Book Bag: Friendswood Youth Services Blog

And here's Karen's take on Chamber of Secrets! You're so lucky to get 2 reviews in 1 day! Title/Year originally published: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets/1999 When I originally read it: Now. What I thought of it then: When I re-read it: Ah, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. With such a favorable impression left upon me by the first book , of course I had to read the second one. (or I should say, listen to) There is the magic way Harry is supposed to travel to school (on the subway platform) and then, when he fails to make his train, the adventure with him and Ron in the flying car. I thought it a strange concept that one ghost haunts nothing else but a girl's bathroom in the school and the bathroom becomes the central point of the book. And could Gaylord (excuse me, Gilderoy Lockheart) be any more annoying. Geesh. In my opinion the end was very clever the way that Tom Marvolo Riddle turned out to be Voldemort and that Ginny w...

Title/Year originally published: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets/1999 When I originally read it: 1999 What I thought of it then: Believe it or not, I don't have a clear memory of checking out the second book like I do with the first. I don't know why though, so much stuff happens! I do remember thinking that Gilderoy Lockhart was obnoxious... When I re-read it: I may be saying this with every book as I re-read them, but this one might be my favorite! Like I said before, there's so much stuff going on here! Moaning Myrtle! Tom Riddle's diary and learning about Voldemort's past! Seeing Dumbledore's office for the first time! Seeing Ginny's crush on Harry (I only vaguely remember Ginny in the earlier books, and I certainly forgot her song about Harry), Colin Creevy's creepy fanboy obsession, the flying car, whomping willow, Hagrid's friendship with a giant spider, Hagrid going to Azkaban (I COMPLETELY forgot about that happening! Scary!), basili...

(This is one of my favorite dishes to make Curried Black Beans and Chickpeas with cous cous) When I got to college, I earned a reputation among my roommates as being a good cook. Now, don't be fooled, I am by no means the next Rachel Ray but I did know my way around a kitchen. I could use a garlic press, make scrambled eggs, bake a cake, cook something in the oven besides a frozen pizza and basically follow most recipes. I guess it never occurred to me that not everyone's parents and friends' parents cook a lot. I was used to helping my mom out in the kitchen and watching while my best friend E (who is an amazing and mostly self taught cook) cook with her mom. It's not the end of the world if you don't know how to cook in high school, college, or even after college. But it can be a lot of fun. Also it ends up being cheaper (And FAR healthier) than buying fast food or already prepared meals. And there's a sense of satisfaction and acc...

I think that all of you teens who attend my programs know how I feel about bullying. I hate it. I think anyone who's ever been the subject of bullying hates it and we don't need to live in a world where people are mocked, belittled and/or abused for being who they are. This is 2010, we are living in the future, and we may not have flying cars or time travel (YET) but we should be able to be kind to our fellow human beings. ANYway, off my soapbox. This was all leading to showcasing this website that aims to stop cyber-bullying: Say It 2 My Face Here's a little from their "about" page: Too often, people view the cyber world as a world in which you can do anything and more relevantly, say anything. People, especially adolescents, inappropriately utilize the cyber realm as a cop out to send messages that they'd never say to some ones face. People assume that they can use derogatory language or broadcast hateful messages against their peers without any consequences...

This is Karen. She is the best, she assists our Library Director and pretty much manages lots of important things around the library (and she's a notary so she's my hero!) As you may know if you read this blog regularly , she is reading the entire Harry Potter series with me. And these are her thoughts on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: When I originally read it: The first time I read it was in 1998 when my kids were little and I read it out loud to them. I had completely forgotten the whole second half of the book. Weird, huh? What I thought of it then: When I was reading the book the first time, it was hard to retain because I was reading it out loud to two small children that would stop me over and over and ask questions. Plus I didn’t know how to pronounce a lot of the names, so when the movie came out I was like OHHHH!!, that’s how you say that. When I re-read it: So I just finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for ...