Library Ninja!

Check out a program. . .or write a blog post

2008-11-19T10:44:00.007-06:00

Mid-terms and finals are coming up (oh, joy of joys!) and I know you will all be looking for ways to chill out and decompress. December is definitely the time to visit any one of the branches of the Arlington Public Library for some really great programs just for teens.

From crafts to gaming, we have plenty of ways for you to relax (and get some free munchies, too). Check out the Teen Page on our website for upcoming programs. A couple of the programs require registration, so don't wait too long!

In the meantime, post a comment and let us know what books you've read, what movie you watched, or what new music CD you listened to. Better yet, write a paragraph (or 2 or 3) and email it to us! We might just post it on the blog.

Tell us which books you stayed up all night to read and which ones were so bad you threw them across the room. Did you see a new movie that made you laugh or made you walk out of the theater? Were you listening to a new CD in the car and you couldn't get a tune out of your head all day long? We want to know!

This is Push

2008-11-07T15:29:00.004-06:00

PUSH has become one of my favorite publishers of Teen books. They tend to be edgy and often have great covers. But what makes PUSH really great is that, to date, they have published three books of work by teens.

You Are Here, This Is Now, Where We Are, What We See, We Are Quiet, We Are Loud all include short stories, essays, poems, photographs, and paintings by American Teens.

My copy of You Are Here, This Is Now is actually falling apart from my having read it so many times. The work in these books is amazingly brilliant, funny, heartbreaking, and just plain WOW.

In the past, PUSH has worked with the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards for some of their contest winners. If you are a teen and you love to write, you should check out both websites. These are great places for aspiring writers to go.

Speaking of which, has anyone made any significant headway for NaNoWriMo? I'm a wee bit behind myself, but I hope to catch up this weekend!

Happy November!

2008-11-03T19:50:00.005-06:00

There's a lot to be thankful for this November...and I'm not just talking about turkey and cranberries. November looks like it might be a great month to go see a movie, read a book, and write a novel. Sound like too much??? Eh...I don't think so.

First of all, at your local movie theater this November you will have the opportunity to go see The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, based on the book by John Boyne. The story is about a boy named Bruno who lives in Berlin in 1942. Because of his father's promotion to the Krakow prison camp, he and his family are forced to move to Poland. There, Bruno meets and befriends a Jewish boy living in the prison camp. Their meeting and eventual friendship results in harsh consequences. The movie will be rated PG-13. Limited release is November 14. I would suggest that you read the book too!

Twilight is also coming out on November 21 for all you lovers of Bella, Edward, Jacob, and the rest of the various clans! It should also be rated PG-13. If you haven't read this series because vampire romance isn't your style, I would suggest being brave and trying something new. I did. And I *loved* this series!

If you're still lost on what to read, try checking out the new YA fiction and non-fiction. There's always a great read to be found on the list. And remember, if you can't find a book that you think the library should have, click on the "Email Us" link above and let us know what we're missing! Don't forget to include your library barcode number!

November is also National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. Visit the official website to get involved. Challenge yourself and develop your inner writer! Don't know where to start? They have really helpful workbooks for tweens and teens to use as motivation!

So when you're eating your turkey dinner and thinking about what exactly you're thankful for, remember the great movies, books, and creative opportunities that are out there for you! Happy November!

And the winners are......

2008-10-27T13:56:00.003-05:00

The votes have been tallied and the list has been released! Here are the Top Ten Teen Reads of 2008:

1. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
4. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
5. Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson
6. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
7. The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
8. Extras by Scott Westerfeld
9. Before I Die by Jenny Downham
10. Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

So tell us, do you agree with the rankings? Are there any books you think should have been on this list? Give your opinions now!

Video Book Trailers?

2008-10-24T11:35:00.005-05:00

When I'm at the movies with my friends we like to play the "thumbs-up or thumbs-down" game during all those movie trailers. After each trailer plays, everyone will stick their hand out and give their opinion, using their thumb of course, of how the movie will probably turn out.

