Program - Candy Sushi

Candy Sushi
June 10, 4:30
Learn how to make candy sushi, a super cool treat. We'll also have a manga swap, so bring along your old books to trade. Sign-up in advance.

Book Review: If I have a wicked stepmother, Where’s my prince? By Melissa Kantor

Lucy has had her life changed completely when her father remarries and moves her to Long Island from the west coast. She is not happy at all, not only does she have a stepmother, but twin stepsisters, and her father is never around. Her “room” is now the basement, but she still does not have furniture, after months of living there. She compares herself to Cinderella – she gets in trouble for anything, she is treated differently by her stepmother, and she has no friends. Everything starts to change when the most popular guy at school notices her – she may have finally found her prince, or has she?

I really enjoyed this book. I found I was angry FOR Lucy. You also learn that everything is not what it seems. Read this book and see if you think that Lucy is right or wrong with her choices.

Pizza and Pages - Teen Book Club

May 7, 4:30
Read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and come talk about the book while munching on some delicious pizza. Extra copies of the book will be available in the YA section of the library. Please sign up at the front desk.

About the book: in a future North America, rulers of Panem televise a survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another. Sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place.

Book Review - If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Mia finds herself the only survivor of a tragic car accident that kills her parents and younger brother. She is in a coma when she realizes she is somehow in between life and death, and has a choice to make. Should she stay or go?

This is a very emotional story, agonizing at times, when the reader imagines what it must be like for Mia and how strong the pull must be for her to join her now deceased family, wherever they may be. The author does not spend a lot of time trying to figure out what exists on "the other side", which is nice. Instead, the book focuses on what Mia's life was like before the accident. She is a gifted cello player, the black sheep in her family of punk rockers. Her boyfriend Adam is about to make it big with his band, and she is struggling to figure out her place in his world. What really drives this book is the relationship between Mia and her parents and her brother Teddy. It is a tender and loving bond, unlike any I have read in a novel for teens.

If you want to keep up the cryfest after reading If I Stay, check out Before I Die by Jenny Downham and let the tears flow where they may.

CR@SH - May 15th

The anxiously awaited return of CR@SH! C'mon, you know you missed it. We are back in the game on May 15th, featuring two hours worth of mind-blowing video game action. We will feature Super Smash Brothers Brawl on the big screen. Gamescubes in the back, bring your own games and/or controllers, nothing M rated please. Snacks and good times await you.

CR@SH
Friday, May 15th
5:30-7:30
FREE! For teens in grades 7-12, no sign-up required.

Program - Tag Team Poetry

April 23 @ 4:30
Tag Team Poetry
Celebrate National Poetry Month with Tag Team Poetry. Using magnetic poetry we will write unique and creative poems. Refreshments too! Free, but space is limited, sign up at the front desk

Book Review - Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff

This is the story of two girls, LaVaughn and Jolly. LaVaughn is fourteen, and ever since the fifth grade, she has known one thing: she is going to college. Which is a pretty amazing goal, since not a single person in her entire apartment building has ever gone to college. She needs to earn some money, because even though her mom has been saving up, they don't exactly have a whole lot of money in the college fund. LaVaughn decides to earn money by babysitting for seventeen year old Jolly's two kids, Jeremy and Jilly. Jolly's apartment is disgusting, the kids are covered in snot and drool, and Jolly's life is a complete mess. But LaVaughn realizes that Jolly doesn't have anyone to lean on, no one to help her out, and she is really close to losing everything. So LaVaughn sticks it out, and becomes inextricably entwined in Jolly's life, and in her children's lives as well.

This is a great story, beautifully written, and heart breaking. It is written in open verse and the lyrical style makes for a quick read. But even though you might finish the book in one sitting, the characters will stay with you for a long time.