Yu-Gi-Oh Tournament

Last night, 14 teens entered our summer Yu-Gi-Oh Tournament, and 3 of them were girls! Evan, Connor S., Bo, and Conor O. made it to the semi-final round and all won candy. I was hoping for a Connor vs. Conor final, but Bo and Connor ended up as our last pair. After 3 games, Connor was the winner and got a $10 gift card to K B Toys to buy some Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Thanks to everyone who participated!

A Brush with Fame

On Friday night, 11 teens and 2 adults came by to meet local author Jeffry Johnston and hear about his YA book Fragments. Although he had a lot of experience with writing articles and short stories, it took him 25 years and 6 books to write a novel that actually sold! Patience and practice were his words of advice to aspiring writers. Interestingly, the people who attended asked him a lot of questions about his background in theater, which he was totally unprepared for. We sold 9 copies of the book and everyone enjoyed getting theirs signed. Jeff even offered to come back and talk to our book groups if we were ever reading his book for a meeting, which I thought was really cool. If you missed the event, you can always check Fragments out of the library!

My lobby display to promote the event.

Jeff talking to the group.

Storytime!

Jeff read the first chapter aloud to the group.

People wait in line to get their books signed.

Author Visit!!!

Tomorrow night is our visit from YA novelist Jeffry Johnston, author of Fragments. Hear him talk about his life as a writer and about his book, then buy a copy for $5 and get it signed!! It starts at 7pm, and will be held in the adult library. See you there!

Grease Is the Word

Today, 16 teens came out for our Grease Movie Sing-Along. We were nice and cool in the AC while it was roasting outside this afternoon! I definitely saw some other mouths moving, although I was the loudest singer. Some people did hand-jive along with me, though, so that made me happy. Everyone seemed to enjoy this classic teen movie. Look for another sing-along in the fall!

Eclipse Prom!

Tonight, 15 teens came to the Eclipse Prom to celebrate the upcoming release of the third book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series! We made souvenier picture frames, did a Mad-Lib of the time when Bella and Edward first met, had a contest to make Bella's prom shoe and walking cast, played Twlight baseball trivia, ate snacks with FORKS and drank ARIZONA tea, and took tons of pictures. Seriously, a bunch of people brought cameras and we spent a lot of time posing! Marissa won a prize for being best dressed. She did her hair beautifully, wore the prom dress she made herself, and even sported a walking cast! Other people won prizes for funny things like "most unexpectedly frilly" and "most colorful." Special thanks to Kara for making an atmospheric music CD for the party. It was great fun. I hope the book is as good as the party was!

Everyone who loves Edward got to hold the cake!

The silly group photo.

Working on creating a cast.

Beautiful dresses on some of my favorite readers!

One group decorating souvenier picture frames.

The lone male attendee put up with a lot!

Everyone shows off their group's entries in the Bella contest.

Complete picture frames and more pretty dresses!

A cute group photo.

Attacking the cake.

Get a Clue

Today, 23 teens came to play in our Clue Tournament! Everyone brought their Clue games to share, so we had regular and Simpsons games going on. It was a lot of fun. We did a double elimination first round, then a second round with three games of three. This narrowed it down to the three finalists: Sophia, Deborha, and Genni. In the final round, Deborha was the winner, getting a $10 gift card to KB Toys! All the finalists got candy, too. Once people were eliminated from the tournament, they played lots of other board games from our teen stash, including Scattergories, Monopoly, and Scrabble. It was a great afternoon! Check out the pictures below.

Winners!

Monopoly

The first round begins!

Another shot from the first round.

Harry Potter Pix!

The first pictures from the Harry Potter event are back! These were taken by Mrs. Trimbur, a member of the library's board.

Making cookie mix in Potions class.

Making a dragon egg in Care of Magical Creatures class.

Christina was our Muggle Studies professor!

Do you know these people?

What a great costume!

Losing control in the Quidditch Obstacle Course!

Me running the trivia game. It was like trivia, a relay race, and musical chairs all rolled into one!

Going over and under the broomsticks on the Quidditch Obstacle Course!

Indoor Tye Dye...It Worked!

