Teens

We're Moving

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:50:44 -0500

Well...not us, but our blogs are moving. Within the next few days, we'll be updating the looks and locations of all four Orion Library blogs. We're sorry for the inconvenience, but please take the time to update your bookmarks, favorites and / or feed links. If all goes well, we should have the new links available by Monday afternoon.

Summer Reading is Out of this World

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:08:14 -0500

Sign up for summer reading and earn some great prizes! Our theme this year is Out of This World. Get points for reading and coming to programs at the library. Get extra points for reading science fiction. We have a bibliography in the Teen area if you're stumped for good books.

This Saturday at 1:00 is the official kickoff for summer reading. We're going to paint the windows in the Teen area with the science fiction theme. Join us, learn about TAB (Teen Advisory Board), eat pizza and paint. Check out other stuff that's happening this summer at our website www.orionlibrary.org. Click on Teens.

One of the new things we're doing this year besides entering slips to win the grand prize (a digital camera), is a drawing and writing contest. You can draw a picture in one of the following categories: Aliens/Robots, Future Fashions, Spaceships. or you can write a science fiction short story. A prize will be awarded to the winner in each category.

Also, you get 100 points towards summer reading if you fill out the a book review form available at the desk. If you want an additional 50 points, write a longer review, submit it to me in person or via email (dmotley@oriolibrary.org) and I'll post it to the blog.

Have a great summer and I hope I see you at the library.

And the Winner Is.......

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:41:32 -0500

The winner of the Thumb's Up Award (selected from the Teen Top Twenty) is.... drumroll, please.....

Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande, the story of a girl who stays true to herself even as she faces ostracism from former friends and family and begins a new way of looking at the world.

Honor books are:

Twisted

Freak Show

Don't Call
Me Ishmael

Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian

Cake Decorating

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:13:21 -0500

When it comes to decorating cakes, I'm a mess. I remember baking a cake for my mom's birthday and after I frosted it, it collapsed on one side. I tried to decorate it to make it look like I did it on purpose. People were asking, "What's wrong with it?" It tasted good, but that's beside the point. This Thursday starts the first of 4 cake decorating classes. If you don't want to have the disaster that I had, you might consider coming to this class

Zen and the Art of Faking It by Jordan Sonnenblick

Tue, 20 May 2008 15:11:00 -0500

Finally, the last of the Teen Top Twenty and this one was really good. (They've all been really good). San Lee has moved around a lot and tries on a different persona wherever he goes. This time he decides to be a Zen master. He finds out that he's pretty good at it and becomes quite the popular guy as a result. The B basketball team loves him, the soup kitchen loves him, the librarian loves him and the girl of his dreams seems to love him, too. What happens to it all when he is found out?

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 01:15:25 -0500

Dashti gets a job working as the lady in waiting for Lady Saren. As soon as she begins, she finds out that she is to be locked in a tower for 7 years with her mistress, who refuses to marry the man her father selected for her. After a few years, Saren and Dashti finally escape the tower and find the land devastated. They end up working as kitchen maids in what Dashti believes is Saren's true love's home. Everyone of course, lives happily ever after. This was a good story, though not great. Dashti is a likable character, but Saren is pretty nuts and the ending is very obvious, almost from the beginning. Still, it kept me turning pages.

Beauty Shop for Rent-fully equipped, inquire within by Laura Bowers

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:46:02 -0500

Abbey wants to earn a million dollars by the time she's 30. At 15, she lives with her great grandmother who owns an old fashioned beauty shop and she earns money there. Grandma Po rents out the shop to a woman who puts in a spa, giving Abbey a chance to earn lots of money. But then her mom shows up and things change. Abbey begins to learn the true meaning of family. I really enjoyed the characters in this book, and was rooting for Abbey all the way.

