Mandy's Book of the Week (3/28)

This book is...weird.  But a good weird.  But weird nonetheless.

Gone by Michael Grant is the first book in a series of, eventually, six.  The first three, Gone, Hunger, and Lies are all published (and here at the library waiting on you!) with Plague, the fourth, following this fall.

Ok, I kind of lied.  Hunger is at my house right now being read by me.  But I'll be done with it by Thursday.

Anyway, this book follows what happens when the adults go "POOF."

One day, everyone aged 15 and up just disappears.  Can you imagine how terrible that would eventually be?

In the beginning, so many kids think it is awesome.  They go crazy drinking cokes and eating candy.  But eventually chaos ensues and some of the older kids try to get some order back into life.  They discover that not only did the adults POOF, but that they are trapped in a bubble, so no new supplies will be coming in.

Just think about all those babies who were home with their mommies when the POOF occurred.  Can you guess what happened to them?

To top all this chaos off, some of the animals start mutating (think snakes with crude wings) and the kids start developing powers (like super speed or the ability to suspend gravity).

There is so much going on and the action just never stops.  You should read it!

March's Anime Club Meeting

Anime Club is a riot.  It is rare to see teens have such passion and focus (ok, sometimes I can get them to focus ;-) ), but these guys LOVE Anime.  And that makes me have a great time at their meetings.

This month, we started getting ready for Anime Mini-Con (which is May 7 @ 2:00).  Part of their preparation was deciding what they'd serve at Mini-Con, so they decided to have a potluck meeting to test out various recipes.



They had a great time eating and it gave everyone a good idea of what would be easy (and good!) for Mini-Con.

The Rest of Teen Tech Week

Pardon my delay in getting the second half of Teen Tech Week's pictures up.  I'm swamped getting ready for summer programming here at the library, which is a great thing!

On Wednesday during Teen Tech Week, we had an Internet Scavenger Hunt.  This was so fun and it was neat to see who was really proficient at navigating the web.



Our winner, Elizabeth



Our big finale came on Saturday with a gaming tournament.  We set up the moving tvs and played Super Smash Brother Brawl on the Wii.

Can you see the concentration?

Our final two players...

The winner of the $40 Hastings gift card, Kevin

I had such a great time hosting Teen Tech Week.  I can hardly wait for next year!

Mandy's Book of the Week (3/21)

Happy Spring Break week!  I know it is a bummer that 2 days got taken away, but you'll be super glad that you made these up now when it is June.  I promise.

Anyway, this week my book is one that has stayed on my mind since I read it a few weeks ago.

This book is written by a girl in diary format (although there is a lot of dialoge that isn't diary style at all), but I wouldn't say it is a book for girls.  Not at all.

It is essentially about a huge, Earth-shaking, cataclysmic event.

The beginning reads like I think most girls diaries do.  And then comes the mention of an astronomical event that is going to occur: an astroid is going to hit the moon.  Astronomers say that you'll be able to see it with simple bionoculurs, so this girl and her family go out to watch.  Only the asteriod is much bigger than they predicted and the moon is pushed closer to the Earth causing all kinds of terrible things to happen.

This book has stuck with me.  I think about it every time I look up at the moon.  Or every time I'm in the bulk section of the grocery store (read the book and you'll know why).

It also has a companion novel, The Dead & The Gone, which I've not read yet but is sitting on my kitchen table waiting on me, and a sequel, This World We Live In, which was also fabulous and heartbreaking and terrifying.

We have two copies of each here, so come get them!

Mandy's Book of the Week (3/14)

This is a book for everyone.

The Book Thief is a book about a girl, Liesel, living in Nazi Germany and it is narrated by Death.

I can't say too much without giving bits and pieces away, but I'll say this: I laughed, I cried, I was scared, and I hoped.  (Don't read too much into the crying; I cry very easily.)  It provoked a lot of emotions.  It is an amazing story.

Come by and pick it up so we can talk about it.  I always need someone to talk about books with when I finish them.

The Winners...So Far...