This afternoon, 19 teens and 2 parents stopped in to tie dye their items. We did the tie dye upstairs, and it's a good thing because at about 3:00, it poured down rain! Most people brought shirts, but there were a few pairs of socks, a skirt, and a pair of shorts in the mix as well. People watched a short instructional video, tied up their items with rubber bands, soaked them, and then added a variety of colors with squeeze bottles. I wish I had pictures, but I forgot to take any! It was so busy, I was running around like a crazy person. Maybe next time...we are definitely doing this again! Meanwhile, bring your projects back and show me how they turned out!!!

Nintendo Night Insanity

Yesterday, 43 teens showed up for Nintendo Night. It was absolutely crazy! People played a bunch of games my originial NES and they played Super Smash Brothers Melee on the GameCube. The main event of the night was two Pokemon tournaments, one for Game Boy Advance and one for Game Boy DS. Anay won the Advance tournament, and Sean and Quincy were battling it out for the DS final when it was time to leave. They were supposedly finishing the battle on the way home, but I don't know who actually won! Thanks to Jimmy for selling me his GameCube, to David for bringing games and controllers for the GameCube, and to Rachel who brought in her Wii!!!

The tournament begins.

Comparing notes.

Nice hat!

Mystery Men

Last night, 17 teens came out to watch the hilariously dumb superhero movie Mystery Men. Everyone seemed to like it...or maybe they just came for the snacks and comfy floor pillows. Actually, there were a lot of funny moment that got big laughs, and everyone left smiling. And a few people even checked out books!

Join us for our last movie event, the Grease sing-along, in August. Sign-ups begin on Monday!

Jewelry Success!

Last night, 20 teens came to Marissa's jewelry workshop. We learned how to do a simple chain pattern that made great bracelets, necklaces, anklets, and rings. It kept us busy for a while, but it was easy enought to remember. It was fun to learn an actual jewelry-making skill! Marissa was a great teacher and everyone had great finished projects. Check out the photos!

Starting the projects.

Beads are fun!

One group, mostly enjoying themselves.

Another group, hard at work. And happy birthday to the twins!

Finished products on the ankles of Gretchen and Alexa!

Two girls show off their necklaces.

Who knew the Power Rangers had such style??

Teen Summer Reading Display

Visit the teen summer reading display today! Read books and win prizes!!

Real Life Mysteries

Last night, 27 teens came out to find out about Real Life Mysteries from storyteller Kristin Pedemonti. It was a lot of fun, especially when she talked about UFOs and alien abductions. I also liked when she showed the pictures and asked us to decide if they were true or false. Everyone seemed excited about the topic and wanted to share their own thoughts about urban legends and ghost stories! I talked about the ghost of John Sellers here at our library, and the time strange messages came out of a printer that wasn't on. Creepy stuff!!

An action shot!

Here are some websites that Kristin recommended...

http://www.urbanlegends.about.com/
Follow tons of links (on the left side) to find out about all kinds of urban legends, folklore, and hoaxes!

urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_image_quiz.htm
This is the quiz where Kristen got the pictures she showed us. See if you can tell which ones are real and fake...you already know some of the answers!

www.cryptozoology.com/
Cryptozoology is the study of creatures whose existence has not been substantiated, like the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot. Read about sightings of unknown creatures and get book recommendations.

http://www.bfro.net/
This is the official website of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization...find out the latest about sightings of Bigfoot all over the world!

http://www.snopes.com/
This is the best urban legend site out there. Before you send an email forward, check this site to see if it is a hoax!

National Treasure Movie Day!

Today, 24 teens came to hang out in the AC and watch National Treasure. Everyone enjoyed the movie...or maybe it was the snacks! It was a great movie for our summer mystery theme. Thanks to the TAB for purchasing a bunch of floor cushions for movie events--everyone was very comfy.

Don't forget to sign up to see Mystery Men (PG-13) on July 11!

Teen Summer Reading Display

Visit the Teen Summer Reading windowsill display! Pick up your reading sheets and check out my mystery book display. There's no registration for the program this year...just read five library items, show your slip to a librarian, and choose a prize from the mystery box. Then, enter to win bigger weekly prizes. And don't forget that the end-of-summer prize is an iPod!

Painting the teen prize box with question marks.

Pasting clip art to the box for teen prize drawings.

Mystery Books

Since our summer reading theme is You Never Know (YNK), I made a new teen mystery book list. Look for the list on the summer reading display, along with some of the books!

