Teens @ NWPL!

Well everyone… I’ve been blogging for the better part of a year now and I’ve decided that it’s not paying off. While some of you have provided wonderful feedback and have enjoyed checking the blog, there are just not enough visitors and users to make it a worthwhile endeavour. It’s a lot of work to maintain a blog and I was hoping to encourage more teens to participate but I’ve not been successful.

I’m signing off for now and will let the blog lie dormant… If you have any concerns about this, you can email me at lhunter@nwpl.ca .

Thank you to all of you have participated in making this a fun year with the blog. Hopefully we will meet again in cyberspace in a different venue - perhaps on a library Facebook page or some other place…

Til then

Cheers

Library_liz

Said the Whale

Check out the Youthink Community’s favourite B.C. Bands

Favourite local B.C. bands as per YouthInk:

1. Said the Whale
2. Marianas Trench
3. Hey Ocean
4. The Beauties
5. Dan Mangan

Read more: http://www.youthink.ca/yt/features/2009-year-review#ixzz0bCuBRl7T

Stellar Awards

Check out the Stellar Award site where teens can select and vote on their favourite teen reads for the upcoming 2010 Stellar book award. You can register online, check out the books on the current year’s Booklist, read and vote!

You have until April 2010 to decide how you’re going to vote so get busy reading - there are some great books in this year’s selection as alwasy. And we’ll have a display of these books available at the library in the Teen section!

If you’re a jigsaw puzzle fan, try jigzone.com where you can select the picture and change the number of pieces.

I love the way the pieces just slide and click into place. You can change the challenge by changing the size, shape and number of pieces. You can get the system to complete it if you can’t be bothered and there are numerous themes to choose from! Start puzzling by clicking here!

Denzel Washington and Mila Kunis

If your a fan of the post-apocalyptic stuff you’ll want to be ready on January 15th when this one comes to a theatre near you. I’m a fan both of futuristic we-blew-it-and-now-there’s-nothing-left films as well as a long-time Denzel Washington fan - sorry I’m a little too old for the zac efrons, robert pattisons and jonas bro’s.

Check out the full cast and plot info by clicking here.

Test your Winter Olympic Knowledge!

Here’s an online quiz (one among many) that is on a fun triva site called Trivia Park. There are all kinds of quizzes so if you go in for that sort of thing or want to brush up for the next round of trivial pursuit, check it out.

Trivia Park Winter Olympic Quiz

Some ideas and some words of caution…

Do you get obessessed with making radical changes in your life every time New Year’s rolls around? Don’t be too hard on yourself and be careful about the ones having to do with your body image. Here are some suggestions for teen resolutions.

Guide Picks - New Year’s Resolutions for Teens

I just finished this - wasn’t able to put it down which made for a couple of really late nights. Here’s what School Library Journal says and though I usually write my own, this one sums it up very well!

“Werlin combines magic, romance, and a family curse in this 21st-century fairy tale based on the ballad “Scarborough Fair.” On the night of her prom, Lucy, 17, is raped by her date and becomes pregnant. She decides to keep the child, and she is supported by her foster parents and Zach, her childhood friend whose love for Lucy changes from ‘just friends” to ardent romance. The teen discovers the curse on the women in her family when she reads her birth mother’s diary. Lucy is destined for madness upon the birth of her child unless she can perform the three impossible tasks described in the song and break the curse of the Elfin Knight. She is determined to rid herself and her unborn child of the curse, and her family and Zach help her as she works to solve the riddles.”

This book is recommended for gr. 10 and up!

Free online games - nonviolent, not too racy!

A roommate of mine showed me this game site and introduced me to a couple of the games which I found silly and lots of fun.

Zombies attacking the flower garden was a little over the top but I found myself getting caught up in it and planting sunflowers with a vengeance! If you’re looking for blood and shoot-em-up this isn’t it but if you like the cutesy-wootsy fun games that challenge few parts of your anatomy, these are perfect!

Now if your strictly a Beat 94.5 fan, this guy may not take your fancy. But then again - he crosses enough easy to listen to genres that you might find his stuff a bit catchy - you’ll find yourself humming his infinitely hummable tunes when you least expect it.