We are a building full of winners this week!  So far, we've held the Fastest Texting Contest and the Decode the Acronym Contest.  Both were tons of fun and the winners got to go home with some pretty good stuff.

Fastest Texting Contest:

Signing in

Intimidating the competition

First place winner

Second place winner (and he was texting on a Razr, quite impressive)

 Decode the Acronym:

Ready to begin

Do you know these?  Because I totally stumped these guys even though I knew them all.

We ended up with a tie!  Luckily I had enough so they could both have the same prize.

Did you miss the fun?  I hope not.

Our big gaming tournament is Saturday at 1 pm.  Come out and play Super Smash Brothers Brawl with us!

Mandy's Book of the Week (3/7)

Last week was geared toward guys, so I wanted to angle this week toward the ladies.

This book had me really confused at the beginning.  So confused that I almost stopped reading it.  There is only one book that I've ever started and not finished (and I'm not going to tell you what that book is because it is a classic and I'm embarassed I didn't finish it), so I really didn't want to add to that number.

Eventually, though, I got the hang of this book.  And by the middle all these pieces were snapping into place.  I swear I heard an audible "click" a few times.  By the end, I was in love with this story.

Those are the best, to me.  The books that make you think about the story and what is going on with it.

This story is about a girl who goes to a boarding school in the Austrialian bush (basically in the middle of nowhere).  Her mother just ramdomly, or so it seems, left her at a gas station when she was 11 and never came back.  Soon after, a woman comes and picks her up and takes her to this school, where she's been ever since.

Her school plays this territory game with some military cadets that come to do military exercises near the school every year and with what they call the "townies," basically kids who go to the town's school.

So you have this story about the main character's past mixing with the territory game with a side of love story.

Really it is a very good book.  But give it time to get that way.  Don't give up on it until you're at least half way in.  By then, you'll be hooked.

Teen Tech Week is Coming!

Are you ready to Mix & Mash?

I feel like Paul Revere but, really, Teen Tech Week is coming!

We have a really awesome schedule of events for next week and prizes attached to almost everything we're doing.

Monday @ 4:30-Podcast Class

This is a really cool addition to any blog or even Facebook page.  Instead of dealing with streaming, which can mess up if an Internet connection skips a beat, you can create an audio or video file that can be totally downloaded and then watched.

Tuesday @ 4:30-Fastest Texting Contest

I can't wait to see how this one shakes out.  I think we may go a few rounds in order to spread the prizes out.  I have coupons for free Sonic ice cream for the winners of this contest.

Wednesday @ 4:30-Decode the Acronym Contest

Know what an acronym is?  G2G. BRB. G8.  (Got to go, be right back, great)  Those are all acronyms.  I have a list of about 20 commonly used acronyms and the first person to decode them all correctly is going to win some free stuff from McDonald's.

Thursday @ 4:30-Internet Scavenger Hunt

This is going to be fun, I think.  I have a powerpoint presentation with about 10 slides on it.  The first person to do or find the thing that each slide directs them to will get their name put in a hat.  At the end of the scavenger hunt, I'll pull out a name and that person will win a $15 iTunes gift card.  Awesome and easy.

Saturday @ 1:00-Gaming Tournament

I can't wait for this!  We'll be playing Super Smash Brothers Brawl on Wii in a bracket contest.  The winner will get a $40 gift card to Hastings.  Rock on.

We also have a few things going on all week that can win you some great prizes.

Biggest Music Library Contest

Bring in your iPod or MP3 player and show us how much music you have (downloaded prior to March 7).  The person with the most songs will win a $15 iTunes gift card.  How easy is that?  Like free money.

Book Soundtrack Contest

If your favorite book or book series was turned into a movie, what would it sound like?  Pick 4-5 songs and bring them to the Teen Library on a CD or flash drive (we'll give it back at the end of the week).  The best match up of songs and book(s) will win a $10 Amazon gift card.


So, seriously, no excuses!  We are going to be having a great time next week at the Teen Library.  Join us!