I have come across some really great contests for kids and teens lately and wanted to share them with you. Some of them involve prizes or scholarships, and some are just for fun!
First off, I want to highlight Franklin Public Library's own Comic Creation Contest, beginning February 6 for teens in grades 6-12. Using the website http://www.bitstrips.com/, create up to three comics to enter into the contest. All entries must be received by 5pm on March 10. The top three comics will recieve a prize and all entries will be displayed in the library. Click on the link for all the details.
Here's your chance to make your case for your favorite book! The StoryTubes 2012 contest is accepting entries until February 20th. Open to kids in grades K-12, Storytubes are 2-minute or less videos that you make where you talk about why you love your favorite book. It's a great way to promote reading and have fun! Check out http://www.storytubes.info/drupal/node/2 for all the contest rules.
Another creative contest for kids and teens is the Google Doodle Contest. This gives you a chance to have your doodle featured on the Google homepage for a day for millions to see. This year's theme is "If I could travel in time, I'd visit…". Not only will your doodle be featured on Google, but it will also appear on a limited edition Crayola 64 crayon box! Check out http://www.google.com/doodle4google/ for all the contest info and rules.
I couldn't forget my absolute favorite contest of the year - the Stuck at Prom Scholarship Contest by Duck brand Duck Tape. Teens, ages 14-17, design your formalwear out of duck tape for this year's prom and have a chance at a $5,000 scholarship (and some mad props from your friends). Check out http://duckbrand.com/Promotions/stuck-at-prom/Rules.aspx for this year's contest rules and awesome pics from last year's winners and runners-up.
Check out the magazine,Teen Ink, for writing, photography and art contests going on all year long at: http://www.teenink.com/Contests
There are tons of contests and scholarship opportunities out there for all ages, just get on the web and start searching!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Miss Keri's Favorite Books of 2011
So as we plow ahead into 2012, I thought it would be a perfect time to list my favorite books of 2011. Here goes:
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
I had heard tons of buzz about this book and I finally had the chance to listen to it on audiobook, and I was blown away. This is more than an illicit love story; it is about a girl on a quest of self-discovery, all the while trying to stay true to who she (thinks) she is. Karou is a kick-butt character, who is strong, confident and yet follows her heart when it comes to the angel Akiva, who has literally dropped from the sky into her life. But their relationship may bring more pain than happiness to Karou in the end. This is not just another cheesy angel/demon love story, this is heart-wrenching, suspenseful fantasy at its finest, and a sequel is sure to follow.
This is the story of a boy who lost his girl and doesn't know how to get back to the happy place he was in when he was with her.
Adam is a full-fledged rock star, with his model/actress girlfriend, jet-setting all over the world and playing to thousands of adoring fans night after night. Yet something is missing from his life; until he sees a poster for a concert starring his ex-girlfriend Mia, an up-and-coming star cellist. This poster and this concert just may be the key to finding happiness again.
I loved If I Stay (the prequel to this book) and Forman did not disappoint in the follow-up here. Adam's voice is very authentic, at times angry, weary and lovingly reminiscent. I fell in love with the characters all over again. A great weekend read.
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
When you have teenage beauty queens who survive a plane crash on a supposedly deserted island, an evil corporation that seems to control the world, a crazy dictator and a former Miss Teen Dream with plans to run for President of the United States all rolled into one book, there is just one word for it: HILARIOUS!
Looking at Danny and Kurt you would think they are as different as night and day. Danny is a member of the gymnastics team, is picked on and bullied.Kurt is a talented football player, which makes him a god at Oregrove High School. But what they do have in common is they know what it feels like to be beat down and not have anyone to turn to.They know how it feels to have adults ignore the truth and their cries of warning. And they know the blame they heap on themselves when the day comes that the warning went unheard and now someone's life is over.
Cohen's achingly realistic and tragic story of the effects of bullying is a must read for teens and the adults in their lives.
The Decemberists are one of my favorite bands; I love their quirky melodies, harmonies and fairy tale (although not always happy) lyrics. Colin Meloy is the lead singer for the Decemberists and their master storyteller, so I was very intrigued that he had a children's book. This fantastical story is of Prue McKeel, a 7th-grader who lives in Portland. She is watching her baby brother, Mac, in the park one day when a murder of crows snatches him from her wagon and carries him off to the Impassible Wilderness, a dense forest outside of Portland, where legend has it, no one ever returns from. Prue heads into the forest, with her friend Curtis tagging along behind, and enters a world of talking animals, a coyote army, bandits and the evil Dowager Governess. A must-read for fans of fantasy, fairy tales and Meloy's music alike.
Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt
I cried more than once reading this book. I loved the no-luck character of Doug Swieteck, whose father lost his job on Long Island and moved the family to a tiny town in the Catskills. They live in a dump of a house, Doug's older brother, Christopher, makes sure his life isn't easy and his oldest brother is off in Vietnam. His mother is sweet, but she doesn't stick up for her sons when their father is abusive towards them. But in that small town Doug finds some luck, a spunky (and cute) girl named Lil and an old librarian named Mr. Powell, who encourages Doug's interest in John James Audubon's bird portraits. Soon Doug is learning to draw, has a job as a delivery boy as Lil's father's market and things might be looking up. But that bad luck is always lurking in the background for Doug. The ending wrapped up a little too neatly, but there was no way I couldn't love this coming-of age tale.
Shine by Lauren Myracle
This is a compelling mystery and all-too realistic story all-in-one. Cat's former best friend Patrick has been beaten into a coma, in an incident of gay-bashing at the convenience store where he works. The local sheriff thinks it is some out-of-town kids who were angry at Patrick for not selling them alcohol, but Cat suspects otherwise. Patrick had started hanging out with her brother and his friends when Cat had abandoned him and everyone else in her life after a traumatic encounter with someone she knew. The "redneck posse" never really included Patrick, but merely let him tag along to bully him for entertainment purposes. As Cat starts to investigate on her own, she uncovers more than a few secrets in her rural mountain town, secrets people wants to stay hidden.
Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick
First of all, I want to admit to being a zombie-lover, and this book was a pleasant surprise. I had been wanting to read it and then when I finally got around to it, couldn't remember why. It starts out with Alex, 17, climbing a mountain in Michigan, with her father's gun in her backpack and an inoperable brain tumor weighing on her mind. One morning, a grandfather and his granddaughter Ellie, come across Alex as she is having breakfast and they stop and chat. It is then that a huge electromagnetic wave pulses through the forest and the animals start going crazy, birds drop dead from the sky and Ellie's grandfather dies. Now Alex is stuck with a cranky 8-year-old, the problem of getting to the nearest ranger station to get help and to find out what exactly is going on. It's on their way to the ranger station that they encounter two teenagers eating an old woman. (It was here that I remembered why I wanted to read the book). From this point on it is a roller coaster of survival, zombies and a crazy cult-like town of people who were unaffected by the pulse. I literally screamed at the end of the book (read it and you will see why).
Rotters by Daniel Kraus
Not zombies this time, but grave robbers. This book is definitely not for the faint of heart. The lyrically graphic descriptions of Joey and his father digging up graves in the middle of the night are at times stomach-churning and at others so sweet and gentle. Hard to think of digging up the dead as sweet? Kraus does a magnificent job of painting this underworld of graverobbers that Joey has fallen into after the death of his mother. He must move from Chicago to rural Iowa to live with a father he has never known. His father lives in a shack with no food, barely any running water and a stench that is beyond description. He pretty much ignores Joey and any of the problems Joey is having at his new school, until Joey figures out his father's real profession and dives into a world of gore, deceit and surprisingly, love.
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
I first looked at this book and thought, "Really, this book is good? It looks like your typical chick-lit fluff." But I gave it a try because everyone was telling me how great it was....And they were right. I loved this adorable story of Anna, an American whose parents are divorced and her writer-father decides she needs to go to an expensive boarding school in Paris for her senior year of high school. Her senior year! And she doesn't speak French! Things start to look up when she meets the swooniest boy around, Etienne St. Clair. However, he has a girlfriend and all they can be is just friends. Or can they? This is a super-cute rainy (or snowy) day read for all you romance lovers out there.
What were your favorite books that you read this year?
Miss Keri
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor I had heard tons of buzz about this book and I finally had the chance to listen to it on audiobook, and I was blown away. This is more than an illicit love story; it is about a girl on a quest of self-discovery, all the while trying to stay true to who she (thinks) she is. Karou is a kick-butt character, who is strong, confident and yet follows her heart when it comes to the angel Akiva, who has literally dropped from the sky into her life. But their relationship may bring more pain than happiness to Karou in the end. This is not just another cheesy angel/demon love story, this is heart-wrenching, suspenseful fantasy at its finest, and a sequel is sure to follow.
Adam is a full-fledged rock star, with his model/actress girlfriend, jet-setting all over the world and playing to thousands of adoring fans night after night. Yet something is missing from his life; until he sees a poster for a concert starring his ex-girlfriend Mia, an up-and-coming star cellist. This poster and this concert just may be the key to finding happiness again.
I loved If I Stay (the prequel to this book) and Forman did not disappoint in the follow-up here. Adam's voice is very authentic, at times angry, weary and lovingly reminiscent. I fell in love with the characters all over again. A great weekend read.
