Nintendo Night!

Last night 19 teens showed up for the Fall Nintendo Night. It was my first time hosting Nintendo Night, and I had a great time. We did the usual Smash Bros Brawl tournament, with seven teams of two. Since there was an odd number of teams, one of the three losing teams in the first round was picked randomly to get a second chance fighting the seventh team. Good thing for David and Siaka, who were eliminated in the first game of the night, but when they were randomly chosen to come back in, they ended up winning the tournament! Each of them got a $20 Gamestop gift card. The teams to come in second and third place won candy.

People were also invited to try their hands at an old-school competition on my NES I brought in, along with a reproduction cartridge of Nintendo World Championships 1990. Each player is given five minutes to get 50 coins in Super Mario Bros., race one lap in Rad Racer, and run out the clock in Tetris. After the five minutes are up the game ends and displays your score, which I recorded in my notebook. Next to the NES I had a high score board display where I could post the current top five players. We had ten people compete. It was a close battle, but David took the top spot at 103, 390 points, getting another $20 Gamestop gift card. The other high scorers won candy. Here's the top five scores of the night:

David     103,390

John E     99,745

Colin       98,140

Owen      96,630

Morgan   95,050

And just for comparison's sake, the actual champion of Nintendo World Championships 1990, Thor Ackerlund, had a score of 2,800,000. Which is insane.

Finally there was a second Wii set up with another projector for free play. The first half of the night it was dominated by Naruto, but for a while there was some Mario Kart Wii going on as well. There will be more gaming events in the upcoming months, so check back soon for more info!

the new titles continue, week of 12/16/2012

The flood of new titles continues this week! In order to make some extra room, I've added a top row to all the shelves in the teen space with new titles displayed there. And since the graphic novel/manga section was already filled to capacity before adding all of these, I've put a small display up on the windowsill featuring some of the newer titles. And since manga don't really have book trailers, I put in links to the anime counterpart's opening where I could. Just because!

NON-FICTION

• Guinness World Records 2013: Gamer's Edition

FICTION

• Abandon by Meg Cabot (replacement copy)
• This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel
• Tempest by Julie Cross
• Wither by Lauren DeStefano
• Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen
• All Good Children by Catherine Austen
• Struck By Lightning by Chris Colfer
• Pirate Cinema by Cory Doctorow
• Article 5 by Kirsten Simmons 

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge
• K-On by Kakifly (vol. 1, 2, 4)
• Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa (vol. 1-6)
• Neon Genesis Evangelion by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (vol. 1-3 in one book)
• Maximum Ride by James Patterson and Narae Lee (vol. 1-4)
• Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata (vol. 8)
• Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi (vol. 1-6)
• Skip Beat by Yoshiki Nakamura (vol. 1-3 in one book)

TAB's Barnes and Noble gift wrap fundraiser!

On Saturday, our Teen Advisory Board went to Barnes and Noble to wrap gifts for customers, taking donations. From 12 to 4 the TAB was able to get $51.89 in donations! I occasionally wrapped some gifts as well, and I feel I must apologize to those customers who offered a donation and received my poor poor gift wrapping skills in return!

deluge of new titles for week of 12/9/2012!

Get ready, 'cause we've got a TON of new titles being added to the teen section! (Hopefully we'll get more shelf space soon, otherwise these shelves are gonna be bursting!) Here's what we've got this week, there's more to come next week as well!

FICTION

• No Safety In Numbers by Dayna Lorentz
• Wake by Amanda Hocking (Watersong book 1)
• Lullaby by Amanda Hocking (Watersong book 2)
• I Swear by Lane Davis 
• Hourglass by Myra McEntire
• Endlessly by Kiersten White (book 3 of the Paranormalcy trilogy)
• Quarantine: The Loners by Lex Thomas
• The Paladin Prophecy by Mark Frost
• The Diviners by Libba Bray
• Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card (replacement copy)
• Embrace by Jessica Shirvington
• Dodger by Terry Pratchett
• For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund
• Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
• Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• Marmalade Boy by Wataru Yoshizumi (vol. 1-3)
• Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata (vol. 1, 3, 5-7)
• Yotsuba&! by Kiyohiko Azuma (vol. 4, 5, 7, 8)
• Paradise Kiss by Ai Yazawa (vol. 1-2)

New titles for the week of 12/2/2012

FICTION

• The Door Within by Wayne Thomas Batson
• Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin
• The Raft by S.A. Bodeen
• London Eye by Tim Lebbon
• A World Away by Nancy Grossman
• What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang
• Breaking Point by Karyn Langhorne Folan & Paul Langan (a Bluford High book)

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• Hikaru no Go by Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata (vol 1-10)

The Hikaru no Go books are actually shelved in the juvenile graphic novels, but I'm including them because I think they have a pretty large age range of appeal. Also I think it's actually 1-10, minus 3 and 7? Anyway, lots of new stuff to check out this week!

Borrow, Don't Steal!

This video was  long time coming, but it's finally online! A group of teens here at the Sellers Library made a truly great public service announcement video speaking out against theft at the library! It's great to see the hard work of everyone involved really pay off!

