It's Teen Read Week! October 18th - 23rd

Check out this message from teen author Nikki Grimes about Teen Read Week



Be sure to stop in the library this week for a wide variety of activities as part of our Zombie Read and Rock fun . . .

All week long, for every 15 minutes you read fill out a Read Around the Clock slip for your chance to win a prepaid $50.00 gift card. All entries must be turned in by closing on Saturday, October 23rd.

Guess the amount of candy in our Ghoulish Candy Guess Jar for your chance to win it all.

Also, be sure to fill out a Nightmarish Reads contest entry form.

In the News: Bullying

Let's face it, bullying sucks. Seriously. It doesn't matter if it happens online or in person. And as we keep hearing in the news - it can have serious consequences. What is it like for someone to get up every day and know that they are going to have to go somewhere full of fear and pain? There are lots of stories out there that deal with bullying and one of my all time favorites is Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher. Whale Talk is the story of T.J. and his misfit group of students that make up the school swim team. Imagine what could happen if this group of outcasts could earn a letter jacket and rub it in the face of the tormentors. And yet, somehow, along the way it becomes about more than just that letter jacket - it becomes about them revealing themselves and being there for each other.

Another oldie but goody is The Misfits by James Howe. This is the stroy of Skeezie, Addie, Joe and Bobby and the 7th grade. First Addie refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Then all of the sudden, they are creating a new political party and running for student council. This year, the 7th grade, is there chance to be more than what others try to make them, but to be themselves.

Perhaps the most gripping story of what it is like to be an outcast is Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. At the beginning of the school year, no one will talk to Melinda - and Melinda will not speak. You see, over the summer she was at a party and she called the police. Everyone hates her because they got busted. Throughout the course of the school year Melinda must slowly come to terms with what happened at that party, what caused her to call the police . . . she must find her voice, she must learn to speak again.

Sometimes we hear in the news about those teens who have been victims committing suicide. And of course, sometimes we hear about them getting revenge. The Hate List by Jennifer Brown is about one of those times. Valerie and Nick made a list of the people they hated. The people that bullied them. The people that tormented them. The hate list. Valerie had no idea that one day her friend Nick would go to school and shoot the people on that list. Valerie is shot herself trying to stop Nick, right before he kills himself and some of the kids on that list. Now Valerie must deal with the after. Valerie must return to that school her senior year and deal with it all. Her emotions. Her guilt. Her classmates. The Hate List is a powerful and moving story about what it is liked to be bullied, and what happens when someone takes revenge.

Other books that deal with bullying, old and new, include . . .
Names Will Never Hurt Me by Jaime Adoff
13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Undone by Brooke Taylor
By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters
The Shadow Club by Neal Shusterman
What Happened to Lani Carver by Carol Plum Ucci

You can read Teen Author Amy Holder's and see Ellen Degenere's plea to stop bullying here

If you or someone you know is being bullied, tell someone. Learn more about bullying at kidshealth.org

The Awakening Book Trailer

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Banned Books Week: Hey, You Can't Read That!

Throughout history the apple has come to signify the idea of forbidden fruit, the taboo . . . It is ironic that it appears on the cover of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Edward is, of course, the ultimate forbidden fruit - a vampire. To love a vampire is to put yourself in mortal danger every day. But today it means more than that, you see there are those who think you shouldn't be able to read Twilight. That the book itself should be forbidden.

Throughout history people have been challenging books and trying to say that one or another is bad for us and we shouldn't be able to read it. There is nothing more powerful than words and thoughts, which is exactly why we need to continue to fight for the freedom to read . . . as we read and open our minds to new thoughts, to new ways of living, to new ways of thinking, we allow ourselves to be open to change. If we never opened ourselves up we would still think the Earth is flat and the center of the universe. We might still condone slavery and women might not have the right to vote. The computer that you are reading this on, it exists because someone had a vision of a future with a technology beyond their wildest dreams and they worked to make it happen. What would a world without the freedom to read look like? Try reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury or 1984 by George Orwell. Thought police and book burners, not cool.

