Teen Blog@Brooks

Get Ready for Summer Reading Fun!

2010-05-12T10:15:00.004-04:00

Summer is on its way, despite the recent weather's indications to the contrary. The summer months will bring both warmer weather and Brooks Memorial Library's annual Summer Reading Program. As past participants well know, the Summer Reading Program is a great way to spend some of your free time pursuing an activity that you enjoy. Best of all, you get a cool prize for completing the program.

Interested in signing up for the program? Stop by the library anytime between June 14 and June 26 to register. Registering for the program is a straightforward process and should only take a minute or two of your time. The library staff will be more than happy to help you. They also have a lot of great book recommendations, so check in with them whenever you think you've run out of things to read.

The program itself begins on June 28 and runs through August 7. If you want to qualify for a prize, you will need to read at least 2 hours per week for each of the six weeks of the program. A reading log will be kept at the library's circulation desk for you to chart your reading progress during the program. At the end of the program, all participants who have met the reading goal will be entered into a raffle. Raffle prizes will be distributed on or after August 14.

We hope that you'll choose to join in on what promises to be a really great summer reading program. And if you have any questions about the program, let us know!

YA Library Survey

2010-02-16T19:40:00.002-05:00

Please take a minute to fill out our Young Adult Services Survey so we can provide you with all the things you desire from your local library...

Click here to take survey: Part One

Click here to take survey: Part Two

Be sure to complete Part One and Part Two.

Thank you!

Top Teen YA Books 2009

2010-02-16T17:19:00.003-05:00

Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults

Selected by ALA young adult division called YALSA. Click here for the full list of 90 titles. Some of these titles are located in the Children's room or Adult collection.

Brennan, Sarah Rees. Demon's Lexicon. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing/Margaret K. McElderry. 2009. (YA BRE)

Griffin, Paul. The Orange Houses. Penguin/Dial Books. 2009.

Herlong, M.H. The Great Wide Sea. Penguin/Viking. 2008. (YA HER)

Jinks, Catherine. The Reformed Vampire Support Group. Harcourt/ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2009. (YA JIN)

Napoli, Donna Jo. Alligator Bayou. Random House / Knopf. 2009.

Small, David. Stitches: A Memoir. W.W. Norton & Co. 2009. (Biography SMALL)

Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. Random House / Wendy Lamb Books. 2009. (J STE)

Stork, Francisco X. Marcelo in the Real World. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine Books. 2009.

Taylor, Laini. Lips Touch: Three Times. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine. 2009. (YA TAY)

Walker, Sally M. Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland. Lerner/Carolrhoda Books. 2009. (On Order)

New YA Titles

2009-12-28T16:06:00.007-05:00

New titles to check out in the library...

Che : a graphic biography
by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón
New York : Hill and Wang, c2009.

I am a genius of unspeakable evil and
I want to be your class president
by Josh Lieb
New York, NY : Razorbill, c2009.

The reformed vampire support group
by Catherine JinksBoston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009.

Love Tamora Pierce?

2009-12-14T15:51:00.004-05:00

Check out Author Tamora Pierce over at ReaderGirlz...

http://readergirlz.blogspot.com/2009/12/december-things-to-know-about-tamora.html

Art and Writing Contest

2009-12-12T13:12:00.009-05:00

Wondering what to do over the holiday break?

Create a piece of art, video, or writing to submit by January 4, 2010 to...

And win regional and national RECOGNITION; a chance to EXHIBIT; and a $2,500 SCHOLARSHIP

Vermont Art Region

Regional Affiliate: Great River Arts Institute

Affiliate Supported by: Spheris Gallery and Reeves Contemporary.

Area of Service: State of Vermont

Online Registration: Participants and teachers must register at www.artandwriting.org. Please print the completed submission form and obtain required signatures.

Regional Instructions/Announcements: All artwork must be submitted as digital files on CD-ROM. Please check our website at www.greatriverarts.org for additional information.

Deadline and Submission

All submissions must be received by Monday, January 4, 2010.

Processing Fee: The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the national nonprofit organization that presents The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, requires standardized process fees of $5.00 for each individual category submission and $20.00 for each portfolio submission. Make checks payable to GRAI.

Fee Waiver: Any student who currently qualifies under the Federal School Lunch Act for the Free and Reduced Lunch program may request a submission fee waiver. Reduced fees are also available to students for whom fees would be a barrier to participation. A request from the student or the teacher for the submission fee waiver should be submitted on school letterhead and included with the work in place of the submission fee.

Regional Celebration

Exhibition: Saturday, February 13 – Saturday, February 20

Ceremony: Saturday, February 20, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Great River Arts Institute
33 Bridge St.
Bellows Falls, VT 05101

Contact
Kristen Fehrenbach
Phone: 802-463-3330
Email: alliance@greatriverarts.org

YALSA TEEN TOP TEN 2009

2009-11-04T12:44:00.003-05:00

More than 11,000 teen voters chose Paper Towns as their favorite book in the 2009 Teens' Top Ten! The winners were announced during Teen Read Week by WWE Divas Brie Bella and Nikki Bella, with a special appearance by John Green. See the video...

Paper Towns by John Green (1st Floor YA GRE)
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (1st Floor YA MEY)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (1st Floor YA COL)
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (1st Floor YA CLA)
Identical by Ellen Hopkins (1st Floor YA HOP)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (J GAI)
Wake by Lisa McMann (on order)
Untamed by P.C. and Kristin Cast ((1st Floor YA CAS)
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (1st Floor YA LOC)
Graceling by Kristin Cashore (1st Floor YA CAS)

Let's get this web search thing straight...

2009-10-14T14:34:00.001-04:00

2009-10-03T15:39:00.009-04:00

GLBTQ Booklist

Here are a few titles in our library that address the lives and issues of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans-gender youth. To find other materials in the library try searching the catalog using the following subjects: homosexuality, bisexuality, lesbians, gay men, gay women, gay teenagers, gay youth, gender identity, coming out, sexual orientation or transexuals.

Dishes by Rich Wallace
(1st floor YA fiction under Wallace)
Nineteen-year-old Danny spends an eventful summer in Maine, looking for romance, working as a "straight" dishwasher in a gay bar, and trying to reconnect with his estranged father.

Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
(1st floor YA fiction under Garden)
Liza puts aside her feelings for Annie after the disaster at school, but eventually she allows love to triumph over the ignorance of people.

My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, & Fenway Park by Steve Kluger (1st floor YA fiction under Kluger)
Three teenagers in Boston narrate their experiences of a year of new friendships, first loves, and coming into their own.

Empress of the World by Sara Ryan
(1st floor YA fiction under Ryan)
While attending a summer institute, fifteen-year-old Nic meets another girl named Battle, falls in love with her, and finds the relationship to be difficult and confusing.

Luna by Julie Anne Peters
(1st floor YA fiction under Peters)
Fifteen-year-old Regan's life, which has always revolved around keeping her older brother Liam's transsexuality a secret, changes when Liam decides to start the process of "transitioning" by first telling his family and friends that he is a girl who was born in a boy's body.

Love & Lies: Marisol's Story by Ellen Wittlinger
(1st floor YA fiction under Wittlinger)
When Marisol, a self-confident eighteen-year-old lesbian, moves to Cambridge, Massachusetts to work and try to write a novel, she falls under the spell of her beautiful but deceitful writing teacher, while also befriending a shy, vulnerable girl from Indiana.

M or F by Lisa Papademetriou
(1st floor YA fiction under Papademetriou)
Gay teen Marcus helps his friend Frannie chat up her crush online, but then becomes convinced that the crush is falling for him instead.

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
(1st floor YA fiction under Bechdel)
Through narrative that is alternately heartbreaking and funny, readers are drawn into a daughters complex yearning for her father. Apart from assigned stints dusting caskets at the family-owned "fun home," the relationship achieves its most intimate expression through the shared code of books.

Hear Us Out!: lesbian and gay stories of struggle, progress and hope, 1950 to the present by Nancy Garden (306.76 GAR)
A comprehensive and rich account of gay life, both public and private, from one of the pioneers of young adult lesbian and gay literature.

Mom, Dad. I'm gay : how families negotiate coming out by Ritch C. Savin-Williams
(306.874 SAV) How do kids decide whether and when to take the risky step of coming out? What is involved in negotiating a new identity with parents? And how common are the coming out "horror stories" published in the popular press?

2009-10-02T10:41:00.004-04:00

Come listen to Sarah Dessen read from Along for the Ride...

2009-09-04T13:20:00.001-04:00

Banned Books Week: September 26th - October 3rd

2009-09-03T15:57:00.001-04:00

Reading for Crank Addicts

Have you gulped down Crank only to find yourself desperate for another raw and edgy tale about the dark side of adolescence? Not sure where you should turn to find your next fix? No worries! The Brooks Memorial Library staff has assembled a list of books that will help you maintain your reading habit.

Beauty queen

Glovach, Linda

1^st Floor YA FIC GLO

“Reading this diary of a heroin addict is like watching someone fall into an abyss: knowing a crash is inevitable, but wondering how soon and how hard rock bottom will be.” – From Publishers Weekly

Breathing underwater

Finn, Alexandra

1^st Floor YA FIC FIN

Sent to counseling for hitting his girlfriend, Caitlin, and ordered to keep a journal, sixteen-year-old Nick recounts his relationship with Caitlin, examines his controlling behavior and anger, and describes living with his abusive father.

Cut

McCormick, Patricia

1^st Floor YA FIC MCC

While confined to a mental hospital, thirteen-year-old Callie slowly comes to understand some of the reasons behind her self-mutilation, and gradually starts to get better.

Dreamland

Dessen, Sarah

1^st Floor YA FIC DES

After her older sister runs away, sixteen-year-old Caitlin decides that she needs to make a major change in her own life and begins an abusive relationship with a boy who is mysterious, brilliant, and dangerous.

Thirteen reasons why

Asher, Jay

1^st Floor YA FIC ASH

When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death.

Invisible

Hautman, Peter

1^st Floor YA FIC HAU

Doug and Andy are unlikely best friends--one a loner obsessed by his model trains, the other a popular student involved in football and theater--who grew up together and share a bond that nothing can sever.

Speak

Anderson, Laurie Halse

1^st Floor YA FIC AND

J AND

A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school.

Stoner and Spaz

Koertge, Ron

1^st Floor YA FIC KOE

A troubled youth with cerebral palsy struggles toward self-acceptance with the help of a drug-addicted young woman.

Looking for Alaska

Green, John

1^st Floor YA FIC GRE

Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great pranks, but is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash.

2009-08-17T20:33:00.003-04:00

What to Read After Twilight

The Twilight series remains popular with the Young Adult patrons of Brooks Memorial Library. But what do you do if you’ve finished all of the books in the series and find yourself thirsting for something juicy to sink your reading teeth into? Fear not! Jeanne, the intrepid reference librarian at Brooks, has compiled a list of great books available at Brooks that should appeal to most fans of Stephenie Meyer’s work. But beware: reading any of the following books might result in some sleepless nights as you rush to find out what happens next!

Blood and chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause

· 1st Fl. YA Fiction / KLA

Having fallen for a human boy, a beautiful teenage werewolf must battle both her packmates and the fear of the townspeople to decide where she belongs and with whom.

A certain slant of light by Laura Whitcomb

· 1st Fl. YA Fiction / WHI c. 2

After benignly haunting a series of people for 130 years, Helen meets a teenage boy who can see her and together they unlock the mysteries of their pasts.

City of bones by Cassandra Clare

· 1st Fl. YA Fiction / CLA

Suddenly able to see demons and the Darkhunters who are dedicated to returning them to their own dimension, fifteen-year-old Clary Fray is drawn into this bizarre world when her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a monster.

Evernight by Claudia Gray

· 1st Fl. YA Fiction / GRA

Sixteen-year-old Bianca, a new girl at the sinister Evernight boarding school, finds herself drawn to another outsider, Lucas, but dark forces threaten to tear them apart and destroy Bianca's entire world.

