Teen Summer Reading Librarians' Choice Winner!

The winner of our Teen Summer Reading Librarians’ Choice Award is Pukhraj from the Mukilteo Library, who reviewed Marissa Meyer’s Scarlet.  Pukhraj will receive a backpack full of reading goodies.  Our thanks to the Sno-Isle Libraries Foundation for their continued support of teen summer reading.

 

http://catalog.sno-isle.org/polaris/search/title.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.6&cn=583720

 

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

 

Description:

Not only is our beloved Linh Cinder , who, at the moment, may just be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive, in a pickle- but so is Scarlet Benoit. Scarlet's Grandma went missing not too long ago, but nobody seems to care. Even the POLICE gave up searching for her. So where is she? And what does Wolf, a street fighter, have to do with any of it?

 

My Thoughts:

Choosing a SINGLE favorite part of this book would be like... Iko having to become Thorne's monstrosity of a spaceship. Oh wait- that happened... my favorite part was probably... Wolf. Yep, Wolf is the best thing that happened to this book. Other than Kai, of course. My final statement? This series is even more adicting than The Twilight Saga.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two new prize choices for Teen Summer Reading

Hey everybody! Hope your summer is off to a great start. We are already seeing all kinds of terrific book reviews, and have already given away 45 prizes.  Much to my surprise, some of our leftovers from previous years have been more popular than anticipated, and we have already run out of earbuds, and are very low on flashdrives!   We still have lots of LED bookmarks, and iPod/iPhone speakers, but now we are also adding hacky sacks and foldable flying discs!

We still have lots of time for you to read and review...you might be able win one of each. :)

Teen Summer Reading Contest

School isn't quite out yet, but we are SO ready for summer!   It is time for the 2013 Teen Summer Reading Program!  This year's theme is Beneath the Surface, where we encourage you to dig into things and find out what is really going on, and explore new worlds you haven't imagined before.  One place to get started is with our Beneath the Surface booklist.  But we will also have all kinds of great activities (all free) for you to participate in.

Plus, we have our fun and super laid back Teen Summer Reading Contest again this year.  Every teen or adult book you (a teen 12-18 years old or 6th-12th grade) read between June 1-August 16, 2013, you can write a review for, and be entered to win one of these great prizes*:

Plus, one lucky reviewer will have their awesomely entertaining/creative/wonderful review...best loved by the teen librarian...picked for The Librarian's Choice Award! What do you get for that? A backpack full of brand new books!  

We can't wait to hear about what you discover Beneath the Surface of books this summer.

*Reviews must be written in your own words. Plagiarism will be caught and disqualify you from the drawings. Only one review per book is accepted. Additional reviews will be deleted.The Teen Summer Reading contest is for teens 12-18 years old, or in 6th-12th grade. Summer Reading contest participants are eligible to win in only one category. Youths leaving 5th grade who are entering 6th grade must choose and submit entries for the Children's or Teen Summer Reading Program. Failure to comply with this restriction may disqualify participant from all categories.

We Have Our Winners

Drum roll please...

It is that time you have all been waiting for, when we announce the winners of the Teen Summer Reading Contest!

For our Grand Prize of an iPad, drawn from 3670 entries we have Madison McA from Marysville!  Madison is a student at 10th Street Middle School and wrote some great reviews this summer.

For the coveted Librarians' Choice Award we have Carly B, a homeschooler from Lake Stevens.  The librarians loved that she brought back an old school book and breathed fresh life into in.

The Princess and the Goblin By George MacDonald 

Description: Goblins live and miners dig under Princess Irene's castle. One night goblins see Irene. They make plans to kidnap her and forcibly marry her to the cruel goblin prince. A noble miner boy, Curdie, is determined to help Irene. Meanwhile, Irene has found her mysterious great-great grandmother. Will Curdie and the woman be enough to save the princes? 

 My Thoughts: This is an old book, written in 1872, so occasional language is outdated--but that just adds to the charm of this lovely tale. The reader will come to realize that no matter one's lowly birth, one can be a prince or princess by one's noble, truthful actions. I admired Irene's truthfulness, even when no one would believe her. 

Recommendation: fantasy, princess, and fairy-tale fans 

Congratulations to all our readers, for being such awesome readers and reviewers.  We are really loved reading all your reviews and are so glad you shared the fun of reading with everyone this summer.

