TeenScene @ WPL

The Magic Door: Portal Fiction

Posted on March 19th, 2013 by Becky.
Categories: Books, Movies.

So…who has been to see Oz the Great and Powerful? I haven’t yet, but I would like to thank it for prompting this blog post, which has taught me a name I didn’t know existed for one of my favorite types of books: Portal Fiction!

How often have I gushed about how I love stepping into another world, like Alice, Coraline, or Tiffany Aching?! I read the term “portal fiction” and experienced that awesome “there’s a WORD for that?” feeling.

…these books feature protagonists who are transported from our own familiar world to another realm, where they encounter exhilarating adventures and come face to face with conundrums that challenge their perceptions and abilities, uncover hidden aptitudes, and help them learn about themselves.

The post linked above mentions some great titles, including The Other Normals and the brand-new Splintered. Reserve copies of the whole list here.

Got any other favorite titles about stepping into another world? Add them in the comments!

0 comments.

Drama, by Raina Telgemeier: A new book trailer for your Friday

Posted on October 12th, 2012 by Becky.
Categories: Books, Movies.

It’s a happy day when there’s a new book by Raina Telgemeier! Lots of readers at WPL loved her graphic novel Smile, about her own experience as a girl when she fell and knocked out her two front teeth, resulting in years of braces, headgear, and surgery.

She’s just released her latest book, Drama, in which main character Callie does the set design for her middle school play — and as much of the drama happens off-stage as on-stage! Check out the trailer below! Have you read it yet? Tell us what you thought in the comments!

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Book Trailer Awesomeness: The Maze Runner

Posted on July 7th, 2012 by Becky.
Categories: Books, Movies.

It’s been a while since we posted any book trailers, and this one is so CREEPTASTIC that I had to share it.

I know, right?! Reserve it! This was done by a fourth-year cinematography major at University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and it was a finalist in the Kirkus 2009 Book Video Awards. That’s right — you could totally make one of these for your favorite book. If you already have a fantasy cast list, use clips, look-alikes, and a soundtrack to make it come to life, then post it online for the world to admire (and YouTube commenters to be fooled into thinking it’s an actual movie!).

0 comments.

WWAR (What Would Avengers Read)?

Posted on May 15th, 2012 by Mickie.
Categories: Books, Movies.

Have you seen Avengers yet? By all accounts (especially according to ticket sales and those old fashioned box office votes known as ticket money) this movie is amazing and it is breaking records left and right! To make the movie even COOLER Joss Whedon wrote it! You may know him from such coolness as Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Toy Story, Serenity, X-Men and…need I go on? He is stinking cool. period.

I was also super stoked to see this post on The Hub this week….Maria Kramer took her super powers of library science to make you an Avengers’ Reading List! As in WWAR (What Would Avengers Read)?

Sure, the Avengers have been taking names and smashing box office records, but here’s the big question: what would members of this superteam read in their free time? Wonder no more!

She took each character and picked out a book for him/her based on that hero’s interests, personality and ability. Cleversauce!

So read the post, pick your favorite character and then check out his/her book.  Then you can let me know what you think! Was it a good match? What book would you choose for your favorite hero?

4 comments.

New Movie Fix: Library > Facebook

Posted on February 20th, 2012 by Becky.
Categories: Movies, Technology.

Did you guys hear that over the weekend, Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie debuted on Facebook? That’s right:

For $10, fans will be able watch the movie and chat with its stars in real time. The model represents a new sort of social cinema that, while not widespread, appears poised to become a potentially major trend.

What do you make of this? Would you pay money to watch a film on Facebook, or would you rather pay the same money for a big-screen, sitting-with-friends-and-popcorn experience? Will this be a good development (independent films can get more exposure) or bad (more chance for piracy)?

Happily, our library movies are still free to check out! Did you know that we have feeds of the newest and latest Blu-Rays, DVDs, and TV shows at the library? There’s even a feed for the Coming Soon stuff, so you can be first on the reserve list! When you next tear yourself off of Facebook, be sure to take a look!

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Thirteen Reasons Why: The Hannah Tapes

Posted on January 17th, 2012 by Becky.
Categories: Books, Movies.

