Manga artist today/ Manga trivia and anime trivia Monday!

Drop in for the "how to draw manga '' session with Keita Browne today at 1! If you want more manga, there's manga club Monday at 2, with Naruto/Bleach trivia and showing of videos from Ghost in the Shell 2. See you then!

Manga Artist Tomorrow!

Tomorrow at 1, manga artist Keita Browne will be at the library to teach kids and teens how to draw manga! Bring pictures or whole manga books to draw from and ask Keita how to draw manga like a professional. No sign-up's required, so drop in with your friends tomorrow!

Read on the Wild Side/ Gaming Thursdays/Manga Drawing Saturday

Read on the Wild Side is off to a great start! One young adult has already read 10 hours to be automatically entered to win an iPod shuffle! Keep the logs coming in and keep reading! If you can't make it to the library to turn in a log, comment below on this blog to tell what you read or e-mail ya_rgpl@yahoo.com. If you're tired from all that reading, there's gaming tomorrow and how to draw manga Saturday at 1!

Teens Go Wild Expressing Yourself All Summer!

Today starts the kickoff of the YA summer reading program! There are fun programs to attend and great prizes to win! Today starts our manga club and teen movies. At 2, come to talk about your favorite shonen and shojo manga, then stay to watch Paul Blart at 3:30!

You can also enter the reading contest. After 1 hour, you win your choice of a hat, wristband, or bumper sticker. After 2 hours, you win a McDonald's gift card. After 5 hours, you win a flash drive. After 10 hours, you win a Brunswick Bowling Pass and you're automatically entered to win an iPod shuffle! You have from June 22 to July 31 to enter, and only 1 prize is awarded daily. Good luck!

YA-like book I'm Reading Now: Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Even though it's almost summer, I'm reading sad books I should have read by now, like Graveyard Book and Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I'll read House of Night vampire school fun after this heartwrenching story about two close boyhood friends in Afghanistan, Amir and Hassan. Hassan and his father are the servants of Amir and his father, but Hassan and his father are like family to Amir and his father. They both love flying kites together, and Hassan helps Amir win a kite-running tournament, which pleases his distant father. What happens after the tournament, however, changes their lives forever.

Hassan is on his way to return Amir's kite home when he's confronted by Assef, a bully who's tormented Hassan because he's a Hazara, a tribe in Afghanistan that is poor and uneducated. Chasing after Hassan, Amir sees Hassan being bullied and later assaulted by Assef, but says does nothing to stop it and says nothing after they get home. Wracked by guilt, Amir avoids Hassan and wants him to go away. After his birthday party, Amir hides money in Hassan's hut and says he stole it. Surprisingly, Amir's father forgives Hassan, but even more surprisingly, Hassan's father says that they are moving out anyway. In the midst of all this, civil unrest breaks out in Afghanistan, causing Amir and his father to flee their home, which further disrupts Amir's chaotic life.

Kite Runner is an adult novel, but has many themes relevant to teens and should be read by teens 14 and over. The anguish of war, guilt, and intolerance are all important to learn about. If you want an emotional, but beautifully written, book to read this summer, check out Kite Runner (after I return it) under YA FIC HOSSEINI.

Gaming Tomorrow/Manga and Movies Next Week!

There's gaming tomorrow and manga club next Monday! Snacks will be served during the club meeting at 2, where there will be Naruto and Death Note trivia! Stick around for the teen movie, Paul Blart at 3:30! The movie's PG, so bring in a permission slip to see the movie if you're under 12. See you then!

YA-Like Book I'm Reading Now : Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

I adore Neil Gaiman's creepy and funny stories, and Graveyard Book doesn't disappoint. This book won the Newbery Medal for children's literature, but I think it could cross over for teens, too. Gaiman described this story as Jungle Book in a graveyard and it is, in a way. Nobody ( because he's nobody's child) Owens has been taken in by a graveyard full of ghosts and other dead people after his own family is killed. The graveyard's residents saved Nobody from the man Jack that tried to kill him, and try to keep Nobody safe in the graveyard by forbidding him from leaving.