And special thanks to our very generous Sno-Isle Libraries Foundation, without whom we would not be able to offer such fabulous prizes!

Enter the 2012 Teen Video Challenge!

If you read this, you're probably already aware of the book trailer contest we hold each March during Teen Tech Month. Perhaps you've watched from afar and wanted to enter but were afraid to.



Here's your chance to practice making videos and possibly earn some extra cash in the 2012 Teen Video Challenge.



A little bit of imagination in a short public service announcement could make you the Teen Video Challenge Winner! The video produced by a Washington student or group of students that best encourages use of their local public libraries and promotes reading all summer long will take away the contest prize. The top video will be featured throughout 2012 as the official commercial for Washington’s Summer Reading Program.

The theme for the 2012 Summer Reading Program is Own the Night.

One video from each participating state will be submitted to the CSLP, which will award each State Teen Video Challenge Winner $275. Their public library or member affiliate will receive copy00 from CSLP and $50 from Upstart. The winning videos from each state will be posted to the CSLP website and become the official Teen PSA for the 2012 summer program.

In addition, the Washington State Library and the Washington Office of the Secretary of State will post the top 10 Washington applicant videos on their website.


The deadline to enter is March 9, 2012. You can read more about the contest details and rules at the offical site.




Need inspiration? Check out our Book Trailer winners from last year!

And the Winners Are...

And now for the moment you have all been waiting for! 5265 teen book reviews were submitted this summer, all with dreams of winning the fun and fabulous iPad 2 or an iPod Touch for Librarian's Choice Award. Your reviews were all so wonderful, I wish I could give each and everyone of you a prize, but as we know, there can be only one (for each category ;)

For the grand prize drawing of an iPad 2, our lucky winner is: Kat F. from Oak Harbor, whose review of Murder on the Orient Express was randomly drawn (though I must say it is a fine review, too!)

Choosing a favorite review from so many was INCREDIBLY HARD! Thank goodness we had a crack team of Teen Librarians reading your reviews all summer long. They were all so good! So....for the prestigious Librarians Choice Award: Reilly R. from the Coupeville for this wonderful review of Zombies vs. Unicorns:

Description:
Since the beginning of the universe there has been an incredible rivalry of Zombies and Unicorns. But until 2010 this war had only been fought in secret. Thus begins a most epic battle of words and wits, which has been published into this very book for your personal entertainment. Authors of all kinds have chosen their side. Now it's your turn.

My Thoughts:
This book was so good, meager words don't do it justice. Each story makes you love either Zombies or unicorns, and you just get tossed back and forth! Each story completely defied the stereotype of both creatures. Whether its zombies that are zombies because of their religion, or sarcastic, head smacking unicorns, this book has them all.

Recommendation:
Highschoolers who do or don' like to read.

Thank you to every single one of you who submitted reviews this summer, and made it our most exciting and wonderful yet. Please continue to submit reviews, even though there isn't a prize right now...we love to keep up with what you are reading and take your opinions and thoughts most seriously.

And GIANT thanks to the Sno-Isle Library Foundation, who has made all of this possible. Their generous support enabled us to offer all our wonderful prizes including the iPad, iPod, and earbuds. They are terrific supporters of our libraries, and truly love our teens :)

Yours in reading,

Dawn

You Did It - Our Biggest Summer Yet

I can't even begin to tell you how impressed I am with all you fabulous teen readers of Snohomish and Island Counties! Between June 1st and August 15th you reviewed 5265 books...well over our goal of 5000. SO AMAZING!

That is a TON of reviews. Our Teen Librarians are frantically going back over all their favorites to pick out the one from each branch that will be voted on to win the Librarian's Choice Award. Once that has been selected, we will also pick our Grand Prize winner. I know it is driving you crazy waiting...but it won't be until next week. So, in the meanwhile, here are another 15 earbud winners (even though we didn't have a full week in the end there ;)

Krysta W. - Monroe Library
Brooklyn C. - Marysville Library
Emma T. - Mill Creek Library
Ashly L. - Snohomish Library
Tatiana S.-Z. - Mountlake Terrace Library
Nancy O. - Lynnwood Library
Raiden U.-R. - Lynnwood Library
Myung T. - Lynnwood Library
Megan T. - Mill Creek Library
Jessica V. - Mukilteo Library
Natasha F. - Marysville Library
Symone W. - Mukilteo Library
Christian D. - Marysville Library
Caila J. - Granite Falls Library
Adrian N. - Lynnwood Library

Thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews...will let you know next week who are winners are for the big prizes! <3

Weekend Book Give-Away: Level Up

This weekend's book give-away is Level Up, a graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang (who created the brilliant American Born Chinese), with lots of surprises.

