LOLCat Librarian

Pretty much.

DIY Project: Mason Jar Snow Globe

DIY Project: Mason Jar Snow Globes

I have been looking for just this project for a long time! It's easy, cheap, and seems really fun to make. All you need is a mason jar, some hot glue, fake snow, and a figurine for inside the globe. Have any of you ever made a homemade snow globe?

Librarian's Pick of the Week: Fateful

Title:  Fateful
Author: Claudia Gray
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Historical Fiction
Published: 2011
Age: 13+

Synopsis: Eighteen-year-old maid Tess Davies is determined to escape the wealthy, troubled family she serves. It's 1912, and Tess has been trapped in the employ of the Lisles for years, amid painful memories and twisted secrets. But now the Lisle family is headed to America, with Tess in tow. Once the ship they're sailing on' the RMS Titanic ?reaches its destination, Tess plans to strike out and create a new life for herself. Her single-minded focus shatters when she meets Alec, a handsome first-class passenger who captivates her instantly. But Alec has secrets of his own. He's in a hurry to leave Europe, and whispers aboard the ship say it's because of the tragic end of his last affair with the French actress who died so gruesomely and so mysteriously. . . . Soon Tess will learn just how dark Alec's past truly is. The danger they face is no ordinary enemy: werewolves exist and are stalking him and now her, too. Her growing love for Alec will put Tess in mortal peril, and fate will do the same before their journey on the Titanic is over. In Fateful , New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray delivers paranormal adventure, dark suspense, and alluring romance set against the opulent backdrop of the Titanic's first and last voyage.

Review: Strict class divisions, dashing werewolves, and the fateful journey of the RMS Titanic combine in a perfect storm of romance and drama. Tess is in service to a British family, but she has a plan in her pocket that she hopes will lead to something better: her life savings are stitched into her dress, and she looks to make a new, free life for herself in America. Handsome and honorable Alec is also hoping for freedom in the expansive west, running from the danger he knows he poses to others. Alec is a werewolf at the mercy of the moon and the Brotherhood, a powerful werewolf cabal that craves the wealth and authority Alec holds as heir to a steel company. As the layers of this story build and unfold, readers will be drawn deep into the action, emotion, issues, and danger. Plenty of historical detail lends a compelling frame and helps edge this paranormal romance ahead of the pack, while a satisfying conclusion will leave readers warmed after the ship's frigid descent. -Booklist

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

Librarian's Pick of the Week: Tunnels

Title: Tunnels
Author: Roderick Gordon
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 2008
Age: 13+

Synopsis: The international sensation! The story of an outcast boy, his eccentric dad, and the scary underground world they discover through secret TUNNELS. 14-year-old Will Burrows has little in common with his strange, dysfunctional family. In fact, the only bond he shares with his eccentric father is a passion for archaeological excavation. So when his dad mysteriously vanishes, Will is compelled to dig up the truth behind his disappearance. He unearths the unbelievable: a subterranean society that time forgot. "The Colony" has existed unchanged for a century, but it's no benign time capsule of a bygone era--because the Colony is ruled by a merciless overclass, the Styx. Will must free his father--is he also about to ignite a revolution?

Review: Positing not just one secret civilization beneath London's streets but many, this compelling doorstopper debut in a new series (apparently to be called Tunnels) pits two teens digging into the disappearance of one's father against a subterranean colony kept in Victorian squalor by the advanced science and ominous preaching of a mysterious semireligious body called The Styx. Though a tad slow off the mark, the plot quickly picks up speed as Will and Chester discover chains of inhabited or once-inhabited caverns down below, while enduring both physical and psychological torture in the course of multiple chases, captures, separations, and escapes. After learning the shocking truth about Will's supposed sister, Rebecca (who may play a larger role in future episodes), the pair, plus a local ally, are last seen hiding aboard a train chugging its way into even deeper unknown realms. The authors add distinctive, vivid touches to the somewhat trendy towns down below premise (frequent references to digging, disturbing odors, and dirty clothing), and the murderous, refreshingly competent Styx makes an uncommonly challenging adversary. The illustrations were seen only in placeholder samples, but by all other accounts, this appears to be a very promising series kickoff. -Booklist

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

New Arrivals!!

