Book Spotlight: Catching Fire


Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
5 stars

Life should be perfect and carefree now that Katniss and Peeta won the Hunger Games, right? Walking out alive? Check. Never worrying about money/shelter again? Check. Happiness and Bliss? Houston, we have a problem! The Capital is not happy about Katniss and Peeta's win and is viewing it as an act of defiance. Add in the hushed whispers of an uprising, and pandemonium is about to break loose. Katniss and Peeta know they will be the ones blamed for the chaos. Will they be able to appease the Capital and restore compliance among the districts? Or will this finally be the chance to take down the oppressive government? Catching Fire, the sequel to Hunger Games, is sure to leave you on the edge of your seat and wanting more.

Summer Reading!



Flyer & Prize List

Twenty Boy Summer

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Release Date: June 2009

Rating: 5/5 stars

Put on Hold


It’s my mission in life is to make you care about these words, Anna. About these people and everything they say and everything they were. He traced the lines of my face with his fingers as he spoke. Every story is a part of a whole, entire life, you know? Happy and sad and tragic and whatever, but an entire life. And books let you know them. (p. 167)

It’s been a year since Matt first kissed Anna on her 15th birthday. A year since her dreams came true and she fell in love. A year since a tragic accident took Matt away from them. No one seems to be able move on, but perhaps a trip to Zanzibar Bay could be the perfect thing. And Frankie swears that it’s the perfect place to meet twenty boys in less than a month. Anna agrees to the scheme, unable to tell her best friend that she’s already experienced her first great romance with Frankie’s brother, Matt.

Life at Zanzibar Bay is anything but easy sailing. Anna finds herself buried in memories of conversations with Matt as she steps in the very places he used to write and tell her about. Afraid of erasing her memories of him, Anna ignores each new boy they meet. Well, that is until Jake enters the picture. With his help, she may just be able to find the strength to move on and allow herself to feel again.

Library Events Week of June 8th

Craft Tuesday & Thursday: Duct Tape Wallets


(grades 6 -12) Think duct tape wallets are hard to make? Maybe lame? Think again. Come and learn how to personalize this simple craft to your own tastes. Be sure to bring pictures for additional decoration options. No Registration required.

Main:
Tuesday, June 9th, 4 - 5:30 pm
Branch: Thursdau, June 11th, 3-4:30 pm

Attending event will earn you a raffle ticket for Summer Reading!


Game Day

(grades 6 -12) Think you're the ultimate gamer? Prove your skills against others on Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and other Wii games. There will additional be space for board or card games.

Main: Friday, June 12th 4 - 6:00 pm

Attending event will earn you a raffle ticket for Summer Reading!



RuneScape
(gr. 6-12) Join us for RuneScape, an online computer game of adventure and fun. Become a member of the Arkivung Lancers and explore new worlds
Branch: Friday, June 12th, 6 - 8:00pm

Attending event will earn you a raffle ticket for Summer Reading!

PNG starts June 9th!


Project Next Generation (PNG) is about to start again. We'll meet at the Main Library every Tuesday and Thursday from 1 - 2:30pm, June 9th through July 30th. This session we'll be "tricking" out bookcarts. If you're in grades 5th - 8th come bring your creative and join us for snacks and lots of fun.

Applications can be picked up in the Youth Services Department. For more information, contact Andrea at asowers@joliet.lib.il.us.

Anime Club (June)

Join us in watching some of our favorite Anime. Titles we to choose from this week are:

Gunslinger Girl
Tsubasa
Black Cat (Branch)

Note: Some Titles are PG-13, for grades 7 - 12
Branch: Thursday, June 4th @ 6 p.m.
Main: Friday, June 5th @ 4 p.m.

Attending event will earn you a raffle ticket for Summer Reading!

Summer Reading Starts Today!

Summer Reading Starts today (June 1st)! Make sure you drop in to get registered this first week to get a small prize. Looking forward to all the reviews you guys are going to be turning in.

So here's my question: What prize are you looking forward to the most?

