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.

TAB Book Review by Maya

Title: American Born Chinese
Author: Gene Lueng Yang

Quick Plot Summary: This graphic novel is a collection of three separate but interwoven stories, each related to Chinese culture in various ways.

The first is the legend of the Monkey King, ruler of Flower-Fruit Mountain and master of kung-fu. Denied entrance to a dinner party, he's no longer satisfied with being a monkey and desperately wants to become a god. So he studies more of the major disciplines of kung-fu, embarks on a life-changing pilgrimage, and meets Tze-Yo-Tzu, or He Who Is, the god who created him from a rock.

The next tale is about an American-born Chinese boy named Jin. He moves from San Francisco and goes to a new school where he has a difficult time because he's the only Chinese-American student. Wei-Chen, a Taiwanese boy, comes to his school, and though Jin wanted to beat him up at first, they become friends. Later, Jin begins to have a crush on an all-American girl and wants to transform himself into an all-American boy.

The third story, "Everybody Ruvs Chin-Kee," is about a popular boy named Danny whose Chinese cousin comes to visit. Chin-Kee's annoying behavior causes Danny terrrible embarrassment and ruins everything.

Favorite Character: Chin-Kee. He made me laugh so hard with his super-stereotypical Chinese ways.

Favorite Part: The end. All three stories come together in a very surprising way.

Favorite Quote: Early in the book, and old Chinese woman asks Jin what he wants to be when he grows up, and he answers, "A transformer." She replies, "It's easy to be anything you wish, so long as you're willing to forfeit your soul." I think that being true to yourself is what this book is all about.

Out of five stars, I would give this book all five. I couldn't stop reading and finished it before I knew what was happening!

January 2010 Teen Programs

Teens Read!
Wednesdays, January 20th & 27th, 5:00-5:45 p.m.
Participate in a book group for middle schoolers. Free. 6th to 8th graders welcome. Call the Libary Youth Desk for info and to preregister: 865-7216.

After School Video Gaming for Middle Schoolers.
Tuesdays & Thursdays, January 4th through 28th 3:30-5:00 p.m.
Join other teens and play a variety of Wii and PS2 games. Free. Middle School students welcome. No preregistration needed.

Weekend Video Games for Teens.
Sundays, January 10th & 24th, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
Join other teens and and play Guitar Hero, Wii, Rock Band and a variety of PS2 games. Free. Middle & High School Students welcome. No preregistration needed.

New Program!!!
After School Video Gaming for Middle Schoolers!

Come and join us after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and play Mario Kart, Super Smash Brothers, Madden and more! Look for us upstairs in the Fletcher or Pickering rooms from 3:30-5:00 December 10th, 15th, 21st and 22nd! Contact Kaelyn with any questions or concerns: kaelyn.murray@ci.burlington.vt.us

Teen Video Gaming on Sunday, December 2oth!

Meet in the Community Room (basement) 1:00-4:00 p.m. for Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Mario Kart and more! We will also be gaming on Sunday, January 10th and Sunday, January 24th. Contact Kaelyn with any questions or concerns: kaelyn.murray@ci.burlington.vt.us

November Teen Programs

TAB (Teen Advisory Board) Meeting, Mondays, November 2, 16 & 30, 4:00 p.m. High schoolers: be a part of the process! Help decide what goes into the Young Adult (Teen) collection, and what activities we will have for teens. This could count toward your community service graduation requirement. Please call Rebecca Goldberg for more information or to sign up: 865-7216.

Teens Read! Wednesdays, November 4, 18 & 25, 5:00-5:45 p.m. Participate in a book group for middle schoolers and get started reading. Free. 6th-8th grade students welcome. Please call the Youth Desk to find out what book is currently being discussed and to preregister: 865-7216.


Celebrate National Gaming Day @ Your Library. Saturday, November 14th, 1:00-4:00 p.m. Join yeens from around the U.S. as you try your hand at Guitar Hero, Wii, Rock Band and a variety of PS2 games. Free. Middle and high school students welcome! No preregistration needed.

Local authors visit schools!

Some lucky students and teachers have welcomed local authors into their classrooms, thanks to a grant from Vermont Community Foundation's Successful Communities Grant Round. Students first read and discussed a book by the author, and got to keep their copies of the book.

Erik Esckilsen talked about his book Offsides and its parallels to his experience playing soccer in South Burlington. The students also discussed the controversy over Native American mascots present in the book, and Erik brought along the beaver mascot costume from Champlain College!

Over at BHS, Tanya Lee Stone visited an English class to talk about writing in verse and her book A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl. Click here to read her article "Now and Forever: The Power of Sex in Young Adult Literature"

Guitar Hero Tournament

The opening round of the tournament!















Some RockBand on the side...

The women show their skills at Cliffs of Dover

And the epic battle determines the winner of $25 at Best Buy (Thank you, Best Buy!)

Then, time for Leonardo's pizza (Thank you, Leonardo's!)