New titles for the week of 11/25

NONFICTION

• The Warrior's Heart by Eric Greitens
• GLBTQ by Kelly Huegel
• Filmmaking for Teens by Clay Nichols
• The Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy & Charles Wibbelsman
• 100 Things Guys Need to Know by Bill Zimmerman
• Be Confident in Who You Are  by Annie Fox
• Real Friends vs. the Other Kind by Annie Fox
• Mad: How to Deal With Your Anger and Get Respect  by James J. Crist
• The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

FICTION

• Something Like Normal by Trish Doller
• Son by Lois Lowry (conclusion to The Giver)
• The Curiosities by Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton and Brenna Yovanoff
• The Good Braider by Terry Farish

Disney Mashup!

Last Friday, November 23, 13 teens avoided the craziness of Black Friday and opted instead to enjoy some Disney-themed entertainment at the library! The event began with a Disney YouTube playlist screening, which included submissions which were emailed to me. We had a mix of everything from classic Mickey shorts to songs from Disney movies to Pixar's newer shorts. Lots of variety! That was followed up by screening the Disney animated movie Atlantis: The Lost Empire, which was voted on our Facebook page's poll. It beat out 7 other Disney movies.
I will attempt to embed the Disney playlist that was shown below:



There were snacks and hot chocolate to enjoy during the movie, and I brought cupcakes to give to people that could answer my Disney trivia questions! (The trivia questions were also a great chance to pause a YouTube clip and give it a chance to load up!) Probably my biggest surprise on the trivia was when someone answered the one non-multiple choice questions that I asked, which I really didn't think anyone would know. The question was "Why were Donald Duck cartoons almost banned in Finland?" The answer? Because Donald does not wear pants.

There were other activities to keep busy with, such as a few papercrafts:
Maleficent
Mickey Mouse
Alien from Toy Story

and some coloring pages!

In addition at the last minute I grabbed my SNES and a couple of Disney games I have and hooked it up to a TV and put it in the corner. Aladdin, The Lion King and Mickey Mania were all available to play, and I was happy to see them getting used throughout the event!

All in all it was a good time and think next time there's a movie marathon kind of idea, I'd like to make it a bit more like this one was.

Coloring was popular while the videos were playing!

Papercraft table, with a good looking Mickey!

The last of the cupcakes were given to the best coloring page artists!

New titles for the week of 11/18/2012

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Here's just a few new titles we had come in during the week!

FICTION

• Lemonade Mouth Puckers Up by Mark Peter Hughes

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• Kimi Ni Todoke by Karuho Shiina (vol. 15)

Election Day TAB Bake Sale!

On Tuesday, November 6, the Teen Advisory Board held a bake sale in the lobby of the library to raise funds for future programs. The library was closed that day, but open as a polling place. Lots of TAB members came bearing awesome baked goods, and Sellers' previous teen librarian Gretchen even dropped off some cupcakes the day before (I had one, and they were great). We ended up raising $125.70 for the Teen Advisory Board, and had fun doing it! All in all a successful day!

New Titles for the week of 11/4/2012

A little late with this post, here's the new titles from the week of 11/4/2012, with a few from the previous week as well (hurricane Sandy kind of messed up shipping and such).

FICTION

• Devil's Kiss by Sarwat Chadda
• The Turning by Francine Prose
• Time to Shine by Nikki Carter (part of the Fab Life series)
• Ruins by Orson Scott Card
• Revived by Cat Patrick

Vocaloid Day at Asian Culture Club!

The Asian Culture Club met Wednesday with a celebration of all things vocaloid! For those that may not know, vocaloids are programs that allow users to make a voice sing in whatever words you want in any pitch you'd like to make music! The voices are each given names and characters to supply them with personality, the most famous of which has to be Hatsune Miku. Below is a video of Hatsune Miku singing a medley of her songs at a live concert in Japan:

For the Asian Culture Club meeting, we compiled YouTube videos into a playlist ahead of time to watch at the meeting. I had my laptop hooked up to a projector and speakers so we could all see and hear it clearly. While the vocaloid songs were playing, I brought a stack of papercraft sheets to construct of various vocaloids and other anime-related characters (and some not so anime-related, but I really really wanted to make a Companion Cube!). In addition, I brought in my PSP with a Japanese import copy of a Hatsune Miku game I happened to own, a music game called Hatsune Miku Project Diva. I had speakers hooked up to it, plus a large pair of headphones if it was too hard to hear (it being a rhythm game, hearing clearly is important!).

The meeting was a lot of fun, papercrafts were made, and Pocky was eaten. At first I was afraid we wouldn't have enough vocaloid clips to fill an entire hour and a half meeting, so I had also invited people to send their favorite anime music videos (AMVs) to append to the list. That turned out to be unnecessary, as we had enough music to last three meetings I think. Perhaps a showing of favorite AMVs can be its own meeting theme another time. The PSP game also got some play time, so that was good (the headphones were used exclusively, as the game couldn't be heard over the music playing).

There were some opportunities for improvement next time however. With such a huge list of vocaloid clips, I was concerned about the fact that not everyone would be able to get their submitted clips shown. Mixing up the playlist to make sure there were submissions from various people throughout could have helped that. The other big problem was the wifi occasionally deciding to quit while playing a clip. I brought in my own laptop hoping it would avoid that problem, as it's done that with the library's laptop before. This wasn't a huge issue, as usually just telling YouTube to go one lower in the video quality would have it reloading just fine. I don't really know what else to do with this issue anyway, so it's most likely one that we'd just have to live with.

