I'm so proud of my teens ;) here is just one reason why.
Check out the link here to see an article about one of our very own teen's latest projects! Keep up the awesome job everyone! -Bailey
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A friend of mine posted this on their facebook, I thought this might be helpful, or at least interesting to you.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=1601819254523 Let me know if it works or doesn't so that I can fix it. -Bailey Hey everyone, as some of you might have noticed the homework help section of the site has been evolving almost daily. This is because it has been my goal for quite some time now to create better awareness of the databases we have to offer here at ACPL, and in doing so I realized that building a better homework page was the thing to do! So check it out! There are still some bugs to be worked out with the Databases but there are some very fine math tutorials and some great writing and citation help. So there you are teens, check it out! I would be grateful for feedback on the section. I would love to hear about anything you think I might have missed, or if you know of a better resource, please tell me, after all this page is all about helping you! See you Thursday!
-BAM I thought some of you might find this interesting its an essay form the New York Times Book Review.
Essay The Kids’ Books Are All Right By PAMELA PAUL Published: August 6, 2010 While au fait literary types around town await the buzzed-about new novels from Jonathan Franzen and Nicole Krauss, other former English majors have spent the summer trying to get hold of “Mockingjay,” the third book in Suzanne Collins’s dystopian trilogy, so intensely under wraps that not even reviewers have been allowed a glimpse before its airtight Aug. 24 release. What fate will befall our heroine, Katniss Everdeen? My fellow book club members and I are desperate to know. When will the Capitol fall? And how can Collins possibly top the first two installments, “The Hunger Games” and “Catching Fire”? Enlarge This Image Illustration by Ross MacDonald Multimedia #embed238 { visibility: visible ! important; } Oh, did I mention? “Mockingjay” is for teenagers. I am well into my 30s. But I am not embarrassed by my, shall we say, immature taste in literature. And I wasn’t much concerned when, barreling through “The Hunger Games” at the hospital after giving birth to my third child, I hardly noticed whether he ate or slept. When will the rebellion begin, I wanted to know. Which suitor will Katniss choose? Nor am I alone. According to David Levithan, editorial director at Scholastic, Collins’s publisher, roughly half of the “Hunger Games” fans on Facebook are full-fledged adults. “The Harry Potter generation has grown up,” he told me. It isn’t just the kids who graduated with the Hogwarts crowd who are tuning in. After all, the historian Amanda Foreman, a 42-year-old mother of five and author of “Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire,” was honeymooning when she first read Harry. When I asked Foreman about her young adult reading habit, she could hardly contain her enthusiasm. I must, she urged, read Susan Cooper (“incredibly clever”), Eoin Colfer (“a brilliant author”), Rick Riordan (“really, really, really good”). I must! “A lot of adult literature is all art and no heart,” Foreman, who is currently working on a book about British involvement in the American Civil War, said. “But good Y.A. is like good television. There’s a freshness there; it’s engaging. Y.A. authors aren’t writing about middle-aged anomie or disappointed people.” That may be, in part, why so many middle-aged readers like them. (“They’re also easier to read, and people are tired,” Lizzie Skurnick, author of the anthology “Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading,” suggested. “I’m sure I’ll get in trouble for saying that.”) But big type and short, plot-driven chapters aside, the erosion of age-determined book categories, initiated by Harry Potter, has been hastened along by an influx of crossover authors like Stephenie Meyer and interlopers like Sherman Alexie, James Patterson, Francine Prose, Carl Hiaasen and John Grisham, to name just a few stars from across the spectrum of adult fiction who have turned to writing Y.A. According to surveys by the Codex Group, a consultant to the publishing industry, 47 percent of 18- to 24-year-old women and 24 percent of same-aged men say most of the books they buy are classified as young adult. The percentage of female Y.A. fans between the ages of 25 and 44 has nearly doubled in the past four years. Today, nearly one in five 35- to 44-year-olds say they most frequently buy Y.A. books. For themselves. When Gretchen Rubin, the author of “The Happiness Project,” started up her Kidlit book club in 2006, it was a furtive, underground pursuit. “I always knew that I loved children’s literature but had shoved it to the side because it didn’t fit my idea of myself as a sophisticated adult,” Rubin, a former clerk for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, told me. “So I read it on the sly, when I was stressed out. If I found myself rereading ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ it meant I was really anxious.” The idea for Kidlit was hatched at a lunch with Jennifer Joel, a literary agent at I.C.M., in which both tentatively expressed a love that ran deeper than Potter. A few days later, Rubin discovered that another acquaintance, Jonathan Burnham, senior vice president and publisher of Harper, was also a fan. Their first meeting was held shortly thereafter. Its subject was “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” At the end of dessert (Turkish delight), Amy Zilliax, who has a Ph.D. in English, stood up and shouted, “At last, I have found my people!” Kidlit has now expanded to three