Math Geek Alert!

Attention all math geeks! (I mean that as a compliment! Honest!) If you're in the library and looking for a study break, and perhaps a bit of a challenge, solve the math problem of the day and get your choice of a mini candy bar or a Jolly Rancher. Just come over to my office (right near the public internet computers) and look for the calendar with daily math problems, on my door. Solve the problem, show it to me (or the Reference Librarian if I'm not in) and claim your treat. You need to show some work. OK, at least copy down the problem. Don't like today's problem? I'm not all that picky. I'll give you a couple day window, just copy the problem so I know which one you were attempting. It's a 2010 calendar, and we're taking January answers now, so it's a big window.
Good luck and happy solving.

Five Below Thank You

A big thank you to everyone who supported our Five Below fundraiser this past weekend. Boy, last December's was over the ice storm weekend, and this year's was over the near-blizzard weekend. Can I pick dates or what?! Despite the weather, we did quite respectably. Thanks to all who shopped! Look for another fundraiser right before Easter.

Yoga Update

The introduction to yoga program that was scheduled for this past Saturday, was cancelled due to the weather related closing of the library. We'll try to reschedule it, but it won't be until late spring, or possibly as part of Teen Summer Reading 2010. Watch this space for updates.

What Mrs N's Been Reading - Holdup

I finished Terri Fields' Holdup a few nights ago. It reminded me of the Orca Soundings books that I highly recommend for older middle school and high school students who are weak readers, or just get frustrated slogging through a thick book. Holdup is a little longer than most of the Orca Soundings, but at 163 pages, is still quite manageable for a weaker reader. It takes the reader from the the events leading up to an armed robbery at a fast food restaurant, through the robbery, and then looking at the aftermath. It alternates between 9 points of view (both of the robbers, some of the employees, and 2 customers), which you'd think would be awfully confusing, but it isn't. Near the end of the story, the author points out that statistically, the average person makes over 600 decisions a day, many of them we don't even realize that we're making. As the story unfolds, it shows the effects that a single, sometimes obviously significant, sometimes not, decision can have on the rest of a person's live. Excellent for reluctant readers, and a good, quick, compelling read for anyone else.

Enjoy!

What Mrs N's Been Reading - Ten Mile River and Wake

Ok, I'm back to just having a backlog of two books at a time. Finished Paul Griffin's Ten Mile River and Lisa McMann's Wake.

Ten Mile River is the story of two teens, Ray and Jose, who have spent the last few years escaping from juvenile detention centers and foster homes, and living in an abandoned shack in the wooded area of a park in New York City. They survive by stealing, and looking out for each other. Ray is very bright, and tries to read everything he can get his hands on. Jose just figures that learning anything isn't worth the trouble because he'll just continue to live by stealing, and will probably end up dead or in jail at a relatively young age anyway. Ray is given an opportunity for honest work and really wants to take advantage of it, but his record is following him. There is also Trini, the girl that both of them are interested in. It's a view of a very different lifestyle. I usually don't really like books written in heavy urban slang, but this one was done better than most. That's probably because the author has actually spent time teaching in the juvenile detention centers in New York. The characters are more complex as well. Despite, or perhaps because of, the conditions that they live in, you see the deep relationship that Ray and Jose have developed. They are very, very different in both personality and in hopes for the future, but because of circumstances, they are closer and would do more for each other than most biological siblings. It's a pretty quick read. Some rough language, but nothing real graphic. Best for high school students.

Wake is the story of Janie Hannagan, a high school student from the wrong side of the tracks, who lives with her usually drunk mother, and works as an aide in a nursing home to try to save enough money to go to college. Since she was 8 years old, if Janie is in close proximity to another person who is sleeping, she is suddenly and uncontrollably drawn into that person's dreams. To an onlooker she appears to be having a seizure. This makes sleepovers and overnight class trips difficult, to say the least. She has never told anyone about it, and struggles to maintain control, and to keep the secrets that she is privy to by witnessing other people's dreams. When she becomes friends with Cabel, another student from the wrong side of town, things take some interesting twists as he witnesses what happens to her and tries to help her. Another quick read, that draws you in and keeps you reading a little later than you intended. I liked this one a lot. Fine for older middle school or high school students. When you finish this one, look for the sequel, Fade. Another book in the series, Gone, is scheduled for release in early 2010. I'll be picking that one up when it's available.

