Harry Potter Birthday Party

On July 31st, we celebrated the birth of the Boy Who Lived in style!

After being sorted into houses, we made our own wands, munched on Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, had a trivia contest, and made our own Butterbeer floats. They tasted pretty magical if I do say so myself! We ended the bash by taking about a million pictures of ourselves decked out in Hogwarts-worthy attire. Check 'em out here.


I'd love to have more Harry Potter programs in the future! Let me know if you have ideas. Send me an owl (or an email) at nplteenlibrarian@gmail.com.

End of Summer Reading

The end of the 2013 Teen Summer Reading Challenge is fast approaching.

The last day to turn in your Summer Reading Challenge Sheet is next Wednesday, August 21. (Let me know if that is a problem for you though because I can be a little bit flexible.)

Be sure to join us for the End of Summer Extravaganza next Thursday, August 22 from 3-5 in the Program Room. We will be announcing the winner of the Grand Prize Raffle! Come find out if you won a Kindle! We will also have a special guest--henna artist Amanda Roberge will be here providing free temporary henna tattoos! There will be snacks, games and more. It's going to be awesome!

A Fantastic Reader

I don't know about you, but an audiobook reader can make a book extra great or absolutely destroy it.  Happily, I just listened to one of the best audiobooks I've heard in a long while.

"Carter's Big Break," written by Brent Crawford and read by Nick Podehl, was terrific!  This was actually the second book in a series.  However, Crawford was so clever in his writing that I would never have known this was a series if Jessica hadn't told me.  But it's really Podehl who made the book.  His reading was the best and funniest representation of a character I've ever heard.  I often listen to audiobooks while I'm out walking around town, and I felt like an idiot laughing out loud like a maniac, but I couldn't stop!

What's it about?  It's summer, and Carter is psyched that his freshman year is over.  He's really excited about summer: he has a great girlfriend, and he and "his boys" have fun plans.  He was talked into doing a musical his freshman year, and, unbelievably, the drama teacher tells him he should try out for a movie being filmed in town.  He does, and snags the lead role!  He'll be acting alongside the most famous movie star in the country: Hillary Idaho.  Of course, there is no way the experience can go well, so Carter has to make his way through many trials and tribulations.

By the way, Jessica loved this audiobook as much as I did.  In fact, she loved Nick Podehl's reading so much she plans to listen to every audiobook he has read.

As a side note, you may be wondering if I am walking around town with a big ol' discman.  Nope!  The library has Playaways.  They are fantastic.  They are tiny mp3 players pre-loaded with a book.  They can fit in a pocket.  I love them.  Give them a try.

Who is your favorite audiobook reader?  Let us know in the comments.

Volunteers at the Stuffed Animal Sleepover

Once again, the Children's Room would have been in tough shape without teen volunteers.  We had a Stuffed Animal Sleepover for kids.  Children dropped off their stuffed animals for a sleepover at the library.  After the library closed, the stuffed animals took part in lots of fun activities, and the kids picked up their stuffed animals the next morning.

Our teen volunteers were fantastic!  They came up with great ideas.

Jack somehow hung Snakie from the lights or the ceiling to have him read a story about a bookworm.

Our volunteers also came up with the idea of putting two of the stuffed animals in the bookdrop (while special guest Dusty watched).

Of course, our volunteers, Jack, Ali and Kaili, were in charge of giving the stuffed animals a tour of the Teen Loft.

Finally, the teens played games with the stuffed animals and helped them with arts and crafts.

We honestly couldn't have done this program without Kaili, Ali and Jack.

If you are interested in volunteering at the library for special programs, contact our Teen Librarian, Jessica, at 978-465-4428 or jhilbun@mvlc.org.

Elementary, My Dear Patron

I love Sherlock Holmes.  I own the full collection and read through it every couple of years.  What I also love, then, are reading other variations of Sherlock Holmes.

I recently discovered the series "The Boy Sherlock Holmes," and I love it!  The author, Shane Peacock, imagines Sherlock as a boy and does an amazing job of explaining how Holmes became a detective, as well as other things you may have always wondered about him as you read the original stories.  For example:

- Why does Holmes never talk about his parents?  He can't have appeared out of thin air.
- How did he find and organize his Baker Street Irregulars?
- Did he go to college?
- How on earth did he become a boxer, of all things?
- Why does he choose not to become close to anyone (except, arguably, Watson)?
- And much, much more!

In addition to the fascination of the information about Holmes, the mysteries are excellent.  I always think I have them figured out, but a twist and a turn later I find I was way off.

The first book in the series is Eye of the Crow.  I would recommend reading them in order.

If you're interested in Sherlock Holmes, I also recommend:

- The "Enola Holmes" series (first book: Case of the Missing Marquess) by Nancy Springer.  This series imagines that Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes have a younger sister.  She kicks butt.

- For older readers, I recommend the "Mary Russell" series by Laurie King (first book: The Beekeeper's Apprentice) in which Holmes takes on an apprentice after he retires.

- When it comes to TV, the premiere series about Sherlock Holmes right now is Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch (who was recently in the movie Star Trek Into Darkness).  The BBC produces it, and there are currently two seasons available on DVD, with season 3 due to start airing soon.

Are there any other variations of Sherlock Holmes that you love?  Books, movies, TV shows?  Share them in the comments section.

BINGO!

Thanks to teen volunteers, the Children's Room was able to put on a really fun BINGO night for kids and their families.  We couldn't have done it without our volunteers!  Here are some pictures of them helping us out.

Some of our volunteers at the front of the room calling out BINGO numbers.  (It's a group effort. )

Our volunteers got to play a round.  Sadly, none of them won.  Volunteering is its own reward, right, guys?

One of our volunteers keeping track of the numbers that had been called.

Look how much fun she's having!  Volunteering is THAT FUN!

They worked hard, but they say that had a great time.

If you are interested in volunteering for special events at the library, contact our Teen Librarian, Jessica, at:

nplteenlibrarian@gmail.com

or

978-465-4428 ext. 242

Anyway, a final HUGE thanks to all of you who helped us out.  You presented a fun program!

Summer is here!

Summer is officially here! You know what that means? It's time for the 2013 Teen Summer Reading Challenge! Click the 2013 Teen Summer Reading Challenge tab for more information on how to participate. You can win awesome prizes just for reading a few books and coming to the library!