Made

TeensRead Book Review

Check out this amazing video book review by two Teen Lounge regulars:

TeensRead October Book Reviews from Darien Library on Vimeo.

The next TeensRead is December 10 at 4pm. Come make videos, book trailers, crafts and more, AND get copies of the best books before they come out!

We MADE these computer games

Play the computer games created by teens in our Scratch class:

Are you interested in learning how to use Scratch? If so, email Alex at ahylton [at] darienlibrary [dot] org. :)

This summer, we held a graphic novel workshop at the library as part of Teen Summer Reading. I was so impressed with the work of one of the participants, Heidi Lohr, that I thought I would share her drawings with you!

Review of Tempo Change by Emma Morgan

Tempo Change by Barbara Hall

For sale on June 9, 2009

Review by Emma Morgan, 7th grade

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.

Review of The Coffeehouse Angel by Emma Morgan

The Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors

For sale on July 21, 2009

Review by Emma Morgan, 7th grade

This was one of those books you simply could not put down. It’s a story of a small town American-Norwegian teenager who doesn’t know what she’s good at. Her two best friends cast a big shadow for her to stand in. While working an early morning shift in her grandmother’s coffee shop she encounters someone sleeping in the alley behind her shop. She gives the stranger pastries and a coffee. He keeps coming back and claims he must reward her. You will fall in love with the down to earth thoughts of the main character, Katrina. It’s a book that leaves you fulfilled but curious, the perfect mix.

Teen Book Bloggers Review Aurora County All Stars

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

August 2007

Realistic Fiction

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.

The main character of this story is a baseball-obsessed boy named "House" who had to spend all of last year sitting on the sidelines because of a broken elbow. Nothing is going to keep him from playing in the big All-Star game this summer, nothing that is except the town's 200th anniversary pageant, which ends up being scheduled for the same EXACT time. The pageant is the biggest event ever to hit Aurora County, and all of the moms insist that the boys skip the game to attend the pageant. The pageant is being directed by the dramatic, bossy 14-year-old girl "Finesse" who was the one who broke House's arm last year. This time she's twisting it to get him and all the others to be in her production. Can everybody get what they want this year?

Deborah Wiles answer to that question is both funny and sad, with many touching moments that includes poetry by Walt Whitman. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I couldn't put this book down until I was finished. Now I miss all the characters of Halleluia so much that I hope she writes another book very soon!

Teen Book Bloggers Review Savvy

Savvy by Ingrid Law
Reviewed by: L.

May 2008

Fiction

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.

But the day before Mibs' special day, her Papa gets in a terrible car accident. After that Mibs doesn't dream of powerful savvys anymore, she just hopes for something that will save Papa. Mibs sneaks away her birthday party and the people watching over her and her two brothers to try a find a way to Papa. She boards a bus for the town of Salina, where her Papa is, but doesn't end up where she hopes to be at all. The bus ends up going in the other directions, and now Mibs must find a way to get back to Salina.

Mibs and her friends meet some kind and cruel people along the way. In her struggle to get back to Salina, Mibs must also try and figure out her savvy and how to use it.

Teen Book Bloggers Review Geek Magnet

geek magnet Reviewer: A
Grade 7

Geek Magnet

by Kieran Scott

2008

Realistic Fiction

KJ Miller wants nothing more than to get rid of her “geek” guy-friends, who follow her around everywhere. In her opinion, they may be nice, but are also extremely annoying and make it almost impossible for the popular Cameron Richardson to notice her. So, when she meets Tama Gold, the popular queen, she thinks she finally has the perfect solution to all of her problems. Tama’s technique of “getting rid of geeks” is not all it seems, however. Geek Magnet is cleverly formatted as if it were a play, which corresponds to Grease, the play KJ and her friends are performing. It is a great book for light, fun reading and relates to high school social classes, as well.

Possibly Purchase

Geared towards middle school students

Teen Book Bloggers Review The Host

host Reviewer: K in 10th
Title: The Host
Author: Stephanie Meyer
Month/Year of Publication: 2008
Genre: Sci-Fi

Even if you don't like science fiction this is a great book. The souls have taken over earth and only a few rebel humans are left over. So when a soul named Wanderer takes the host body of one of the former adult rebels, she's in for a suprise. Her host body whose name is Melanie, won't let her body and mind be left to be taken over by Wanderer. Wanderer eventually gives into Melanie and they share her body, with Wanderer doing most of the bigger things. Wanderer and Melanie eventually stumble upon a group of rebel humans, a few of which Melanie know. The humans don't trust them because they know that they could be led to seekers to be infected with a soul. They lock Wanderer/Melanie up and it seems like they will never see the light of day again. What will happen to Wanderer and Melanie now?

Purchase Recommendation:

_x_ Definitely Purchase – one of the better books of the year

Age Recommendation:

_x_ This book is geared toward high school students/adults

Teen Book Bloggers Review World of Quest-Adventures for Dummies

Book: World of quest-adventures for dummies
Author: Jason T. Kruse
Rating(1-5): 5

let me tell you, the title says it all! and this is the first book of the series so it's incomplete

Quest is a war hero, specifically a super hero with no record or memory of his past, was unjustly blamed and banned from the kingdom after a large battle fought for the king. now, 20 years later, the king's snobby 11 year old son, Nestor, comes to him and claims that he and Quest must search for a mythical weapon that was said to decide the fate of the world, and he Nestor, is the only one who can find it. now some of the most villainous creatures in the land are being sent by their dark lord to bring the boy back. Quest, now reluctantly must help the boy and save the very kingdom that banished him 20 years before. but the more trying obstacle Quest and Nestor seem to face is trying not to kill each other first.

---blog by katie99

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