groups, which meet every six weeks, alternating between classic and contemporary works. When I joined in 2008, the initial appeal was catch-up. Why had I never read “Bridge to Terabithia”? Shouldn’t I tackle H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, “Where the Red Fern Grows”? But I was also intrigued that Lev Grossman, book critic for Time, and Laura Miller, the book critic for Salon, along with several top agents and editors, were also members. What, I wondered, were such high-powered literary eminences doing in a club devoted to children’s stories? Arguing, often passionately, about the books, for one thing. “We take these books seriously,” said Grossman, whose latest novel, “The Magicians,” has been described as an R-rated Harry Potter. His group recently devoted two sessions — “among the most contentious and shouty we’ve had” — to “The Hunger Games.” Is Katniss a feminist hero? Is she a tool of the state? Is this a conventional romance or a subversion of the genre? “Everybody had an opinion,” Grossman added. And none of it feels like homework. The themes are serious and the discussions intense, but the books are fast-paced and fun. “A lot of contemporary adult literature is characterized by a real distrust of plot,” Grossman said. “I think young adult fiction is one of the few areas of literature right now where storytelling really thrives.” Y.A. may also pierce the jadedness and cynicism of our adult selves. “When you talk to people about the books that have meant a lot to them, it’s usually books they read when they were younger because the books have this wonder in everyday things that isn’t bogged down by excessively grown-up concerns or the need to be subtle or coy,” explained Jesse Sheidlower, an editor at large at the Oxford English Dictionary and member of Kidlit. “When you read these books as an adult, it tends to bring back the sense of newness and discovery that I tend not to get from adult fiction.” “There’s an immediacy in the prose,” said Darcey Steinke, a novelist who says she reads about one Y.A. book a month (recent favorites: “Elsewhere,” by Gabrielle Zevin — “better than ‘The Lovely Bones’ — and anything by Francesca Lia Block of “Weetzie Bat” fame). “I like the way adolescent emotions are rawer, less canned.” Caitlin Macy, the author of the story collection “Spoiled” and another Kidlit member, pointed out that the early teens are “a moment in time when you feel that each decision you make — like who you sit next to at lunch — is actually going to have repercussions for the rest of your life.” As Steinke puts it: “There’s a timelessness to the period. These books are far from you, yet are also the same as you.” Fortunately, it’s a you who need not be embarrassed about still reading kids’ books. Pamela Paul’s most recent book is “Parenting, Inc.” She writes the Studied column for the Sunday Styles section of The Times. As some of you might know, the Wyoming Dept. of Health is the one of the major driving forces behind Chimera, they are the ones who awarded us the DOH Grant to help us do YAK and Chimera every Thursday! This morning I opened my email to find information on a poetry contest designed just for teens! Read the message below and visit the website for more information!
-Bailey Hello, I work with the Wyoming Department of Health’s Youth Suicide Prevention program. We are launching the start of our fall poetry contest and want to get you and your students involved! We want to engage and include Wyoming youth all across the state by encouraging them to submit a poem that expresses how they “Let It Out.” This is a campaign that promotes healthy expression of frustrations and emotions through art. There is a grand prize for the winner and a chance for their work to get published on our website. Attached is the flier for the contest, which outlines the deadlines and instructions in more detail. Please take a look to see what it’s all about. We would love your support in distributing it to your students and encouraging their participation. My contact information is listed below if you have any questions. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you! Elysia Check out our website for more information: http://www.AMillionMilesFromAnywhere.com Hey everyone! I thought it was about time we had a little update about what the YA department is up to. For those of you YAK and Chimera attendees, you may know about the DOH grant and that Laura and I had reapplied for it. Well good news, we got the grant! This means that we will be able to continue having YAK and Chimera every week, we will have more money for snacks and crafts and Laura and I have just as many hours to spend working on improving the teen section and teen programing!
In other good news, Laura and I were also able to place several orders. Laura ordered quite a stack of new fiction (including several copies of Mocking Jay, the new Hunger Games Novel) and I ordered a good chunk of new manga and some video games. The library will now have Wii games! Also updated was the fall schedule of events and for those of you on the border of teen (age 18) there is a new anime club! Please feel free to join us Saturdays from 6-8pm if you are 18 or over. The age limit is only in place because this is an anime club for adults, and has nothing to do with the programing schedule. Hope to see you soon! -Bailey As those of you who read manga may know, there is a little box in the manga section that allows readers to request certain volumes and series that they do not see on the shelf. Readers comments are very important to me when it comes to buying manga, and I make an effort to buy what the readers request. However, the YA department has a very limited budget when it comes to manga, so progress is slow. I want you all to know how much I appreciate you're comments and requests, so KEEP'EM COMM'IN!