Now an awesome concept in the word of video has surfaced: the book trailer! It's a 60 - 90 second video introduction to a book, giving enticing little tidbits enough to make you wonder what is that book about and where can I get it? Take a look at these award winning videos and judge for yourself! Also take a look at this year's Teen Video Book Award finalists from Kirkus Reviews (open October 27). You may not be able to keep yourself from giving these awesome books a thumbs up!

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
The Alchemyst by Michael Scott
Runemarks by Joanne Harris
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

One computer to rule them all

2008-10-20T16:47:00.008-05:00

I am a pretty hard core gamer--one without a very hard core PC. But for those that want the fastest World of Warcraft or Age of Conan, you can't go wrong with the new Hardcore PC. Its got military spec RAM, a bulletproof case and the CPU sets in oil. That is right--oil. Computer geeks have been doing this for a couple of years now, modding systems to be able to withstand a lot of heat (see very awesome fish tank computer at right). Oil does that better than any fan could ever do. But if you want one of these, you can expect to shell out $4000. I don't really think I am willing to pay that. The last computer I bought, my friend set it up for me for a total of $700 and I'm not willing to pay much more for a new computer (I'll just wait for one of my friends to buy the newest tech and take their old graphics cards!). If you want to try to do it yourself, you can check out these books:

Build your own high-performance gamers' mod PC
Do-it-yourself PC upgrade projects : 24 cool things you didn't know you could do!
Upgrading & fixing pcs for dummies

Maximum PC via Slashdot

Celebrate Teen Read Week!

2008-10-14T09:07:00.005-05:00

October 12 - 18 is Teen Read Week, a yearly reading celebration put on by the American Library Association. This year's theme is Books with Bite! To celebrate, pick up a book with vampires , dragons, werewolves, or other bitingly awesome creatures!

Also, take a moment to fill out this short quiz to nominate the top ten teen books of the year as well as help decide next year's Teen Read Week theme!

And as an added bonus, stop by the Woodland West Branch and say hello to Bitey McPointy Tooth! He vants to show you some very vondervul booooks...

2008-10-02T13:00:00.009-05:00

Banned Book review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Banned Books Week, September 27 - October 4, celebrates books that have been challenged and censored over the years for their content. In honor of BBW I read Stephen Chbosky's novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This is the story of Charlie, the wallflower, and his insight into his own adolescence and the lives of the people around him. As the story progresses, Charlie is introduced to music, literature, and film which gives the reader a peek into the true unconventional nature of Charlie and his thoughts.

The book explores topics such as introversion, teenage sexuality, abuse, drug use, homosexuality, suicide, and the general awkwardness of being young. Music is an important part of the novel, particularly the song "Asleep" by The Smiths (which became a favorite of mine after I read this book for the first time when I was in high school).

There are also some fantastic quotes in this book. One of my favorites in particular is said by Charlie while he and his two best friends are driving around in the car:

"The feeling I had happened when Sam told Patrick to find a station on the radio. And he kept getting commercials. And commercials. And a really bad song about love that had the word “baby” in it. And then more commercials. And finally he found this really amazing song about this boy, and we all got quiet.

Sam tapped her hand on the steering wheel. Patrick held his hand outside the car and made air waves. And I just sat between them. After the song finished, I said something.

“I feel infinite.”

And Sam and Patrick looked at me like I said the greatest thing they ever heard. Because the song was that great and because we all really paid attention to it. Five minutes of a lifetime were truly spent, and we felt young in a good way.”
-Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, p.33

All in all, the entire book is amazing and unique. I think it really touches on the uncomfortable period of growing up. I would recommend this book to older teens.

Upside Down Bookshelves!

2008-10-02T10:36:00.004-05:00

Instructables.com is a treasure trove of "stuff to do" waiting to happen. Ever wanted to make a top hat out of playing cards? The SW branch did a program in the Spring that let you make those as well as a playing card wallet. And I just saw this very cool upside down bookshelf which holds books that you can take out afterwards that I thought I would share with you guys.

