The Darien Library teen room is holding its first-ever study night this Tuesday night (the 13th) at 6:30 pm. Want a study break? Come on down to the teen room to have a cup of coffee and a snack! Our librarians will be happy to help you with your homework.

Refreshments will be available until 9:00 pm.

See you then!

A little icy rain on Sunday morning made us remember to be wary on the roads but the colder temps also reminded us that we've got 99 hats and scarves on their way to the Domestic Violence Crisis Center. Our shout-out for helping hands for our 3rd annual knit-a-thon, brought the community together -- teens, adults, and children -- and their needles together, resulting in 52 hats and 47 scarves, which will be delivered to the shelters run by the Crisis Center. We put our hands together for you! Thank you so much! We look forward to offerering more opportunites to serve the community. Read about the enthusiasm that's already building for our new teen space!

One of my favorite things from my time at the Young Adult Literature Symposium was getting to see Gene Yang draw for us! He drew a picture of the Monkey King, a character you'll be very familiar with if you've read American Born Chinese. Here's a picture!

And here's a picture of Gene Yang and Terry Trueman talking about their books.Terry Trueman is hilarious and really open about his life. If you haven't read Stuck in Neutral, I highly recommend it.

I also learned a lot about hosting events for those of who are fans--of books, movies, TV shows, comics, and more! Are you a huge fan of Twilight? Harry Potter? Batman? The Sims? Tell me what you love--I want to give you the chance to have an event here at the library. Email me or comment here!

Check out this great article by DHS student Samantha Wood!

And what she writes is true: "If you are interested in joining or learning more about the teen committee, or have any questions about the new teen section, please contact sludwig@darienlibrary.org." I'd love to hear from you!

I visited the new library today and the teen room is going to be aMAYzing. I can't wait wait wait to get there.

Twitter is fun because it's like blogging in text messages. It's a super fast and easy way of letting your friends know where you are, what you're doing, or what you're thinking about. It's actually a lot like the "status update" feature on Facebook. I like it because I can connect with my friends who live in other parts of the world.

If you have a Twitter account, make me your friend! This is obvs not my personal Twitter account, but it IS where you will find out info about the Darien Library, new books, new movies, new interesting websites, etc. It's also a great way to get in touch with me.

Add add add!!

Welcome to the new Teen site! I know you'll find some interesting stuff here -- visit often, because we update ALL THE TIME.

I just wanted to let you know what the four tags on this page mean.

made: this tag is for stuff that YOU create. Right now, you'll find mostly book reviews when you click on this tag, but in the future, we'll use made for things like movies, art, writing, and music that you make. (If you have any questions about that, please email me!)

happening: this tag is for labeling upcoming events.

goods: posts labeled with this tag will have information about things you can find at the Darien Library -- books, CDs, DVDs, games, etc.

click!: these posts will have information that we think might be interesting to you, and they'll always have a link in them to another website. The information could be about upcoming movies or TV shows, new technology, funny websites, or gossip. If you'd like to recommend a link, email me.

Any questions about this? Suggestions? Please let me know. Enjoy playing around with the new site!

The Aurora County All-Stars by Deborah Wiles
Reviewed by L.

The Aurora County All-Stars, written by Deborah Wiles, is an extraordinary book. This is Deborah Wiles' third book, after Each Little Bird That Sings and Love, Ruby Lavender and all three are set in the same small town ("Halleluia") and feature many of the same characters. Having loved the other two books, I truly enjoyed reading more about the people I'd come to love.

Savvy by Ingrid Law
Reviewed by: L.

Savvy, written by Ingrid Law is a truly incredible book, with a huge variety of emotions swimming all throughout the book. Mibs Beaumont is just about to become 13 years old. In a normal family, that would just mean a party and some presents. But in the Beaumont family, it means something completely different. You see, when a Beaumont turns 13, they develop a special power, or as they call it, a savvy.

Reviewer: A
Grade 7