Enjoy!

Snowflake Ornaments

We just finished making beaded snowflake ornaments. With some holiday music in the background, it was a nice escape from the yucky, rainy weather outside. Once again teens proved that they have more creativity in their little fingers than most adults can ever hope to have. By turning them loose with all the beads I had on hand, they came up with some great combinations that I never would have thought to put together. Everyone got to make 2 larger ones and one small one. And as an added bonus, they could also decorate gift bags for the ones they were giving away. Check out the creativity below!

What Mrs N's Been Reading - The Spectacular Now, Marcelo in the Real World, and Newes from the Dead

I have hit an all-time low. This is the first time that I've finished 3 books before I got around to posting my review on them. I've got a litany of excuses, but never mind. Let's just get to 'em.
The first was Tim Tharp's The Spectacular Now. The narrator is Sutter Keely, a high school senior and king of the party animals. He lives with his mom and step dad. His sister is the trophy wife of an older, incredibly snooty executive. His girlfriend, Cassidy, breaks up with him early in the book because she sees him as a lot of fun, but never serious, never considering anyone else's feelings (especially hers), and has no future. But this doesn't really slow down Sutter's partying. He goes from one good time to the next, always carrying his whiskey flask. One night he wakes up in the middle of a lawn with a girl looking down at him. Aimee is a socially awkward but really sweet girl. Sutter helps her with her predawn paper deliveries then devises a plan to go out with her a few times, as a good deed, to improve her social life. Of course, things don't go quite as planned. Sutter's voice is egotistical, but honest. You see him throwing his life away, but you also see his good intentions. There's no nice, neat sitcom ending here, but it's realistic. Not for middle schoolers due to heavy drinking and other adult situations.
Francisco Stark's Marcelo in the Real World, is the story of Marcelo Sandoval, a 17-year-old boy with a high functioning form of Asperger's Syndrome. He has been going to a school for special needs students all of his life. He is looking forward to the job he has lined up for the summer working with the horses at his school, but his lawyer father has other plans for him. He wants Marcelo to work in the mail room of his law firm, and to attend a regular high school for his senior year. He thinks that Marcelo is better able to function in "the real world" than he thinks, and that experience in dealing with "the real world" will do him good. You see inside Marcelo's head as he struggles to cope with the noisy city streets, and the nuances of dealing with other people, that he finds incredibly difficult. Going from an entirely sheltered existence to dealing with the cast of characters in a cut-throat law firm is quite the culture shock, but he manages to handle most things. Then he is faced with a moral dilemma that could effect his entire family and his own future, as well as people he has never even met. Wonderfully written! Nothing really objectionable for older middle schoolers, but I think high school students will get more out of it.

Mary Hooper's Newes from the Dead starts with Anne Green waking up in absolute darkness, unable to move. As she tries to figure out if she is dead or alive, in heaven or hell or purgatory, she remembers that she had been hanged. In alternating chapters you see the story unfold from two points of view, Mary's as she describes the events leading up to her hanging, and that of Robert Matthews, an Oxford scholar who is witnessing the dissection of Mary's body along with several other doctors and medical students. This is based on actual events that occurred in England in 1650. Very compelling reading! Mary's story will keep you engrossed, and you will also get a look at the politics of the 1600's, as well as the medical procedures and theories of the time. At one point I was wondering how the things they were putting on Mary's body (turpentine, sheep dung, etc.) didn't take out half the other people in the room! Probably not for younger middle school students. Considering the subject matter, there's very little gore. But Mary was hanged for infanticide, believed to have killed her newborn baby, whose father is the grandson of the master of the house where Mary had worked as servant. That subject is handled as discreetly as possible, but it's still not for younger readers.
Enjoy!

Retro Game Day

A small but enthusiastic group met today to enjoy some oldies but goodies on the NES and N64. I thought we had an Atari coming, which would have been very cool, but that person was a no-show. Thanks Ameer, for bringing in the second N64. I didn't get any pictures today, because with the group being small and everything open play, I actually played some games and a little Nerf ping pong and never got around to the camera. We originally hooked the NES up to the projector on the big screen, mostly because I wanted to play Duck Hunt on the big screen. A word of warning to anyone else who may be thinking of doing that... no can do. The NES works just fine, but the guns don't work with a projector screen. The signal needs to bounce off the TV screen and back to the gun. Fortunately that realization came to me relatively quickly and we swapped out one of the N64s. Good thing, since Duck Hunt was probably the most used game of the day. It was a lot of fun!

