teen•z•read

Summer is Here!

Summer – it’s a great time to kick back and relax. No getting up early and no school work. Tons of free time and nothing to do.

No sane teen is going to complain about summer vacation, but sometimes summer can get a little boring if you don’t have anything planned. So here are just a couple of things that you might want to fit into your summer agenda.

First up is our Teen Book Club. Our teen advisory board has chosen two books for teens to read and discuss this summer: “Money Hungry” by Sharon G. Flake & “Turnabout” by Margaret Petersen Haddix.

It is easy to sign up and participate. Just come in or call us and tell us you want to participate. We will put your name on the list to check out one of these books; as soon as it comes in we will call you. Read the book and then come in on the specified date to discuss the book you read with a group of your friends and peers. Tell us what you did or didn’t like about the book and compare notes.

There are copies of “Money Hungry” available now. The book club will meet on July 16^th at 2 p.m. to discuss this book. Copies of “Turnabout” will be available in early July, and the book club will meet on August 20^th at 2 p.m. to discuss it.

Next, we would like to invite all young artists to come to the Mary S. Biesecker Public Library on August 14^th at 2 p.m. to show us your skills at our first Teen Artist Trading Card (ATC) Swap. Don’t know what an ATC is? It’s simple, any piece of art that you produce that is the size of a baseball card (2 ½”x3 ½”) is an ATC. The only stipulation is that you use a base that is sturdier than regular paper.

It can be any type of art – drawing, painting, collage, mixed media, quilting, photographs, and even relief carving. If it is the size of a trading card it is good. This event is about sharing your art – letting other teens see what you do.

Best of all for both of these programs we offer free refreshments and it is air conditioned – The perfect combination on a hot summer afternoon. So tell your friends and join us!

Survey Results for:

Which is your favorite Pittsburgh team?

Picture by Julie Day

Penguins 60%

Steelers 30%

Pirates 10%

The Winner of the free book “A Distant Enemy,” by Deb Vanasse, is Sarah from Rockwood.

There were a total of 20 participants for this survey.

New survey below. Keep reading.

                                                Plastic Traveler
                                                by Julie Day

                                                I am unwanted.
                                                No one will bother to remove me from the dirt.
                                                I cry when the wind picks me up,
                                                A low, mournful whistle
                                                That no one can hear
                                                But me.
                                                I become one with the earth
                                                Caked in debris,
                                                Joined with the cement,
                                                The dirt on my skin will never fade.
                                                Snow falls along my back,
                                                Dead leaves rustle at my feet,
                                                Summer grass sways just out of reach.
                                                And I with the wind,
                                                Go along unwanted.

Book Review

Shiver

by Maggie Stiefvater

Published by Scholastic Press

Review by Sarah Foy

The Thrills of love, pain, agony, and hurt are expressed in the book Shiver, and the stories emotions makes this a book that is difficult to put down. In Shiver Stiefvater has created two young lovers that are mixed in a world of fantasy.

Grace is a quiet, average girl, who has learned to live independently because her parents don’t seem to understand who she is. When she was six years old she was ripped from her tire swing by a wolf and was drug into the woods. When she was lying there in the snow, one of the wolves could not bear to see her die, so he brought her back to humanity. Ever since, Grace looks for “her wolf” who is watching her from the forest.

These are no ordinary wolves though; they are werewolves that change form depending on the temperature. During the summer the wolves take on their human form and they lived intermixed with everyone else. When the weather starts to turn cold they begin to switch back and forth from humans to wolves and back, but when winter finally sets in they remain wolves until spring. After a wolf has been regularly changing forms for 15

years or so, they will eventually change to a wolf in the winter and remain that way for the rest of their lives.

Sam is one of these wolves, and he is Grace’s wolf. For years he has silently watched her from the trees, but when it came time for him to be human he never had the courage to talk to her. Once they finally meet though, neither one can survive without the other.

This was an amazing book that was full of emotional highs and lows that kept me reading to the end. The action, the emotion, and the drama were well described, and it made me feel like I was there experiencing the love, the hate, the fear, and the cold. I would recommend this book to anyone who has a taste for true love that is hard to keep.

Contests

Teen Ink Contests – Do you like to give your opinion, take photographs of your friends, or write about anything? Go to the Teen Ink contest page to see all of the many contests that are open to teens. Go to http://www.teenink.com/Contests for more information

Play for Pay – Exodus 3000 is a free online strategy game where you can have fun while earning real cash and prizes! You get 250 moves a day - move around the map (N,S,E, or W) and earn Mars Dollars (MD) for performing actions such as mining volcanos, searching ruins, and attacking other players. You can join settlements, form alliances, and buy things at Outposts like weapons, defense, intelligence, and security. At the end of the month, you can exchange your MD for real cash! Of course they do try to get you to purchase extra moves, but you don’t have to do so. Check out www.exodus3000.com

Free Books – Love to read new young adult books, but they don’t always have a copy at your library? Well go to http://teens.freebookfriday.com and enter to win a free book. Every Friday a new book is given away free! All you have to do is visit the website and enter. It doesn’t get any easier than that.

Just for the Stuff – Combo’s snacks has a sweepstakes for great prizes, and no purchase is necessary just go to https://zonesweethome.combos.com/login.aspx to win a $25,000 Best Buy Gift Card or many instant win prizes. Contest ends 6/30/2010. Must be 13 or older.

TEENSPOT – Just looking to win cool new stuff. Then check out http://www.teenspot.com and click on contests. Their giveaways change every month. In June they are giving away “The Spy Next Door on BlueRay and DVD, an I-tunes gift card, and Robyn’s new CD. No telling what they’ll be giving away next month. There’s no telling what they will be giving away next month, so check it out. Must be 13 or older and have your parent’s permission to enter.

Don’t Forget! – You can also win a free book from the Mary S. Biesecker Public Library, Jay Asher’s “Candy in Action” by Matthue Roth, just for participating in our teen survey. You can participate by coming into the library and filling out a form or by going to www.maryslibrary.com and filling out the survey on our Young Adult Page.

What has TAB Done for You?

The Mary S. Biesecker Public Library wants to know what you read and listen to. That is why the Teen Advisory Board was created. Here is just a small sampling of what our Library has purchased at the request of its TAB members.

Music :

Kevin Rudolf – In the City

Lady Gaga – The Fame

Owl City – Ocean Eyes

Alice in Wonderland soundtrack

Books:

The Kingdom Keepers II – Ridley Pearson

Fang – James Patterson

The Demon’s Lexicon – Sarah Reese Brennan

The Uglies Series – Scott Westerfeld

Vampire Knight Vol. 1 & 2 – Matsuri Hino

This list will just keep growing. If you want to have a say in what we purchase then join today.