What Mrs N's Been Reading - Jumper

Wow! It seems like ages since I've posted anything. I'm still not quite caught up after Teen Summer Reading, but it's good to get back to this anyway. Read a few things over the summer that I never posted. When I remember what they were I may post a quick thumbs up or down on those. In the meantime, I just finished Steven Gould's Jumper. Been wanting to read that one since I added to the collection I don't remember how many years ago, and finally got around to it. It's the story of Davey, who finds out quite by accident that he has the ability to teleport. On two different occasions when he his put into a horrific situation, he suddenly finds himself in the town library. As he starts to piece together what is happening he realizes that the library has always been a safe place for him, explaining why he appeared there for what had appeared to no apparent reason. He then starts to experiment to determine his limits. In addition to providing some good action later on (hijackers, government agents, etc.), Gould does a fabulous job of getting into Davey's head and exploring all of the emotions and ethical decisions that go along with his abilities. Yes, this is the book that the movie with Hayden Christensen was based on. I haven't seen the movie, but based on reviews, it sounds like it was more "inspired by" (think, I, Robot) than based on. Anyway, there is some mature content, but it's not graphic or overdone. I'd recommend it for high school or older middle school students. Enjoy!

Reverse APB on a Pig

OK folks, I'm trying to clean up after Teen Summer Reading. I still have a lovely ceramic pig that was left here after The Simpsons movie way back in June. Would the owner please come and claim it at the Information Desk, or it will become mine.

Murder Mystery Oops

If you're looking for photos of this year's murder mystery program, you'll be waiting a very long time. For the first time in quite a while, I was cleaning up after a program and realized that I had taken absolutely no pictures. I actually had the camera down in the Community Room, but had a brain lapse in there. That's too bad, because it was a cool program. Our thanks go out once again to Mr. Kozman and his students at Trinity High School who made a DVD for us to use as part of the program again this year. The DVD was even better than last year's. They had way too much fun making this year's!
Anyway, if you missed it, no pics, but look for another one next year. We had such a large turnout this year, that we'll probably offer 2 sessions next summer. Good problem to have!

DDR Guitar Hero

Hard to believe that today's was the next to the last program of the summer! An open play Guitar Hero and DDR day was a nice way to wind down. In addition to those games, the Nerf ping pong set was in full use, as usual, and there were several board games out as well. Pics below.

Just a reminder that tomorrow's movie is the last program, and the last prize drawing of the season will be held right after the movie. If you've been hanging onto tickets, get 'em in before about 2:45 tomorrow!

One More Book Discussion

OK, I was about to drop the teen book discussions due to the low turnout. However, Tuesday's group, which discussed Stephenie Meyer's Twilight was a nice size and they convinced me that there would be enough interest in doing the next book in the series. In a moment of weakness, I agreed and was able to schedule a meeting room for Thursday, September 11 at 7:00 to discuss Stephenie Meyer's New Moon. If turnout is good for that one as well, we will probably continue through the series. If anyone is interested in moderating that discussion, please let me know asap.

Weekly Challenge July 28 - 31, 2008

Believe it or not, it's almost the end of July, and that means the end of Teen Summer Reading for 2008. We'll wind down with a maze. Hope you all had a great time as part of the Teen Summer Reading Program. Watch this space for program info during the school year.
http://www.pacounties.org/cumberland/lib/cumberland/ls/fre/teens/maze_404058_checkerboard.png

Activism

We just wrapped up a really good program on how to become politically and socially active. Our originally scheduled presenter, Sarah Speed, the state head of the Humane Society, was unable to attend at the last minute. However, she arranged a wonderful substitute, Roy Afflerbach, who has served as both a state representative and senator, as well as mayor of Allentown. The program included some great tips on how to organize and implement a public policy campaign. If you missed it, a few pics are below.

Weekly Challenge July 21 - 26

Can you change "less" into "more"? You can only change one letter at a time. Don't change the order of the letters. Use 8 steps or less.



For example, to change "cat" to "dog":

CAT

can

con

don

DOG

Indie Rock Concert Pics - Finally!

Finally got my hands on some pics from what's now being called the 1st Annual Indie Rock Concert on the Lawn at the Fredricksen Library. Thank you Nelson, for pinch-hitting as photographer, and Jess for the use of your camera. A really, really big thank you to the folks at ChampionShip in Lemoyne, especially Tony, as well as the great groups that played that night - Handguns, Farewell Flight, and Safari So Good. We had absolutely delightful weather, a nice turnout, and no complaints from the neighbors. We're looking forward to doin' it again next summer! Good luck to the guys from Safari So Good as they head across country on tour. Glad they were able to fit us in.!

Turn Your Ideas Into Comics

Our second comic-related program of the summer was presented by Ben Richmond. It was basically, how to get those really cool ideas that are floating around in your head, on paper, in comic form. Ben covered a little bit of everything, including layout, blank spaces, perspective, character development, you name it. Part of the time was spent having everyone draw something, then share it with the group. Ben then pointed out the already cool parts of each person's drawings, as well as some pointers for making them even better. What I thought was really interesting, was the tremendous diversity of characters and story ideas that kids came up with. Ben did such a great job that he and I are already talking about what aspect of this to do another program on next summer. If you missed it, don't just check out the photos below, but watch for next year's program as well. Also, a big thank you to the Center for Advanced Management Planning as well as our good friends at Comix Connection for sponsoring the giveaways that Ben had for participants. See you next year!