Since 1996, the Teenage Diaries series has been giving tape recorders to young people around the country to report on their own lives. The teens conduct interviews, keep an audio journal and record the sounds of daily life—usually collecting more than 40 hours of raw tape over the course of a year. The radio stations work with each diarist to edit all the material into documentaries for National Public Radio's All Things Considered.

You can listen to the diaries online or read the transcripts at Radio Diaries: Teenage Diaries.

Listen to a few diaries and tell me whose story you like the best!
·      Frankie in Mentone, Alabama: Welcome Home, Dad
·      Juan in Laredo: Looking at the Rio Grande
·      Josh in New York City: Growing Up with Tourette's
·      Melissa in New Haven: Teen Mom
·      Jeff in Boston: Halfrican
·      Emily in Maplewood, Minnesota: Teenage Days
·      Randy in Tchula, Mississippi: Remembering Ozell
·      Amanda from New York: Girlfriend
·      Josh in New York City: First Kiss
·      Nick in Salt Lake City, Utah: Home School to High School
·      Brina in Providence, Rhode Island: Best Four Years of Your Life
·      Ricky in Buffalo Grove, Illinois: What if God...

Posted by Lissa at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

for teens, by teens

pink doodle, age 19, thinks you should:
Read this!  Any biographies of Tupac, or Eminem, other fun books

Watch this! Comedy, Romance and Scary movies

Click this! www.google.com, www.myspace.com, www.opendiary.com, www.mix93.com, www.yahoo.com

Listen to this! Tupac, Rascal Flatts, Eminem, Chris Brown,

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

For the past several months the Indian press have been speculating that Abhishek Bachchan, the son of India's most famous and popular actor Amitabh, and starlet Aishwarya Rai were either engaged or, in some of the wilder stories, already secretly married.  On January 14 the couple finally made it official and announced that Abhishek had popped the question at the New York premiere of their movie Guru, in which they play husband and wife.

Guru isn't out on DVD yet, and it didn't make it to Topeka theaters, but you can see the two together in Kuch Naa Kaho and Umrao Jaan.

Aishwarya is best known in America for her role in Bride and Prejudice, a remake of Jane Austen’s novel.  She was also in a remake of the Austen novel Sense and Sensibility several years before, titled I Have Found It.

Watch for more news on Bollywood from Emily, a TSCPL staffer.

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For the second week in a row, the movie, “Stomp the Yard” is #1 at the box office. A black student from Los Angeles bypasses juvenile hall because he enrolls in Truth University in Atlanta, Georgia. Two campus fraternities try to court him because of his dancing abilities. Lots of action! Rated PG-13 because of violence, some sexual content and language. “Night at the Museum” stayed at #2 and “Dreamgirls” was #3. More movie and times.

Posted by Gayle at 02:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dead Connection by Charlie Price
The kids at school think Murray's a loser who has no friends. But it's not true; he does have friends, but they're all dead. You see, Murray spends most of his free time talking to the dead kids at the local cemetery. Hey, the dead need friends too!  Murray thinks his life is pretty routine (well except for talking to dead people) until the caretaker’s daughter at the cemetery starts pestering him; plus he begins to hear a new voice...of a girl who must have recently died. The voice sounds like its in agony. Murray wants to help her, like he helps the others, but he's afraid to speak to her, afraid of experiencing her pain. One of the local police officers thinks Murray's behavior is odd and begins keeping an eye on him. In fact the police might just suspect Murray of being responsible for a local girl's recent disappearance.

On the website for Dead Connection, you can meet the characters and read an excerpt.

Posted by Michelle at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ashley B., age 17, thinks you should:
Read this!  Urban Novels  
Watch this! Napoleon Dynamite,  X-men, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge
Click this! http://www.myspace.com
Listen to this! Chris Brown, Bow Wow, Lil Wayne

Posted by Lissa at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You have heard it all. “Video games are addictive, video games are anti-social, and video games are a waste of time!” On and on, the mantra is played with many buying into the blather. Finally, we have some research that looks at the positive aspects and complexities of the modern video game. See the results for yourself.

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

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Teen Idol by Meg Cabot
Jenny is the girl next door type—level headed, well-liked, friendly to everyone, and a natural peacemaker. But she’s more than a little surprised when school administrators ask her to keep their secret. Luke Striker, teen movie star, wants to enroll in her school to experience a "regular high school" for an upcoming role, and they want Jenny to be his mentor. While Jenny can be trusted not to expose the secret, can she handle the overly critical Luke and his harsh observations? There’s no danger of Jenny falling for Luke since he’s the one person who can make her really mad. Yet Luke does make a lasting impression and challenges Jenny to take a leadership role in making the school better for everyone.  Can one teen really do that?

Meg Cabot’s website has an excerpt from the book and a personal blog that you might want to read. 

Posted by Michelle at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Grades 6-12

Attention chess players! Test your skills against other chess players and win prizes. A chess master will be available to help hone your chess skills. Registration required: 785-580-4565.

