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Now you can create magnetic poetry online without cluttering up your refrigerator!
Create your own poems by moving words from a magnetic poetry kit and arranging them.
Choose from or use the Artist, Genius, Office, Romance, Poet or Gardener kits to inspire your poetic muse, or use the Kids’ Kits.
Read poems by other people, and submit your own poems to share or e-mail them to people.
Can’t get enough poetry? Read more poetry for and by teens at the library!
The other day I was at the reference desk here at TSCPL and in walked what is always for me, a refreshing sight – a small group of punks. I love the bondage pants, the band t-shirts, the hair, the badges, and the patches – especially the patch with the circled ‘A’. Punks just warm my heart. I don’t even care that it’s all recycled fashion from 1977; to me, punks always represent thinking people who ask questions rather than accept the “facts” fed to them.
Back to the circle ‘A’, which is absolutely brilliant in its simplicity – instantly recognizable, easy to draw, and easy to spray paint on a wall. Did it just spontaneously erupt out of the punk movement in the late 70’s or does it have a history? Of course it has a history. The anarchy symbol can be traced back to 1615, but the symbol as we know it today was perfected in the 19th century by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, who proclaimed, “Anarchy is order.” The ‘A’ stands for anarchy and the circle stands for order.
Adopted by anarcho-punks in the late 1970’s, ‘anarchy’ became a battle cry for those punk bands who wanted to live the lifestyle rather than sell out for a hit record. It was a direct reaction to what anarcho-punks saw as the commercialization of the punk ideal as so-called punk bands like the Sex Pistols and Generation-X signed to major labels and had huge hits, all under the guise of anarchy. They felt these bands sold punk rock out.
So here’s the quick rundown on what it means to adopt the lifestyle and politics of the circle A – anarcho-punks are discontent with society’s systems and institutions. They see the world as deeply corrupt and any institution with the power to coerce is dangerous. Anarcho-punks are frequently fierce environmentalists who believe in the ethical treatment of the earth and animals. Many are vegetarians and vegans in protest of the cruelty animals are subjected to and are critical of how the corporate farming of animals destroys the environment. When it comes to art, especially music, the DIY philosophy is de rigueur – selling out to a major label is selling out the entire philosophy – compromising one’s aesthetics/ethics for money is shameful. Anarcho-punk bands with something to say: The Crass, Flux of Pink Indians, Chumbawamba, Discharge, The Poison Girls, The Dead Kennedys, The Subhumans, and Bad Religion. Enjoy.
David J's Senior Advisory Board is a panel of teen library volunteers who assist our Young Adult Librarians in developing the Young Adult area (David J's Place) of the Library.
Here are your teen representatives:
Senior
Advisory Board
May 2006-May 2007
President
Aaron Hunter
Vice President
George Magnuson
Secretary
Nicole Koopman
Members
Alan Hurla
Ashley Billings
Ashley Lovich
Autumn Kidwell
Christa Packard
Hannah Clifford
Katie Oliver
Kristin Ross
Lauren Buser
Robin Sommer
Tray Massengale
Like football? Check. Like video Games? Check. Like Madden NFL 07 on the XBOX 360? Triple check. Bring your friends and wear your favorite football jersey to Game On, the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library’s first XBOX 360 football video game competition. Join us Monday and Thursday nights from 5:30-8PM beginning October 9th. Come out, crush the competition, then go home and watch Monday night football. Could it really get any better? I think not. Must be 11-18 years old to participate and must have a TSCPL card in good standing.
Joe Bourne is 13 years old and not your typical middle schooler. He has given up an extra elective to help with the Landon Middle School special needs students. He is not only the first 
student to volunteer to help students with disabilities, but he considers them to be like his best friends. Joe said, “Sometimes they don’t know what you’re saying, but they always pretend to. They always listen.” Best friends don’t come any better than that. For the rest of the story….
