Have a teen ages 13-18 that’s looking for something to do this summer? The library has some fun art programs lined up, just for teens! 

 

We also have a Teen Read In scheduled, which is part of a larger program, #48HBC (48 Hour Book Challenge). The challenge is for teens to read, or talk about books on social media, or in person, for as much time as they can within a 48-hour time period. We are asking teens to complete this challenge between Friday, June 9th (8 pm) – Sunday, June 11th (8 pm). Keep track of your time spent reading or talking about books during the assigned weekend, and submit your totals by Monday, June 12th at noon to Mary at: mcayers@aclibrary.org. There will be prizes, and the overall winner will be announced here on Monday, June 12th.

This week for Teen Book Talk our reviewer talks about The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (which is also set to show on Broadway through SHNSF in the upcoming 2016-2017 season).

Teen reviewers select which titles and movies they’d like to review, and opinions are their own. **Teens use a scale of 1-5 stars, with one star being poor and five stars being excellent, for their reviews**

Chaturya G., Teen Reviewer

curious incident

Book Title: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Author: Mark Haddon

Book Format: Book

Year of Publication: 2003

Book appeals to: late teens-adults

Rating: 3.5

This book is supposedly a “mystery” novel, but the overall layout of the book doesn’t really make it seen that way. The main character in this book is named Christopher. He’s a fifteen year old boy who has an Autism spectrum condition. This condition makes physical contact with anyone unbearable for him, but he is also smarter than the average kid. One day, Christopher comes across the dead body of Wellington, his neighbor’s dog. He finds the dog with a pitchfork stabbed in him and decides that it must’ve been murder. He makes it his responsibility to find the murderer of the dog.

Personally, I thought this book was pretty good overall and interesting because the story is told from the point of a guy with Autism. However, some parts did get boring because Christopher would go on very long tangents not related to the murder mystery at all. For example, Christopher would go into deep thought about physics and math and explain in great detail about that. Generally, the book focused mainly on Christopher’s relationship with his family members and at one point it didn’t seem like the murder mystery was the main plot of the novel even though it was supposed to be. However, this shows us how a person with Autism may think and that’s what makes this a very unique book. Only people in their late teens or adults may enjoy or like this book since it has complicated material only the more mature audiences would be able to understand. Also, the book was written by a British author so some words may be a bit confusing for the general American populace.

This week for Teen Book Talk our reviewer talks about a classic war story, Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, set in Europe during World War I.

Teen reviewers select which titles and movies they’d like to review, and opinions are their own. **Teens use a scale of 1-5 stars, with one star being poor and five stars being excellent, for their reviews**

Natlie L., Teen Reviewer, Grade 11

all quietBook Title: All Quiet on the Western Front

Author: Erich Maria Remarque

Format: Book

Year of Publication: 1929

Will appeal to fans of: history (WWI), nonfiction, tragedy

Rating: 4.5 Stars

The story follows the life of a young German soldier by the name of Paul Baumer. The patriotic spiels of his school teacher, the urges of his schoolmates, and his wish to bring some excitement into his mundane life convinced him to enlist in the German army at the start of World War I, but he soon realizes that everything he thought he knew about war was a lie. There was no excitement in war; all it does to a man is cause him to cast away his humanity for the sake of survival. What’s the point of surviving if all he can do afterwards is wait for the next battle to rip away what’s left of him? The tragic story of Paul and his comrades as they are toyed with by this inescapable cycle of horror is detailed in the moving novel All Quiet on the Western Front.

Unlike most contemporary works of literature, this novel does not romanticize war. It does the exact opposite. It punches the reader with an endless barrage of tragedies that real soldiers have experienced. Nothing is held back—from the descriptions of horrendous deaths of comrades out in the fields to the unbelievable thoughts of disillusioned soldiers. The brutal honesty that Remarque packs into the book touches people from all walks of life and forever eliminates even the slightest trace of a belief that war is “cool.”