Dr. Seuss's "Oh the Places You'll Go!" College Scholarship

Just announced by Random House:

RANDOM HOUSE CHILDREN’S BOOKS ESTABLISHES COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP TO CELEBRATE THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF DR. SEUSS’S OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!

“Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places. You’re off and away!”—from Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

New York, NY (May 27, 2009)—To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Dr. Seuss’s perennial bestseller Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, Random House Children’s Books has established its first college scholarship and will award one 2010 graduating high school senior $5,000 toward post-secondary education, it was announced today by Chip Gibson, President and Publisher, Random House Children’s Books.

Upon its publication in 1990, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! was an immediate success, embraced enthusiastically for its wonderfully wise outlook on life and for encouraging the potential that lies within us all. This remarkable book has since sold over 8.5 million copies and become the quintessential gift for graduates of all ages—from preschool to high school to college and beyond.

In the spirit of Dr. Seuss’s joyous ode to personal fulfillment and its enduring message about life’s ups and downs, high school seniors will be asked to describe in an essay the opportunities and challenges that they think their education will present to them in the future.

Applications for the scholarship are now available online and will be accepted through February 15, 2010. The winner will be announced and posted by May 1, 2010, on the Random House, Inc., Web site www.ohtheplaces.org. Visit the site for complete scholarship details.

“Children that grew up reading Dr. Seuss can connect with the genius of his writing in a new way through this scholarship,” said Gibson. “And we are thrilled to support their college endeavors.”

In what would be the last book of an extraordinary career, Theodor Geisel—better known as Dr. Seuss —created one of his most powerful works. Dr. Seuss’s editor, Janet Schulman, recalls her surprise when she received Oh, the Places You’ll Go! from him. “We were amazed when he said that he had a book for us. We had no clue he was working on anything and suddenly we had this complete book.” In Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, he stated his philosophy on life more completely than ever before. Dr. Seuss died in 1991, just one year after the book’s publication, leaving a legacy with generations of readers that continues to inspire today.

About Dr. Seuss
Theodor “Seuss” Geisel is quite simply the most beloved children’s book author of all time. The 44 books he wrote and illustrated under the name Dr. Seuss (and others that he wrote but did not illustrate, including some under the pseudonyms Theo. LeSieg and Rosetta Stone) have been translated into 30 languages. Hundreds of millions of copies have found their way into homes and hearts around the world. Dr. Seuss’s long list of honors includes the Pulitzer Prize and eight honorary doctorates. Works based on his original stories have won three Oscars, three Emmys, three Grammys, and a Peabody. For more information about Dr. Seuss and his works, visit www.seussville.com .

Random House Children’s Books is the world’s largest English-language children’s trade book publisher. Creating books for toddlers through young adult readers, in all formats from board books to activity books to picture books and novels, the imprints of Random House Children’s Books bring together award-winning authors and illustrators, world-famous franchise characters, and multimillion-copy series. The company’s award-winning Web site, kids@random ( www.randomhouse.com/kids ), offers an array of materials and activities free of charge for children, teens, parents, and educators. Random House Children’s Books is a division of Random House, Inc., whose parent company is Bertelsmann AG, a leading international media company.

Dr. Seuss Properties TM & © 2009 Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P.
All rights reserved.

New Books

Blade: Playing Dead by Tim Bowler
If the Witness Lied by Caroline Cooney
Dull Boy by Sara Cross

Say the Word by Jeannine Garsee
Are U 4 Real? by Sara Kadefors
Breathless by Lurlene McDaniel
Geek Charming by Robin Palmer
You are Here by Jennifer E. Smith

New Moon Poster!

Ok, for the Twilight fans the New Moon movie Poster has been released. Thoughts? For a bigger version visit MTV

Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies by Erin Dione

Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies by Erin Dionne

Eighth grader Celeste Harris is no stranger to being the big girl. At school, she is taunted by mooing and nicknames like “Burrito Grande” by many of the popular kids. And while Celeste may not be picture-perfect, give her comfy sweatpants, a stack of Oreo cookies, and her long time best friend (Sandra) and life isn’t so bad. Well, that was until the HuskyPeach Modeling Challenge entered her life. Thanks to her aunt, she finds herself trapped into a contest she wishes to be no part of. Sure, everyone would love to be a model, but when you add the word plus to it…well, Celeste would rather not think about it. Thankfully, she has plan on to get out of the competition without quitting.

