What Mrs N's Been Reading - Fake ID

Just finished Walter Sorrells' Fake ID. If you're looking for a good action-packed mystery, I just might have the book for you. This one is about a teenage girl, who has spent her entire life moving from place to place with her mom, taking on a new identity everywhere they go. She doesn't know what her real name is, but at this latest stop, she's going by Chass. When Chass' mom suddenly disappears, she not only has to deal with the local sheriff, who considers her and her mom trash, and wants to quickly get Chass turned over to juvenile authorities and out of town, but several big men with guns who want something that they won't even identify. In the course of trying to find out what happened to her mom and stay a few steps ahead of the guys with the guns, she also opens up a 20 year old can of worms in the form of an old local unsolved disappearance that sounds like it was probably a murder. Like I said earlier, plenty of action and plot twists, and no content that would be inappropriate for middle-schoolers. All in all a darn good book and a pretty quick read to boot.

Enjoy! And if you do, you might want to also check out the sequel, Club Dread.

What Mrs N's Been Reading - Fly on the Wall

Just finished e. lockhart's Fly on the Wall. It's a quick read - the story of Gretchen Yee, a student at an arts magnet high school in New York City. Her best friend Katya seems to be blowing her off lately, her parents just told her that they're getting a divorce, her drawing teacher is hypercritical of anything not done in the particular style she prefers, and she just can't figure boys out at all. In a discussion about boys, Gretchen comments to Katya that she'd love to be a fly on the wall in the boys' locker room. Sure enough, the next morning she wakes up as a fly on the wall in the boys locker room. Over the course of several days Gretchen goes from being a voyeur to starting to see beyond the surface of several of her classmates. I'd recommend this one to high school students, due purely to some of her observations in the locker room. Considering what she's describing, I thought it was remarkably non-graphic, but it is what it is. There's also some salty language, but if you ride the bus, you've probably heard it all. Hopefully reading this book will encourage you to look beneath the surface of some of the people you think you know. What you find there may surprise you.

Enjoy!

What Mrs N's Been Reading - My Swordhand is Singing

Just finished Marcus Sedgwick's My Swordhand is Singing. Sometimes a title is just so off-the-wall that it makes you pick the book up for a second look. This was one of those books. The creepy eyeball looking at you on the front cover helped, too. That, and the fact that I've liked other Sedgwick books. Anyway, this book is based on the very early folklore about vampires and the undead. Yes, it has undead vampires, multiple murders, chase scenes, and a gothic horror story setting, but if you're looking for a really creepy, blood and guts, vampire story, this ain't it. What it is, is a very well-written story about a teenage boy learning about life, death, love and the truth about his drunk, seemingly irresponsible father. It's a story of true heroism in the face of extreme adversity. It's a story about coming to terms with who you really are and what you're meant to do. It takes place at an nonspecific time several hundred years ago, in an unnamed eastern European country. It's a quick read, that doesn't fit any specific genre. There's plenty of tension, both from the action and the setting, but nothing graphic. I recommend it for both middle school and high school students. Enjoy!

Book Discussions to Continue

I've decided to continue the Teen Book Discussions, since there have been folks willing to moderate. (Thank you Allison for doing the one last week on, like, no notice!) We're going to continue with Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series (see Upcoming Programs, to the right, for dates and times) then after the first of the year, I think we'll do Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series. Watch for details on those. I'll post dates as soon as I have 'em.

What Mrs N's Been Reading - Little Brother

Just finished Cory Doctorow's Little Brother. Excellent book! From the start it made me think of the movie, Enemy of the State, with Will Smith and Gene Hackman. I kept thinking that if you weren't a bit paranoid when you started, you would be afterwards. Little Brother takes place in the near future. Surveillance of the general public is more intense than it is now. When terrorists attack the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, the Department of Homeland Security basically goes nuts and puts massive restrictions on everyone, and monitors every move everyone makes. A teenager, who was falsely imprisoned immediately after the attack, starts to mount an electronic attack on the DHS to try to make people realize how much they have given up in a misguided attempt to increase security, and to let them know what happened to him and his friends, one of whom hasn't been seen since their imprisonment and is presumed dead. In addition to it being a darned good story with plenty of action, it also gives you a real education about encryption, surveillance etc., but does it in a way that doesn't feel like a lesson - more like a good, geeky friend explaining something to you naturally in the course of a conversation. A good one to read with someone so you can talk about it afterwards. There's a little bit of mature content, but it's not graphic or gratuitous. I'd highly recommend it for older middle school students as well as high school students (adults, too now that I think about it.)

Enjoy!

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.