The issue of getting more members was brought up, and that's certainly something we need to consider. Our group of regular members is reliable, yet very small, and it would be great to get more people involved. Obviously this is something we'll need to discuss in the near future. Overall the meeting was a lot of fun, and I'm already looking forward to the next one!

New titles for the week of 10/21/12

FICTION

• Beta by Rachel Cohn
• Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier
• Dead is the New Black by Marlene Perez
• The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (additional copy, Maze Runner book 2)
• The Death Cure by James Dashner (Maze Runner book 3)
• The Kill Order by James Dashner (prequel to the Maze Runner trilogy)
• Bar Code Tattoo by Suzanne Weyn
• Identical by Ellen Hopkins
• Glass by Ellen Hopkins
• Burned by Ellen Hopkins
• My Life & Other Stuff I Made Up by Tristan Bancks
• Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
• Untouchable by Kate Brian (part of the Private series)
• Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
• Eve & Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate
• The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
• The Other Normals by Ned Vizzini
• Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl (book 4 of the Beautiful Creatures books)
• Speechless by Hannah Harrington
• Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick (final book in the Hush Hush series)

New titles for the week of 10/14/2012

FICTION

• Evil Star by Anthony Horowitz (book 2 of The Gatekeepers)
• Revelation by Kate Brian (A Private novel)
• Hidden by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• Manga Man by Barry Lyga, illustrated by Colleen Doran

New books for the week of 10/7/2012!

Just a couple of titles added this week. And whereas last week pretty much everything had book trailers, this week it's the exact opposite, with neither having them!

FICTION

• Something Like Normal by Trish Doller
• On The Day I Died by Candace Fleming

Banned Books Week discussion group!

On Wednesday, October 3, I invited people to the library and discuss the books they've read that have been banned or challenged at some point in the past. We began by talking about which books we'd read, then why we think they might have been challenged, and finally looking up the actual reasons. Some of the reasons people give are pretty bizarre, and so I thought it would be fun to match up 10 of the weirdest reasons with the respective books. The teens that participated were really sharp and matched them up in no time flat!

Below is the list of books and the reasons people gave for their removal:

1. “Encourages children to break dishes so they won’t have to dry them.” ( A Light in the Attic, by Shel Silverstien)
2. “The book contains topless sunbathing and 'on some pages there are dirty things'” ( Where's Waldo, Martin Hanford)
3. “If there is a possibility that something might be controversial, then why not eliminate it?” ( Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown)
4. “Tarzan was ‘living in sin’ with Jane.” ( Tarzan, by Edgar Rice Burroughs)
5. “It is a real ‘downer.’” ( Diary of Anne Frank, by Anne Frank)
6. “The basket carried by Little Red Riding Hood contained a bottle of wine, which condones the use of alcohol.” ( Little Red Riding Hood, by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm K. Grimm)
7. “One bunny is white and the other is black and this ‘brainwashes’ readers into accepting miscegenation.” ( The Rabbit’s Wedding, by Garth Williams)
8. “It is a religious book and public funds should not be used to purchase religious books.” ( Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, by Walter A. Elwell, ed.)
9. “A female dog is called a bitch.” ( My Friend Flicka, by Mary O’Hara)
10. “An unofficial version of the story of Noah’s Ark will confuse children.” ( Many Waters, by Madeleine C. L’Engle)

Afterwards I invited anyone who was interested to record themselves reading a passage from a banned or challenged book for the Banned Books Week Virtual Read Out. One person along with myself sat down in front of a Flip camera to read a short passage. Both videos are embedded below in a playlist:

The turnout might have been small, but the group was still fun!

new teen books for the week of 9/30/2012

Not sure if it's coincidence or book trailers are getting more mainstream, but out of the 8 new books, 7 have trailers. Pretty cool!

FICTION

• Ten by Gretchen McNeil
• So Close to You by Rachel Carter
• Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett
• Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter
• Origin by Jessica Khoury
• The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson (sequel to The Girl of Fire and Thorns)
• Erasing Time by C.J. Hill
• Carnival of Souls by Melissa Mar

New titles for the week (hope you like manga!)

The manga shelf is getting a lot of new titles this week, some new titles and some new volumes of titles we currently carry.

FICTION

• My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris
• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• Bleach by Tite Kubo (vol. 22)
• Buso Renkin by Nobuhiro Watsuki (vol. 1)
• Gundam Seed Destiny by Masatusgo Iwase, Hajime Yatate and Yoshiyuki Tomino (vol. 1-2)
• Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata (vol. 4)
• Hunter x Hunter by Yoshihiro Togashi (vol. 1-3)
• Jing: King of Bandits by Yuichi Kumakura (vol. 2, 3, 5)

New titles for the week of 9/9

FICTION

• The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting
• The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells with illustrations by Edward Gorey
• Every Day by David Levithan
• Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry (Rot & Ruin book 2)
• Flesh & Bone by Jonathan Maberry (Rot & Ruin book 3)

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto (vol. 58)
• Cardboard by Doug TenNapel

Here's the Fall Schedule!

