TeenScene @ WPL

November volunteer opportunities

Becky — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:01:46 +0000

Calling all Teen Volunteers - interested in helping out at the Library this month? CLICK HERE for a list of children’s events that need your help! Fill out your name, contact info, and which events you want to help with, and I’ll get in touch with you. Be sure to mark your calendar!

Want to help out in other ways? You can make your own schedule, working 1 or 2 hours at a time in the Youth department. Sometimes we have special projects, but when we don’t, we can always use help shelving. If interested, email me (Becky) at boneil@westervillelibrary.org.

Not sure what the heck I’m talking about?! Check our online calendar for the next Teen Volunteer Training, and pick up a Teen Volunteer Application next time you’re in the library.

Summer volunteers, take our survey!

Becky — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:51:17 +0000

Calling all summer volunteers! I know it’s been awhile, but I’d love your feedback. CLICK HERE to fill out a survey about your volunteer experience in the great summer of 2009. C’mon, you know you love surveys!

Your answers are much appreciated and will help make next summer even better!!

Games That Give

Becky — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:56:47 +0000

Fess up…you know you’re addicted to online games. All you have to do is start one and then it becomes a competition of unstoppable proportions…you just need ONE MORE TRY and you will WIN (err, maybe that’s just what happens to me when I play Solitaire!). So how cool is it that there is now a way to get your fix AND donate to a good cause?

If you’re not familiar with DoSomething.org, I highly recommend checking it out, especially if you’re into helping others and making a difference. As they say here,

We’ve partnered with GamesThatGive, a new website that generates money for charity (us) when you play their free online games:

Solitaire

Bubble Burst (kind of like snood)

Gems

Asteroids

Sudoku

Word Search

Memory

Drull (cool puzzle game)

How does it work? Sponsors advertise on the games, and 70% of every dollar they spend goes to Do Something! Check out GamesThatGive.net and tell some friends about this fun new way to help Do Something change the world.

Sounds cool, huh? I’ll be checking it out just as soon as I beat Solitaire…

Going on an adventure

Becky — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:46:57 +0000

Hey everyone! I’m going on an adventure to Europe and won’t be posting for a couple weeks. Hooray for travel!! Have you ever been on any cool trips that you remember fondly, or do you have some places on your wish list? I don’t get to travel as much as I’d like to, but that is where the wonder of Armchair Travel comes in. What’s Armchair Travel, you ask? All you need is a comfy chair, preferably some snacks (though they are not entirely necessary), and, most importantly, some books to take you away!

Check out these exciting going-on-an-adventure titles:

The great call of China by Cynthea Liu - In the latest installment of the S.A.S.S. series (Students Across the Seven Seas), teen Cece travels to China to find out about her roots, her birth parents, and maybe a little romance.

13 little blue envelopes by Maureen Johnson - When seventeen-year-old Ginny receives a packet of mysterious envelopes from her favorite aunt, she leaves New Jersey to criss-cross Europe on a sort of scavenger hunt that transforms her life.

Whirligig by Paul Fleischman - While traveling to each corner of the country to build a whirligig in memory of the girl whose death he causes, sixteen-year-old Brian finds forgiveness and atonement.

Want more? Click here!

Teen Volunteers’ End-of-Summer Party!

Becky — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:47:21 +0000

We want to thank the teen volunteers who sacrificed their well-deserved hours in the sun to help out at the Summer Reading Program table this year! With over 3,400 kids and teens registered and over 30,000 hours logged, we’d have to say that this year’s SRP was a success!

So, join us this Thursday, August 13th from 6pm to 8pm for food and games. Feel free to bring your friends and your famous tuna casserole to share! To find out more, visit our Events calendar.

Percy Jackson comes to life!

Becky — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:03:11 +0000

The Lightning Thief is coming to the big screen in the new movie based on the hit book. Read the series or check out the trailer!

Looking for something a bit more lighthearted? Check out I love you, Beth Cooper, in theaters now.

New Teen Books

Becky — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:52:21 +0000

Carpe corpus / Rachel Caine.

