Teens
Ultimate Summer Playlist! Today at 2 p.m. for Teens
Written by hmartyn on 07/08/2010
2:00 p.m. in the Tech Center
Make the summer playlist to rule them all.
Create, share & remix your playlists for summer with grooveshark.
Here's my list of ultimate summer songs:
The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin
Written by hmartyn on 07/07/2010
Will Halpin is Deaf, and it’s his first day at mainstream public school. Being a lip reader and ignored (to the point of near invisibility) gives Will the opportunity to observe a lot about his classmates. He gets through the day by writing his wry (read: snarky) comments in his notebook and generally trying to make sense of high school culture. Basically, Will Halpin is hilarious:
“It is pretty much a directly rising slope of coolness from the front of the bus to the back. From me to a weird skinny guy in a football shirt who clearly isn’t on the team, to Marie (whose last name is Stepcoat) to the trio from my morning bus stop: A.J. Fischels, Teresa Lockhart, and Gabby Meyers. If you keep going, you’d fly out the back of the bus onto the road itself and land in the cars belonging to kids far too cool to ever set foot on a bus.”
Then, on a field trip to Happy Memory Coal Mine, the quarterback (and first-rate bully) falls to his death. The police say it was an accident, but rumors swirl that it was murder. Will has been watching the quarterback with fascination: his father mired in political scandals, the planned huge and exclusive birthday party the students would kill to be invited to, the looks from the flirty math teacher, the beautiful girlfriend with a sad look in her eyes… Will may be the one with the keys to a mystery, if he can put them together, and all of a sudden he has a Hardy Boys obsessed friend to help him out.
The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin is great. Funny, a good mystery and all around a great read!
60 Second Video Contest
It's Wednesday, July 7th and that means it's time for our 60 second video contest! Come to the Teen Lounge at 2 p.m.. grab a Flip camera and go to your fav spot in the Library. Film a one minute video about why you love the Library. We'll watch the videos and vote. The winner will take home a sweet gift card and have their video honored on our website!
See you there!
Meet Your NEW Teen Librarian! Erica!
Written by Sarah Ludwig on 07/06/2010
Erica Leone is our newest teen librarian. She has been at Darien Library for a while, but she has just now joined the teen staff. You teens are SO LUCKY to have her. Erica is getting her MLS at Pratt in NYC. She is running a ton of sweet programs this summer, including the sneaker workshop on 7/21, Skate Day on 7/31, and No-Bake Snacks on 8/10.
Stop by the teen lounge and say hi to Erica the next time you're in! To learn more about her, check out her answers to our poll:
Favorite book: East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Mac or PC: I'm a PC but secretly a wannabe Mac.
Guiltiest TV pleasure: Jersey Shore/ Gossip Girl
Dream vacation spot: Italy
Coolest thing you own: are you really going to make me choose between my longboard and snowboard?
Irrational Fear: being late (in general)
Favorite thing about Darien Library: my co-workers are some of the coolest people I know.
Interview Your Favorite Authors!
Written by jessicag on 07/06/2010
How would you like to interview your favorite authors? Imagine chatting with Maureen Johnson (author of Devilish) or Carrie Ryan (The Forest of Hands and Teeth series)? Well the Darien Library is looking for teens to do just that. Via the video conferencing wonder that is Skype, we'll set you up with all the technology you need to have a face-to-face chat with some of the biggest YA writers out there. We'll then post your interview on our website for fellow fans to see.
Oh and no need to be camera shy - you can interview in pairs or groups and take turn asking questions. Plus we'll prep you in advance with all the interview skills you'll need to make a stellar presentation.
Our teen volunteer Katie wants to tell you about some fab books in the Teen Lounge
Written by Katie Farren on 07/06/2010
Write What You See: 99 Photos to Inspire Writing by Hank Kellner---Do you ever have trouble writing stories for your English class or on your own? Well Write What You See is packed with 99 intriguing photos, writing prompts and key-words that will surely motivate you to write stories that will blow people away. The ideas and stories these pictures can help you come up with are endless. You'll never have trouble writing again!
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campell Bartoletti---Everyone knows the story of Hitler and his Nazi Army's quest to control the world and exterminate the Jewish race. However, many people don't know about Hitler's plan to affect the children of Germany as he tried to create a new world. This book takes you back to the 1930s and 40s to tell the unimaginable story of the dedication and devotion that millions of children had for Hilter and the Nazis. Hitler Youth, which includes tons of photos from the times, is incredibly insightful and will show you exactly what it was like to be a kid when Hitler ruled Germany.
