Posted on January 5th, 2013 by Laura in Teen Services
Are you ever curious about the nuts and bolts of life in space? This video with International Space Station Commander Sunita Williams gives you a pretty amazing look at what her day-to-day life is like. The biggest take-away – when you’re in space, your hair always looks amazing!
Posted on December 19th, 2012 by Mary in Teen Services
In 2011, some members of the Central Library – Teen Council visited the Rare Books Department and viewed many of their special collections. After their visit, they created art work inspired by what they saw. The artists included BennyR., Kenny L., Anya E., Karen N., Kimberly M., Carlos G., and Albertino S.
You can see 7 of the creations at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostonpubliclibrary/sets/72157627015781485/detail/.
They are realy cool paintings using acrylics on canvas. Check out these great works of art!!
Posted on December 14th, 2012 by Anna in Books, Reviews - Staff, Teen Services
Tags: book, croak, Gina Damico, grim reapers, mystery, review, teen
Croak by Gina Demico
Read by: Anna/Copley Teen Room
This is the story of a 16-year-old teen who gets shipped off to spend the summer with her Uncle Mort because of sudden behavioral issues. Lex, named after the battle of Lexington, has no idea why she turned violent. She just knows that she likes to punch people and it doesn’t matter whether they’ve done something to personally offend her or not. But when she gets to the town of Croak, NY (Population 82), she’s startled to discover that her uncle isn’t the farmer she expected. He’s a Grim Reaper. And so is everyone else in the small town. She was born to be a Grim. At first she isn’t sure about this, but the more she hangs out with the other Junior Grims, and the more time she spends at work, Killing dead bodies so her partner can Cull the souls to send the people to the afterlife, the more she comes to realize that Croak is where she belongs.
But then, mysterious deaths start to occur. Not only do the medical examiners not know what’s killing these people, seemingly at random, but neither do the Grims. When it become apparent that the killer could very well be a Grim, it’s up to Lex and the other Junior Grims to figure it out.
Honestly, I think I died laughing. No joke. This book is at the same time dark, very serious and yet light with humor. I loved getting to hang out in the afterlife with the dead famous people like Edgar Allen Poe who seems to be the only one who doesn’t like John Wilkes Booth because John stole Edgar’s favorite quill. When we get the absolutely lovely description of the alcohol-like drink that actually has no alcohol in it, I about died, wishing I could have a cup. Keep in mind, the drink has no alcohol, but if a Grim has more than three drinks in a row, that could spell a very different kind of trouble: Death. The murder mystery that takes place is definitely a mystery that will defy you until near the end of the book. At least, it did for me. The book is at times creepy, but there is also a healthy dose of awkward romance to go along with the creep. While most books these days throw in the perfect romance between the two perfect main characters, this romance is not perfect. Nothing goes as planned and neither are the two main characters perfect. It’s wonderfully realistic.
Over all, this book was a nice breath of fresh air from all the books that only seem to mimic each other these days. Yep, there’s a girl on the cover, but she’s wearing a black hoodie (proper Grim attire) and carrying a large scythe. Not a fancy dress that never gets worn in the book. But be aware of one thing. As you near the end of the first book, make sure you have Scorch, the second book, handy because you’ll want to dive right in without waiting. Trust me, this book is awesome. And the story’s not done yet…
I can’t recommend this book enough.
Posted on December 11th, 2012 by Mary in Teen Services
Tags: craft, crafts, Martha Stewart, official first day of winter, paper cutting, snow flakes, snowflakes, teens, winter, Youtube
With the official start of winter on December 21, our thoughts move to winter type crafts. One craft is making paper snowflakes that you can tape to your window or door. You can make them white like snowflakes, use opalescent color paper to make it look like when the sun reflects off the soft powdery snow, or you can use any color of paper around and different types of textures. The thinner the paper the easier it is to cut.
I found this website from Martha Stewarts showing easy instructions for making snowflakes: http://www.marthastewart.com/276331/how-to-make-paper-snowflakes/@center/307034/christmas-workshop. The first image of the demonstration shows the pretty snowflakes she and her helpers made.
For more snowflake ideas, ask a librarian for books on papercutting. For our Youtube fans, you can find many videos using the search term: how to make paper snowflakes. There are some really creative videos out there showing more types of snowflakes to make. Even if you look on your favorite search engine, such as google, you can search for “how to make paper snowflakes” and find actual templates that you can printout to help you make some of the fancier snowflakes.
Most of all just enjoy all the paper cutting and don’t forget to pick up after yourself. Happy Paper Cutting!
If you have any pictures of the snowflakes you have made, please feel free to share them with your favorite Teen Librarian. You might just see your work posted on the blog.
Have a great winter…. snowy or not!
Posted on November 29th, 2012 by Laura in Teen Services
I don’t know about you, but when the weather starts to get cold I want to spend my evenings curled up with a blanket, a nice big cup of cocoa, and a really creepy book. Take a look at this list of teen horror and suspense books to snuggle up with on these cold nights!
