Book Bag: Friendswood Youth Services Blog

I know we're all just getting geared up for the holiday season, but I've also been planning the 2013 Spring Schedule. Here's a little peek at some examples of what we'll be doing! As you can see, we've got a lot of fun things coming up in 2013, so come join us on Fridays from 4:30-5:30! And don't forget that we play video games every Tuesday from 4:30-5:30!

Just got a stack of new books that look particularly good. Thought I'd tease you with their first lines. Would you check out these books just from reading their first sentence? "On the day she was to die, Liyana walked out of her family's tent to see the dawn."                                    Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst "The rain poured down on London so hard it seemed that it was dancing spray, every raindrop contending with its fellows for supremacy in the air and waiting to splash down."                                    Dodger by Terry Pratchett "The two girls on the beach in their flowing gowns could have been mistake for water nymphs, if water nymphs wore gold-edged togas."                     ...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! It's finally here! I am dressed as Ms. Frizzle today and Keith is dressed as Waldo (and yes, a TON of people have already 'found' him. :D). Hope you get to see us! The rest of the library staff are also dressed as popular children's book characters. We have Amelia Bedelia, Alice in Wonderland, Wilbur from Charlotte's Web, Hermione Granger, Ladybug Girl, and Jim from Treasure Island. I hope you chose a good book as your choice for All Hallows Read! I gave Fahrenheit 451 (a book about a future where no books are allowed- pretty scary if you ask me!) to someone who doesn't particularly like scary books. So you know there's a 'scary' book out there for everyone! DFTBA, Sti

Remember, All Hallows Read is on Wednesday! So share a scary book or story with someone! If you're on a budget, you can download a scary story written and read by Neil Gaiman at http://www.audible.com/ScareUs for free! And for every download, Audible.com donates $1 to DonorsChoose.org Pretty cool! "Click-Clack the Rattlebag" is your Halloween treat from Neil Gaiman and Audible, FREE through October 31. It's not available anywhere else, and for a limited time, each download from Audible benefits educational charities at DonorsChoose.org. A few words from Neil: "Why tell ghost stories? Why read them or listen to them? Why take such pleasure in tales that have no purpose but, comfortably, to scare? "I don't know. Not really. It goes way back. We have ghost stories from ancient Egypt, after all, ghost stories in the Bible, classical ghost stories from Rome (along with werewolves, cases of demonic possession, and of course, over and over...

A few more book suggestions to round out Teen Read Week! Looking for some creepy tales with sarcastic main characters? They're my favorite kinds too! I like a few scares, but if someone is making funny quips, I like it all the more!  Skulduggery Pleasant  When twelve-year-old Stephanie inherits her weird uncle's estate, she must join forces with Skulduggery Pleasant , an undead sorcerer and detective, to save the world from the Faceless Ones. Not only is Skulduggery hilariously sarcastic, Stephanie is also amazingly snarky- which helped me not to get too freaked out. This book is nonstop danger and adventure and I can't wait to read the rest of the series (there are 7 books so far)! Hold Me Closer, Necromancer Sam LaCroix, a Seattle fast-food worker and college dropout, discovers that he is a necromancer, part of a world of harbingers, werewolves, satyrs, and one particular necromancer who sees Sam as a threat to his lucrative business of raising th...

I know I said I would be updating you on some creepy books for Halloween and Teen Read Week, and I'm ready to start! Our first suggestion is a new series called Tales From Lovecraft Middle School by Charles Gilman and it's called Professor Gargoyle 11-year-old Robert Arthur must vanquish Professor Gargoyle and learn the creepy origin story of the brand new Lovecraft Middle School Think of it as The Bailey School Kids series, only older and creepier! Our second suggestion is one of my favorite graphic novels of the past few years, Ghostopolis by Doug TenNapel. Now I love most of TenNapel's graphic novels (I also suggest Cardboard , and Bad Island ), but Ghostopolis is definitely my favorite! Imagine Garth Hale's surprise when he's accidentally zapped to the spirit world by Frank Gallows, a washed-out ghost wrangler. Suddenly Garth finds he has powers the ghosts don't have, and he's stuck in a world run by the evil ruler of Ghostop...

