Teen Online Halloween Costume Contest

Click here to vote for your favorite costume on our Teen Online Halloween Costume Contest!

Favorite Author Poll

Scott Westerfeld won the favorite author poll. Check out one of his latest books, Extras the 4th book in the Uglies "trilogy."

Video Game Poll

Which video game consoles do you own? We want to know! Leave a comment and tell us if you have one that isn't on the list.

Do you have TOO MUCH HOMEWORK???

With school starting up there’s a lot to think about… seeing your friends again… what teachers will you have… & how much homework are you going to get every night?

This is becoming a heated issue, with some saying there’s way too much, causing kids to stop reading for pleasure. Sara Bennett [co-author of the book The Case Against Homework, which can be found at the Paseo Verde library] organized the parents at her child’s school and had a homework policy instated that limits tests to 2 per week, declares Monday test-free & banned school projects over certain vacations. More on this topic can be found at CQ Researcher. The article is "Students under stress".

A USA Weekend.com article by Tom Loveless suggests that teens today don’t have enough homework. The article states that learning takes time, but other things are taking up teenagers time like socializing with friends, extracurricular activities, television & part time jobs. The article also recommends a target amount of homework of 10 minutes per day per grade. (10 minutes for 1st graders, 90min for 9th graders, 120min for 12th graders.)

What do you think?

Favorite Author Poll

We have a new poll! If your favorite author (or just one you like a lot) isn't in the poll, leave a comment and tell us who they are so we can put them up next time.

Polls!

My apologies, our poll asking which movie made the best book is on the fritz. But it looks like Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the favorite, beating out Eragon, Lord of the Rings and Stormbreaker! We'll have another poll up and running once Blogger fixes the problem. Thanks for voting!

What The Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy by Gregory Maguire

A fierce storm has been raging for days and Dinah and her siblings are under the care of their young uncle Gage while her parents have gone for supplies. Gage tells the children a story from his childhood to quiet their fears and get them all through the tumultuous night. The tale he tells may or may not be true, but Dinah couldn't care less.

What-the-Dickens is born a tiny orphan Skibberee. He doesn't know who he is or what his place is in the world, only that he has a deep attraction to a cat named McCavity and her magnificent teeth. His penchant for all things dental gets What-the-Dickens in plenty of trouble and hurls him into the path of another young Skibberee. She could be his ticket to living a true Skibbereen life, but What-the-Dickens doesn't know if that's what he wants or even if he'd be welcome as a stranger among his own kind.

Forthcoming September 2007

We just keep doing stuff here at the Paseo Verde Library!

July 13, that's right, this Friday the 13th at 3 p.m. you have a chance to finger the thief at the library! We'll learn how police use fingerprints to solve crimes and even practice lifting and identifying prints.

Many thanks to everyone who came to DDR this month (there were 32 of you, if you can believe it!) We'll be Playing DDR on the big screen again on Saturday, August 4th at 2:30p.m.

Also coming up we're showing Agent Cody Banks on Friday, July 27th at 3p.m.

Teen Paperback Series

Hey Guys
I am thinking about changing some of the teen paperback series at the Paseo Verde Library. Let’s start with the TV Tie-ins. Are any of you still reading any of these?

7th Heaven
Alias
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Charmed
Flight 29 Down
Star Trek-Enterprise

Would you like us to get tie-in books about any other TV shows? If so, leave a comment and let me know.

Fruit Bowl Project by Sarah Durbee

An 8th grade teacher brings in a cool rock star to help teach her writing class. The resulting efforts of students, who write about the same topic, are in the style of a poem, monologue, fairytale, a rap and more.

If you're interested in writing, this is a great book to give you some ideas on different types of writing. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Rachel

My favorite mysteries that aren’t Mysteries.

I don’t normally read Mystery novels, but some of my favorite books are mysteries that don’t quite fit the stereotype.

So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld
Hunter is a cool hunter, he gets paid to find the newest trendsetters. He's got it made, until he makes his greatest find yet and his whole life gets turned upside down.

Stuck in Neutral by Terry Truman
Shawn is a "serious genius" who can't move a muscle, not even his eyes. He's satisfied with his life, until he discovers that his father is thinking of killing him to end his "suffering"

The Unlikely Exploits Trilogy by Philip Ardagh
"The very last words young Fergal McNally heard in his life were: 'Don't lean out of that window!'" The McNally children travel to the big city for a typing competition when the unthinkable happens, and that's just the beginning.

Pick one up at your Henderson Library, you might like it, You Never Know...

What’s your favorite non-mystery mystery?

It's Happening Again!

DDR at the Paseo Verde Library on Saturday, June 2 at 2:30 p.m. We'll project the game onto our BIG screen and provide water and snacks. You bring your friends, and your feet.

Check out some of our Graphic Novel collection while you're here!

MySpace: Good Bad or Over Rated?

There’s a magazine story about a 16 year old girl who arranged to meet a man online. Her father found out, followed the girl, and threatened to kill the girl and the man she was meeting. What makes this story interesting? It was published in an 1886 edition of Electrical World, written about the new and scary technology of, get this, the telegraph!!

Sound familiar to what the news and various adults are saying about MySpace? View this article to get more dirt.

Think you know everything about MySpace? Here's a top 10 list of things you don't know (or perhaps you already do you!)

Did you know that MySpace will soon be launching a software download that would allow parents to track the use of their child’s MySpace user name, purported age and location. What do you think about that?

Should schools ban networking sites like MySpace, or teach students to use the sites responsibly?

Tell us what you think! How many of you use MySpace? Are you using it wisely? What does that even mean, “to use it wisely”? Are adults too worried about teens not knowing how to “be smart”? What thoughts came to mind when you read these articles?

*** You might need to turn off pop-up blockers to view some of the articles.