"In the small college town of Morganville, vampires and humans lived in (relative) peace until all the rules got rewritten when the evil vampire Bishop arrived, looking for the lost book of vampire secrets. He's kept a death grip on the town ever since. Now an underground resistance is brewing, and in order to contain it, Bishop must go to even greater lengths. He vows to obliterate the town and all its inhabitants the living and the undead. Claire Danvers and her friends are the only ones who stand in his way. But even if they defeat Bishop, will the vampires ever be content to go back to the old rules, after having such a taste of power?"--Publishers description. (read more)

Ten cents a dance / Christine Fletcher.

In 1940s Chicago, fifteen-year-old Ruby hopes to escape poverty by becoming a taxi dancer in a nightclub, but the work has unforeseen dangers and hiding the truth from her family and friends becomes increasingly difficult. (read more)

Dragon spear / by Jessica Day George.

Creel's adventures continue when she, her brother, and her betrothed travel across the seas to visit their dragon friends. They become involved in a battle against an alien group of dragons that has kidnapped Queen Velika, endangering her and her expected litter of hatchlings. (read more)

Dork diaries : tales from a not-so-fabulous life / by Rachel Renee Russell.

Fourteen-year-old Nikki Maxwell writes in her diary of her struggle to be popular at her exclusive new private school, then of finding her place after she gives up on being part of the elite group. (read more)

Dragon drive. Vol. 14, Wait / story & art by Ken-ichi Sakura in collaboration with Bandai-Chan's-Org. ; [translation, Martin Hunt ; English adaptation, Ian Reid].

"The transformed Araki breaks into Rikyu, launching the final battle of the Raikoo masters. Now the hope of both worlds rests on Reiji and Takumi, who must work together to stop Araki. With Reiji fighting the huge dragon from the outside and Takumi and Raikoo fighting from deep within, they just might be able to save humanity and dragonkind. But the battle won't be won without terrible sacrifices..."--p.[4] of cover (read more)

Bleach. vol. 27, Goodbye, halcyon days / story and art by Tite Kubo ; English adaptation, Lance Caselman ; translation, Joe Yamazaki.

"Ichigo 'Strawberry' Kurosaki never asked for the ability to see ghosts, he was born with the gift. When his family is attacked by a Hollow, a malevolent lost soul, Ichigo becomes a Soul Reaper, dedicating his life to protecting the innocent and helping the tortured spirits themselves find peace. Orihime's return from the Soul Society is interrupted by the Arrancar Ulquiorra, who has a different, terrifying path for her. Using duplicitous tactics, Ulquiorra convinces Orihime to accompany him to Hueco Mundo, which brands her as a traitor in the Soul Society's eyes and therefore unworthy of rescue. Ichigo refuses to abandon his friend, and sets out to storm Hueco Mundo to set her free, but can he win when the entire world is against him?"--p. [4] of cover. (read more)

See no evil / Jamila Gavin.

Twelve-year-old Nettie's sheltered and privileged life changes after her beloved tutor mysteriously disappears and Nettie, aided by the son of a household employee, begins to learn the truth about her father, whose wealth began with trafficking in illegal aliens. (read more)

Gray baby : a novel / by Scott Loring Sanders.

Clifton has grown up in rural Virginia with the memory of his African American father being beaten to death by policemen, causing his white mother to slip into alcoholism and depression, but after befriending an old man who listens to his problems, Clifton finally feels less alone in the world. (read more)

Girl stays in the picture : a Girl novel / by Melissa de la Cruz.

On a movie set in Saint Tropez, France, several teenaged members of the Hollywood elite come together in an explosion of scenes shot and reshot, friendships formed and cast aside, and romances begun and destroyed, all duly reported by paparazzi. (read more)

Intensely Alice / Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.

During the summer between her junior and senior years of high school, Maryland teenager Alice McKinley volunteers at a local soup kitchen, tries to do "something wild" without getting arrested, and wonders if her trip to Chicago to visit boyfriend Patrick will result in a sleepover. (read more)

Entr@pment : a high school comedy in chat / M. Spooner.

Two teenage girls assume false identities online in order to test the fidelity of their boyfriends. Told in the form of chat room communications. (read more)

The demon's lexicon / Sarah Rees Brennan.

