A blog to keep up on what's happening for teens at Brooks Memorial Library including: • new books • events • resources available • fun website suggestions • ... and more.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Teens online

What DO teens do online? If you are curious take a look at Anastasia Goodstein's website. It looks like a blog/preview of her upcoming book on the same topic. It's sure to be of interest to many of us (i.e. parents).
I think the library should buy this book when it comes out in March, 2007. I'd read it. Would anybody else????

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Series #2 - Even better!


There's an even better way to figure out series. You'll need your library card for this one because we're going into the databases. Here's how it works:

1. Go to the Brooks Memorial Library home page.
2. Click on "Library Databases."
3. Click on "Literary Resources" or scroll down until you find NoveList.
4. Click on it, and click again to get to the log in page where you type in your library card number.
5. Click on "Novelist" again, and you're in!

There is SO MUCH to explore here! But we're tracking down series, so click at the tab at the top that says "Search Our Database." You can search by series name, but you can also "browse" the database. It takes a little time to get used to using a database but you'll enjoy exploring this wonderful resource if you love to read. If you need help using this database talk to Jeanne at the Reference Desk. She's a pro!

Series #1 - An easy way

Remember when you read all the Baby-sitters Club books? Or was it Goosebumps you were hooked on? Well, "series" books are still around for young adult reading, but they might not have the numbers right on the cover for you to see. So, what do you do when you want to find out what other books there are in a series? Or what if you want the exact order?
No need to reinvent the wheel. Let's go visit another library (in Iowa) and use what they have! Click here to find a really good site for young adult series. You can check by author or by series name.

Uh oh.... You found the title, but Brooks doesn't have it???? That's okay. Go over to the Reference Desk and fill out a request for Inter-Library Loan (ILL). Yep, it's just that simple!

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Where's the pepperoni?

Let's think international today! Did you know that pizza is also popular in Japan? It's NOT all about sushi, it seems.
Here is a list of the most popular toppings for pizza in Japan:

1. Bacon
2. Seafood
3. Onion
4. Corn
5. Salami
6. Tuna
7. Mushrooms
8. Ham
9. Potato
10. Green pepper

Hmmm. It makes me wonder what other countries like to put on pizza. Anybody want to do a report? Or wait--what a great question to ask the reference librarian!

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Green Mountain Book Award


This is the second year for the Green Mountain Book Award, a reader's choice award for students in grades 9-12. Students read the books during this school year and at the end of the year they can vote for their favorite book. If you remember reading DCF Books when you were in elementary school and middle school you can simply think of this as advanced DCF reading! Here is a list of the books for this year. Check the catalog for availability.

Busiek, Kurt and Alex Ross. Marvels.
An "every man" witnesses the first appearance of superheroes into his ordinary, everyday world. This trade paperback edition collects Marvels #1-4 and #0. Supplemental material includes an afterword by Scott McCloud, a guide to the original source material, and a photo essay about Alex Ross's artistic technique.

Chambers, Aidan. Postcards from No Man's Land.
Alternates between two stories - comtemporarily, seventeen-year-old Jacob visits a daunting Amsterdam at the request of his English grandmother - and historically, nineteen-year-old Geertrui relates her experience of British soldiers' attempts to liberate Holland from its German occupation.

Cox, Lynn and Martha Kaplan. Swimming to Antarctica.
The world's most extraordinary distance swimmer writes about her emotional and spiritual need to swim and about the almost mystical act of swimming itself.

Freymann-Weyr, Garret. My Heartbeat.
As she tries to understand the closeness between her older brother and his best friend, fourteen-year-old Ellen finds her relationship with each of them changing.

Gantos, Jack. Hole in My Life.
The author of the Joey Pigza books relates how, as a young adult, he became a drug user and smuggler, was arrested, did time in prison, and eventually got out and went to college, all the while hoping to become a writer.

Halpin, Brendan. Donorboy.
Fourteen-year-old Rosalind finds herself adjusting to a new life that seems both hateful and surreal - she's an orphan with a new father, surrounded by friends she is beginning to despise and well-meaning adults who succeed only in annoying her.

Hautman, Pete. Godless.
When sixteen-year-old Jason Bock and his friends create their own religion to worship the town's water tower, what started out as a joke begins to take on a power of its own.

Maynard, Joyce. Usual Rules.
Through the eyes of thirteen-year-old Wendy, we gain entrance to the world rarely shown by those who documented the events of September 11: a family's slow and terrible realization that Wendy's mother has died, and their struggle to go on with their lives in the face of such a crushing loss.

Myers, Walter Dean. Shooter.
Written in the form of interviews, reports, and journal entries, the story of three troubled teenagers ends in a tragic school shooting.

Peters, Julie Anne. Luna.
For years, Liam has transformed himself into the beautiful girl he longs to be with help from his sister's clothes and makeup in the secrecy of their basement bedrooms, but now, everything is about to change - Luna is preparing to emerge from her cocoon.

Picoult, Jodi. My Sister's Keeper.
Conceived as a genetic match for her terminally ill sister, Anna is tired of being used as "spare parts," and sues her parents to take control of her own life.

Ralston, Aron. Between a Rock and a Hard Place.
One of the most extraordinary survival stories ever told - Aron Ralston's searing account of his six days trapped in one of the most remote spots in America, and how one inspired act of bravery brought him home.

Thompson, Craig. Blankets.
Wrapped in the landscape of a blustery Wisconsin winter, Blankets explores the sibling rivalry of two brothers growing up in the isolated country, and the budding romance of two coming-of-age lovers.

Trudeau, G.B. The Long Road Home.
Deprived not only of his leg but also his ubiquitous trademark helmet, B.D. survives first-response Baghdad triage, evacuation to Landstuhl's surgeon-rich environment, and visits by innumerable morale-boosting celebs.

Werlin, Nancy. Double Helix.
Eighteen-year-old Eli discovers a shocking secret about is life and his family while working for a Nobel Prize-winning scientist whose specialty is genetic engineering.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Don't forget to....


And eat something healthy. Halloween candy is great, but you've got to balance it out with some real food, too!

And if you feel like autumn is a great time to cook, check out the cookbook selection upstairs on the mezzanine at 641.5.