Graceling / Kristin Cashore

· 1st Fl. New Fiction / CAS

In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.

A great and terrible beauty by Libba Bray

· 1st Fl. YA Fiction / BRA

After the suspicious death of her mother in 1895, sixteen-year-old Gemma returns to England, after many years in India, to attend a finishing school where she becomes aware of her magical powers and ability to see into the spirit world.

Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt

· 1st Fl. YA Fiction / LEA

When Lord Death comes to claim sixteen-year-old Keturah while she is lost in the King's Forest, she charms him with her story and is granted a twenty-four hour reprieve in which to seek her one true love.

Peeps : a novel by Scott Westerfeld

· 1st Fl. YA Fiction / WES

Cal Thompson is a carrier of a parasite that causes vampirism, and must hunt down all of the girlfriends he has unknowingly infected.

Sabriel by Garth Nix

· 1st Fl. YA Fiction / NIX

Sabriel, daughter of the necromancer Abhorsen, must journey into the mysterious and magical Old Kingdom to rescue her father from the Land of the Dead.

The secret hour by Scott Westerfeld

· 1st Fl. YA Fiction / WES

Upon moving to Bixby, Oklahoma, fifteen-year-old Jessica Day learns that she is one of a group of people who have special abilities that help them fight ancient creatures living in an hour hidden at midnight; creatures that seem determined to destroy Jess.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

· 1st Fl. YA Fiction / WES

Just before their sixteenth birthdays, when they will will be transformed into beauties whose only job is to have a great time, Tally's best friend runs away and Tally must find her and turn her in, or never become pretty at all.

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

· 1st Fl. YA Fiction / MEA

Two years after a horrible incident made them run away, vampire princess Lissa and her guardian-in-training Rose are found and returned to St. Vladimir's Academy, where one focuses on mastering magic, the other on physical training, while both try to avoid the perils of gossip, cliques, gruesome pranks, and sinister plots.

The vampire diaries by L.J. Smith

· 1st Fl. YA Fiction / SMI

Presents the first two volumes in the Vampire Diaries series, in which popular and beautiful high school senior Elena finds herself torn between two vampire brothers, the dark and brooding Stefan who wants to protect her from the horrors of his past and the dangerously attractive Damon, who is determined to use her to get revenge on his brother.

Wicked lovely by Melissa Marr

· 1st Fl. YA Fiction / MAR

Seventeen-year-old Aislinn, who has the rare ability to see faeries, is drawn against her will into a centuries-old battle between the Summer King and the Winter Queen, and the survival of her life, her love, and summer all hang in the balance.

Green Mountain Book Blog

2009-07-08T20:15:00.003-04:00

The Green Mountain Book Award books for 2009-2010 have their own blog...

http://greenmountainbookaward2009-2010.blogspot.com/

A great place to check out what other folks thought about a book, search a book based on tags, or write your own review of the books you have read on the list.

If you see a book you are interested in reading, go to the YA section at Brooks Library and look for the GMBA display on top of the shelves.

Join the Zine Scene!

2009-05-23T11:46:00.002-04:00

Join the summer writing group, and

MAKE a ZINE,

@ Brooks Library!

THURSDAY AFTERNOONS 4-5:30PM from

JUNE 22^ND- August 8^th

In the Library Meeting Room

Group led by Rose Watson andCal Glover-Wessel.

2009 Windham Country Reads Summer Reading List: 9-12th grade

2009-05-23T10:27:00.002-04:00

On Wednesday, we posted the Windham County Reads' Summer Reading List for 7th and 8th graders. We are happy to report that Windham County Reads has pit together a similar reading list, this time with 9th through 12 graders in mind. Many of the recommended titles can be found at Brooks. When that's the case, the title has been bolded and a call number has been added to help you locate the book.

Anderson, Laurie Halse Wintergirls. 2009. Eighteen-year-old Lia comes to terms with her best friend's death from anorexia as she struggles with the same disorder.

Blundell, Judy What I saw and how I lied. 2008. (YA BLU) In 1947, with her jovial stepfather Joe back from the war and family life returning to normal, teenage Evie, smitten by the handsome young ex-GI who seems to have a secret hold on Joe, finds herself caught in a complicated web of lies whose devastating outcome change her life and that of her family forever. 2008 National Book Award winner.

Bradbury, Ray Fahrenheit 451. 1953. (1^st Flr Fiction BRA) The novel presents a future American society in which the masses are hedonistic, and critical thought through reading is outlawed. Vermont’s Big Read book

Cashore, Kristen Graceling. 2008. In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.

Clare, Cassandra The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. 2007. Suddenly able to see demons and the Darkhunters who are dedicated to returning them to their own dimension, fifteen-year-old Clary Fray is drawn into this bizzare world when her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a monster. Popular trilogy.

Doctorow, Cory Little Brother. 2008. (YA DOC) After being interrogated for days by the Department of Homeland Security in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco, California, seventeen-year-old Marcus, released into what is now a police state, decides to use his expertise in computer hacking to set things right.

Flanagan, John Ranger’s Apprentice: Sorceror of the North. 2008. Now a full-fledged Ranger responsible for a sleepy fief, Will finds a new adventure seeking the traitors who poisoned the king, investigating rumors of sorcery, and trying to rescue his friend Alyss, who is taken hostage. Book five in the popular Australian series.

Freeman, Castle Go with me:a novel. 2008. (1^st Flr Fiction FRE) In the hills of Vermont, a local man has decided to make life hell for Lillian, a young woman from parts elsewhere. When the local law enforcement proves useless, Lillian decides to fight back on her own, enlisting an unlikely pair of allies in old-timer Lester and naive teenager Nate.

Going, K.L. King of the Screwups. 2009. After getting in trouble yet again, popular high school senior Liam, who never seems to live up to his wealthy father's expectations, is sent to live in a trailer park with his gay "glam-rocker" uncle.

Gould, Peter Write Naked. 2008. (YA GOU) When Victor finds an old Royal typewriter at a yard sale and takes it to his uncle's isolated cabin in the Vermont woods to attempt to write, he meets up with an unusual girl, and together they explore their concerns about the world, themselves, and each other.

Green, John Paper Towns. 2008. One month before graduating from his Central Florida high school, Quentin "Q" Jacobsen basks in the predictable boringness of his life until the beautiful and exciting Margo Roth Spiegelman, Q's neighbor and classmate, takes him on a midnight adventure and then mysteriously disappears. 2009 Edgar Award for YA

Guevara, Ernesto “Che” The Motorcycle Diaries. (918.04 GUE) A freewheeling account of an extended youthful road trip undertaken in the early '50s by the future poster boy of Communist insurrection.

Johnson, Maureen Suite Scarlett. 2008. Fifteen-year-old Scarlett Marvin is stuck in New York City for the summer working at her quirky family's historic hotel, but her out-of-work actor brother's attractive new friend and a seasonal guest who offers her an intriguing and challenging writing project improve her outlook.

Juby, Susan Getting the girl: a guide to private investigation, surveillance, and cookery. 2008. Ninth-grader Sherman Mack investigates the "Defilers," a secret group at his British Columbia high school that marks certain female students as pariahs, at first because he is trying to protect the girl he has a crush on, but later as a matter of principle.

Lockhart, E.L. The disreputable history of Frankie Landau-Banks. 2008. (YA LOC) Sophomore Frankie starts dating senior Matthew Livingston, but when he refuses to talk about the all-male secret society that he and his friends belong to, Frankie infiltrates the society in order to enliven their mediocre pranks. 2009 Printz Honor Book.

Lutz, Lisa The Spellman Files. 2007. Cracking the case can get complicated and outrageously wacky when a family of detectives is involved. Isabel "Izzy" Spellman, a San Francisco PI, reluctantly she agrees to take on a cold case with 14-year-old sister Rae and parents who have no qualms about bugging their children's bedrooms. When Rae suddenly disappears, Izzy and her family must learn some serious lessons in order to find her. First in the series.

Moore, Alan Watchmen. 2005. (741.5 MOO) In an alternate history United States. where freelance superheroes are outlawed, a retired group of heroes become involved in a murder investigation. A Time magazine top 100 book of the 20^th century.

Oppel, Kenneth Starclimber. 2009. As members of the first crew of astralnauts, Matt Cruse and Kate De Vries journey into outer space on the Starclimber and face a series of catastrophes that threaten the survival of all on board. Third title in series.

Otsuka, Julie. When the emperor was divine. 2002. (1^st Flr Fiction OTS) A story told from five different points of view; chronicles the experiences of Japanese Americans caught up in the nightmare of the World War II internment camp. Vermont Reads 2009 book.

Pfeffer, Susan Beth The dead & the gone. 2008. After a meteor hits the moon and sets off a series of horrific climate changes, seventeen-year-old Alex Morales must take care of his sisters alone in the chaos of New York City.

Reinhardt, Dana How to build a house. 2008 (YA REI) Seventeen-year-old Harper Evans hopes to escape the effects of her father's divorce on her family and friendships by volunteering her summer to build a house in a small Tennessee town devastated by a tornado.

2009 Windham County Reads Summer Reading List: 7th/8th grade

2009-05-20T19:05:00.002-04:00

Looking for something to read? Windham County Reads has put together a summer reading list of great books for 7th and 8th graders (although those of you in other grades might enjoy them as well). Many of the books can be found here at Brooks. When that's the case, the title has been bolded and a call number has been added to help you locate the book.

Asher, Jay Th1rteen r3asons why: a novel. 2007. When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death.

Balliet, Blue The Calder game. 2008. (J BAL; J CD BAL) When seventh-grader Calder Pillay disappears from a remote English village--along with an Alexander Calder sculpture to which he has felt strangely drawn--his friends Petra and Tommy fly from Chicago to help his father find him. DCF nominee 2009-2010.

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. The Boy who dared. 2008. (J BAR; J CD BAR) In October, 1942, seventeen-year-old Helmuth Hubener, imprisoned for distributing anti-Nazi leaflets, recalls his past life and how he came to dedicate himself to bring the truth about Hitler and the war to the German people.

Bradbury, Jennifer. Shift. 2008. When best friends Chris and Win go on a cross country bicycle trek the summer after graduating and only one returns, the FBI wants to know what happened. DCF nominee 2009-2010.

Colfer, Eoin. Airman. 2008. (YA COL) In the late nineteenth century, when Conor Broekhart discovers a conspiracy to overthrow the king, he is branded a traitor, imprisoned, and forced to mine for diamonds under brutal conditions while he plans a daring escape from Little Saltee prison by way of a flying machine that he must design, build, and, hardest of all, trust to carry him to safety.

Collins, Suzanne The Hunger Games. 2008. (YA COL) In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place. DCF nominee 2009-2010.

Dowell, Frances O’Roark Shooting the moon. 2008. (YA DOW) When her brother is sent to fight in Vietnam, twelve-year-old Jamie begins to reconsider the army world that she has grown up in. DCF nominee 2009-2010.

Farr, Richard. Emperors of the Ice. 2008. Apsley “Cherry” Cherry-Garrard shares his adventures as the youngest member of Robert Scott’s expedition to Antarctica in 1910, during which he and Edward Wilson try to learn the evolutionary history of emperor penguins, nearly dying in the attempt. DCF nominee 2009-2010.

Ferraialo, Jack D. The Big Splash. 2008. Matt Stevens, an average middle schooler with a glib tongue and a knack for solving crimes, uncovers a mystery while working with "the organization," a mafia-like syndicate run by seventh-grader Vincent "Mr. Biggs" Biggio, specializing in forged hall passes, test-copying rings, black market candy selling, and taking out hits with water guns. 2009 Edgar award nominee.

Frost, Helen Diamond Willow. 2008. (J FRO; J CD FRO) In a remote area of Alaska, twelve-year-old Willow helps her father with their sled dogs when she is not at school, wishing she were more popular, all the while unaware that the animals surrounding her carry the spirits of dead ancestors and friends who care for her. DCF nominee 2009-2010.

Gaiman, Neil The Graveyard Book. 2008. (J GAI; ) After the murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own. 2009 Newbery Medal winner. DCF nominee 2009-2010.

