It’s that time of year where every senior is freaking out about college deadlines. Should I apply early decision? Is my essay good enough? Will my teacher really write me a good letter of recommendation? Stress is normal to every student, but it affects some more than others. It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini is a great novel about this. The book is a fictional story about a high school freshman named Craig Gilner. After months of studying, he gets accepted to a prestigious professional prep school in Manhattan, only to fall into severe depression upon realizing that he can’t keep up with the rigorous curriculum. After nearly committing suicide, Craig checks himself into the psychiatric facility of a local hospital and learns to get his life under control. The book is funny, informative, and almost therapeutic to read. Although this work is fictional, the author had a similar experience himself and spent five days in adult psychiatric at Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, NY in late 2004.

If reading a fictional novel isn't enough to help you relax, the library has several books in our collection about how to deal with stress. Just ask a librarian to suggest some titles!

The National Book Awards were announced this week and M.T. Anderson won in the category for Young People’s Literature with his book The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume One: The Pox Party. The story is set in Boston in the Revolutionary Era and follows the story of a black youth named Octavian and his mother, an African princess, who are living in a house of philosophers and educators. Although Octavian is getting a top-notch education and is living in comfortable surroundings, he realizes that he and his mother are captive in the house and are unwillingly the subjects of experiments meant to determine the intellectual capacity of Africans. After a tragic end to a pox party, Octavian escapes, only to be recaptured and forced to wear an iron mask.

If you like this book, be sure to check Feed, also by MT Anderson.

By now, I'm sure you've had to read Romeo and Juliet at some point in your school career. Romeo falls in love with Juliet, their families are feuding, they get secretly married, they die, blah blah blah. But do you remember Juliet's cousin Roseline? She was the one who first caught Romeo's attention. After he showered her with professions of love, he dumps her like a hot potato for Juliet. What gives? The new book Romeo's Ex: Roseline's Story by Lisa Fiedler tells the classic Shakespearian tale from the perspective of Roseline, focusing largely on the minor characters of the play and leaving the Romeo and Juliet plot largely in the background. If you've ever wanted to delve deeper into this story, this book's for you.

We have new books! I have chosen to mark this event by making a homemade "new" symbol (pictured left) to accompany this entry. Please note that I am not an artist; I am a librarian.

While on the subject, I want to let you know that if you ever have suggestions for book titles, please let me know and I'll see what I can do!

Let's get down to business. Here is an overview of our new titles (please note that I have marked line breaks with miniature photos of Barry Manilow, to make this post even more festive):

The Black Tattoo by Sam Enthoven: A teen unites with two friends to break the spell of a cursed black tattoo that has appeared on his back.

Corbenic by Catherine Fisher:A retelling of the story of Perceval and the Holy Grail set in modern day England.

Everlost by Neal Shusterman: Two teens die in a car crash and meet in Everlost, the place between death and the afterlife. The two try to go back home and Everlost proves to be difficult to escape.

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter: A 15-year-old girl in a top-secret boarding school for spies-in-training falls for a local boy, but can't reveal her identity.

Sins of the Fathers by Chris Lynch: Set in a Catholic school in working-class Boston, three boys' friendships are put to the test as disturbing secrets are revealed about the priests who educate them.

This is All by Aidan Chambers: A 19-year-old girl writes a series of pillow books - Japanese diaries written in full disclosure- to her unborn daughter.

Trigger by Susan Vaught: A teenager with severe brain damage, caused by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, struggles through a series of hazy flashbacks to try to recall why he attempted suicide.

Vanishing Act by John Feinstein: Two 8th-grade sports reporters investigate the disappearance of a Russian tennis star before the U.S. Open.

What Happened to Cass McBride? by Gail Giles: The most popular girl in school is kidnapped and buried alive after a boy holds her responsible for his brother's suicide.

These books are all available now in the Teen Section on the library's main floor.

Westport Library favorite Ann Brashares has just published the final installment in the Travelling Pants series: Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood . A recent article in the New York Times quotes "[Brashares] decided to end the ''Traveling Pants'' series with the latest book, ensuring through a plot twist that the series cannot be revived (though ''it's not like I kill off any of the characters,'' she said)." *

I haven't read the book yet, so I am excited to find out what the plot twist will be! Does Lena move to Greece forever? Does Tibby turn into a guinea pig? Does Bridget marry David Beckham? The library has three copies: reserve yours today! You can also visit the official Sisterhood website to sign up for the newsletter, get author info, and learn more about the series.

* To read the full article, visit our ICONN Newstand database and search for the title "Art Above and Below, With Life in the Middle" from the January 4th New York Times.

We all know the standard teen magazines: Seventeen, YM, Teen Vogue, etc. But, back in the late 80's/early 90's, there was a groundbreaking magazine called Sassy. It was the first teen magazine that worked to empower girls' self image rather than simply tell them what lip gloss to buy. It was also the first teen magazine to hype alternative bands, such as R.E.M. and Nirvana (Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love even appeared on the cover once!). Oh, and indie actress Chloe Sevigny used to be a Sassy intern.

In the new book How Sassy Changed My Life: A Love Letter to the Greatest Teen Magazine of All Time authors Kara Jesella and Marisa Meltzer pay tribute to the magazine that had the guts to call Saved by the Bell actress Tiffany Amber Thiessen an airhead. The book talks about how Sassy was the first magazine aimed at the large demographic of teenage girls who have no desire to be head of the cheer leading squad and who would be more likely to write a book or start a band than to worry about getting a date with the school's football star.Sassy taught girls that it was good to be different and independent. If you were too young to read the magazine the first time around, be sure to check out this book!

Pete Jordan turned the ordinary job of washing dishes into something much larger: a quest. After washing dishes in a few different restaurants, he realized that there was definitely a dishwashing culture. Since the jobs were easy to get and easy to quit, the types of people that were attracted to the jobs were usually drifters who went from one job to the next and one town to the next. This inspired Pete to make a goal of washing dishes in all 50 states. He purchased a rusty Volkswagen van and started cross country.

In the 90's, he started self-publishing a 'zine full of dishwashing stories compiled from his own experiences and the experiences of friends of his on the job. The 'zine became such a success, that he was asked to share his stories on NPR's This American Life, as well as appear on The Late Show with David Letterman. However, Pete had no interest in being on TV. So, he sat in the green room and ate free sandwiches while his friend Jess went on stage and pretended to be him. You can see the full clip here.

Pete only made it through 33 states, but all of his adventures are compiled in his first full-length book, entitled Dishwasher. He now lives in Amsterdam with his wife and son and is training to be a bicycle mechanic and working on building his writing career. Here he (really) is on Letterman, promoting the new book:

The website Shelfari combines social networking with books. You can create a virtual bookshelf and share it with your friends. It is a great way to see what your friends are reading, and to find new books that you might enjoy. And unlike MySpace or Facebook, you don't have to feel obligated to give personal information, such as your age, location, or other interests. You can simply list the books you like to read!

And if music is more of your thing, check out MOG. Or, come visit me at the reference desk. I'm always game for a mix CD swap!