Launch Operation Skinny Celeste. It’s all about no Oreos, no snacks, and certainly no big slices of her aunt delicious dessert with ice cream. After all, if she’s no longer husky there’s no way she can be Miss HuskyPeach, right? Right?! Striving to lose the competition any way possible, Celeste lands in humiliating and disastrous situations. Despite it all, she learns that what matters most is to do what you want (no matter what anyone else thinks) and to have fun along the way. With the chance to pull out of the final round Celeste must make a choice: will she run away or will she accept the title with pride?

New Books

The Glass Maker's Daughter by V. Briceland
Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Project Sweet Life by Brent Hartinger
Girls: A Novel by Tucker Shaw


Wintergirls Book Discussion @ Main

I open my eyes. 099.00 pounds. I am officially standing on Goal Number One. Ha. If my docs knew they’d bodyslam me back into treatment. There would be consequences and repercussions because (once again) I broke the rules about the perfect-sized Lia....
-Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

When: May 8, 2009, 6:30—8:00 pm
Where:Main Library

Join us in a discussion about Laurie Halse Anderson’s newest tale about a girl who is battling against anorexia. Lia’s best friend has already lost the fight, but will her fate be the same?

We will also be discussing questions for a possible video chat with the author. (This is still in the works and if it happens will be late spring/early summer)

The first 15 teens to sign-up with me (Andrea/YA Librarian) will receive a free copy of the book. You can reach me @ 815-740-2662 or jplteens@gmail.com. You can also msg me on here if you want as well.

Murder Mystery @ Main

Last Friday we had the Murder Mystery Dinner (Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die?) at the Main Library. We had an awesome turnout of 44 people! The cast did an excellent job on dressing in their 50-styles garb and playing their parts. The killer thought they were pretty smart and almost got away with murder….almost. Thanks to Penny and a couple of smart audience members the real killer was caught! So whodunit? Well, you’ll just have to catch the encore on Wed., April 8th from 6-8pm at the branch to find out!


New Books

Here are some new books that just came in:

All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg
A Voice of Her Own: Becoming Emily Dickinson
Barbara Dana
The Boyfriend Game by Stephie Davis
The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon
Mudville by Kurtis Scaletta
Same Difference by Siobhan Vivian



Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Printz Award Winner 2009

The stories of Jellicoe Road are not easy ones to tell. They are complicated tales that deal with car crashes, deaths, heroes, new friendships, disappearances, The War, and abandonment. Not many would dare to unravel all the riddles, but for seventeen-year-old Taylor Markham her future lies in its midst and it is all she can think about.

As leader of the Jellicoe Road Houses, her concentration should be on The War and protecting her territory from the townies and cadets. However, when the only adult she is close to disappears, her only thought is figuring out where Hannah went. To do so, she must figure out the connection between her mother abandoning her, Hannah’s rescue, a boy who haunts her dreams, words once whispered by a stranger, and five kids who lived on Jellicoe Road eighteen years ago. With the help of her friends and her so-called enemy Jonah Griggs, Taylor begins to unlock the answers Taylor has been so desperate to find. But once the puzzle is complete, will she really have what she is looking for?

Teen Tech Week

Get ready for Teen Tech week next week! At the Main Library on March 9 - 11 (3:30 - 4:30pm) we will be having different displays that will allow you to play with different technology the library has. To round out the week we will have Tech Club on March 12 (4-6pm) and Game Day on March 13 (4-6pm).

We will also be running two contests from March 8th - 14th for both libraries.

Contest One: Create Your Own Avatar

1.Create your avatar @ www.faceyourmanga.com

2. From March 8—14, submit both your avatar and picture to jplteens@gmail.com. Be sure to include name, age, and grade.

3. At the end of the contest, the avatar that looks the most like their picture will win a gift certificate!



Contest Two: Booktalk Contest

Submit a video booktalk to jplteens@gmail.com or bring a copy to the Youth Service desk. Entries should be 3 minutes or less. You may enter more than once, as long as each book talk covers a different book. The winning entry will win a gift certificate!