Hazing is not longer limited to fraternity men and sorority women. 2006 studies show 1.5 million high schoolers are hazed every year. 80 percent of NCAA athletes say they were 
hazed in high school. Psychologist Susan Lipkins who wrote “Preventing Hazing” says, “Hazing crosses every line – socio-economic lines, race, gender, religion, age.” More information about hazing can be found at www.insidehazing.com. National Hazing Prevention Week is September 25-29.
“Jackass Number Two” hit the box office as number 1 this last weekend. They have all the
same cast from “Jackass 2000” except Chris Raab. It was given an R rating due to extremely crude & dangerous stunts, sexual content, nudity and language. If something more in the line of Chinese Martial Arts interest you, “Huo Yan Jia” might be something interesting to see. It hit the chart as #2. This film is about the Martial Arts Master Huo Yuanjia in early 20th century China. “Gridiron Gang” dropped to #3, the Black Dahlia to #6 and “The Covenant” to #9. More box office hits.
for teens, by teens
Nicole, age 14, thinks you should:
Read this! The Warriors series by Erin Hunter,
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Watch this! Love Don’t Cost a Thing
Click this! www.yahoo.com
Listen to this! Usher, Jesse Mcartney
In the last two new YA books I read, the characters love the show My So-Called Life and talk about it often. This surprised me because the show was a short-lived teen drama from 1994. Don’t get me wrong, because during our senior year, my friends and I watched the show every Thursday night on ABC. Angela Chase’s voiceovers spoke to us and we identified with her teen angst; Rayanne Graff’s wild side frightened us sometimes; and Rickie’s ‘out’ status in high school inspired us. The name Jordan Catalano became synonymous with unrequited lust, while Brian Krakow made us appreciate the geeks around us. I loved that show. I knew it was great. But I didn’t know it was a cult classic! 
From the writer of Bring it On, Aquamarine, and First Daughter, comes a new movie about the world of competitive gymnastics…
In the opening scene, Haley is busted riding BMX bikes in empty swimming pools with her goofy guy friends and sent back to gymnastic boot camp as punishment. Everyone hates her because of what she did at the World Gymnastics Championships a few years back, and her new coach has a reputation for helping girls get injuries instead of medals. Is there really more to life than the beam, the vault, the uneven bars, and the floor routine? And why do the opinions of boring judges in their ugly blue blazers matter more than anything else?
Missy Peregrym is hilarious in the lead role, with a physical humor that reminds me of Jim Carrey’s early work. The choreography of the gymnasts is beautiful, and like all sports movies, the competitions are way more exciting when they are staged for Hollywood instead of stretched out all afternoon on ESPN.
Check out this subversively funny movie, visit the movie website or watch the trailer. And be sure to watch the bonus features and deleted scenes on the DVD!
Have you already seen Stick It? What did you think?
Whether you like NHL 07 or NHL 2K7, you should now be a happy pucker. Both of these games display great next generation graphics as well as unique ways to control your on ice avatars. Check out the comparisons and decide for yourself who is the king of the ice.
There is a life after football in 136 high schools across the nation.
This program helps students see beyond the Friday night lights
and a more successful tomorrow. The Play It Smart is funded
by the National Football League and the NFL Players
Association. To read more.
From MTV News:
What began as a raw street mixtape intended to introduce some new Shady Records artists has turned into a full-fledged album release called Eminem Presents: The Re-Up.
"What happened is that the material was so good and the tracks were regular album," Eminem said in a statement about the compilation he executive produced, which is slated for release December 5. "Instead of putting it out there rough and unfinished, I thought we should add some other new tracks, make it a real album and put it in the record stores to give these new artists a real boost."
The new Shady artists he's introducing include Stat Quo, Ca$his and Bobby Creekwater, who rhyme alongside their label boss and his D12 crew, as well as 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Obie Trice and Akon. Eminem decided to take the project aboveground when information — which he said was incorrect — began circulating about what was going to be on it.
Read more here.
Grades 6-12
Do you have a passion for drawing manga characters and/or creating
comic strips? A professional art instructor will help you create and
draw your characters. Local professional graphic novelists have been
invited to join the group for a discussion on how to get published.