Dennis loves to play video games, but his strict Chinese immigrant father has always harped on him to concentrate on his studies. But once his father dies, he becomes obsessed with gaming. Things start to get weird when four little angels start messing with him, trying to get him to do right by his father's memory, or else...

To win this book, tell me about something you got obsessed with, and what was so facinating about it. Winner will be drawn Tuesday August 9, 2011.

Don't forget to check back here to see if you have won!

Weeks Seven AND Eight Earbud Winners

Sorry I forgot to do the contest last week! I made a draft of the blog post, then took of to Cleveland for Digiapalooza (a conference on downloadables). We have so much cool stuff you can get from the library from home for free, and lots of great stuff coming down the road!

So just what are you listening to with your earbuds?

Right now I'm checking out this music:


and looking forward to listening to these books:


Heard anything good lately?

Anyhow...here are the lucky 30:

Amy C. - Monroe Library
Hope R. - Monroe Library
Abigail C. - Mill Creek Library
Halle C. - Stanwood Library
Emma C. - Mill Creek Library
Zoe J. - Mukilteo Library
Cassie K. - Stanwood Library
Nick P. - Marysville Library
Ann D. - Lynnwood Library
Madison B. - Mill Creek Library
Yeonhee J. - Lynnwood Library
Katie-Beth H. - Edmonds Library
Alexandra G. - Mukilteo Library
Jadia B. - Monroe Library
Olivia B. - Lynnwood Library
Naomi G. - Arlington Library
Estella J. - Lynnwood Library
Abbie G. - Marysville Library
Alethea C. - Marysville Library
Kristen S. - Langley Library
Brian T. - Lynnwood Library
Roman Y. - Marysville Library
Emily I. - Edmonds Library
Min C. - Mukilteo Library
Matthew B. - Marysville Library
Brianah N. - Marysville Library
Linh L. - Snohomish Library
Mackenzi C. - Marysville Library
Leah L. - Oak Harbor Library
Katie P. - Snohomish Library


Your Teen Librarian will notify you when they arrive :)

Haven't won yet? Keep trying, you still have two weeks!

We've hit over 4500 reviews!
Can we reach 5000?!?

Week Six Earbud Winners

What is this heat wave everyone is talking about? I'm looking outside and seeing some decidedly un-summery weather. But I guess this is good for books, because you can cozy up out of the rain with a nice stack of them! And lots of you have! We have over 3400 reviews submitted now! Once again, WOW!

This week's earbud winners are:

Adam A. - Mukilteo Library
Maddy E. - Mukilteo Library
Izabel N. - Marysville Library
Katie O'M. - Monroe Library
Nora H. - Edmonds Library
Ashley McC. - Monroe Library
Zahra Al-H. - Marysville Library
Vincent C. - Monroe Library
Grace M. - Marysville Library
Zach A. - Monroe Library
Robin C. - Oak Harbor Library
Korina T. - Oak Harbor Library
Daria J. - Lynnwood Library
Zane V. - Langley Library
Aileen D. - Lynnwood Library

Your teen librarian will contact you when they come in.

Keep those reviews coming!

:)

Birthday Weekend Book Give-Away: Forgotten

It is my birthday this weekend, and order to celebrate it properly I want to give one of our lucky readers a present! This week's book, Forgotten by Cat Patrick, is special. Not only is it only is it one of my favorite books I've read this year, it is also a beautiful signed hardbound I got when I met the author last month!

Sixteen-year-old London Lane forgets everything each night and must use notes to struggle through the day, even to recall her wonderful boyfriend, but she "remembers" future events and as her "flashforwards" become more disturbing she realizes she must learn more about the past lest it destroy her future.

It reminds me of two of my favorite movies, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and 50 First Dates, but with more mystery mixed in.

