New Audio Books!

Have you listened to any good books lately?  Try one of these!

BOOKS ON CD

• Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
• Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
• Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
• This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
• Before I Die by Jenny Downham
• Across the Universe by Beth Revis
• The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan (Heroes of Olympus series)
• The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan (Kane Chronicles series)
• The Alchemyst by Michael Scott (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series)

BOOKS ON PLAYAWAY (Pre-loaded MP3 players)

• Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover by Ally Carter
• Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter
• What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen 
• Looking for Alaska by John Green 

TAB Bake Sale

On Saturday, the Teen Advisory Board (TAB) had an amazing bake sale in the library lobby.  We raised $248.25 to fund our Hunger Games lock-in this December!!  We had a great variety of food, including cupcakes, brownies, lots of types of cookies, muffins, Rice Krispy Treats, and a delicious Middle Eastern sweet that was like a honey-filled fried doughnut.  We sold nearly everything by the end!  

Thanks to our bakers (and their families):  Katie, Grace, Emily, Elena, Amie & Kim, Anas & Arig, Billy, Genni, Marissa, and me.

Thanks to our workers:  Saranjeet, Genni, Arig, Anas, Katie, Marissa, Grace, Kim, Amie, Christelle, Jasmine, Emily, and Elena.

And thanks to all of the library patrons and staff who bought things from us!  We appreciate you all!!

Superhero Night!

Last Friday, 18 teens came out to celebrate Teen Read Week at our Superhero Night!  As everyone arrived, they used a superhero name generator to get an identity if they didn't already have one.  They also entered to win a comic book and took pictures in our superhero photo area.  During the program, we watched movie clips, did a theme song guessing contest, decorated cupcakes, matched heroes to their catchphrases, had a costume contest, and generally acted heroic.  It was a lot of fun!  Huge thanks to my friend Mike, who shared his love of all things superhero with us.  He had a great time meeting everyone!  Also, thanks to grown-up library teen Caitlin, who donated the comic books we gave away.

I handed out Spiderman pencils to people who knew the theme songs, and Katie ended up with three.  I had to stop calling on her!  For bigger prizes, the Teen Advisory Board suggested "things a superhero would put on his/her utility belt," so we came up with keychain flashlights and carabiner watches.  Everyone who won a contest got to pick one of those, available in many colors to match every superhero's costume, of course.  Micah and Chantiel won the cupcake decorating contest (see photos below).  Chantiel also won the comic book drawing.  Avis ruled the catchphrase matching, with Christelle and Own close behind.  We had seven people enter the costume contest, and it came down to Janitor Man and Bat Girl.  Bat Girl won because Mike was impressed that she had knitted her own hat and cape!  Bat Girl received a comic book for her efforts.  Janitor Man and Bat Girl both got candy, as well.

Are you sad you missed it?  I put lots of links below!  Also, next summer's reading theme is "Rule the Night," so we should definitely do superheroes again!

Movie/TV Show Clips:
Original Batman Bomb Scene
Original Batman Shark Scene
Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog
X-Men 2
The Incredibles
Batman Begins
Spiderman 2
DareDevil
Mystery Men

Theme Songs:
Batman Beyond
Batman (1989)
Superman
X-Man Animated Series (1992)
Spiderman
1960s Batman TV Show
1980s Ninja Turtles Cartoon

Some shots from the superhero photo corner:

Some cupcakes:

Billy made Janitor Man's logo

Chantiel's winning cupcake:  a flying superhero

Nehimya decorated his for X-Men

Micah's winning cupcake:  the symbols of Superman, the Green Lantern, and Batman

Laurel did another version of Batman's logo.

Book Swap & Alice

It's Teen Read Week!  One way we decided to celebrate was to have a book swap and movie event with a movie inspired by a book.  This afternoon, 14 teens showed to swap 33 books and watch Alice in Wonderland (2010; PG).  We also  ate 10 bags of microwave popcorn, plus other snacks!  That has to be some kind of record.  I hope everyone enjoys their new books from the swap, but if you don't, we'll swap again over the winter!!

Stuffed Shelves

Look for these new items in our teen section!

