It's slime time!

On Friday, June 27th we had 25 teens show up to make slime! This was a fun (and messy) craft, with some really great results! We used a recipe that involved Borax, glue, food coloring and water. It's simple, it's easy, and it's pretty fast! There were a couple of different kinds of glue on hand, and each had different results: clear Elmer's, regular white Elmer's, and a transparent colored Elmer's that had glitter in it! Oddly enough every time I tried to make slime, mine came out pretty awful! But there were some really impressive ones here! I took some pictures of the various kinds of slime we turned out!

The slime lasted from 5 to 6. At 6 we brought out the projector and watched Ghostbusters, which is celebrating it's 30th anniversary this Summer! It also felt an appropriate title to match with slime!

Upcoming Winter programs!

Winter schedule brochures are available to grab here at the library, but here's some of the upcoming events:

The next three dates for Anime Club are Wed, Jan 29, Feb 19, and March 19 from 3:30 to 5:00. Come in and vote on an anime show to watch, enjoy some snacks and hang out with teens who share your interests!

Next Friday, January 31, join us at the library for a screening of Pixar's Monsters University at 4:00!

We'll be having a trivia contest on Wednesday, February 5 from 4 to 5. Come in and have fun competing for fun and prizes! 

On Wednesday, February 12 we'll be making blackout poetry by taking old books, magazines, newspapers and anything else we can find and marking them up to make new passages! 

Anime Club and our movie are drop-in, but registration is now open at the library for Teen Trivia Day and Blackout Poetry!

Free Comic Book Day and TAB Bake Sale!

Saturday was a busy day for Sellers Library! We had Truck Day going on for the kids, which meant that outside there were all kinds of trucks (fire trucks, police cars, construction vehicles) parked everywhere. There was also a used book sale going on outside. In addition to that, it was the first Saturday in May, which meant it was Free Comic Book Day at many comic stores around the country. More and more libraries are getting in on FCBD each year, and this year we celebrated by having a selection of free comic books and a double feature of comic book movies. Patrons were allowed to take two comics each from the selection, then grab some snacks and relax to Scott Pilgrim vs. The World followed by The Amazing Spider-Man. 13 teens showed up for the comics and movies, and I believe all but 1 stayed for both!

As if that wasn't enough activity for one library, the Teen Advisory Board was also running a bake sale in the lobby during the afternoon! In addition to raising money for the teen programs and supplies at the library, a portion of the money raised by the bake sale also went to help the family of a friend in the TAB, whose family is dealing with the aftermath of a house fire. Altogether the TAB raised $138 in the bake sale, which is awesome!

The comic selection, shortly before being picked through.

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

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.

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

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

Asian Culture Club 11/23/11

The day before Thanksgiving, 21 teens came by to watch the amazing anime movie Howl's Moving Castle.  Thirteen of them were regular Asian Culture Club members and eight were visitors, including some college students home on break!  We finished off 14 bags of microwave popcorn during the movie, and also had a drawing contest on the theme of "buildings."  Here are some drawings that won prizes:

by Christine

by Tracey

by Alvin

by ?

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!!

Teen Toy Story Movie Marathon

Yesterday, 24 teens showed up for the Teen Advisory Board's Toy Story Movie Marathon!  Some people came late or left early, but most stayed all day.  It was so much fun to see all three movies in a row!  We did trivia (with candy for right answers) during all three movies, plus coloring, a papercraft alien, a silly Mr. Potato Head contest (photos below), and games of knock-down with army men.  And, of course, there were plentiful snacks all day long.

In the spirit of all things childish, I put together a candy guessing jar for the event.  Teens often complain to me about how unfair it is that the children's summer reading program has one on their reporting table every week, so this was their chance.  The guesses ranged from 42 to 2000...some people need to work on their estimation skills.  Zaire was the winner with his guess of 585 because the the jar actually had 621 pieces of candy in it.

Huge thanks to my son Nat, who graciously lent us his Mr. Potato Heads, army men, and all three Toy Story movies.  (Although, he was a bit puzzled about why the big kids wanted them...!)

Here are our silly potato pictures:

 by Joelene

by Kathy 

 by Hannah

 by Chelsie

by Siaka 

 by Ben

 by Nikki (Our winner of a $5 gift card to DQ for her creative use of the potato and the materials!)

 by Genni (it's a hipster!)

by Nitha 

 by Owen

by Blya

Book Swap and Inception

Apparently, I planted the idea of book swap deep enough into the minds of 27 teens that they all showed up last Wednesday, thinking it was their own idea.  OK, that's really just the plot of Inception, which is what we were watching while swapping.  Everyone was riveted, whether they had seen it before or not.  People even clapped at the end!  And, they managed to eat an entire six-pound bag of gummy bears, plus tons of pretzels and cheeseballs.  During the event, 39 books got swapped.  Deisy and Jhoanna brought in 12 books together, so they really benefited.  We'll do another book swap and movie this summer, so look for it on the schedule!

Book-to-Movie News

So, a roundup of things that are going on with teen books that are being turned into movies:

The Hunger Games
It now has a release date:  March 23, 2012!  A casting director has been hired, but no actual casting has started.  However, check out this great online poll that includes both the major and minor characters!

City of Bones
The studio making this movie apparently really wants Alex Pettyfer to play Jace.  They will only greenlight the project if he takes the role!  (Read more.)

