Spring Break Is Next Week!

Spring Break is almost here (even though it doesn't feel like spring at all)!  I hope that you will come to FPL and spend some time with us during your break.  We have a couple of great programs for teens that are going on during the week.

The first program, on Wednesday, March 19, gives you a chance to get some "cash" for reading. The Read Off Your Fines Read-a-thon is from 12:30-4:30pm and for every half hour that you come and read, you will get a coupon for $1.00 off any fines you have on Franklin Public Library materials.  There are also raffles for cool prizes every hour and there will be an ice cream sundae bar and a make your own mini-pizza bar.  Sounds like a good deal, huh?

And what kind of library would we be if we did not have a Divergent movie release party?!  The Choose Your Faction Movie Release Party is from 1-4pm on Thursday, March 20.  There will be create your own Dauntless tattoos (temporary, of course), a faction quiz, and Divergent crafts like Shrinky Dink faction necklaces.  And of course there will be Dauntless chocolate cake. There may even be a special movie-related surprise...

I hope that I will see a lot of you at FPL for our spring break programs!

Miss Keri

Doodle 4 Google

I love this contest!  Not only are the doodles that win always amazing, I am so inspired by these crazy talented kids! I love seeing the doodle that Google itself creates, but my favorite every year is always the Doodle 4 Google winner (and last year's winner was from our great home state of Wisconsin!).

Even though Google has its own Doodle team, they have been running this contest since 2008 to showcase the talent and creativity of all aspiring artists in grades K-12. Google was founded on creativity and imagination and wants to inspire that same passion in its younger users.

Each year the contest has a different theme and this year's is "If I Could Invent One Thing to Make the World a Better Place...". Maybe your imaginative invention that you doodled on your notebook in class could be the next winner.

Not only does the winner get their Doodle on the Google homepage, they receive a $30,000 scholarship and $50,000 technology grant for their school. There are other great prizes for the 50 state finalists and 4 national finalists.

For all the contest details and past Doodle 4 Google winners, check out: http://www.google.com/doodle4google/index.html

Miss Keri

Saying Goodbye Is So Hard to Do...

The young adult collection at FPL has grown by leaps and bounds the last 6 1/2 years that I have been lucky enough to be in charge of it.  The materials are getting checked out a lot more and the Teen Zone space itself has become more inviting and comfortable for teens to hang out in.  But with all this growth, I also experience overcrowding and dare I say it...too many books for the limited space I have.

So I try to periodically, at least once a year, weed the section.  This means that I take a look at the books that have not been checked out for a few years.  There are a lot of things I take into consideration when I look at these books and decide whether or not to get rid of them (I won't bore you with the details), but some books I just cannot decide whether to get rid of or keep.  That is where YOU come in.

Right now in the Teen Zone area, there are two displays of books that will be deleted from the teen collection forever unless you come and check them out! Now, maybe you will look at them and nothing sounds even remotely interesting to you and you will think, "Please get rid of these!".  But maybe you will find a diamond in the rough, a jewel of a book that you would never have picked up before because it was hidden amongst all the other newer books in the teen section.

So when you are in the Teen Zone the next time you are in the library, take a look at those unloved books that are marked for deletion, pick one up, check it out and give it the chance to see the light of another day.

Miss Keri

The 2014 MCTBA (Milwaukee County Teen Book Award)

As a member of the Milwaukee County Teen Book Award committee, I have a lot of fun reading books throughout the year that might be potential candidates.  As a committee, we have the task of wheedling all the great books we think are contenders down to just 15 nominees.  This year might have been the easiest year yet.  We all pretty much agreed right away who were our top picks.  And the nominees are....

Ask the Passengers by A.S. King

Scowler by Daniel Kraus

Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers

Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan

The End Games by T. Michael Martin

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

Winger by Andrew Smith

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

Orleans by Sherri L. Smith

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

The 5^th Wave by Rick Yancey

Check out the MCTBA blog at mctba.wordpress.org for reviews of all the nominated books and to cast your vote for who you think should win this year's Milwaukee County Teen Book Award!

You can also stay up-to-date on what's happening with the MCTBA via Twitter @MCTBAward

Miss Keri

So, Catching Fire Was Awesome...

