New for You

Just a few new things are on the shelves for you this week, but one is about the Hunger Games movie, so I had to post it!

FICTION

• Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral
• DJ Rising by Love Maia
• The Visitors by The McKissacks (Clone Codes series)

NONFICTION

• The Hunger Games:  The Official Illustrated Movie Companion by Kate Egan

2012 Award Winners

A few weeks ago, the American Library Association announced their yearly award winners.  The Newbery and Caldecott awards are the most famous, but there are also some for teens.  Which of these sound interesting to you?

Printz Award (for excellence in young adult literature)

• Winner--Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley (also won the Morris Award)
• Honor--Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket)
• Honor--The Returning by Christine Hinwood
• Honor--Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
• Honor--The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (author of Shiver)

Schneider Family Book Award (for books about the disability experience)

• Middle Grades--Close to Famous by Joan Bauer
• Middle Grades--Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
• Teen--The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen

Odyssey Award (for best audiobooks)

• Winner--Rotters by Daniel Kraus
• Honor--Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri
• Honor--Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt

William C. Morris Award (for a debut book from a first-time writer for teens)

• Honor--Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
• Honor--Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard

Stonewall Book Award (for books about the GLBT experience)

• Winner--Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy by Bil Wright
• Honor--Pink by Lili Wilkinson

Public Art in Philadelphia

At Philadelphia Night, we talked about the wealth of public art that you can see on the streets of our city.  From famous sculptures to murals to knitting, it's all out there!

To learn more about Philadelphia's public art, look at:

Fairmount Park Art Association
Check out their clickable map to find public art.

Streets Dept
Get tips on Philly street art, then go see it before it's gone!

Philadelphia Public Art
Take yourself on one of their 30 self-guided tours.

Visit Philly:  Public Art
Read more about the city's outdoor art and see excellent photographs.

Mural Arts:  Mural Explorer
Check out some of the giant-sized artwork Philly is famous for.

Philadelphia Night

Last night 13 people came out for Philadelphia Night. Some of our activities included labeling ourselves with names of famous Philadelphians (I was Michael Nutter) and matching ourselves to our occupations, taking a Tastykake spelling test, and doing a cheesesteak trivia contest. Arig won Find a Famous Philadelphian, Katie and Siaka won the spelling test, and Anas won the cheesesteak trivia. They all got boxes of Tastykakes to take home! We talked about public art in Philly, and, in honor of Claes Oldenburg's Clothespin sculpture, we made clothespin magnets. They're super-easy, and great for the fridge or locker! We painted ours with watercolor first to make them more exciting. We also watched movie clips of National Treasure and Rocky, and ate soft pretzels and water ice. I'd say we had a great time appreciating what we love about Philly!

Shorell's clothespin magnets

Hunger Games Movie Countdown!

Links for Hunger Games Fans

If you have read all of the books and can't wait for the movie in March, here are some great sites about the Hunger Games!

Hunger Games Movie Official Site
I could watch the trailer 10 times in a row, but the site also has posters, widgets to embed on your blog or website, and a movie photo gallery!

Hunger Games Movie on Facebook
Sign up for advanced movie ticket purchase reminders, see photos from the movie, and get all of the lastest info.

Visit the Capitol
Use your Facebook or Twitter account (or create a login) to find out which district you're from.  Then, explore the Capitol as a citizen!  You can also Like the Capitol on Facebook.

Hunger Games Book Series Official Site
Lots of information about the three books, videos from Suzanne Collins, and play the Trial by Fire and Tribute Trials games!

Fansites
Lots of fans have created their own websites for the Hunger Games.  Here are some of of the best-known:

• Down with the Capitol
• The Hob
• The Hunger Games Trilogy
• Jabberjays.com
• Mockingjay.net

Fresh Picks

Here are the latest additions to the teen shelves:

FICTION

• The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (replacement copy)
• In Darkness by Nick Lake
• I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (Lorian Legacies series)
• The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• Shugo Chara!, volumes 5-7, by Peach-Pit

Book Review: What Happened to Goodbye

Visit the online library catalog to reserve a copy from home!

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

What I like about Sarah Dessen's writing is how her characters seem like people you could actually know.  Mclean Elizabeth Sweet's parents had a messy, public divorce during her sophomore year, and she fought to live with her dad.  After living in three towns in two years, Mclean is starting over again in a new one.  Instead of adopting a persona (Beth, Eliza, Lizbet), she accidentally ends up as the "real" Mclean again. And, when life gets real, families, friendships, and relationships take on depth and meaning that can be hard to handle.  As in most of Sarah Dessen's books, there is a great guy in store (Dave, in this case)!  I also have to give Dessen credit for including characters' parents, and giving them their own problems and viewpoints. I didn't love this book as much as some of her others, but it was a satisfying read. It does have a few connections her previous book, Along for the Ride, which was fun.  This is a good book to curl up with on a rainy day or quiet weekend!

Shiny and Blue!

We have a new cart in the teen section!  It is a shiny sky blue and it lives near the doorway into the room.  Right now, it is holding a selection of new books.  Also, I flip-flopped the locations of the teen graphic novels and nonfiction to make everything fit better.  The teen section is getting more and more crowded because we keep buying more great stuff for you, so come check things out!

 I had to put on the wheels before I took it out of the box.   Tool time!

Fully loaded

Winter Nintendo Night

Last Friday, 29 teens showed up for our winter Nintendo Night.  This was a relatively small group for this program, so things were a bit more relaxed than usual!  The Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament had 27 entrants and I made a full bracket of 32 by randomly selecting those who lost to re-enter the tournament.  The final ended up being Colin and James vs. David J. and John E.  David and John won, each receiving a $20 gift card to Game Stop.  They are not allowed to team together next time!  The other six guys in the semi-final round (Siaka, Le, Munir, Colton, Colin, and James) received candy.

In the Naruto Shippuden III tournament, 12 people competed down to a three-way final.  We played that final round-robin style, and Alex P. was the winner of the $10 Wawa gift card after two games.  David T. beat out Dennis W. for the second-place prize, a $5 Wawa gift card.  Dennis W. got candy for being a finalist.  (The Wawa cards were purchased with donations from our recent gift card fundraiser!)  Both tournaments ended a little early, leaving time for free play on both games.  People also enjoyed DS games, Pokemon Stadium on the N64, and sodas during the evening.  And yes, the Yu-Gi-Oh cards were allowed, even though they're not from Nintendo!

Thanks to John E. for keeping the controllers under control, to David J. for bringing his Wii and games, and to Maria for digging up her N64.  This program would not have run as smoothly without your help!  Look for another Nintendo Night program on the spring schedule, which will include a DS Pokemon tournament.  Also, don't forget about Mario Night on Friday, March 9.