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.

Go to our Events for Teens  tab on the BPL Summer Reading page to find out where and when Nimmi will be doing henna tattoos.

The art of making henna tattoos, called mendhi, goes way back, at least 5,000 years. If you want to know more about it AND learn how to make your own designs, here’s a good place to start. 

If you need some ideas for what you’d like drawn on you, the Henna Page Symbol Index  has some suggestions.   

Teens are welcome to join Boston Public Library staff, The Teen Council of the Central Library, and Mayor Thomas M. Menino to walk in the Pride Parade this Saturday, June 9! The Teen Council will be making t-shirts to wear for the event. Anyone who wishes to join can make their own shirt, too.

The Pride Parade starts at noon on Boylston Street and Clarendon St. and ends at Government Center. Anyone interested in joining should email teen librarian Anna Draves at adraves@bpl.org.

“DEATH”

THE CRIME,

IN FULL BLOOM,

HERE,

ON A SLOPE DESCENDING,

LUCIEN CARR

BURIED A KNIFE

IN THE HEART

OF HIS BESOTTED STALKER.

CHARACTERIZED AS MUSE,

BUT MORE THAN THAT.

CAPTIVATED BY CARR’S PROFANE RANTS

ABOUT THE PATH TO TRANSCENDENCE

THROUGH PURE CREATIVE EXPRESSION

HIS “NEW VISION”.

Here is another poem written for yesterday’s “Words In Hand” poetry workshop. This is written by Brianna at the Central Library. It started out as Black Out poetry, where she blacked out the words she didn’t want from a newspaper article, but it quickly turned itself into Found Poetry as she pulled the words out, wrote them down, and added a slew of her own words. Check it out, this is one poem on domestic violence you don’t want to miss!

Response on Domestic Abuse, Without the Fame and Fortune

It has been approximately one and a half years, 18 months, 540 days,  Since I have been with my

 Love.

 Every second of it took my breath away whenever his hands were trying to prevent it from

 Getting anywhere.

I always thought that he wouldn’t hurt a fly just by looking into his hands, while every trade

 Mark showed that he was god’s reborn son.

My love grew founder for him when his eyes looked like it was god’s imagery. His face was so

 Perfect that it looked like he was god’s favorite son.

But the text message from other women felt like his only plans came from his desire to

 Touch without love.

It seemed like he was living in his fantasy, which left me in the cold that ended us in a devils

 Relationship.

 It was as if he loved from below his waist instead of inside his chest.

 It was like his hits meant I love you and his saliva on my face meant I will always be here for

You and I am going to beat the “f” out of you when you get home.

I felt like if I told the police when they arrived on the scene, they would care about women

Telling them she was physically assaulted by her husband, Donald Pillsbury.

But I guess since I am women who lacks Rihanna’s international profile, I get less attitude and

 Less outrage.

Since Rihanna gets lots of tender and care from a person she never seen in her life that is on her

 fan list.

But I don’t understand, how come my scares don’t matter to you.  How come majority pushes

I out the way and celebs get a tender help and hand.

As if my scares are another scum on the wall and Rihanna’s scares are so horrible that can cause

world war two.

But do I have to have rihanna glamour or her fortune to get a hug from people who have gods

Soul.

A boyfriend named Christopher Brown and a name like Robyn Rihanna Fenty to get attention

 and awareness from people who are clones and slaves in popularity’s fields.

 Sexual lyrics in my songs so horny men can save me by what’s under their waist.

No!!! I am a woman that desires respect and justice.

Women that desires care from a police men that is supposed to be doing his or her job.

Domestic violence affects “young, old, rich, poor, urban, saburban, every race, every sexual

Orientation, regardless of income and education.

So I will be damned if I get told by a police that my situation doesn’t matter because I am not a

Celebrity.

But it took me two and a half years, 18 months and 540 days to realize that my boyfriend was

 wrong.

And I will be damned if I get stomped on by feet that is that leads only the heart for the

Stereotypical.