Some new ones we bought include:

• Dovey Coe by Frances O'Roark Dowell
• Samurai Mysteries (series) by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler
• Diamond Brothers Mysteries (series) by Anthony Horowitz
• Buried by Robin Merrow MacCready
• Lulu Dark Can See Through Walls by Bennett Madison
• Dead Connection by Charlie Price
  

Murder Mystery Prep

On Sunday, June 10, and Friday, June 15, members of the TAB gathered to make props and scenery for our upcoming murder mystery, The Cracks in the Wall. Join us on Friday, June 22, from 6:30 to 8:30 for the event!

Thanks to Alexa, Arwa, Caitlin, Kara, Katie, Maria, Marissa, and Tyria for their help in preparing for the mystery!

You rock!

A purple television??!

In honor of Giselle...

Ewww!

Johnny Depp Film Festival

This weekend, we gave our movie license a workout and watched three Johnny Depp films in less than 24 hours! Last night, 16 teens watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Today, 35 teens enjoyed a double feature of Pirates of the Caribbean 1 and 2. A bunch of people were even planning to see the third Pirates movie tonight!

Huge thanks to the TAB for spending their hard-earned money on pizza for everyone today during the double feature! And thanks to Genni for bringing in her Johnny Depp cardboard cutout to hang out with us. I hope everyone had fun. I thought it was great!

Pirate Duckies!

Some intrepid movie watchers and Johnny!

Summer Schedule!

The teen summer schedule is done, and it's huge! In fact, there are still more events that aren't even on the flyer yet!! Come and get one when you have a chance. The theme this summer is You Never Know @ Your Library, so we have a lot of mysterious events planned.

If you can't wait to see the list, here's a preview. All events are for students entering grades 6 to 12, unless noted.

Get Your Game On!
Trading card and hand-held video games welcome.
Mondays, 3:30 to 5:00 (except holidays)
Permission slip required.

Movie: National Treasure (PG)
Wednesday, June 20, 2:00 to 4:00

Mystery Night: The Cracks in the Wall
Friday, June 22, 6:30 to 8:30 pm
Sponsored by the Teen Advisory Board.

Real Life Mysteries (Teen Summer Reading Kick-Off)
Presented by Kristin Pedemonti
Thursday, June 28, 7:00 to 8:00 pm

Zine Workshop
Fridays, 1:30 to 3:00
July 13, 20, 27, and August 3
Grades 8 to 12 only.

Movie: Mystery Men (PG-13)
Wednesday, July 11, 6:30 to 8:30 pm

Nintendo Night
Friday, July 13, 6:30 to 8:30 pm
Permission slip required.

Drop-In Craft: DIY Tie Dye (outside)
Bring your own pre-washed 100% cotton items.
Wednesday, July 18, 1:00 to 4:00 pm

Harry Potter Midnight Madness
Friday, July 20, 8:00 pm to 12:30 am
Permission slip required.

Clue Tournament
Wednesday, July 25, 1:00 to 4:00 pm

Special Book Discussion: Twilight and New Moon
Friday, July 27, 3:30 to 5:00

Drop-In Craft: DIY Soap
Wednesday, August 1, 1:00 to 4:00 pm

Eclipse Prom
Friday, August 3, 6:30 to 8:30
Sponsored by the Teen Advisory Board.

Movie: Grease Sing Along (PG)
Wednesday, August 8, 2:00 to 4:00 pm

Author Visit: Jeffry Johnston, author of Fragments
Friday, August 10, 7:00 to 8:30 pm

Drop-In Craft: DIY Magnets
Wednesday, August 15, 1:00 to 4:00 pm

Yu-Gi-Oh Tournament
Friday, August 17, 6:00 to 8:30
Permission slip required.

Dance Dance Revolution
Wednesday, August 22, 2:00 to 4:00
Permission slip required.

Johnny Depp Film Festival

The Teen Advisory Board invites you to attend our first-ever film festival. Watch hours of Johnny Depp on the big screen! Invite your friends, bring comfy pillows, relax with snacks, and enjoy the movies. Sign up today!!

Friday, June 1

6:30 to 8:30 pm

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (PG)

Saturday, June 2

10:00 am to 3:00 pm

Pirates of the Caribbean 1 and 2 (PG-13)

Lunch will be provided.