I would suggest that this guy is country-pop-folk fusion with emphasis in that order. And someone just walked by and saw me blogging this and she concurred - country pop folk best describes it. Soft rock might be another term you’d apply to this guy. Put it this way - play it a few times and it grows on you - quickly!

You can hear one of my new favourites called “Smile” if you click here and play the video clip displayed on the right.

NWPL has Double Wide and Happy Hour but as you can see from the site above, he has many more albums. Check him out!

Just in at NWPL… Hot Latin Beats with the masters of Reggaetón!

I love working on the front information desk on Friday nights where I have to stock the displays with all the new music coming into the library. So one Friday recently I took home one called La Revolucion done by musicians Wisin and Yandel. I’d never heard of the group, nor the fusion reggaeton style but what fun! Part reggae, part vallenato, part hot latin beats, this urban latin sound is big on the latin hit billboard. If you like reggae, hip hop, and things “latin” (including dancing), you’ll love this CD!  LISTEN HERE

We’re looking for Teen Volunteers for Reading Buddies!

Another session of reading buddies starts January 19th (teen orientation) and then every thursday from January 21st to March 4th, 2010. Can you believe 2010 is here?

 Registration forms are available in the Children’s Department starting the first week of January, 2010.

Hope to see you there!

Liz

Teen Book Club Spring Schedule

The teen book club is coming back for another session in the Spring of 2010. There will be 3 meetings:

1. Tuesday February 2nd 3:30-4:30 - Unwind
2. Tuesday March 2nd 3:30-4:30 - True Confessions of a Heartless Girl
3. Tuesday April 20th 3:30-4:30 - To be decided by group - NEW books to choose from!

The group will decide on a 3rd book when we have our first meeting!

Don’t forget you can borrow a book club set!

We have a number of book club sets (just like the ones you see in the Adult section). Each set consists of a bag, 10 books, discussion questions and background information on the author, the book and other books by the same author. You can invite some friends over, make sure there are lots of goodies on hand to chow down on and drink, and battle it out over who you think was amazing (as a character in the story) and who you think sucked! The questions are done for you so you don’t have to work too hard!  (more…)

These are EASY, stunning, spicy and make great gifts!

Warning: Spicy for the unseasoned palate - perfect for those of us who luva-da-spice!

3 cups of all purpose flour
1.5 cups of cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon of white pepper or 1 tsp of black pepper ( I used white pepper)
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1.5 tsp cinnamon

12oz or 3 sticks of unsalted butter
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 cups of sugar
2 large eggs

1. Cream the butter and sugar mixture; add eggs.
2. Combine dry ingredients and add to creamed ingredients.
3. Divide dough in half and roll in wax paper.
4. Chill in freezer for 3 hours or in the refirgerator overnight.
5. Slice dough in 1/4″ rounds.
6. Bake at 375 degrees or until cracks begin to form.

LibraryThing widget displays books!

This new bar displayed on the sidebar of our blog lists books  automatically. It gets them from our new LibraryThing Account.

Using the LibraryThing website, you can log in and add books you love or want to read. They will then be randomly displayed on our teen blog sidebar!

To add books to the list:

1. 1. Go to www.librarything.com .
2. 2. Log in using nwplteens/nwplteens.
3. 3. Click on the Add Books tab at the top.
4. 4. Search for a book title and click on it to add it!

Voila!

Each time you view another page and the page is refreshed, a new set of books is displayed from our nwplteens account on LibraryThing! Oh yeah. When you click on a book you get more information about it!

Cheers,

Liz

Are you 16 and in grade 11 as of September 2009?

Anyone wanting to attend Douglas College can participate as long as you’re 16 and in grade 11 in September 2009.

• Make a 2-minute video
• Upload video to Youtube
• Top 3 entries (voted on by viewers) will win $4,000 each in tuition credits
• Runner-up prizes are also available at $400 tuition credit each
• Video must show your talent - singing, dancing, skateboarding, juggling, poetry slamming, you name it - but nothing in appropriate!
• Videos must be submitted before February 28, 2010 and must be 2 minutes or less.