2008-09-17T16:57:00.008-05:00

Please excuse our color-changing, layout-moving, blog-revising dust

Just wanted to let the readers out there know that over the next few weeks you'll probably see a few changes to the blog. We're changing layouts, adding widgets, playing around, and possibly throwing in some ninjas (because ninjas are awesome)! We're excited about the changes and want you to be too! If you have any input on colors or widgets to add, give us a comment to let us know.

Until then move your mouse over the blank "canvas" here! Become the next Jackson Pollock! Click your mouse to change paint colors.

2008-09-11T12:39:00.004-05:00

Fall Movies To Check-Out! (bad pun...I know)

Now that summer's over and school has started I'm sure you're all scratching your heads wondering how to keep your brain entertained (since school is just sucking the energy right out of you). Typically the television or the internet gets turned on and you stare at a screen for, like, 8 hours until your eyes can't blink anymore.

As an alternative (and for eye health...so important these days) I would suggest gearing up for one of the upcoming movies based on a tween or teen novel by actually READING the book before the movie comes out. Whoa...crazy idea! :P

Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist - Coming to theaters October 3
The City of Ember - Coming to theaters October 10
Twilight - Coming to theaters November 21
The Tale of Despereaux - Coming to theaters December 19

"We didn't get sucked into a black hole last night"

2008-09-10T10:45:00.046-05:00

It's true. We didn't get sucked into a black hole while we slept. Hurrah!

And why might we have? Because scientists just outside of Geneva, Switzerland tested the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) last night.

click to read NYTimes article

I have to admit that I was a little wary about it, but since I didn't wake up in an alternate universe or have my molecules collided to smithereens, I'm actually really excited about it.

Scientists basically took some particles (protons and ions), spun them around at the speed of light, each going different directions, and then let the particles collide. Scientists call these collisions "Mini Big Bangs." If you click on this link to NPR's "Morning Edition" (yeah, yeah, it's the type of thing your Mom listens to on the way to work in the morning), you can hear a 4 minute story that includes the countdown to running the collider and the reaction of the scientists. What's amazing is how short a time there is between the countdown and the scientists reactions. Of course, we are talking about particles going as fast as the speed of light (299,792,458 meters per second!).

The reason the LHC is so cool (besides the fact that it sits 300 feet below ground and is 87,463 feet in circumference) is that scientists hope it will reveal some mysteries of the universe, like: How was the universe formed? Are there particles even smaller than quarks (quarks are inside atoms)?

For all your Large Hadron Collider needs, here are some links:

CERN's site on the Large Hadron Collider
Large Hardon Collider will not turn world to goo, promise scientists
Scientists get death threats over Large Hadron Collider

Some Physics Books to Check Out (Not necessarily about the Hadron Collider):

Particle Accelerators: From the Cyclotron to the Superconducting Super Collider
The Physics of Superheroes
Physics Projects For Young Scientists
The Physics of the Buffyverse
From Atoms to Quarks: An Introduction to the Strange World of Particle Physics
The Elegant Universe<--DVD

Is This Good-Bye For Midnight Sun?

2008-09-02T14:11:00.015-05:00

Have you heard about the controversy surrounding Stephenie Meyer's as-of-yet unpublished Midnight Sun?

If you don't already know (how could you not??), Midnight Sun is Twilight told from Edward's point of view. Loooong ago, Stephenie Meyer posted Chapter One on her website, teasing her readers with more Edward-ey goodness that we can't wait to get our hands on.

It turns out that Stephenie let a few people read various drafts of Midnight Sun, only to have one of those people leak the draft onto the internet! Now, Stephenie says she doesn't think there was "malicious intent" behind this, but still. Read what she has to say on her website.

People are upset because Stephenie mentions on her website that Midnight Sun is on hold indefinitely because she is upset. That doesn't mean she'll never finish the book! I mean, if it were me, I would be pretty darn upset, too. I would be livid! I think she just needs time to deal with this. I can't imagine someone taking something I had written but not finished and allowing everyone in the world (practically) to read it.

As usual, feel free to leave your thoughts here.