I know a lot of you are fans of Jay Asher's book Thirteen Reasons Why -- in fact, I first read it after I realized that it was one of the most popular requests in the library. The book is about high school student Clay, who receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide. On the tapes, Hannah says that there are thirteen reasons why she did it, and Clay is one of them.

While you're waiting for the movie to come out, have you seen The Hannah Tapes? It's a chance to experience the tapes as Clay might have. The first one is below, and all of them are linked on the book's site here. (Obviously, there are spoilers on the tapes, so read the book first if you don't want anything spoiled!)

What do you think? A good use of YouTube, or would you rather have imagined how the the tapes would sound yourself? Oh, and if you didn't know, Jay Asher has a new book out (written with Carolyn Mackler), The Future of Us.

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The Hobbit trailer: It’s time to get yer Tolkien on

Posted on December 22nd, 2011 by Becky.
Categories: All posts, Books, Movies.

It’s here! It’s here! Our first glimpse of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey movie adaptation! Are you in a comfortable seat? Is the sound turned up on your computer? OK, now take this in:

HOW EXCITED AM I?! Enough to shout on the interwebs, that’s how excited. New resolution for %2012: I’ll be re-reading the book and re-watching the amazing movie series in preparation. More details here.

2 comments.

Talkin’ transmedia: multi-platform books

Posted on December 13th, 2011 by Becky.
Categories: All posts, Books, Movies, Technology, Web sites to watch.

You probably know what transmedia is, even if you don’t use that word in your everyday convos (and who does?). It’s an invented word that got a lot of buzz this year, as we saw more books that jumped off the page onto many different media platforms, especially online.

This article highlights a bunch of them, from The Amanda Project (which has a tie-in web site of info gathered to help solve the mystery of a missing teen), to The Search for WondLa (whose illustrations can be held up to a webcam to unlock extras), to Pottermore (which extends and makes interactive the beloved Harry Potter universe).

I’d also add the Skeleton Creek series and 3:15 series (both by Patrick Carman), as well as the Cathy books.

So what do you think? Is this a future trend that will continue, or will straight-up ebooks soon rule the market? Personally, I like the idea of blending paper and other media for a while. That way there is still a piece to enjoy when you aren’t next to a computer/phone/tablet. Am I the old-fashioned librarian in saying this? Tell me in the comments!

0 comments.

Just announced: Our Hunger Games Movie Release Party!

Posted on December 1st, 2011 by Becky.
Categories: Books, Events, Movies.

OK, so by now it feels like everyone (and I mean everyone) has read The Hunger Games trilogy and is getting excited about the movie. I’ll admit it, I was pretty worried about Hollywood messing with a book I’d really liked (Percy Jackson movie, I’m looking at you), but this trailer has me shivering with antici… pation:

Yesss!!! Consider me officially pumped! Which is why I’m thrilled to announce WPL’s Hunger Games Release Party on Friday, March 23, from 4:00-5:30 pm. That’s right: Before you hit the theater for the movie premiere, join us as we explore Panem through food, fashion, and fun. Which district will you represent? Will you survive the Arena? How great is the movie going to be?!? Costumes are encouraged! And may the odds be EVER in your favor!

2 comments.

Fictional Food: The oh-so-yummy food/book connection

Posted on November 12th, 2011 by Becky.
Categories: All posts, Books, Events, Movies, Web sites to watch.

Considering that it combines two of my favorite things EVARRR, food and books, you can see why the blog Fictional Food is one I’m going to be checking obsessively. It highlights foods eaten in books, and posts recipes and ideas for making your own. It’s also begun to feature recipes from comics, games, movies, and television. How cool is that?!

Right now I’m obsessing over The Hunger Games section of the site, especially this giant list. Who knew there was so much food eaten in The Hunger Games? A THG movie release party at the library is brewing in my head…it would be great to feature some of these dishes (well, perhaps not the roasted rabbit).

Of course, this brings up the delicious question of what other good food fiction books are out there. I always drooled a little when reading what the characters cook in the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, as well as all the feasting that happens in Redwall. What other food-centric books can you think of? Post ‘em in the comments! I’m off to get a snack!