What do you need to do to win this book? Tell me either about the biggest thing you've ever forgotten (and then later remembered) or the best birthday present you ever got! Winner will be selected on Tuesday July 19, 2011.

Don't forget to check back here to see if you have won!

Week Six Earbud Winners

Is it really possible that the summer is halfway over? How can that be possible? We've only had a few sunny days! But on the plus side, boy have you gotten a lot of books read this summer! We are now up to 3206 reviews! WOW!

This week's earbud winners are:

Aaron S. - Marysville Library
Grace M. - Lynnwood Library
Julianne T. - Arlington Library
Michael H. - Oak Harbor Library
Zainab A. - Marysville Library
Alea W. - Marysville Library
Katie E. - Marysville Library
Elise E. - Snohomish Library
Abby M. - Mukilteo Library
Alex N. - Lynnwood Library
Rachael A. - Langley Library
Sarah B. - Mill Creek Library
Olivia E. - Lynnwood Library
Alexa H. - Monroe Library
Teresa B. - Lynnwood Library

Your teen librarian will contact you once they arrive :)

Week Five Earbud Winners

Now that we've FINALLY had a bit of sun, and the rain and drizzle is back it is a perfect excuse to stop going outside and get back to the serious business of READING! And reviewing, of course.

Our review count at the moment is a marvelous 2638! Can we hit 5,000 this year? I believe that yes we can! Especially if this rain keeps up... ;(

This week's earbud winners are:

Annika B. - Arlington Library
Pauline W. - Arlington Library
Mirka M. - Freeland Library
Cole H. - Lake Stevens Library
Frances T. - Lynnwood Library
Naomi T. - Marysville Library
Charley M. - Mill Creek Library
Sammy L. - Mill Creek Library
Drew Q. - Mukilteo Library
Amber B. - Mukilteo Library
Katelyn B. - Mukilteo Library
Dominque N. - Oak Harbor Library
Lily W. - Snohomish Library
Halle C. - Stanwood Library
Sadie C. - Stanwood Library

Your Teen Librarian will contact you when the earbuds arrive. Keep them coming folks!

Week Four Earbud Winners

Can you believe we are already a month into summer? It is going by TOO FAST! I need to go to a baseball game...as Michael Chabon says in his terrific baseball+fantasy read Summerland, ""The fundamental truth: a baseball game is nothing but a great slow contraption for getting you to pay attention to the cadence of a summer day." Nothing can make a summer afternoon stretch out longer and more luxuriously. Except maybe reading a book in a hammock?

We have over 2000 reviews submitted now. That completely blows my mind. I love to know there are so many teens out there who love reading as much as I do! And I'm so glad I can reward some of you with awesome prizes for doing what you love :)

This week's earbud winners are:

Jonathan M. - Lynnwood Library
Sara A. - Snohomish Library
Lisa A. - Oak Harbor Library
Emily M. - Mukilteo Library
Khanh L. - Lynnwood Library
Graydon F. - Monroe Library
Rachana B. - Snohomish Library
LeAnne S. - Stanwood Library
Bao-Quang B. - Mukilteo Library
Hailey S. - Mukilteo Library
Kevin M. - Monroe Library
Charmaine B. - Lynnwood Library
James I. - Clinton Library
Jacob O. - Lynnwood Library
Teresa K. - Mill Creek Library

Your Teen Librarian will contact you when the earbuds arrive. I LOVE reading your reviews. Keep on sending them in :)

Week Three Earbud Winners

WOW! We have over 1500 reviews submitted now for the Teen Summer Reading Contest. I wish I had time to read them all...but don't worry...the Teen Librarian at your branch is reading YOURS. And they will be picking out their very favorites as nominees for the Librarian's Choice Award! But that doesn't happen until August...now it is time for our weekly drawing, and the earbud winners!

