Wordle

Just something fun. Wordle is a cool way to create word clouds. Here's an example using words from our del.icio.us site, ShorewoodLibrary.Teen.

Breaking Dawn

The fourth book in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer is coming out in less than a month! To celebrate the library is having a Breaking Dawn Release Party on Friday, August 1 from 5-8:30 p.m. We'll talk about the books and the movie, play Twilight Trivia to win great prizes, make t-shirts, and enjoy pizza and other treats!

And if you're interested in continuing the fun, several bookstores are having midnight release parties.

Milwaukee's local bookstore, Schwartz Bookshop, is having a Breaking Dawn Prom!

If you can't get tickets to the prom, check out Barnes and Noble's event for another opportunity to meet local Twilighters and get your copy of Breaking Dawn.

Have fun!

Teen Summer Event Info

There are tons of events going on this summer for students entering 7th-12th grade!

Sign-up for Teen Summer Reading for your chance to win great prizes.

Enjoy pizza and a great book discussion during Pizza and Pages Book Group. There are four books to choose from including: Peak by Roland Smith; Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham; Airman by Eoin Colfer; and The Luxe by Anna Godbersen. Registration is required, stop by the library or sign-up online.

Attention all Twilight fans! To celebrate the release of Breaking Dawn, the library is having a Breaking Dawn Release Party! On Friday, August 1 from 5-8:30 p.m. we'll play Twilight Trivia to win great prizes, decorate t-shirts, enjoy some great food, talk about this amazing series and lots more. Registration is required; stop by the library to pick up a form or print it.

And a little something for the gamers. For the first time the library is offering open play events. We'll have a Wii and an Xbox set up with DDR, Wii Sports, Mario Kart and Rock Band! No registration is required, simply have fun with your friends playing some awesome games on a big screen TV!

See you at the library this summer!

Movie Trailers

Two great books are coming out as movies in the next couple of months. I just saw the trailer for the new Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie and it looks like fun!

And for you Twilight fans, the trailer is finally here! And check out this MTV video with people's reactions to the Twilight teaser trailer.

Summer 2008

I have been so exclusively focused on Teen Summer Reading and planning our summer events, I haven't had a chance to post in a while. As I'm still wrapped up in summer I thought I'd share a preview of what's coming up!

Teen Summer Reading has a great coupon prize package with coupons from a variety of local stores and restaurants including: City Market, Jimmy Johns, Hollywood Video, Stone Creek Coffee and many more!

We've also got some fun events coming this summer: back by popular demand is the Pizza and Pages Book Group, new this summer is Movie Talkers, a movie discussion group for high school students, for all the Twilight fans we're having a Breaking Dawn release party, and for the gamers we'll have open play on the Wii and Xbox.

More info coming soon!

Celebrate Earth Day Everyday

Earth Day

It's Earth Day tomorrow, April 22. To get in the spirit here are a few reading recommendations.

Exodus by Julie Bertagna
Mara struggles to save her village and other refugees from the rising ocean.

They Came From Below by Blake Nelson
Two girls learn a lot about global pollution from two out-of-this world guys.

The Final Warning: A Maximum Ride novel by James Patterson
While on a mission to save the planet from global warming, Maximum Ride must also protect her friends.

Teen, Inc. by Stefan Petrucha
Jaiden takes a stand against the corporation that raised him when he learns they are illegally polluting.

Hoot and Flush by Carl Hiaasen
Both novels deal with environmental issues, including endangered animals and water pollution.

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
The classic children's story of pollution.

An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore
Watch the movie and read the book.

The library owns all of these books, so stop in and pick one up to celebrate Earth Day!

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

One of my favorite authors, E. Lockhart, has a great new book out, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, and it’s definitely one of her best. Frankie, known to her family as “bunny rabbit,” is a seemingly sweet, innocent, rather nerdy sophomore at Alabaster Prep School. Not your typical criminal mastermind, but Frankie is much smarter and more determined than anyone ever knew. Shortly after she begins dating her crush, Matthew, a popular senior, she realizes he is lying to her about why he cancels dates and where he’s spending his time. She finds out Matthew is a member of a secret society that she is excluded from because she’s a girl. Feeling the forces of new love while resisting her exclusion from the group; Frankie comes up with a clever and diabolical plan. She will show her family, Matthew, and all of Alabaster Prep that she may look sweet and innocent, but she’s not a bunny rabbit!

FreeRice

Improve your vocabulary and have some fun, all while donating rice through the UN World Food Program to help alleviate hunger around the world. For each word you correctly match with its synonym, Freerice.com will donate 20 grains of rice. Since it began in October of 2007 Free Rice has donated 26,483,813,110 grains of rice! With your help that incredible number can continue to grow and more people will get much needed sustenance. So have fun at Freerice.com, an amazing way to better yourself while making the world a better place.

A Few Good Books

I've read a few good fantasy & sci-fi books lately...

A book group member recommended Hawksong by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. It's the first in a fantasy series about humans who can change into animals. Danica is the leader of the Avians, a group that turns into birds, and will do whatever is necessary to stop the war between her race and the Serpiente, a group that turns in snakes. Exciting and ultimately quite romantic.

The Declaration by Gemma Malley is an exciting dystopian novel about a teenage girl who lives in a society where drugs allow people to live forever and having children is against the law. She is an illegal "surplus" being trained as a servant when she discovers her birth parents are looking for her. Anna must choose between the life she knows and breaking the law to be with her family. A fascinating look into a possible future.

If you like Eragon, you'll love Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan. Will, an orphan, longs to go to Battle School to become a knight, like his father who died in battle. But when it comes time for a job to be assigned, Will is apprenticed as a Ranger, a mysterious group of spies. Through intense training, Will learns about being a Ranger and protecting the kingdom from the terror of Morgorath. Action-packed and the beginning of a great series.