Hey You! Yeah, You!

Hey There!


I'm Tess; the new Americorps member here at the library! I am the new Teen Literacy Coordinator here at Fletcher Free. That means, I love to get teens reading and motivated to learn. I know, that's pretty cool.

I need your help with a few things! You ready?

I'm starting some book groups and I would love to know:

• what days would work best for you teens and your friends?

• If you're interested, what time would be best to meet for you?
  
• What types of books do you want to read?
• Would you be interested in computer gaming days?

Come find me at the Teen desk up in the Teen Room at Fletcher Free! Or talk to the Youth Librarian, Rebecca, about some of your ideas! We'd LOVE to know. And you never know, you may get some free candy in the process.... ;D

Looking forward to meeting you!

For the next blog post: Want to be part of the Teen Advisory Board at the library?

May 2010 Teen Programs

TAB (Teen Advisory Board) Meetings, Mondays, May 3rd & 17th, 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Calling all High School Students! Do you like kids and Books? Are you interested in volunteering a few hours a week at the Library over the summer? We'd love your help as reading mentors to K-8th grade Summer Reading Program participants. It's a fun and easy way to earn community service credit for the following school year! Please attend one of the May TAB meetings to sign up to help, OR call and leave a message for Kaelyn: 865-7216 or send her an email: kmurray@ci.burlington.vt.us.

Teens Read! wednesdays, May 5th, 12th & 19th, 5:00-5:45 p.m. Participate in a book group for Middle & High School students and get started reading! Free. Students in 6th grade & up welcome. Please call the Youth desk for more information or to preregister: 865-7216.

After School Video Gaming for Middle Schoolers. Tuesdays and Thursdays May 4th through 27th, 3:30-5:00 p.m. Join other teens after school and play a variety of Wii and PS2 games. Free. Middle School students welcome. No preregistration needed.

Teen Movie Night! Saturday, May 22nd, 2:00-5:00 p.m. Join us for movies and snacks! Movie options are: The Cat Returns, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service and Spirited Away. Free. Middle & High School Students welcome! No preregistration needed.

Book Review: My Heartbeat

It's hard to make a narrator funny, insightful and realistic all at the same time. Garret Freymann-Weyr does that with most of his characters in My Heartbeat. Both the story and the characters are believable: Ellen, 14, loves her older brother math-whiz Link, and has always loved his best friend and cinema critic James. After wondering aloud if they are more than just friends, Ellen pulls out questions of identity in all three of them.

The author creates characters that are just normal enough to relate to (watching movies and running together) but not normal enough to be boring (going to hospital dining halls to write and sketch about the strangers). Ellen also talks about her summer reading of Age of Innocence, Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights for some fun tie-ins to those plots.

For an absorbing and meaningful read, I highly recommend My Heartbeat!

For more (older) books this one shares a list with, check out http://www.asu.edu/clas/english/englished/yalit/engedya02honorlist.htm

~Cara