Wednesday
Jan. 17, 31
6-8 pm

Posted by Gayle at 01:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

for teens, by teens
Gangsta Boo, age 16, thinks you should:
Read this!  Bad Girlz by Shannon Holmes
Watch this! A Miami Tail, a contemporary retelling of Aristophanes’ comedy Lysistrata
Click this! http://www.myspace.com
Listen to this! Rap…D4L, Lil Jon

Posted by Lissa at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From eonline.com: 

For Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake, it was all over but the press release.

Cue the publicists.

In a joint statement issued on behalf of the celebrity couple Thursday, Diaz and Timberlake confirmed the worst-kept secret in Hollywood: They're no longer a celebrity couple.

"We have, in fact, ended our romantic relationship, and have done so mutually and as friends, with continued love and respect for one another," the statement said.

Diaz and Timberlake said they would have preferred to avoid the press-release route--"out of respect for the time we've spent together."

Keep reading about the demise of Justin & Cameron here.

Posted by Katie at 05:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From msnbc.com:

LOS ANGELES - Pop star Britney Spears and hotel heiress Paris Hilton, dubbed the “Screamgirls” by Mr. Blackwell, landed at the top of the former designer’s annual worst dressed list on Tuesday.

The celebrities, who forged a friendship at Hollywood and Las Vegas nightclubs last year, were also described by Blackwell as “style-free and fashion deprived.” The wife of Britain’s Prince Charles, teen star Lindsay Lohan and singer Christina Aguilera were also subjected to his sartorial skewering.

Keep reading about the worst dressed here.

Who do you guys think has the worst fashion sense?  Do Britney and Paris belong at the top of the list?  Let everyone know what you think in the comments below.

Posted by Katie at 04:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Get this.

SAN FRANCISCO (CNNMoney.com) -- Consumers will finally get the chance to own an iPhone, a mobile phone that plays iTunes and surfs the Web, electronics maker Apple said Tuesday. The device will retail for between $499 and $599.

Company chairman Steve Jobs, speaking at the company's annual Macworld expo, called the iPhone, which will be available in June, a "revolutionary mobile phone" that will feature an iPod, phone and what he called an "Internet communicator."

Jobs also disclosed that Apple's (up $6.62 to $92.09, Charts) iTunes will sell Paramount films, and that the long-awaited AppleTV device to view downloaded videos will be available beginning in February.

The phone is rectangular, and the entire front surface is a touch screen. All of its functions are activated by touch, but when you bring your iPhone to your face, a proximity sensor will turn off the touchscreen so you don't accidentally face dial.

The phone, which runs the Mac OS X, will come in two models -- a $499 version with 4 gigabytes of memory and a $599 one with 8 gigabytes.

Get the full scoop here.

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The PG rated movie, “Night at the Museum”, came out on top over the weekend. The user rating was 6.5 out of 10 and one comment described the movie as “lighthearted and funny”. This is rated PG for some language and brief rude humor. A night security guard at the Museum of Natural History discovers that a curse causes the exhibits to come to life after dark. “The Pursuit of Happyness” ranked #2 with “Children of Men” a close 3^rd.

To view other movies and times.

Posted by Gayle at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini 
Craig Gilner is a smart kid who likes a goal. His goal for two years was to get into one of the most prestigious high schools in New York. Now that he’s in, Craig’s become clinically depressed. One night he calls the suicide hotline. They recommend that he hospitalize himself and thus begins his five-day adventure in the mental hospital. The teen wing is currently closed, so he’s with mostly adult patients and what a wild and strange group they are. There’s Armelio who declares himself president of the ward, Jimmy who has few words in his vocabulary, and pretty Noelle who cut her own face repeatedly. Strangely enough the patients bring hope and laughter to Craig and he returns the favor.

The author, Ned Vizzini, has a myspace account for the book and confesses to writing the novel immediately after being released from his own five day stay at a mental hospital. I also loved his book, Be More Chill, which got enough internet attention that it has its own wikipedia entry!

Posted by Michelle at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

for teens, by teens
Danielle S., age 14, thinks you should:
Read this!  Hoodwinked by Quentin Carter, Sheisty by T.N. Baker, Diva by Kane and Abel
Watch this! Waist deep, ATL, Baby boy
Click this! http://www.myspace.com
Listen to this! Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Bow Wow, T.I.

Posted by Lissa at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From eonline.com:

Apparently when the bell tolled for Marissa Cooper, it also spelled curtains for the entire O.C. 

After ordering up an abbreviated season of what was once TV's hottest prime-time teen drama (Beverly Hills, 90210 with even more beach time, if you will), Fox announced Wednesday that it has officially deep-sixed The O.C. The finale will air Feb. 22 after a nonstop run of new episodes starting Thursday. 

"The O.C. season four finale will also be the series finale. This feels like the best time to bring the show to its close," O.C. creator and executive producer Josh Schwartz said in a statement. "Thanks to the hard work of our cast, crew and writers, we have enjoyed our best season yet, and what better time to go out than creatively on top."  

Keep reading about the demise of The O.C. here.

Posted by Katie at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It has been a good year for Microsoft’s XBOX 360 next generation console. After the 2006 release of the Nintendo Wii and the Sony Playstation 3, the XBOX 360 seems to be leading the new console pack. Check out IGN’s XBOX 360 year end review for an interesting look at Microsoft's edge in 2006.

Posted by Lance at 01:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)