Since all entries will be uploaded to the teen YouTube account, please do no include any personal information in the video.

Entries should have the following info attached to them:
Name
Age
Grade
Phone number/Email Address
Book Title and Author


Don’t have a video camera? No problem! Talk to a staff member in Youth Services and we’ll record it for you!

Poem by Laurie Halse Anderson

In honor of the 10th Anniversary of Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson has written a poem based on the feedback she received called Listen. Check it out below!

Also, if you're a fan of Laurie Halse Anderson keep you eye out for updates. We've, hopefully, got some exciting things in store in the future!

Stop Animation Fun

The Tech Club (former known as Filmmaker Club) experimented with stop animation last week. Watch the video below to see how it all turned out! For those interested, we meet every 2nd & 4th Thursday and are always looking for new members/ideas.

Absolutely Maybe by Lisa Yee

Her name is Maybelline Mary Katherine Mary Ann Chesnut, but you can call her Maybe. She's named after two Miss America winners and her mother's favorite brand of mascara. And while she could recite the Seven Select Rules for Young Ladies by heart, she is no tiara wearing wannabe beauty queen. In fact, with her oversized t-shirts, Kool-Aid dyed hair, and purple lipstick some may even say she's Goth. She's spunky, has a mind of her own, and hopes to someday have a normal life.

Unfortunately, normalcy is not something she is familiar with. Her mother, Chessy, runs a charm school that promises her students will be winners. A Former beauty pageant winner herself, she knows all the secrets. But behind that pretty smile and big hair, Chessy is an alcoholic and serial marrier. She falls hard and fast, but can never make the marriages last.

When soon-be-husband #7 makes a move on Maybe, she's decided she's had enough. With her best friends Hollywood and Thammasat Tantipinichwong Schneider (aka Ted), she heads off to L.A. to find her father. She's certain he will welcome her with open arms once he knows she exists. Armed only with his first name and possible profession, finding him proves to be harder than she ever imagined. While Maybe is determined to let nothing stand in her way of finding him, along the way she may just find something even more important. Herself.

Play Me by Laura Ruby

Eddy Rochester is going to be a star. He’s a wanna-be filmmaker well on his way to fame and fortune as his latest show Riot Grrl 16 rises in the ranks of an MTV contest. It’s sure to win (after all the competition is a joke) and will lead to his big break into filmmaking. Finally, his dreams are so close he can taste them.

Of course, when it comes to love he’s already famous for being, what some would call, a player. He’s the love ‘em and leave ‘em type who never makes promises about tomorrow. That is until he meets Lucinda Dulko, a no-nonsense tennis player who is perfect in Eddy’s eyes. He gets swept away in a thrilling chase to make her want him just as much as he does her. Soon, he finds himself in a game he’s never played before, where the power is no longer his. But for Lucinda, he’s willing to risk it all. Will he manage to get the fame, fortune, and girl…or will it all slip between his fingers?

New Books

Here are some new books that just came in:

Drawing a Blank: Or How I Tried to Solve a Mystery, End a Feud, and Land the Girl of My Dreams by Daniel Ehrenhaft and Trevor Ristow

After School Nightmare v.1 by Setona Mizushiro

My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater

Chasing Boys by Karen Tayleur

Hollywood and Maine by Allison Whittenberg

Printz Award Winner!

The 2009 Printz Award winner and Honor books were just announced this morning! The winner is Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. The Honor Books are The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks v.2 by E. Lockhart, Nation by Terry Pratchett, and Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan.

New Books

Here are some new books that just came in:

Parties and Potions by Sarah Mlynowski

Spacer and Rat by Margaret Bechard

Sisters of the Sword by Maya Snow

Mexican Whiteboy by Matt de la Pena

The Juliet Club by Suzanne Harper

Does This Book Make Me Look Fat? by Marissa Walsh

Eon Dragoneye Reborn
by Alison Goodman

Burn My Heart by Beverly Naidoo