You don't have to like each and every book you read. In fact, there are many in your life that you will be offended by. When you come across a book like that, stop reading it. Or finish it and talk to someone about it. But don't say that no one should be allowed to read it because it personally offended you. That is what the freedom to read is about: You should the books that are right for you and allow others to choose the books that are right for them.

Visit VOYA.com for a list of the top 10 teen books challenged in 2009 and the reasons why. And remember to celebrate your freedom to read by reading.

His Bruises are Not His Own

They call him Bruiser, because he is big and distant and it seems like he could take on anyone. But the truth is something they could never imagine. His real name is Brewster. And if he allows himself to become close with others, he can take their pain. When his brother falls off of the roof, it is Brewster whose arm is broken. And when his mother develops cancer, she sends him to live with an uncle so he does not die what should be her death.

Bronte and Tennyson are twins whose family is falling apart. Soon Bronte begins dating Brewster. She knows that he can take away her physical pain, but she does not realize how far his power reaches. How much like a drug it can be.

What would life be like if you never had to feel pain again? And can you really feel joy if you never feel sorrow or anger or the hurt that comes with life? Can the three of them find a way to love each other and save Brewster from this terrible "gift"?

Told in alternating viewpoints, this is a great story. From the moment that you first see what Brewster looks like without a shirt on, you are routing for him. At the end I cried satisfied tears at a story well done and a journey into a life that I genuinely cared about. Read it today. you won't be sorry. And then ask yourself, if you could take away someone else's pain but had to feel it for yourself - would you?

Also recommended, Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Angels Falling Everywhere

Pink is the new black and fallen angels are the new vampires. What else is popular?

Adult authors writing for teens. James Patterson is doing it with the Maximum Ride series and The Dangerous Days of Daniel X. Neil Gaiman does it (Coraline).

Now - you can get both trends in one place with this handy two for one deal: The Madison Avery series by Kim Harrison. Kim Harrison is the popular adult author of the paranormal series starring Rachel Morgan, who happens to be a witch.

In Once Dead, Twice Shy teen Madison Avery has been struck dead. Well, kinda. She is in a kind of purgatory. Here she is helping Barnabas, the light reaper, try to fend off the dark reaper who is taking the souls of those making serious life altering decisions. Madison's new death is quite the challenge. (Early to Death, Early to Rise is book 2 in the Madison Avery series.)

For other series with fallen angels, try Fallen by Lauren Kate (Torment, book 2 in this series, comes out on September 28th) and Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (Crescendo, book 2 in this series, comes out on October 19th).

I Know What You Read This Summer

The Teen Summer Reading Club has come to an end (insert sad face here), but here is a look at what you all read and what you thought about it.

Amy S. (9th grade) read Fang by James Patterson and said "I want MORE!!!!!!!" (Exact number of exclamation points duplicated for authenticity's sake :) )

Megan H. (10th grade) read Red Palms by Cara Haycak and said it was "Child-ish and unrealistic". Ouch.

Lydia S. (9th grade) read Let it Snow: 3 Holiday Wishes and said it was "good but weird."

Katherine S. (7th grade) read The Lost Queen by Frewin Jones and said, "I loved it! I can't wait to read more!!"

Aulbri S. (11th grade) read Crank by Ellen Hopkins and says, "I thought the format was original. It's a series of shaped poems that make up a novel. It's depressing but needed."

Paige M. (8th grade) read When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead and said she "thought it was a really good book." (One of my faves :) )

Seth I. (8th grade) read the graphic novel Batman: Hong Kong by Dough Moenah and said, "Very good graphics. Well done." He also read The Quality of Mercy by Gilber Morris and said it was an "awesome Christian mystery."

Stephanie B. (9th grade) read Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr and said: "This is one of the best books I have ever read. A faerie that's considered a dark court hound falls in love with Devin a high court faerie and they help each save themselves."

Rayanna P. (1oth grade) read Dreamrider by Barry Jonsberg and said: "I like how they take a kid who is always getting picked on and beat up power. I like that he is using his power for good and not evil."

Evan H. (6th grade) read The Tomorrow Code by Brian Falkner and said, "The plot of this interested me, with all the fantasy."