What Mrs N's Been Reading - Bonechiller

I'm a big, big fan of Graham McNamee's Acceleration, (a very intense thriller that I highly recommend!) so I grabbed Bonechiller when I spotted it on the shelf. Although not quite as intense as Acceleration (which is ok, given the level of intensity in Acceleration), McNamee does keep his reputation for suspense with this one. Danny is a high school student, living with his dad since his mom's death. They keep drifting from place to place and are now spending the winter in a remote Canadian village where Danny's father is caretaker of a marina for the off season. While walking home one night, Danny is stalked by an immense, bizarre creature. After Danny falls into a ditch, the creature catches up with him, looms over him, and stings him with it's tongue, rendering him unconscious. When he wakes up he is shocked but thrilled to still be alive, but wondering why the creature left him. Since the only mark he can find on himself is a small blue dot where the stinger got him, he wonders if the entire experience may have been a hallucination, or at least been exaggerated in his mind, due to the concussion from hitting his head on the ice when he fell. The huge footprints he finds the next day in the ditch seem to indicate that it was real. When he finds that his friend Howie has had a similar experience, and they start to experience very bizarre symptoms like shared dreams, and immunity to cold, they get concerned. Further research shows a string of unexplained disappearances of teenagers periodically, going back as far as the local records go. It also sounds a lot like the old native legends of wendigos. Can they figure out how to stop the creature before they both fall victim to it? There is also a well done side story of Danny's growing relationship with, Ash, a local girl who is half native, and a champion boxer. His initial meeting with her takes place in the boxing ring, when she just about knocks him into next week. Nice to see a strong (in this case literally) female character. McNamee keeps the suspense up, and you'll like the characters, even Howie's psycho older brother, Pike, so you'll be pulling for them.

Enjoy!

Guitar Hero 3 Tournament Results

We had a smaller than usual crowd, probably due to some freakishly delightful weather, as well as the Steelers game being broadcast. (Yes, I already got that bad news, courtesy of the dads who were listening on the radio back in the back corner. But back to the GH tournament...) We were able to play double elimination for the first 2 rounds, which is always a plus. Wow, we had a strong field today! There were about 6 people who, on any given day, probably could have won it with that same group in the mix. There were a few excellent rounds! Our grand prize winner today was newcomer to Fredricksen tournaments, Tom D. , with a very respectable second place finish by Fredricksen veteran, Jared M. And it was an incredibly neat group. I have no idea why, but any day I don't need to sweep up popcorn, I just accept gratefully without asking too many questions. The board game of the day appeared to be Simpson's Clue. A big thank you to Andrew C for his help setting up and unlocking songs for today's tournament. Our next game day will be a retro game day in December, open play, no tournament. See the list of upcoming programs for details. Pics from today's tournament are below.

What Mrs N's Been Reading - London Calling

Just finished Edward Bloor's London Calling. Not sure what made me pick this one up, because the cover is kind of bland, but I sure am glad I did. I really liked this one! Kind of hard to describe without giving too much away, but I'll give it a shot. Martin Conway is just finishing 7th grade at a private school, when the story begins. He really hates the school, because the students are mostly rich kids. He's there because his mother is the school secretary, so his tuition is free. On the last day of school he ends up in the middle of a disturbance instigated by the son of a prominent family. When Martin's best friend, a kid on scholarship because his dad is a mason working on a project at the school, defends him and winds up getting expelled, Martin goes into a bit of a depression and holes up in his basement bedroom. After Martin's Nana, who seems to have been slipping into dementia, and who he always felt close to, dies, he inherits an old cathedral style 1940's radio from her. When he falls asleep with the radio tuned between stations acting as white noise and a night light to help him sleep, Martin has a very detailed and nagging dream in which he is sent back to 1940 London during the blitz, and meets a boy named Jimmy. But was it a dream? Martin writes down details and starts to research them to see if the events he witnessed and the people he met were in fact real. This sets him off on a long adventure that ends with him traveling to England to try to right a wrong. He ultimately changes some of what had been accepted as historic facts, and changes the course of several families' futures including his own, some for the better, some worse. The end is very moving. I was sniveling. Excellent book! Nothing objectionable for middle schoolers, and you may learn a little history along the way as well. Enjoy!