The poem below was written by Anonymous at the Central Branch yesterday using Magnetic Poetry:

“FINDING YESTERDAY”

ONLY THIS LOVE

HEALS YOU AND I

IN OUR SLEEP

WE SHARE OUR PLEASURE

FLYING INTO A NIGHT SKY

THROUGH A TRANSITION

WE COME BACK

YOU AND I LINGER

THEN LET YOU AND I

HAVE ANOTHER

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

Read by: John, a teen at the Copley Teen Room

Graffiti Moon is a brilliant story about the awkward moments and true aspects of teenage love.
Ed is a graffiti artist who goes by the name of Shadow, spraying raw emotions onto the city walls.
Lucy blows glass, crafting her memories into tranperant art.
Lucy wants to find shadow. He is here dream man. Simple enough? No.
Lucy and Ed have actually dated before, which ended with Ed touching her butt and Lucy breaking his nose.
On their last night of senior year, follow them on a misadventure of expression of art, poetry, reality vs.
expectation, and a struggle to accept one’s self.
I enjoyed this and laughed for the first time in a long time reading about Ed, his poetic yet mischevious friend,
lucy and her supposedly psychic friend as each chapter shows different aspects of the same amazing night. I couldn’t
put the book down and regreted finishing it so fast.

Don’t Let Me Go by J.H. Trumble   

Read by: Anna/Copley Teen Room

 This is the story of a gay teen, Nate, who forces himself to say goodbye to the love of his life when his boyfriend, Adam, takes on a position at an off-Broadway theater far away from the town they grew up in. Adam moves in with roommates, and suddenly doesn’t have the time to talk to Nate as much as he used to. Nate gets jealous when Adam’s naked roommate keeps walking into their Skype conversation and touching Adam, making references to things that might or might not have happened.

 Lots of emotion is flung around in this novel. Nate makes new friends, and attempts to gain a new boyfriend, even though he can’t get Adam out of his head. I truly enjoyed this story for the real raw emotions it portrayed. There were a lot of tears, a lot of anger, but it was all worth it for the happy ending. If you like reading gay romance novels, I would highly recommend this well written novel! Plus, there’s a playlist at the very end if you’re interested in that kind of thing.

For those of you who don’t know www.goodreads.com is a social networking site geared toward book lovers. There, you can keep track of the books you’ve read, liked, hated, or books you want to read. You can write reviews, talk to others who felt the same way about a book you read, and join in group discussions.

There are groups for fans of a specific author, or fans of a specific genre, even fans of other things like knitting, or football. Whatever group you’re dreaming of, it’s probably there. And if it’s not, feel free to create it!

Why do I mention this? I’ve heard from many teens who visit the Copley Teen Room that there aren’t enough LGBTQ books in our collection. I’m working furiously to change that, but I wanted to give you guys a heads up that there IS a Goodreads group specifically for YA LGBTQ books and those people who read them. How fricken cool is that?!?! Yeah, that’s what I said when I found out!

The group is called “YA LGBT Books”. All you need to do is join Goodreads for free, and then join the group within the website. They have a monthly book group that nominates a different book to read each month and then they discuss it once it’s read. You can join in! Feel free to nominate your favorite books, and read the book of the month. It is here you can find more LGBTQ books than you ever thought were possible to exist. So check them out, and start reviewing them today!

And if you should find something you think we should have in our teen collection, be it LGBTQ or not, let us know! We want to order what you want to read. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Now, I know I mentioned Lady Gaga in the title of this post. Why? Because I found an awesome fan video done to one of her songs, featuring a gay wedding twist I thought you might like. Check it out below:

Flight of the Sparrows by Laura Baumbach

Read by: Anna/Copley Teen Room

This was an awesome book about a British teenage boy who’s on his own, looking for his father, by becoming a computer hacker. But when he and his friends steal important government files, they get more than they bargained for. Special Ops from the American Army show up to arrest them along with the British MI5 who want more than to simply arrest them. This is the heart wrenching and action packed story of how one teen finally meets his real father and claims a new family among military veterans, even as MI5 are still tracking him down, wanting him dead for the information he knows. Definitely a don’t miss novel! I loved it. Once I got started, I couldn’t put it down to save my life. I highly recommend it.

His Eyes by Renee Carter

Ready by: Anna/Copley Teen Room

This was a short, sweet, romance novel. Again, another book I couldn’t put down. Amy is a down to earth girl, about to graduate high school, and needing money to be able to attend her dream college. How she gets that money, is the interesting part. She’s hired to babysit a blind teenager from a very preppy school filled with rich kids. Only this kid, Tristan, newly blind from a show jumping accident, doesn’t want anything to do with anyone. Will he come around before it’s too late? Or will his ex-girlfriend, who doesn’t know he’s blind, and who’s intent on using him to get her on the cover of People Magazine, grab him up before Amy can get through to him? If you love romance novels, check this one out. A fast paced book, you won’t be able to put down.