However, Nobody wanders away from his caretakers, the Owenses and Silas, and ends up in a lot of trouble with living people. He fades into invisibility to escape a shopkeeper who wants to turn him over to the man Jack to kill him. Nobody also runs into trouble when he uses his powers he learns from other ghosts to get back at bullies at school. In addition to all that, he has to keep away from the man Jack and try to live a somewhat normal life as a boy living in a graveyard can. To find out what happens to Nobody, check out Graveyard Book under J FIC GAIMAN.

Gaming Tomorrow!

Join Tom, our resident gamer, and bring your friends for gaming tomorrow!

YA Book I'm Reading Right Now: Marked, House of Night, Book 1

I've finally found a vampire series I can sink my teeth into. ( Sorry for the awful pun). House of Night by mother-daughter team PC and Kristin Cast is a fun, sarcastic, and sometimes eerie look at "vampyres'' that must go to the House of Night school to become full-fledged vampyres.

Zoe Redbird has a vampyre mark on her forehead that means she has to go to the school, but her mark is so unique that even among vampyres, she's an outcast. There she befriends sweet country girl Stevie Rae, Damien, and best friends, Erin and Shaunee. After taking a few classes and speaking to her mentor, Neferet, Zoe realizes she has the power to be head of the Dark Daughters, a powerful group of the vampyres. Her only obstacle is mean girl, Aphrodite, who's head of the Dark Daughters and doesn't want to give up her high status-or the boy Zoe has a crush on and Aprodite's still in love with, Erik. Zoe has to deal with being away from her family, battling new enemies, and still being true to herself as she changes from a fledgling to a vampyre.

House of Night may be similar to Twilight, with vampire teenagers in high school, but that's about all I see the two series have in common. This book has much more mature subject matter ( Damien is openly gay, sex is mentioned quite a bit, and the characters curse). This book is also more matriarchal ( the vampyres worship a Goddess, male vampyres assist female ones, and Native American rituals in the book are performed by powerful women). This series has caused controversy because of that, so if you're more into straight vampires in innocent love, stay with Twilight. If you want an edgier, but still teenage vampire series, though, check out Marked ( after I return it) under YA FIC Cast. The other books in the series will be on the shelves soon!

YA book I Read and Loved: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

I loved the honest writing of Laurie Halse Anderson in the novel, Speak, and I really love her unflinching portrayal of anorexia in her newest book, Wintergirls. In this story, Lia is a troubled anorexic teenager coping with the death of her former best friend, Cassie, who was also anorexic. To make it worse, Cassie called Lia 33 times before she died, but Lia ignored her calls, because they weren't friends anymore.

Wracked with guilt over abandoning Cassie and delusional from the weakness of her disease, Lia thinks she see Cassie's ghost telling her that she has to come over to Cassie's side to be as thin as she wants. Lia drifts further down into anorexia and cuts herself, too. Lia is straining the patience of her family, doesn't feel like anyone understands her, and it seems like the only way she'll ever be happy is if she becomes a "wintergirl'' like Cassie. Wintergirls is a painful, realistic look at the toll eating disorders take on people ( but especially girls) mentally and physically.

Gaming Tomorrow Now Online!

Don't forget gaming tomorrow with Tom at 4!

Read on the Wild Side to win an iPod shuffle!

This summer, starting June 22, reading rocks! For the summer reading contest, one lucky teen can be given the chance to win an iPod shuffle! Reading 5 hours wins you a flash drive. Read 10 hours and you get a free bowling pass from Brunswick Bowling and you're automatically entered for the chance to win the shuffle. You can read anything ( hopefully, including this blog), from comics to Myspace pages to magazines. Get a reading log from and return it to the file on the glass display case. You can also e-mail what you wrote to me at ya_rgpl@yahoo.com. Write down what you wrote and turn it in. Good luck and see you in the library this summer!