Gardner, Sally The Red necklace. 2008. (J CD GAR) In the late eighteenth-century, Sido, the twelve-year-old daughter of a self-indulgent marquis, and Yann, a fourteen-year-old Gypsy orphan raised to perform in a magic show, face a common enemy at the start of the French Revolution.

Goodman, Allegra The other side of the island. 2008. Born in the eighth year of Enclosure, ten-year-old Honor lives in a highly regulated colony with her defiant parents, but when they have an illegal second child and are taken away, it is up to Honor and her friend Helix, another "Unpredictable," to uncover a terrible secret about their Island and the Corporation that runs everything. DCF nominee 2009-2010.

Haddix, Margaret Peterson Found. 2008. When thirteen-year-olds Jonah and Chip, who are both adopted, learn they were discovered on a plane that appeared out of nowhere, full of babies with no adults on board, they realize that they have uncovered a mystery involving time travel and two opposing forces, each trying to repair the fabric of time. DCF nominee 2009-2010.

Hale, Shannon and Dean Hale Rapunzel’s Revenge. 2008. (J 741.5 HAL) Rapunzel is raised in a grand villa surrounded by towering walls. Rapunzel dreams of a different mother than Gothel, the woman she calls Mother. She climbs over the wall and finds out the truth. Her real mother, Kate, is a slave in Gothel's gold mine. In this Old West retelling, Rapunzel uses her hair as a lasso and to take on outlaws--including Gothel. Graphic novel. DCF nominee 2009-2010.

Herlong, M.H. The Great Wide Sea. 2008. Still mourning the death of their mother, three brothers go with their father on an extended sailing trip off the Florida Keys and have a harrowing adventure at sea. DCF nominee 2009-2010.

Hiaasen, Carl Scat. 2009. (J HIA; J CD HIA) Nick and his friend Marta decide to investigate when a mysterious fire starts near a Florida wildlife preserve and an unpopular teacher goes missing.

Law, Ingrid Savvy. 2008. (J LAW) Recounts the adventures of Mibs Beaumont, whose thirteenth birthday has revealed her "savvy"--a magical power unique to each member of her family--just as her father is injured in a terrible accident. 2009 Newbery Honor Book. DCF nominee 2009-2010.

Nicholl, Sally Ways to live forever. 2008. Eleven-year-old Sam McQueen, who has leukemia, writes a book during the last three months of his life, in which he tells about what he would like to accomplish, how he feels, and things that have happened to him.

Patterson, James The final warning. 2008. (YA PAT) While on a mission to Antarctica to save the world from global warming, fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride and the other members of the Flock--a band of genetically modified children who can fly--are pursued by their creator, the Uber-Director, who wants to auction them off to the highest bidder. Fourth in series.

Preller, James Six innings: a game in the life. 2008. Earl Grubb's Pool Supplies plays Northeast Gas & Electric in the Little League championship game, while Sam, who has cancer and is in a wheelchair, has to call the play-by-play instead of participating in the game.

Shusterman, Neal Antsy does time. 2008. Fourteen-year-old Anthony "Antsy" Bonano learns about life, death, and a lot more when he tries to help a friend with a terminal illness feel hopeful about the future. DCF nominee 2009-2010.

Spradlin, Michael P. Keeper of the Grail. 2008. (J SPR; J CD SPR) In 1191, fifteen-year-old Tristan, a youth of unknown origin raised in an English abbey, becomes a Templar Knight's squire during the Third Crusade and soon finds himself on a mission to bring the Holy Grail to safety. DCF nominee 2009-2010.

Vail, Rachel Lucky. 2008. (YA VAL) As Phoebe and her clique of privileged girlfriends get ready to graduate from eighth grade, a financial scandal threatens her family's security--as well as Phoebe's social status--but ultimately it teaches her the real meaning of friendship.

Book Review: Pyongyang

2009-05-19T17:18:00.004-04:00

Comic book writer Guy Delisle spent several months living and working in North Korea, the most unknowable country of modern times. In Pyongyang : a journey in North Korea, Delisle recounts his experience using spare black and white cartoon drawings to accompany his autobiographical tale.

This poignant and bittersweet tale can be read in one sitting and can be enjoyed by comics fans and current events enthusiasts alike. Unlike many of our other graphic novels, Pyongyang is shelved on the first floor; its call number is 951.9304 DEL.

2009 Summer Reading...

2009-05-04T14:51:00.004-04:00

Brooks Memorial Library
Summer Reading Program Sign up:

June 13th through June 27

Check back on the blog or at the library
for event information throughout the summer!

Book by student at Center for Cartoon Studies!

2009-04-22T19:46:00.003-04:00

To get inspired to make your own graphic novel, check out:

The author, Lucy Knisley, went to Paris with her mom for her 22nd birthday. The book is filled with her cartoon account of the trip, as well as b/w photographs. Knisley is a student at the Center for Cartoon Studies where you could be this summer for a week long workshop!! See last blog post....

Cartoon Camp This Summer!

2009-04-17T13:05:00.002-04:00

The recent spate of warm weather and the dwindling number of school days left in the year have inspired many of us to make summer plans. If you’re 16 or over and an aspiring cartoonist, there’s a great opportunity that you should be aware of when scheduling your summer.

The Center for Cartoon Studies will be holding a one-week workshop this summer. The Create Comics Summer Workshop will be taking place from July 13 – 17 in White River Junction. Workshop instructors include Steve Bissette (Taboo, SwampThing), Robyn Chapman (Hey! Four eyes!) and Alec Longstreth (Phase 7). And what makes this “boot camp” for budding cartoonists even more amazing is that the Center is offering a scholarship. All you need to do is download an entry form (available at http://libraries.vermont.gov/sites/libraries/files/cbec/ccsscholarshipapp09.pdf) complete the form, and bring it to Brooks. We’ll take care of the rest. If your computer access is limited, you can also pick up an entry form from the library. Since we need to have the forms in by May 27, please have your entry ready by May 23. No more than 1 entry per person, please.

Oh, and if you’re not 16 yet but will be by June 1, you are eligible to apply!

Fantasy author Mark Freeman

2009-04-08T18:01:00.003-04:00

On Thursday April 16th 7-9pm:

Author Mark Freeman will be discuss his wonderful new fantasy novel, The Kindling of Greenfyr, Book One: The Reunification Conspiracy. The Kindling of GreenFyr is the story of Owen McInish, an awkward fourteen year old, bullied at school, and friendless except for his pet cat, Piper. That is, until a snow leopard is chased through the woods behind his house by three huge gray dogs with glowing green eyes. Owen saves the leopard from her pursuers, but the animal escapes him as well, only to return later. The cat's behavior is peculiar, nothing like a wild animal, making Owen even more curious as to its origin. But only when the animal finally allows Owen to touch it, does Owen's adventure truly begin. Author Mark Freeman lives in Hyde Park with his wife and two daughters. He was educated and trained as a wildlife biologist. When not writing Mark has studied grizzly and black bears, bobcats, spiny soft shell turtles and spruce grouse.

Checkout his website at: http://www.greenfyr.com/

Obama hung out in a Library

2009-04-02T13:56:00.001-04:00

DVD Study Guides

2009-03-24T12:36:00.007-04:00

R U reading a classic in school?
Need a little help getting your head around the who, what, where?

Have no fear,
Rocketbooks are here!!

Pick up a Rocketbook DVD to guide you through the plot and characters for the following titles:

1984 by George Orwell
Beowulf by Anonymous
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Othello by William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
More to come....

Go to Brooks Library Catalog
and do a title search for "Rocketbook" to check their availability.

If you prefer web resources, go to: http://myrocketbook.com/
Fill in a brief log in and you can access the videos online, along with PDF and MP3 study guides.

New Books in YA

2009-02-18T18:32:00.010-05:00

Looking for something new to read...check out these new titles in the YA section

Build a house in Tennessee with Harper in...

HOW TO BUILD A HOUSE
BY DANA REINHARDT

Travel with Terri from the predictable suburbs
to Cancun, Mexico in

FEATHERED
BY LAURA KASISCHKE

Working in a Gay bar as a dish washer can
make for an interesting summer in Maine in

DISHES
BY RICH WALLACE

My personal favorite: 5 authors tell creepytales of...
PROM NIGHTS FROM HELL
BY MEG CABOT, KIM HARRISON, MICHELE JAFFE,
STEPHANIE MEYER, LAUREN MYRACLE

Teen Movies over February Break

2009-02-13T12:12:00.004-05:00

Two movies will be shown in the Brooks Memorial Library’s meeting room over the February School Break. The first showing will be JUNO on Thursday, February 26^th at 1pm. The second will be PERSEPOLIS on Friday, February 27^th at 1pm.

JUNO (2007) is a tale told over four seasons, starting in autumn when Juno, a 16-year-old high-school junior in Minnesota, discovers she's pregnant and decides to find adoptive parents for her child. Very funny with great soundtrack!

PERSEPOLIS (2007) is an animated film based on the book of the same name by author Marjane Satrapi. It is the story of a young girl growing up in Iran and observing the political currents of the time and how they affect her family. Beautiful black and white animation!

SEE YOU THERE!!

Twilight Books on CDs at Brooks

2009-02-04T19:17:00.010-05:00

Go to the Brooks catalog:

http://www.youseemore.com/BrooksMemorial/default.asp

to see if they are available for checkout or to place a hold on one...

Twilight

Coraline the Movie

2009-01-17T11:53:00.002-05:00

A Sneak Peak:

Book Review: Coraline

2009-01-17T11:41:00.007-05:00

Coraline
by Neil Gaiman

My first introduction to Neil Gaiman was when I read Good Omens, which had been a collaborative project between him and Terry Pratchett. As a result, I was confused as to which one was the "funny author." I first investigated Gaiman's work and discovered that he was not a humorous writer. But his dark, otherworldly style of writing was very intriguing and I

quickly became a fan. One of his most well-known books, Coraline, has been made into an
animated film that will be arriving in theaters this year. For that reason, I thought I would share the story and my thoughts on it for anyone else who is, or will be, a Neil Gaiman fan.

Coraline is a young girl with a boring life and a thirst for exploration. She and her parents have recently moved to a new apartment, and Coraline starts exploring the house and its other tenants, all of whom are fairly quirky and hint at a danger that Coraline doesn't understand. When her mother and father are away for the day, Coraline unlocks a door in that only
opens into a brick wall...except that this time, it leads into an eerie copy of her home. She even finds two people who are just like her parents, but have black buttons for eyes. They give her delicious food, a room full of toys, and a troupe of black rats entertain her. Her alternate neighbors have a theater with talking animals. However, Coraline feels uneasy about
her alternate parents when they want to replace her eyes with black buttons. She returns to her old home, but her real parents never return from their respective errands. Soon, Coraline realizes that they have somehow become trapped in the alternate world. Now Coraline has to return to that world and confront the danger there in order to rescue her family.

Anyone who has ever been frustrated with their parents will relate to this coming-of-age story. Imagine a very dark version of Alice in Wonderland, with a few significant differences. Instead of falling through a rabbit hole, a bored little girl opens a door into a "looking-glass" world. Instead
of charming and enigmatic characters, she meets menacing and deceitful ones. Like Alice and the Queen of Hearts, Coraline and her alternate-world mother go head to head for her parents' freedom. There is also a theme of mothers and daughters, which is a Gaiman trademark. Coraline's real mother doesn't seem to listen to or understand her. The alternate mother loves Coraline like a possession, and wants her complete obedience in exchange for giving her everything she wants. Coraline has to decide which kind of love she is happiest with, and whether or not getting everything she wants is worth the sacrifice.

Although the plot and imagery are often unsettling, it is not so much a horror story as a dark, cautionary fairy tale. The moral is that children often think they want one thing (whether it's more indulgent parents, fewer rules, or more toys) and realize soon enough that it isn't what they want at all. It also features a brave and clever female heroine who must rely mostly
on her own wits in order to rescue her parents and avoid being trapped by her evil alternate mother. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the style of Neil Gaiman or wants to become familiar with his work before seeing the movie adaptation of Coraline.

