From the Emporia.edu website:

“Donuthead” by Sue Stauffacher is voted winner of the third-fifth grade and “The City of Ember” by Jeanne DuPrau winner of the sixth-eighth grade.

Sue Stauffacher, a professional journalist from Grand Rapids, Michigan has been writing children’s book reviews for ten years. Jeanne DuPrau lives in Menlo Park, California where she keeps a big garden and a small dog. DuPrau has been a teacher, an editor, and a technical writer, The City of Ember is her first novel for young adults. For more information about these authors visit their websites: Sue Stauffacher and Jeanne DuPrau.

Don’t forget to order your tickets. This year’s ceremony is October 7, 2006.

Posted by Meghan at 09:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So B. It by Sarah Weeks

Heidi has an unusual family consisting of herself, her severely mentally retarded mother, and her agoraphobic neighbor. Heidi has never questioned her life circumstances and has been fairly sheltered since the neighbor also homeschooled her. New and old mysteries begin to pop up that trouble Heidi.  What is her mother’s real name; it can’t be So B. It, can it? Where’s the rest of her family (father, grandmother, etc) and where does she come from? But most puzzling, what does her mother mean when she says “soof”? Heidi ventures out on her own, travels out of state following clues, and demands answers. The answers aren’t as satisfying as Heidi had hoped, so reader BEWARE this has some tearjerker moments.

Read an interview of the author for more information.

Posted by Michelle at 02:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

Regardless of what you may have heard before, vampires can NOT turn into bats or rats, nor do they disintegrate in sunlight. They do, however, develop a dislike to sunlight and excellent night vision soon after they become infected. Infection is not usually caused by a bite; it’s caused by a parasite that can be passed on through sex or even kissing!  The infected are called parasite positive or peeps for short and are crazed, animal-like cannibals. It’s Cal’s job to hunt the peeps he unknowingly infected and send them to a treatment center. Cal’s a carrier only, not a full blown peep, who has recently learned of the existence of peeps and his own infection. He takes the news pretty well considering his now mandatory celibacy, but his attraction to Lacey is becoming a problem as is the troubling facts he’s learning about a possible new strain of vampirism.

According to Westerfeld’s website, the author is a Buffy fan who always wanted to try his hand at a vampire novel.  Check out the comic strip Unshelved’s for a funny review of the novel!

Posted by Michelle at 03:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson

Prom is evil. It’s a waste of time and money. Who wants to blow $500 on a dress that makes your hips look fat and worse, like a freakin’ cupcake? Ashley has no use for prom—she’d rather make out with her boyfriend in the front seat of his car than waste her time with frilly girly stuff. Wild horses couldn’t drag her to prom… that is, until her math teacher runs off with the entire prom fund. Her friends are devastated until Ashley reluctantly agrees to help them find the money to save the prom—whether she likes it or not.

Posted by Meghan at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Enthusiasm

Posted by Michelle at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have always had a mild dislike for Paris Hilton.  I thought she was crazy annoying, but overall harmless.  Then I read a recent article about Paris and now my dislike is off the charts.  In the article, Paris claims to have worked really hard for all the success she’s gotten.  What?!  I am at a loss for what exactly she has done that warrants hard work.  She’s been in a few movies, but no starring roles have been released yet.  She is in a reality television show about two rich girls doing normal, mundane things.  Is this really working hard?  I don’t know the specifics of how she got either job, but face value tells me that they are not even close to the definition of “hard work”.  To make matters worse, she has “written” a book about how fun and sometimes difficult it can be to be her.  Seriously?  One thing that bothers me is how does either of these career moves warrant the amount of attention that she receives?  I am only adding to her “fame” by making my first blog entry about her.  I think the part that irritates me the most is that she has yet to produce anything good.  I have seen “House of Wax” and the memory of how bad an actress she was is burned into my brain (while the plot of the movie I can barely remember).  “The Simple Life” must be an entertaining show since they’re already 4 seasons into it, but it really was never funny to me.  Paris also has an album coming out.  Early reviews say it’s not as bad as you’d expect, which I guess is not a bad review, but not really good, either.  Until Paris does something that makes me take notice and say, “Wow, she really did a good job with that”, I’m going to go back to trying to ignore her.

How do you guys feel about Paris?  Are there any Paris fans that want to defend her?  Let me know what you think.

Posted by Katie at 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Posted by Meghan at 03:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Feed by M.T. Anderson

Ever had a book really mess with your head? And you can’t stop thinking about it because it freaks you out? Enter Anderson’s sci fi novel in which the majority of the population has a media feed implanted into their brain which can access television, current movies, m-chat, internet, music, books and virtual shopping. Titus, an average teen, LOVES having a feed which gives him instant access to entertainment, shopping, and connecting with his friends. When Titus falls for Violet, she makes him rethink the advantages of the feed. Are feeds really cool if they allow businesses to monitor your actions, guide your thinking, and force you to watch commercials? And what happens to your mind if someone hacks into your feed or your feed malfunctions? 

