Attention Teen Writers

A Summer Camp Program Designed For Teen Writers Interested in Fantasy Fiction Genres.

Shared Worlds is a two-week residential camp based on a "shared world" theme. A shared world is a growing trend in fiction that centers around a complete, fictional world designed by a group. During Wofford's Shared World program, students will design fantasy worlds with other young, creative writers and share those worlds through fiction, art, and game design. 

In order to build a shared world, students will attend overview classes with Wofford College professors in many disciplines, including history, religion, and physics. Furthermore, students will take classes in creative writing. All classes emphasize problem solving, collaborative learning, and experiential learning.

Shared Worlds is proud to announce that instructors for 2010 will include Spiderwick Chronicles creator Holly Black, critically acclaimed YA and adult authors Kathe Koja and Marly Youmans, Nebula Award winner Michael Bishop, writer and gaming expert Will Hindmarch, and World Fantasy Award winner Jeff VanderMeer, plus Wofford College's own Dr. Christine Dinkins, philosophy professor, and Jeremy Jones, lecturer and camp director. Artist Scott Eagle will also conduct a workshop during the camp.

This sounds really cool for anyone interested in Science Fiction/ Fantasy writing.  The 2010 summer camp will be held from July 18 through July 31 at Wofford campus in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The tuition is a lot of money, but the site says scholarships will be available, although I couldn't find any information on that anywhere on the site so it may not be available just yet.   I just thought this was an interesting site to pass along to anyone who may wish to find out more for themselves.

Teen Read Week Raffle Winners!

Congratulations to all of our 2009 Teen Read Week raffle winners: Katelyn Moss, Erika Seeger, Varun Mehta, Casey Johnsen, Heather Hoeffner and Julia Castello.  And thanks to all the teens who participated by checking out books all week long... keep on reading everyone!!

What is your favorite author reading? - Day 6

Lisa McMann, author of Fade and Wake, is currently reading FAT CAT by Robin Brande and CRAZY BEAUTIFUL by Lauren Baratz-Logsted.

You can find Lisa at: http://lisamcmann.com/

Selene Castrovilla, author of By the Sword, is currently reading The Summer I Got a Life by Mark Fink, Tangled by Caroline Mackler and An Abundance of Katherines by John Green.

You can check Selene out at: http://www.selenecastrovilla.com/

Program Highlights: Gummy Bear Surgery

Yesterday, some really important things were happening at the library. Lives were on the line as teens, with scalpels in hand, determined the fate of the patients that lie in front of them on the operating table. Ordinary gummy bears, and gummy eyes, and gummy skulls, and gummy brains were sliced up and rearranged (in a manner befitting Frankenstein) to make new creations! We all had a lot of fun, and left that night with a slight sugar rush! There was no denying it... we ate our patients!!

What is your favorite author reading? - Day 5

Lara Zeises, author of Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet, is currently reading Amber Kizer's MERIDIAN and Jennifer Lynn Barnes GOLDEN TATTOO.

Lara can be found at: http://www.zeisgeist.com/

Matt De la Pena, author of Ball Don't Lie, is currently reading Libba Bray's Going Bovine and Lorrie Moore's Anagrams.

You can find Matt at: http://www.mattdelapena.com/

What is your favorite author reading? - Day 4

Ellen Hopkins, author of the incredibly popular Crank and just a few others, just finished Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink.

You can find Ellen at: http://www.ellenhopkins.com/

Sarah Beth Durst, author of Ice, is currently in the middle of (and loving) Rampant by Diana Peterfreund.

Sarah can be found at: http://www.sarahbethdurst.com/

2009 Teens' Top Ten Just Announced

Breaking news from the Young Adult Library Services Association: The Teens' Top Ten for 2009 has been announced! Check out the winners, as chosen by teens across America:

• Paper Towns by John Green (Penguin/Dutton)
• Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
• City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry)
• Identical by Ellen Hopkins (Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry)
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins)
• Wake by Lisa McMann (Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse)
• Untamed by P.C. and Kristin Cast (St. Martin's Griffin)
• The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (Disney-Hyperion)
• Graceling by Kristin Cashore (Harcourt/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Have you read any of these books? Post a comment or "Review It" for the blog... we'd love to hear what you have to say!

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

What is your favorite author reading? - Day 3

Darren Shan, author of the Cirque du Freak and Demonata series is currently reading CELL by Stephen King.

Watch for Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant in theaters on October 23rd!

You can find Darren at:http://www.darrenshan.com/

Lauren Myracle, author of the ever popular ttfn series is currently reading Monstrumology by Rick Yancy and School of Fear by Gitty Daneshvari.

Lauren can be found at: http://www.laurenmyracle.com/

What is your favorite author reading? - Day 2

Barry Lyga, author of the Fan Boy and Gothgirl series is reading THE STONE CHILD by Dan Poblocki. It's a new book from a new author.

You can find Barry at: http://barrylyga.com/new/

Sarah Burningham, author the non-fiction titles, Boyology and How to Raise Your Parents is currently reading Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin.