March 1st - March 15th

Mermaid Tail Braid

(A Cup of Jo)

Have you ever read a book where you immediately want to jump up and find a bow and arrow (The Hunger Games) or a black cape (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns)? Well... I do. When I read Ingo by Helen Dunmore, I immediately wanted to hop into the Atlantic. Bad idea, huh?

So, since I won't be sprouting scales any time soon, I figure this hair tutorial will be good enough for now. So who wants a mermaid tail braid!?

Here are the instructions from Joanna Goddard:

1. Divide your hair into two equal sections.

2-4. Braid each section, and tie the end with an elastic band. You'll want to do what's called a "Dutch braid." For a normal braid, you take the outside section and cross it IN FRONT of the middle section. A Dutch braid is the opposite: the outside section goes BEHIND the middle section. It's important to do the braids this way so that they'll look seamless when when you connect the two sections later.

5-6. Fatten out the two braids by pulling apart the outer edges. I like to "smush" the braid back and forth in my fingers, too—whatever makes them fuller and fatter and not so sleek.

7. Line up the two separate braids so they begin to look like one big fat braid. It's important to make sure the middle section of the mermaid tail lines up--don't worry if the ends of your braids (the hair that is sticking out underneath the elastic) are uneven, it won't matter. It's more important to line up the braid correctly, so the center of the tail matches.

8. Pin the center of the two braided sections together. I tend to use mini bobby pins since they are easier to hide, and I like to pin them in and up (you start with the pin facing horizontally, then as you push it into the hair, you direct it vertically). Use as many bobby pins as it takes, until you feel the braid is secure. I used about five little pins, and pinned about 1 1/2 inches apart, wherever I could best hide them.

(Optional step: You can remove the two separate rubber bands at the end, and just use one to combine the two tails together. I didn't do this because I used smaller rubber bands to begin with.)

Librarian's Pick of the Week: Gone

Title: Gone
Author: Michael Grant
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian
Published: 2008
Age: 13+

Synopsis: In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE. Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened. Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents-unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers-that grow stronger by the day. It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else...

Review: It's a scenario that every kid has dreamed about: adults suddenly disappear, and kids have free reign. In this case, though, it's everyone 14 and older who disappears, and the harsh reality of such unreal circumstances isn't a joyride after all. A girl driving with her grandfather plunges into a horrific car wreck; gas burners left on ignite a home with a young child trapped inside; food and medical supplies dwindle; and malicious youths take over as the remaining children attempt to set up some form of workable society. Even stranger than the disappearance of much of humanity, though, are the bizarre, sometimes terrifying powers that some of the kids are developing, not to mention the rapidly mutating animals or the impenetrable wall 20 miles in diameter that encircles them. This intense, marvelously plotted, paced, and characterized story will immediately garner comparisons to Lord of the Flies, or even the long-playing world shifts of Stephen King, with just a dash of X-Men for good measure. A potent mix of action and thoughtfulness centered around good and evil, courage and cowardice renders this a tour-de-force that will leave readers dazed, disturbed, and utterly breathless. Grant's novel is presumably the first in a series, and while many will want to scream when they find out the end is not the end, they'll be glad there's more in store. -Booklist

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

Celebrity Yearbook

Just be thankful your yearbook photo didn't look like some of these....

Katy Perry

Marilyn Manson

Barack Obama

Billy Bob Thornton

George Clooney

Eminem

David Schwimmer

Charlize Theron

John Cusack

Hulk Hogan

For more, visit this website.

DIY Project: Upcycled Cranes

DIY Project: Upcycled Book Cranes

Ever wonder what you can do with that book that has lived its life, but you just can't bear to recycle? Well, here's an idea. Book page paper cranes! These little guys would look great hanging in a window.

Read Alike: The Hunger Games

So you've just finished the Hunger Games trilogy, and now you're ravenous for something similar? Well, you're in luck, because here at the Paris Public Library we've compiled a list of read-alikes. But beware, you are in for a trip into a dark future.

Feed
M. T. Anderson
A normal trip to the moon turns epic when Titus realizes that he doesn't have to live with the head implant that controls everyone he knows, except the mysterious Violet. 


Ship Breaker
Paolo Bacigalup
Scavenging metal from ships is dangerous, but the girl in the wreck may bring more trouble.