If you haven't seen the new Hunger Games: Catching Fire movie, what are you waiting for? I went and saw it on opening night and I have to say that it was much better than the first movie and then there was the addition of  Finnick (YUM). Even though I knew what was going to happen having read the book, the movie still created a great sense of suspense and tension for me.  I was on the edge of my seat for a few of the scenes :).  The whole of the film really played on the tension between the government and the people in the Districts and the idea that revolution could be a real possibility.  I don't want to give away any spoilers, but Katniss was so clueless....:)
As far as the cast goes, I thought that Jenna Malone did an excellent job as Johanna Mason and I grew to like Josh Hutcherson more as Peeta in this movie (I was really skeptical of him in the first movie; I didn't really feel like he really embodied Peeta). I loved Jennifer Lawrence and her performance was once again spot on. Woody Harrelson is such a great Haymitch that I wish that his part was much bigger as he always brings a little sass to his scenes. I absolutely love Phillip Seymour Hoffman and I am very excited to see him more in the next movie.
The movie followed the book very closely and it made me really excited for Mockingjay, but who knows how long I will have to wait for that?!  On the bright side though, they did run the Divergent trailer in the previews and I think that will tide me over for a bit.

So go and see Catching Fire, it is totally worth it!

Miss Keri

The Official Divergent Trailer is Here!!

I know, I know, you are all thinking to yourselves, how can you think about anything but Catching Fire which comes out TOMORROW!  But it is possible to dream about the next YA book turned blockbuster while counting the minutes until you see Katniss on the big screen once more.

Will SWood be as awesome as JLaw?  Check out the new Divergent movie trailer here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sutgWjz10sM

Miss Keri

Lots of Great Reading Recs

I am on the Milwaukee County Teen Book Award committee and I have been trying to read a lot of this year's highly recommended teen books (which isn't super easy with a 1-year-old).  But I have read some really amazing titles in the last couple months and I highly recommend you read them too!

Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan - I will fully disclose that I am a huge fan of David Levithan and would love for him to be my best friend (David if you are looking for a bff, call me).  But that aside, this is a beautifully woven story about young boys in love or looking for love or just trying to figure out if love even exists at all and the men who, a couple of generations before them, passed away from AIDS and are now looking down upon these boys.  This male chorus, as I like to think of them, narrates the stories of Craig and Harry, who are trying to break the Guinness World Record for the longest kiss. Neil and Peter, who have been together for a year and are not quite sure if they still have the spark between them. Avery and Ryan, who have just met at a LGBT prom. Tariq, who loves to dance and was attacked by bullies waiting for his dad outside the club. And Cooper, who hides his true self from everyone, until he is found out and now he is running away from everything, including himself.
I can't even count how many times I cried reading this novel. The male chorus is an excellent narrator that really makes you sit and think about how far we have come and how far we still need to go to making our world and equal place.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey - Aliens have arrived and they sure aren't the little green men or the cute fuzzy "phone home" kind.  These aliens don't even seem to have landed, they just hover in their mothership over the earth, wasting away humanity in waves. Seven billion people wiped out in months. Those who are left? They have to fend for themselves and hide from the alien drones, hoping to stay alive, for what? To prolong the inevitable?  If the aliens can kill 7 billion people in months, what makes anyone think think they will survive?
Cassie is on a quest to find her little brother after he was taken by the army and her refugee camp was annihilated by that same army, leaving only her behind to witness it all.
Ben Parrish has lost everything and is close to death when the army saved him and offered a solution to his guilt and grief.
Suspense so intense you will lose your breath, The 5th Wave is one heck of a dystopian nightmare.

Winger by Andrew Smith - I have a lot of respect for rugby players; it is a very tough sport and you have to be quick on your feet and in your head to play.  Ryan Dean West is a winger on his boarding school rugby team (which is sort of like being a receiver or tight end in football). He is small, but very fast and good at the game. His teammates always have his back and he always has theirs, no matter if he actually likes them or not; they are a team and they always take care of each other.
But Ryan Dean is a bit different from all of his other teammates.  He is a junior in high school, but only 14.  And he is in love with his best friend, Annie, who thinks his is just a little kid.  On top of all that, he may have broken a few rules which landed him in Opportunity Hall, the strictest dorm set apart from all the others and far away from his friends.
Winger is hilarious with a heartbreaking twist in the end. Definitely one of my favorites this year.

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch - (Warning - this book does have triggers for sexual assault). This story broke my heart and made me very, very angry. I could not put it down.  Carey and Jenessa live in a broken old camper in the middle of a national park in Tennessee.  Their mentally ill and drug-addicted mother hasn't been around in months, having gone into town for "supplies". This is how Carey and Jenessa have been living for years, Jenessa never knowing anything else and Carey barely remembering what the outside world is like. They subsist on canned goods their mother brings back with her from town and what little game Carey can shoot. They are down to a few cans of beans when a man and woman find their camp. The woman is a social worker and the man is Carey's father. The story truly unfolds when Carey and Jenessa re-enter society, living in a loving home, going to school, eating hamburgers and french fries and wondering about this man who Carey's mother always said was bad and hurt them.  But if he was bad, how come Carey's mother let him take them?
Carey's voice is so true and haunting; this is a book you will not be able to stop thinking about long after you have finished.

Miss Keri