Teens @ Pewaukee Public Library discussion

This thread can be used to post links to websites that may of of interest to the group. The topics of these websites should somehow be related to books, the library, or library programs.

As promised, here is the link to the geode-making experiment that we did at the library this week:

http://www.stevespangler.com/experime...

The experiment should be easy to replicate at home for those who are interested in doing it again. Everyone also had some really good ideas for ways to alter the experiment to get different results. If you try any of these ideas at home (growing crystals in a bowl, mixing different colors of food coloring, etc) let me know how it goes!

Need help finding something great to read this summer? Want to hear about exciting new books and authors? Want to enter contests for the chance to win books? Check out Teenreads! (http://www.teenreads.com/) There's lots of great information here for teen readers.

Over on Twitter, fans of YA novels are having fun with the titles of popular books for teens. It's amazing what sort of difference one letter makes!

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23yaboo...

Not long ago, author Maureen Johnson made a simple Tweet complaining about how book written by female authors are often given "girly" covers and, consequently, are only picked up and read by girls. This is very unfortunate because there are lots of books out there that could definitely be appealing to both girls and guys, but the book's cover can often limit the audience. This article talks a bit about the fascinating Coverflip Challenge that was sparked by Johnson's Tweet:

http://www.slj.com/2013/07/books-medi...

What do you think? What book can you think of that need their covers flipped?

Have you ever finished a book and not known what to read next? Do you have very specific tastes and need to branch out and find new books to read? Have you read every single book by your favorite author a dozen times? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then you should check out the Literature Map:

http://www.literature-map.com/

When you visit this website, type in the name of an author whose books you have enjoyed. The website will then generate a "map" of other authors that you might also enjoy. The closer a suggested author is to the center of the map (where the author you typed in is located) the more similar their writing styles are, and the more likely it is that you will also enjoy their books.

This isn't exactly library or book-related, but I just came across Ashton Kutcher's speech at Sunday's Teen Choice Awards. It's pretty awesome. Ashton talks mostly about three things: Opportunity, being sexy, and living life. Click on this link to read the article about his speech. A video of the speech is also included; be sure to watch that for the full effect:

http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/08/12/ash...

I stumbled upon a Young Adult book quiz at the Christian Science Monitor today. Can you match these quotes to the correct book? Your librarian managed to get a perfect score. :)

http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/2013/0...

Has anyone else noticed that lots of great teen books are being turned into movies? From the recently released "City of Bones" to the highly anticipated "Catching Fire" to the critically acclaimed "The Book Thief," there are lots of movies to be excited about if you're a fan of YA fiction. Take a look at this article to read up on some of the upcoming releases:

http://www.slj.com/2013/08/books-medi...

Which movies are you most excited about?

Who is excited for the release of the Catching Fire movie? Get in the mood by taking this online quiz to discover which of the 12 districts you belong in:

http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment...

For the record, this librarian apparently belongs in District 8, the textiles district.

Author J.K. Rowling now says that Ron and Hermione should not have ended up together at the end of the series. What are your thoughts?

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014...

Last week the winners of the 2014 Printz Award were announced. This award is given every year to the "book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature." Follow this link to see this year's winners.

http://www.ala.org/yalsa/printz-award

Have you read any of these books? Do you think that they're the best of the best, or are there other great titles out there that were passed over?

If you're in this group and seeing this message then you probably already know that YA books are awesome. Be sure that your friends and family - especially the adults in your lives - know that the books that are out there for you to read are amazing! This article does a really awesome job of talking about how a book should not be discounted just because it's marketed for teens:

https://medium.com/geek-empire-1/f76f...

Need another way to find great YA books? There's an app for that, available on Android and iOS. YALSA's Teen Book Finder lets you search for books by title, author, genre, and date of publication. There are also great book lists and lists of award winners to browse. My favorite feature is the Hot Picks that are featured on the home page - Three new books are listed here every day, and you never know what you'll stumble upon!

For more info, follow this link to the app in Google Play:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/de...