Teen Read Week - you decide!

I have a favor to ask you all! Teen Read Week is in October and the theme this year is “Books with Bite.” This actually leaves a lot of room for interpretation – books that have something to do with cooking? Or books that deal with monsters like vampires and werewolves? Or perhaps books that deal with technology, like Books with Byte (no groaning!)? Or do you want to suggest an entirely different theme? So I thought I’d put the question out to you – what sort of a theme would you like for Teen Read Week? This would be reflected in a display at the library, booktalks I do at the schools, and programming for the week. I’ve got a survey up – it’s one question, so it shouldn’t take too much time out of your schedule! The sooner you vote, the sooner I can hammer down the details.
Click Here to take survey

The survey will be closing on July 29th - please give me your opinion by then!

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac - read or else!

Ack! I just finished reading this awesome book, and I wanted to let you all know how much I enjoyed it. It’s Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin. This was the sort of book where I would read paragraphs and then want to run to my email (can you do that?) and type those paragraphs up and mail them to my friends and say “Isn’t this awesome writing? Don’t you wish that you could write a story like this?” But I refrained from doing that. Now I’m just going to give you a quick blurb and say that if you like a book that has some romance, mixed with a snappy, sarcastic narrator, and a dash of sad but hopeful moments, then this is your book. And, of course, the memory loss!

If Naomi had picked tails, she would have won the coin toss. She wouldn’t have had to go back for the yearbook camera, and she wouldn’t have hit her head on the steps. She wouldn’t have woken up in an ambulance with amnesia. She certainly would have remembered her boyfriend, Ace. She might even have remembered why she fell in love with him in the first place. She would understand why her best friend, Will, keeps calling her “Chief.” She’d know about her mom’s new family. She’d know about her dad’s fiancée. She never would have met James, the boy with the questionable past and the even fuzzier future, who tells her he once wanted to kiss her. She wouldn’t have wanted to kiss him back.

But Naomi picked heads.

Eoin Colfer signing

The Time Paradox

Heyo!  If any of you are Eoin Colfer/Artemis Fowl fans, the sixth book in the series, The Time Paradox, is coming out this month.  There will be a reading and book signing at Town Hall Seattle on Saturday, July 19th, at 6pm.  That gives you plenty of time to come to our cosplay program at the library, and then head up to Seattle!  Mwahahah!

Ranting is good for the soul!

Two posts in one day… it’s like Christmas!  Okay, not really.  Librarians love to talk to each other and teen librarians love to talk about their teens… so through the librarian grapevine, I heard about this video rant about the book Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause vs. the movie.  I thought you might get a kick out of the comparisons!  Check out the video rant!

Roll on into the library… get it? Hah!

Yesterday we spent the afternoon making sushi rolls. It was most definitely sticky, and a little stinky, but it was pretty cool! Everyone got really creative with their rolls, and I was surprised at how much people experimented with the hot sauce and wasabi. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Rice, cucumbers, crab sticks, and avocado… this is us getting started!

Huh?

There was a lot of trial and error with the thickness of the rolls. We improvised with the nori!

Behold, the finished product!

Exorcists, innocence, and akuma… oh my!

D. Gray-man, by Hoshino Katsura, has just recently been added to our manga/graphic novel collection! I’ve had a chance to read the first three volumes. Set in an alternate history, the manga takes place at the end of the 19th century, in Europe. Allen Walker is 15-years-old and has been cursed with a cross-mark on his hand and a scar over his left eye. His hand is a parasitic weapon that can be used to destroy akuma, lost souls that have been trapped in a moment of desperation and despair. Allen’s eye allows him to detect the akuma that can easily disguise themselves as human. Now Allen is about to join the ranks of exorcists that fight akuma and protect the world from the demon known as The Millennium Earl.

If you are a fan of Tim Burton, you’ll love the art style for D. Gray-man. It’s dark and detailed, just bordering on being cute. There’s a lot of comedy, but also some good old-fashioned scary story-telling. If you like your horror with cute, creepy grins, you’ll want to try this manga. You’ll learn more about Allen’s fellow exorcists in vols. 2, 3, and 4.

Let me know what you think of the series!

It’s the summer! Metamorphosis @ your library!

Yeesh, this librarian has been MIA, hasn’t she?  Apologies all around - we’ve got a lot of cool stuff going on this summer, so I’ll make sure to post about what we’ll be doing as the summer progresses.

So our theme this summer is Metamorphosis @ your library.  This summer is all about change - learning new skills, trying different things, and changing perspectives!  Our program for teens has two parts: reading and activities!  While that sounds bland on paper, it’s actually a lot of fun (I hope!). 

For the reading part - sign up at the library and any reading that you do this summer (as of June 2nd) gets you closer to winning prizes.  What are these prizes, you ask?  Gift cards to South Hill Mall, Best Buy, Borders, Regal Cinemas, to name a few.  We also have tickets to see the Tacoma Rainiers, books, pins, posters, and a few other random items.  When you finish a book, turn in a reading form at the library and each week we’ll draw a name!  So, naturally, the more you read, the more chances you have to win!  On top of that, once you read 600 pages (remember, this is over the summer, so you have time!), you get a free book and pin!  Not so bad, eh? 