Wednesday Sept. 20 4-5:30 pm Marvin 101B
The newest box office hit “Gridiron Gang” grossed $15 over the
weekend. The story takes place in a juvenile detention facility where
a counselor decides to turn the inmates into a football team. He faces
opposition from all directions. “The Black Dalhia” came in a close
second and is based on the novel by James Elroy. Last week’s hit,
“The Covenant” dropped to #5. Addition movies.
Rash by Pete Hautman
Dystopias. I don’t know why they are so intriguing, but they are. In Rash, the country has become ultra safe. Violence of any kind is illegal as well as anything that could lead to violence. Shouting insults, name calling, and racial slurs can land you in jail. No one competes in anything athletic without safety gear; for example running track requires helmets, knee pads, special shoes, etc, while sports like football are, of course, illegal. Most fast food has been banned—too unhealthy—and the seriously overweight are labeled self-abusers and sent to jail. With all these extra laws, 24% of all adults are in prison. People don’t see that as a problem because they need prisoners to do all manual labor for society. Bo’s anger management problems land him in jail as a teenager. He may be able to improve his prison conditions if he can prove himself on the football field and survive the maniacal warden’s obsession with the banned sport.
Read about the author's inspiration for the novel on his website. Other film and books depicting dystopias include: Uglies and Pretties, The Parable of the Sower, The Matrix, 1984, Shade’s Children, The Giver, Fahrenheit 451, A Brave New World, The Handmaid’s Tale, Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083, Green Boy, Useful Idiots, Logan’s Run, and Blade Runner.
for teens, by teensWatch this! ATL, Waist Deep,
Click this! www.myspace.com, www.blackplanet.com
Listen to this! Ne-Yo, Dem Franchize Boyz, Letoya Luckett, Young Dro
From CNN.com:
SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- Microsoft Corp.'s effort to compete against Apple's iPod juggernaut will focus on the idea that people want to be able to easily share music with friends and others.
The software maker said Thursday that its portable Zune media player, scheduled to be available around the holiday season, will include wireless technology to let people share some of their favorite songs, playlists or pictures with other Zune users who are close by.
Those users can listen to the songs three times over three days before deciding whether to purchase it themselves.
"The idea is to legitimize peer-to-peer sharing in a healthy way that works for everybody," said J Allard, a Microsoft vice president in charge of the Zune product line.
Continue reading about Zune here.
Just two weeks ago, Sony announced that instead of 2 million available PS3’s, they will only have 500,000 when the console is launched on November 17. Nintendo is taking advantage of Sony’s misfortune by announcing the release date of their new console, the Wii.
From msnbc.com:
Nintendo's quirky game console, the Wii, will go on sale in the U.S. on Nov. 19 for $249.99, a price far lower than competing consoles from Sony and Microsoft, the company said Thursday.
In an unusual move for the launch of a Japanese product, the Wii will go on sale in Japan two weeks after the U.S. launch.
The Wii, which is about the size of a large paperback book, is the successor to Nintendo's GameCube, the third-best selling console of its generation after the PlayStation 2 and the original Xbox.
Keep reading for more about what makes the Wii stand apart from its console competitors.
From cnn.com:
Call him the Michael Jordan of rap. Jay-Z, who declared that 2003's "The Black Album" would be his last, is coming out retirement and releasing a new CD.
"Kingdom Come" will hit stores this fall, Entertainment Weekly magazine reports in its new issue, due on newsstands Monday.
"It was the worst retirement in history," Jay told the magazine.
Actually, his post-retirement career looked pretty good. In 2004, the rap icon (real name: Shawn Carter) became president and CEO of Def Jam Recordings. He became part owner of the New Jersey Nets that same year. Also on his resume: Not-So-Secret Boyfriend of Beyonce.
Read about what Jay has been up to since his retirement in 2003 and what’s in his future.
Tell us why your library card is The Smartest Card and you could win fun TSCPL library prizes. Turn in your entry by September 30, 2006. Prizes will be awarded for the best responses, including categories like creativity, originality, sincerity and humor.
