Katsa vs Katniss

I've got my eye on you, Katniss...

I just finished reading Graceling by Kristin Shore, and I loved every minute of it. Katsa (the main character, a "Graceling" born with superior fighting/survival skills) is one of those strong, brooding female types who can beat anyone in a fight but who's resistant to feeling emotions towards other people. Because, as we all know, "feelings" only lead to vulnerability, and vulnerability leads, apparently, to very bad things. <<Insert sarcastic eye roll here.>> This premise got me thinking about another female character we're all intimately familiar with who exhibits some of these same tendencies--Katniss Everdeen. As in, Hunger Games-heroine, torn-between-two-guys, survivalist-extraordinaire, Katniss Everdeen.

This, in turn, got me wondering--Katniss vs Katsa? Who would be victorious in this most epic of fantasy battles? Of course, this being the age of information ("information" being a term associated with both useful facts and utterly useless but highly entertaining gobbledygook)  I knew that I'd be able to find and connect with others who have wondered about this very topic. And 'lo and behold...

A GoodReads discussion board has pondered this very idea: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/556264-katniss-everdeen-vs-katsa

A blog post much more exciting than this one has broken down every nuance of the fantasy battle between Katsa and Katniss: http://dailyfig.figment.com/2011/10/02/katsa-versus-katniss/

And finally, courtesy of YA Fantasy Showdown, a short story about what it might actually look like if Katniss and Katsa ever threw down for real: http://yafantasyshowdown.weebly.com/fan-fight-13.html
(The writing in this is not the greatest, I have to be honest. But, it's Fan Fic so one must read with a grain of salt, right?)

Now, being a pacifist at heart, I personally think it would be way cooler if Katniss and Katsa were to join forces and work for justice and equality around the land. What would that look like, I wonder? Thoughts, anyone?

Guys Read!

Sometimes it's hard to find something good to read. Let's face it--sometimes (but not always) the books you have to read for school are too boring/too long/too "classic"/not action-y enough/unappealing for whatever reason. Well, the guys behind the awesome website Guys Read understand that all too well. That's why they put together lists of books for any possible mood you might find yourself in. Into adventure? No problem! Strange obsession with robots? We got that! Ghosts? Wrestlers? Shape shifters? You betcha!

There is no rule anywhere that says that reading has to be dull.

Check out this book trailer for the anthology Guys Read: Funny Business.

Book Review! The Thief of Always by Clive Barker

Our first book review written by an actual teen library user! Read on....

The Thief of Always by Clive Barker

The beginning started out really slow. There wasn't a lot of detail. Once you got to chapter 4, it started giving a lot more detail as well as action. Anyone that likes going into a different world should read this book.

If you like this book you might like other fantasy books such as The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi.

I give this book 4 out of 4 stars.

Welcome!

Welcome to The Young Adult Blog of the Oregon City Public Library! We've chosen to call it Reading Between the Lines because it makes us sound very literary and dignified, and because none of us could figure out how to pronounce YABOCPL.

The purpose of this blog is to keep young adult patrons of the Oregon City Public Library informed about our library's materials, resources and events. To that end we'll be posting regular announcements, reviews and musings, and generally blogging about all sorts of library-related and possibly library-unrelated topics. We encourage our teen readers to submit content for the blog - reviews, links to interesting webpages or videos, anything you guys find amusing or entertaining (must be appropriate for all audiences...). If you'd like to submit something, please email it to oregoncitylibrary@gmail.com

We'd love to get your input, so make a comment, drop us a line, write us a story, send smoke signals, whatever strikes your fancy.

Enjoy!