Most Awesome Book Awards Ever

Recently, School Library Journal (February 2009 edition) put together the most awesome awards list . . .

• Most Likely to Get Married - Twilight of course by Stephenie Meyer


• Best Declartion of Love - Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner


• Best Budding Relationship - Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork


• Headiest Falling in (and Out of) Love Scenes - Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan


• Most Likely to Break Your Heart - The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman


• Best First Kiss - Suck It Up by Brian Meehl


• Most Romantic Gestury - I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak


• Best Romance Under Duress - The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld


• Most Likely to Melt Your Fingers While Reading Because It's So Hot - Graceling by Kristin Cashore - according to the author of the article, this romance puts Twilight to shame

Draw It! Contest for Teens

If you like to draw, here’s your chance to shine! Help us produce the publicity posters for this year’s Teen Summer Reading Club, Luau @ Your Library and you could win a $25.00 gift certificate to Wal-Mart and have your artwork appear throughout the Marion community and on the Marion Public Library’s teen blog. To enter, simply follow the directions below.

Rules:
Contest is open to all teens grades 6-12.
Teens may enter as many original 8 1/2 x 11 drawings as they would like, but each entry must be submitted with an official entry form (photocopies of entry forms are acceptable).
All entries must represent and display the phrase, “Luau @ Your Library”.
Please use no more than four colors, one of which must be black.
Please do not put your name or any identifiable information on your drawing.
The Marion Public Library reserves the right to disqualify any entries that display or promote objectionable material or language.
Original, digital artwork that meets the above requirements will be accepted.
Deadline for entries to be turned in to the Reference desk is closing time on March 31st.

Click to download and entry form and contest guidelines --------------->

Good luck :)

This One's For the Guys

Well, I did a post earlier just for the girls so now it is the guys turn.

<----------------------- GuysRead.com

You know you like to read, you don't like to read a lot of the stuff people are always telling you to read. Like seriously, they make you read Pride and Prejudice or Romeo and Juliet.

John Scieszka (rhymes with Fresca) is a funny guy (really, he wrote a book called The Stinky Cheese Man - can't get much funnier than that). He launched a project called GuysRead.com. Here you can put in a favorite author or title or subject - and it will let you know other books you may like.

Also, you can check out this collection of short stories that will absolutely make you want to read -------------------------------------------------->

You may also be interested in the horror stories from Anthony Horowitz (who also rides the Alex Rider series, a kind of teenage James Bond), the Cirque Du Freak and Demonata series by Darren Shan, or authors like Chris Crutcher, Christopher Paul Curtis, Will Hobbs, Gordon Korman, Gary Soto and Rich Wallace.

FYI: Whale Talk (for older teens) by Christ Crutcher is definitely on my list of Top 10 books

Are You Having a Boo Radley Moment?

Marion Reads: To Kill a Mockingbird

There is always one book that changes your life (and hopefully sometimes more). For me, it was To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I just really love this book, and I loved my 11th grade teacher who made me read this book (she rocked!!!!). If you haven't read it - well, what is your problem? Anyhow, there is a character in the book named Boo Radley - he is a quiet presence. And whenever I space (What? I space? - No, not me) I always think, "Oh, I'm having a Boo Radley moment." I would like to take credit for this ingenious expression, but really it comes from the movie Benny and Joon starring the incomporable Johnny Depp (No seriously - he does rock!!!).

Why - you may ask - are you talking about To Kill a Mockingbird? Well, soon the Marion Public Library will be working with several area locations (including the Palace Theater and OSUM) to host a big community reads event called Marion Reads. We are going to ask all of Marion to read To Kill a Mockingbird and we will be having several cool events to coincide with the reading. In fact, we will wrap it all up with a presentation of To Kill a Mockingbird at the Marion Palace Theater on April 23rd.

You never know, maybe this book will change your life like it did mine . . .

Here's a bonus pic - Benny and Joon

"Having a Boo Radley moment, are we?"

Bonus Benny and Joon quote (just for fun - a discussion about raisins):

Sam: You don't like raisins?

Joon: Not really.

Sam: Why?

Joon: They used to be fat and juicy and now they're twisted. They had their

lives stolen. Well, they taste sweet, but really they're just humiliated

grapes. I can't say I am a big supporter of the raisin council.

Sam: Did you see those, those raisins on TV? The ones that sing and dance

and stuff?

Joon: They scare me.

Sam: Yeah me too

Love Your Library

For Valentine's Day we invited teens to tell us why they lurve the Marion Public Library and this is what you said:

This is why I love my library . . .

"because I can check myspace since I don't have a computer in my house"

"it has a bunch of good books and movies that I pick out"

"because I can get free movies and the librarian is very nice" (I'm going to pretend the librarian this teen is talking about is me :) )

"because they are always helpful"

"I can find any book - novel, mystery, how-to, biography - and if I can't find it there is Inter Library Loans . . . What's not to love?"

"there are so many books!!! Awesome inspirational section"

"because it's cool" (simple and to the point this teen is)

"I love to read"

"I love to get on the computer - It is fun to come here and hang out with friends. and I learn a lot of things when I read books here"

"because there's always something to read and a quiet place to work, study and on Tuesdays there's the Teen CoffeeHouse that give us teens something to do when school work piles up. That's why I love my library." (Yeah - someone mentioned Teen CoffeeHouse, Tuesdays 3:30-5:00 PM when there is school so come hang with me)

"the staff is really nice and is always willing to help"

"because it has my favorite books"

"I love that there's so much to do: there's fun contests, there's lots of books to choose from & I can study there too! I also love how the librarians are so friendly."

"I can always come here for whatever I need. It is a great place to have in the community and also is wonderful because of the fact that it keeps the community united." (I don't know who this teen is, but wow!!)

So there you have it, teens everywhere agree - Marion Public Library rocks!!!!!

The Best in Middle School Fiction

Are you looking for something truly awesome to read? Well, look no further . . . Here is a list of the top Middle Grade Fiction from 2007:

http://pdfs.voya.com/VO/YA2/VOYA200802top_shelf.pdf

If You Like the Gossip Girls . . .

There is something about series fiction that everyone seems to like. I think it has to do with the fact that we bond with characters and then get to keep checking in with them to see what happens. And in the case of the Gossip Girls, their lives are 10 times more scandalous then ours (I hope). If you've seen the show . . . well, these are rich kids gone bad. If you are a fan, you may also enjoy reading:

A-List by Zoey Dean
Au Pairs by melissa de la Cruz
The Clique by Lisi Harrison
The Insiders by J. Minter
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Anne Brashares

For mature readers