More info…

See Doug’s Got Talent video contest

“Magazine, website & books by Teens since 1989“

I stumbled upon this while I was browsing the net for teen art stuff. This is a very lively looking and up-to-date site with writing, art, regular teen posts, forums, reviews, polls and more! Have fun!  Check it out Teen Ink

You might not find a steamy romance (althought there is something brewing between Simon and Isabella - subtle as it may be) here but what you will definitely encounter is a wonderfully confounding murder mystery.  At first read I was a little bit concerned that it was going to be too easy but I was greatfully relieved to be blind-sided and to realize that I really didn’t have a “clue” as to who the killer was.

When the young and brilliant Sarah Wingate is brutally murdered in her room while staying at her Aunt’s house, Simon Ziele, the new local detective is called in to investigate. Simon has ghosts of his own - he moved to this small town north of New York after his fianceé died a tragic death in a steamship fire. Hoping to escape the brutality of the big city, he’s shocked to find himself investigating the most difficult and brutal murder of his career. (more…)

Check out coming book releases for 2010

The Library does not have these yet and there is no guarantee we’ll have all of them but if you see something you’re interested in, let us know and we’ll see about getting it!

It’s Wii Play time again at NWPL

Teens can come out in the afternoon of Tuesday December 29th for some Wii sports play at the Library. Bring your Wii games and some extra controllers. We’ll provide the snacks and good cheer! Get a little move-on after Christmas!

Tuesday, December 29th
1:30-3:30 pm
Library Auditorium
Bring Wii games and controllers if you like!

You can sign-up in the Children’s Department - the sign-up has already started!

The Massey Theatre has been a part of the New Westminster community for 60 years. To celebrate, a Vancouver writer has put together a play about a young girl spending the holidays with her grandparents here on the West Coast.

Inda is sick of the constant grey, rainy weather, and buries herself in books, longing for the sun. Soon she finds herself in a mystical dreamworld, a rainforest full of squirrels, birds and racoons. Led by the heron and an orb’s strange orange light, she learns that sometimes, the sunshine can be found with the ones you love.

The Winter Spectacular was made to showcase as many of Massey Theatre’s unique functions as possible. The show involves circus performers, and songs we all know and love. The cast is entirely made of local Vancouverites, young and old.

Support Massey Theatre, and maybe even some of your fellow classmates!

INFO AT:

Crazy little thing called love… or a crush… or

I’ve been asked for these quite often by teens visiting the library so I thought it high time I put together a list for all Romance lovers to refer to. If you know some that I haven’t included, post them in a comment for this posting!

I’ve also included stories where a romance is a fairly prominent part of the story even if it is not the main reason for the story’s creation! Enjoy and please do share your own contributions.

• Are We There Yet by David Levithan
• Armaggedon Summer by Jane Yolen
• Dating Hamlet: Ophelia’s Story by Lisa Fiedler
• Fireworks: 4 Summer Stories by Niki Burnham
• Heart’s Delight by Per Nilsson
• Honey, Baby, Sweetheart by Deb Caletti
• How to Build a House by Dana Reinhardt*** (more…)
  

Hey Teen Bloggers!

There hasn’t been a lot of activity here lately, so I figured I’d add another one of these.

For the newbies, every so often, I post a bunch of stuff I’ve currently become obsessed with, that I felt like sharing. I’ve been extremely busy lately, so I’m just going to post some links to videos/channels I liked. So here we go!

• LeeLooDoyle : So I don’t really know who this girl is (or guy), but her channel is a great place to get the latest Glee songs… Or sometimes even catch them after the episode. Oh, and if you’re not already watching Glee: Check it out! Amazing, if you haven’t heard of it, have you been living under a rock?
• Vlogbrothers : I’ve been watching these guys since somewhere around May or June, but somehow I haven’t mentioned it on the blog. Funny, and thoughtful. Nerdy… But that’s really what it’s about. If you feel you’re too cool to dork out a bit, you won’t like these (and shame on you!) One of these guys is actually the author of Paper Towns, Looking for Alaska, and an Abundance of Katherine. Check them out at the library! (more…)