Random Fun

2008-08-28T10:30:00.028-05:00

So, you're back at school. You're slaving away.

You're trudging through required reading, bravely conjugating verbs, stridently factoring polynomials, tirelessly memorizing constitutional amendments.

And school just started!

So what you need are a couple of fun and/or ridiculous sites to visit when you're taking a break from the 38 bajillion tons of homework you've been given to finish over the weekend. Lucky for you, I've got links to a few sites that are good for just that.

HeroMachine version 2.5 - This site is AWESOME!! You can build your own Superhero. I can tell you I've done this a couple (hundred thousand) times myself. I love it!

The American Sign Language Browser - This is one of my favorite sites! Click on one of the hundreds of words available and watch a 2 to 4 second QuickTime video that shows a person demonstrating how to sign the word. This is much better than using a book to learn sign language.

Face of the Future - This site was discovered by Melissa, so I can't take any credit for finding it. All you do is upload a photo (preferably one where you are directly facing the camera), crop it on the site as needed, and then run amok with changing your face to resemble the style of artists like Botticelli.

HomeStarRunner.com - This is pretty much just random weirdness. Cartooney weirdness. I love it. If it's your first time to visit this site, then go to this link, click "main page" on the bottom left in tiny print and, once you're on the main page, find the circle on the left side kind of at the top that says "first time here?". My favorite thing? When you're on the main page, go to "'toons" (on the left side). On that page, click "toons" on the remote. Find the 'toon called "A Jorb Well Done." Ha! Hilarity! (Well, for me, anyway.)

Free Rice - This one is not only highly addictive, it makes you smarter and it results in charitable donations! Basically, go to the site and answer questions from vocabulary definitions to identification of pieces of art. According to the site, "For each answer you get right, we donate 20 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program to help end hunger." (Thanks go to Nicole for showing me this site.)

If you have any cool sites to share, please do so by leaving a comment so that I'll have something to do ~~when I go home after work and sit at my computer and surf the net for hours on end~~ when I have a bit of free time.

2008-08-16T14:14:00.011-05:00

Good News/Bad News

I always believe in delivering bad before good so here it goes:

THE BAD

Warner Brothers announced that the release of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" will be delayed until July 2009. (BOO! HISS!)

[pregnant pause while everyone vents their complete disbelief and utter horror]

Take 3 deep relaxing breaths. One, Two, Three...

THE GOOD

"Twilight" the movie will now be released on Friday, November 21st. Summit films announced that since "Half-Blood Prince" was removed from the holiday schedule, they would move up the "Twilight" release date by three weeks.

[copious cheering]

Read all about it

Breaking Dawn's Release! Twilight Trivia Challenge Photos!

2008-08-07T12:10:00.023-05:00

Breaking Dawn is finally here!!!! Okay, okay. I'm a few days late on that announcement, but that's because I spent the weekend devouring all 754 pages. I'm not the only one. It seems that a couple of library staffers were actually racing each other to finish, calling each other off and on, taunting each other with, "Oh, yeah? Well I'm on this page now!"

On Monday I went to Amazon.com to read reviews of the book, and there were already 820 reviews!! No telling how many there are now. Personally, I really enjoyed the book. But that's not important. What is important is what all of you thought about the book. I want to know! Please leave your comments here on the blog. I want to know if you loved it, hated it, or really aren't sure what to think about it.

For those who didn't make it to Woodland West's Twilight Trivia Challenge, we had a lot of fun and answered tons if questions from the first three books. I ~~worked with~~ ~~handed bits of tape to~~ helped Nicole (Woodland West's "full of awesome" Clerk II) transform our meeting room into a place I think any Twilight fan would enjoy. It was black and red and a wee bit sparkly (not sparkly enough for my tastes, though). Team Edward won by just a few points (sad face for all the Jacob devotees) and some cool prizes were given out, including vampire teeth, invitations to Bella and Edward's wedding, and even a handmade bracelet! (Made by Nicole!)

Here are a few photos from the event:

From left to right: Our most fantabulous wall of sparkly stuff!

