New Moon Mania!

The whole world knows that the New Moon movie is coming out on November 20.  Many of you are probably rereading the book before you see the film.  If you love the Twilight Saga, check out these juicy paranormal read-alikes:

 Need by Carrie Jones: A group of werewolves threatens the safety of a small Maine town.

Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz: Half human, half vampire, Schuyler Van Allen must discover her place in vampire high society.

Evernight by Claudia Gray: Bianca Olivier leaves behind everything she knows when her parents become teachers at a paranormal boarding school. 

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead: At a school deep in the Montana woods, Rose Hathaway must fight with everything she has to protect her best friend, a vampire princess named Lissa.

Evermore by Allison Noel: Ever can read people’s thoughts, until she meets the mysterious Damen, who hides a deep secret even Ever cannot discover.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater: Grace has always loved the wolf who lives in her woods, but she never thought she’d meet him in person.

 

P.S. Don’t forget New Moon: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion and the official soundtrack CD!

– Liz

A Trio of Great Teen Reads from Zandra

DOPE SICK by Walter Dean Myers

Life is full of choices.  If you had it to do all over again, would you make different ones?

Lil J finds himself in trouble after he participates in a drug deal gone bad, which leaves a police officer clinging to life and Lil J holding the gun.   As he tries to elude capture by the numerous cops on his trail, Lil J ends up in an abandoned building where he encounters a mysterious man who shows him episodes of his life on a television.  In each instance Lil J relives a moment where a choice he made helped to land him in the position he now  finds himself.  Lil J is forced to come to terms with his choices by the mystery man who constantly asks the question: “If you could take back anything you did, what would it be?”  Prolific Young Adult author Walter Dean Myers offers up a novel that is sure to get teens to think about the decisions they make and their consequences.

IF I GROW UP by Todd Strasser

“When you grew up in the projects, there were no choices.  No good one, at least.”

If I Grow Up offers a gritty, realistic view of growing up in the inner city where teens face touch circumstances and limited choices.  Deshawn, unlike many of his peers, is a good student and obeys his grandmother.  He knows that life in a gang or being a drug dealer is not for him, yet his options seem scarce as he struggles to take care of his family.  Although at times a bit heavy-handed, the message in this book is clear.  Strasser clearly illustrates that without positive role models, support and direction, even the best teen can get caught up in wrong situations.  One cannot help but to root for Deshawn as he tries to do the right thing and feel heartbroken when he succumbs to his environment.

JUMPED by Rita Williams-Garcia

Sometimes what you don’t say means more than what you do.

What would you do if you overheard someone saying they were going to jump someone after school and that someone doesn’t have a clue?  Would you let them know, or would you stay out of it and not say anything?  This is the dilemma Leticia finds herself in when she overhears Dominique announce that afterschool she is going to beat up Trina because she “cut into” her space as she passed by in the hallway.  Told in the alternating viewpoints of Leticia, Dominique and Trina, this novel gives readers a frightening and realistic look at teen angst and bullying.  Williams-Garcia does a masterful job at showing how the lives of these very different girls connect and how choices can have serious consequences.

– Zandra

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea

Hayao Miyazaki has been called the Walt Disney of Japan. His gorgeously animated films have always had cult popularity in America, but his fame and success have skyrocketed in the USA after his films began to be dubbed, distributed and released by (appropriately) Disney. You might have seen titles such as Nausicaä, Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle – all available on DVD through CADL.

Miyazaki’s latest animated masterpiece, Ponyo (full title “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea”), has just been released to theaters on a limited basis. It tells the story of a goldfish named Ponyo who befriends a five-year old boy and wants to become a human girl. The film has a 92% rating at RottenTomatoes at present, and is playing in Lansing-area theaters. The all-star English-language voice cast includes Cate Blanchett, Noah Cyrus, Matt Damon, Tina Fey and Liam Neeson. See it while you can, and don’t forget to check-out more films and art books from Miyazaki (click here) and Studio Ghibli at your local library!

CADL Presents: Young Voices

Congratulations to all of the contributors to the Summer 2009 Teen Literary Magazine, CADL Presents: Young Voices. The submissions were fantastic!

CADL Presents: Young Voices is a collection of poetry, stories, artwork, photography and comics by area teens. In the coming weeks, a hard copy of the magazine will be available to check out at your local library. Currently, the magazine is available online in our eBook collection. Follow the link below to check out and download a copy today!

CADL Presents: Young Voices

A special congratulations is in order for Garrett S., age 11 of Williamston whose photo The Team is featured on the magazine’s front and back cover. Garrett’s photo was the winning entry in the “A Day in the Life of Williamston” photo contest.

If you like this edition of the CADL Teen Literary Magazine, check out some others.