Reviewed by Nell Curley

Young Writer's Project

2008-12-29T10:18:00.004-05:00

The Green Mountain Book Award (GMBA) is once again partnering with the Young Writer’s Project (YWP). For this partnership to be a success we need your help. Teachers, librarians and parents: encourage your students to get involved!

The Young Writers Project (www.youngwritersproject.org) is an interactive website (wiki) where “writers share ideas, comment on each other’s work, learn from mentors and professionals and connect with the world”. Click on their “about us” link to learn all about this amazing website for teens who love to write, want to discuss their work and to learn more about the writing process.

Geoff Gevalt of YWP has put our 2008-2009 GMBA list front and center on their website. Just head to: youngwritersproject.org/GMBA

From there you can access the GMBA forum and link to additional resources about Vermont’s teen book award. The forum offers reviews of the titles and encourages students to comment on the 2008-2009 list. Be sure to remind students who have read 3 nominated titles to vote for their favorite in the spring of 2009.

Once you’re there, check out all that the Young Writers Project has to offer. It’s a great website with many exciting writing opportunities.

December Movies

2008-12-06T12:50:00.006-05:00

Want to see these two guys on skates?

December 30^th at 1pm

These ladies in traveling pants again?

January 2^nd at 1pm

See you then!

Attention Twilight Fans!

2008-12-06T10:55:00.003-05:00

Have you read Twilight (or are waiting for the book) and are wondering what to read next?

Here's a great list from the Abby the Librarian blog of books that Twilight fans would like:

"LJ Smith's Vampire Diaries series, a favorite of mine when I was in high school, was re-released in two volumes last year with new cover art and new packaging. Check out The Awakening and The Struggle and The Fury and Dark Reunion. The story of a beautiful girl torn between two vampire brothers will satisfy those who enjoyed the love triangle in Twilight.

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause features a teen werewolf Vivian and her longing for the (human) hunky heartthrob Aiden. Can she curb her wild nature to be with a human boy? And what about the rest of her pack?

Meg Cabot's Mediator series star a girl with a peculiar talent - Suze can communicate with people who are not so much with the living. She works as a "mediator" to put the dead to rest. When her mother moves from from New York to California, Suze finds that her bedroom in the new house is haunted... and the ghost guy is, well, kinda cute... Great for Twilighters who like a little mystery.

In Evernight by Claudia Mills, Bianca is sent to Evernight Academy, an odd school where the students seem strangely perfect. She doesn't fit in and she's drawn to fellow outsider Jared. Is their connection strong enough to defeat the forces that would drag them apart?

Demon in My View is the story of Jessica, a high schooler who pens vampire novels under a pseudonym. When one of the characters from her novel shows up at her school, she's not sure what his intentions are. She gets tantalizingly close to him as she tries to determine the truth behind his existence.

And this last one was suggested by Ellen Anne over at Alternative Teen Services. The short story collection Prom Nights from Hell includes a short story by Stephenie Meyer as well as stories by some of the most prominent YA authors out there. Each story deals with a very special night in a teen's life - Prom - but these stories are about the darker side of Prom. A bonus for this collection is that Twilighters may be pulled in by the lure of a story by Stephenie Meyer and then discover some new favorites authors! (Thanks to Jackie for the link!)"

Readergirlz Night Bites for Teen Read Week

2008-10-08T19:19:00.001-04:00

Book Review: New Artemis Fowl

2008-10-08T17:12:00.004-04:00

Artemis Fowl : the time paradox
by Eoin Colfer, Hyperion Books for Children, 2008
(Brooks Library has both the book and the audiobook on CD)

If any fantasy-loving readers of For the Love of Books have read Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony, they remember very well Eoin Colfer's ill-advised attempts to introduce a love interest for young super-genius Artemis Fowl in the shape of one golden-haired, female super-genius named Minerva. While not as bad as most Obvious Love Interests, Minerva was enough to upset many Artemis fans, who complained that she was too perfect and too much like Artemis to possibly be his One True Love. Fortunately, Colfer proved his respect for his fans and their opinions by excluding all mention of Minerva from Time Paradox. I was relieved when I got to page 101 and there'd been no allusion to the girl whatsoever. Well done, Colfer. Well done.

But there is more than just the purging of a canon Mary Sue to rejoice over in this final chapter of the Fowl saga. Artemis/Holly fans have their long-awaited moment in the sun as well. But perhaps I should get to the actual summary of the story first:

Artemis is enjoying quality time with his parents and two-year-old twin brothers after having returned from a trip to a demon dimension that caused him to go missing for three Earth years. Having used his newly acquired fairy magic to mesmerize his parents into believing he'd never gone missing, Artemis thinks nothing can interrupt his life with his newly expanded family. However, his mother contracts a mysterious disease that causes massive organ failure, and when no doctor can properly diagnose her, Artemis calls in Holly Short and Foaly to do their best. Foaly diagnoses Mrs. Fowl's illness as Spelltropy, a thought-to-be-extinct strain of fairy disease that can be cured only by using the brain fluid of lemurs. This would be encouraging news…if Artemis hadn't killed the very last lemur at age ten, which his mother had adopted and he later destroyed as a way of lashing out at her neglect in the face of his father's disappearance.

Without the lemur's brain fluid, Mrs. Fowl's death is guaranteed in a matter of days. But going back in time to prevent himself from killing the lemur has plenty of risks as well. For one, Artemis must follow his ruthless ten-year-old self to the zoo where the lemur resides and manage to kidnap it without being recognized—or killed. Needless to say, complications arise almost immediately. Artemis winds up battling with Young Artemis, but a pro-extinction villain who wants the lemur for his own purposes and has promised to pay Young Artemis for it. And does anyone remember the psychotic, power-hungry pixie Opal Koboi? As it turns out, she plays an extremely significant part in all this as well.

This is a thrilling, delightful book with exceptionally touching moments here and there. But there also are moments when the plot seems to go "Well, that about wraps up this—WAIT! THERE'S MORE!" It occurred to me that maybe Colfer had more than one ending in mind for his very last Artemis adventure, so he mashed them all together in the last book. Take a lesson from JK Rowling, sir—plan your very last ending out years in advance. And if the fans don't like it, tough! Kids today are too spoiled anyway!

If you have little patience for situations that go from bad to worse to better and worse again, this might not be a satisfying read.

If, on the other hand, you are a fan (however closeted) of interspecies romance or want to see just how far seventeen-year-old Artemis has come by getting to know the ten-year-old criminal he once was, you will probably enjoy this last hurrah.

--Nell Curley is an avid book reader (and writer) and she volunteers at the Library.

HORROR FEST

2008-10-04T11:35:00.001-04:00

MARATHON HORROR FILM FESTIVAL FOR TEENS

To Jumpstart Teen Read Week, Saturday, October 11, starts at 11 a.m. ends at 4 pm

Teens between 13 and 18 are invited to Brooks Memorial Library Saturday, October 11, beginning at 11 a.m. and continuing until 4 p.m. for three classic horror films to start Teen Read Week, October 12-18.

Join your friends in the library’s meeting room to see Frankenstein, Dracula, and Jekyll/Hyde in the classic 1930’s black and white films that made your parents and grandparents squirm in their theatre seats.

There will be refreshments served. Come for all three or just for one.

And while at the library, Celebrate Books with Bite, October 12-18, and stop by Young Adult section during Teen Read Week to indulge your biting curiosity and check out books and graphic novels on animals, technology, cooking and even vampires! Stop by today and pick up a page turner that you can read or listen to, just for the fun of it!

Periodical Profile: GamePro

2008-09-22T16:49:00.000-04:00

It’s time to take a look at another one of the periodicals found in Brooks’ YA collection. This month’s magazine has a very specific focus. In fact, it’s devoted to one subject, and one subject only – gaming! It’s called GamePro, and it’s a monthly magazine that can be found in the YA magazine shelves.

This magazine is great because it features a lot of information about new and upcoming games. The cover article is usually about the hot new release of the month – in October, it is Call of Duty: World at War. The magazine reviews games that can be played on a variety of gaming consoles, and takes you behind the scenes to show you how the games are made. If you’re in the market for a new console, you might want to read the October issue, which features an “Ultimate Console Guide” exploring the various strengths and weaknesses of the Xbox 360, the Playstation 3, Wii, Sony PSP, and Nintendo DS.

HORROR FILM FEST

2008-09-05T12:51:00.004-04:00

Save the Date:

Saturday, October 11th
From 11am - 4pm

HORROR FILM FEST

Three classic films with blood and monsters...
to kick off Teen Read Week at Brooks Library.

DIY BOOKS

2008-09-05T12:45:00.004-04:00

There is a new display in the YA section of the Brooks Library. It will be up through September. Come check some out!

DIY Books (Do it Yourself)

2008-08-13T18:13:00.010-04:00

4 Incredible Reads 4 U...

Feed by M.T. Anderson
(1st Floor YA Fiction)

Phew! When I finished this book I felt my brain had had a workout. Imagine a time in the future when there are direct connections to the internet emplanted in your brain. Think a question and an answer will appear. Then imagine that the whole thing is run by corporations eager to influence what you buy. You think “I’d like a better car” when yours isn’t running right and you head is flooded with ads ... ads tailored to you because the corporations know your taste, your income,your feelings about cars, everything that will help them market to you as an individual.

On top of it all, the book is written in the language of the text message and teen slang. Kids have apparently loved the book. I thought it interesting, but also scary in a not very good way. I found it all too easy to believe that it might come to pass that generations in the future might want to have the equivalent of a very high tech communications device actually embedded in their brains. No call phones to charge, no Blackberries to lose tract of, no i-Pod to load.
On the down side (besides all those ads aimed just at you manipulating your consumming habits) “the Feed” limits your choice of news sources to those approved by the government and the corporations. A president could start wars that the “news media” wouldn’t cover. Details of enviromental disasters could be kkept secret to avoid “upsetting” the populace and exposing the corporations to regulation.

Geography Club by Brent Hartinger

(1st Floor YA Fiction)

Have you seen the comment slips in the back of the newer books at Brooks Memorial Library? I love reading what others have to say about books ... and adding my own comments, too. There’s only one comment on this book: “Brilliant and moving, don’t pass it up.” I agree, and the book shows enough
wear that I’m pretty sure it’s been read by quite a few folks.

The title is not one whih grabs you (unless you have been the advisor to a geography club) but that’s the point. A group of gay and lesbian teens and their friends use it as a cover for their support group. The author has obviously “been there,” and writes about high school and the loneliness of thinking one is uniquely outcast with empathy and humor.

The characters he created range from funny and smart, the kind of kids anyone would enjoy spending time with, to real jerks. Yet there are enough twists and turns here to reveal that first impressions can be wrong and sometimes ... right. It is a story about heros who face not physical danger, but cruelty and soul destroying fear. Nevertheless the overall impression I was left with is one of hope, and gratitude that I have had a chance to get to know these kids.

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

(741.5 YAN)

Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award (for young adult books)
and a National Book Award finalist

The Printz award is a relatively new one, brought to you by the same folks who sponsor the Newbury and the Caldecott medals (the American Library Association). Not to worry, this is NOT a heavy, feel bad treatise on the burdens of being Asian American. It is a graphic novel of considerable sophistication, and laugh out loud funny.

Three seemingly unrelated stories are woven together, that of Jin Wang, a student who has just moved to a new school from one in San Francisco’s China Town; the Monkey King of traditional Chinese tales; and Danny, an ordinary kid who is plagued by annual visits from a cousin who represents all the worst Chinese stereotypes ever known. That all these threads will become one story seems impossible, but Yang pulls it off.

I’m still trying to figure out things about this book, although they in no way detract from my enjoyment of it. The pictures are simple, they look like real people (except the gods, godesses, demons and so forth) and the story is grounded in an American high school which fulfills every stereotyped expectation going. The ground covered is not unfamiliar, but there’s nothing here which is predictable or dull. And as every student knows, it has the great appeal of being short, a fast read, but serious and worthy of a book report.

