Weekly Challenge for July 31 - August 2

Wow! We're down to the last Weekly Challenge. The summer has just flown by. Anway, here's the last one:

Matilda is having a hard time with her pet bats. They insist on flying around and getting into trouble. Can you help her restrain them? Draw six straight lines through the box below so that each bat is left by itself.

Thought for the Week

The last day or so we've had a bit of a break from the hot, sticky weather we've been having the past few weeks, but it's expected to be a short break, with the hazy, hot, humid stuff coming back by mid-week. To prepare for it, here's this week's thought for the week:

“If you can't take the heat, don't tickle the dragon.”

Scott Fahlman

Even if you don't recognize the name, you are all familiar with Mr. Fahlman's best known invention. He's the computer scientist who is credited with originating the first emoticon (or smiley) way back in 1982. Thank you, Mr. Fahlman ;)

What Mrs. N's Been Reading

I am way behind in posting this stuff, but then again I'm falling behind on my reading too. Anyway, I've read a couple of good ones lately. Alex Flinn's Fade to Black was a pretty good, quick read. It's about an HIV positive teenager who is the victim of a vicious attack. The story is told from 3 different points of view: the victim, the accused attacker, and a student with Down's Syndrome who witnessed the attack. Sometimes those multiple point of view books are difficult to follow, but this one is pretty clear. A thought-provoking read - good if you need a book for school on a controversial subject.

The other one I finished recently is Scott Westerfeld's Uglies. Excellent book! It's getting really good reviews by people in the Teen Summer Reading program as well. It's the first book in a trilogy about a futuristic society where everyone is transformed, medically into drop-dead-gorgeous people on their 16th birthday. Sounds great, but of course, all is not what it appears on the surface. I was going to go for Pretties, the next one in the series, but all of the copies are out. I'm going to wait until school starts when you guys are all busier with homework, and don't have quite as much time for leisure reading. I can't wait.

While I'm waiting on Pretties, I'm reading Markus Zusak's The Book Thief. Very interesting so far. It takes place in Germany during WWII but it's narrated by Death. I'll let you know what I think when I finish it.

Quick Reminder

If you are using the downloadable book review form, and typing into it, please remember to circle the number of stars that you are giving the book. I'm seeing some coming in with no rating, which kinda defeats the purpose.

Balloon Sculpture Program

The balloon sculpture program with Rev. Dave Truitt was great! At times it sounded like 4th of July fireworks, especially while we were making those hearts with the bears attached - the most difficult sculpture of the afternoon. But it was great. I couldn't believe that we got through about 10 different sculptures in just over an hour. I'm using the word "we" a bit loosely. After my incredibly lopsided giraffe, I pretty much decided to stick to getting some photos. I got a lot of good ones. Check out some of the best ones here. The kids all got through all of the sculptures, so everyone had some great stuff to take home.

New Feature for Blog

I'm new to the world of blogging, so I'm still figuring out how to make this site as useful to you as possible. As this blog grows in size, it gets a bit more difficult to find things like the list of upcoming teen programs. Rather than make you sift through a ton of posts, I started keeping a list on the right side, between my profile info. and the links. Hopefully this will make it easier to find. For more info. on any program either go the link for the library's programs and events page, or sift through this blog to see if I've written up any details here.
If you have any other suggestions for how to make this site more useful or easier to use, please let me know. I'm always open to suggestions.

Weekly Challenge for July 24 - 29

This one is pretty easy. Just complete the maze.

Thought for the Week

In honor of today's murder mystery program and those who had a tough time solving it, we'll take a break from quotes about books and reading and go with this one instead:

"The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. "

Eden Phillpotts

If you're wondering who the heck Eden Phillpotts is or was, so was I, so I did a little poking around on-line. He (or she?) was a relatively obscure, but prolific British novelist and playwright, primarily in the first half ofthe 20th century. Consider that your relatively-useless-tidbit-of-information-for-the-day.

Murder Mystery Stumps Many

The murder Mystery Rock and Roll Over Dead was a lot of fun. I was afraid that it was going to be too easy, but only 3 out of 24 participants identified the correct suspect. Congratulations to Dev, Elliot, and Angela on some good sleuthing. We'll probably do another murder mystery next summer, so if you missed this one, look for one next year. Check out the photos of the gang examining evidence.

Supersize Trouble Makes It to the Big-Time

The Supersize Trouble game was great! A crew from CBS21 was there, so watch for a story on it tonight on the 5:30 and 6:00 news. If you missed it here's a couple of photos.

Sudoku Tournament Results

Yesterday's Sudoku tournament was a lot of fun. Sorry - I forgot to take pictures. But I can report that Katie M. beat out 18 other contestants in 5 hard-fought rounds to win the tournament. Congratulations Katie!

Weekly Challenge for July 17 - 22

Here's the one that the Reference Staff has been waiting all summer for:

Sing I'm a Little Teapot to any member of the Reference Staff. You'll get an extra chance in the prize drawing if you also do the motions.

Thought for the Week

"When I... discovered libraries, it was like having Christmas every day."

Jean Fritz

Come on in and celebrate Christmas in July!

Teen Summer Reading Programs in July

Here's what's happening in July. Check the library website or the Teen Scene brochure for more details.

Sudoku Tournament Monday, July 10 @ 2:00
Supersize Trouble Tuesday, July 11 @ 2:00
Teen Movie Wednesday, July 12 @ 2:00
Chess Tournament Saturday, July 15, 9:30-1:00
Murder Mystery Monday, July 17 @ 2:00
Balloon Sculpture Tuesday, July 18 @ 2:00
Teen Movie Wednesday, July 19 @ 2:00
Video Game Tournament/Game Day Monday, July 24 @ 2:00
Tapestry Bracelets Tuesday, July 25 @ 2:00
Teen Movie Wednesday, July 26 @ 2:00
Tapestry Bracelets Monday. July 31 @ 7:00

Summer Drinks Program

Last week's program on summer drinks was another good one. With the help of Marg Malehorn from the Penn State Extension office, 34 teens had a great time making and sampling some great new drinks, including Strawberry Orange Smash. Check out the photo and try the recipe below.

Strawberry Orange Smash
2 1/2 cups of frozen strawberries
1/2 cup no-calorie sweetener
1 cup calcium fortified orange juice
3/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/4 cup crushed ice

Process all ingredients in a blender until smooth, stopping to scrape side down.
Serve immediately.
90 calories per serving. Makes 4 (8 oz.) servings.

A 4th of July Scientific Oddity

Ok, this has absolutely nothing to do with the library, books, reading, or the Teen Summer Reading Program, but I thought it was so cool that I just had to share it. Yesterday while making final preparations for the 4th of July cookout, we sliced open a tomato that had been sitting on the counter for several days. In fact, it had been there so long that I was really surprised that it hadn't gone bad. As it turns out, what had happened was that the seeds had germinated while still inside of a perfectly good tomato. I have never seen this happen before. If anyone else has, please post a comment

Thought for the Week

In keeping with the the past few weeks' theme of books and reading, here's another one:

"I have never known any distress that an hour's reading did not relieve."

Montesquieu

Weekly Challenge for July 10 - 15

Here's next week's Weekly Challenge:

How many 9's are there in the numbers from 1 to 100?

That's all there is to it. Good luck!