Saturday, January 28, 2012

Librarian's Pick of the Week: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist


Title: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Author: Rachel Cohn
Genre: Love Stories
Published: 2006
Age: 13+

Synopsis: It all starts when Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend for five minutes. He only needs five minutes to avoid his ex-girlfriend, who's just walked in to his band's show. With a new guy. And then, with one kiss, Nick and Norah are off on an adventure set against the backdrop of New York City--and smack in the middle of all the joy, anxiety, confusion, and excitement of a first date. This he said/she said romance told by YA stars Rachel Cohn and David Levithan is a sexy, funny roller coaster of a story about one date over one very long night, with two teenagers, both recovering from broken hearts, who are just trying to figure out who they want to be--and where the next great band is playing. Told in alternating chapters, teeming with music references, humor, angst, and endearing side characters, this is a love story you'll wish were your very own. Working together for the first time, Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have combined forces to create a book that is sure to grab readers of all ages and never let them go.

Review: What happens when two witty, wise, but vulnerable teens meet by accident at a chaotic punk rock club? They fall in love, of course. While both are dealing with the fallout of failed relationships and the infinite hurt that accompanies them, they are questioning everything about themselves, their friends, and their future paths. The passion and intelligence of these characters, along with the authors' intimate knowledge of and complete respect for their audience, make this novel unique. Told in alternating chapters over the course of a single night, the narratives create a fully fleshed-out picture of both teens, informed by their love of music, their devotion to their friends, and their clear-eyed view of the world. These kids don't drink or do drugs and it's solely their obsession with music that takes them to these clubs. One of Norah's relatives calls her a "potty mouth," and that's no exaggeration. Throughout the book, the expletives fly fast and furious, but they are more about personal expression and in-your-face attitude than about strong emotions. Yet, there is also considerable depth and sensitivity. Norah explains the Jewish concept of tikkun olam-the responsibility to heal a fractured world-and Nick comes up with an original spin on it. There are many heart-stopping, insightful moments in this supremely satisfying and sexy romance. A first-rate read. - School Library Journal

If you're intrigued, don't forget to check our library's catalog for this book!

Friday, January 27, 2012

The Hobbit Trailer



So who else has their name on our copy of The Hobbit in anticipation for the amazing looking movie coming out in 2012?

Thursday, January 26, 2012







With the new Snow White movie coming out, I got to thinking about classic fairytales and found these neat minimalist posters of classic children's stories? I think Rapunzel is my favorite. Did you notice the wolf's paw in Red Riding Hood? Scary!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Forgotten Your English?


If you're like me, I bet you've wondered what English sounds like to foreigners who don't speak the language. It sounds so normal to us, right? Well, this couple made this odd short film using fake words, which makes the English speaking viewer feel like they're from another country!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Librarian's Pick of the Week: The Graveyard Book


Title: The Graveyard Book
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Horror, Suspense, Fantasy
Published: 2008
Age: 10+

Synopsis: Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy-an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack--who has already killed Bod's family. . . . Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his "New York Times" bestselling modern classic coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, the graveyard book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.

Review: A baby survives the killing of his family by a mysterious assassin. He crawls to a nearby graveyard and is adopted by the assortment of spooks who occupy the place, soon to include his own recently murdered parents. There he is christened with a new name: Nobody, or Bod for short. Under the watchful tutelage of the dead, Bod learns reading, writing, history, and a few other useful skills-haunting and "disapparating" [disappearing from a location and reappearing in another]. Why It Is a Best: An elegant combination of Gaiman's masterly storytelling and McKean's lovely drawings, this book also works as a series of independent but connected short stories set two years apart, following Bod from age two to 16.- Library Journal

If you're intrigued, don't forget to check our library's catalog for this book!

Friday, January 20, 2012

New Arrivals!!

