Weekend Book Giveaway: Poison

This weekend's book Poison by Bridget Zinn takes the idea of fairy tales to the max with princesses, poison, poison, and even pigs! With ten library requests on it this wonderful story is ripe for the picking! Sixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the only one who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction-which means shes the only one who can save it. Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the kingdoms future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend.But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dartmisses.Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the kings army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least shes not alone. Shes armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she cant stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her? Kyra is not your typical murderer, and shes certainly no damsel-in-distress-shes the lovable and quick-witted hero of this romantic novel that has all the right ingredients to make teen girls swoon.Praise for Poison "A frothy confection of a fairy tale featuring poisoners, princesses, perfumers and pigs, none of whom are exactly what they appear (except maybe the pigs).   For a chance to win your copy, tell me what your favorite fairytale story is and why its your favorite.

Winner will be selected with Random Number Generator on Wednesday September 4, 2013. 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.

Tech Thursday -- Online Brainteaser Games

I think one of the least stressful ways to learn about science and technology is to play games. Have fun playing games while increasing your knowledge base @ the Science Museum website. While they have quite a few games, the ones I've found most interesting are:

LAUNCHBALL, where you "slide, bounce, and spring your way through 30 obstacle-filled levels". The cool thing about this game is that you can build your own course and then challenge your friends (or have them challenge you). To start, you're given six levels to get warmed up and understand how the course works, and then it gets real. Bonus: you learn about physics while mastering the game!

Then there's Water Wars: DRENCH: use and maintain five technologies to capture enough water to grow food for a growing population. Can't say I'm awesome at the game, but I like the graphics.

 

 

 

See how good you are at codebreaking with the Codebreaker Challenge. Inspired by Alan Turing,  a computer science pioneer who helped decipher the German's WWII wartime communication encryption program,"Enigma", this game will test your encryption (or, in this case, de-encryption)skills. Break three coded challenges on each level to get to the Master challenge and crack the Enigma machine. It starts off okay, but it is quite the challenge. (They will give hints, but hints cost you points!)



 

 

 

What science-related games do you like playing? 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trailer Tuesday: Revolution 19 by Gregg Rosenblum

Revolution 19 by Gregg Rosenblum

Twenty years ago, the robots designed to fight our wars abandoned the battlefields. Then they turned their weapons on us. Headstrong seventeen-year-old Nick has spent his whole life in a community in the wilderness, hiding out from the robots that have enslaved mankind. But when the bots discover the community's location, he, his tech-geek younger brother, Kevin, and adopted sister, Cass, barely make it out alive, only to discover that their home has been destroyed and everyone they love is missing. All survivors were captured and taken to one of the robots' Cities. The siblings have been hearing tales about the Cities all their lives: humans are treated like animals, living in outdoor pens and forced to build new bots until they drop dead from exhaustion. Determined to find out if their parents are among the survivors, Nick, Kevin, and Cass venture into the heart of the City, but it is nothing like they've been told. As they live among the bots for the first time, they realize they're fighting for more than just their family. The robots have ruled for too long, and now it's time for a revolution.

Weekend Book Giveaway: Of Triton

This weeks book of Triton by Anna Banks is perfect for the reader who is looking for a watery romance with a side of wit and humor. Second in the series, this new hardback copy has 15 holds on it! To skip the line reply to the prompt below.

From the publisher: "The Syrena kingdoms are warring, and Emma needs to choose who she will save. Emma has just learned that her mother is a long-lost Poseidon princess, and now struggles with an identity crisis: As a Half-Breed, she's a freak in the human world and an abomination in the Syrena realm. Syrena law states all Half-Breeds should be put to death.As if that's not bad enough, her mother's reappearance in the Syrena world turns the two kingdoms-Poseidon and Triton-against one another. Which leaves Emma with a decision to make: Should she comply with Galen's request to keep herself safe and just hope for the best? Or should she risk it all and reveal herself-and her Gift-to save a people she's never known? Once again, Anna Banks infuses Emma and Galen's points of view with humor, intrigue, and waves of romance."

 For a chance to win, tell me where you would have a summer romance take place (besides under the ocean).

Winner will be selected with Random Number Generator on Wednesday September 4, 2013. 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.

Tech Thursday Free App Day: "Remember Everything" with Evernote -- a great way to stay organized this fall!

Yes, it must be acknowledged -- the start of school is close at hand. Evernote may help make your school life easier. Available for Windows, Android and iOS users.

As they promise on their website, Evernote "... is the easy and powerful way to remember everything, from lifelong memories and vital information to daily reminders and to-do lists."

 

You can do more than just save webpages:

• Make notebooks for each subject, then take/save notes, upload images, and add relevant webpages
• Organize your notes by notebooks and tags/keywords; search by keyword
• Make to-do lists, take notes, and save Tweets to your Evernote account
• Upload photos and add audio for an interesting presentation
• All of your notes, web clips, files and images are made available on every device and computer you use  and automatically synced, so they're always ready for reading
• Share your notes with classmates (or have them share theirs with you)
• Connect Evernote to other apps and products you use

 

Plus there are lots of Evernote products that can help you organize your schoolwork and after-school interests even better...click on the links if you want to learn more or see how others have used them.

 

Webclipper: Save anything you see online forever — including text, links and images — with a single click.  (http://evernote.com/webclipper/)

Peek: Turn your notes, audio and images in Evernote into study materials (http://evernote.com/peek/)

 Penultimate: iPad only (really bummed and hope there's an Android tablet app soon) Beautiful digital handwriting app for iPad that combines the natural experience of pen and paper with the flexibility and syncing of Evernote (http://evernote.com/penultimate/)

Skitch: Get your point across with fewer words by adding notes, shapes and sketches to visual media. To get ideas of uses: http://evernote.com/skitch/

Trailer Tuesday: Prophecy by Ellen Oh

The Prophecy by Ellen Oh is the first book in an exciting new fantasy series. It includes a female warrior protagonist, takes place in historical Korea, and looks packed with action. I plan on picking it up. What about you?

From the Publisher: "The greatest warrior in all of the Seven Kingdoms . . . is a girl with yellow eyes. Kira's the only female in the king's army, and she's also the prince's bodyguard. She's a demon slayer and an outcast, hated by nearly everyone in her home city of Hansong. And, she's their only hope. . . . Murdered kings and discovered traitors point to a demon invasion, sending Kira on the run with the young prince. He may be the savior predicted in the Dragon King's prophecy, but the legendary lost ruby treasure just might be the true key to victory. With only the guidance of the cryptic prophecy, Kira must battle demon soldiers, an evil shaman, and the Demon Lord himself to find what was once lost and raise a prince into a king. Intrigue and mystery, ancient lore and action-packed fantasy come together in this heart-stopping first book in a trilogy."