Make jewelry, personalized magnets and paper crafts…  We have all the stuff to add that personal, one-of-a-kind art touch to your life.

We’re setting out all our crafty stuff and making some amazing projects, so join us!

Sunday June 28th, 2pm, Teen Lounge

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).

Images courtesy of flickr users PB Hastings, Porphyria Poppins, jek in the box

If you think the Nintendo Wii's motion controls are cool, then this will ROCK your SOCKS OFF! Microsoft has debuted at E3, a new project they are working on for the XBOX 360 called Project NATAL, which totally redefines entertainment and gaming. Full body controls, no controllers needed = totally awesome!

Just Imagine, total interaction with the gameworld and the characters with a system that recognizes everything from your face to your body movements. The future of gaming is almost here!

Of course, you don't have to take my word for it.

Check the video below to see a demo of  the project and check out Microsoft's demo page here for more info, videos and to sign up to receive updates on the project.

^{_{photo courtesy of flickr user FT Techfeed}}

Aww cute animal pics are the best!  Check out these books:

 
  Stuff on my Cat and More Stuff on my Cat  

So Cute You Could Die           Disapproving Rabbits

 
And, now, for cute overload:

Alanna and Thom are the nearly identical twin daughter and son of the Lord of Trebond.  Alanna is fearless and dreams of being a wandering Knight, while her brother is studious and longs to learn sorcery.  Alanna is convinced of her destiny, so when her father proposes to send the unwilling Thom to learn Knighthood, Alanna disguises herself as a boy and takes his place.  Alanna’s adventures test her ambition, her duty, and her ability to succeed while maintaining a dangerous secret.  She is determined to not only become a Knight, but also to find a way to defeat the powerful enemies she must make along the way. 

Alanna: The First Adventure is a CD audiobook, read by Trini Alvarado.  Her voice brings to life characters whose adventures will keep you riveted and wanting more.  Alanna is a smart, fearless character who is willing to work hard and risk everything to achieve her dreams.   This is the first book in The Song of the Lioness series about Alanna’s adventures at the palace and out in the world. 

Other books by Tamora Pierce here.

 Ye be gatherin’ for th’ story o’ Captain Jack Sparrow an’ th’ ghost ship th’ Black Pearl.  Th’ Governor’s daughter, the bonny Elizabeth Swan, be kidnapped by Captain Barbossa, an’ her beloved Will Turner turns pirate o’ th’ high seas t’ rescue her.

The Black Pearl be settin’ sail Sunday May 17, 2:00pm in the Teen Lounge.

Yarr, there be snacks and drinks aboard.

Ye and ye mateys must be 13+ for this PG-13 rated movie.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).  
 

Percy Carey came up in 1970’s and 80’s in Harlem.  In this autobiographical graphic novel, he talks about how as a child he was an extra on Sesame Street, but from there is life goes in a different direction.  Hip-hop was at its beginning and Carey was determined to become an emcee.  He became well known (by the name M.F. Grimm) in hip-hop circles, and can count people like Snoop Dogg, Lady Rage, Suge Knight, Roc Raida, KMD and Tupac Shakur among his friends and acquaintances.  Along with hip-hop came gangs, violence and drugs.  In the opening scene of the book, Grimm tells the story of the gang shooting that kills his brother and paralyses him for the rest of his life.  Along the way he goes to prison, and as one of the few prisoners who can read, becomes an advocate for prisoner’s rights, and finds the determination to change his life.

Sentences is an interesting story that is powerfully drawn.  Carey takes looks at his mistakes head-on without shying away from the violence, while still allowing the reader to be proud of his accomplishments.  Anyone interested in hip-hop and rap will want to read this book, but be warned— the violence, though not very graphically depicted, is there, as are drugs.  The language is pretty rough, with lots of profanity, which is what you’d expect from a hip-hop artist/former gang member.  It is the story of the beginning of hip-hop from someone who was there, and who is willing to talk about both the good and the bad without apology.   

If you like Sentences, you might also be interested in:

50 x 50: 50 Cent in His Own Words by 50 Cent

The Way I Am by Eminem

Born in the Bronx: A Visual Record of the Early Days of Hip-Hop by Johan Kugelberg et al.

Chess Rumble by Greg Neri

Street Scene: How to Draw Graffiti-style by John Lee
 

Bog Child is about Fergus, a high school senior growing up on the border of Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland in the 1980s.  The Troubles, the conflict that rocked Northern Ireland between 1960 and 1998, colors the story: Fergus is being courted by the Provos*, a group that engages in terrorism, and his brother is in jail and participating in a hunger strike that will almost surely kill him.  While out cutting peat with his uncle, Fergus discovers the body of a child buried in a bog.  Archeologists are called, and research into the child’s origins shapes Fergus’ last summer before college.  As his own life descends into chaos, he imagines how the dead girl’s life must have been.

 
Bog Child is a really cool story about a guy who is trying to live a normal life in the middle of a crisis.  The story is well written, and Fergus has an authentic and strong voice throughout.  The many elements of the plot come together as Fergus tries to find peace with the decisions he has to make.  He struggles with balancing falling in love, getting the grades that will earn him a scholarship that will take him away from The Troubles, and trying to find a way to help his brother and his family.      


*Provos: Provisional Irish Republican Army

If you're looking for a book to read or recommend and all that's coming to mind are "classic" youth and YA books, here are some contemporary books that you might like!

The first book that members of the Middle School Book Club are reading is:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.

This book won the 2008 Newbery Medal!

If you would like to join the Club, please email Sarah at sludwig@darienlibrary.org. We meet on the last Thursday of the month at 7:00 p.m and we serve pizza.

The Book Club is for rising 7th and 8th graders.

Tempo Change by Barbara Hall

Tempo Change was a very good book even though it took time to read and understand. The main character has very complex thinking. It's about a high school girl name Blair Kelly and though her classmates don't know it, she's related to an indie rock icon. That icon left her mother and her when she was very young. She never played music and used the word artist as a deadly punishment instead of an admirable character. She was a musical critic for the school newspaper. She was a poet in secret and wrote amazing lyrics. She decides to form a band and gets some of the most unlikely people to join her for the ride. They make an amazing team and win their talent show and tie in a bigger contest. Then they reach the Meca of music. Coachella. Blair realizes this may be the chance she is waiting for, the chance to see the father she hasn't laid eyes on in almost 13 years.