You can visit Sarah at: http://sarahburningham.com/

What is your favorite author reading?

Melissa de la Cruz, author of the Blue Bloods series is currently reading Frank Portman's King Dork, Sara Zarr's Sweethearts and Misha Wolff's I'm Down.

You can find Melissa at http://www.melissa-delacruz.com/

Richelle Mead, author of the Vampire Academy series is currently reading Golden Fool by Robin Hobb.

You can find Richelle at http://www.richellemead.com/

I (Ms. Tracy) am currently reading The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum; The Everafter by Amy Huntley & Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mull.

Come back tomorrow to see what your other favorite authors are reading!!

Teen Read Week 2009

Celebrate "Teen Read Week" at the Hauppauge Public Library!

As you know, we always encourage teens to read... it's kind of what we do here at the library. But from Sunday, October 18th - Saturday, October 24th we will be encouraging you with gifts!

Every October, we join forces with libraries across America in an organized fashion to celebrate teens and the act of reading. Every day this week, after you check out an item from the circulation desk, head on over to the reference desk to get a free book of your choice. We have a cart full of books to choose from! If you also have a Hauppauge Library card, in addition to the free book you will be entered into a raffle for either a Borders gift card or an I-tunes gift card- your choice! (There is a limit of one free book and one raffle ticket per teen/ per day.)

And check out this cool bit of info: our librarian Ms. Tracy has contacted numerous Young Adult authors and asked them to answer one question for us at the Hauppauge Library. The question: what are you currently reading? Check this blog all week long to hear what some of your favorite authors are reading- and while you're at it, tell us what YOU'RE reading too! We'd love to know!

It seems only fair to let you know what I'm reading right now, right? Well I can't. Seriously... I've been sworn to secrecy. I'm reading one of the three books that are going to be battled in the Advanced Division Battle of the Books (for high-schoolers) this coming Spring. The titles are going to be announced to the public on December 1st and I can't wait cause I'm bursting at the seems here wanting to tell people about these books!!! Trust me, they are good!! I've said too much already.

Librarian Book Review: Impossible by Nancy Werlin

I just finished reading an amazing book: Impossible by Nancy Werlin. It's the story of 17-year-old Lucinda Scarborough, a normal girl living with her foster parents leading a seemingly regular life- except for the fact that her real mother, who went insane shortly after giving birth to Lucy, makes occasional visits to town. Lucy becomes pregnant and, after uncovering her birth mother's diary hidden in the walls of her room, discovers that five generations of women in her family have given birth at the age of 18; all have had daughters and all went insane shortly after giving birth. Her seemingly unusal life circumstances suddenly become more unusual when she discovers this is all due to an ancient family curse. Armed with more knowledge (and more family support) than any of her ancenstors, Lucy goes out to break the curse by attempting to complete three impossible tasks brought forth by the evil being responsible for her family's suffering throughout the generations. She has only 9 months to complete the tasks before she counts herself as another victim of the curse.

This book is a wonderful example of how an author can mix realism with fantasy; romance with a strong female lead; and do it all with smart, believable characters. There is the exciement of the "race against time" element, but the author never leaves you feeling cheated along the way with a convienent plot twist. The characters and the story are given time to develop.

This story is based on the folk song "Scarborough Fair" (originally written in the 1600's) made famous in the 1960's by Simon and Garfunkel. The lyrics to this ballad contain the three impossible tasks. I find it interesting that I've heard this song a million times, but never really paid attention to the lyrics. The author's notes at the end of this book are interesting to read and are a perfect example of how talented writers come up with their ideas for books.

Check out this book trailer:

Zentangle Art Program

Teens who attended a recent art program were treated to instruction from a local artist on the art form of Zentangle. Zentangle is a wonderfully relaxing hobby of drawing intricate lines and shapes that are repeated to create a pattern. If you doodle on your notebooks, you've probably done something very similar to this without even realizing. If you missed this program, or wish to see us offer it again, leave a comment on this blog post to let us know!

Battle of the Books Plaque Dedication Ceremony

The Hauppauge Public Library was abuzz last night with family, friends and supporters of the teens who were part of the Battle of the Books this summer. Our team had won the county-wide championship this past August and last night Barbara Moon, the Suffolk Cooperative Library System's Youth Services Coordinator, presented us with the official Battle plaque!

This plaque will be housed in our library until next year when it will go to the winners of the 2010 Battle... whoever they may be. This very special honor was celebrated with a dedication ceremony to thank the team, the parents, the staff members... and everyone who had a part in making this year's Battle team a winning team. And it was further proof that the Hauppauge community is warm, generous, supportive and just plain wonderful!

Congratulations one and all!!!

Piano Stairs - get in shape, stay in tune

If given the choice, do you take the stairs or the escalator? Would it make a difference if the stairs were wired to make sounds like the keys of a piano? Take a look at this video clip:

Tetris in real life

Here's an interesting take on a fun video game... skateboards + neon shapes + team cooperation= FUN!