Mandy's Book of the Week (9/19)

Welcome back to our Book of the Week segment!  I was hoping to start these back up with the start of school, but that was a no-go.  It has taken me this long to get re-organized for the school year!

My selection this week isn't a new release, but it is made of total and complete awesome so I wanted to feature it anyway.

Fun fact: It is also one of the most frequently banned or challenged books in the United States.

This book is about Junior, a Native American growing up on a Spokane, WA Reservation.  For those of you who don't know about life on an Indian Reservation, it isn't pretty.  Statistically, the people are very poor and alcoholism runs rampant.  You see both of those themes prevalently in Junior's story.

Basically, Junior has a lot of aspirations.  He is a budding cartoonist (and you see lots of his drawings in the book) and a fairly decent basketball player.  He's also a pretty good student, but his school leaves a lot to be desired.

He makes the decision, which when you read the story you discover how truly brave he was to make it, to leave the Reservation's school and travel the 20 miles to the nearest public school that is off the Reservation.  This decision has far-reaching ramifications.  For example, how is he going to get to school?  There isn't a bus and his parents don't have the gas money to get him there on a consistent basis.  And what happens when the new school plays his old school during the basketball season?

This story is funny and sad at the same time and I LOVE stories like that.  It is also a book that is great for girls AND guys.

Come and get it!

Image via Little, Brown and Company

Teens' Top Ten

I like books.  Did you know that about me?  Because I really like them.

If you read this blog, you probably like books too.  Yeah, books!

Starting today, voting for the Teens' Top Ten awards is open.  What is the Teens' Top Ten, you ask?

Basically, sixteen or so different groups are picked from all over the US to read YA (Young Adult aka Teen) books.  Let me tell you, I'm crazy jealous of these teens; book publishers send them what are called galleys, basically books that are coming out but not yet published, and the teens in turn give the publishers feedback.

So these teens read the books, give feedback, pick their favorite 25 books, and then they release the titles for voting to everyone else.

This year's nominees are:

Drought by Pam Bachorz* 

I Am J by Chris Beam*

You Killed Wesley Payne by Sean Beaudoin*

Zombies vs. Unicorns by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier*

The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card*

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare*

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins*

Love, Inc. by Yvonne Collins*

Matched by Ally Condie*

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer*

Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

Lies by Michael Grant*

Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins*

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins*

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa*

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore*

Red Moon Rising by Peter Moore*

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson*

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver*

The False Princess by Ellis O'Neal*

Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel by James Patterson*

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce*

Blessed by Cynthia Leitich Smith*

Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld*

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White*

*We already have it! We rock so hard!
*We've ordered it, but it isn't here yet.
*We've already placed it on a list and will be ordering it in October.

So, as you can see, most of these books are here and ready for you to read.  I'm embarrassed to say I've only read four books on the list, so I really need to get to it.

If you'd like to vote for the Teens' Top Ten, it is super simple.  Go to http://www.ala.org/teenstopten and vote!  Easy as can be.

Winners will be announced during Teen Read Week, October 16-22.

What are you waiting for, go vote!

Summer Reading Program: The Winners Edition

So, I'm about to give away a lot of stuff.  A lot!

I would like to thank everyone that participated in this year's summer reading program.  When I started, I asked the previous Teen Librarians how many passports that I needed to print up.  They said that, generally, they gave out between 30 and 50, so I printed 50.  Then I had to print 50 more.  And then 25 more after that.  That's right: we gave away 125 passports this year.  AMAZING!  So a great big thanks to all who made this summer such fun for me and Amy.  We love handing out prizes.

For those of you who made it up to levels 4 and 5, the drawings are now complete.  I'll be giving you a call sometime this week, but if you see your name here feel free to pop on over and pick up your goodies.

Level 4 Winners

$15 iTunes gift card: Summer Webers

Lunch for 2 at Dusit Thai Cuisine: Lanie Benefiel

Sauna Session from Beauti Central: Tracy Connelly

$25 gift certificate to Brent's Rib House and Catering: Otto Blum

Medium Pizza from Domino's: (1) Hannah Bristol (2) Morgan Jenkins (3) Tyler Brown and (4) Justice Helton

Congratulations, level 4 winners!

Level 5 Winners

$10 Amazon gift card: Noelle King

Bags from Stage: (1) Carolyn Crane and (2) Darby Sproul

$15 iTunes gift card: Gavyn Pennington

$25 gift certificate to Brent's Rib House and Catering: (1) Bruk Sproul and (2) Hannah Brown

$20 Hasting's gift card: Zoe Bodishaugh

Sauna Session from Beauti Central: Trinity Bristol

Congratulations, level 5 winners!

We also had several people enter their passports for consideration because they read more than me this summer.  Well done, you guys!  I read 25 books this summer for a total of just over 9,000 pages.

The winner of the $20 Hasting's gift card for beating me in page volume is April Daugherty!


Don't forget that I'm accepting Teen Library Council applications (which can be picked up down in the Teen Library) until August 31.  I'm looking to take up to 7 new people this year, so get your application in!

Middle Eastern Cuisine and Crafternoon #3

I come to you picture free today, which is a bummer, but I was way too busy at each of these events to even think about finding the camera much less take any pictures.

On July 16, we held our second International Food Day of the summer.  This time, we were experiencing (and enjoying!) different foods from the Middle East.

