Teen Book Review

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Reviewed by Elizabeth, Grade 6



















Summary: Meggie and Mo must escape and defeat Capricorn and his men. Read out of their book by Mo, Dustfinger tries to get back into his story.

Review: I did love this book. Its characters were great, and the story and idea was great. it made me think about words a lot, and about books - to the point where the words seemed different. If you're a book-lover, then this is your book. Sometimes the language gets bad, but I wouldn't say too bad. I didn't really approve of the ending, but overall, I liked it!

Bubbly Boba

If you're feeling a little too hot next Tuesday at 4:30, come to Green Valley Library for a delicious and interesting drink! We'll be learning how to make boba milk teas and slushies, and you can choose your flavor-- green tea, purple yam, or lychee slush.



So what is this boba I speak of? Basically, balls of tapioca that you can chew at the end of your drink or suck up through a giant straw. Some of you have probably had your share of boba drinks, especially if you hang out on Spring Mountain Rd. Love it or hate it, it's a popular Asian treat, and a fun alternative to your standard boring Starbucks order.

Boba is a variant of what Americans call bubble tea, a drink that became popular in Taiwan in the 1980s. It is also referred to as pearl milk tea because the boba resembles pearls. Two tea shops in Taiwan both claim that they originated the recipe. Chun Shui Tang teahouse made a concoction of milk tea, fruit, tapioca balls, and Hanlin Teahouse made milk tea with smaller white tapioca balls. The drinks weren't popular at first, but when they were featured on an unidentified TV show, people became interested. I can't find the name of the show, so please share if you find out!

Today, boba shops are all over the place, and they offer way too many varieties of boba drinks to name. You can get tea, fruit-flavored soft drinks, smoothies, slushes, and more with a big dose of boba at the bottom.

If you're interested in trying out a few shops, I have listed some below. Drinks cost around $4 at a shop, but you can make them for much less money at home. Visit an Asian market to find raw boba (you have to boil it), tea, and a wide assortment of flavors and ingredients you can add! Find out how to cook your boba, and get a free drink by registering for the Boba Cafe Workshop!

Boba Tea Lounge
8846 S Eastern Ave
Las Vegas, NV 89123
(702) 942-6064
CooCoo's Gourmet Coffee Cafe (Not specifically a boba shop, but apparently they serve it, and it's in Henderson)
19 W. Pacific Ave.
Henderson, NV 89015
568-5069

Volcano Tea House
4215 Spring Mountain Rd.
Las Vegas, NV 89102
873-0301

No 1 Boba Tea
4255 Spring Mountain Rd.
Las Vegas, NV 89102
364-4724

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New books for teens at the library!

Now you can keep tabs on all the latest teen books at Henderson Libraries by subscribing to our RSS Feed here. To see if a book is in at your nearest library, just click on the title, and you will be taken to the library catalog.

You can follow this feed in any RSS reader using the URL. If you don't already use an RSS reader, or if you don't even know what an RSS feed is, take a look at this explanation and list of readers at About.com: http://email.about.com/od/rssreaderswin/tp/top_rss_windows.htm

I love Google Reader, and I subscribe to our new teen books feed there!

While you're at it, why not subscribe to this blog?!

Unlocked Voices 2011

Twenty-nine teens participated in this year's Henderson Libraries Teen Writing Contest! You can view a PDF of the magazine and read their work on our website here.

We had a great time reading everyone's submissions, and we look forward to doing it all again next year! Look for contest info in November!

Now for some photos from the event:

Finalist Michelle Bostaph smiles with her copy of Unlocked Voices.

Emilie Robins, 1st Place Middle School Poetry

Jasmine, Amber, and Ashley Mixson pose with their certificates. Ashley won 1st Place High School Poetry and Honorable Mention High School Prose. Jasmine won Honorable Mention Middle School Poetry.

Marlo Wilde, Honorable Mention Middle School Prose

Felicia Kalkman won 1st Place Middle School Prose. 

Panelists from Nevada Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators spoke about career oportunities in writing.

Now These Are Some Sweet Books!

That cake looks almost too good to eat! (I said almost folks, I'm not crazy)

Awesome books and cake are quite possibly two of my favorite things ever! Usually the website Cake Wrecks showcases all of the things that can go wrong (horribly wrong) with cake decorations, but on Sundays they devote their posts to cakes that should be considered works of art. A few days ago in honor of National Library week, the website Cake Wrecks dedicated a post to all things literary!

You can check it out here, and man! You would not believe what some people can do with cake!