Since I'm new to this position, you'll have to forgive me for the fall being a bit thin while I get acclimated to my new job.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Banned Book Week Discussion Group
Wednesday, October 3, from 3:30 to 5:00
In celebration of Banned Book Week, pick up a list of banned and/or challenged books and see what you've read (or find one on the list to read!). We'll meet and discuss the books and why you feel they were on the list. Some of them may surprise you!
Register Now

Cheesy Horror Movies and Book Swap
Wednesday, October 17, from 1:30 to 4:30

We're celebrating Teen Read Week this year with a spooky double feature that is sure to get as many laughs as scares (okay, probably more laughs). Join us as we watch Empire of the Ants (1997, PG) followed by Godzilla 2000 (2000, PG). Bring in your middle school or young adult paperback fiction in good condition, and take an equal number of books home with you!
(movie titles may change depending on availability)
Register Now

Disney Movie Marathon
Friday, November 23, from 1:00 to 4:30
Get away from the start of the hectic holiday shopping with a Disney double feature! We'll be watching two animated classics (to be announced shortly). Watch some movies, enjoy some snacks and do some Disney-related crafts!
Registration begins October 15

Nintendo Night
Thursday, December 27, from 6:30 to 8:30
We're celebrating all things Nintendo! Bring in your DS to battle in Pokemon. Compete in a Super Smash Bros Brawl tournament. Go old-school with some gaming on the NES.
Permission slip required. Registration begins November 26

Book Discussion Groups

Get free books and free food! Every month, the group votes on a book, and the library buys them each a copy to read and discuss at the next meeting. These groups meet year-round.

Read and Rant Book Group
Third Fridays from 3:30 to 5:00
Sept. 21, Oct. 19, Nov. 16, Dec. 21
This group is accepting a limited number of new members in grades 7 and 8. Registration is ongoing until spaces are full.

Book Grub Book Group
First Fridays from 3:30 to 5:00
Sept. 7, Oct. 5, Nov. 19, Dec. 17
This group is accepting a limited number of new members in grades 9 to 12. Registration is ongoing until spaces are full.

Primos Branch High School Book Group
Third Mondays from 7:00 to 8:00
Sept. 17, Oct. 15, Nov. 19, Dec. 17
Open to students entering grades 9 to 12, this group meets at the Primos Library at 409 Ashland Ave., Primos PA, 19018. Call them to register: 610-622-8091

Primos Branch Middle School Book Group
Second Fridays from 4:00 to 5:00
Sept. 14, Oct. 12, Nov. 9, Dec. 14
Open to students entering grades 6 to 8, this group meets at the Primos Library at 409 Ashland Ave., Primos PA, 19018. Call them to register: 610-622-8091

Clubs

Gaming Club
Mondays, September 10 to December 17, 3:30 to 5:00
Bring your Yu-Gi-Oh! deck, DS, PSP or any other game you're into. We'll also hook up the Wii for multiplayer gaming. Hang out, relax, and play whatever you want!
Permission slip required. Club size limited to 35 members. Registration is currently filled, but we are keeping a waiting list.

Asian Culture Club
Every fourth Wednesday from 3:30 to 5:00
Meetings on 9/26, 10/24, 11/28, 12/26
Our club will meet once a month to talk about all aspects of Asian culture. Join us as we watch anime and eat snacks! Each meeting we will discuss things like anime, manga, k-pop and j-pop, Korean dramas and manhwa. Want to be a part of the group? Make sure you're at the first meeting on September 26! Registration is ongoing until spaces are full.

New reads for the first week of September!

Here's the new titles we have ready to be checked out this week:

FICTION

• Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Lux Novel book 1)
• Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Lux Novel book 2)
• Happy Families by Tanita S. Davis
• Guy Langman Crime Scene Procrastinator by Josh Berk
• Laugh with the Moon by Shana Burg
• The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen 
• Shadow and Bone  by Leigh Bardugo
• My Life in Black and White by Natasha Friend 
• Enchanted by Alethea Kontis 
• The Year of the Beasts by Cecil Catellucci & Nate Powell
• The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth
• Wanted by Heidi Ayarbe 
• Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl
• Kissing Shakespeare by Pamela Mingle
• Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• Bleach by Tite Kibo, vol 46-47

And even though it's not technically in the teen section, we got in copies of Drama, the newest graphic novel by Raina Telgemeier, whose previous work was the wonderful Smile. 

Book trailer sign!

There's a new sign up in the teen section that features book covers from newly released titles (or just interesting ones in general). Each cover has a QR code on it. If you scan the QR code from your smart phone, you can check out the book trailer for that book! Hopefully this will be a fun way for people to get introduced to some new titles.

New books to check out!

Just a couple of new things in the teen section this week. Lots of sequels and series in the world of teen fiction! Here's what we got in:

FICTION

• UnWholly by Neal Shusterman (Unwind trilogy #2)
• Vanquished by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie (conclusion to the Crusade Trilogy)
• The Obsidian Blade by Pete Hautman (The Klaatu Diskos book 1)

August's Craft Closet Cleanout!

On the 15th we had 21 people show up for the end of the summer Craft Closet Cleanout, where several tables were set up with a variety of crafts to work on. The domino decoupage magnets, while always messy, was a popular table, as was the duct tape crafts table! I was very impressed with everyone's ability to make cool and useful things from duct tape. I'm pretty sure the best I could hope for would be like, a wadded up ball of duct tape...

decoupage domino magnets

the domino decoupage table was constantly busy

the duct tape table

a duct tape iPod holder, complete with headphone pouch!

a photo holder, made from a rock and wire

New books to check out!