Enter online, or pick up an entry form at the Information Desk.
And if you don't have a library card, this is the perfect time to get one!
She was supposed to be a typical teenager, expressing angst about her boyfriend, her parents and her somewhat ordinary life.
From MTV.com:
Britney Spears gave birth to her second child late on Monday night, a source close to the family confirmed to MTV News, but whether it is a boy or a girl has yet to be officially revealed. Both Us Weekly and The National Enquirer have reported the baby to be a boy; Spears' rep, however, dismissed the reports as "speculation."
Continue reading about Brit-Brit’s baby #2 here.
So you love Sony and love your Play Station 2. You are waiting for Sony to deliver on the promise of two million Play Station 3 consoles by Christmas. This will make your season bright and propel you into the next generation of video gaming. You are even willing to pay or have your parents pay the ridiculous $600 price tag for the premium PS3. Sorry to burst your Christmas dreams but Santa may be skipping your house this holiday season thanks to production shortages for the PS3. Read what Sony’s head honcho Kutagari has to say about the projected shortfalls. If you are holding out for a PS3, you may be holding out deep into 2007.
It’s like a stick of gum, but smaller and more musical. For only $349, it can be all yours…
From CNN.com:
SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- Apple Computer Inc. Tuesday unveiled a number of new iPods, including one with the most capacity to date, and said new versions of the popular digital music players would sport video games such as Pac-Man and Tetris.
Speaking at an event in San Francisco where the company was expected to introduce a movie download service, Chief Executive Steve Jobs said the new 80 gigabyte iPod would cost $349.
The company also introduced a new, thinner iPod Nano available in five colors with 24 hours battery life.
Continue reading this article here.
Looking for a movie about the supernatural? The box office hit "The Covenant"
might be the perfect choice. Five families with supernatural powers have made
a pact of silence. When a boy is found dead, secrets from past centuries start
to unravel. Starring: Steven Strait, Toby Hemingway & Chace Crawford. #2 is
"Hollywoodland" a detective story and #3 is "Invincible" the story of the oldest
football rookie in NFL history. Times and listings in the Topeka area.
for teens, by teens
Kwame, age 15, thinks you should:
Read this! Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
Watch this! When a Stranger Calls, Waist Deep, ATL, Stay Alive
Click this! www.blackplanet.com, www.myspace.com
Listen to this! Chamillionaire, Yung Joc, Lil’ Jon, Mike Jones
David J's Senior Advisory Board
Meeting Minutes
9/9/06 9:00- 11:00
Anton Room
1) Juice, muffin, cinnamon roll bar- help yourself
2) Welcome/ Introductions new member
a. Christa Packard
b. Passed out notebook to Christa
3) Minutes- Nicole read through August minutes
4) Old business reports
a. Changes to YA- looked at furniture brochure, voted for Teen
Tech Week poster- "lightish red" poster won 4-1. Possible ideas for YA
room- separate gaming v. study room, half of computers for homework and
half for study, close off room from youth services, time limit on
computers or time when no games allowed, arrange furniture, coffee/food,
stage. Executive Subcommittee wants room changed soon!
b. Need advertising for Graffiti blog, other programs- use
fliers at schools, coffee shops, school newspaper, blogs, newsletters at
middle schools, community calendar, TV news, Topeka Capital Journal.
c. Voted on favorite Anime movie to give to Jean. Need more
suggestions
d Discussed hangout night- library lock-in, arrange furniture in
YA section
5) New business
a. Viewed tutor.com - 4-11 p.m. homework help chat room usable
through KS libraries
b. Programs- crafts, dancing, Dress Rehearsal, comedy night,
"classics" book discussion
c. Hannah handed out calendars
d. Possibly have library/church youth group do activities
together.