When you have teenage beauty queens who survive a plane crash on a supposedly deserted island, an evil corporation that seems to control the world, a crazy dictator and a former Miss Teen Dream with plans to run for President of the United States all rolled into one book, there is just one word for it: HILARIOUS!
Cohen's achingly realistic and tragic story of the effects of bullying is a must read for teens and the adults in their lives.
I cried more than once reading this book. I loved the no-luck character of Doug Swieteck, whose father lost his job on Long Island and moved the family to a tiny town in the Catskills. They live in a dump of a house, Doug's older brother, Christopher, makes sure his life isn't easy and his oldest brother is off in Vietnam. His mother is sweet, but she doesn't stick up for her sons when their father is abusive towards them. But in that small town Doug finds some luck, a spunky (and cute) girl named Lil and an old librarian named Mr. Powell, who encourages Doug's interest in John James Audubon's bird portraits. Soon Doug is learning to draw, has a job as a delivery boy as Lil's father's market and things might be looking up. But that bad luck is always lurking in the background for Doug. The ending wrapped up a little too neatly, but there was no way I couldn't love this coming-of age tale.
This is a compelling mystery and all-too realistic story all-in-one. Cat's former best friend Patrick has been beaten into a coma, in an incident of gay-bashing at the convenience store where he works. The local sheriff thinks it is some out-of-town kids who were angry at Patrick for not selling them alcohol, but Cat suspects otherwise. Patrick had started hanging out with her brother and his friends when Cat had abandoned him and everyone else in her life after a traumatic encounter with someone she knew. The "redneck posse" never really included Patrick, but merely let him tag along to bully him for entertainment purposes. As Cat starts to investigate on her own, she uncovers more than a few secrets in her rural mountain town, secrets people wants to stay hidden.
First of all, I want to admit to being a zombie-lover, and this book was a pleasant surprise. I had been wanting to read it and then when I finally got around to it, couldn't remember why. It starts out with Alex, 17, climbing a mountain in Michigan, with her father's gun in her backpack and an inoperable brain tumor weighing on her mind. One morning, a grandfather and his granddaughter Ellie, come across Alex as she is having breakfast and they stop and chat. It is then that a huge electromagnetic wave pulses through the forest and the animals start going crazy, birds drop dead from the sky and Ellie's grandfather dies. Now Alex is stuck with a cranky 8-year-old, the problem of getting to the nearest ranger station to get help and to find out what exactly is going on. It's on their way to the ranger station that they encounter two teenagers eating an old woman. (It was here that I remembered why I wanted to read the book). From this point on it is a roller coaster of survival, zombies and a crazy cult-like town of people who were unaffected by the pulse. I literally screamed at the end of the book (read it and you will see why).
Not zombies this time, but grave robbers. This book is definitely not for the faint of heart. The lyrically graphic descriptions of Joey and his father digging up graves in the middle of the night are at times stomach-churning and at others so sweet and gentle. Hard to think of digging up the dead as sweet? Kraus does a magnificent job of painting this underworld of graverobbers that Joey has fallen into after the death of his mother. He must move from Chicago to rural Iowa to live with a father he has never known. His father lives in a shack with no food, barely any running water and a stench that is beyond description. He pretty much ignores Joey and any of the problems Joey is having at his new school, until Joey figures out his father's real profession and dives into a world of gore, deceit and surprisingly, love.
I first looked at this book and thought, "Really, this book is good? It looks like your typical chick-lit fluff." But I gave it a try because everyone was telling me how great it was....And they were right. I loved this adorable story of Anna, an American whose parents are divorced and her writer-father decides she needs to go to an expensive boarding school in Paris for her senior year of high school. Her senior year! And she doesn't speak French! Things start to look up when she meets the swooniest boy around, Etienne St. Clair. However, he has a girlfriend and all they can be is just friends. Or can they? This is a super-cute rainy (or snowy) day read for all you romance lovers out there.
What were your favorite books that you read this year?
Miss Keri
Monday, January 16, 2012
It's a New Year for Teens at FPL !
The New Year has begun and here at FPL we have a lot of new things going on for teens. The redesigned library website is now live (www.franklinpubliclibrary.org) with a whole new Teen Zone webpage, and this is the inaugural blog post on our new FPL Teen Zone blog! We have once again started up our Teen Tuesdays after-school program series and have great programs planned for Teen Tech Week (March 4-10) and for the release of the Hunger Games movie on March 23rd. Check out the Events Calendar on the website for all upcoming programs for teens.
In the coming weeks and months, check out the blog for book, music and movie reviews, spotlights on library resources, information on teen issues and more. We are looking forward to a great year for teens here at FPL!
Miss Keri
In the coming weeks and months, check out the blog for book, music and movie reviews, spotlights on library resources, information on teen issues and more. We are looking forward to a great year for teens here at FPL!
Miss Keri
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