The use of eBooks is increasing every year, so a new source of free eBooks is always welcome.  OpenLibrary.org is a combination library/wiki site which can be edited by anyone but allows books to be checked out or downloaded for a two-week period. The Library of Michigan is one of many libraries across the globe to allow OpenLibrary.org to scan their collection. Of course, copyright is followed so you will not be able to read the latest Patterson book, but the page does link to WorldCat, which lists libraries that own a physical copy of the book.

Check out the site and tell us what you think in the comments below.

There are a lot of series written for teens, but sometimes one of those books disappoints and the whole series is never the same. Luckily, this is not the case with the Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta.

The first book, Finnikin of the Rock, helps set the backstory of the of the small kingdom called Lumatere, which is part of the Land of Skuldenore. Finnikin and his guardian have spent the last 10 years trying to find a home for the displaced people of their kingdom after the royal family was murdered and a curse is placed around the kingdom, which no one can cross. Their path is changed forever when they meet Evanjalin, who swears the heir to the throne is still alive.

The second book, Froi of the Exiles, picks up where Finnikin left off. Without giving away the ending of the first book, Froi is sent on a dangerous mission to the neighboring kingdom of Charyn, where he meets Quintana of Charyn (the third book title), the daughter of the king responsible for the death of the Lumatere royal family.

Each book was a pleasure to read and brought the characters to life, flaws and all. While the series has been wrapped up, I for one wouldn’t mind another book set in Lumatere! If you haven’t given this series a try, stop by your local library today to pick up a copy.

Since familysearch.org recently changed the layout of its site, this is a good time to spend time poking around.  One area I haven’t used much is the research wiki. As you probably know, a wiki is a site that can be updated or added to by anyone (at least if you have registered). This wiki has a few primary categories: Beginning Genealogy, Find Records by Place and Research tools. Each category has many different articles by topic.

While checking out the Research tools, I came across something I had not heard of before: Record Selection Tables. A Record Selection table is a guide to help determine what records to search for specific information. At this time, there are 10 different tables based on region. So if you are looking for someone’s maiden name in the U.S., there is a list of record types that might provide that information. Each record is then linked to the wiki entry.

Let us know in the comments if you give these tables a try!

April is National Poetry Month, and a quick and fun way to celebrate is to create book spine poetry.  These can be created from books you have around the house or library books! Just put together some titles and see what happens.

If you would like to see other examples, do a quick Google search. Or take a picture of your poem and upload to a site of your choice.  Just let us know in the comments so we can take a peek!

E.L. Konigsburg, author of two Newbery Medal books, died Friday at age 83. Her first Newbery Medal book from 1968 is From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, a beloved children’s book. That same year, her book Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth was a Newbery Honor book. Having a medal and honor book the same year placed Konigsburg in a special category.

She received her second Newbery Medal in 1997 for The View from Saturday. Again, this made her one of the few authors to have multiple medals. Over the course of her career, she wrote 16 children’s books and illustrated three picture books.

There are many book-a-day calendars that can be purchased, but few of these recommend youth books. The Children’s Book-A-Day Almanac website can help cover those books. The website features one youth book recommendation per day, with information about the book as well as “this day in history” information. It also has an archive with books searchable by age, subject and more.

The website doesn’t appear to be updated every day, but if you are just starting out on the site, there will be at least 350 new books for you to view! The most recent one I found was from April 1, 2013.  Since April is Poetry month, Stardines Swim High Across the Sky and Other Poems was the featured title.

If you find a great book to share from the almanac, share that title (and day) below!