Friday, March 29, 2013

Staff Picks

If you are (or were) a teen who loves Broadway musicals, New York City, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, and funny novels, have I got a book for you! Better Nate Than Ever, written by former Broadway performer Tim Federle, is the story of Nate, a 13-year-old boy from a small town in Pennsylvania who runs away from home (with the help of a “borrowed” ATM card and a Greyhound bus) to New York, where he auditions for the role of Eliot in a brand new musical based on the movie E.T. 

Will he become a star?  You’ll have to read the book to find out, but I guarantee you’ll be rooting for him.

Stephen Kight
Assistant Director for Public Services

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

National Geographic Favorites

I grew up reading National Geographic magazines and watching their television specials.  One of my favorite memories was of Jane Goodall and her study of chimpanzees.  I loved animals, and still do, and wanted to work in the field studying them.  Jane Goodall was my heroine and I dreamed of being like her one day.  My dream didn’t quite come true but I did get to meet her and see her speak several times.  She is not only an advocate for animals these days, but is also Messenger of Peace for the United Nations.

I was thrilled to see with the National Geographic database that you can access all articles from the very beginning in 1888, including the maps.  There are six articles on Jane, so it appears I must have missed one or two.  The older articles dating back to 1880’s and the early 1900’s are so interesting.  Some of the early discoveries of Ancient Egypt are also among my favorites.  It is amazing to see how far we have come from the early days of exploration and science.  I used these articles for many school projects.

 Joan Dudzinski
Information Specialist

Friday, March 22, 2013

Teen Picks

To celebrate Teen Tech Week, March 10-17, we asked teens to tell us what they're reading. Here's what local library-loving teens had to say about their favorite genres:

Fantasy, fiction, here and there, different genres and topics everywhere!
My favorite genre is mystery, as much as I love romance and fantasy. I find mystery entertaining and suspenseful at the same time. This genre is captivating and keeps you at the edge of your seat and keeps you guessing at each turn. I absolutely love feeling the rush of adrenaline and trying to understand the secrets and lies throughout books. If you're anything like me you will love to get confused and try to understand what is going on. One minute you will think something and then the next you will think again. Mystery truly lives up the its name--it is a mystery something very hard to understand, sometimes something that leaves you hanging, not knowing what will happen next. I enjoy mystery because it gives me the rush in my life that I need, as well as making me believe I am in the character's situation. -Lauren

My favorite genre is fiction because in fiction you can get lost in the book, and when there is a cliffhanger you can imagine what will happen next. That is why I love fiction. -Nithya

My favorite genre of books is mystery. I like mystery because when you’re reading the book usually the first page of the book draws you in and makes you want to read more. The vivid language and the way the author describes what is going on gives you chills and really just intrigues you to want to read more. Mystery books are like hands that grab you and pull you in, they consume you, and cover you with extreme thrills. A lot of the parts in a mystery book will make you jump or shock you. -Alexis

Check out the library catalog to browse our wide selection of teen literature!

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Teen Picks

As part of Teen Tech Week, March 10-17, we invited to local teens to share their favorite books. Here are a couple great titles suggested by teen readers:

The best book I ever read was A Night to Remember by Walter Lord because that book unraveled the secrets of the R.M.S Titanic, and also told the story from many people's point of view on the night of the sinking.  -Sujin

A book that I recently read was The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan. It is a continuation of the beloved Percy Jackson series. Percy and Annabeth meet accidentally with kids from a Roman demigod camp and find out about Gaea (Mother Nature, yeah in this book Mother Nature is evil, LOL).  They go to Rome to fight her but get sidetracked with the mark of Athena. -Anonymous

Friday, March 15, 2013

Staff Picks

Ever wonder where those odd socks wind up?  It’s a question that must have captured the imagination of Cecelia Ahern because her 2009 novel There’s No Place Like Here offers a fascinating explanation. 

In Ahern’s story the disappearance of a classmate triggers a lifelong obsession that causes Sandy Shortt to search for missing toys, socks, books, scarves and eventually people.  

When one of her investigations lands Sandy in a mysterious haven of missing persons and lost keys, gloves, unclaimed luggage, library cards, etc., it’s exactly what she’s always been looking for.    Her endless searching is finally justified — only now she’s the one who can’t find her way home. 

Stop looking for those lost sunglasses and checkout There’s No Place Like Here by Cecelia Ahern.

It’s the recently deceased who inhabit a surreal city of second chances and magical reunions in Kevin Brockmeier’s The Brief History of the Dead.  Spared from the complications that plague the living (for instance a deadly pandemic that quickly spreads across the globe), the dead spend their time in pursuit of unrealized dreams.   

Luka Sims produces a daily newspaper in the afterlife (I love his devotion to this task!) and the virus that swells his city’s population is front page news.  Graver concerns soon take precedent when individuals, families and entire neighborhoods start to vanish. Read all about it in The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier.

Alicia Cavitt
Information Specialist

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Library Collections

If you are reading this blog, you are surely capable of finding Don Edwards on YouTube and have absolutely no need to follow a hyperlink to a library catalog listing of a CD. 