Minutes taken by Nicole
Who is your absolute favorite rock star? For 15-year-old Dominic and his friends in London, the whole world revolves around the pop band The Plastics and lead singer Lisa Voyd. They all love the catchy music, they all love the pop lyrics, they all love Lisa’s ultra-cool attitude. The only person who doesn’t love the Plastics is Dominic’s best friend Emma, who wants him to like classical piano music. Then, the most amazing thing happens to Dominic. At a disorganized autograph session for the band, Dominic gets trapped alone in an elevator with Lisa Voyd. At first he is tongue tied to be so close to her, but the longer they are trapped together, the more that Dominic is surprised to discover that his pop star idol is really nothing like he imagined. Will Dominic still be Plastic’s biggest fan when the elevator doors reopen?
Dominic is a quirky obsessed fan, and he tells his story in flashbacks while he is stuck in the glass elevator with his pop princess Lisa Voyd, halfway between the floors at a crowded record store with his friends watching from down below.
Read Plastic Fantastic by Simon Cheshire, and if you like his sarcastic wit, try his first book, Kissing Vanessa, about a guy who tries to attract a beautiful new girl using a book called “Girlfriend Management the Easy Way,” with hilarious results.
12-18 years
Attention Yu-gi-oh duelists! Sign up for the opportunity to duel 
other Yu-gi-oh players. Walk-ins are allowed if there are open
slots, but a reservation guarantees a seat! REGISTRATION
REQUIRED – call 785-580-4565.
Mondays Sept. 11, 25 3:15-5:15 pm Lingo Story Rm
Homework Kansas, a new online tutoring resource offered by the State Library of Kansas and Kansas Public Libraries, was launched at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library’s Kokari Computer Training Center with a special appearance by Governor Kathleen Sebelius. Leah Anderson’s fourth grade class from Lowman Hills Elementary helped demonstrate the program for the press, the Governor, 53rd District Representative Ann Mah, State Library Director Christie Brandau, TSCPL Director Gina Millsap, and Tutor.com CEO George Cigale.
TSCPL has provided homework help coaches in the library since 2002 with funding provided by The Library Foundation. Homework Kansas is an added resource, offering an online tutoring service from Tutor.com that connects students to expert tutors in math, science, social studies and English via the Internet.
Students from 4th grade to 12th grade and college introduction level can simply visit the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library or the library’s Web site from their home PC to get immediate, free help from qualified tutors. Students connect to tutors for one-to-one homework help sessions in an Online Classroom. The service is free for all Kansas students. Students can access the service from home with a Kansas Library Card at www.homeworkkansas.org. The service is also available from computers at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library. Students can connect to online tutors for free seven days a week, from 4:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. The service is available in Spanish language, Sunday through Thursday, from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
It’s quickly becoming that time of year again: new TV season. Television Without Pity is one of the best sites for keeping current with your favorite new and old shows. So whether you love reality TV and are hooked on American Idol or you love the drama of shows like the Gilmore Girls, TWoP is a great site for you. Besides recaps of episodes, they’ve included polls and forum discussions too. For example on the O.C. forums you can vote for the best and worst episodes ever, and on the Smallville forums you can read spoilers or talk about the show’s fashion.
Personally, my TV goal is to get caught up on Season 2 of Veronica Mars so that I can watch the new season when the CW premieres. If you are ready for some TV on DVD, the library has many of your favs. So check 'em out or put yourself on hold for One Tree Hill, Charmed, Everwood, Grey’s Anatomy, Simpsons, Laguna Beach, Degrassi, Veronica Mars, The O.C., Gilmore Girls, Smallville, American Idol, or ….
What shows are you looking forward to watching this fall? Do you use a different website to keep track of your favorite shows? Post a comment to let us know!
for teens, by teens
Queen, age 14, thinks you should:
Read this! Cheaters by Eric Jerome Dickey and anything by Omar Tyree, plus magazines like Jet and Essence
Watch this! Madea goes to jail , Waist Deep, Napoleon Dynamite
Click this! www.myspace.com, www.blackplanet.com
Listen to this! Chris Brown, "Weezy Baby" by Lil’ Wayne, Pretty Ricky