What Mrs N's Been Reading - Carter Finally Gets It

Just finished Brent Crawford's Carter Finally Gets It. I was long overdue for something funny, after having literally, gone to hell and back with The Black Tattoo, and the excellent, but very dark and heavy Living Dead Girl before that. The story starts as Carter is about to enter high school. He's ADD (no H) and stutters when he's under stress or nervous, so he's got an assortment of issues in school and in dealing with girls. The back of the book gives you a good idea of what to expect. There's an actual warning that reads, "Warning: This book contains lewd humor, underage drinking, illicit fantasizing, and very bad decision-making." What it doesn't tell you is that the book also deals with the consequences of the actions described in the warning. There's nothing really graphic, but this one's not for younger middle-schoolers. Older kids, guys especially, will probably relate to Carter, unless of course, they are the perfect student, star athlete, and drop-dead gorgeous. But you know what? Carter finds out some things but one of those seemingly perfect upperclassmen that lets you know that they might not be quite what they appear to be. Despite his frequent real bonehead moments, you'll find yourself rooting for Carter because his intentions are usually good, but he gets sucked into some peer pressure situations and really manages to foul things up. I found myself frequently stifling laughter while reading this one. Reminds me a bit of David Lubar's Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie.

Enjoy!

What Mrs N's Been Reading - The Black Tattoo

Just finished Sam Enthoven's The Black Tattoo. Jack and Charlie are 2 seemingly ordinary London teenagers. When Charlie's ATM card is swiped and the stranger who grabs the thief and retrieves the card, asks them both to come with him and take a test, it's the beginning of an adventure that will literally take them to hell and back as they end up fighting demons and taking on the ultimate evil in an attempt to save the universe from complete destruction. Descriptions are very good without getting so drawn out that you lose interest. The characters are ones that you'll come to care about, and that always helps keep my interest. Don't know if anyone has bought the rights to this one, but it would probably make a pretty cool action flick, especially if they get the right people creating the demons. There's a fair amount of fighting with some gore, but it's just enough to keep middle school boys interested without being inappropriate.

Enjoy!

Fall T-shirts

We just wrapped up our fall t-shirt program. We broke out a pile of stencils, fabric paint and fabric markers and turned 13 kids (great number for a Halloween-y program!) loose, just to prove, once again, that they are far more creative than I will ever, ever be. With Halloween party music going in the background, the kids turned out some pretty cool shirts! Check some of them out below!

What Mrs N's Been Reading - Beige

Finished Cecil Castellucci's Beige a few nights ago. Probably wouldn't have picked this one up on my own, but a teen put it in my hands, literally. (Thanks Nia!) Enjoyed this one a good bit more than I thought I would. It's the story of a young Canadian girl, Katy, who has been raised by her single mom and hadn't seen her dad, a legendary punk rocker, since she was quite small. Katy is a bit of a neurotic, type A personality, quite reserved and likes everything in it's place. Needless to say dad is nothing like that, so when Katy is sent to a spend a few weeks in L.A. with him while her mom is on an archaeological dig in Peru, they don't exactly hit it off. The other people that Katy meets, a girl her age named Lake, also the daughter of a punk rocker, and a couple of boys, Leo, the drop-dead gorgeous type, and Garth, the awkward, slightly nerdy type who seems to be a punk rocker wannabe, aren't exactly the types that Katy would choose to hang around with either. Lake has been bribed to hang out with Katy (talk about demeaning!) and promptly nicknames Katy, Beige, in reference to her first impressions of Katy's personality. Katy struggles to get through the couple of weeks, with hope that it would all be over soon, but then she gets the news that a few weeks is now going to be the entire summer. At first I thought that the characters were going to be predictable, but I found them quite engaging and the story pretty compelling. Katy's parents are both recovering addicts, so there are drug references, but the references are to the consequences, especially long term. Nothing objectionable for older middle schoolers or high school students.

Enjoy!

