Teens & Tweens Program This Thursday: Twinkie Cooking Class!

This Thursday August 2nd @ 3:00 PM, we're going to be doing a Twinkie Cooking Class. Come learn how to make different snacks with this indestructible food!

Staff Pick of the Week!: Snatched

This week's pick is Snatched by Pete Hautman and Mary Logue (YA HAUTMAN).

Brian Bain and Roni Delicota have only encountered each other on the bench outside the principal's office when new girl Alicia is abducted one day after school. As a dedicated reporter for the school newspaper, Roni doesn't think twice about getting to the bottom of the case. At first Brian wants to stay out of it (as he's already grounded due to his latest science experiment), but soon finds himself very involved as he and Roni work to uncover evidence and track down Alicia. Will they be able to find her? Will Alicia be able to tell them who her kidnapper was? Find out in this first book of The Bloodwater Mysteries series.

For more info on The Bloodwater Mysteries, check out http://www.petehautman.com/snatched.html.

Teens & Tweens Program This Thursday: Movie Day

This Thursday, July 26th @ 3:00PM in celebration of our summer reading theme, Mission Read, we'll be watching a sci-fi movie (Star Wars? Attack of the Killer Tomatoes?), along with the usual snacks and prizes. Hope to see you there!

Staff Pick of the Week: Rebound

This week's pick is Rebound by Bob Krech (YA KRECH).

Ray Wisniewski has tried out for Franklin High's varsity basketball team for two years in a row, and for two years in a row Coach Malovic has cut him. Ray's convinced it's because he's white, and in Franklin, white boys don't play basketball. But when Coach Thomas comes on the scene Ray's senior year, he knows he has a chance. Yet once the season gets started, Ray becomes convinced that Robert, an African-American player, has a grudge against him due to his race. Still, Ray thinks he's fitting in with the team until his friend Walter starts making comments, comments that Ray's not all that comfortable with. Ray wants to stay friends with Walter and believes he can overlook his friend's racism, but soon realizes ignoring Walter's words and actions comes at a price. Things are not always what they seem, and Ray finds himself confronting not only the prejudices of his community but also his own.

For more information about Rebound, check out www.bobkrech.com.

New Books!

Check out these new books on display in the Teens & Tweens Space:

Astrostyle: Star-studded advice for Love, Life, and Looking Good by The AstroTwins, Tali & Ophira Edut (133.5 EDU)
H.I.V.E.: Higher Institute of Villainous Education by Mark Walden (YA WALDEN)
The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (YA MURDOCK)
Over a Thousand Hills I Walk With You by Hanna Jansen (YA JANSEN)
Princess in Training by Meg Cabot (YA CABOT)
The Wolf by Steven Herrick (YA HERRICK)

As always, we welcome your comments and reviews!

Harry Potter Day!

This Thursday for the Teens & Tweens program we'll celebrating the release of book #7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. We'll watch one of the Harry Potter movies and talk about what's going to happen to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. We'll see you on Thursday, July 19th, @ 3:00 PM!

Staff Pick of the Week: Flora Segunda

This week's pick is Flora Segunda: being the magickal mishaps of a girl of spirit, her glass-gazing sidekick, two ominous butlers (one blue), a house with eleven thousand rooms, and a red dog by Ysabeau S. Wilce (YA WILCE).

Flora Segunda lives in Crackpot Hall, a falling-apart house with rooms upon rooms, a slightly mad father, and a mother who's almost always gone fighting wars. She's about to turn fourteen, at which point she'll be ready to go into the military and follow in her mother's footsteps. But Flora doesn't want to be a Commanding General like Mamma - she wants to be a Ranger like her heroine Nini Mo. Flora's dream is to create magic and go on reconnaissance missions, not to be a soldier. Mama doesn't like magic, nor does she like deviations from her plans for Flora. But a few days before her birthday Flora takes a wrong turn in Crackpot Hall and encounters Valefor, the magical house butler Mama banished years ago. After a little convincing on Valefor's part, Flora decides it's time to introduce magic back into Crackpot Hall. And when she and her best friend Udo decide to go rescue the Dainty Pirate, what started out as an interesting adventure starts to become a very dangerous set of circumstances.
For more information about Flora and Crackpot Hall, check out www.CrackpotHall.com.

Graphic Novels/Manga Survey

We are developing our graphic novel and manga collection. Please take a few moments to answer the questions on this survey and let us know what kind of materials you would like to see in the library. Paper copies of the survey are also available in the Teens & Tweens Space. Thanks for helping us out!

New Books!

Check out these new books we added to the Teens & Tweens space today:
Peak by Roland Smith (YA SMITH)
Princess on the Brink by Meg Cabot (YA CABOT)
Touching Snow by Sindy M. Felin (YA FELIN)

Harry Potter survey!

Check out this survey by Teenreads.com about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!

Get ready for the next Teens & Tweens program!

This coming Thursday, July 12th @ 3:00PM, we're going to have a space picnic! We'll be identifying space stuff, playing games outside, and of course, there'll be food and prizes. :)

Staff Pick of the Week!

This week's pick is Harlem Summer by Walter Dean Myers (YA MYERS).

It's 1925 in Harlem, and sixteen-year old Mark Purvis cares about only two things - getting to play his sax with Fats Waller and staying alive until the end of the summer. While trying to convince the legendary piano player to listen to him play, Mark found himself on the bad side of local gangster Dutch Schultz. Mark and his friend Henry had agreed to assist Dutch with a transport (all the while hoping they'd get closer to Fats) and found out too late that they helped transport whiskey - a definite mistake during the Prohibition era. And when the entire shipment goes missing, Dutch decides to blame Mark. In the meantime, Mark is trying to survive his summer job at The Crisis, look for any break he can in the music business, and try not to fall in love too many times. Peopled with such famous figures as Fats, Langston Hughes, and W.E.B. DuBois, Harlem Summer is a hilarious take on how to follow one's dreams, all the while trying to avoid getting into major trouble.

More Harry Potter Stuff!

Have you checked out the Borders Harry Potter site yet? You can listen to debates about the true nature of Snape, check out Harry Potter goodies, and more!