Book Bag: Friendswood Youth Services Blog

Halloween isn't just about trick or treating and dressing up in awesome costumes. It's also about sharing chills and thrills with your loved ones through books! All Hallow's Read is a tradition started by Neil Gaiman * when he decided that there weren't enough holiday traditions that involved giving books. It's a way to share scary things (which most of us love) with others. Here's a quick video where he explains the concept some more (also, there are zombies in the background) http://www.allhallowsread.com/ As a librarian I will share with you my list of scary books you should check out: Stranger With My Face by Lois Duncan (or really anything by Lois Duncan) Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link What are your favorite scary books? Leave your suggestions in the comments! DFTBA, Sti * On

It's Halloween, one my Top 3 favorite holidays! This year Friendswood Library staff dressed as 'Book'aneers (at my suggestion) and the Teen Advisory Group dressed as Steampunk Bookaneers. Basically, it's awesome. Here are a few photos of us doing our piratey thing at Halloween in the Park and here at the Library What are you dressed as today? DFTBA, Sti

John Green's new book comes out soon. He's been busy signing all of the preorder copies and now he's reading us his chapter. Check it out! I also read yesterday, that John and his brother Hank will be making educational videos soon. And I am SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS. Okay, and that was your nerding out moment for the day. DFTBA, Sti

This week is Teen Read Week 2011, a week that highlights Young Adult books in school and public libraries. You already know that reading is a great hobby to have, it's free, you can do it anywhere, and it's fun! Did you also know that teens who read for fun usually have higher test scores and a re more likely to succeed in the workforce when they're finished with school?* Also, YA books and teen activities are important and deserve their own week of publicity!  The theme this year is "Picture It @ Your Library" so the focus is on graphic novels (one of my favorite things ever!) and other books that invite you to view the world in new and creative ways through literature. In conjunction with the 'Picture It' theme, there is a photography contest you can enter! Create a visual version of your favorite book's title. The guidelines are here: 2011 Teen Read Week Photo Contest. The deadline is Oct. 31. You can submit your photo(s) from home, or wor

Looking for new book recommendations and a way to connect with YA authors? Check out ThisIsTeen on facebook for lots of resources. You can: Participate in weekly author Q&As Use the author and book gallery and book finder to find new books that interest you Read excerpts from books Enter contests And questions and discuss books Explore videos and events Just looking around for a few minutes I can already see that this will be a great place to see what other teens are reading and enjoying. Head over to facebook and 'like' them to get started! So you know, I approve and so does Snape: DFTBA, Sti

At our TAG meeting on Thursday we participated in the Banned Book Week Virtual Read Out! Here are our videos of TAG members reading passages from frequently challenged books:   Hope you had a great Banned Books Week! DFTBA, Sti