What Mrs N's Been Reading - Living Dead Girl

Read Elizabeth Scott's Living Dead Girl over the weekend. If you've watched the news accounts of young women who had been kidnapped as children and lived, seemingly out in the open, with their kidnappers for years and wondered why they didn't seem to run or try to get help, this book might help you to appreciate the situations that they were probably in. It's a very disturbing and unsettling book, but a compelling read, that you can't put down once you start it. Scott does a remarkable job of conveying the horrific things that Alice, the narrator and main character, has experienced without being graphic. Nonetheless, this one is definitely not for middle schoolers, although if an parent were to read it, it might help them in talking to a younger child about abductors. The book puts you inside Alice's head as she realizes that her abductor is probably going to kill find a new younger girl to abduct and kill Alice. She sees how her abductor has manipulated her, but still doesn't see a way out that she believes won't endanger her family. Another book on a similar topic, that is just as compelling, but a good bit less horrific is Elaine Alphin's Counterfeit Son. For the right reader, I recommend both very highly.

Mario Kart Tournament Update

Another nice afternoon with a great bunch of kids. Only 15 in the tournament today (I think the really nice weather kept some people outside today) plus the usual extras there for the side and board games, but that meant we had time to do double elimination for the first 2 rounds so everyone got more chances to play. Our big winner today was Joe W with Chase S pulling out a second place finish. Thanks to Andrew for his help setting up, Nick for his help cleaning up, both Andrew and Nick for keeping the popcorn coming (did anyone eat lunch before they came?), and Ameer and Brandon for providing a little ukulele music in the background. I don't know, you just don't hear enough ukulele music anymore. Anyway, if you missed it, pics below.

What Mrs N's Been Reading - The Hunger Games

Finished Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games late last night. Wow! I see why this one has been so popular. It's set in a futuristic country, taking up what's left of North America after several natural disasters and wars. There is a central government area where all of the power and money are, and 12 outlying districts where the people live under oppression and in severe poverty. There had been a 13th district, but after they led an unsuccessful attempt at an uprising, the entire district was destroyed to set an example. Now, as a reminder of the uprising, the central government holds the annual Hunger Games, where a boy and girl from each district are chosen at random and put into a cordoned off area to fight to the death, with the last child left alive winning fame and fortune for him or herself and a year of extra supplies for their district. The people in the districts are forced to treat the games like a festival, and to watch it being televised. I won't give away more of the plot, but I will say that it's well-written and compelling reading. I put myself in the hold line for the sequel, and I very seldom read more than one book in a series. Enjoy!

What Mrs N's Been Reading - Discordia

Just finished Dena Salmon's Discordia: The Eleventh Dimension. Young Lance suddenly finds himself in another world. Is he somehow in the on-line game, Discordia, that he spends most of his spare (and not-so-spare) time playing? If he's not in the game itself, is it a world modeled after the game? Or that the game is modeled after? Is he hallucinating? Why is his online gaming friend there with him? And most importantly, how do they get back from wherever they are? I found the book a little disjoint in the beginning, but a few chapters in, it started to flow better and drew me in more. Not bad, but I liked Conor Kostick's Epic better as a book for and about gamers and gaming. There's some gory, but not really graphic violence, but otherwise nothing objectionable for middle schoolers.

Enjoy!

Spa Day - Girls Day In

Didn't know how this was going to fly when it was first suggested, but as it turns out, we'll definitely be doing this one again! I cut off registration when we hit 40, and most of those folks showed up. We had herbal teas and flavored sparkling water. We had brewer's yeast and yogurt facials, and the good old cucumber slices on the eyes. We had a rosemary steam treatment. And of course, hair and nails. Too bad my yoga instructor didn't show. After nearly 2 hours, we had to chase the last of the girls out so we could get cleaned up, a definite indicator of success! Everyone had a blast. Look for this one again over the winter. If you missed it, pics below.

Brawl Tournament Update

Wow! Great turnout for our first video game tournament of he school year! We had 39 in the tournament, and more who just came for the side games and ambience. Congrats to our winners - Jeremiah H was our big winner with Ben pulling out 2nd place. A big thank you to my ace clean-up crew as well. I'd still be down there packing up systems without them. Thanks also to Alex B for helping to keep that first round running relatively smoothly.

If you missed it, pics below..

Dance Program Pics

We just wrapped up an encore of this summer's dance program. A big thank you to Debbie from Always Time for Dancing in Lemoyne for pinch-hitting at the last minute for Mandy and doing a fabulous job! Everyone had a lot of fun. And what a difference over the course of just an hour! If you missed it, pics below.