Dare to Be
By: Teens Like You

Haslett Library Teen Advisory Board Presents:
The Teen Literary Magazine

Posted by ErinS

Teens Read for the Fun of It!

At a recent CADL Creative Writing Workshop teens shared what books they were currently reading. The diverse list included the following books:

Nobody’s Princess by Esther Friesner

Unbelievable: A Pretty Little Liars Novel by Sara Shepard

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Almost Forever by Maria Testa

******************************************************************

These awesome books are available at your Library….check ‘em out!

We want to hear from you! What are you reading? Let other teens know what books you love by filling out a “Teens Read for the Fun of It!” form available at the Downtown Lansing Library. For each form handed in to Teen Services Librarian, Ms. Zandra, your name will be entered in a raffle to win a monthly prize.

Post by ZandraB

Boldly go…

Star Trek has always had something of a “geek” image, despite the pop culture appeal of characters like Mr. Spock, and catchphrases like “Beam me up, Scotty.” There’s certainly no denying that Trek seemed on its last legs just a few years ago. The final movies and TV series became less and less successful, leading many to declare that Star Trek was dead.

But that was before J.J. Abrams (creater of Alias, Lost and Fringe) and his partners Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman (Transformers) came along. Their new Star Trek movie, which tells the story of how Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Scotty, etc. first got together, is getting amazing reviews (it’s 95% fresh at RottenTomatoes) and breaking records at the box office (it’s already the most financially successful Trek film of all time).

You can celebrate the phenomenon by checking out the many great tie-in products available at CADL! First, there’s the comic prequel, Star Trek: Countdown. Then read the novelization by renowned Sci-Fi author Alan Dean Foster (he ghost-wrote the novelization of the original Star Wars, among many, many others) — also available as an audiobook. Finally, there’s the CD soundtrack, featuring the exciting and emotional music of Michael Giacchino.

And of course, all six Star Trek TV series (The Original Series, The Animated Adventures, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise) and all ten previous movies (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX & X) are still available … not to mention all the other CDs and novels that have been published over the years! A good starting point might be the new Star Trek Motion Picture Trilogy on DVD and Blu-Ray, featuring newly remastered versions of films II-IV (that’s the one with Khan through the one with the whales).

So happy Trekking! And if you have a reaction to/review of the new film for us, please post it below!

Haslett Teen Literary Magazine

Interested in what other teens your age are writing, thinking and creating?

Check out the second volume of the Haslett Library’s Teen Literary Magazine published by the Haslett Teen Advisory Board! It is full of poems, short stories, and artwork created by teens in the Haslett area.

This year’s and last year’s Teen Literary Magazine have been added to our eBook collection available through the Michigan Library Consortium. Follow the links below to check out and download a copy today!

 2008

                            2009

Like what you see? Want to share something of your own? Leave us a comment and share what you have created.

Bloodsucker Book: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Rose Hathaway is loyal to a fault. This trait caused her to flee the secret vampire boarding school she attended two years ago to protect her best friend Lissa. Rose is a Dhampir, and a future vampire guardian. The girls are tracked by the school guardians to Washington and forced to return. On the surface, everything seems normal at the school. Lissa spends time with the other vampire royalty, and Rose spends her free hours in extra training with the hunky guardian Dimitri. But lurking in the shadows, the nameless evil which first forced them to flee seems to be biding its time, waiting to strike, and the sworn enemies of all vampires serve a constant threat. While facing forbidden romance, new friendships, betrayal and despair, Rose must fight to help Lissa stay happy and secure. If she fails, Lissa may be lost forever.

Join us for pizza and Bloodsucker Book Group featuring Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead on Friday, April 24 at 4:30 pm at the Holt-Delhi Library.  Call 694-9351 ext. 3 to register.

HOLT-DELHI: Teen Bloodsuckers Book Group

Read the hottest teen books about vampires and the paranormal. Then chat about them over pizza with friends. (Ages 14 and up)

Fridays at the Holt-Delhi Library,  March 27, April 24 and May 22 at 4:30 pm

March 27: Marked by P.C. Cast  
April 24: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead 
May 22: Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan

Ugly Again…

Can’t get enough of Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series? Learn more about Tally’s world in the new book Bogus to Bubbly, a complete guide to the series’ world, history, people and places.

Also new to CADL is Flora’s Dare, the sequel to Flora Segunda. This is a terrific series for fantasy fans. Author Ysabeau S. Wilce has created a world as richly imagined as that of Harry Potter. The books are told from the perspective of Flora, a young teen from a military family who wants to be a magic-wielding Ranger. Her mother is a general, her father is insane, and supernatural dangers loom all around her.

What are you reading this Winter?