1 comment.

Will You Take the Pledge? Read it First Debuts

Posted on September 15th, 2011 by Mickie.
Categories: All posts, Books, Movies.

A few weeks ago this blog broached the controversial topic of books that are turned into movies. Some of us LOVE them! Some of us HATE them! Some of us are STILL wondering if there is any Ben and Jerry’s left in the freezer–but SOME of us are pledging to always read the book before watching the movie.

Yes, you heard me correctly. Nerdfighter Hank Green (brother of Printz winning author John Green and half of the DFTBA duo, the Vlog Brothers) has launched Readit1st.com to promote the reading of the book before the watching of the movie.

Below is a clip of Hank explaining the process of the Read it 1st project.

Will you pledge to never let the movie ruin the book?  I did. If it helps, you can eat popcorn while reading…but take off those 3-D glasses, you just look funny.

0 comments.

Accio Memories: Remembering Harry Potter in a Magicky Wordle

Posted on July 15th, 2011 by Mickie.
Categories: Movies, Words & Writing.

Today I feel nostalgic as fans everywhere queue up to see HPatDH part II…I feel as cackly as Babbity-Rabbity and as fiery as Hungarian Horntail and I feel as happy as a boy who lived.

How do you feel?

Join us in recording our feelings and memories about Harry Potter in your own words. Take a look at the questions below and leave your answers in the comments.

The Questions

• Describe your earliest or best Memory of Harry Potter.
• Name your five fave characters and give one word that describes them.
• Your favorite Harry Potter Spell is _______.
• Harry Potter to you, means…
• If you could tell Harry or JK Rowling anything, it would be?

We’ll take all the answers and plug them into Wordle and then we’ll post the beautiful word cloud in celebration of how Harry and Hermione and Ron and Hagrid and Dumbledore and Neville and ….well, how everyone in Harry’s world has touched ours.

5 comments.

Interview with a Teen Volunteer! (+HG movie tidbits)

Posted on June 30th, 2011 by Becky.
Categories: All posts, Books, Movies, Teen Volunteers.

You guys should totally hop on over to another teen-related blog, The Hub, and check out this interview with our own awesome Teen Volunteer, Luke. If you ever want to be interviewed, let me know in the comments here!

In other news, I wanted to make sure you saw all these juicy updates about The Hunger Games movie — including (possibly) District 12 pictures!! What do you think? Looking true to the book so far?

0 comments.

Jeff Bridges as The Giver?! Yea or nay?

Posted on June 28th, 2011 by Becky.
Categories: All posts, Books, Movies.

Whilst perusing the internets at lunch, I stumbled across this tidbit announcing that actor Jeff Bridges has finally purchased the rights to Lois Lowry’s futuristic tale, The Giver. Bridges is also considering playing the role of the elderly Giver himself:

“I originally thought of the role of the Giver as a vehicle for my father, the late Lloyd Bridges,” says the True Grit actor, who has been eyeing the project for some time, ”however, at 61 years old I feel the time is right for me to do it.”

What do you think? Is he a good fit? Do you think this 1993 book will still have a fan base? I think it will — not only is it a Newbery winner (browse our past winners online!) that many kids still read, but new readers have been discovering it thanks to dystopian fiction being The Big Thing right now!

1 comment.

I’m wonderstruck by Wonderstruck

Posted on June 21st, 2011 by Becky.
Categories: All posts, Books, Movies.

I just had the chance to read the ARC of Wonderstruck, the upcoming book release from Brian Selznick, and oh. my. gosh. It might be my new favorite book. You probably remember his unique words-and-pictures storytelling method from The Invention of Hugo Cabret (currently being made into a movie), and this book is formatted similarly, only there are two storylines and 100 drawings MORE than in Hugo Cabret.

Intrigued? The final book isn’t out till September 13, but you can reserve your copy now! (Or maybe, if you’re lucky, pry it from the sticky fingers of our Teen ARC Club.) I just love this book trailer, which makes it look like Selznick is walking through his own drawings. What do you think? Amazing or what?!

0 comments.

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