I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier

(1st Floor YA Fiction)

Cormier, author of The Chocolate War, was not one to repeat himself, except in writing books about teens which leave the reader unsettled. In alternating chapters we follow a sixteen year old boy from Central Massachussetts as he rides an old beat up bike to “Rutterburg, Vermont” (read Brattleboro) and we also read the transcription of his sessions with ???? a shrink ???? The question marks represent the basic mysterious creepiness of the book.

Adam, the bike riding main character, is driven by a compulsion he never sucessfully explains. The mysterious “doctor” who questions him seems to be from another universe. Adam’s bike ride is grueling, and puzzling. He knows there are things he believes which don’t make sense in the world he encounters. Why is the motel where he stayed the previous summer abandoned? Is he being followed? Why is his mother so sad?

And for someone who lives in Brattleboro the question lingers, is the place Adam is riding to ... is questioned in ... is imprisoned in ... the Retreat?

A book with tantilizing questions.

The Ropemaker by Peter Dickinson

(1st Floor YA Fiction)

A Michael L. Printz Honor Book.

Dickinson never disappoints. In this acclaimed fantasy he introduces us to a vaguely familiar Empire where one even needs permission (and to pay a tax and a bribe) to die. No wonder the people of the Valley don’t want anything to do with the Empire! Neither do they favor invasion by the barbarian horsemen from the North. Four brave souls set out to renew the magic which protects their homeland, never guessing the challenges they will encounter.

Some of the dangers are physical (a raft trip on a river in flood), many are magical (will the Watchers get them before they find the master magician?), some are spiritual (will they be corrupted?). Inventive and utterly believable, a story which features teenaged girl and boy, a crippled grandmother and a blind grandfather, up against forces as evil as they are banal. Breath taking.

All Reviews written by Linda Hay, former librarian at Academy School and Brooks Library volunteer.

Teen Summer Reading Program 2008

2008-07-31T18:03:00.003-04:00

For all of you who signed up to read at least 2 hours each week for the Metamorphosis Teen Summer Reading Program, this message is for you!
Please make sure to come in each week if possible, and log in your reading time.
The reading program ends August 8th!
Each teen who has read AND logged in their time of 2 hours each week, will be eligible for an incentive raffle prize. We have amazing raffle prizes that have been generously donated by community businesses.
Each participant who has completed their log-in hours, will receive a pizza coupon from Pizza Hut.
Sounds yummy, huh?

NEW Young Adult Display!

2008-07-31T17:46:00.003-04:00

Hello Everyone,
As of August 1, there's a new display of books in the Young Adult area of the Brooks Memorial Library.

These non-fiction books are on display for you to look at and check out using your Brooks Memorial Library card. Remember that if you don't live in town, but you go to BUHS, you can obtain a "student" library card. Ask us how.

The display on books have a "social awareness" component, but you may find other topics as well. We have a nice assortment, so come on in and take a look.

These are just some of the titles you'll find:
*Students for a Democratic Society: a graphic history, written by Harvey Pekar
*Student's Vegetarian Cookbook: quick, easy, cheap, and tasty vegetarian recipes, by Carole Raymond
*Temporary Tattoos, by Erick Aveline
*The Teenage Investor: how to start early, invest often, and build wealth, by Timothy Olsen
*Teens Can Make it Happen: nine steps to success, by Stedman Graham

Suggestions Please!

2008-07-22T13:16:00.004-04:00

Is there a new book that you're dying to read? Did you check the library catalog, only to find that we don't own it? Fear not! There is a remedy to this situation. You can ask the library to purchase the item you're interested in.

It's very easy and can be done in one of two ways. You can come to the library in person and ask to fill out a Suggestion for Purchase form. Or you can do it from the comfort of your own computer. Simply go to the the Brooks website (http://www.brooks.lib.vt.us/) and click on "About Brooks." On the About Brooks page, you should see a "Suggest a New Title" button near the top. Click on this, then type up your suggestion.

Why not give this a try and let us know what you think!

Periodical Profile: Teen Vogue

2008-07-10T15:35:00.000-04:00

If you’ve been to the library recently, you’ll have noticed this month’s display of Young Adult audio books. If you haven’t been to the library lately, I urge you to drop by and take a look at this fantastic display. I would also urge you to look at the shelves under the display – that’s where the Young Adult magazines are housed. The most recent issues of magazines – the ones that are in the plastic binders – must be read in the library, but past issues can be checked out. You can check out six magazines at a time.

One of the magazines the library subscribes to is Teen Vogue, a fun fashion and style magazine. As with its parent magazine Vogue, the magazine focuses on fashion: articles on designers and labels, highlights of what’s hot this season, and details of what’s new in jeans, bags, and more. Celebrity profiles can also be found within Teen Vogue’s pages. The August issue’s cover story is on Amanda Seyfried (of Mean Girls fame), and past issues have had cover stories on Natalie Portman, Ellen Page, and Hayden Panetierre.

This would be the perfect magazine to get ideas on what to wear this summer. The August issue is also a great source for back-to-school shopping information, since it has several articles devoted to the subject.

Calling All YA Readers!!!

2008-07-03T17:30:00.003-04:00

Summer has officially started! As regular readers of this blog know, the 2008 Teen Summer Reading Program has also begun. Participants are being asked to read 2+ hours a week during the summer months.

For those of you who have joined the program – and for those of you who haven't – we’d love to hear about what you are reading this summer. Which books were so much fun to read that you’ve run to the shelves, looking for more books by the same author? Which books were so awful that you couldn’t finish them? Tell us all about your recent reading experiences! Submit written or Podcast reviews to teenbrooks@gmail.com, and we’ll post them on the blog. Here’s your chance to share your opinion and to help others find good books!

Cool Links...

2008-07-02T19:28:00.006-04:00

Surf some of these sites for book suggestions - what's new and cool, podcasts, and contests:

TeensReadToo

ReaderGirlz

Free Downloadable Books

2008-07-01T12:54:00.008-04:00

Got an MP3 player and a library card?

You can download YA books to listen to on your player or computer...

Go to: listenupvermont.org

Click on the TEEN button on the left hand column.

Here's a list of some titles that are available:

The library also has a display up in the YA section, for the month of July, of books on CDs and cassettes as well... to see available titles go to: Brooks Books

METAMORPHOSIS @ YOUR LIBRARY

2008-06-18T10:44:00.002-04:00

METAMORPHOSIS @ YOUR LIBRARY

Brooks Memorial Library,

located at 224 Main Street in downtown Brattleboro

will sponsor the

2008 Teen Summer Reading Program

for ages 13 & up.

Registration will begin on

Monday, June 16

through Saturday, June 28.

Fill out your reading log,

located on the 1^st floor of the library at the circulation desk.

Get your tote bag, temporary tattoo,

and bookmark at signup!

The Teen Summer Reading Program will run

for 6 weeks and will end on August 9.

Your mission is to read at least 2 hours each week,

and if that goal is met, there will be several raffle drawings.

A coupon to be used at Pizza Hut will be given to

every teen who reads at least 2 hours each week.

Come in and check out the new Young Adult Book area.

Our book collection is amazing!

You may reach us on the web at teenbrooks.blogspot.com

or by calling 254-5290.

Green Mountain Book Award Master List 2008-2009

2008-06-04T20:27:00.000-04:00

This is the fourth year of the Green Mountain Book Award, a reader's choice award for students in grades 9-12. Co-sponsored by the Vermont School Library Association, Vermont Library Association and the Vermont Department of Libraries, this program is designed to introduce to high school students some excellent books for their pleasure reading.

These books, to be read during the 2008-2009 school year, comprise the master list for the award to be made in 2009. Voting forms will be made available to all Vermont schools and public libraries in the spring so that young adults can vote for their favorite book. The master list titles have been selected to satisfy the reading interests of young adults in grades 9-12, and include both adult and young adult books. All books on the list were first published in 2003-2007 and are available in paperback

	Anderson, M.T. *The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party.* Candlewick, 2008. $10.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-3679-1 (pap.); Candlewick, 2006. $17.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-2402-6. Various diaries, letters, and other manuscripts chronicle the fictional experiences of Octavian, a young African American, from birth to age sixteen, as he is brought up as part of a science experiment in the years leading up to and during the Revolutionary War

	Bechdel, Alison. *Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic.* Mariner Books, 2007. $13.95. ISBN 978-0-6188-7171-1 (pap.); Houghton Mifflin, 2006. $19.95. ISBN 978-0-6184-7794-4. In this memoir in graphic novel format, Bechdel tells startling stories of her childhood growing up in a restored funeral home. The story focuses on her father, an angry and disturbed man, and how she came to terms with his secrets.

	Castellucci, Cecil. *The Plain Janes.* Illustrated by Jim Rugg. Minx, 2007. $9.99. ISBN 978-1-4012-1115-8 (pap.). When Jane moves to the suburbs she thinks her life is over, but she meets three friends who form a club P.L.A.I.N., but can art really save a group of misfits from high school?

	Curtis, Christopher Paul. *Bucking the Sarge.* Laurel Leaf, 2006. $6.99. ISBN 978-0-4404-1331-8 (pap.); Wendy Lamb, 2004. $15.95. ISBN 0-385-32307-7 (Tr.); $17.99. ISBN 0-385-90159-3 (PLB). Deeply involved in his cold and manipulative mother’s shady business dealings in Flint, Michigan, fourteen-year-old Luther keeps a sense of humor while running the Happy Neighbor Group Home for Men, all the while dreaming of going to college and becoming a philosopher.

	Hopkins, Ellen. *Crank.* SimonPulse, 2004. $9.99. ISBN 0-6898-6519-8 (pap.). Kristina Georgia Snow is the perfect daughter: gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. But on a trip to visit her absentee father, she is introduced to the monster: crank, and what begins as a wild, ecstatic ride turns into a struggle through hell for her mind, her soul and her life.

	Johnson, Maureen. *13 Little Blue Envelopes.* HarperTeen, 2006. $8.99. ISBN 978-0-0605-4143-9 (pap.); HarperCollins, 2005. $15.99. ISBN 0-06-054141-5 (Tr.); $16.89. ISBN 0-06-054142-3 (PLB). When seventeen-year-old Ginny receives a packet of mysterious envelopes from her favorite aunt, she leaves New Jersey to criss-cross Europe on a sort of scavenger hunt that transforms her life.

	Lyga, Barry. *The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl.* Graphia, 2007. $8.99. ISBN 978-0-6189-1652-8 (pap.); Houghton Mifflin, 2006. $16.95. ISBN 978-0-6187-2392-8. A fifteen-year-old “geek” who keeps a list of the high school jocks and others who torment him, and pours his energy into creating a great graphic novel, encounters Kyra, Goth Girl, who helps change his outlook on almost everything, including himself.

	Lynch, Chris. *Inexcusable.* SimonPulse, 2007. $6.99. ISBN 978-1-4169-3972-6 (pap.); Atheneum, 2005. $16.95. ISBN 978-0-689-84789-9. High school senior and football player Keir sets out to enjoy himself on graduation night, but when he attempts to comfort a friend whose date has left her stranded, things go terribly wrong.

	Murdock, Catherine Gilbert. *Dairy Queen.* Graphia, 2007. $8.99. ISBN 978-0-6188-6335-8 (pap.); Houghton Mifflin, 2006. $16.00. ISBN 978-0-6186-8307-9. After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school’s rival football team, sixteen-year-old D.J. decides to go out for the sport herself, not anticipating the reactions of those around her.

	Novik, Naomi. *His Majesty’s Dragon.* Del Rey, 2006. $7.99. ISBN 978-0-3454-8128-3 (pap.). Plenty of Napoleonic swash is buckled in this alternative history (think Master and Commander or Jane Austen with dragons). After bonding with the dragon Tremaire, an elegant, intelligent creature once destined for Napoleon himself, Captain Will Laurence leaves the Royal Navy for the Aerial Corps and a new life as battle-filled as his old one.