A couple of new titles came in today. Come in to the library (don't forget your umbrella today!) and check them out!

FICTION

• Cool Like That by Nikki Carter
• Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
• Nevermore by James Patterson (the final in the Maximum Ride series)
• Over You by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

NONFICTION

• Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-shirt by Megan Nicolay

And here's the book trailer for Seraphina as a little something extra!

New titles! Mostly Scott Pilgrim.

I'm a huge fan of Scott Pilgrim, from the graphic novels that started it all, to the movie and the video game. So I'm happy to announce we now have the entire six book series of Scott Pilgrim available at the library. There's a few other new titles new to the collection as well:

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• Scott Pilgrim vol. 1-6 by Bryan Lee O'Malley

FICTION

• Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
• The Rise of Nine (Lorien Legacies vol. 3) by Pittacus Lore

Teen Summer Reading Winners, Week 10

It's the final week of Summer Reading Winners. : ( But we're going out with a bang, with ten winners this week instead of the usual five!

Monet Allen-Kemp
won a $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble.

Donald Lu
won two passes to Eastern State Penitentiary .

Anna Sheman
won a signed copy of Over My Head by Marie Lamba, and glow bracelets.

Manus Shields
won a hardcover copy of The Smoke Theif by Shana Abe, and a tie-die book cover.

Rosie Long
won a hardcover copy of The Temptress Four by Gaby Triana and Book Sox.

Tu Phan
won a hardcover copy of Secret Society by Tom Dolby and star sticky notes.

Kezia Mathew
won a hardcover copy of True Talents by David Lubar and a tie-die book cover.

Adrian Israel
won two tickets to Wynnewood Bowling Lanes

Jordan Christina Marie Foster
won a hardcover copy of True Talents by David Lubar and glow-in-the-dark alien stickers.

Rachel Ezeamaka
won a hardcover copy of The Kayla Chronicles by Sherri Winston and glow bracelets.

Congratulations to all the winners this Summer and thanks for participating!

New Stuff to Check Out!

I've got a bunch of new titles for you guys to check out! Let's get started:

FICTION

• Maya's Choice by Earl Sewell (part of the Kimani Tru series)
• Monster by Walter Dean Myers
• Can't Hold Me Down by Lyah B. Leflore
• Can't Stop the Shine by Joyce E. Davis (part of the Kimani Tru series)
• Search for Safety by John Langan (part of the Bluford High series)
• Kendra by Coe Booth
• Snitch by Allison van Diepen
• Tears of a Tiger by Sharon M. Draper
• Romiette and Julio by Sharon M. Draper
• The Pact by Monica McKayhan (part of the Kimani Tru series)
• Played by Dana Davidson 
• Begging for Change by Sharon G. Flake
• Lady J by L. Divine (part of the Drama High series)
• All the Wrong Moves by Nikki Carter (part of the Fab Life series)

NONFICTION

• The Freedom Writers Diary by The Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• Bleach vol. 44-45 by Tite Kubo

Teen Summer Reading Winners, Week 9

Here's the winners for the week 9 prize drawing:

Tarzan MacMood, grade 9
won two bowling passes to Wynnewood Lanes.

Gonyeatona Paye, grade 9
won a signed copy of Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith, and candy.

Nikki Viswanathan, grade 10
won passes to Eastern State Penitentiary.

Amanjyot Singh, grade 7
won a hardcover copy of Games by Carol Gorman, and candy.

Anam Josan, grade 6
won a signed copy of Loser by Jerry Spinelli, and UFO stickers.

Congrats to all our winners, and remember that this Saturday, the 18th is the last day to be entered for next week's prize drawings! Make sure to get those summer reading slips in!

New African-American Teen Fiction!

We just purchased new and replacement books to update our teen African-American fiction collection, so look for these next time you're in!

• The Break-Up Diaries, volume 2, by Nikki Carter and Kevin Elliott
• On the Flip Side by Nikki Carter (Fab Life series)
• Courtin' Jayd by L. Divine (Drama High series; replacement copy)
• Holidaze by L. Divine (Drama High series; replacement copy)
• Keep It Movin' by L. Divine (Drama High series; replacement copy)
• Bang! by Sharon G. Flake (replacement copy)
• If I Were Your Boyfriend by Earl Sewell (Kimani Tru; replacement copy)
• The Break-Up Diaries, volume 1, by Ni-Ni Simone and Kelli London (replacement copy)
• A Girl Like Me by Ni-Ni Simone (replacement copy)
• No Boyz Allowed by Ni-Ni Simone
• Teenage Love Affair by Ni-Ni Simone (replacement copy)
• Homeboyz by Alan Lawrence Sitomer (replacement copy)
• No Way Out by Peggy Kern (Bluford High series)
• The Bully by Paul Langan (Bluford High series)
• Payback by Paul Langan (Bluford High series)
• Who Am I Without Him? by Sharon G. Flake
• It's All Good by Nikki Carter
• Not a Good Look by Nikki Carter (Fab Life series)
• The Meltdown by L. Divine

Muppet Movie Madness!