Freak Show by James St. James

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:27:38 -0500

Billy Bloom is a 17 year old drag queen who starts his senior year at a very conservative Florida school. Other students are offended by him and he gets beaten up very badly. But that incident begins a friendship between him and the high school football star, Flip. When Billy would like a more intimate relationship with him, Flip runs out on Billy. To make a splash and soothe himself, Billy makes the bold decision to run for homecoming queen.
Alternatively hilarious and heartbreaking this book reveals the ugly underbelly of homophobia and one queen's complete optimism in the face of continuous obstacles.

Schooled by Gordon Korman

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 14:45:16 -0500

Capricorn Anderson has grown up in a "commune" but the only residents of the "community" are his grandmother and him. After Grandma Rain breaks her hip, Cap who has been home schooled, must go into the real world of middle school. He's never been around kids his own age, never seen a TV or cellphone. He starts out as the target of bullies but his innocence and outlook make others question their own values. The audiobook is read by voices of the different characters and is fun to listen to.

Kissing the Bee by Kathe Koja

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:55:21 -0500

Dana is best friends with Avra who is dating Emil. The three of them do everything together but Dana really likes Emil, a classic love triangle. Dana likens their relationship to a bee colony with Avra as the queen bee, Dana the worker who attends the queen and Emil the drone. When Emil finally admits to liking Dana back and they don't want to hurt Avra she has a decision to make. What's a worker bee to do? This is a very engaging and fairly short story. I'm not sure I liked Dana's solution to her dilemma but it seems to work for her.

Safe by Susan Shaw

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:23:18 -0500

A great book about the aftermath of a rape. The author deals with the rape sensitively. It is not graphic at all because the story is about Tracey and how she deals with her life, her friends, her dad after the horrible deed is done. She is afraid to leave the house and her dad for a while. Her friends want to help, but she thinks they only pity her. It takes a while but through the help of those who love her and her music, Tracey begins to feel safe out in the world once again. Beautifully done.

Don't Call Me Ishmael by Michael Gerard Bauer

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:23:09 -0500

Ishmael hates his name and blames everything wrong in his life on "Ishmael Leseur Syndrome". In his new school the local bully hates Ishmael's name, too and picks on him constantly until James Scobie shows up. James claims that he had a tumor that, once removed, knocked all the fear out of him. He stands up to the bullies, starts a debate club and befriends Ishmael. Ishmael learns about standing up for himself while keeping his values and not stooping to the bully's level. Very engaging and fun read.

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:24:57 -0500

Fun book about Stephanie, who inherits her uncle's home when he dies. She meets Skullduggery Pleasant, her uncle's friend and skeleton detective and enters a world of magic. The evil Nefarian Serpine is trying to steal a scepter that will give him more destructive power with which he intends to rule the world. It's up to Skullduggery and Stephanie to stop him.

The One Where the Kid Nearly Jumps to His Death and Lands in California by Mary Hershey

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:08:10 -0500

death and Lands in California by Mary Hershey" width="99" height="150">
Alastair, who jumped off a ski lift and shattered a leg and uses a prosthetic, is sent to California to spend the summer with his dad and his dad's new wife. What a surprise when he finds out she is a double amputee. "Stump" as he tells people he prefers to be called, has to work through a blinding anger towards his father, a crush on his step mom's niece and being coached for a charity triathlon by the world's meanest man. Very well written, Stump really grows up in the course of the summer, which is a good thing, because he was quite annoying at the beginning

Peak by Roland Smith

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:25:20 -0500

This is the second book I read this year about summiting Mt. Everest. If nothing else, I've decided I will never want to do that! This is a fictional account of a 14 yr. old, Peak, whose father wants him to be the youngest boy ever to summit. The boy, who got in trouble in NY for climbing skyscrapers in order to paint graffiti on them, learns as much about himself as he does about climbing in this adventurous story. The problem I had with it is that, even though it was difficult for him, it didn't seem like it was difficult enough. Getting to the summit, according to other things I've read, is much harder than Peak describes. Not that he makes it sound easy...I just don't buy that he could make it all the way.