Teen Read Week occurs this year from October 17th- 23rd. 

We are celebrating the whole week with lots of awesome programs including; a movie screening of School of Rock @ 3 p.m. October 18th, AV club meeting @ 3 p.m. October 19th ,Teen Galley Party on October 20th @6 p.m., and a Read for Fines program happening all week long between October 17th - October 23rd.

That's right, simply read a book of your choice (or one that you have already read) and write a review for that book on our website.  Last,  comment on this post with your name and the book titles you reviewed.  Watch as your overdue fines dissolve. 

Green Witch is a fairy tale set in a world where a band of marauders known as The Horde have reduced civilization to ashes.  Green’s family was killed in the first Horde attack, and she has spent the time since in near seclusion in her home in the forest.  Her garden is her refuge, and while the world around slowly rebuilds itself she tends her garden and collects stories one by one from the people of the village.  She longs for only one thing- a boy she loves who has gone away to find his missing family.  Green begins to hear rumors of five witches, one of whom is supposed to be able to grant a heart’s desire.  She heads out to collect the witches’ stories and to see if they can help her find the boy she loves, a journey that takes her on an adventure that is a pleasure to read. 

Green Witch is a sequel to Green Angel, but you don’t have to have read the first one to enjoy the second.  It is a lyrically written story, poetic in tone, and full of beautiful turns of phrase.  Green is a striking character, as are her companions.  Alice Hoffman does a great job of bringing to life a world in ruins and the people struggling to rebuild their lives. 
 

Here's what we did today!

 ...but we especially LOVE Tony Hawk's XBOX game Ride. 

A.D. New Orleans After the Deluge  follows the true stories of several people affected by Hurricane Katrina.  It begins with the first hurricane warnings, and shows, with beautifully evocative drawings, what happens next.  The people are from all walks of life, and some stay in New Orleans, while others evacuate.  One story is about a shopkeeper and his friend, who stay behind to protect the store from looters, and to try to ride out the hurricane.  Another follows a multi-generational family of women, being moved from safe-haven to safe-haven, feeling the worst effects of mismanaged relief efforts.  Another follows a couple who evacuate but return to find their home destroyed.  Each narrative tells a different part of the larger story about Hurricane Katrina and its survivors.   

One of the things this book does well is using pictures to fill in the parts of the story that are not in the text.  In one example, the text reads “He drove down and got us.  He had to take back roads and double around a lot to get into the city, but somehow he did it,” while the drawing shows a man using a gun to hold back a desperate crowd, so that his family can get into his car.  In another drawing, the picture shows what happens to a pet, while the text describes the owner being ok.  The stories in the book are based on interviews with people who lived through the hurricane.   It is a touching story, and a great, fast read.