Last Wednesday, 19 teens spent the afternoon enjoying a double feature of The Muppet Movie (1979) followed by The Muppets (2011).  We stopped the movies every so often to ask trivia questions, and correct answers got Kermit-shaped cookies!  We also held a "Creature Shop" cupcake contest, with lots of icing and toppings to decorate Muppet-inspired cupcakes. (Check out the photos below.)  Grace and Abbey were the winners, and they each got a Muppet bag with a Kermit Pez dispenser and a Muppet-ish monster rubber duckie!

We also did an easy Muppet hand puppet papercraft during the movies, but you can try these more time-consuming ones at home:

• Muppet 3-D Car (for traveling by map)
• Muppet Pencil Toppers
• Kermit
• Grover

And, of course, no movie would be complete without coloring:

• Muppet Babies
• Vintage Muppets
• Beaker

It was a fun afternoon, and Paul (the new teen librarian) was there to help!  Lots of teens have already met him, and we have one last summer teen program together this week.  Come to Craft Closet Cleanout this Wednesday, August 15, if you want to see me and meet Paul!!

I forgot to photograph the cookies, so here's my mom's vintage Kermit cookie cutter!

Winning cupcake #1 by Grace

Winning cupcake #2 by Abbey

Teen Summer Reading Winners, Week 8

Here are our week 8 prize winners:

Jaspinder Singh, grade 6

won a hardcover book, a folder, and a book cover.

Laurel Minott, grade 11

won Sprite earbuds and a signed copy of Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith.

Samantha Jeune, grade 12

won candy and a signed copy of Maya’s Choice by Earl Sewell.

Siaka Kosha, grade 7

won two games of bowling at Wynnewood Lanes.

Allison Billie, grade 6

won a $5 gift card to Dairy Queen.

We still have two weeks to go, so keep those slips coming!

I Love the High School Book Group!

Last Friday was my last meeting with the High School Book Group (aka Book Grub) as the Young Adult Librarian!  Like all of my recent "lasts," it was bittersweet.  Book Grub is one of my favorite programs, and I will really miss all of my members past and present!  Our new Young Adult Librarian, Paul, was there to learn the ropes...he has never led a book group.  So, he got quite an induction from the biggest, craziest, most off-topic group of them all (and a bunch of members weren't even there due to vacations...)!

Anyway, my Teen Advisory Board (TAB) members, led by Amie and Kim, put together a really sweet card and gift for me.  It was such a great surprise at the end of the book group meeting!  A lot of the TAB members had already signed the card, and I got everyone at book group to sign it as well.  I used the gift card today to buy some clothes for the babies, including cute new outfits for them to wear home from the hospital!  Thanks so much to all of you for being so thoughtful.  I will definitely bring the boys in for a visit in the fall!

The serious picture (with Paul and me in the back left)

The silly picture

A present!!!  :)

Teen Summer Reading Winners, Week 7

I'm a little late this week, but I finally picked our five winners!

Arsany Gheopreal, grade 6

won a hardcover book, as well as a folder and stretchy book cover.

Robin Martinelli, grade 7

won a hardcover book and glow-in-the-dark aliens.

Afsara Ahona, grade 10

won a signed copy of Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian and a journal.

Soemar Bargblor, grade 7

won a $5 gift card to Dairy Queen.

Samantha Kantner, grade 7

won two tickets to visit Eastern State Penitentiary.

You still have three weeks left, so bring in the slips!  I got a ton this week and I want more!!  :)

Duct Tape!

On July 18, we had, not one, but two sessions of our summer duct tape craft and 27 teens attended.  The idea was so popular that I divided it into two groups because otherwise it would have been big and crazy!  I learned that Walmart is the place to buy quantities of duct tape because they sell it for $3.37 per roll, the best price around.  I also found  something there I hadn't seen anywhere else:  mustache duct tape!

Anyway, at the first class, I had a lot of experienced duct tapers, so I let them make their own projects in one area while I taught duct tape basics in another area.  Then, most of the people joined me to make this cute duct tape flower (which we made into a hair clip).  Those who didn't want to make a flower worked on wallets.  At the second class, I had mostly new duct tapers with one professional!  The pro did her own thing while I taught duct tape basics and had everyone make a wallet.

From this experience, I think that I would offer two classes in the future:  beginning duct tape and advanced duct tape!  However, everyone left with at least two finished products (of varying levels) so I'd call that a success for a 1 1/2 hour class.  The duct tape will be out at Craft Closet Cleanout on August 15, so show up for that!

Greetings and a brief intro!

That's me on the left

Hello everyone, my name’s Paul and I’ll soon be taking over the position of teen librarian at Sellers Library when Gretchen leaves. I think I’m going to have some mighty big shoes to fill, but I look forward to meeting everyone and continuing to provide great activities and services for the teen community! Here’s some quick fun facts about myself:

I’m a big fan of video games, anime and manga.
Favorite movies: Ghostbusters, Back to the Future
Favorite bands: They Might Be Giants, The Smiths, Jonathan Coulton, Weird Al Yankovic
Favorite book genre: sci-fi/fantasy
Favorite games: pretty much anything Nintendo (Mario, Zelda, Metroid etc), Final Fantasy and other RPGs
The most recent books I’ve read are Mockingjay and The Hobbit

I’ll be joining Gretchen in some of the upcoming events to get used to how things work around here, so I look forward to meeting you guys real soon!

Look for These!

