Website of the Week

We at Teenreads.com bring teens info and features about their favorite authors, books, series and characters. We are a part of The Book Report Network, a group of websites founded in 1996 that share thoughtful book reviews, compelling features, in-depth author profiles and interviews, excerpts of the hottest new releases, literary games and contests, and more with readers every week. Teenreads.com is THE place online for teens to talk about their fave books --- and find the hippest new titles!

New Books: Little Brother; Mexican WhiteBoy

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (author of the blog Boing Boing)

When the Department of Homeland Security turns San Francisco into a police state after a terrorist attack, a teenage hacker decides to fight back against oppression.




Mexican WhiteBoy by Matt de la Peña

Danny, a half-white, half-Mexican teen with a 95-mph fastball but no accuracy, spends the summer finding in the alleys and ball fields of San Diego, learning about his family and himself.

Website of the Week: Candy Addict

Candy Critic
http://www.candycritic.org/

People give up trick or treating eventually, but most of us never lose our love for candy. Get ready for Halloween with the Candy Critic, a guy who reviews every type of candy he can get his lips on. Everything from classic candy bars to weird and wonderful treats from around the world are reviewed and discussed. Does a chocolate fortune cookie taste as good as it sounds? Should we even bother with a "slimy mint thing"?

The Candy Critic also has reviews on other types of snacks, ranging from salty to gum to lollipops. You may also want to check his links to many more candy-themed websites.

Don't read this site on an empty stomach!

Teen Game Night - Wed., October 22

Come play Guitar Hero, Dance Dance Revolution, and more! Snacks and drinks provided.

The Game Night will run from 7 to 8:30 and is open to all teens grades 6-10.

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

Oracle of Bacon http://oracleofbacon.org/index.php

The trivia game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon is based on the concept of the small world phenomenon and rests on the assumpition that any actor can be linked through his or her film roles to actor Kevin Bacon.

Example:
Justin Timberlake
was inLongshot (2000)
withDennis Keiffer
was inDeath Sentence (2007)
withKevin Bacon

Teen Advisory Board Meets Wed., October 15

An easy way to earn volunteer time or just get better service at the library, TAB meetings are 1 hour a month, 7-8 p.m.

Teens tell the Library their opinions and ideas for upcoming programs. They rate programs we've just had. They tell us what books, movies, and music they'd like to see us add to our collection.

All you have to bring is your opinions and your requests. We bring free snacks and drinks. Easy, painless, filling.

For more information, call at 708-422-4990.

How to Subscribe to This Blog

You can get the latest news about programs at the library, new books, movies, and music, and fun and useful websites -- sent to you wherever you're at. It's quick and easy!


If you haven't subscribed to a website before, here's what you need to know:

1. Website subscriptions are based on RSS, which means "Really Simple Syndication." It's an easy way for blogs and other websites to send out their new stuff.


2. A piece of new stuff sent out on RSS is called a "feed."


3. To get a feed, you need to get what's called a "feed reader" or an "aggregator."


4. You can get a feed reader by signing up at: Google Reader; Bloglines; Netvibes; My Yahoo!; and others. Feed readers are typically free, but you do have to set up an account and password.


5. Just click on the "subscribe to olpl teen blog" link on the left-hand side of this page.


6. Now instead of having to check our site for new information, you can just check your feed reader.

To get more enjoyment out of your feed reader, find other blogs and websites that you like to read. See if they have RSS subscription. If so, subscribe to them. Now you'll have fresh, fun, and interesting content coming to you all the time!

Teen Read Week

October 12-18

Click on the link below to take the Vampire Books Quiz and win a chance to receive the book Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.
http://www.oaklawnlibrary.org/YS_quiz.html
Plus, check out these great vampire reads...

De La Cruz, Melissa. Blue Bloods. J/Fic De La Cruz
Select teenagers from some of New York City's wealthiest and most socially prominent families learn a startling secret about their bloodlines.

Garden, Nancy. My Sister the Vampire. J/Fic Garden
A beautiful Maine summer turns deadly for Sarah, Tim, and Jenny Hoskins and their neighbors as they discover the horrifying truth about the strange new owners of Spool Island.

Rees, Douglas. Vampire High. YA Fic Rees
When his family moves from California to New Sodom, Massachusetts and Cody enters Vlad Dracul Magnet School, many things seem strange, from the dark-haired, pale-skinned, supernaturally strong students to Charon, the wolf who guides him around campus on the first day.

Somper, Justin. Demons of the Ocean. J/Fic Somper
When twins Connor and Grace's ship is wrecked in a storm and Connor is rescued by pirates, he believes that Grace has been taken aboard the mythical Vampirate's ship, and he is determined to find her

My Sister the Vampire (Series) J/Fic Paperback

Opening Today: Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

By now, you've probably seen the commercials for the new movie, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings. Maybe the name reminds you of that commercial where the guy meets the girl, then spends the rest of his life telling her what's on his MP3 player. (It's not like that at all.)

But we wouldn't be doing our job as a library blog if we didn't point out that it's adapted from a book by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (YOUNG ADULT FICTION/COHN).

The story follows one night as Nick and Norah meet on the streets of New York City and pretend to be dating so they won't be embarrassed in front of their exes. Of course, one thing leads to another, and at some point, they aren't pretending any more.

Tell us what you think of the movie and/or the book. If you've experienced both: Did the movie live up to the book? What did they change?

Jet Pack Man Crosses English Channel

The future is here! It used to be that science fiction writers imagined that people would wear jet packs in the future.

The US Army actually tried to develop a jet pack in the middle of the 20th Century:
http://www.transchool.eustis.army.mil/Museum/Jetbelt.htm The problem was that they didn't work very well for combat situations.

That didn't mean people stopped imagining how cool it would be. James Bond used one as a gadget in Thunderball, and a Disney superhero fought Nazis with one in The Rocketeer. Then there's this guy.

But now Swiss pilot Yves Rossy has flown from England to France on a new kind of jet pack with wings.

What do you think? Is it just a cool stunt, or is there a way to make jet packs useful in the future?

For more on jet packs, check out this Wikipedia entry (but remember that wikis may have bad information mixed in with the good).

New Books: Hollywood, Manga, and The Queen of Sleepy Eye

Angel Diary
Volumes 1-6

Hollywood Nobody series

1. Hollywood Nobody

2. Finding Hollywood Nobody

3. Romancing Hollywood Nobody

4. Goodbye Hollywood Nobody

The Queen of Sleepy Eye

Here is a picture of my cat named Sebastian. That is his formal name, but I call him Puki. He likes to crochet.