CR@SH!

Crash Friday, April 11th @ 5:30
Cr@sh featuring Nintendo Wii! 
Plus, play games on 2 Gamecubes and Playstation 2!
Bring your own games and controllers so the fun lasts
all night long (no M Rated games, please)
Enjoy Crafts, food, and fun!

Raffle Winner!

Congratulations to Jenna Eliasoph from Carle Place Middle School - the winner of the iPod Shuffle! Way to go Jenna!

Jenna and many others attended our Presidential Election Party on Thursday, April 3rd. We watched a great film called 18 in '08, which is all about the importance of the youth vote in the upcoming presidential election. If you missed the program, but still want to check out the film, it has been added to our circulating collection. Check it out today, and get out and VOTE in 2008!

Book Review - After by Francine Prose

School shootings like those at Columbine and Virginia Tech are terrifying, and the fictional catalyst in this captivating and often frightening book by Francine Prose. A school shooting has occurred at Pleasant Valley High. In the aftermath of the shooting, nearby Central High School hires a grief and crisis counselor, who is hellbent on preventing a similar incident at Central. Slowly, changes are made. First, no one can wear ANYTHING red to school. That includes the red AIDS awareness button that a girl named Stephanie wears to honor her dead brother. And one day Stephanie doesn't return to school. Tom and his friends are worried about the changes, which at first seem to just pose an inconvenience, but take on a more sinister tone as days go by. Daily assemblies, metal detectors, locker searches, random drug testing....every day the students' freedoms are being taken away and school is beginning to feel like a prison. Soon, students are being shipped off to boot camp, supposedly to cure them of their bad behavior before they turn into the next school shooter. But the students never return, and the parents don't seem to mind. In fact, it seems like the daily e-mails from the grief counselor are brainwashing all the parents. Tom realizes he must take action, before he is the next one shipped off.

I thought this book started off a little bit slow, but once you get into it, it is like a roller coaster ride right through the very end. Evil principals, mind control, paranoia--they all make for a great read!

Book Review - Candyfloss by Jacqueline Wilson

Which parent would you choose to live with, your mom or your dad? Really think about, would you want to make that decision? Floss is put in the position of having to choose between living with her mom or her dad. Her parents have been divorced for a while, she was unhappy about it, but it was working out. During the week, Floss lived with her mother and her mother’s new husband, Steve and during the weekend she lived with her father. Floss always wished that her parents would get back together, but the wish dies a terrible death when her mother announces that they will be moving to Australia. Floss will have to leave her father. What makes it worse is that her father does not have the money to visit Floss in Australia. Now here is the decision, live with her mother or father? She decides to live with her father and her mother is crushed.

Now she is dealing with snobby girls at school that are spreading rumors about her. They are saying that her mother has abandoned her. They say that she smells. There are even threats about calling child protective services on her father; that he is not taking care of her properly. So who would you choose? Find out what happens to Floss and her family after she makes her decision. This a great story about a girl dealing with the divorce of her parents.

Presidential Election Party - April 3

Presidential Election Party - Thursday April 3rd @ 7pm
Young voters are integral to this year's election.  Join us for a
night of fun and thought-provoking discussion about what the
presidential election means to teens.  Watch the documentary 
"18 in '08" and discuss your thoughts and opinions.  We'll even 
help you register to vote! Even if you are not of voting age, 
your opinion counts, so come on down.  
Awesome raffles and refreshments too! Open to teens in grades 7-12
Win a iPod Shuffle! 

Book Review - Skin by Adrienne Maria Vrettos

There are plenty of books out there that deal with anorexia, but Skin is different. Skin is told from the point of view of Donnie, whose sister Karen is an anorexic. This unique perspective is what makes this book so great. The book starts off with Donnie finding Karen dead on the living room floor. He tries to revive her, to no avail. The book is told as a flashback leading up to this point.

Donnie is fourteen, Karen sixteen, and they are often exiled to the front porch during their parents screaming matches. No matter what the weather, the freezing cold of winter, or the steaming heat of summer, Donnie and Karen know what it's like to wait outside for the yelling to die down. Karen is Donnie's protector, and looks out for him even as her health diminishes. Donnie looks up to his sister and loves to spend time with her and her best friend Amanda. Donnie doesn't have many friends of his own, and the two that he does have treat him like garbage. As Karen gets sicker and sicker, Donnie feels he is becoming invisible. He doesn't talk to anyone at school, and his parents are too busy fighting with each other and figuring out to do with Karen to notice him. He finds Karen's daily diary of the food she consumes and he is horrified, but he doesn't know how to help her. Despite all of this, Donnie maintains a sense of humor through the sadness. The minor characters are really great too, especially Karen's best friend Amanda, who can't figure out how to help Karen without betraying her trust.

I HIGHLY recommend this book! If you read it, make sure to leave comments below!

Before I Die - Book Comments??

Did you read our Teen Book Club book "Before I Die" but couldn't make it to the meeting? We still want to know what you thought about it! Leave your comments below.