Here's what we have new in the teen scetion this week:

• The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi
• Dragon's Oath by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast (House of Night series)
• The Maze Runner by James Dashner
• The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
• Kill Switch by Chris Lynch
• Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick
• Secret Letters by Leah Scheier

New York City Movies & Fun!

This afternoon, 21 teens hung out in the A/C for our marathon New York City program! Since it's known as "city that never sleeps," it was a fun interpretation of the Own the Night summer theme. We watched some movie clips, as well as one whole movie featuring the city. There were so many to choose from that I ordered way more things than we ever could have watched! We started with the song "NYC" from Annie, and ended with King Kong climbing the Empire State Building.  In between, we covered all kinds of views of famous landmarks and locations in the city. We also did NYC crafts, like scratch art, color-your-own bags, and taxi picture frames that I got on clearance from Oriental Trading! In the middle of the afternoon, we did a trivia contest. Grace won a pint of Ben & Jerry's New York Superfudge Chunk ice cream for having the best score, while Kathy, Isabella, and Ryan won candy for being close seconds. Of course, we snacked the whole time on mini soft pretzels and cookies. It was a great way to spend a summer afternoon!

We have one more movie marathon day on August 8, featuring the Muppets. And, if you're sad that you missed the crafts, leftovers will be available at Craft Closet Cleanout on August 15.

Villain Night

Last Friday, 18 teens enjoyed Villain Night at the library!  The Teen Advisory Board planned this for the Own the Night summer theme, and went with villains since we just had Superhero Night last fall. Everyone either showed up in costume or got an evil name tag upon arrival.  I showed a bunch of evil movie clips, and also invited everyone to bring their own favorites. We watched serious clips from movies like The Empire Strikes Back, several Harry Potter movies, and The Dark Knight, but also enjoyed goofy villains in movies like the original 1960s Batman and the Mel Brooks classic Spaceballs. Only a few people were brave enough to enter our evil laugh contest, but Christelle was the most evil. I put together a villain-hero matching game (with help from my awesome friend Patrick, who runs a comic book shop), which Grace dominated with 17 correct answers! They both won packs of finger moustache temporary tattoos.

As usual, we had an optional costume competition.  It was a tough call because there were so many interesting entries.  I ultimately awarded the grand prize, a Darth Vader plushie backpack, to Brianna for having the most complete costume!  Four other people got second prizes, which were Star Wars villain Pez dispensers.

Back row:  Catwoman, a mad scientist, "The Girl Next Door," "A" the assassin, an evil hipster, Voldemort from A Very Potter Musical
Front row:  The "other mother" from Coraline, a member of Team Rocket from Pokemon, Captain Hammer from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

We also did a team competition, in which people had to tell real Batman villains from made up ones.  (I used this deck of cards, with additional answers from Wikipedia.)  The winning team got to line up for snacks first.  Our snacks were "cat claws" representing Catwoman (Bugles), dark chocolate (for owning the night), and brownies (for no reason).

About halfway through the program I realized that this was my last Friday night program at the library...ever!  I guess I'll be having a lot more moments like that in the next few weeks, but this is the first time it hit me in the middle of an event.  So sad!  I'll really miss doing things like this.

Teen Summer Reading Winners, Week 6

We have a new batch of winners this week!  Here they are:

Micah Niles, grade 6

won a hardcover book and sports pencils/erasers.

Deed Ermilus, grade 7

won a hardcover book and gum.

Nisat Afroz, grade 10

won a signed copy of If I Stay by Gayle Forman and a stretchy book cover.

Blessy Thomas, grade 12

won a $5 gift card to Barnes & Noble.

Hannah McGrath, grade 8

won two games of bowling at Wynnewood Lanes.

Congrats to all, and keep those slips coming.  You've got four more weeks!

Board Game Blast

On July 11, 24 people spent the whole afternoon in the air conditioning playing board games, card games, and bingo.  We had a great mix of people playing a lot of different games, including Life, Monopoly, Apples to Apples, Sorry, checkers, Connect Four, and Uno.  I had a great time being the bingo caller, which we played at the beginning and end of the afternoon.  Several people also brought their own games in for the program.  I really liked Sarah's game of Zombie Dice.  I might have to buy that one!  During the event, I gave away 23 full-size candy bars for winning long games, and 86 minis for winning short games. Plus, people who played bingo got to keep the M&Ms we used as markers. Everyone was all sugared up by the time they left! It was a great afternoon!

Teen Summer Reading Winners, Week 5

I just did this week's drawing, and we've got five more winners!

Amber Heffernan, grade 7

won a hardcover book and a necklace.

Emily Gian, grade 7

won a hardcover book and a journal.

Teferi Tadesse, grade 8

won candy and a signed copy of The List by Siobhan Vivian

Yahnira Dogan, grade 8

won candy and a signed copy of Over My Head by Marie Lamba.

Syed Sultana, grade 9

won a $5 gift card to Wawa.

Can you believe we're halfway through the summer already?!  Keep reading...the better prizes are yet to come!

Be the First to Check These Out!

