Free movie screening: Finding Kind

Looking for something interesting to do this weekend, but low on cash?  Tomorrow night, Friday June 1st, the Washington State Youth Leadership Summit is presenting the documentary “Finding Kind,” from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Everett Performing Arts Center.

The Kind Campaign and the Finding Kind documentary are about bringing change to relationships.  The big picture, however, reveals much more: We should all be more accepting of each other, girls as well as boys.  In order to make the world a better place, we must change ourselves as individuals.  It starts with being KIND.

The event includes a screening of the movie and an interactive community dialog on bullying led by the filmmakers, Lauren Parsekian and Molly Stroud.  The event is free and open to all who would like to attend.  Doors open at 5:30 at 2710 Wetmore Avenue in downtown Everett.

Trailer Tuesday: The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda looks pretty intense.

Talking Books

I have never really been able to get into listening to audio books. Most fans of audio books have told me that I just needed to find a reader that I liked and then I would be hooked. But I found a few readers that I liked and decided in the end I still preferred to read to myself.

That is what I thought until I recently had a quiet realization.

In that past I had tried to listen to books that I would normally just read to myself. What I now realize is that a good reader can make me like a book that I wouldn't like to read to myself.

It all started with the book Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford. Don't get me wrong, this is a good book and I probably would have enjoyed reading it but what really made this book great was the reader, Nick Podehl.

This was my first experience of listening to a book on my drive home and sitting in my driveway so I can finish a chapter.

After finishing Carter Finally Gets It, I immediately searched the catalog for more books read by Nick Podehl. The book I decided on was The Knife of never letting go by Patrick Ness.

My experience listening to this book is what confirmed my realization.

This is an interesting book with a really intriguing premise. What if everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts? You can't shut them out and you can't turn off your thoughts.

Despite this great concept, I know if I had tried to read it I would have stopped. I hated the main character. But Nick Podehl did such a great job reading that I got hooked through to the end.

So I will tell you what audio book fans have been telling me forever. Find a reader you like! You might end up enjoying books you wouldn't otherwise finish!

Weekend Book Give-Away: Dead to You

Looking for a thriller with a bit of a creep factor?  This week's book is Lisa McMann's brand new Dead to You.

Having been abducted at age seven, abandoned, a foster child, and homeless, Ethan, now sixteen, is happy to be home until his brother's suspicion and his own inability to remember something unspeakable from his early childhood begin to tear the family apart.    

Yipes!  That might be more than I can personally handle.  But for those of you who like dark psychological stuff like this, it might be just the thing. 

So...to be entered in the drawing to win Dead to You, please don't tell me about an unspeakable memory, but rather your very earliest happy memory!

Winner will be selected with Random Number Generator on Tuesday May 29, 2012. Be sure to leave a name with your entry, and check back to see if you won. To win you must be a teen (6th-12th grade, or 12-18) who uses a Sno-Isle Library.  

Trailer Tuesday: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One is seriously the best audiobook/book I've read/listened to in ages. It is fantastic. It may have even made it onto my all-time favorite list. Only time will tell. If you have even the tiniest, most latent speck of geekery in you, you can not miss this book. Bonus, if you choose audio, you get to listen to King of the Geeks Wil Wheaton read it. And it is fantastic. I don't think I can rave harder about it, so I'll just show you the trailer:



This is a taste of the audiobook:

For those of you who are wondering, YES we will be starting our Teen Summer Reading program very soon!  Friday June 1st is our kick-off day.  From then until August 18th, every single book you read and then report on will be counted towards our awesome drawings. Prizes this year include the newest generation iPad and iPod touch, and some really fun LED blinky sunglasses!

This year's theme is Own the Night, which means we will have all kinds of fun programs featuring all kinds of ways in which you can own that night.  Maybe this means overcoming childhood fears and watching monster movies at Monroe Library's Classic Horror Film series or Darrington Library's Things That Go Bump in the Night Film series.  Or maybe you want to hang out in a graveyard and do one of our Tombstone Rubbing programs, for the best mix of craft, history, and creep factor?  There will also be classes on self-defense, survival, and star gazing.

We will also be having:

• video game tournaments
• game days
• craft programs
• scavenger hunts
• book groups
• volunteer opportunities
• trivia contests
• and MORE!

Keep checking back here at the blog for more details, and at the official Teen Summer Reading website when it goes live June 1st.

It is going to be a GREAT summer!

Weekend Book Give-Away: Ditched

There are few events in high school that have more expectations than prom.  Right up there with graduation, it seems to be an event nearly everyone is either looking forward to, or dreading.  From dinner plans, to finding the right outfit, to making memories that are supposed to last a lifetime...this is supposed to be a big deal.  But what if you get through all that buildup, and then don't remember it? In this week's book is Ditched: A Love Story by Robin Mellom, Justina's prom is not what she expected:

When high school student Justina ends up in a ditch in the middle of the night after prom, she stumbles to a nearby 7-Eleven where she tries to recall exactly how she got there.           