	Parrado, Nando & Vince Rause. *Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home.* Three Rivers Press, 2007. $13.95. ISBN 978-1-4000-9769-2 (pap.); Crown, 2006. $25.00. ISBN 978-1-4000-9767-8. In 1972 a plane full of young Uruguayan rugby players crashed in the Andes Mountains. Thirty-four years later, after much reflection and soul-searching, crash survivor Nando Parrado shares his side of the story.

	Vizzini, Ned. *It’s Kind of a Funny Story.* Miramax, 2007. $8.99. ISBN 0-7868-5197-X (pap.); Miramax, 2006. $16.95. ISBN 978-0-7868-5196-6. A humorous account of a New York City teenager's battle with depression and his time spent in a psychiatric hospital.

	Volponi, Paul. *Black and White.* Puffin, 2006. $6.99. ISBN 978-0-1424-0692-2 (pap.); Viking, 2005. $15.99. ISBN 978-0-6700-6006-1. Two star high school basketball players, one black and one white, experience the justice system differently after committing a crime together and getting caught.

	Vowell, Sarah. *Assassination Vacation.* S&S, 2006. $14.00. ISBN 978-0-7432-6004-6 (pap.). Sarah Vowell travels across the United States, bringing into sharp focus the figures involved in the assassinations of Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley, as well as the social and political circumstances that led to each. She exposes some glorious conundrums of American history in a witty, sometimes irreverent manner.

	Zusak, Marcus. *The* *Book Thief.* Knopf, 2007. $11.99. ISBN 978-0-3758-4220-7 (pap.); Knopf, 2006. $16.95. ISBN 978-0-3758-3100-3. Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and storytelling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.

Teen Summer Reading Program 2008

2008-06-04T20:22:00.002-04:00

Who is Ozzie the cat congratulating?

2008-05-24T01:47:00.003-04:00

Brattleboro librarian honored as best in state

By BOB AUDETTE, Reformer Staff

Friday, May 23

BRATTLEBORO -- Being a librarian is more than helping someone find a book on a shelf, directing someone to a reference source or sending out overdue notifications.

It's also about embracing new technologies and determining how they can keep the town library a vital part of the community.

Besides managing the day-to-day operations of Brooks Memorial Library, Jerry Carbone has excelled at introducing technology to many people more comfortable with a book or magazine than with a computer monitor.

For his 30 years of work at the local library, Carbone was recognized by the Vermont Library Association when it gave him the Sarah C. Hagar Award.

The award is named after Hagar, the first president of VLA and a librarian at the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington for 23 years until her death in 1908. It is awarded each year for outstanding service in or significant contribution to the field of library services in Vermont.

"He is an ace librarian," said Amy Howlett, a regional consultant to the Vermont Department of Libraries, based in Bellows Falls. Howlett was the librarian at the Southeast Regional Library in Dummerston before it was closed.

Libraries are becoming "the new heart of the village," said Howlett and "Jerry is a leader and shaper of that message."

"The VLA recognized the fact that Jerry has done a tremendous amount of work with making information available to the residents of Brattleboro, both with regard to the wireless service they have and the number of services that are available online," said Town Manager Barbara Sondag. "The changes and upgrades he has made really make the library much more accessible."

While technology is changing the way libraries interact with their host communities, said Carbone, it's important to match technology with the needs of the community.

"The power that an individual has just to access databases and images is amazing," he said. "The other revolutionary part is how this can be shared with one another, the communities that can be formed online."

Though information is available right at your fingertips when you use a computer, it's not always reliable, said Carbone. Using resources and reference books available at the library, a person can be guaranteed they are getting accurate information.

Carbone said he was not anticipating the honor.

"It totally knocked me off my feet," he said. "I wasn't expecting anything like that."

"He got some of the best nomination letters we have seen in terms of enthusiasm," said Grace Greene, chairwoman of the VLA awards selection committee.

Those letters came from community members, town officials and library employees, she said.

Carbone leads the way because of his vision and his willingness to adopt new forms of technology, said Greene. He is the kind of person who listens to his staff and his community and lets them participate in the decision making, she said.

"Jerry is one of the top librarians in the state," said Sybil Brigham McShane, Vermont's state librarian. "He is a great resource and I consider him a good friend."

Recognition for the award belongs to the library's staff, its volunteers and its trustees, said Carbone.

"And to Brattleboro for being such a great literary community."

The Hagar award is usually given to someone who is ready to retire, said Carbone. Even though he has been at the Brooks Memorial Library for 30 years, retirement is not near, he said.

Carbone is the Vermont representative to the New England Library Association and also serves on the Vermont Library Association's intellectual freedom committee.

Nominees for the Sarah C. Hagar award must be working in a Vermont library and be a member of VLA. Examples of "outstanding service" include but are not limited to providing outstanding service in one's field of expertise such as children's services, reference, technical services or administration, providing professional library leadership in areas such as legislation, intellectual freedom, literacy or writing and encouraging community support for and involvement with the library at the local or state level.

Bob Audette can be reached at raudette@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 273.

Review: High School Never Ends: Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar

2008-04-21T22:00:00.003-04:00

The review below is by Nell Curley, a library volunteer and reviewer for the Library's book column in the Reformer, For the Love of Books. Contact her at teenbrooks@gmail.com.

High School Never Ends: Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar, January 2007,ISBN-13: 9780142407806, 288pp

In this humorous story, fourteen-year-old protagonist Scott Hudson is about to begin high school and hopes to survive the transition with the help of his lifelong group of friends. He also wants to catch the eye of the newly mature and beautiful Julia, a girl he knows from kindergarten, but who seems to have amnesia when it comes to his existence. Scott has a way with words and is an avid reader, although he is surrounded by people who prefer other activities to reading. Determined not to appear overly intelligent, he doesn't participate much in English class, but his teacher still admires his writing style and recommends that he write book reviews for the school newspaper. Due to a poor wardrobe choice, the head editor mistakes him for a sports fan and assigns him to the sports section instead. While Scott is forced to find creative ways of reporting on the basketball team's losing streak, the book reviews are taken over by the highly unpopular and talkative Mouth, whose recommendation of books about mutant vampires drive Scott crazy. Another character who befriends Scott is Lee, a girl with multiple piercings and an affinity for gothic poetry.

In addition to all the school drama, Scott discovers that his mother is having a third child. As a way of coping with this unwanted intrusion, Scott begins writing letters to his unborn sibling, half insults and half advice on how to survive high school. His letters to his soon-to-be sibling reflect the wisdom and life lessons that he learns throughout the school year, including what not to say to girls, why it's a good idea to stand up for people, and a list of do's and don'ts to avoid harassment from upperclassmen. The entries become increasingly more serious, as Scott learns several life lessons about confronting people on tough issues and admitting that he could have been a better person to a classmate in need. By the end of the book, Scott has matured and learned a lot about the value of new friends. He has also learned how quickly old ones can be lost.

Lubar uses common archetypal characters (the Unpopular Geek, the Rebel, the Smart Nice Kid, the Pretty Girl, and the Mean Jock) in his book that come as no real surprise to the reader, but he makes them both believable and unique. There is a myriad of issues addressed in the story, from sleep deprivation to attempted suicide to learning disorders. Fortunately, the story does not seem predictable and, thanks to Scott's amusing narrative, is never boring. I would recommend Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie to anyone who enjoys reading as much as Scott, or is experiencing their own first year of high school.

Nell Curley is an avid book reader and volunteers at the Library.

The Writing Center to get help with your writing

2008-04-17T21:26:00.003-04:00

Please see the press release below sent by Betsy Arney of the Commons.

Kids can get help with their writing for free.

Commons Writing Center: A Media Mentoring Project

OPEN THURSDAYS FROM 3-5PM

139 MAIN STREET, SUITE 604 BRATTLEBORO

The Writing Center is a place where youth from Windham County can find

one-on-one assistance and guidance from seasoned writing professionals

and trained peer mentors for school writing assignments or non-school

writing projects?all free of charge. Participants can expect to

receive constructive encouragement in aspects of writing such as

outlining and overall organization, stating a thesis clearly,

paragraph organization and line editing.

Green Mountain Book Award ballots now available!

2008-03-23T13:02:00.004-04:00

The 2007-2008 Green Mountain Book Award ballots are now available.

This is the third year for the Green Mountain Book Award, a reader's choice award for students in grades 9-12.

These books, to be read during the 2007-2008 school year, comprise the master list for the award to be made in 2008.

The voting rules are:

1. Participants do NOT have to read every book to be eligible to vote,

2. You MUST have read at least three.
3. Vote only on books included on this list.
4. Young adults in grades 9 through 12 may vote.

Ballots will also be available on the YA shelving on the Library's main floor. To get a list of Green Mountain Book Awards in the online catalog, do search CONTAINS green mountain book award.

VOTE BY MAY 2, 2008.

2008-03-05T12:49:00.002-05:00

I draw all the time.

I draw cartoons of my mother and father; my sister and grandmother; my best friend Rowdy; and everybody else on the rez.

I draw because words are too unpredictable.

I draw because words are too limited.

If you speak and write in English, or Spanish, or Chinese, or any other language, then only a certain percentage of human beings will get your meaning.

But when you draw a picture, everybody can understand it.

Between Two Worlds:

THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN
By Sherman Alexie

Long time adult writer, Sherman Alexie, ventured into the Young Adult fiction realm with his newest book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. This novel won the prestigious National Book Award in 2007.

The book is a modern day ‘wrong-side of the tracks’ story of Arnold Spirit, aka Junior, who lives on a Spokane Indian reservation in Washington State. The first person voice explores the poverty, racism, and violence that a young Indian must struggle with in order to find a larger hope.

A bright kid, filled with artistic ability, Arnold Spirit, the son of an alcoholic and a suffering mom, decides to take a chance, get off the "rez" and attend a white private school in Rearden, Washington (just like Alexie himself did).

The book is a fast read, hard to put down, and full of the drawings made by Junior.

To hear an audio excerpt from the book:
http://www.hachettebookgroupusa.com/teenreads/index.html

THE OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE OF OPHELIA

2008-02-14T21:47:00.003-05:00

Ophelia by Lisa Klein, Bloomsbury USA Children's Books (2006), ISBN-10: 1582348014,$16.95

“Dear Mr. Shakespeare, I respectfully but completely disagree. Sincerely, Lisa Klein.”

This could easily be the philosophy behind Klein’s first novel, which describes the life and times of Hamlet’s doomed lover, Ophelia. This heroine’s famously tragic death has made her one of the most sympathetic characters in Shakespeare’s plays. But while the Bard portrayed Ophelia as altogether rather pitiful, Klein takes the opposite approach and constructs a strong-minded, witty and intelligent Ophelia who plays a surprisingly significant role in the events that unfold during the dark days at Elsinor Castle.

Ophelia’s personal history is discussed at length in this novel. She is motherless, but educated as well as her brother Laertes. From a young age, Polonius does his utmost to groom his children for a life in the royal court, hoping by extension to improve his own social standing. He cares more for Ophelia’s station as lady-in-waiting to Queen Gertrude and Laertes’ friendship with Prince Hamlet than he does for their happiness.

Ophelia first meets Prince Hamlet when she is eight and he is fourteen. Although he treats her like a child until years later, her fascination with him only grows. In their adolescent years, he is attracted to her wit and sharp intelligence when she wins a debate with him. Ophelia knows that her romance with Hamlet is risky, and the lovers go to great lengths to keep it secret from the court. Hamlet himself is as complex in the book as in the play. He is romantic and kind, yet secretive and melancholy. Early in their courtship, he gives Ophelia a coin with the two-faced Roman god Janus on it. Like Janus, Hamlet has a dual personality that confuses Ophelia, though Hamlet professes he truly loves her.

After the assassination of King Hamlet and the ascension of Claudius to the throne, Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship becomes even more serious, culminating in an elopement. But their happiness is short-lived once Hamlet is given the responsibility of avenging his father’s death. Ophelia is alarmed by the change in her husband and his talk of committing murder. She agrees to help him, but secretly plans to deter him from his goal with her love. Together, they devise a startling scheme to both discredit and protect themselves from all who would endanger their lives. Unfortunately, the main events of the story stay true to the play, and neither Hamlet nor Ophelia’s best efforts can prevent the tragedy that ultimately ends their relationship.