The fallowing is the list of mangas that have been requested. I will do my best to order at least some of each over the next year! -Bailey *After School Nightmare (IIII), Absolute Boyfriend, (O)Ah! My goddess, Alice on Deadlines, Alive, Angel Sanctuary, (+)anima, Azu manga daioh, Backstage Prince By: Kanoko Sakurakoji, *Berserk, Black God, *Bleach (IIII), Blood Alone, Bride of the Water God, Cain saga***, Card Captor Sakura*, Ceres Celestial Legend, Cherry Juice, *chibi Vampire, chikyu misaki, Claymore, Code Geass, Confidential Confessions By Reiko Momochi, Cowboy Bebop, Dark Moon Diary, Dazzle, *Death Note(IIIIIIIIII), D. Gray-man, DN Angel, DramaCon, Emma***, Enchanter Fairy Cube***, *From Far Away, Fruits Basket, *Full Metal Alchemist(IIIIII), Full Moon, Fushigi Yugi, The Gentlmen's Alliance Cross, GN: Princes AI,By: Courtney love *GodChild replacements, Gun Slinger Girl (I), GTO, Happy Hustle High, HellGirl, Hellsing, Hero Heel (aka Viewfinder), High School Debut, *Hot Gimmick, Immortal Rain, Kagetora kamikaze kaito jeanne, Kanpai, *King of thorn, Kitchen Princess, Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, La Esperanca, Legal Drug (ended?), *Loveless, Marmalade Boy, Mars, Me and the Devil Blues, Megatokyo, MPD-Psycho, Model, Moon Phase, My Dearest Devil Princess, Nana, Naruto, Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Nightschool, Ouran High School Host Club, Otomen, Penguin Revolution, Pichi Pichi Pitch, Peach Fuzz, Princess tutu, Ragnarok Ray Reborn!, Ral & Grad, The Reformed, Rosario+Vampire, S-A (special A), Samurai Champloo, Seven, Shaman, King St., Lunatic High School, Sorcerers & Secretaries, Sugar Princess, Sundome, Tail of the Moon, Tarot Café, Time Stranger Kyoko, *Tokyo Mew Mew (III), Train + Train, Tsubasa Chronicles, Twelve Kingdoms, *Vampire Doll, Vampire Kisses, Vampire Knight, Wallflower, Higurashi When they Cry: Cotton Drifting Arc, Higurashi When they Cry: Curse Killing Arc, Higurashi When they Cry: Abducted by Demons Arc, Higurashi When they Cry: Beyond Midnight Arc, Higurashi When they Cry: Time Killing Arc, Wolf's Rain, x-day, *XXXHolic By: Clamp, Yotsuba&!, .hack// AI buster (I), .hack//Another Birth (I), .hack// legand of the twilight (I,) .hack//G.U.+ (I) Hey Teens! I wanted to give you all a little update on how Summer Reading has been going. You are all doing a great job! I'm so impressed with all the stories and pictures being posted, they are just fantastic! If you haven't yet, you should take some time to go read all the great stories being posted in the teen forum! The pictures are great too! Keep up the good work everyone!
Also, more teens than ever before are completing Bingos and winning prizes! If you haven't brought in your Bingo Card for a prize yet hurry, hurry! The bowling certificates are almost gone! You all are doing a great job reading this summer! So keep up the good work! Participation like this is what allows us to do bigger and better things for you every year! So thanks for participating! Don't forget we have a lot of great events planned for the coming weeks, Laura and I hope to see you there! P.S. The first two YAK's in August are going to be Teen Advisory Group meetings, so if you would like to influence the sort of events we plan for you, join us and make your voice heard! If we aren't doing what you want, YOU can change that! Hope to see you soon! -Bailey "Make Waves" the Teen Summer Reading program is about to kick off. Starting next week, on your last day of school teens ages 11-18 are invited to pick up a bingo card (here at ACPL or download it from the web page) and begin the Teen Summer Reading Challenge! For each 5 squairs of the bingo card a teen completes, s/he gets a prize! Prizes will start being awarded June 4th so get going!
Don't forget we have lots of fun events also planed for the summer! Next Thursday (June 3rd) will be our Summer Reading Kick off party! we hope to see you there! I (Bailey) have just finished the Sea Monster Jeopardy game and boy oh boy some of the questions are tough ones! You guys had better brush up on your sea monster trivia! I'm so excited to start summer reading! Hope to see you all soon! -Bailey This year's Summer Reading Events have been posted! Check them out on the events page! We have a lot of fun events planned for this summer, so bring your friends!
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Laura & Bailey
Laura Prestia and Bailey Murray are the Young Adult Specialists here at the Albany County Public Library. NOTE: Comments with no name, contain advertisements and/or irrelevant contact information will be deleted from the blog. Please keep comments relevant to the topic, and please do not advertise.
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