Sixteen-year-old Nick and his family have battled magicians and demons for most of his life, but when his brother, Alan, is marked for death while helping new friends Jamie and Mae, Nick's determination to save Alan leads him to uncover a devastating secret. (read more)

Emily the Strange : lost days / by Rob Reger and Jessica Gruner ; illustrated by Rob Reger and Buzz Parker.

Emily the Strange has lost her memory and finds herself in the town of Blackrock with nothing more than her diary, her slingshot, and the clothes on her back. (read more)

Brand new Emily : a novel / by Ginger Rue.

Tired of being picked on by a trio of popular girls, fourteen-year-old poet Emily hires a major public relations firm to change her image and soon finds herself "re-branded" as Em, one of the most important teens not only in her middle school, but in celebrity magazines, as well. (read more)

Oath breaker / Michelle Paver ; [illustrations by Geoff Taylor].

When Bane is killed by the Soul-Eater Thiazzi, Torak sets off into the Deep Forest with his foster father and Renn to avenge his friend's murder, but they find themselves in the midst of a war between the Deep Forest clans. (read more)

The entomological tales of Augustus T. Percival : Petronella saves nearly everyone / Dene Low ; illustrations by Jen Corace.

Petronella's fashionable friends are arriving at her country estate near London to celebrate her sixteenth birthday and her coming out party. During the festivities, important guests are disappearing, kidnapping notes are appearing, many of the clues are insects, and Uncle Augustus (who has developed a bug eating compulsion) is surreptitiously devouring evidence. (read more)

Simon Bloom, the octopus effect / Michael Reisman.

When twelve-year-old Simon becomes the official Keeper of the Order of Physics, he and his friends Owen and Alysha face extreme danger as they try to protect the Universe from destruction by evil forces. (read more)

Speak Up for Your Library!

Becky — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:18:14 +0000

This year’s Summer Reading Program theme is all about expressing yourself. With the proposed cuts to library funding, now is the time to make your voice heard!

What does the library mean to you? A safe place to hang out after school? Somewhere you can go for help with your homework? Your only source for new books? The first place you could access the Internet?

Let your local legislators know how important the library is to you! Email Governor Strickland today, or contact the following state representatives to share your thoughts. You can make a difference!

Not sure what to write? Check out this sample letter.

Senator Bill Harris, President of the Senate
614-466-8086

Senator David Goodman, 3rd District
614-466-8064

Representative Kevin Bacon, 21st District
614-466-6030

Representative Marian Harris, 19th District
614-466-4847

Representative Nancy Garland, 20th District
614-644-6002

Representative Kris Jordan, 2nd District
614-644-6711

For more information on the budget proposal, please refer to this article from Library Journal, or the Save Ohio Libraries website.

Harry Potter Giveaway!

Becky — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:07:14 +0000

It’s almost time for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to be released in paperback, and guess what? Scholastic is giving away paperback sets of books 5, 6, and 7! Even better, local librarian/teacher/superhero Ms. Yingling, of Ms. Yingling Reads, has a chance for you to enter to win! Check out her blog or click directly to this post for the details. Good luck!

Summer Reading 2009 is almost here!

Becky — Tue, 26 May 2009 21:15:09 +0000

Check out our homemade video promo for the 2009 Summer Reading Program, made for you with love by the WPL Youth Librarians! Got a hankering to make your own? Be sure to pick up info on Kick-off Day, Thursday, June 11. You’ll have a chance to register for summer reading, get a sign-up prize, work on some cool activities (including appearing in your own “Boogie Heads” video) and find out about our “Starring You! Movie Maker” workshops and movie showing night. You won’t want to miss it! See you on June 11th!

Book Trailer - Gone by Michael Grant

Becky — Mon, 25 May 2009 19:17:38 +0000

Check out this creepy book trailer for the book Gone. What if one day, everyone over the age of 14 was just…gone?

Interested? Find it at the Library!

Check out Skeleton Creek

Becky — Fri, 08 May 2009 19:36:52 +0000

Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman

Ryan’s a writer, and even though something terrifying has happened and left him with a broken leg and no way to see his best friend, Sarah, he uses his journal to get the story out.

Includes links to online videos that help illustrate Sarah’s findings. (First in a series.)

What to read next: The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan

For more book suggestions, check out Becky’s book picks!