So you think you know everything about New Moon by Stephenie Meyer? Are you ready for the next installment of the Twilight Saga in theaters on November 20th? Come to our special New Moon event near our Bethany Branch library at the Terrace Plaza Community Center on November 19th from 6-8 PM.
Try your hand at:
-New Moon trivia game and see if you can win a prize.
-Play Wii baseball with the characters from Twilight
-Play the werewolf game if you’re more of a Jacob fan.
For more info call 503-617-7323 and we’ll see you on the 19th.
Snowboarding season already? It may seem early and there are certainly no flakes spotted in Portland yet, but the folks at The Art Institute of Portland aren’t letting that stop them. On Halloween afternoon from noon-4pm they’re hosting the 3rd Annual Backyard Bang, a snowboarding rail competition. They’ll truck in snow from Mt. Hood & construct a quarter pipe right in front of their building. Both amateur and professional snowboarders will compete. Come and watch the fun.
FREE
The Art Institute of Portland
1122 NW Davis
Sat, Oct 31
noon-4pm
Check out The Art Institute’s photos from the 2008 event here.
And if watching snowboarding live puts you in the mood for more, check out these snowboarding dvds.
Apocalyptic and Dystopian books are being published at a furious pace lately. Here are some of the latest and some of the greatest that you can pick up at our libraries. These are great if you are looking for a scary tale or if you want to Read Beyond Reality (the Teen Read week theme).
Diary of Pelly D
LJ Adlington (YA ADLINGTON, LJ)
Toni V discovers the diary of long dead girl who describes life as she deals with a devastating nuclear holocaust (12 & up).
Kindling, Keepers of the Flame, Kiln
The Fire-us Trilogy
Jennifer Armstrong (YA ARMSTRONG, JEN)
In Florida, kids must band together for their survival as adults fall victim to a catastrophic virus (12 & up).
Exodus & Zenith
Julie Bertagna (YA BERTAGNA, JUL)
15 year old Mara must lead a band of refugees to find a new home as rising waters consume their island in these futuristic
novels (11 & up).
The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg is a graphic novel about the value of friendship and art. After a terrorist attack in Metro City, Jane and her family move to the suburbs and she immediately senses that she just doesn’t fit in. Her loneliness subsides when she meets three other girls named Jane, each as out-of-place as she is. The new Jane in town (Main Jane) rallies them together to form P.L.A.I.N. (People Loving Art in Neighborhoods), a secret art collective dedicated to beautifying their surroundings. Some people love the effect P.L.A.I.N. has on the town, but the police call their activities “art attacks” and vow to shut their operations down.
Will the Janes and art prevail or will suburbia be doomed to a future of drab public spaces?
Possible questions:
1. What structures does P.L.A.I.N. build for their first art installation?
2. The Janes eventually invite a boy to sit at their table. What is his name?
- photo by rmkoske via flickr
Celebrate Teen Read Week at the Cedar Mill Community Library. J. K. Rowling fans can enjoy a screening of a recent movie based on her series about the boy wizard on Friday, October 23rd at 5:30 (We’ll start the movie a little before 6 PM).
Dress in your costume, get some snacks and enjoy the movie with your friends. The costume that best represents the national Teen Read Week Read Beyond Reality theme will win a prize. Checking out a fantasy or science fiction book while you’re at the library for Teen Read Week too(October 18th-24th).
In book one of the Ranger’s Apprentice series, author John Flanagan introduces us to the orphan Will. On Choosing Day during the fifteenth year of each orphan’s life, he or she becomes an apprentice to an older expert in his or her field. Will has always dreamed of being a warrior, but when Will is chosen as the apprentice to the gruff, mysterious ranger Halt, his disappointment is difficult to hide.
Yet as Will learns the ways of the rangers, he strengthens his already promising skills and becomes a force to be reckoned with. His new abilities allow him to manage bullies and dangerous animals with success, but will they be enough to help him when he confronts the evil magic of Morgorath?
Possible questions:
1. Who is the bully who Will later befriends?
2. What is the name of the kingdom where Will lives?
3. What sort of creatures are aiding Morgorath in his attempt to take over the kingdom?
Have other good questions to quiz your friends with or test your own knowledge? Put them in the comments section.
Cap (Capricorn) Anderson is about the biggest fish out of water at C-Average (Claverage without the “L”) Middle School. You see, Cap has been homeschooled by his hippie grandmother, Rain, at a commune where they are the last two residents. But when Rain falls and must spend two months in the hospital, public school is the only option for Cap.
Once there, Cap is targeted for abuse by many in the school because he is so different from everyone. The crowning symbol of this abuse is when Cap is named 8th grade president by the other students, a tradition bestowed upon the biggest outcast every year. But a strange thing happens to the school after this. While the school certainly changes Cap, Cap changes the school as well. Cap’s personality, values, actions and convictions all start to transform the other students in interesting and unusual ways.