Beauty Queens
Libba Bray
Stranded on a desert island, 13 beauty queens fight each other, nature and evil forces . . . and prepare for the pageant.



The Supernaturalist
Eoin Colfer
Cosmo, sick of being a guinea pig, busts out of his orphanage and meets up with a gang who are killing the Parasites that are invisible to most people. But are the Parasites the real enemy? 


Matched 
Ally Condie
Cassie is thrilled that The Society has paired her up with her best friend Xander, but worries when her neighbor's face shows up on her match disk. The story continues in "Crossed." 

The Maze Runner
James Dasher
Thomas appears in the Maze with no memory and has to fight both the other guys there and the Gladers. But what are they to make of the first girl to show up and her mysterious message? Continue with "The Scorch Trials" and "The Death Cure." 

Wither
Lauren DeStefano
After modern science turns every human into a genetic time bomb with men dying at age twenty-five and women dying at age twenty, girls are kidnapped and married off in order to repopulate the world. Continue with "Fever." 

Little Brother
Cory Doctorow  
High school hacker Marcus turns his free gaming system into X-net to fight the excesses of Homeland Security after the bombing of the Bay Bridge.



City of Ember
Jeanne DuPrau  
In the city of Ember, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.

The House of the Scorpion
Nancy Farmer
In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patrón, the 142-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States.

Incarceron
Catherine Fisher
To free herself from an upcoming arranged marriage, Claudia, the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, a futuristic prison with a mind of its own, decides to help a young prisoner escape.


Legend
Marie Lu
Are Day and June are on opposite sides, or do they have a common enemy? 

Life as We Knew it
Susan Beth Pfeffer
Miranda's journal describes how her family and town comes together and fall apart when the moon falls out of orbit and life as she knew it ends. 



Mortal Engines
Philip Reeve
In a world where cities can move and take over smaller towns, Tom is betrayed and exiled to the Out-Country.



 Across the Universe
Beth Revis
Teenaged Amy, a cryogenically frozen passenger on the spaceship Godspeed, wakes up to discover that someone may have tried to murder her.  Continue with "A Million Suns."


Divergent
Veronica Roth
Everyone only has five choices for identity, but Beatrice doesn't fit into any one group. Could her society be wrong all along? 



Uglies
Scott Westerfeld
Tally thinks that becoming Pretty forever is a good idea, until she leaves the city and finds people who are fighting the system. Can she do it without betraying her friends?




Want more suggestions? Then check out these links for more Read-Alikes and Book Lists!

Librarian's Pick of the Week: Just Listen

Title: Just Listen
Author: Sarah Dessen
Genre: Romantic
Published: 2006
Age: 13+

Synopsis: Last year, Annabel was "the girl who has everything"-at least that's the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf 's Department Store.This year, she's the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong. Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling.With Owen's help,maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends. In this multi-layered, impossible-to-put-down book, Sarah Dessen tells the story of a year in the life of a family coming to terms with the imperfections beneath its perfect facade.

Review: After being caught with her best friend's Sophie's boyfriend at a summer party, Annabel Greene is starting her junior year alone and ostracized. But what appeared to be infidelity was really attempted rape. Fans of Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak (1999) will find obvious parallels here, including the play on the title, but Dessen spins her own quality tale of a young girl finding her voice, and finding an audience. Annabel's troubles are exacerbated by her family's refusal to acknowledge its problems: middle sister Whitney's severe anorexia or the three sisters' waning interest in modeling. A budding friendship with classmate Owen, a dj at the community radio station who is never without music to drown out the silence, helps Annabel listen to her own heart and risk speaking out honestly. Characterization and dialogue are expertly done, and Owen's anger-management advice and efforts to broaden Annabel's music tastes (Don't think, or judge. Just listen ) strengthen the theme of the story: honesty. Teen girls who meet Dessen for the first time here will be looking for her backlist. - Booklist

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

Book Trailer: The Fault in Our Stars

Here is the book trailer for The Fault in Our Stars by Jeff Green. Have any of you read it yet? I know that critics are going crazy for it!

For those of you who haven't ever heard of it, here's the synopsis: "Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten."

New Arrivals!!

April 18th - April 30th