Harry Potter
OK, so the series has been around for a while, but check out this interesting article about the man who adapted all seven books into screenplays!

2011 Books to Movies for Teens

A new year means lots of books are coming to a theater near you! I included all books with teen interest, not just those that were published for young adults, so there is something for everyone. I can't vouch for their quality, but look for these movies through the year and make your own judgments:

March 11--Jane Eyre (book by Charlotte Bronte)
March 18--Beastly (book by Alex Flinn)
March 25--Roderick Rules (book by Jeff Kinney)
July 15--Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II (book by J. K. Rowling)
October 14--The Three Musketeers (book by Alexander Dumas)
November 18--Breaking Dawn, Part I (book by Stephenie Meyer)
December 9--The Invention of Hugo Cabret (book by Brian Selznick)
December 21--The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (book by Steig Larsson)
December 28--The Adventures of Tintin:  Secrets of the Unicorn (book by Herge)

No specific dates:
The Giver (book by Lois Lowry)
The Witches (book by Roald Dahl)
Uglies (book by Scott Westerfeld)

Harry Potter Movie Marathon

Last Saturday, 29 intrepid teens showed up for our Harry Potter Movie Marathon, featuring back-to-back-to-back showings of movies four, five, and six!  We started at 9:30 and ended at 4:30.  It was kind of insane, but a lot of fun.  The idea was that it would prepare people to go see the new movie.  A few people had already seen it, and several others had plans for Sunday or later this week.  However, one fanatical group literally left the marathon and went off to the theater!

Back in the summer, Morgan approached me about doing this program.  He didn't just have ideas...he had three pages of notes, including snack ideas and a cost breakdown!  How could I say no!?  A few things changed, but his original idea stayed the same.  As people came in, the "sorting hat" assigned them to a Hogwarts House. 

Morgan asked trivia questions during the movies, which earned people candy for themselves and points for their houses.  At the end of the day, the team with the most points got a prize, even if some of their members came late or left early.  (Something I wanted to do but forgot:  put wizard cards in with the candy.)

OUR FINAL STANDINGS:
Slytherin -- 91
Hufflepuff -- 76
Ravenclaw --75
Gryffindor -- 57

During the second movie, I put out a golden snitch papercraft.  I thought it would be fun to do while watching because those little cuts and folds take patience.  Too much patience, apparently, because only a few people saw it through!  But, it's really cute, so try it yourself.  Also, check out this pattern to make a Ministry of Magic owl paper airplane.

Huge thanks to Morgan for making this possible!  And extra credit to Morgan, Kelliann, Edythe, Drew, Claude, Mike, Egypt, Owen, and Sahva who stayed all day!!

Scary Movie Before a Holiday

Today, 26 teens came to the library for our showing of The Nightmare Before Christmas!  Some even showed up in costume...we had three Sailor Scouts and one (male) Ke$ha.  Some people had seen the movie many times, but it was the first time for others.  We put on the subtitles to encourage singing along! 

While watching the movie, we made shrinky-dink charms of the characters.  People traced a design or drew their own, then I baked them in my toaster oven.  They looked great!  Only one didn't turn out well, and that person was able to do another one, so it all worked out.

If you want to buy the paper to do this at home, it is available at A. C. Moore.  Michael's and Jo-Ann do not carry it in their stores.  You can also find it online by looking for the term "shrink film."  It costs about $5.00 for a pack of six sheets, but you can get four to six projects out of a single sheet. 

 Some shrinky-dinks before baking.  Each was the size of 1/4 sheet of paper.

 Morgan drew this amazing Lock without a model, let alone something to trace!

 Some completed shrinky-dinks.  They are all about the size of a $.50 coin.  We put them on big safety pins to attach to bags and zippers.

Two Sailor Scouts!

Renesmee

I know this has been keeping you awake at night, so I just wanted to post that nine-year-old Mackenzie Foy will be playing Renesmee in the last Twilight Saga movie, Breaking Dawn.  She's a gorgeous kid, but I hope they do her hair to resemble the description in the book.  What do you think?

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

1960s Drop In Day

Yesterday, 18 teens stopped by for our first drop-in day of the school year. The theme for this one was the 1960s. I didn't do much advertising, so I'm glad the word got out! We watched The Birds, Alfred Hitchcock's famous horror movie from 1963, and played Rock Band: The Beatles. The best part of the event was making tie-dyed stretchy book covers. They are perfect for back-to-school! Doing tie-dye definitely gave us the psychedelic feel of the 60s hippie movement even though the book covers are a modern invention. We snacked on food introduced in the 60s, including Doritos (1966), Lays (1965), Pop-Tarts (1964), and Tang (1966). Everyone was also entered to win a 60s gift basket as they arrived, which was ultimately won by Laurel. Congrats to her, and thanks to everyone who attended.

PS--Bring in your book covers if they turned out. I'd love to see them!

The gift basket had candy introduced in the 60s, some Woodstock memorabilia, an ex-library copy of the teen classic My Darling, My Hamburger from 1969, and an Archie comic book celebrating the decade.

Rubber banding the book covers gets a thumbs up! (Really, what doesn't!?)

A crowd trying to add color all at once.

A less busy time at the dye table.

Some completed book covers. They turned out amazingly well!