While Schooled by Gordon Korman sounds quite serious, it actually has a strong sense of humor that makes the abuse that Cap suffers bearable. Cap’s innocence and kindness in the face of troubling middle school shenanigans is endearing (age 10 and up).
Sample Questions:
- What event on the school bus changes the other students’ opinions about Cap?
- What is the name of the commune that Cap lived on before he came to public middle school?
- Which former enemies team up to trick cap towards the end of the book?
Have other ideas for questions? Post them in the comments section so that you can quiz each other.
Take a look at these nonfiction titles that have arrived over the past few weeks. Place a hold by clicking the links below.
Military and Teens: the Ultimate Teen Guide by Kathlyn Gay
Teen Guide to Global Action by Barbara Lewis
Best 371 colleges by Princeton Review
Rough Guide to Anime by Simon Richmond
Adopted: the Ultimate Teen Guide by Suzanne Slade
Manga: the complete Guide by Jason Thompson
American Muslim Teenager’s Handbook by Dilara Hafiz
Here are the lists for the middle and upper divisions of the 2009 Battle of the Books competition. To place holds on the 3rd to 5th Grade Division, check this link. Various schools around the area are participating, so get your holds placed early so you can get a copy of the books. Look for our profiles on certain Battle of the Book selections in the future. They will provide a good way for you to quiz yourself in preparation for the competition.
GRADES 6 – 8 DIVISION
ADAM CANFIELD OF THE SLASHby Michael Winerip (Mystery/Realistic Fiction)
THE ALCHEMYST: THE SECRETS OF THE IMMORTAL NICHOLAS FLAMEL by Michael Scott (Fantasy)
ANY SMALL GOODNESS: A NOVEL OF THE BARRIO by Tony Johnston (Realistic Fiction)
THE BREADWINNER by Deborah Ellis (Realistic Fiction)
CHINESE CINDERELLA: THE TRUE STORY OF AN UNWANTED DAUGHTER by Adeline Yen Mah (Non-fiction/Biography)
DRAGON’S KEEP by Janet Lee Carey (Fantasy)
FOUND by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Science Fiction)
MAXIMUM RIDE: THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT by James Patterson (Science Fiction)
THE PLAIN JANESby Cecil Castellucci (Realistic Fiction)
RANGER’S APPRENTICE: THE RUINS OF GORLAN by John Flanagan (Realistic Fiction)
SCHOOLED by Gordon Korman (Realistic Fiction)
SO B. IT: A NOVEl by Sarah Weeks (Realistic Fiction)
TRAPPED BETWEEN THE LASH AND THE GUN: A BOY’S JOURNEYby Arvella Whitmore (Historical Fiction)
THE WEDNESDAY WARS by Gary D. Schmidt (Historical Fiction)
THE WILD GIRLS by Pat Murphy (Historical Fiction)
ZEN AND THE ART OF FAKING ITby Jordan Sonnenblick (Realistic Fiction)
GRADES 9 - 12 DIVISION
ACCELERATION by Graham McNamee (Mystery/Thriller)
ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND; AND THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS by Lewis Carroll (Fantasy/Classic)
AMERICAN BORN CHINESEby Gene Luen Yang (Fantasy/Graphic Novel)
THE BOOK OF FREDby Abby Bardi (Realistic Fiction)
THE BOOK THIEFby Markus Zusak (Historical Fiction)
BOY’S LIFE by Robert McCammon (Mystery/Fantasy)
DEATHWATCH by Robb White (Adventure/Survival)
DREAMLAND: A NOVELby Sarah Dessen (Realistic Fiction)
FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury (Science Fiction/Classic)
FAREWELL TO MANZANARby Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston & James D. Houston (Non-fiction)
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LARRYby Janet Tashjian (Realistic Fiction)
THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins (Science Fiction)
LIFE AS WE KNEW IT by Susan Beth Pfeffer (Science Fiction)
A LONG WAY GONE: MEMOIRS OF A BOY SOLDIERby Ismael Beah (Non-fiction)
NINETEEN MINUTES: A NOVELby Jodi Picoult (Realistic Fiction)
WICKED LOVELY by Melissa Marr (Fantasy)
Imagine: you open your mailbox one day and find a plain envelope with your name on it. The letter inside consists of only six words: You are one of the missing. Soon, another letter arrives: Beware! They’re coming back to get you.
In Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix, thirteen year-old Jonah and his friend Chip, both of whom are adopted, receive such letters and plunge into a tangled mystery involving time, space, and some huge decisions.
After enlisting Jonah’s sister, Katherine, to help find answers, they learn about a plane that appeared at an airport thirteen years ago. The plane carried twenty-six infants and zero pilots. They learn that opposing forces are debating their futures. The world they thought they knew flips upside-down and inside-out.
Practice Questions
1. How do Jonah and Katherine get the information from the confidential file in the FBI office?
2. What is the name of the airport employee who saw the airplane?
Can you think of other questions? Join the discussion in the comments section!