Posted by Michelle at 05:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Using Yahoo! Geocities (www.geocities.com) publish your very own web page. Choose the point-and-click PageBuilder to develop web pages in a matter minutes. Enhance your web page with pictures, backgrounds and add-ins. Maintain and modify file subdirectories and more! A written permission form will be required to attend this program.
Who: 11-18 years
When:Thursday, June 15
Time: 2-4 pm
Where: SBC Training Center
Registration required - call 785-580-4565 for more information

Posted by Gayle at 05:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Valiant: A Modern Tale of the Faerie by Holly Black

What’s a girl to do when her mother has just made her family candidates for the Jerry Springer show? Val chooses to quit thinking, run away and discover a new reality in the big, bad city of New York.  In this new world, faerie folk are the real danger, not pervs in the park.  No, not tinkerbell faeries or fairy godmothers or even Tolkien elves; think trolls from WoW or faeries with fangs.  The faeries may be scary but Val becomes addicted to their potions which allow her to conjure food, create illusions, and pretend that she’s not just another homeless runaway.

Check out her website to learn more. If you are intrigued, but you’d prefer more fantasy than adventure in this faerie world, try Tithe by the same author. FYI, Valiant is the winner of the first ever Andre Norton award!

Posted by Michelle at 01:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader by Kieran Scott

Jersey girl Annisa meets culture shock as a new transfer to a nearly all blonde Florida high school.  She begins the school year by angering the three most popular cheerleaders on the first day.  (She even accidentally breaks one of the girl’s nose!)  Although it might be cliché, the novel does take you through a fun ride of prank wars, national cheerleader competition, and finding love along the way.  So if you liked Bring it On!, indulge in this light-hearted, romantic comedy.

Posted by Michelle at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Eight local teens participated in our TalentFest Competition on April 12th. Judging was difficult because all of the participants were very talented. However, Jake Hodge (pictured) was declared the winner for the 2nd time in two years. Megan Siebert was 1st runnerup and Lauren Ortiz was second runnerup. All three winners are gifted guitar players.

Dress Rehearsal will be offered again next February. All fine arts students are welcome to participate and get the extra practice they need for state competitions in 2007.

Posted by Gayle at 05:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Autobiography of My Dead Brother by Walter Dean Myers

Posted by Michelle at 06:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DVD Express - the latest way to check out the latest movie titles available in DVD here at the Library!

Read on...

DVD Express
This newly created collection contains new releases on DVD of movies that had a box office gross of 10 million dollars or more. There will be DVD Express sections in Youth Services, in the Media Center, and on bookmobiles.  DVD Express titles will have a checkout period of 7 days rather than the usual 21.  All borrowers will be limited to two items out per account on DVD Express titles.  You will NOT be able to put DVD Express titles on hold.  This will be strictly a browsing collection.

Customer Reserves on DVDs
All other DVDs will, as of Wednesday April 5^th, be available for holds.  All DVDs, with the exception of DVD Express titles, will continue to have a checkout period of 21 days as they always have.  All of the titles purchased for DVD Express will also be purchased for the traditional collections as well.  Hopefully, we will be able to meet patron demand for reserves and at the same time, through the use of DVD Express, preserve a strong browsing collection that will give patrons who come into the library or onto a bookmobile access to the new titles.  The current checkout limits on non-DVD Express titles will remain the same.  Those are four entertainment and four non-fiction titles out per account.  Customers will be limited to ten DVD requests at a time.

Customers under the age of 17 will not be able to check-out or reserve any R-rated title, regardless of collection.

As future titles are ordered, for those that meet the 10 million dollar criteria, half of the copies will go to DVD Express, half will go into the regular, reservable collections.

If a customer has a DVD on hold and then checks out the same title from DVD Express, Horizon will automatically remove that patron from the request list.  In other words, Horizon will treat that as a filled hold.

DVD titles that are being held for pickup will be placed behind the main checkout desk, not in the Media Center.  We will mail DVDs if that is the customer's preferred delivery method.

Posted by at 02:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix

In this fractured fairy tale of Cinderella after the ball, Ella never had a fairy godmother. She escaped her horrible stepfamily through her sheer determination and wit. After all her hard work, she’s not sure she chose the right future because life at the castle seems dull and meaningless.  And is it possible <gasp> that she doesn’t love the prince?  Should Ella break off the engagement and forge a new destiny?  In a tougher, smarter version of Cinderella, reminiscent of Ever After, Ella uses her brains rather than her beauty to find love and happiness.

Posted by Michelle at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas

Meet Steven York. He’s smart, sarcastic, rebellious, and driven by a need to continually disappoint his astronaut father.  But it’s senior year and Steven won’t graduate unless he takes the guidance counselor up on his offer to forgive an ‘F’ in English by writing a 100 page (TYPED) original work.  Steven chooses to write about his sophomore year when everything changed for him; he dated his first love, founded a Dada club, and met current his best friend, marijuana.  Steven will break your heart and make you laugh out loud, but you won’t be sorry you met him.

Extra cool: Rob Thomas currently writes for Veronica Mars.  

Posted by Michelle at 05:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kelly Milner, Chris Crutcher's scheduler, has very exciting news. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes may become a movie. Kelly said "The screenwriter thinks this might be just what Hollywood needs to push them over the top". For more information see www.chriscrutcher.com/index.2ts?page=sarahbyrnesmovie.

Posted by Gayle at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)