February 10 NL

Wii on the Big Screen!

On February 13^th the Mary S. Biesecker Public Library’s Teen Advisory Board took a break from newsletters and book reviews to have a little fun with a members only Nintendo Wii Party.

After getting a couple of meeting obligations out of the way, they spent the next hour and a half eating pizza and snacks and playing video games on a 72 inch silver screen via our digital projector [provided by the Lillias (Buckey) Boose Memorial fund].

Members faced off against each other in the Wii Sports Resort in archery and fencing competitions. And they all played together in the extremely fun Mario Kart and Super Mario Bros. Wii. (The TAB advisor even tried a couple of races; let’s just say he’s not good.)

Everyone had a great time and is looking forward to their next members’ only event.

TEENS CHOICE

A “TELL US WHAT YOU THINK” SURVEY

Which is your favorite Pittsburgh team?

The Penguins

The Pirates

The Steelers

To participate submit your answer online by going to www.maryslibrary.com and clicking on the young adult page link, or come in and fill out an answer form.

All survey entries get entered to win a free copy of the book “A Distant Enemy” – by Deb Vanasse (See review on page 2)

Uglies

By Scott Westerfeld

Published by Simon Pulse

Review by Sarah Foy

Tally Youngblood lives in a futuristic time of hover cars and surgeries that make you pretty when you turn 16, and she is only 3 months away from her 16^th birthday.

All Tally wants is to join her best friend Paris in New Pretty Town after her operation, but when her friend Shay runs from the city to find “the Smoke” Tally is forced by the Specials (Government Operatives) to follow her friend and expose the Smoke’s position. “The Smoke” is a world without technology, electricity, or plumbing. It is the complete opposite of the City, and so the City wants to destroy it. If Tally fails the Specials will make sure she doesn’t get her operation. The specials are animal like creatures that have razor sharp reflexes and they control what happens in the city.

(Continued on Page 2)

With Tally and her friends Scott Westerfeld has written some very captivating characters. He makes you feel like you are there because you get a clear picture of the setting and the characters emotions. I loved this book and I highly recommend it to anyone.

The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart: Book Cover The Boyfriend List

By E. Lockhart

Published by Delacorte Books - for Young Readers

Review by Kiersten Hannesson

Ruby Oliver is just like any other teenager; she has lots of crushes and friendship drama. You could say she is the typical everyday drama queen. The boyfriend list is absolutely a winner. I enjoyed every bit of it. From one boy to the next until the final page you won’t be able to put the book down. I would definitely recommend this odd but superb book to all teens.

A Distant Enemy

By Deb Vanasse

Published by Lodestar Books

Review by TAB Advisor

“A Distant Enemy” is the story of Joseph, a 14 year old Yup’ik Eskimo from Southwestern Alaska. When we first meet Joseph he is fishing with his grandfather even though Alaska fish and game has closed down the Salmon season early to preserve the stock. Joseph is very angry, because for longer than he has been alive the Yup’ik way of life has been encroached upon by the Kass’aq (white people), and now they are putting a limit on how long his people can fish for salmon from the river. To Joseph the kass’aq is the enemy.

Joseph is so angry that when the fish & game officers come to their village he slashes the tires of their airplane. Joseph believes that no one has seen him, but he has been seen by the new kass’aq school teacher. This new teacher does not turn Joseph in, and tries to help him. While Joseph has no choice but to accept the teachers offer for help he is still ungrateful; he views it as more kass’aq meddling.

Much of Joseph’s anger stems from the fact that he is half white, and his white father abandoned his family. Joseph’s uncontrolled anger continues to get the best of him and he ends up hurting and disappointing those who care for him. In the end his anger hurts him the most as it nearly costs him his own life.

Deb Vanasse has created for us very real character that likely embodies the feelings and struggles of many native peoples of Alaska and other parts of this country. Thankfully however, this book is not about injustice of the white man. It is instead about being non-judgmental and about how anger can eat you up inside until you ruin yourself (among other things). Though I was left with a few questions at the end, finding these lessons in such an entertaining story set in such a rich cultural and geographic backdrop was a pleasure. I highly recommend this book.

Did you know that …

1. The sloth moves so slowly that green algae can grow undisturbed on its fur!

2. A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time; it equals 1/100th of a second!

Now you Know!

Here’s how it works:

· Go to the Mary S. Biesecker Public Library to see a list of Books (list can also be found online at www.kaycassidy.com/hunt ).

Choose a book to read and pick up or print off a trivia challenge.
Read the book, answer the trivia challenges, and have a parent sign the form.
Turn the completed page in to MSBPL.
Get at least 8 of 10 questions right and your librarian will enter you into the monthly contest.
You can complete new trivia challenges as often as you want.

Every month, YA author Kay Cassidy will choose one lucky winner to receive a $50 gift card to the book store of your choice to use for whatever your heart desires! Plus when you win your library wins too! A bundle of great participating books that you can read.

Contests

Wildlife Art Contest – Students in 3^rd – 12^th grade are invited to submit art featuring animals native to Pennsylvania. Winners will be featured in the York County Conservation District’s upcoming “PA Wildlife Journal”. To enter come in and pick up a flyer or go to www.yorkccd.org and click on the “wildlife art contest” found under the education tab.

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

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.

Don’t Forget! – You can also win a free book from the Mary S. Biesecker Public Library, Deb Vanasse’s “A Distant Enemy”, 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.

Teen Top 5’s

Most Popular Young Adult Items at MSBPL

Top 5 Music CD’s:

High School Musical (Soundtrack)

I’m Already There – Lonestar

The Fame – Lady Gaga

Ocean Eyes – Owl City

In The City – Kevin Rudolf

Princess Lessons (Princess Diaries Series) by Meg Cabot: Book Cover

Top 5 YA Novels:

Princess Lessons – Meg Cabot

Brisingr – Christopher Paolini

Extras – Scott Westerfeld

New Moon – Stephanie Meyer

Twilight – Stephanie Meyer

Top 5 YA Non-Fiction:

Ghosts and Poltergeist: Fact or Fiction? – Terry O’neill

Total Devotion – Kevin Johnson

Teens with Single Parents: Why Me? – Margaret Shultz

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: the Secrets behind What You Eat – Richie Chevat

The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank

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.

CD’s : Graphic Novels:

Kevin Rudolf – In the City Vampire Knight Vol.1

Lady Gaga – The Fame & 2 – Matsuri Hino

Owl City – Ocean Eyes

Books:

The Demon’s Lexicon – Sarah Reese Brennan

The Uglies Series – Scott Westerfeld

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

Comic Books & Graphic Novels

The Mary S. Biesecker Public Library has begun to collect Graphic Novels for its patrons to read. Some of our graphic novels include “Skim”, “To Terra”, and “Vampire Knight” along with some classic stories changed into GN format like H.G. Well’s “The Time Machine”. We are also slowly adding comic books to our collection. If you enjoy graphic novels and comic books come in and check out what we have. If you would like to donate your comic books or graphic novels to this collection we would gladly accept them. I’m sure other teens would love to read them.

Wanna join TAB? Just have a question about something you read? Give us a call at (814) 445-4011, e-mail us at tony@maryslibrary.com, or just stop in and see us.