What must be remembered about this book is that this is Ophelia’s side of the story, not Hamlet’s. Lisa Klein creates a strong heroine who must take her destiny into her own hands if she is to survive. There is a lot that can’t be revealed without spoiling the story. But if you are curious to know how Ophelia took up arms against her own sea of troubles, I highly recommend this book.

Nell Curley is an avid book reader and volunteers at the Library.

Introducing Linda Hay

2008-01-22T22:13:00.000-05:00

Linda Hay was the librarian at Academy School here in Brattleboro before she retired. She is now a volunteer reference librarian at Brooks. You can meet her on Tuesday afternoon.

She also knows alot about young adult literature. Here is a book tip from her:

For older fans of fantasy, a new book by Robin McKinley is always good news. Her latest, Dragonhaven is good news for younger fans of fantasy and science fiction as well. In it we meet Jake, son of the head of a wildlife refuge in the American West for endangered and little understood dragons. The innocent bystander deep in the wilderness when a poacher kills a mother dragon at the moment of giving birth, Jake finds the infant has imprinted on him ... thinks that he is it’s mother.

Not only must he figure out how to keep it alive, he must do it in secrecy, for his act of rescuing it is highly illegal. While he stuggles to parent a dragon, his father and others on the refuge staff must protect the refuge and its mission from the political fallout of the poacher’s death. Unlike so many stories about dragons, this is set in today’s world with yellow school buses, computers, and McDonalds, Native American’s trying to maintain their ancient culture, and media feeding frenzies.

McKinley’s books did what Harry Potter has done long before Harry was even “born”. They have spoken to both young adults and adults, anyone who enjoys a combination of adventure, subtle humor, suspense and masterful writing skills. You can read the first chapter on www.robinmckinley.com if you want a “taste” before you get it at the library (or bookstore).

Linda will be writing book reviews for the Teen Brooks blog.

Teen Brooks Blog Starts Up again

2008-01-14T20:51:00.000-05:00

OK. We have been a little asleep here for a couple months. But we are ready to go again. Teen Brooks will be publishing reviews of books in the Library's teen collection. And speaking of the teen collection, have you seen the new rolling book shelves on the Main Floor?

More about this later, but let me introduce Nell Curley. Nell is a volunteer at Brooks and is an avid book reader. She likes to write and here is her second review which is to appear in the Brattleboro Reformer Thursday, January 17. She will be writing more reviews for the newspaper which also will appear here.

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, by Rennison, Louise.

2000. 256p. HarperCollins, hardcover, $15.95 (0-06-028814-0); HarperCollins, library edition, $15.89 (0-06-028871-X). Grades 6-9.

If you had a hard time understanding the humor of Bridget Jones, or if you were too young to be interested in it when it first debuted, you might be highly interested in British author Louise Rennison's first of eight adolescent fiction books, Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging, about a hilarious fourteen-year-old British girl named Georgia Nicolson. Georgia records the days and months of her life in diary-like entries. She attends a strict all-girls school where she and her friends, the "Ace Gang," combat their boredom by applying makeup and making up dance routines during class. Georgia's home life consists of avoiding her highly embarrassing parents and catering to the unpredictable whims of her little sister, Libby. The aforementioned Angus is her half-wildcat pet, who terrorizes the next-door neighbors and makes plenty of extra trouble for the Nicolson family.

When Georgia's best friend Jas develops a crush on the local grocer's son, Tom, Georgia agrees to approach Tom under the guise of wanting to purchase vegetables so as to learn more about him. While she is in the store, she meets his gorgeous older brother Robbie, whom she becomes instantly smitten with and dubs him "The Sex God.” Jas and Tom's relationship flourishes, but Georgia learns that the Sex God is older than her and involved with a girl in Georgia's school, the tall blonde prefect Lindsay. The two girls are not on friendly terms at school, so Georgia has serious competition. Even worse, the Sex God seems to have a rather low opinion of Georgia and the company she keeps. Between staving off boredom (as well as parents) at home, school, and the constant revision of the Ace Gang's "snogging scale" to accommodate what number Georgia and her friends have got to with boys, Georgia wonders if Robbie the Sex God will ever be hers.

When I first read Angus, I laughed harder than I have before over a book. Really! Georgia has no inhibitions about being sarcastic or rude to anyone, and the reactions from her family members are very funny, especially during an incident where she accidentally shaves off her eyebrows. She frets over her appearance and boy appeal as much as any girl, often finds herself caught in highly embarrassing situations, and wants to have as much fun as possible. Louise Rennison creates an unrepentantly immature character in Georgia, but if you find yourself wishing she’d grow up a bit, simply read the next few installments (On the Bright Side I’m Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God, Knocked Out By My Nunga-Nungas, Dancing in My Nuddy-Pants, Away Laughing on a Fast Camel, Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers, Startled By His Furry Shorts and most recently Love is A Many Trousered Thing) and watch how she grows.

For those of you who were baffled by the titles listed above and have yet to grasp what “snogging” refers to, there are handy glossaries in the back of each book translating Georgia’s vernacular to plain American English. She’s considerate like that.

Something a little bit different...

2007-09-28T13:48:00.000-04:00

though not a YA book.

Do you ever leave a note for your mom or dad on the fridge? If so, you might be interested in a book that is ALL notes written back and forth between a busy working mother and her teenage daughter. Do you think you could actually write a meaningful book in fridge notes?????? If you're curious, check out life on the refrigerator door, by Alice Kuipers. Here's the description:

"Claire and her mother are running out of time, but they don't know it. They rarely find themselves in the same room at the same time, and it often seems that the only thing they can count on are notes to each other on the refrigerator door. When home is threatened by a crisis, their relationship experiences a momentous change. Forced to reevaluate the delicate balance between their personal lives and their bond as mother and daughter, Claire and her mother find new love and devotion for one another deeper than anything they had ever imagined."

Warning: You may need tissues!
Note: This is a really quick read!!

How to find the Green Mountain Books

2007-07-30T08:57:00.000-04:00

There are now two ways to find the Green Mountain Books.
You can look on the shelves all over the library for books with florescent green half-moon labels that say "GMB" on them.

But an easier way would be to sit down at the catalog computer (or your computer at home) and do a search on "Green mountain books" or even just GMB. That should get you a list of GMB for the last three years.

Right now you can find a display of GMB at the front of the library. Feel free to check them out. And remember, for your summer reading, anything goes--not just the GMB books.

Pssst! (some gossip)

2007-07-30T08:52:00.000-04:00

Just a little heads up. If you like the Gossip Girls books be on the look out for some new titles appearing on the shelf in the next few weeks.

Shhhh.... you didn't hear it here.......

Summer Reading Program

2007-07-11T21:24:00.000-04:00

Come check out the new display at the library to get information about our summer reading program. This is Green Mountain Books Central!! You'll find the display near the Teen Room on the first floor. You can pick up instructions, forms and bookmarks.

Summer Reading

2007-06-24T20:37:00.000-04:00

If you need some ideas for reading, check out Nancy Pearl's new book called Book crush : for kids and teens ; recommended reading for every mood, moment, and interest / Nancy Pearl.

Nancy Pearl is a librarian in Seattle. She is so cool that she even has an action figure modeled after her!

The book has a lot of suggestions in it for both kids and teens. If you see something that looks good and we don't have it, why not make a suggestion for purchase? It's easy. Just ask for a green slip at the front desk.

Summer jobs and activities for teens

2007-04-14T13:15:00.000-04:00

It might be hard to think about the summer just as you're starting your spring break and when the weather forecast is for SNOW, but it really is not too early to think of summer plans. This year Youth Services will be publishing a Summer Jobs Bulletin for teens, both in print and on the web. Be sure and bookmark this website so that you can keep up with events and news for teens both now and for the summer.

A bigger library WorldCat

2007-03-15T07:45:00.000-04:00

Occasionally it happens. We try hard. We try very hard. But we might not have the book you are looking for. You can always count on the inter-library loan staff to find what you need, or now you can try looking for it yourself in the world's largest network of library content and services.
Click here and then scroll down to "WorldCat." You'll find a search box to type in a title, subject or person. If you want to see the home page of WorldCat click here.
It's exciting to see what kinds of books and other materials you can find. The world is at your fingertips!
*** In case you hadn't realized, the Cat in WorldCat is short for catalog. A nice abbreviation for a very cat-friendly blog!

Equal time for dogs

2007-03-14T11:55:00.000-04:00

Here's a real Honey of a dog! Honey belongs to Laura who you may remember as being a Noted Windham County Resident. She devotes a lot of her time to helping dogs and cats, and if you ever have a question about stray animals, she is the one to ask. She does the accounting for the library and is often seen behind the circulation desk.

Oh.... and she has cats, too!

Magnificent Cougar

2007-02-19T15:06:00.000-05:00

This good looking guy belongs to Charlotte M., who is the daughter of a familiar and helpful library staff member whom you can find at the circulation desk or behind the reference desk. (Can you guess who that is?) However, Charlotte is currently overseas serving her country and Cougar looks like he is faithfully waiting for her to come home.

What kind of emotions do cats have? Does Cougar really miss Charlotte? Maybe you can find the answer here in this new book called Do cats always land on their feet? : 101 of the most perplexing questions answered about feline unfathomables, medical mysteries & befuddling behaviors. It's a small volume, but it answers all sorts of questions and is fun to read. Check it out!

Your cat could be a star!!

2007-02-14T19:05:00.000-05:00

I'm going to get personal today and post some photos of my cats because I love them dearly and after all, it IS Valentine's Day. If you have a cute photo of your cat (okay, a dog would be good too) please send them to me and we'll post them on the blog for everyone to admire.

Did you know that almost all of the library staff at Brooks have cats? Yes, we are a bunch of cat lovers. And if not cat lovers, dog lovers. And if not animal lovers, knitting lovers. So send me a photo of what you love and we'll share it with the world. You can send it to sara@brooks.lib.vt.us. I'm looking forward to seeing if anyone has cats as cute as mine!

It's a Snow Day!

2007-02-13T22:47:00.000-05:00

And if you're home from school with nothing to do (assuming you've finished shoveling) here are a few sites for teens to check out:

1. Teen Voices Online
2. Carnagie Library of Pittsburgh- Staff suggestions for reading
3. Cool Quiz
4. No Flying, No Tights (graphic novels)
5. Recipes for Teens (easy cooking)

Now go back outside. There is probably more snow for you to shovel!

Coming soon to a shelf near you

2007-02-13T08:38:00.000-05:00

Need I say more???? Probably not, but fans can read more about this book and the others at Sisterhood Central.
You can also place a reserve on this book right now and be one of the first to read it.

Chocolate, anybody?

2007-02-02T15:04:00.000-05:00

If you like chocolate and you like the library you'll want to buy raffle tickets for this big basket of chocolate goodies.
The raffle is being held by the Friends of Brooks Memorial Library. Tickets are $1.00 each or 6 for $5.00. The drawing for the basket will be held on February 14th so be sure to buy your tickets before that day.

Do you know the Friends of the Library? The Friends hold the annual book sale during the Strolling of the Heifers to raise money to help support the library. They also publish a newsletter. Click here to download the current edition.

U. S. Presidents

2007-02-01T15:45:00.000-05:00

Happy February everybody!

Be sure to check out a book display devoted to our presidents this month. You'll find it near the main entrance to the library. If you need an online resource try this excellent website.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a what???

2007-01-31T08:09:00.000-05:00

You'll have to have good eyes to figure this one out, but these are photos of the Kyoto International Manga Museum. Yes, a whole museum dedicated to manga!