The second part - activities - is what I’m really looking forward to!  Each week we’ll have programs for teens, with a metamorphosis themes.  Here’s a brief schedule:

 - Buggy about Movies - Enjoy classic monster movies and popcorn at the library.  Heckling is encouraged! June 25th, Wednesday, 3:00 - 5:00pm

 - Learn to make sushi - We’ll be learning how to make basic sushi rolls in the library.  Please register beforehand, either by calling the library or signing up at the children’s desk. July 2nd, Wednesday, 3:00 - 5:00pm

 - Anime: Millennium Actress - Yes, there is anime in the summer!  Yay!  This is a movie about a reclusive actress in Japan, who grants an interview that pulls a journalist and his camerman into her past. July 16th, Wednesday, 3:00 - 5:00pm

 - Learn about Cosplay - Costume play, better known as cosplay, is dressing up as your favorite anime, manga, or video game character.  Melissa Quinn, professional costumer, will be talking about how to design and make cosplay outfits and will show some of her creations. July 19th, Saturday, 1:00 - 3:00pm

 - Makeovers - Learn tips and tricks about makeup and hairstyling from students from the Gene Juarez salon. July 23rd, Wednesday, 3:00 - 5:00pm

 - Sleeveface - What is sleeveface? When a person poses for a photo partially hidden by a record sleeve, causing an illusion.  Come in and try your hand at this new type of photography. July 30th, Wednesday, 3:00 - 5:00pm

 - Breaking Dawn party - Ack!  If you love the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, you’ll want to be here to celebrate the release of the fourth book in the series!  August 2nd, Saturday, 12:00 - 2:00pm

 - T-shirt Transformation -  Grab your old t-shirts and bring them to the library for some cutting, sewing, and rethinking (not necessarily in that order).  August 6th, Wednesday, 3:00 - 5:00pm

 - End of the summer party -  Celebrate the end of our Summer Reading Program by joining us for a party!  We’ll have food, music, games, and - of course - books!  We’ll also be giving away some special prizes!  August 13th 3:00 - 5:00pm

Click

“‘Do you think it’s possible,’ I said carefully, ‘for one person to… to live a whole lot of different lives in the one life?’ There, that wasn’t quite telling it, wasn’t quite not telling.”

 - Afela, Click

George “Gee” Keane isn’t the sort of person you could sum up in a few words. Sure, you could try. Photographer. Grandfather. Trouble-maker. Lover. Traveler. But those words don’t tell you much about Gee and the lives he lived and adventures he had. Only the people who met Gee, who shared a part of his life, could really tell you that. And they can only give you a piece of his story.

Maggie knew him as a grandfather and a storyteller, returning from his travels to share his photos and adventures. Jason was Gee’s adopted-grandson, and he was ready to cash in on his grandfather’s fame to get to his real father. Jiro knew Gee as the enemy, an American observing war’s atrocities. To Vinnie, Gee was a challenge, an adventure, and maybe a ticket to seeing one of the greatest fighters of all time. Weary Afela, who wonders how many lives a single person can live, only knows Gee as a name in the family history - but perhaps they share a stronger bond.

Gee Keane may be dead, but that doesn’t mean that he’s gone.  He’s left his camera, his photographs, his stories, and they all point to a secret that no one could suspect.  Find out what that secret is in Click.

I should add that Click is one novel written by ten authors: Linda Sue Park (A Single Shard), David Almond (The Fire-Eaters), Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl), Deborah Ellis (Breadwinner), Nick Hornby (Slam), Roddy Doyle (Wilderness), Tim Wynne-Jones (Rex Zero and the End of the World), Ruth Ozeki (All Over Creation), Margo Lanagan (Red Spikes), and Gregory Maguire (Wicked).  Each chapter is treated as a short story, with its own voice and perspective.  All royalties from the sale of Click will benefit Amnesty International, which is a pretty cool thing.

Murder in the library!?! Or was it?

On Wednesday, April 23rd, we had a murder mystery. Poor Always B. Wright, head librarian of the Boondock Public Library… she was found at the bottom of the stairs, dead, when the library opened the next morning. But who could have done such a thing? Was it the children’s librarian, Gilda B. Good, who badly wanted her bookmarks approved? Or maybe Hattie the reference librarian, who couldn’t stand how much time Ms. Wright was spending with her new boyfriend Do B. Handsome (a suspect as well)? That Sam the janitor sure is suspicious, with his extended absence (that might involve a lobster).

This was so much fun and I couldn’t believe how much people got into it! The zealous prosecution really did their job and worked with the jury (isn’t that tampering?) to find out whodunnit!

We started setting up the courtroom, complete with body outline.

Members of the jury were more than a little eager to dispense some justice.

Hattie testified about a letter she discovered, written by Mr. Handsome - was he looking to remove her from the picture?

Sam D. Sweeper had a rather questionable alibi… lobsters indeed!

The prosecution was both stylish and resourceful!

The jury deliberated long and hard on who could possibly commit such an act… but who’s that strange person with the scarf?

There was a lot of vigorous note-taking!

What a day!

Free Comic Book Day was awesome! With a capital AWE! We handed out lots of comics (thank you thank you my brave volunteers) and had a terrific workshop with Greg Hatcher. Thank you Greg, for coming out and talking comics with us. Thank you also to Spy Comics, our Partner for FCBD!

We had a lot of fun telling people about all the different kinds of comics we had (I missed out by not having Superman or Dick Tracy, apparently). I thought I’d put up some pictures of the event, in case you weren’t able to make it.

The Free Comic Book Sign… come inside! And some of my brave volunteers…

At the workshop, Greg showed us how to get a story outlines and created *effectively* using comics. People were hard at work plotting out their stories!

This is an example of what not to do in a comic… followed by our artists trying new outlines.

All in all, it was a pretty exciting day. Now to sneak off and actually read some comics!