Give a scary book to a friend for All Hallows Read!  Why? Let Neil Gaiman explain! So. What are your favorite scary books? I'm not usually a fan of horror, but I'll be sharing some of my favorites through out the month.  DFTBA, Sti

Hello all! Monday is October 1st. You know what that means! Yep, the day when I break out all of my Halloween themed earrings (seriously, I have about 10 pairs that I alternate all month long)! But also, it means that Teen Read Week is just around the corner. This year we celebrate you--teens--and what you read from October 14-20 and the theme is the creepy 'It Came From the Library' (insert evil laugh here).  All that week I'll be posting creepy books for you to read, I'll also be making some videos about your favorite spooky stories, and there just may be some giveaways! So stay tuned! Ahh, Teen Read Week. Just another reason Fall is the best season! DFTBA, Sti

Have you ever really loved a book? Have you ever wanted to show how much you loved that book by making something? I feel this way a lot. Sometimes this results in awesome crafts and sometimes.....not so awesome crafts. This is the start of a new series' of blog entries called BiblioCraft Corner, all about crafts I (or you) make that are inspired by or created from books! For our inaugural entry, I'd like to share the craft I worked on this weekend. Remember when I blogged about Zita the Spacegirl a few weeks ago? Well, my favorite character is Strong Strong and I really wanted my very own Strong Strong (though maybe not quite so large as he is in the book!), so I decided to make one! I asked the author Ben Hatke if he minded my creating a Strong Strong doll and he was cool with it.  (Strong Strong is the big guy!) Of course then it took me several months to get around to it...but I started it this weekend! Here's what I've got so far. Please keep in mind that ...

Maggie Stiefvater's newest book The Raven Boys is out! Though she is from a family of clairvoyants, Blue Sargent's only gift seems to be that she makes other people's talents stronger, and when she meets Gansey, one of the Raven Boys from the expensive Aglionby Academy, she discovers that he has talents of his own--and that together their talents are a dangerous mix. You may have read Stiefvater's other work The Scorpio Races , The Wolves of Mercy Falls series ( Shiver , Linger and Forever ), and my favorites Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception and Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie. Her writing is really atmospheric (so get ready for some creepy moments) and poetic (very beautiful), and The Raven Boys sounds excellent. Did I mention she's also an artist and musician? She illustrated and composed the music for her newest book trailer: DFTBA, Sti

Happy first day of the 2012-2013 school year!  I hope you're excited about all the new things you're going to learn in the coming months. And in case you aren't here's an encouraging video from our beloved John Green to point out some ways that public school is really kinda awesome:   Now that school has started, we'll be resuming our normal YA programming schedule! That means: video games on Tuesdays from 4:30-5:30 and other fun activities on Fridays from 4:30-5:30 TAG Meetings will be held on Wednesdays from 4:30-5:30! Remember text @hic to (516) 342-4409 to get texts about programs and meetings! DFTBA, Sti 

Have I made you read Zita the Spacegirl yet? If we've spoken in person, the odds are I've tried! I can't say enough wonderful things about this graphic novel by Ben Hatke. Zita is an impulsive girl whose decision to push a button she finds in a meteorite results in her best friend being pulled through a wormhole to a distant planet. Of course, she has to save him! Along the way she makes some friends, some reluctant allies, and some enemies. Zita the Spacegirl is on this year's Texas Bluebonnet list, but don't let that fool you into thinking it's only a book for kids. It's also on the Maverick Graphic Novel list. I know 4 year olds who love this books and I know 40 year olds who love this book. It truly is an  adventure tale everyone can enjoy. If I have made you read this book and you'll be excited to hear the sequel, Legends of Zita the Spacegirl  is due out soon! You can put it on hold now through the catalog, if you want... Ben was rece...