Charity Girl

2007-01-27T12:09:00.000-05:00

What if you were a seventeen-year-old girl with a "social disease?" And what if this wasn't now, but back during World War I? Did you know that during World War I, the U.S. government went on a moral and medical campaign, quarantining and incarcerating young women who were thought to have venereal diseases? Charity Girl, by Michael Lowenthal is a novel about this fascinating period of history. It tells the story of Frieda Mintz, an employee at Jordan Marsh department store in Boston. She spends one night with an infected soldier, and is put in a detention home. This book tells her story, and the story of the other women she lives with.
Though this is not a YA fiction book it is very readable. If you're studying American history, this would be an interesting book for you. You'll find it in New Fiction. Put a reserve on it if it is checked out. It is bound to be a popular read. Read a review of the book here.

Graphic fiction rules!

2007-01-25T21:28:00.000-05:00

The 2007 Michael L. Printz Award has gone to a graphic novel for the very first time! It's called "American Born Chinese" by Gene Luen Yang. The library doesn't own it yet, but I bet we'll get it soon (hint, hint.)
2007 Honor Books included:
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, by M.T. Anderson
An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green
Surrender, by Sonya Hartnett
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

The library does own the last one mentioned. More on the way, I hope!

(The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. It is named for a Topeka, Kansas school librarian who was a long-time active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association. The award is sponsored by Booklist, a publication of the American Library Association.) From the ALA website.

Grammar Girl!

2007-01-23T16:44:00.000-05:00

For those of you who are fans of podcasting, here's a good one. (Uh oh... don't know what podcasting is??? Whoops... got you... bet you're not a teen!) Grammar Girl makes grammar fun and easy to understand. You can listen to the podcasts, or read the texts at the web site.

Here's a quiz question. And you don't need to be a Bob Dylan fan to answer this.

Is Bob Dylan's song title "Lay Lady Lay" grammatically correct????

If you don't know the answer, you'd better check out Grammar Girl!

Where's the snow?

2006-12-02T11:26:00.000-05:00

As I type this, there is nothing to be seen. But if you want to get a head start on snow activities, try building a snowman here!

And we at Brooks stand ready to serve you. If you do a search on SNOW in the catalog, you'll get over 250 hits! It's just that we can't actually deliver the real thing.... sigh.

Teens online

2006-11-25T21:50:00.000-05:00

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????

Series #2 - Even better!

2006-11-22T18:57:00.000-05:00

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

2006-11-22T18:30:00.000-05:00

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!

Where's the pepperoni?

2006-11-21T07:14:00.000-05:00

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!

Green Mountain Book Award

2006-11-09T07:55:00.000-05:00

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.

Don't forget to....

2006-11-01T16:23:00.000-05:00

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.

Halloween Countdown

2006-10-27T20:48:00.000-04:00

Hey, it's almost Halloween. Have you carved your pumpkin yet? Do you need some practice. Try carving a virtual pumpkin right here!!

Cute Rabbit Friday

2006-10-20T09:51:00.000-04:00

Probably one of the first rabbits that any of us remember is Peter Rabbit. Check out this Beatrix Potter website to find out all you ever wanted to know about this famous rabbit. Did you know that Benjamin Bouncer was Beatrix's first pet rabbit?

Out **** Google, out I say!

2006-10-19T20:28:00.000-04:00

Instead, how about a Shakespeare search engine?

If you are reading Shakespeare this semester you'll want to check it out.

"Come, and take choice of all my library...."
Titus Andronicus – Act 4, Scene 1

Attention Manga Fans--

2006-10-13T14:53:00.000-04:00

For those of you who are deep into it here is something to consider for the future. Probably you have already thought about (dreamed about) going to Japan where manga originated. How about going to Japan AND learning how to draw and write manga at the very first university program for manga?!

Kyoto Seika University now offers a degree in manga. Can you believe it? They also do accept some foreign students and do some exchanges. But for now, you will have to learn Japanese to be able to enter this particular program.

Something to think--and dream-- about....

If you need to write a report....

2006-10-08T09:55:00.000-04:00

Well, of course it depends on what your subject matter is, but check out this website. It might be a good starting point for you. It is what is called a "gateway site" as it will lead you to other sites. Some of the broad topics you will find are: health, history, money, homework, global village, government, careers, computers, plants and animals... and more. It is for "kids of all ages" so share this with your parents and younger brothers and sisters, too.

Do you know what all the URL endings mean? If you do, please note that this is NOT a .com site, but rather a .gov site. However, it may lead you to a .com or a .edu site. Did that make any sense at all????

And remember that when you need help with reports the reference desk is THE place to go!!

Cute Puppy Friday

2006-09-28T16:21:00.000-04:00

It's only fair that we feature a cute puppy this week! And by the way... the Dewey Decimal Number for dogs is 636.7. It's not the only place to find a book about dogs, but it's a good starting point.
Also, do you know what a Wiki is? If not, try killing two birds with one stone and check out this Dog Wiki!

Banned Book Week

2006-09-24T22:30:00.000-04:00

It's Banned Book Week this week. It's all about banned and challenged books. If you liked the voting that we did during the summer for Survivor Book Club, how about filling out another survey and vote for your favorite challenged book? Click here to vote and to help celebrate your freedom to read. I'll bet you'll be surprised at what books you find on the list!

TGIF - Time for a CKP (cute kitten picture)!!

2006-09-22T11:46:00.000-04:00

And here it is!

Thank goodness for local spinach!

2006-09-21T12:40:00.000-04:00

But there are other greens that are also good. This is a chance to try something new. Maybe you got on a health kick this summer with exercising and eating right? Keep up the good work!! Here's a site where you can find out more about those oh-so-healthy greens. There are even some recipes to try.

Banned Books Week

2006-09-20T19:54:00.000-04:00

Did you know that next week is Banned Books Week?
Have you ever read a "banned book?" (What is a banned book, anyway?)(Who bans books???)
Here's one place to find out more.
Also, the American Booksellers Association and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) have created a Banned Books Book Sense Top Ten, compiled from titles nominated by independent booksellers nationwide. It is an interesting list! Click here to find out if you have read any of them. I bet you have!!

It's not just manga!

2006-09-16T13:08:00.000-04:00

Here's something else from Japan. This group is called the Marimba Ponies. You may need some plug-ins to view this clip! And you'll need the sound on to get the full impact. This comes to us via Yahoo, and yes this post is an experiment to see how video clips come out on the blog. If you can't watch it, you might want to consider if you are getting full use of your computer because these days there are a lot of interesting video clips to be seen... and heard!!

Why does the door have to stay open?

2006-09-08T14:48:00.000-04:00

Some of you may be wondering about the "open door policy" in the Teen Room. Does the library not trust teens? Does the library want to spy on you? Is the library just plain stupid--because if they want less noise wouldn't it make sense to close that door???

The answer is none of the above. There is a very good reason why the door needs to stay open. And that reason is simply because the Young Adult (YA) fiction collection is housed in the room and needs to be ACCESSIBLE TO ALL.

Accessibility is a word that we hear a lot. It is a big deal to libraries and to the American Library Association. But what does that have to do with the door?

When a small group of people are in the Teen Room with the door closed it can appear INACCESSIBLE to other people. They may think there is something special going on and hesitate to enter. Or younger teens may feel intimidated about opening the door when older teens are in there. They lose out on their chance to browse and borrow reading material.

So this is why the door must stay open. Not because the library distrusts you or because the librarian is dying to spy on you, but because the library is VERY BIG on making sure that EVERYONE is able to get what they want to read!

And that's a GOOD thing!!

Geography - Cooler than you think

2006-09-01T13:38:00.000-04:00

Just ran across a very cool geography site. Give it a try... lots of interesting stuff here. Who knew the National Geographic Society could come up with such great stuff!!

Wikipedia -- Yes or No?

2006-08-14T14:24:00.000-04:00

Have you ever used Wikipedia? Chances are that you've paid the site a visit or two, maybe even when working on a homework assignment. And chances are that you also know that it just might not be the most reliable site. Hopefully you've realized that it might be a starting point, but you're going to have to dig a bit deeper to really find out what's what.

Here's a good article written by a teenager about using Wikipedia for a homework assignment. Check it out--it's a good read!

And the winner is....

2006-08-13T19:00:00.000-04:00

the very very popular Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants!! It's been around for awhile--long enough to produce two sequels. This summer some of you who had never gotten around to reading it gave it a try and found out why it has been such a popular book. The library also has a copy of the movie.

Here's the best news yet--according to the Sisterhood Website author Ann Brashares has a NEW BOOK coming out in January. It's called Forever in Blue and is about the fourth and last (?) summer the girls have together. Of course the library will be ordering a copy.

Thank you to everyone who voted this summer in the Survivor Book Club. You can find copies of all the books in the Teen Room now. Any thoughts on what to do with the coconut bookends????

Kick Butt

2006-08-07T09:52:00.000-04:00

I'm a little sad to have to kick The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things off the Island this week. It was my favorite, and I've heard from other Survivor Readers that this book was a surprise... a very pleasant surprise. Many of us didn't like the title, and the cover is nothing special. But please give this book a try because it is a great read. Here is a link to the author's website.

We're down to just two books on the Island now--Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and A Great and Terrible Beauty. Two very different books.... and this is your last chance to vote and determine the winner!

Shaping the Future

2006-08-02T15:15:00.000-04:00

This month the library is doing a survey to get input for the Library five year plan. Your voice is important!! And your voice will be heard if you take the survey. Click here to get to the link for the survey. It is important that teens express their needs so that we can expand our programming. The survey is short and easy. If you hate computers (what are you doing reading this then???) you can get a paper copy of the survey in the library. You can also use a special computer at the front desk in the library to fill out the survey.

Thank you for your help with this!! It is just one way to make your voice heard in the library. See... we are NOT all about SHHHHing!! We truly DO want to hear your voice!

Teen Blog@Brooks

Get Ready for Summer Reading Fun!

YA Library Survey

Top Teen YA Books 2009

Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults

New YA Titles

Love Tamora Pierce?

Art and Writing Contest

Wondering what to do over the holiday break?

Create a piece of art, video, or writing to submit by January 4, 2010 to...

Deadline and Submission

YALSA TEEN TOP TEN 2009

Let's get this web search thing straight...

Green Mountain Book Blog

Join the Zine Scene!

2009 Windham Country Reads Summer Reading List: 9-12th grade

2009 Windham County Reads Summer Reading List: 7th/8th grade

Book Review: Pyongyang

2009 Summer Reading...

Book by student at Center for Cartoon Studies!

Cartoon Camp This Summer!

Fantasy author Mark Freeman

Obama hung out in a Library

DVD Study Guides

New Books in YA

Teen Movies over February Break

Twilight Books on CDs at Brooks

Coraline the Movie

Book Review: Coraline

Young Writer's Project

December Movies

Attention Twilight Fans!

Readergirlz Night Bites for Teen Read Week

Book Review: New Artemis Fowl

HORROR FEST

Periodical Profile: GamePro

HORROR FILM FEST

DIY BOOKS

Teen Summer Reading Program 2008

NEW Young Adult Display!

Suggestions Please!

Periodical Profile: Teen Vogue

Calling All YA Readers!!!

Cool Links...

Free Downloadable Books

METAMORPHOSIS @ YOUR LIBRARY

Green Mountain Book Award Master List 2008-2009

Teen Summer Reading Program 2008

Who is Ozzie the cat congratulating?

Review: High School Never Ends: Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar

The Writing Center to get help with your writing

Green Mountain Book Award ballots now available!

THE OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE OF OPHELIA

Introducing Linda Hay

Teen Brooks Blog Starts Up again

Something a little bit different...

How to find the Green Mountain Books

Pssst! (some gossip)

Summer Reading Program

More summer reading ideas

Summer Reading

Summer jobs and activities for teens

A bigger library *WorldCat*

Equal time for dogs

Magnificent Cougar

Your cat could be a star!!

It's a Snow Day!

Coming soon to a shelf near you

Chocolate, anybody?

U. S. Presidents

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a what???

Charity Girl

Graphic fiction rules!

Grammar Girl!

Where's the snow?

Teens online

Series #2 - Even better!

Series #1 - An easy way

Where's the pepperoni?

Green Mountain Book Award

A bigger library WorldCat