Twilighters debating some serious trivia. Egads! Team Edward wins by just 3 points!

The world's most awesome of awesome Twilighters!

IT'S ALMOST TIME!!!!!!!

2008-07-30T16:33:00.002-05:00

The excitement is building as the time approaches for the Teen Summer Reading Club End of Summer party! It is going to be a rockin' good time! There are going to be lots of games, good music playing and some great snacks! The big event is taking place on Friday August 8, 2008 from 5-9 p.m. Don't forget that registration is required! To register, all you need to do is visit any library location and ask a staff member to sign you up.
On a side note, once you are in the party, you are in. There will be no in and out once the party has begun.
The party will take place at the Central Library at 101 East Abram St. on the lower level. Woohoo!!!!

Only 3 MORE DAYS!!!!

2008-07-21T18:27:00.021-05:00

Until the Twilight Trivia Challenge at the Woodland West Branch, that is. I know you want to sign up for the last few places! You know what, though? Even if you don't grab a spot on the registration list, that's okay! We only have prizes for those who register, but everyone can participate in the trivia. Don't be shy. This is your chance to meet other Twilighters and talk about how awesome the books are. And you may be surprised by how many library staffers are complete Twilight fanatics. Like someone whose name begins with an A- and ends with an -ngela.

And I nearly forgot! Adults are now welcome to join in the Twilight Trivia madness. You guys wouldn't believe how many adults have been asking to participate. Madness, I tell you. Madness!!

Has everyone else been keeping up with the Breaking Dawn Quote of the Day on the main page of Stephenie Meyer's website? These quotes are driving me CRAZY!! A certain someone (begins with an A- and ends with an -ngela) clued me in to these quotes and I will never forgive her for the daily torture of trying to analyze and decode each string of dialogue.

While I'm talking about Twilight, I should mention the brand new trailer for the movie. There is a link to it on Stephenie Meyer's website. Personally, I like the teaser trailer better, but I want to know what everyone else thinks! (That includes the library staff.)

And, for your amusement, some Twilight-related links:

Twilight Guy: A Guy Reads the Twilight Saga (I think the name explains it all. Visit this site. You will love it.)
Twilight Teez (Where you can buy Bella's wedding ring!!)
His Golden Eyes.com (With theories about the Breaking Dawn quotes.)
With You (This site has some awesome Japanese Twilight illustrations. Look for the link on the left under MultiMedia)

Zombies!

2008-07-16T16:24:00.022-05:00

Everyone likes zombies. Adults like zombies. Kids like zombies. Cats, dogs, even babies like zombies.* And now, finally, teens are turning into zombies. Well, not really, but there are a couple of brand new teen books featuring zombies. But first, let’s do a very quick and off-the-top-of-my-head zombie history recap.

Night of the Living Dead, George Romero’s 1968 cult classic, is really (if you ask me) what started it all. Now, maybe Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein helped, but Night of the Living Dead really inspired 20th century zombie lovers to create a plethora of zombie novels, zombie comic books, zombie movies, even zombie celebrations . There have been dozens upon dozens of zombie movies; Too many for me to even begin to name. Wikipedia (oh, most helpful of sites) has a great list of zombie films.

The true zombie madness died down a bit during the 1990’s, but I like to think that books such as The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z by Max Brooks* and movies such as Shaun of the Dead and Resident Evil (based on the games, of course) really helped bring back the zombie craze. Since then, Stephen King has written a zombie book (Cell) and Robert Rodriguez wrote and directed Planet Terror. You can even find some zombie manga (Zombie-Loan and Reiko the Zombie Shop)!

But now, finally, we have some teen zombie novels!

The basic premise of the book? Kids are starting to not die. But don't call them zombies. They are "differently biotic" or "living impaired." Phoebe is a goth girl. Her best friend, Adam, is a jock. And Phoebe's crush, Tommy, is "living impaired."

Some of the kids in school don't like those who are "living impaired." I mean, really don't like them. But Phoebe doesn't care. And this may lead to something dangerous for Phoebe, Tommy, and even Adam.