Your Name in Print by Elizabeth Harper and Timothy Harper---If you've ever had hopes of getting your writing published in a magazine, newspaper, online, or even in a book, this book is for you. It contains tips and information that will help you in every step of the writing process: from subjects and ideas of what to write about to numerous websites that will either publish your writing or help you reach your goal of becoming published. No other book will give you as much insight on how to get yourself out there into the world or writing or how manage your writing career!
Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul on Tough Stuff by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Kimberly Kirberger---Have you ever been put in a stressful or scary situation and feel there is no way out? This book is filled with countless stories of people just like you; only, they've all learned lessons from their hardships and pain. These stories are being shared to help you realize that there are other people in the world going through the same thing as you and so you can learn the same lessons others have.
The Art of the Video Game by Josh Jenisch---The Art of the Video Game has amazing pictures from dozens of well-known video games on every page. It also explains to you how the animation, visual effects and even more came to be. Along with captions for every picture and video game explainations, this book contains numerous interviews with the game creators themselves! This book is perfect for all gamers who want to know more about how their beloved video games work.
Teen Events: Superawesome Things to Do After Independence Day
Written by hmartyn on 07/03/2010
We’ve got what you need to beat summer boredom.
First things first: review a book and tell us in the comments of this post for a chance to win a $25 gift card!
July 6th at 7 p.m. in the Community Room:
The Open Mic Night is on Tuesday night. It will be so fun. Tempest is going to play, and anyone can get up on stage to share their talent (poetry, dance, music, bands, singing, comedy, anything!) Please email teenstaff@darienlibrary.org if you know you’d like to perform.
July 7th at 2 p.m. in the Teen Lounge:
The 60 Second Video Contest is on Wednesday! We’ll shoot one minute videos in the library and vote on the best one! And you can win a gift card!
July 8th at 2 p.m. on the Lower Level:
The Ultimate Summer Playlist is happening on Thursday afternoon. Whether it’s Green Day or Rick Astley, we’ll make playlists that set the mood for summer!
Oh, and by the way… if you use foursquare to check-in to teen events over the summer, you could become Mayor and win prizes!
Any questions? Email teenstaff@darienlibrary.org
And here’s a little Tempest to set the mood:
It's the first week of Teen Summer Reading, and you know what that means...
Written by Sarah Ludwig on 07/01/2010
PRIZE GIVEAWAYS! WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
So, comment below to tell us if you wrote a review this week. Your name will be entered in a prize drawing for a ******$25****** Amazon gift card. We'll contact you by next Wednesday if you are the winner!
You can enter EVERY WEEK - just visit darienlibrary.org/teens and look for a post just like this one, every Thursday.
Good luck!
PS: If you wrote your review here this week, no problem - your name will be entered in this week's drawing.
Teen Galley Party
We've got advanced copies (or "galleys" as they're known in the business) of some of the fall's hottest new books and we're celebrating by giving them away to you, our loyal teen readers.
You'll have a chance to get them BEFORE they hit store shelves, like months before for FREE. We've got titles in all genres by some of your fave authors including upcoming books by Caroline Cooney, James Patterson, David Levithan and Rachel Cohn. So swing by the teen lounge July 22nd at 6pm for our Galley Party. They'll be pizza too, so grab a slice and pick up a spanking new read. See you then.
Fire by Kristen Cashore
Written by hmartyn on 06/30/2010
Fire, the main character of Fire, grows up in the Dells, a country torn apart by political instability and characterized by the monsters that inhabit it. Monsters can be of any type of species: mice, cats, birds, deer, cows, or even humans. All monsters share the same characteristics: unbelievable beauty and the ability to control the thoughts of others, both of which they use to ensnare their prey. Fire is the only, the last, human monster. Her father was a monster who used his beauty and mental power to control the previous King of the Dells, encouraging him to wallow in base pleasures and maliciousness while the kingdom fell into ruins. Fire is a gentler sort of monster. Taught harsh lessons by her father’s cruel example, she never uses her mental powers, and hides her beauty as much as possible to avoid accidentally ensnaring the people she meets. When the new King requests her help in protecting the kingdom from civil war, Fire fears that she will not be able to stop the kingdom from falling again into the control of another monster: herself.
Fire is a prequel to Graceling, last summer’s hit novel about a girl with the power to kill, but it has very little to do with the other book. Fire and Graceling take place in the same world, but in very different countries. Fire is a more mature book than Graceling. Fire must deal with moral questions that go beyond what Katsa experienced, and her powers have the ability to cause more damage than Katsa’s. She experiences hard losses and finds her way in difficult situations. It is a fantastic read, with realistic relationships and a wonderful setting. It’s another can’t-put-it-down book (true story: when I was reading it I had the audio book in the car, and the book for my lunch break and home.)
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