Coming Soon: Summer Reading!

The school year is drawing to a close (yes, only a month left!), and with Summer Vacation comes OPL's Teen Summer Reading Program. 

This year's theme is "What Do YOU Dig?," and we'll be featuring a wide variety of fun activities that, hopefully, will appeal to almost everyone! From craft projects to movies to sidewalk chalk art. From frisbee-chasing dogs to magicians to a henna artist (always popular!). And of course there's always opportunities to win awesome prizes through reading-related activities. Plus, back by popular demand, there will be an end-of-summer Lock-In (hint: "braaaains!"). 

Signup for the Teen Summer Reading program begins Friday June 7, the first day of Summer Vacation. If you are going into 6th grade in the fall, you may register for TSRP. If you will be entering 9th grade, you can sign up to be a Teen Volunteer, which opens you to all sorts of opportunities--from hours for NHS to workplace experience. 

Details about TSRP will be published in the library's summer newsletter, which should be arriving in local mailboxes within the next couple weeks. Stay tuned! And we'll see you on registration day! --AJL

Kill Me Softly--A Fairy Tale Gone Wrong

Mira never knew her parents (they were killed in a fire shortly after her birth). Her guardians, two well-meaning but overprotective women, refuse to tell her anything significant about her past except to stay away from the town of her birth (and her parents' demise), Beau Rivage. By her 16th birthday, the mystery of the forbidden town is so great Mira can think of nothing else.So she does what any self-respecting and rebellious teen would do, she runs away to see what the fuss is about. What she finds there is nothing short of bizarre! Beau Rivage seems to be populated by fairy tale characters...and not the bubble-gum sweet Disney-fied versions either: Vivian is obsessed with her appearance, but not in the way one might think. Jewel is constantly choking up flowers. In fact, everyone Mira meets seems to have decidedly odd, well, quirks.  Most notable are those two guys Mira just can't seem to avoid: Felix, who is so charming she can't help falling for him, and Blue, who is so infuriating it's practically hate at first sight. In fact, everyone Mira meets seems to marked for some unavoidable and tragic fate. And it's becoming clear that not every tale ends with Happily Ever After. There's more going on in Beau Rivage than meets the eye. And Mira better figure out what it is before it's too late. 'Cause she's marked for something too.

Although Kill Me Softly is predictable (you'll likely figure out what's going on early in the book and wonder why Mira is so clueless), it's still a highly entertaining story. And there are a few unexpected twists. Not my favorite retelling, but enjoyable enough to recommend. --AJB

p.s. Kill Me Softly is one of the Yalsa Top 10 recommendations for 2013.

Go Ahead... Judge a Book by it's Cover

I'm sure you've all heard the expression: "Don't judge a book by it's cover," either used in the metaphorical sense or in referring to a literal book. But what with all the stunningly gorgeous covers adorning many of our Teen Area books, it's hard NOT to pick a book just 'cause you like its cover. 

And you know what? That's perfectly OK!!

The OPL Teen Area is currently featuring a display highlighting some books that are both beautiful to look at and have great stories inside. You'll find them in the window next to the Graphic Novel area. Stop by and browse and, if you like what you see, take home one... or two... or three (yes, as with all our displays, books from them may be checked out). The Judge A Book display will be available throughout May and, as display books are checked out, new ones will be put out to take their place (it's a constantly changing thing). Be sure to check it out! Hopefully, you like what you see! And read! --AJB

Vote to Win!

You've heard OF them, of course, but you've never actually heard them or anything by them. Fictional bands that exist only in books, that is. And it's really too bad they're only fictional. 'Cause a lot of them sound like they'd be worthy of being added to your "favorites" playlist. At least according to the characters in the books in which they appear.

Well, you may not be able to listen to these awesome, yet made-up bands. Unfortunately. But if you could, which would you be most anxious to hear? Stop by the Teen Area throughout May and vote! 

The choices are:

Where's Fluffy, from Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

Lemonade Mouth, from Lemonade Mouth
The Copenhagen Interpretation, from Going Bovine

Neutral Milk Hotel, from Will Grayson Will Grayson

The Weird Sisters, from Harry Potter

Everyone who votes will be entered into a drawing for a cool prize (winners chosen May 31). --AJB

p.s. My personal vote would be for The Copenhagen Interpretation. Their music is supposed to possess mystical qualities. However, I am curious to know what was the big deal with Where's Fluffy and why Nick & Norah were so desperate to find their secret show (you didn't even get to hear them in the movie adaption, which, I must add, was a total let down).

Things To Do

April 28 thru May 4 is National Screen Free Week and, by now, those of you who have accepted this challenge might be getting a little stir crazy without your TV, computer, smart phone, etc. Fear not! The OPL Teen Area has just the thing to get you through the rest of the week: An extremely entertaining little book appropriately titled 101 Things To Do Before You're Old and Boring (it's on our "Turn off your TV" display). Within this tome you'll find lots to do, from small things to silly things to things that could change the world. To date, I've only completed 68 of the 101 tasks. Granted, some of them DO have multiple steps... How many can you complete in an hour? A day? A week? This summer? Check the book out and challenge yourself! Or you can make it a contest with your friends: Whoever completes the most wins a since of accomplishment (and whatever else is at stake).  --AJB

The Alchemyst

Action, adventure, excitement, suspense, fantasy, history... Michael Scott's The Alchemyst, the first volume in the The Secrets of the Immortal Nicolas Flamel series, has it all and more.

Firstly, forget the decrepit old man Flamel you briefly met at the end of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The Flamel featured in this series borders on being a butt-kicking action hero. And he's determined not to let his secret formula for immortality fall into the wrong hands. Namely, his nemesis, the equally butt-kicking, and very evil, Dr. John Dee. Aiding Flamel in his perilous quest are a ninja-like vampire and ordinary mortal twins Josh and Sophie Newman, who, as it turns out, may not be so ordinary after all. In fact, they play an essential role in whether the world as we know it is saved or destroyed. There's even a prophecy about them. Sprinkled throughout the series are references to famous characters  and places from both history and mythology (I'm sure you'll recognize some). Not to mention some seriously surprising plot twists and turns. And The Alchemyst only scratches the surface of the adventure in store for anyone willing to tackle this totally awesome series.

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicolas Flamel is probably one of my favorite fantasy/adventure series we own. I love reading books where mythology is featured in the plot, but crave something more in depth than Percy Jackson (which is not to say I didn't enjoy Percy Jackson, 'cause I did). This series was exactly what I was looking for. Hopefully you'll enjoy it too! --AJB

National Poetry Month Contest Winner!

Congratulations to Sierra Neely, our National Poetry Month Contest winner. Sierra, a 6th grader, submitted a Blackout Poem (Blackout Poetry is when you take a random page from a book, newspaper, or magazine, circle certain words, and black out everything else. This creates new meaning to existing text, and is a fun way to get creative)

Here is Sierra's winning entry:

What is the bottom

to their joke?

Going to the ravine

and beating the jacks.

She new better

But it was true.

Congratulations to Sierra!

And thank you to everyone who submitted a Blackout Poem or participated in any of our other National Poetry Month activities! --AJB