This week's earbuds and Sno-Isle pouch go to:

Julien C. - Snohomish Library
Belle C. - Monroe Library
Natnael D. - Lynnwood Library
Isaac G. - Monroe Library
Gary W. - Mill Creek Library
Fatima J. - Mill Creek Library
Tori W. - Arlington Library
Jaden J. - Oak Harbor Library
Natalie S. - Edmonds Library
Heather M. - Monroe Library
Jaskiran G. - Mill Creek Library
Lacy N. - Lynnwood Library
Taylor S. - Marysville Library
Zoe W. - Lynnwood Library
Kenneth M. - Oak Harbor Library

Keep on reading, we have lots of summer and prizes left to go :)

First Round of Summer Reading Winners

This year's Teen Summer Reading Contest is off to an awesome start! So far we have 360 reviews submitted from teens all over Snohomish and Island County...and most of you aren't even out of school yet.

Have you seen our awesome Sno-Isle Teens earbud pouches? How can you qualify to win one? Just review the books you read this summer, and we will randomly select 15 reviews every week!

This week's winners are:

• Maxine V. - Marysville Library
• Margaret D. - Oak Harbor Library
• Alexia W. - Mill Creek Library
• Monina N. - Mill Creek Library
• Megan H. - Sultan Library
• Lena P. - Snohomish Library
• India S. - Edmonds Library
• Victoria E. - Edmonds Library
• Vanessa C. - Marysville Library
• Faith F. - Marysville Library
• Samantha C. - Mill Creek Library
• Marina M. - Mill Creek Library
• Zina D. - Mukilteo Library
• David W. - Arlington Library
• Adnan M. - Lynnwood Library

Your Teen Librarian will contact you once they receive your prize and let you know when you can pick it up :)

Video Contests for Teens

March may seem pretty far away, and summer seems like it will never get here. But librarians like to plan ahead, so we are already thinking about Teen Tech Month and Summer Reading! If you like making videos, here are two contest to be looking forward to:

1) 2011 Teen Video Challenge

"Go viral" and reach teens all across America! Create a video promoting Summer Reading at the Library and you could win $250!
A little bit of imagination in a short public service announcement could make you the Teen Video Challenge Winner! The video produced by a Washington student or group of students that best encourages use of their local public libraries and promotes reading all summer long will take away the contest prize. The top video will be featured throughout 2011 as the official commercial for Washington’s Summer Reading Program. The deadline is March 7, 2011.

2) And of course, Sno-Isle Libraries will be having its own Teen Video Contest in March, as part of our Teen Tech Month celebration.

For ours, you will create a video promoting the library or your favorite book. Video should be 30 seconds to 3 minutes long (including credits). Libraries featured should be a Sno-Isle library. Books featured should be written for teens and owned by Sno-Isle. You must be between the ages of 12-18, and reside and/or attend school in Island or Snohomish Counties, to enter. Videos may not contain content that is inappropriate. Prizes provided by the Sno-Isle Libraries Foundation. Deadline will be March 31, 2011.

Can't wait to see what you come up with!

And the Grand Prize Winner is...

Congratulations to Timothy Gunter of Monroe who is the winner of the grand prize in our Teen Summer Reading Contest! His review of Sleeper Code by Tom Sniegoski was lucky review number 1130 (as selected by the handy dandy Random Number Generator). Timothy will receive his VAIO W Series mini notebook computer in a ceremony at the Monroe Library later this month.

The Librarian's Choice Award winner of the iPod Touch will be announced here on Friday, September 10th, 2010.

Much thanks to the Sno-Isle Libraries Foundation for donating our wonderful prizes and making this contest possible

Teen Summer Reading Survey

Did you participate in Teen Summer Reading at Sno-Isle Libraries this year? If so, we would like to find out what you thought. Please fill out this brief survey so we can make Summer Reading even more enjoyable next summer.

We appreciate your feedback!

Teen laptop winner announced

We have a winner!

Fifteen year old Jessica C. from Oak Harbor is the grand prize winner of our Teen Summer Reading Contest.

She will be receiving an Acer Aspire One netbook at a ceremony in early September at the Oak Harbor Library.

Here is her winning review of Forever, by Judy Blume:

4 stars.

Describe the book: This romantic book is about two high school seniors that struggle to make it with the love they share for one another. It's a vicious battle against family, friends, and even each other at times.

What did you think: This was an interesting look into the mid seventies, when the author wrote it, and how it compares to today's society. I enjoyed this book and it came with some good life lessons as well.

Who would you recommend it to: Older and younger teens in high school romances.

Congratulations Jessica!

And thanks to everyone who submitted reviews and made this a great summer :)