Did you know  my favorite part of going to the movie theater is watching the previews before the movie starts? That's part of why I love book trailers. They're previews for books! How perfect is that? Here's a fun trailer for Drama by Raina Telgemeier: Enjoy! DFTBA, Sti

Ready for a new book but not sure what you want to read? Try out YALSA(Young Adult Library Services Association)'s new mobile app Teen Book Finder (free at the Apple App store!) for some suggestions.  Each day they feature 'Hot Picks' with different books in different genres. Use the search option to browse books by title, author, genre, year, award and booklists   Once you find a book you're interested in you can favorite it to find later. Or you can find what area libraries carry the book!  Here's where things get a little confusing, once you click on the pin for a library (my pin is red because I'm at the library right now, yours will be green when you're at home) the app takes you to the OCLC webpage for the book then choose the library of your choice to be taken to that library's catalog. If you're searching the Friendswood Library you'll find that the title of the book is not a link, click on the ISBN (on the l...

Hey all! The address for the library's catalog is changing, so if you have it bookmarked you'll need to change it. The old address was http://www.fplcatalog.org/ and the new address will be http://libcatalog.friendswood. com .  Remember, if you have bookmarked or added a favorite for easy access to the catalog or your library account, please delete and then create a new bookmark or favorite to the new address http://libcatalog.friendswood. com/ . Access to www.fplcatalog.org will cease on Friday, June 22. DFTBA, Sti

Okay, now for some happier news! It's summer, and that means our annual Teen Reading Club is happening! For those of you between the ages of 11 and 18, sign up in the Children's Department to start earning prizes for all the reading you're doing this summer. This year's theme is TSI: Teen Scene Investigation Realm of the Unknown It doesn't matter if you're reading your ACT practice book, the newest dystopian fiction, required reading for school, and audiobook, or a stack of skateboarding magazines-anything counts! Simply keep track of the time you spend writing and record it on your reading log, then come in for your prizes! Easy! And if you're looking for stuff to do when you're not reading, come join us for our YA summer programs! Every Wednesday and Friday at 3:30 we'll be exploring the unknown with fun crafts and games. Attend 3 programs and finish the 3rd stage of the Reading Club and you'll be invited for my end of summer Scare In L...

I was going to blog about our Teen Summer Reading Club today, but that will have to wait a few minutes. I just heard some heartbreaking news. Author Ray Bradbury has passed away. He was born in 1920 and wrote some of the most amazing, fascinating and beautiful books you will ever read. He is a personal idol of mine and I'm absolutely devastated that he is no longer with us.  His most famous book, Fahrenheit 451 is a powerful dystopian story of a future where books are outlawed. The Martian Chronicles,  a collection of short stories about life of Mars is one the most important science fiction novels ever written, in my opinion. Many of his books were adapted for film (Fahrenheit 351, The Illustrated Man, Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Wonderful Ice Cream Suite), tv (an episode of The Twilight Zone, his own television show The Ray Bradbury Theater),  plays, radio programs, and graphic novels. If you're interested in reading some of his work for yourself, I s...

Apologies for taking so long to give you the final score for March Madness. As usual with my life things have been crazy. Here are a few things that happened since I last posted: Visited my sister in Spain for 2 weeks (family fun!) Attended the Texas Library Association annual conference (meeting cool authors and librarians fun!) Served on a jury (surprisingly fun!) Found out I need a root canal (not fun AT ALL) So that's a bit of my life. But what you really came here to find out about is the results of our 3rd annual March Madness: Genre Edition! The final two genres to face off were Paranormal and Fantasy, which I think we can agree was not a surprise. And that's a hard choice to make because in many ways the genres are very similar, indeed I think the lines between them are often blurred. But this is how I simplified it, ' do you prefer books about wizards or books about vampires?'  Apparently people prefer books about wizards, because Fantasy beat Pa...