For a chance to win an advance reader copy of this book, tell me what you want prom to be like.  Do you plan to skip it and go see a movie with your best friend?  Rent a limo with your pals? Make your own dress?  Or just show up in overalls?
 
Winner will be selected with Random Number Generator on Tuesday May 22, 2012. Be sure to leave a name with your entry, and check back to see if you won. To win you must be a teen (6th-12th grade, or 12-18) who uses a Sno-Isle Library.

Trailer Tuesday: Erebos by Ursula Poznanski

The tagline for Erebos by Ursula Poznanski creeps me out. Which means I'll probably read it. Erebos: It's a game. It watches you. eep!

Weekend Book Give-Away: After the Snow

Have I mentioned already how happy I am that summer is nearly upon us?  I like all the seasons, but sometimes winter can get a little oppressive.  I often say that I like living in the Seattle area so that I can go visit the snow whenever I want to, but don't have to shovel it all the time.  In this week's book is After the Snow by S. D. Crockett, winter just won't go away:

Fifteen-year-old Willo Blake, born after the 2059 snows that ushered in a new ice age, encounters outlaws, halfmen, and an abandoned girl as he journeys in search of his family, who mysteriously disappeared from the freezing mountain that was their home.  

Yikes!  To enter the drawing for this book, tell me what skills you would use to survive a new ice age, or what your reaction would be to this situation.

Winner will be selected with Random Number Generator on Tuesday May 15, 2012. Be sure to leave a name with your entry, and check back to see if you won. To win you must be a teen (6th-12th grade, or 12-18) who uses a Sno-Isle Library.  

Trailer Tuesday: Graceling Realm by Kristin Cashore

This is where I confess to you that I miss epic fantasy books; there just don't seem to be as many published lately. So, when Bitterblue, the latest book of the Graceling Realm by Kristin Cashore arrived on May 1st, I put everything down to read it. I stopped in the middle of another book to make time. While it wasn't as marvelous as Graceling, the first book set in that world, it was still worth setting everything else aside. It really makes me want MOAR FANTASY!

Since there are about 30 of you waiting for this, I'm guessing that I'm not alone. ;)

This trailer was recommended by Jayanne! If you have a recommendation you'd like to see posted, share it in the comments!

Six Word Stories

Ever heard of a six word story?  Literary legend says that author Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a short story using only six words.  Hemingway's Story?  "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."

The Monroe Library's Teen Advisory Board wrote some of our own six word stories.  Here are some of them:

We locked eyes. He turned away. - Victoria
Dogs lick you, don't lick them! - Connor
"Quiet!" the teacher said. So what? - Wendy
Say "Hi!" today. Get glares forever. - Victoria
"Exercise!", shouted the obese P.E. teacher. - Bennett
Up walked the zombie, "BAM"! Headshot! - Wendy
We finish, just to start again. - Victoria

We thought it was really pretty amazing how much you can say using only six words!  We also looked at some six word stories written by other people.  Two great website can be found HERE and HERE.  Some of these stories were clever, some were sad, some were funny, and some made us think.

Share your own six word story in the comments!

Weekend Book Give-Away: The List

Generally speaking, I think people are pretty amazing.  So being an optimist who looks for the best in everyone, I'm always saddened and surprised by how cruel folks can be.  This week's give-away is an Advanced Reader Copy of Siobhan Vivian's brand new book The List, explores the cruelty that occurs in high school, when people are labeled because of their looks:

Every year at Mount Washington High School somebody posts a list of the prettiest and ugliest girls from each grade--this is the story of eight girls, freshman to senior, and how they are affected by the list.      

There are currently nine people waiting to read this, but you can have a copy of your own next week if you win.  To be entered in the drawing tell me about the meanest thing you have witnessed or heard about happening in your school or community, and what reaction it invoked in you.

Winner will be selected with Random Number Generator on Tuesday May 8, 2012. Be sure to leave a name with your entry, and check back to see if you won. To win you must be a teen (6th-12th grade, or 12-18) who uses a Sno-Isle Library.  

The Best of the Best

The Mukilteo Library Teen Advisory Board, along with 15 other groups around the country, has been reading hundreds of new teen books and nominating the best for the annual Teens' Top Ten award. All the votes have been tallied and now we have the top 25. This is where you come in! Read as many of these as you can (and, seriously, they're great), then vote online for your favorites in August and September. Your votes will pick the top ten best teen books of they year. Want a little hint about which book to start with? Every single reader nominated Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen :)

So, you liked The Hunger Games....

Oh, Hi!  I didn't see you there at first.  I was too busy looking at all of these awesome suggestions for other series to read for those of us who LOVED The Hunger Games.  I'm particularly fond of The Maze Runner and Life As We Knew It, but there are plenty of other really good ones on this list as well.

Use the comments section and let us know which ones are your favorites!