Teen Read Week Vine Book Trailer Contest!

Teen Read Week is October 13-19, and I'm excited to announce that we're holding a contest during the week! If you have Vine for iOS or Android, make a 6-second book trailer and tweet it to @SellersYA with the tag "#SellersTRW". We'll post the submissions to the blog here and have a vote on the winner. The submission with the most votes will get a $20 Barnes and Noble gift card! Be as creative as you want, and make those 6 seconds count! The contest is open to any Sellers Library teen patrons in grades 6 to 12.

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!!

Books with Beat: Non-Conformists

This year's Teen Read Week theme is Books with Beat, which can be interpreted in a lot of different ways. Look for these books in our teen collection!

MARCHING TO THE BEAT OF THEIR OWN DRUMMER

• Boy Proof by Cecil Castellucci
• Deadline by Chris Crutcher
• Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
• Paper Towns by John Green
• Alice, I Think by Susan Juby
• The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
• Hero by Perry Moore
• The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjian
• Big Fat Manifesto by Susan Vaught

Books with Beat: Hip-Hop

This year's Teen Read Week theme is Books with Beat, which can be interpreted in a lot of different ways. Look for these books in our teen collection!

HIP-HOP

• Caught Up in the Drama by ReShonda Tate Billingsley (Good Girlz series)
• Tyrell by Coe Booth
• Understand Rap:  Explanations of Confusing Rap Lyrics You and Your Grandma Can Understand by William Buckholz
• Can't Hold Me Down by Lyah B. LeFlore (The Come Up series)
• The World Is Mine by Lyah B. LeFlore (The Come Up series)
• Bling:  The Hip-Hop Jewelry Book by Reggie Osse and Gabriel Tolliver
• How to Draw Hip-Hop by Damion Scott and Kris Ex
• Spin It Like That by Chandra Sparks Taylor
• Gangsta Rap by Benjamin Zephaniah

Books with Beat: The Beatdown

This year's Teen Read Week theme is Books with Beat, which can be interpreted in a lot of different ways.  Look for these books in our teen collection!

THE BEATDOWN:  AWARENESS ABOUT BULLYING, ABUSE, AND VIOLENCE

• Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
• Breaking Point by Alex Flinn
• Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn
• Endgame by Nancy Garden
• Inventing Elliot by Graham Gardner
• Shattering Glass by Gail Giles
• Things Change by Patrick Jones
• Inexcusable by Chris Lynch
• Fault Line by Janet Tashjian
• Trigger by Susan Vaught
• The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin

Gleeked Out NIA for Teens

Today, 13 teens showed up for our Gleeked Out NIA program!  NIA is a form of dance exercise that incorporates elements from martial arts and yoga.  And we did all it to music from the TV show Glee.  It was so much fun that it didn't even really feel like exercise.  (Of course, some of my muscles don't agree with that statement right now!)  If you are interested in finding out more about NIA or locating another class in the area, visit http://www.nianow.com/.

This was our second of three Books with Beat programs for Teen Read Week.  The last event is Friday night...our Hip-Hop Essentials show with The One Sun Lion Ra and DJ Ambush.  See you at 7:00 in the adult library!

Books with Beat: Novels in Verse

This year's Teen Read Week theme is Books with Beat, which can be interpreted in a lot of different ways.  Look for these books in our teen collection!

NOVELS IN VERSE

• The Young Inferno by John Agard
• Keesha's House by Helen Frost
• Dark Sons by Nikki Grimes
• Burned by Ellen Hopkins
• Crank by Ellen Hopkins
• The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan
• Amiri and Odette:  A Love Story by Walter Dean Myers
• A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl by Tanya Lee Stone
• Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff

Books with Beat: Rock

This year's Teen Read Week theme is Books with Beat, which can be interpreted in a lot of different ways.  Look for these books in our teen collection!

BOOKS THAT ROCK

• Beige by Cecil Castellucci
• Crazy Diamond by David Chotjewitz
• Fat Kid Rules the World by K. L. Going
• Lemonade Mouth by Mark Peter Hughes
• Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly
• The Taqwacores by Michael Muhammad Knight
• The Pocket DJ:  Ultragrrrl's Guide to Building the Best Music Library by Sarah Lewitinn
• The Carbon Diaries:  2015 by Saci Lloyd
• Rock Star Superstar by Blake Nelson
• King Dork by Frank Portman
• Peeps by Scott Westerfeld
• Pay the Piper:  A Rock 'N' Roll Fairy Tale by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple

Rock Band and Book Swap

To kick off Teen Read Week, we had book swap and Rock Band all afternoon on Saturday!  Only 11 people showed up, but most stayed for the whole time.  We played all of our Rock Band games, belting out everything from metal to the Beatles.  Twenty-four books got swapped, and I gave everyone a free book just for showing up.

The theme for Teen Read Week this year is Books with Beat, so look for some books that rock on our display cart in the teen section or check this blog post!

Books with Beat: Crime

This year's Teen Read Week theme is Books with Beat, which can be interpreted in a lot of different ways.  Look for these books in our teen collection!

WALKING THE POLICE BEAT

• The Perfect Shot by Elaine Marie Alphin
• The Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks
• The Christopher Killer by Alane Ferguson
• Nothing to Lose by Alex Flinn
• They Broke the Law, You Be the Judge:  True Cases of Teen Crime by Thomas A. Jacobs
• Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman
• Monster by Walter Dean Myers
• The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci
• From Charlie's Point of View by Richard Scrimger
• Rucker Park Setup by Paul Volponi

Books with Beat: Poetry

This year's Teen Read Week theme is Books with Beat, which can be interpreted in a lot of different ways.  Look for these books in our teen collection!