All but one of the recipes can be found in The Multicultural Cookbook for Students by Carole Lisa Albyn and Lois Sinaiko Webb, which is a part of our Teen Reference section.  You can't check the book out, but you are welcome to make copies of any recipes you think you'd like to try.

First up, we had Imam Bayildi, which is a vegetarian stuffed eggplant and originates from Turkey.  The eggplant is stuffed with diced tomatoes and sauteed onions, green peppers, and eggplant.  Delicious.

We also had Nan-e Lavash, a flat bread from Iraq.  There was no sugar in this bread, but it kind of had a sweet taste to it.  This recipe was time consuming but not difficult.

Next up, from the country of Israel, we had chicken soup with knaidlach, which is essentially just a matzo ball soup.  You make the broth with lots of chicken and veggies and then pull all that out and cook the matzo balls in the broth.  FYI, if you decide to make this, Harp's is the only place I found with matzo meal.

From Egypt, we had kosheri, which is a mixture of lentils, rice, and macaroni then topped with onions and/or a red spaghetti type sauce.  While I was making this, I kept thinking how bland this would be.  I was so wrong!  This was actually my favorite dish of the day.  Once you top it with the red sauce, it is full of flavor.

We had two different desserts, both of just general Middle Eastern descent.  The first, made by the very awesome Amy, was date bars.  Dates are a huge industry in the Middle East.  My husband served in Iraq and said he once had a meat dish with a date sauce on top, so they are pretty versatile as well.  We wanted to use them on a dessert basis, though, so the date bars are what came to fruition.  We also had something called Umm Ali, which is the only recipe that is not from the cookbook.  I have a friend who used to live in the United Arab Emirates and said that she looked forward to Ramadan all year because they would serve this once the fasting for the day broke.  You can find the Umm Ali recipe here.

All in all, I think the day was a huge success!

We also had a great time at Crafternoon #3, which I decided I should've called "Advanced Craftmaking 101."  We made things out of duct tape and I had NO IDEA that it would be so difficult!

(Duct Tape Patterns)

But lots of people walked out with completed items that looked really cool, so I'm calling it a win.

I've had such a blast hosting these events and I'm so glad that I've been given the opportunity.

We only have a few more days until our summer program comes to a close, so if you still have a reading packet and want a prize, come on in!

Crafternoon #2

We hosted our second of three Crafternoon sessions last week here at the library and, I gotta say, it was super fun.  I even got to get in on the good times during this session and I made myself a super cute picture frame.

Another big thanks to Hunter Clayton who came out to play hostess.

See, guys?  We can make crafts manly.

One of the many completed projects.

Our next and final Crafternoon will be on July 22 and there are still spots available!

Facial Recipes

I hope everyone's summer is off to an amazing start!

Here at the library, we are diving deeper into our summer activities.  Yesterday, we had our first of three "Teen Crafternoon" craft sessions and it was lots of fun!  Hunter Clayton, who is an incredibly talented young lady and will be a senior in high school next year, came and led the workshop.

I'm re-posting the recipes here so that the participants (or you, if you so choose) can recreate them.

Yogurt Honey Mask (for all skin types)

1 Tablespoon Plain Yogurt
1 Teaspoon honey

For Oily Skin, add a few drops of lime juice.
For Dry Skin, add 2 teaspoons of honey instead of one.

Leave on 15 minutes then rinse off with warm water.

Apple Facial

1/4 apple (mashed with fork)
1 teaspoon of oatmeal
1 teaspoon of honey

Leave on face until mixture dries thoroughly then rinse with warm water.

Hunter's Scrub

2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon honey

Mix until it is a paste.  Leave on face for 10 minutes.  Rinse with warm water.

German Chocolate Cake Scrub

2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon honey
1 Teaspoon cocoa
a sprinkle of sweetened coconut

Leave on face for 10 minutes.  Rinse with warm water.

Even the dudes had fun (and there were more than this).  I think they took the stuff home to their moms.

Our next crafternoon will be on July 6 at 2:00.  It does require you to register prior to the event and space is limited, so head on over and REGISTER!

Mandy's Book of the Week (6/6)

Welcome to the last Book of the Week for the school year (well, Mtn. Home's school year, anyway). 

Today I am pleased to bring you the story of Ava and her inner turmoil.

Ava is from a super liberal family; she calls her parents by their first names and when she declared herself a lesbian, her parents literally broke out the champagne.  Ava has a girlfriend, dyes her hair a deep black, and wears very little color.

But Ava has a secret: she longs to be a girl who wears pink.  She loves the color.  She also loves skirts and dresses and kitten heels, she just doesn't feel that she can get away with wearing those things.  In order to get a fresh start, she transfers to a private school and, on the first day, wears a pair of fitted jeans and a new pink, cashmere, argyle sweater that she just adores. 

Even though she's struggling a bit with the new, heavy course load, she feels that she's off to a great start.  She's fallen in with a good crowd who conspire to hook her up with a boy named Ethan (Ava thinks she might like boys as well, so she's totally ok with this).

Things start to get dicey, though, when she auditions for (and completely makes a fool of herself while doing it) the school musical.  She ends up signing up to work with the stage crew, or Screw, as they call themselves, which Ava's new cool friends think is just awful.  At this point, you get to see how very confused Ava is about a lot of things in her life.

This book is relatively new to our collection, but I think it will be one that sticks around for a while.  It was great!