January 1st - January 15th

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Secret Banana Messages


Write on bananas with toothpicks, and, as the day goes on, the message slowly appears. I think I have an idea for my next prank.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Ivy-League Dorm Rooms







Ever wonder what your dorm room will look like when you go to college? Well... not like these unless you are headed to an Ivy League college and you are gifted with electric tape! (Which you might be. If so, kudos!) Are these rooms a tad pretentious? YES! Are they too trim and neat? OH YEAH! Am I jealous? ....... yes... I hope you guys and girls get to have dorm rooms just as lovely!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Librarian's Pick of the Week: Snow in Summer


Title: Snow in Summer
Author: Jerry Spinelli
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy
Published: 2011
Age: 9+

Synopsis: With her black hair, red lips, and lily-white skin, Summer is as beautiful as her father's garden. And her life in the mountains of West Virginia seems like a fairy tale; her parents sing and dance with her, Cousin Nancy dotes on her, and she is about to get a new baby brother. But when the baby dies soon after he's born, taking Summer's mama with him, Summer's fairy-tale life turns grim. Things get even worse when her father marries a woman who brings poisons and magical mirrors into Summer's world. Stepmama puts up a pretty face, but Summer suspects she's up to no good--and is afraid she's powerless to stop her. This Snow White tale filled with magic and intrigue during the early twentieth century in Appalachia will be hard to forget.

Review: Drawing from her eponymous short story of 2000, Yolen offers a gripping 20th-century adaptation of Snow White, starring Snow in Summer, a girl growing up in West Virginia in the 1940s. Summer's beloved Papa, bereft over the death of his wife and son, is seduced by a beautiful but wicked witch, who marries him and takes over the household, using her wiles to render Papa and the rest of the town helpless while she abuses her stepdaughter. Only widowed Cousin Nancy resists the witch and offers aid to Summer via some down-home magic. "Your caul, child.... I retrieved it right after you were born. Salted it down, let it dry over the rim of a bowl. I've kept it for you all this time." Based on the traditional Snow White-complete with a magic mirror and seven dwarfs (more or less), along with some Appalachian folklore, post-Depression era culture, and snake-handling evangelicals-this story is beautifully written and deliciously scary, with just enough differences from familiar versions to keep readers guessing. - Publisher's Weekly


If you're intrigued, don't forget to check our library's catalog for this book!

Monday, January 9, 2012

DIY Project: Wildflower Ice Cubes


The girly side of me couldn't help but post this neat how-to. You can put whatever you'd like in the ice cube, like raspberries or mint leaves or flowers. What a neat thing to do for a girls night in with popcorn, soda, and Twilight.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Librarian's Pick of the Week: Ella Enchanted


Title: Ella Enchanted
Author: Shannon Hale
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 1997
Age: 9+

Synopsis: Presents an adaptation of the Cinderella story in which Ella of Frell, given the magical "gift" of obedience as an infant, finds her compulsion to obey any and all orders a bit inconvenient when she is left at the mercy of her nasty stepmother and stepsisters, and sets out to find the fairy Lucinda to undo the curse.

Review: Levine's artful debut novel features a spunky heroine whose trials, all faced with admirable steadiness, give new twists to the classic Cinderella story. Ella is burdened with a curse (she cannot disobey a command), bestowed at birth as a gift from an addled fairy and this‘plus the loss of her beloved mother‘causes all sorts of troubles. Before her death, Ella's mother commands her daughter to keep the curse a secret‘only the cook, Mandy, who is also a fairy, knows the truth. Although Mandy won't use what she calls "big magic," she does give Ella a magical book that, through glimpses of other people's correspondence, lets her see what is going on in the lives of her new friend, Prince Charmont, her soon-to-be stepsisters and her greedy father. Levine ably creates tension between the good and evil characters, throwing in an assortment of ogres, elves and gnomes. Young readers will be charmed by the budding romance between Ella and her prince and touched by her crippling fear of hurting the prince via the curse. After a humorous and inventive re-enactment of Cinderella's three appearances at the royal ball, the action concludes with a slightly skewed but happy ending. Although the pace of the story flags in spots, and the author never wholly engages a suspension of disbelief (Ella's escapes often come too easily‘for example, when she tames ogres who want to make a meal of her), Levine provides a winning combination of memorable characters and an alluring fantasy realm that will leave readers with hopes of future tales of Ella and Prince Char. - Publisher's Weekly


If you're intrigued, don't forget to check our library's catalog for this book!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

LED Light Slippers


These exist??!! For people who make lots of late-night trips for snacks, these LED slippers ($40) allow you to easily move around dark areas without turning on any lights.
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