Good luck to all who entered!

See you at the party on Thursday, August 14th – let’s see who will win!

Week 1 winner: Tiffany W

Week 2 winner: Brittany W

Week 3 winner: Jennifer Z.

Week 4 winner: Carlin M.

Week 5 winner: Lauren T.

Week 6 winner: Flossie D.

Grand Prize winners:

Molly W., Brandon C., Lisa S., ZZ S., Romy S. and Tiffany W.

Read to win @ the library!

The Teen Summer Reading Game ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’ (which happens to be the Olympic motto) begins on June 23rd. The game, and all summer programs are for teens entering grades 6 – 12.

How the game works:

For every book, magazine, manga (or whatever) you read, you report your reading in one of three ways:     

1. Fill out a bookmark and drop it off at either library
2. Post a comment on this blog
3. Send an email to: nscherer@fplct.org.

Each report must list:

1. Your name, grade and some  way to contact you.
2. The book’s title and author.
3. The number of pages in the book.
4. And finally, a short (VERY SHORT PLEASE) summary of the story

There are no sign-ups or registration for the reading game. You just begin reporting your reading to us, and we keep track of everyone’s progress. And because you can report your reading online, you don’t even have to be in Fairfield over the summer to play – you can participate on vacation, from camp, or anywhere else, as long as you can get to the Internet.

Prizes:

Each week we draw one report for a $50 gift certificate to stores like Borders, FYE, Starbucks and GameStop.

Also, for every 100 pages you read, you earn a raffle ticket towards our grand prize drawing, which is held at our end-of-summer party. For more on earning tickets and prizes, read the Good Books – June 2008 post (right after this one!)

Need more info? Contact the Teen Librarian, or stop by the library! 

As noted above, the Summer Reading Game will begin on June 23rd. For every 100 pages you read (books, magazines, manga, whatever!), you earn a raffle ticket towards our grand prizes (and what might they be…potentially a Chumby (see the picture!), a RipStik, a FLIP Video camera, or…well, we’re not 100% sure yet!)

But here’s a way to get even more bang for your reading buck: If you read a book from our Sports Book list, you will earn 2 tickets for every 100 pages. Some of the books on the list include:

Crackback by John Coy

The Runner by Carl Deuker

Samurai Shortstop by Alan Gratz

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

The Blind Side by Michael Lewis

Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock

Amazing Grace by Megan Shull

Remember: These are just a few of the choices from the list! Check in at the library in June to pick up your list, instructions for the game, and any updates on prizes and programs.

It seems lately the best place to find new music is on your television. And not on MTV, VH1 , BET or Fuse…but on commercials! All these artists got big after their songs were featured in ads, and you can find the CD at the library:

Sara Bareilles (Love Song)

Yael Naim (New Soul)

Ingrid Michaelson (The Way I Am)

Metro Station (Shake It)

Of course, there are lots of older songs that might be new to you popping up in commercials – if you need to find out who recorded it, just ask a librarian – we probably will know off the top of our heads! (Example: Hush is by Deep Purple…)

Which summer action movie are you looking forward to the most?

The Incredible Hulk – June 13th

Wanted – June 27th

Hancock – July 2nd

Hellboy II: The Golden Army – July 11th

The Dark Knight – July 18th

Or, are you just going to keep watching Iron Man over and over again?

…in grades 8 and up for our latest Reader’s Theatre production: Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village.

This award-winning book tells the story of teenage life in the middle ages through monologues for 20 different characters. Because it is reader’s theatre, you don’t have to memorize anything. And because it is all monologues, we can rehearse during the week when you are available individually!

Auditions:

Friday, May 2 from 3 – 4 PM at the Main Library

or

Saturday, May 3 from 3 to 4:30 PM at the Main Library

or

By appointment from May 5 – 9. Call the Teen Services department for a time/place.

The performance will be Saturday, June14th. If you love to act, come to the auditions for a chance to shine! 

The book that holds the Guinness record for longest novel is The Remeberance of Things Past by Marcel Proust, at 1.5 million words over 13 volumes. I love to read, but I have to admit – that is just too long! So the next time your teacher tells you that you need to find a book that is 200 pages or more for a report, or in-class reading, remember, it could always be worse!

For those of you who like you books extra-skinny, here is a list of books from the teen collection, with page numbers:

Paranoid Park by Blake Nelson (180)

Cut by Patricia McCormick (168)

Stop Pretending by Sonya Sones (149)

The First Part Last by Angela Johnson (131)

Animal Farm by George Orwell (124)

Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman (114)

The Long Night of Leo and Bree by Ellen Wittlinger (111)

If you are secretly (or not so secretly) a fan of American Idol, I’m here to tell you it’s okay. Here is why I am not ashamed – I don’t watch because I love the contestants. I think America hardly ever gets it right. I watch to see the ‘mentors!’: Huge stars from eras past: Neil Diamond, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Dolly Parton, and Mariah Carey (who is still producing mega-hits, so maybe shouldn’t be categorized as from a past era…) 

Instead of crying when your favorite gets the boot, take some time to add some oldies to your playlist. They will be around a lot longer than whatever terrible song they choose for the winner to sing at the finale:

* Neil Diamond – The Movie Album

* Andrew Lloyd Webber - Evita

* Dolly Parton – Treasures

* Mariah Carey – #1s

Summer isn’t always the best time for TV…lots of silly competition shows with ordinary people displaying secret talents (which mostly should be kept secret!) However, there is one exception to this rule: The return of So You Think You Can Dance!

Okay, maybe dancing shows aren’t your thing. But this one, with truly talented young dancers from different genres competing together, always hooks me.  Here are some dance-themed movies from our collection to get you in the mood!

* Dirty Dancing

* Swing Kids

* Hairspray

* Center Stage

* Mad Hot Ballroom

* Step Up

* Rize

Despite the recent civil unrest in Tibet, the Olympics are going on as planned, beginning on 08/08/08. This summer’s reading game theme will reflect the Olympic spirit, and is titled Faster, Higher, Stronger (which is, by the way, the official Olympic motto.)

So, what does that mean, exactly? Well, we aren’t giving anything away yet, but you can be sure that sports books and a certain boy demigod will be involved…

In the meantime, prove that you are Faster - sign up for our Dance Dance Revolution Tournament during Spring Break. As always, you compete for your highest personal score and win honor, glory, prizes, and possibly the ever-popular ceramic bunny!