POETRY FOR TEENS AND BY TEENS

• Blue Lipstick:  Concrete Poems by John Grandits
• The Softer Side of Hip-Hop:  Poetic Reflections on Love, Family, and Relationships by Laura Haskins-Bookser
• Paint Me Like I Am:  Teen Poems from WritersCorps
• The Rose that Grew from Concrete by Tupac Amaru Shakur
• Tell the World:  Teen Poems from WritersCorps
• Things I Have to Tell You:  Poems and Writing by Teenage Girls edited by Betsy Franco
• You Hear Me?  Poems and Writing by Teenage Boys edited by Betsy Franco

You're Not Hardcore Unless You Live Hardcore

Today was the first of four music-themed programs celebrating this year's Teen Read Week theme, Books with Beat.  Eleven people showed up after school to watch School of Rock, and we made punk rock safety pin bracelets and some duct tape creations.  Most people had seen the movie multiple times, so we all enjoyed reciting our favorite parts.  And the projects all turned out really well!  I would definitely make another safety pin bracelet. 

If you missed it, the bracelets will reappear at Craft Closet Cleanout in December.  If you want to try it at home, here are a few good patterns to look at:

• Safety Pin Bracelet #1
• Safety Pin Bracelet #2
• A Funkier Version

Tips to remember:

• Glue the heads of the safety pins shut.
• Alternate the direction of the pins as you thread them.
• You can use fewer safety pins if you put spacer beads between them as you string the bracelet.
• Put clear nail polish on the knots when you tie off the bracelet.

Two completed bracelets

Duct tape randomness

Teens' Top Ten

It's time to make your selections for this year's edition of the Teens' Top Ten! Have your say about the most popular books of the year. The winners will be announced during Teen Read Week in October. You only get to vote for three, but there are lots of great choices on the list, including:

• Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
• Heist Society by Ally Carter
• City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
• Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
• If I Stay by Gale Forman
• Witch and Wizard by James Patterson
• Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Teen Read Month Contest Winners

We celebrated Teen Read Month during October at the library. This year's theme was Read Beyond Reality, so we did programs and book displays to promote the theme all month long. Every time teens checked out books or attended a special program, they got to put an entry slip into our drawing. The Teen Advisory Board contributed three Barnes & Noble gift cards as prizes and I randomly selected the winners today:

• $25--Sarah B., grade 10, entered at book checkout
• $15--Tyaisha B., grade 6, entered at Nintendo Night
• $10--Eric D., grade 7, entered at Anime Club

Overall, 93 teens entered while attending programs and 63 teens entered while checking out books, for a total of 156. Congratulations to our winners, and thanks to everyone who participated!

Beyond Reality Zine @ Your Library

We published our Beyond Reality edition of the library teen zine* last week, but I didn't have a big chance to hand it out since I was sick. So, I am just reminding everyone to make sure you ask me for a copy of the zine and see the great work that our contributors did. The zine pages have a variety of formats, from collages and comics to short stories and book reviews. There's something for everyone! Thanks to all of our writers (Genni, Kaitlyn, Stephanie, Nikki, Nitha, Martha, Sarah, Katie, and me) for making this zine one of our best!!

* A zine is a self-published magazine. Ours is written by several teens and myself, and we publish it two or three times a year on a different thematic topic using the library's photocopier!

It's Officially Teen Read Week

Even though we are celebrating Teen Read Month around here, this week is the official Teen Read Week! The theme this year is Read Beyond Reality, so of course you can take that to mean things like science fiction, fantasy, and comic books. Or, you can extend your own reality by reading historical fiction, biography, or even a realistic fiction book about someone different than yourself.

We've already had several of our Beyond Reality programs this month, but there are a few more. Our Beyond Reality zine publishes tomorrow, so stop by and pick up a copy. There is still time to sign up for the Retro Tote Bag Craft next Wednesday from 3:30 to 5:00. And don't forget to enter the Teen Advisory Board's book store gift card contest every time you check out books from the teen area through October 31!

Take the time to vote for next year's theme. The choices are:

• Books with Beat @ Your Library
• Deal with It @ Your Library
• Find an Alibi @ Your Library

Also, check out the winners of the 2009 Teens' Top Ten!

It's Teen Read Month!

This year, I decided to expand Teen Read Week and celebrate for the entire month of October! You can register now for all of our special programs this month: Zine Workshop, Nintendo Night, Book Swap & Movies, and Embellished Tote Bag Craft. Also, every time you attend a special program or check out books this month, you will be able to enter our contest to win one of three book store giftcards. Stop in and get something to read!!!

LOL Winners

I just did the drawing for the winners of our LOL IM contest! Every time people attended a teen event during the month of October, they could enter the contest by identifying what different chat abbreviations meant. This was in honor of the Teen Read Week theme, LOL @ Your Library. We had 66 entries during the month, and three winners: Maria, Jasmine B., and Genni. Congrats!!

LOL with Vicky Town

Last night, 25 teens came out to our LOL Storytelling event with Vicky Town. It was a lot of fun, with jokes, stories, improv, and even Mad-Libs! We also had silly food, including cheese with cheesy jokes, Laffy Taffy, cow pie cookies, and kitty litter cake. Even though Vicky was worried that no one would laugh, everyone seemed to enjoy the program. The staff said they could hear us laughing downstairs! It was a great way to end Teen Read Week!