FICTION

• The Princess and the Pauper by Kate Brian
• Ghost Town by Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires series)
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (additional copy)
• Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon
• Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy series; additional copy)
• The Apothecary by Maile Meloy
• Witch & Wizard by James Patterson (additional copy)
• Life:  An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet
• A Long Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

NONFICTION

• The Duh Awards by Bob Fenster
• The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook:  Holidays by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht 

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• Naruto, volume 1, by Mashshi Kishimoto (replacement copy)

Duct Tape Crafts

Last Wednesday, 14 teens came for our after-school duct tape craft program.  It was sticky, but fun!  I had two projects planned, duct tape wallets and hair bows, which most people chose to work on.  Instead of written directions, we used two online video tutorials.  This worked out really well because we could pause it to do work, or watch tricky bits twice!  (Two people did their own thing, creating duct tape versions of the Japanese TV character Domo!)  We had lots of fun colors and patterns of tape, thanks to a great sale at the craft store and the inspiration of my 5-year-old. 

You can check duct tape books out of the library, such as Got Tape? and Ductigami. Duck brand duct tape has also their own YouTube channel!  They have lots of helpful videos on there, as well as tons of craft ideas on their website.  Raid your family's toolbox for the duct tape and make something!

Here are some tutorials to get you started:
Duct Tape Bow
Duct Tape Wallet
Duct Tape School Folder
Duct Tape Bookmark

Duct tape wallets, hair bows, and Domos!

Book Review: Sean Griswold's Head

Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt

Review by Elena

Sean Griswold's Head is a story about an average girl named Payton Gritas.  Ond day, she accidentally sees her mom injecting a needle into her dad's veins.  After this sudden shock, her parents tell her it's not what she thinks.  Her father has multiple sclerosis, a disease that affects the brain and spinal cord.  She is outraged to find out that her brothers already know, and Payton desides not to speak with her family.  Payton's parents ask the school counselor to help her, and the counselor tells her to keep a focus notebook.  This might help her focus on something other than her father's disease.  She also chooses a focus object to redirect her attention.  Unfortunately, Payton chooses the head of Sean Griswold, a boy who sits in front of her in biology class. 

Writing in the notebook is helpful at times, but Payton constantly argues with her best friends, quits the basketball team, and starts to do poorly in school.  Payton also slowly becomes friends with Sean, and is slowly crushing on him.  She still will not speak with her family at all, even though she always sees her father in pain and not moving at all because of the disease.  Payton's anger grows, not just at her family, but at the disease.  As the months pass, Sean persuades Payton to practice for a bike marathon to raise money for multiple sclerosis.  

I think this book is a great story for anyone over the age of 12.  It tells a lot about multiple sclerosis and the real symptoms people have.  This story is unique and fun, but also deals with a serious subject.

Fall Nintendo Night

Last Friday, 39 teens showed up for our fall edition of Nintendo Night!  It was our busiest one ever, with three simultaneous tournaments.  We had full brackets in the Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament, with 18 teams.  I matched them up randomly, and we ended up with a final match of David J. and Colin vs. Devon and Jared.  Jared put up a good fight at the end, but was ultimately beaten.  It was a great match!  David J. and Colin each got a $15 gift card to Game Stop, and all four guys got candy.  Huge thanks to John E. for keeping the controllers straightened out for each match.  It was a big help!

The Naruto Shippuden III tournament was also full, with 16 entrants.  This has been a popular game at our club meetings, so it was not a surprise to see some exciting matches and hear a lot of bragging!  Dennis M. defeated David T. in the final for a $10 gift card to Game Stop.  All of the top four finishers received candy.

For our third tournament, we did a Pokemon Black and White tournament on DS.  Evan didn't like our rules from last time, so he took a shot at running it his way.  It worked pretty well, and it also went really fast!  Ten people entered, which worked down to a three-way final.  David J. took home the $10 Game Stop gift card, and all three top finishers got candy.   Evan did all the work of this tournament, from making the rules to checking teams to recording victories in the brackets.  Thanks, Evan!

We do this several times a year, so look for another Nintendo Night on the winter 2012 schedule. 

Fall Craft Closet Cleanout

I don't usually do Craft Closet Cleanout two months in a row, but we have too much old stuff in the attic!  So, 14 people showed up after school on Friday to make things.  I like it because it gets supplies out of my storage room and they like it because there's a lot of variety.  I usually take pictures, but I forgot to charge my camera battery, so you'll just have to trust me that we made awesome stuff!

Here's what we made:

• Denim dog chew toys (from summer 2008)
• Decorated giant flip flops (from summer 2009)
• Sand art keychains (from summer 2009)
• Gift tags (from summer 2011)
• Beaded ponytail holders (from summer 2011)
• Pop tab bracelets (from spring 2010)
• Safety pin bracelets (from fall 2010)
• School spirit ponytail holders (from fall 2011)
• Button jumble earrings (from summer 2011)

We actually finished off supplies for several of these, so yay for us!  I worked yesterday, and I got lots of different projects organized for our next CCC (with help from Sara A.), so look for it on the winter calendar.