Teens Know

Teen Newsletter

     

In this issue:

Teen Summer Reading Program

Teen Online Book Club

HCPL YA Staff

New Young Adult Books

 

May/June 2007

   
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Teen Summer Reading Program

Teen Online Book Club

Harris County Public Library will offer a Teen Summer Reading Program online and in most of our branches.  Teens will have a choice this year--they can use the Reading Log or the Reading Game Card. 

Teens who choose the Reading Log will list the titles of the books they read or the amount of time spent reading and will earn their certificate after reading 5 books or 10 hours or 600 minutes. 

Teens who choose the Reading Game Card will have the option of other activities such as Internet scavenger hunts and attending a library program along with reading and will earn their certificate after completing 10 activities on the card. 

Harris County Public Library will be offering teens an Online Book Club this summer.  There will be several books to choose from each month and you can participate in as many of the online discussions as you want. 

Simply read the books on your own and then join in during the book discussion.  There will be questions to get the discussion started and it will be exciting to see what participants have to say.

Online Book Club Booklist

     

Meet the HCPL Young Adult Staff

Harris County Public Library has 26 branch libraries across the county.  Many of these libraries have staff dedicated to working with the young adults in the community.  Let's meet one of them!

Jose Vazquez

Jose is the Young Adult Assistant for the Tomball College and Community Library.

 

What do you like to read?

I mostly like to read newspapers and magazines, most of them are available online.  I'm not a news junkie but I do like to keep up on my current events.  I use a news aggregator to get my articles.  I use Newsmap.

 

What was your favorite book when you were a teen?

Cliffs Notes...all of them.  Just kidding.  I liked Dante's Inferno; it was interesting to read about how people viewed the afterlife during the Middle Ages.  Although I read it only because it was assigned in English class, I actually enjoyed it, as opposed to other assigned reading...

 

What do you like best about your job?

Well, lets see.  There's Movie Nights, DDR Days at the library, Game Days, Summer Reading Program, the different crafts that we do...  Most of all, I like the interaction with all of the people that come through the library.  I guess I like my job because it doesn't really feel like a job!  It feels more like hanging out with young adults!!

 

What is your best memory of being a teen?

Playing shows in a ska/punk band at various all-age live music venues around town.

 

If you could relive your teen years what would you do differently?

Maybe pick a different prom date...I should have read The Complete Idiot's Guide to Dating for Teens or Frequently Asked Questions About Dating or The Game:  Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists.  Back then, I didn't know books like these existed!  Now, just about every library has a copy!!

 

If you could give advice or a message to your "teen self" what would it be?

Don't give up, the best is yet to come!

 

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

Libraries are fun.  A library is like a 3D visual representation of the Internet, just about anything you can think of can be found at the library, and if you can't find it, a librarian can find it for you!  Librarians are to Libraries like Google is to the Internet! So use them more often.   Cool, huh?
     
 

New Young Adult Books

 
     
   
     
 

New Young Adult Fiction

  

Patricia Elliott.  Ambergate

Unable to tell friend from enemy, Orphan Number 102 tries to hide the identifying scar on her arm as she evades Protectorate soldiers who are trying to return her to the Capital and a certain death.

  

Olivia Birdsall.  Notes on a Near-Life Experience

Fifteen-year-old Mia feels like a ghost watching her own life when her parents' arguments escalate into a separation, triggering counseling sessions, strange behavior in her brother and sister, and a new connection with her brother's best friend.

  

Melissa de la Cruz.  Angels on Sunset Boulevard

When the people closest to them start to disappear, Taj and Nick hit the streets of Los Angeles looking for a way to reach the lost souls of their friends that have been "tapped" by The Angels Practice, a World Wide Web-based movement that connects young people and makes them feel good with no apparent consequences.

  

Jennifer Lynne Barnes.  Tattoo

When four fifteen-year-old friends share the temporary tattoos they bought from a mysterious woman at the mall, each develops psychic powers that will help them fight the ancient being who plans to wreak havoc at their school dance.

  

K. M. Grant.  Blaze of Silver

Using principles of their shared Muslim faith to persuade him, an agent of the Old Man of the Mountain convinces Kamil to lead Will and Ellie into a trap, but Kamil repents and seeks a way to save his friends and redeem himself.

  

Valerie Frankel.  Fringe Girl:  The Revolution Starts

Now  As part of a class project on political revolutions, sixteen-year-old Adora Benet devises a plan to overthrow the popular clique at her school and establish a new social order.

  

Frewin Jones.  The Faerie Path

Anita, an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl, is transported from modern-day London to the realm of Faerie where she discovers that she is Princess Tania, the long-lost daughter of King Oberon and Queen Titania.

  
     
 

New Young Adult Nonfiction

  
 

Vanessa Baish.  Frequently Asked Questions About

Dating The adventure of dating -- To date or not to date? -- Crushes, flirts, and other scary things -- Getting started: making a date -- What is a relationship anyway? -- Dating smarts and safety -- Getting serious: beyond dating -- When it's over: breaking up -- Ten great questions to ask about dating -- Myths and facts about dating
 

Faith Blakeney.  99 Ways to Cut, Sew, and Deck

Out Your Denim  Everyone from the sewing novice to the fashion guru can appreciate the 99 clever projects that will reincarnate denim has-beens into fashion must-haves. The techniques are simple, the supplies are easy-to-find, and projects take no more than 90 minutes to create.
 

Frank Miller.  300

The armies of Persia -- a vast horde greater than any the world has ever known -- are poised to crush Greece, an island of reason and freedom in a sea of madness and tyranny. Standing between Greece and this tidal wave of destruction is a tiny detachment of but three hundred warriors. But these warriors are more than men -- they are Spartans!
 

Teri Breguet.  Frequently Asked Questions About

Cyberbullying   Bullying through technology -- Cyberbullies and their victims -- Are you being cyberbullied? -- Dealing with cyberbullying -- Cyberbullying and the law
 

Mary Kaye Chryssicas.  Breathe:  Yoga for Teens

Speaking directly to teen girls, this guide explains the benefits of a peaceful, positive outlook in developing a yoga practice and in navigating the wild world of high school, complete with inspirational quotes and embarrassing stories from the author's own hilarious teen years.
 

Gareth Hinds.  Beowulf

Graphic novel adaptation of the Old English epic poem, Beowulf.
     
 

New Young Adult Audio

  

Laurie Halse Anderson.  Twisted

After finally getting noticed by someone other than school bullies and his ever-angry father, seventeen-year-old Tyler enjoys his tough new reputation and the attentions of a popular girl, but when life starts to go bad again, he must choose between transforming himself or giving in to his destructive thoughts.  Read by Mike Chamberlain.

 

Frank Beddor.  The Looking Glass Wars

When she is cast out of Wonderland by her evil aunt Redd, young Alyss Heart finds herself living in Victorian Oxford as Alice Liddell and struggles to keep memories of her kingdom intact until she can return and claim her rightful throne.  Read by Gerard Doyle.

  

John Green.  Looking for Alaska

Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great pranks, but is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash.  Read by Jeff Woodman.

 

Gordon Korman.  The Abduction

It's every brother's worst fear: As Aiden and his sister, Meg, are walking home from school one day, a van pulls over and Meg is kidnapped. While Meg fends off her kidnappers and plans an escape, Aiden must team up with the FBI to try to find her.  Read by Andrew Rannels and Christie Moreau.

 

Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez.  Haters

Having tried for years to deny her psychic abilities, high school sophomore Paski has disturbing visions about the popular girl at her new high school in Orange County, California.  Read by Flora Diaz.

  

 
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