Thursday, May 20, 2010
The Classics
Lately Ive been reading a translation by a man named Robert Fagles. I know when it comes to books focused on greek and Roman mythology many teens are stumped, but not all translations are stale and awkward. If the stories interest you and youre not sure who to read I would recommend Fagles. Previous to reading him my translator of choice was Fitzgerald but Fagles really captures a spark in his translations! To name a few he has translated The Odyssey, The Illiad, and The Aenead. So if you wish your imagination was swept up in the writing of the past but it just never seemed quite right, maybe check him out, the library has plenty of his translations.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
for history lovers w/ a sense of humor
For anyone who enjoys history but finds the text book accounts too dry, I would recommend Sarah Vowel. Some of her books are: Assasination Vacation (its about the assasinations of U.S. presidents through history, very good, very funny), and The Wordy Shipmates (about the people who settled in America). I have read both of them and they share her sharp wit and keen eye for our past. She presents an interesting view of history while giving us a piece of herself with it. I would reccomend her to anyone curious!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, March 26, 2010
April Teen Programs
Teens Read! Wednesdays, April 7th, 14th 21st & 28th, 5:00-5:45 p.m. Participate in a book group for Middle Schoolers and get started reading. Free. 6th to 8th grade students welcome. Please call the Library's Youth Desk for more information or to preegister: 865-7216.
TAB (Teen Advisory Board). Mondays, April 5th & 19th, 4:00-5:00 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. No preregistration needed. For more info: call the Youth Desk: 865-7216.
After School Video gaming for Middle Schoolers. Tuesdays and Thursdays, April 1st through 22nd, 3:30-5:00 p.m. Join other teens and play a variety of PS2 games. Free. Middle School students welcome. No preregistration needed.
Weekend video Games for Teens. Sunday, April 18th, 1:00-3:00 p.m. Join other teens and play Guitar Hero, Wii, Rock Band and a variety of PS2 games. free. Middle & High School students welcome. No preregistration needed.
TAB (Teen Advisory Board). Mondays, April 5th & 19th, 4:00-5:00 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. No preregistration needed. For more info: call the Youth Desk: 865-7216.
After School Video gaming for Middle Schoolers. Tuesdays and Thursdays, April 1st through 22nd, 3:30-5:00 p.m. Join other teens and play a variety of PS2 games. Free. Middle School students welcome. No preregistration needed.
Weekend video Games for Teens. Sunday, April 18th, 1:00-3:00 p.m. Join other teens and play Guitar Hero, Wii, Rock Band and a variety of PS2 games. free. Middle & High School students welcome. No preregistration needed.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
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!
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!
Friday, February 26, 2010
The "Bloody Jack" Audio Books by L.A. Meyer
Lately I've really been enjoying listening to the CDs of the "Bloody Jack" series by L.A. Meyer.
"Jacky" is an adventurous and enterprising young woman (during most of the stories, she is from 13 to 16 years old) who, in the first book, disguises herself to become a "ship's boy" on a British warship during the Napoleonic Wars. She has many hair-raising adventures and narrow escapes, and she is catapulted from one dangerous situation to another...and another...and another...staying alive through sheer luck, pluck and cleverness.
The audio book actor (I hesitate to call her merely a "reader"), Katherine Kellgren, is right on target in her emotional expression, and she seems to be able to do any accent with ease: "Posh" British, Cockney, New England, Southern American, French, Spanish, West Indian, etc. I have lost count of all the voices she does!
The stories themselves take Jacky and the listener/reader onto the high seas and all over the globe, placing her in many unusual and even outrageous situations. These books are at once fascinating trips into the world of the early Nineteenth century, and "ripping" good yarns!
By Christine Demarais, Youth Services
"Jacky" is an adventurous and enterprising young woman (during most of the stories, she is from 13 to 16 years old) who, in the first book, disguises herself to become a "ship's boy" on a British warship during the Napoleonic Wars. She has many hair-raising adventures and narrow escapes, and she is catapulted from one dangerous situation to another...and another...and another...staying alive through sheer luck, pluck and cleverness.
The audio book actor (I hesitate to call her merely a "reader"), Katherine Kellgren, is right on target in her emotional expression, and she seems to be able to do any accent with ease: "Posh" British, Cockney, New England, Southern American, French, Spanish, West Indian, etc. I have lost count of all the voices she does!
The stories themselves take Jacky and the listener/reader onto the high seas and all over the globe, placing her in many unusual and even outrageous situations. These books are at once fascinating trips into the world of the early Nineteenth century, and "ripping" good yarns!
By Christine Demarais, Youth Services
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Teen Video Gaming!
After School Video Gaming for Middle Schoolers. Tuesdays and Thursdays, March 4th through 30th, 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.
Weekend Video Games for Teens. Sundays, March 14th & 21st, 1:00-4:00 p.m. Join other teens and play Guitar Hero, Wii, Rock Band and a variety of PS2 games. Free. Middle & High School students welcome. No preregistration needed.
Weekend Video Games for Teens. Sundays, March 14th & 21st, 1:00-4:00 p.m. Join other teens and play Guitar Hero, Wii, Rock Band and a variety of PS2 games. Free. Middle & High School students welcome. No preregistration needed.
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