But I wonder, dear blog reader, if you are old enough to remember the promise of the compact, optical disc? The data would last forever.  It could be copied over and over again without any degradation.  It would be read with an actual laser—just like the villains used to threaten James Bond’s vulnerable parts, only much, much, smaller.  The disc itself would be practically indestructible compared to vinyl or tape. Even if it were somehow scratched, the laser would just skip over the damage and interpolate.  They could be played until finally their great age caused them to delaminate, decades into the future.  It was an age of miracles and wonders!

Still, if you drive a lot, nothing beats a good music CD or an audiobook on CD to soothe and engage you while battling Atlanta traffic.  And if you want good music, I recommend Nanci Griffith’s album, “Other Voices, Other Rooms”.  All the tracks are winners—from “Across the Great Divide” to “Wimoweh”—but one of the best parts is where Don Edwards yodels the part of camp cookie in  "Night Rider's Lament".  Check it out.

Mary Kretsch
Information Specialist


Friday, March 8, 2013

Teen Tech Week: Check In @ Your Library

The library is celebrating Teen Tech Week March 10-17! Join us for programs all about cool technologies, hot apps, creation tools, and more. All programs are for grades 5 and up. The library also has books to tempt even the most tech-savvy teen. Plug into these books and enjoy some digital adventure!

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
When the super-genius and reclusive creator of the world’s most popular online game, OASIS, dies, he challenges the world to play the most intricate and elaborate game ever created.  And the prize? Control of the entire OASIS universe. A non-stop thrill ride full of pop-culture tidbits, classic arcade game allusions, 1980s trivia, and page-turning excitement!

Feed by M.T. Anderson
What if you could access any piece of information you wanted, any time, all just by opening your eyes? What if the internet—streaming videos, online shopping, games and apps—could be plugged right into your brain? Can there be too much of a good thing? Feed takes place in a world where all citizens can choose to have a computer chip inserted into their brain giving them unlimited access to all things tech, but the results aren’t always good. A perfect choice for fans of dystopian settings and worlds gone wrong.

Erebos: It’s a Game. It Watches You by Ursula Poznanski
When sixteen-year-old Nick Dunmore receives a package with a mysterious computer game called Erebos, he hopes it will explain his classmates' strange behavior. He is quickly drawn into the cryptic world of the game, where players must obey a strict code. Erebos watches its players and begins to manipulate their lives in frightening ways. It soon becomes clear the game has a deadly agenda. When Nick sets out on a dangerous mission, reality and the virtual world begin to blur.

Cleo Slaughter
Program Manager

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Staff Picks

You may have seen the teaser during the Super Bowl for Under the Dome, CBS’ upcoming supernatural drama based on Stephen King’s novel by the same name. The  series will be produced by Steven Spielberg and is set to air this summer. CBS has high hopes for this series, having ordered 13 episodes right from the start and bypassing the pilot process altogether. Spielberg has selected Brian K. Vaughan to adapt the novel into a television series, which will be Vaughan's first television work since Lost.

Under the Dome unfolds on a typically beautiful fall day as the town of Chester’s Mill, Maine is suddenly cut off from the rest of the world by an invisible, impenetrable dome.  Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener’s hand is severed as “the dome” comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one knows where it came from, when (or IF) it will be gone, or why it is there.  Over a period of one week, the situation inside the dome deteriorates rapidly due to the ecological effects and the interrelationships of the townspeople who don’t always see eye to eye.

King keeps a large cast of well-rounded and interesting characters busy, while retaining the familiar appeal that has drawn and kept King fans for decades. Don’t let the 1000+ page count discourage you. King keeps the “pedal to the metal” in this fast paced and compelling narrative.

Beth Moore
Information Specialist

Monday, March 4, 2013

Staff Picks

I just finished reading Jen Lancaster’s latest book, Here I Go Again.  She makes me laugh out loud!  In this book, the main character, Lissy, is afforded the opportunity to go back in time to change her present.  Lissy was a “mean girl” in high school and finds herself at her 20th high school reunion, jobless and divorced.   At the reunion, she discovers just how hated she was/is.  Very successful classmates delight in telling her just how awful she was and how their hate for her fueled their own desires to succeed.   Lissy  takes an unexpected opportunity to go back in time to change how she acted in high school.   She wants to be nicer, so that they’ll like her in the present and be willing to offer her a job, maybe?    Once back in the present, however, she discovers that how she changed herself in the past also changes the destiny of her classmates and most definitely not for the better.  Once more, Lissy heads back in time and tries to right the wrongs.  In both instances, she finds herself in funny situations (because she knows too much!).  Back in her present, Lissy and her mom are faced with her father’s death.  Can Lissy go back one more time and change the past once again?  Can she alter not only her dad’s destiny, but ultimately her own and will it be for the better??

If you like Sophie Kinsella, you’ll enjoy the writing style of Jen Lancaster.

Kim Cavalenes
Selection Assistant