Drawing Videogame Characters Class

Mario, Sega, Pokemon, and Star Wars characters sprang to life last Saturday in the library.

Volunteer Emilie Rodgers, an art and animation student at Champlain College, taught some drawing basics, and students swapped videogame knowledge.

The Library Becomes a Galaxy Far Far Away

On Thursday afternoon the Community Room became a haven for Star Wars and Soul Caliber enthusiasts.





Imperial stormtroopers of the 501st Legion's New England Garrison paid a visit to the Fletcher Free's monthly video game tournament.











This trooper plays his own game, with others of his kind running around on the screen of Battlefront II.













Non-troopers got in on the action, too.

The tournament was in Soul Caliber IV, just released on Tuesday. Characters included Yoda and Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice.
Duncan was the winner after several rounds of battle. He won a fancy Star Wars illustrated guide.



One trooper strums his stuff on Guitar Hero Aerosmith.





Thank you to the members of the New England Garrison for coming, and to Leonardo's for donating pizza!

Game Tournaments in the Community Room

We rocked out in the library's basement again last Friday...

And are planning either a Videogame Triathalon or a championship series to earn points in tournaments towards a grand prize. Thoughts? Ideas?

Summer Reading Program Volunteers are Stylin'

The shirts volunteers get for free sport this year's Catch the Reading Bug artwork by local cartoonist Harry Bliss.

We decided to let volunteers individualize their shirts a bit this year...





Have some old t-shirts to cut up? Get inspiration from some great books in our catalog:
99 Ways To Cut, Sew, trim & tie your T-shirt into something special
http://search.fletcherfree.org/uhtbin/cgisirsi/r4gsJymKS8/0/102520109/9 and
Generation T : 108 ways to transform a T-shirt
http://search.fletcherfree.org/uhtbin/cgisirsi/gp2rSMlX93/0/102520109/9

RockBand Tournament

And the winners are.....

PRANK


(Ben, James & Solomon)

For rocking the stage

They won $25 each at Best Buy

Their high levels of difficulty and concurrent overdrives also helped their score


They played In Bloom by Nirvana and Should I Stay or Should I Go by The Clash.




The Super Awesome Red Power Rangers (Wes, Matt & Alex) took second, with special kudos for drum skills








The Three Fires (Tony, Will, & Skylar) took third, with a special commendation for Missippi Queen.



Will sang the incredibly difficult song, but the photographer was too impressed to remember to document the moment.












The illustrious judges rate bands with volunteer Dave Carlson's scorecards

Super Smash Bros Brawl

MarioKart Double Dash

And Dance Dance Revolution always provides a workout!

Thanks to Best Buy for donating the prizes, and thanks to Leonardo's for donating the pizza!

Super Smashdown in Brawl

On Sunday, March 30, almost 30 gamers came out to try their hand against new opponents.

Getting ready for tournament play, players practice their moves on Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Luckily we had some loaned Wiis and games so most of Brawl was already unlocked

In the Brawl tournament, players had two-minute limit matches in Battlefield. Each player kept one character for all matches, and Kirby and Meta were popular choices. Many thanks to Ben from Champlain College for running the tournament, and to Emilie for filming it!

Here are the finals of the 12-player tournament!

The winners were James, playing Ike, who won a $25 GameStop gift card and Ben, playing Lucario, who took second place. Both characters were new with Brawl!

Wii sports were also popular-- tennis, golf, boxing and baseball!






























Gamers also practiced their moves at Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero II















Sam from Quarterstaff Games played Magic with fans and added another layer to the event...

What is there to do at computer drop-in?

Take on your friends in games like Age of Empires! Create music, sound, video, and animation!
We've started up a computer bank at the library specifically for grades 6-8. The laptops are out on Wednesdays and Fridays from 3:00 to 5:00 pm, in the Community Room (basement) or sometimes in the Pickering Room (top floor). Come check it out!
What we have:
The Sims 2
Age of Empires III
Scratch
Audacity
SpliceMusic
Monopoly
Risk
Scrabble
Apples to Apples
FreeCol

with more on the way-- what would you recommend?

And, check out what you can do with these amazing applications:
SpliceMusic and Audacity:



and Scratch:

Celebrating Teen Tech Week!

Tune In @ your library for Teen Tech Week, celebrated in libraries across the country!

At Fletcher Free you can stop in and think of a soundtrack of songs to go to your favorite book.

Or find a book with some playlists in the plot!

Wednesday was the inaugural Drop-In Computer Bank with new games and applications, and volunteers helped install the software.

And the FREE guitar classes will be continuing, every other Thursday, thanks to volunteer instructor Tim Niemiec. We also have new instruction books (with CDs) for checkout.

And of course, the grand finale: The Teen Tech Week "Heroes and Revolutions" Game Tournament is coming tomorrow! The tournament for the prize will be in Guitar Hero, with the winner taking home a $25 gift card to GameStop. There will be open play on Wii and DDR, and refreshments. Come by after school, 3-5:30 in the Community Room! For middle and high school.