What Mrs. N's Been Reading - Un Lun Dun

Just finished China Mieville's Un Lun Dun transport themselves to an alternate city inhabited by some very different folks - feral trash, the tailor who keeps his needles in his head and makes clothing from books, . I generally like fantasy novels, but occasionally start to feel like all of the fantasy worlds are pretty much the same - dragons, dwarfs, elves, etc. Mieville gets a lot of credit in my book for making his world, very, very different. Two girls accidentallysmombies, etc. The city itself was very well imagined as well with buildings made of discarded appliances, and a street where the buildings keep rearranging. As I was reading this, I kept thinking that, in the right hands, this would make a fantastic movie, especially an animated one. I almost hesitate to bring that thought up, after what filmmakers have done to some wonderful books lately. Stormbreaker was probably the worst (What could Anthony Horowitz possibly been thinking!), but friends and family tell me The Golden Compass was pretty awful, too.) But, boy, in the right hands this one could be really cool. Mieville also did a great job putting some different twists on the standard fantasy plot. Yes, there were prophecies about a girl who would save the city, but what if, from the very beginning, the prophecies seem to be completely wrong? Can you alter destiny? If some of the prophecies are wrong, are they all wrong? I enjoyed this one. The plot wasn't particularly heavy duty, but things moved along nicely, with some things you could try to guess ahead of time, but enough twists to hold your interest. And if you have a vivid imagination, you'll really enjoy visualizing Mieville's fantasy world. I give this one a thumbs-up. Check it out! Oh, and have a happy, healthy and productive new year!

New Fear Street Just In

We just got 2 additions to R.L. Stine's Fear Street series, Switched and Secret Admirer. Fans of Stine know what to expect, but if you need a little more detail, see New YA Books: New Fear Street .

DDR Lost and Found

A quick update to the DDR tournament. We found a very nice bracelet in the Community Room after the tournament. If it's yours, you can claim it at the Information Desk.

DDR Tournament Update

Just finished the DDR tournament. We had a low turnout, just 15 kids, probably because of the really wretched weather forecast. But, hey, that gave us time to let everyone have two shots at the first round. Josiah B was the ultimate winner with Cariana B coming in second. Pics are below. I'm still figuring out the best settings for the new camera in a dark room. Bear with me, I'll figure it out eventually.

Five Below Fundraiser Reminder

Just a quick reminder...
Our Five Below fundraiser is this Saturday and Sunday at the Camp Hill Mall store. For more details see the sidebar on the right side of this site. There is also a link for the voucher you need to turn in at the store, or if you forget to take one, ask the cashier for one while you're there. This is a great opportunity to get some cool holiday gifts, and help the library's Teen Advisory Group raise money for teen stuff at the library. So what are you waiting for? Go shop!!

What Mrs N's Been Reading - Ever After

I pulled an oldie-but-goodie off the shelf recently - Rachel Vail's Ever After. It's about a young girl, Molly, during the summer before she starts high school, in a small town on an island. It dealt with a little bit of everything - peer pressure, first periods, relationships with parents, complications with boys, bad decisions, and coming back around after making bad decisions. I think almost any middle school or early high school age girl could relate to Molly. And I liked the ending because it didn't wrap everything up in a neat little bow like a bad tv sitcom, but it showed tremendous hope. Enjoy!

What's That Fabulous Fragrance?

The library smelled quite wonderful on Sunday as 15 teens got together to make flameless scented candles, aka "smelly jellies." I love the crafts where I put a pile of stuff out and you guys get creative with it! Yours always look so much better than my samples. Sunday's craft was no exception, as seen in the pics below. And, as somewhat usual, the younger kids were more efficient and better at some things like the rub-ons, than the older kids - always fun to watch! And, of course we had some wonderful holiday music playing while we worked. All in all, a very nice Sunday afternoon!

Guitar Hero Update

Wow! We had kids coming out of the woodwork yesterday for the Guitar Hero tournament! I felt really bad that I had to start turning kids away once we had 40 signed up for the tournament, but if I hadn't, we'd probably still be in there. As is, we just finished up with about 10 minutes to spare before the library closed. Zach S. was the final winner with Cory W. coming in second. In addition to the gift certificates that they won, they also got their proverbial 15 minutes of fame courtesy of the Patriot News, which ran a real nice story in today's paper, front page below the fold. A big thank you to everyone who came out entered, and an extra thank you to Zach and Wes who did a great job cleaning up during the tournament, so we could continue to play till just about closing time. I love to see young men with brooms in their hands.

Pics are below. Pardon the quality. I'm still getting the hang of a new camera.

What Mrs N's Been Reading - Uncovering Sadie's Secrets

Just finished Uncovering Sadie's Secrets by Libby Sternberg. It's a mystery. In fact it was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best YA Mystery a few years ago. If you're looking for a heavy duty, blood and guts, type of mystery, this isn't for you. It's what I refer to as a light mystery. The narrator is a teen named Bianca who is a high school sophomore. She starts to notice some strange things about a new girl in school and sets out to figure out what is going on, and to help the other girl out if needed. What I liked about the book was that the story was believable. The situations weren't completely outlandish like you see in some teen books. It also read pretty much like a teenager talking to you. It moved quickly and had enough hints and twists to keep you trying to figure out what was going on. It's also the first in a series, so if you like this one, you might want to check out Finding the Forger as well. Enjoy!