This honesty is the reason why I treasure All Quiet on the Western Front. Never before have I read a book with so many memorable lines that stir up such strong feelings of sympathy and sadness within me. One of the many quotes is, “We are not youth any longer. We don’t want to take the world by storm. We are fleeing from ourselves, from our life. We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces.” With this particular quote, Remarque simultaneously gives arguably the best description of the mental state of Paul and his comrades throughout the whole book and captures the pained hearts of the readers. The combination of his honesty and artful way with words creates an unforgettable work of literature that provides a truthful insight into the minds of those from the Lost Generation.

I am very grateful to have the opportunity to read such a stirring novel, but it saddens me to realize that most teens, myself included, would not have read this book had it not been a part of the current high school English curriculum. That being said, I highly recommend All Quiet on the Western Front to every person in this world who can down some vivid descriptions of battlefields and is prepared to take a peek into the minds of those that war destroyed.

nimonaDublin Library has a new book discussion group for teens, grades 9-12. Teens can sign up at the Information Desk, and pick up a book. Teen Book Chat is different than the traditional book discussion group in that each participant reads a different book each month, and then prepares a short book talk to present to the group. The group also discusses other books they’ve recently read and enjoyed. Teens get to keep the paperback book that they chose from the library’s offerings each month. Teen Book Chat is also a great space to practice public speaking and interview skills, while in a more informal setting with peers.

The next meeting is Wednesday, March 9th from 4-4:45 pm.

For questions or more information, please contact Mary Ayers Hughes at: mcayers@aclibrary.org

 

This week for Teen Book Talk (a day late due to the Monday holiday), our reviewer talks about Cruel Crown, a companion novella to the very popular Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard. One of the two stories is available as an ebook, and hopefully the book will be available in our catalog soon!

Teen reviewers select which titles and movies they’d like to review, and opinions are their own. **Teens use a scale of 1-5 stars, with one star being poor and five stars being excellent, for their reviews**

Anvitha K., Teen Reviewer, Grade 9

redqueenTitle: Cruel Crown

Author: Victoria Aveyard

Format: book, novella

Year of Publication: 2016

Who will the book appeal to?: ages 13 and up, readers of Red Queen

Rating: ⅘

Cruel Crown is a companion book to Red Queen, and contains two short stories revealing the background of two mysterious characters that briefly appeared in the original novel.

The first of the stories, entitled Queen Song, is set years before Red Queen’s beloved protagonist Mare Barrow was born, and follows the story of young Coriane Jacos, better known to readers as Queen Coriane. Readers learn about her difficult past, and fall in love with her heart-breaking story as she meets Tiberias Calore VI, and faces the deadly challenges of her royal life.

Steel Scars, the second of the two stories, reveals Captain Farley’s past and shadows her as she handles being tasked with sparking the rebellion in the kingdom of Norta. Much of the story includes coded transmissions between Farley and her superiors, and readers gain a deeper insight to this secretive character. In my opinion, Steel Scars was not as enjoyable as Queen Song, perhaps because Farley was rather boring in this book, as compared to her appearance in Red Queen, but it was not a terrible story.

As a fan of Red Queen, I loved the book overall and would definitely recommend Cruel Crown to anyone who has read Victoria Aveyard’s debut novel. To others however, Cruel Crown would make little to no sense, as the book is more focussed on providing details and background information than actually following a plotline. It is more of an enrichment to the Red Queen series, and would not make a worthwhile read for any new readers of Victoria Aveyard. But in any case, Red Queen is definitely a wonderful series, and if you haven’t already, I strongly suggest you read that.

strange and beautiful

Dublin Library has a new book discussion group for teens, grades 9-12. Teens can sign up at the Information Desk, and pick up a book. Teen Book Chat is different than the traditional book discussion group. Each participant reads a different book each month, and then prepares a short book talk to present to the group. Teens also get to keep the paperback book that they chose from the library’s offerings each month.

The first meeting is Wednesday, February 10th from 4-4:45 pm.

Book Chat Flyer
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