Here are a bunch of new additions to our teen room.  Many of them were purchased with funds raised from our Random-A-Thon back in February!  Here's what to look for:

FICTION

• Abarat by Clive Barker (replacement copy)
• Invitation Only by Kate Brian (Private series)
• Last Christmas by Kate Brian (Private series)
• Underworld by Meg Cabot (Abandon series)
• Glass Houses by Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires series)
• The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl series)
• The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl series)
• Lost in Time by Melissa de la Cruz (Blue Bloods series)
• Dirty Laundry by Daniel Ehrenhaft
• The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans (Michael Vey series)
• We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han
• Totally Joe by James Howe (replacement copy)
• Rebel Fire by Andrew Lane (Sherlock Holmes, the Legend Begins series)
• The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead (Bloodlines series)
• The Mark of the Golden Dragon by L. A. Meyer (Bloody Jack series)
• ttyl by Lauren Myracle (replacement copy)
• Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (replacement copy)
• Max by James Patterson (Maximum Ride series)
• School's Out--Forever by James Patterson (Maximum Ride series; replacement copy)
• Dead Is a State of Mind by Marlene Perez (Dead Is series; replacement copy)
• Dead Is Just a Rumor by Marlene Perez (Dead Is series; replacement copy)
• Dead Is So Last Year by Marlene Perez (Dead Is series; replacement copy)
• Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer
• Stunning by Sara Shepard (Pretty Little Liars series)
• Wanted by Sara Shepard (Pretty Little Liars series)

NONFICTION

• So Now You're a Zombie:  A handbook for the Newly Undead by John Austin
• 99 Ways to Cut, Sew, and Deck Out Your Denim by Faith Blakeney, Justina Blakeney, and Ellen Schultz
• Scandalous!  50 Shocking Events You Should Know About by Hallie Fryd
• Guinness World Records 2002 (additional copy)
• The Letter Q:  Queer Writers' Notes to Their Younger Selves edited by Sarah Moon

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• Naruto, volume 57, by Masashi Kishimoto
• Bleach, volumes 40-43, by Tite Kubo
• Kimi no Todoke, volumes 2, 4-12, and 14, by Karuho Shiina

July Teen Scene Book Recommendations

Do you need something new to read?  Check out the July Teen Scene online newsletter!  This month's edition contains new book recommendations, as well as a fascinating list of fiction about teens with superpowers.

Every month, you can have new book suggestions delivered to your email from the Delaware County Library System!  Don't use email?  Use your Facebook email address and have it delivered to your Facebook messages.  Click here to sign up!

Teen Summer Reading Winners, Week 4

We are having trouble with the online system today, so I did my drawing the old-fashioned way...by pulling slips of paper out of the box!  Here are this week's winners:

Christelle Toussaint, grade 9

won a hardcover book and tie-dyed book cover.

Abigail Liu, grade 8

won a signed copy of I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter and gum.

Amanda Browne, grade 11

won glow bracelets and a signed copy of Jane by April Lindner.

Monet Allen-Kemp, grade 9

won a jewelry-making kit and glow-in-the-dark stars.

Nitin Sharma, grade 7

won a $5 gift card to Barnes & Noble.

Keep those reading slips coming!  There are still six weeks to go!!

Teen Summer Reading Winners, Week 3

We have five winners again this week in the Own the Night teen summer reading program:

Emeka Achilefu, grade 7

won a hardcover book and a book light.

Midhula Pillai, grade 6

won a hardcover book and glow sticks.

Alli White, grade 12

won a copy of Envy signed by Gregg Olsen and a polka-dot bracelet.

Marissa Shields, grade 9

won a copy of I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter and star earrings.

Kenneth Turner, grade 7

won a $5 gift card to Wawa.

Congrats to these winners!  Keep reading, everyone!!

Fresh Books

Here are our newest items in the teen section:

FICTION

• Sunset Boulevard by Zoey Dean (The A-List:  Hollywood Royalty series)
• Dial L for Loser by Lisi Harrison (Clique series; replacement copy)
• These Boots Are Made for Stalking by Lisi Harrison (Clique series; replacement copy)
• Pretty Little Devils by Nancy Holder
• Charmed Thirds by Megan McCafferty (Jessica Darling series)
• Fourth Comings by Megan McCafferty (Jessica Darling series)
• Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty (Jessica Darling series)
• First Date by Krista McGee
• All the Right Stuff by Walter Dean Myers
• Forgotten by Cat Patrick (replacement copy)

NONFICTION

• Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos
• Just Write--Here's How! by Walter Dean Myers

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• Freshman:  Tales of 9th Grade Obesessions, Revelations, and Other Nonsense by Corinne Mucha

The End of an Era

Dear Everyone,

At the Teen Advisory Board meeting on June 24, I announced that I will not be returning to Sellers Library as the Young Adult Librarian after my pregnancy.  The twins are due near the end of August, and I am planning to work as long as I am allowed this summer.

This job has been my first and only professional library position since I graduated from library school in 2005, so I am very sad to have to leave.  I have always said that my job is one of the most fun things an adult can do to earn a living!  I am going to miss every library teen, but especially all of the Teen Advisory Board, gaming club, and book group members, past and present.

The library is working on hiring an awesome replacement for me by the end of the summer, so teen programs will continue into the future.  We have finished taking applications and will start interviewing candidates in July.

I am planning to stay in touch through Facebook and library visits, so you will definitely see us around.   Even though I won’t be working at the library, I still want to hear from you, so please don’t hesitate to contact me about anything.

Lots of Love,
Gretchen