This is taken from BarnesandNoble.com:
From the moment Hannah Sanders arrived in town, she felt there was something wrong.A lot of houses were for sale, and the town seemed infected by an unearthly quiet. And then, on Hannah's first day of classes, she ran into a group of cheerleaders-the most popular girls in school.The odd thing was that they were nearly identical in their appearance. Blonde, beautiful, and deathly pale.But Hannah wants desperately to fit in-regardless of what her friend Lukas is telling her: If she doesn't watch her back, she's going to be blonde and popular and dead-just like all the other zombies in this town . . .

*Although this is not a proven, scientific fact, I bet if you asked a bunch of babies (or cats or dogs) if they liked zombies they most likely wouldn’t tell you that they don’t like zombies, so it is probably safe to assume that babies (and cats and dogs) do, indeed, like zombies.

* Son of one of my personal heroes, director Mel Brooks, who directed Young Frankenstein, which harkens back to our friend Mary Shelley’s well-known novel

Twilight Trivia Challenge 2008!

2008-07-11T14:49:00.063-05:00

Haven't had your Twilight fix since the The Bella Cullen Project concert at the Central Library?

Not to worry! The Woodland West Branch is gearing up for the fourth book, Breaking Dawn, by hosting the Twilight Trivia Challenge 2008.

The Twilight Trivia Challenge 2008 will take place Thursday, July 24 from 6 pm to 7:30 pm.

Registration is required for this event. To register, call 817-277-5265 or ask a library employee in person. Sign up ASAP if you're interested, because space is very limited and we're already filling up!

Have some Twilight gear at home (i.e., shirts, buttons, hats, or other crazy schtuff)?? Wear it while you battle your friends with your astounding knowledge of Bella, Edward, Jacob, and every other character we all love to read about over and over again (or maybe that's just me...)

And if you haven't already done so, visit Twilight Tuesdays at MTV.com to see the article and some videos of The Bella Cullen Project.

Also, check out the new Entertainment Weekly article on Stephenie Meyer and the Twilight movie and tell us what you think. Do you like the cover photo (on page 4 of the article)? We want to know!!

Little Brother and Wordle

2008-07-05T12:00:00.004-05:00

I am in love with Wordle, a site that makes tag clouds out of any text, including del.icio.us links. For instance, the above is the tag cloud for the YA book Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (if you click on the link, you can read the whole book ONLINE for free!). Scott Westerfeld, author of the Uglies and Midnighters series calls the book "A rousing tale of techno-geek rebellion, as necessary and dangerous as file sharing, free speech, and bottled water on a plane", while Neil Gaiman blurbs on the front cover: "I'd recommend Little Brother over pretty much any book I've read this year." Since Westerfeld and Gaiman are some of my favorite authors, I am going to start reading this one as soon as possible!

********: It's Back

2008-07-02T12:50:00.004-05:00

Come on over to the East Arlington Branch on July 3, 2008 at 2 p.m. and find out what the real movie title is. It's sure not "********." Coincidentally (or is it?) this movie is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary and is going to be shown in theaters later this month. The library showing would be a great time to see the movie and judge whether it will be worth the ticket price! (Or it would be an opportunity to see a movie over and over again!) Join us and celebrate the strange allure of 80s movies!

Here's the info:

Thursday July 3, 2008 2p.m.
East Arlington Branch
1624 New York Ave.
Arlington, TX 76010

Read-A-Thon @ Woodland West Branch

2008-07-01T18:18:00.010-05:00

Woodland West Branch -- Game Frenzy

2008-06-27T13:47:00.011-05:00

Woodland West Branch Library Presents:

2008-06-25T17:55:00.009-05:00

Coming July 2008!

Georgia Nicolson is back but will she finally be off the rack of luurve? When we last visited Georgia, she was leaving the cake shop of love having chosen The Love God, Masimo, as her one and only. But with Masimo in Italy will she be pushed back through the revolving door of love by Dave, The Laugh? If you are looking for a fun summer series, check out Louise Rennison's books.