Middle School Book Chat- February 24, 2010

I just received word that the February 24th Middle School Book Chat titles have been announced. Check them out!  No really, come to the library and check them out!   Then go to the Middle School to talk about it with your friends!  (If our copies are checked out already, we can place a hold on the title and call you when we get a copy... many times you only have to wait a few days.) 

Schooled by Gordon Korman
Homeschooled by his hippie grandmother, Capricorn (Cap) Anderson has never watched television, tasted a pizza, or even heard of a wedgie. But when his grandmother lands in the hospital, Cap is forced to move in with a guidance counselor and attend the local middle school. While Cap knows a lot about tie-dyeing and Zen Buddhism, no education could prepare him for the politics of public school.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Suddenly able to see demons and the Darkhunters who are dedicated to returning them to their own dimension, fifteen-year-old Clary Fray is drawn into this bizzare world when her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a monster.

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

After fifteen-year-old Liz Hall is hit by a taxi and killed, she finds herself in a place that is both like and unlike Earth, where she must adjust to her new status and figure out how to "live."

Meet the author: Richelle Mead at Borders in Westbury

This exciting info was just brought to our attention: if you're a fan of the Vampire Academy book series by Richelle Mead head on over to Borders Bookstore in Westbury next Tuesday, January 19th at 7:00pm for a reading and signing.  Thanks Erika for passing on this info to us! 

Keeping with a theme...

In keeping with the "creepy and artistic" theme, here is a video that is NOT by Tim Burton, but is honestly just as awesome as something he would do. It's creepy though, so bewarned if you're easily creeped. It's been called "equal parts Pixar and The Twilight Zone." Here is Alma, by Rodrigo Blaas.

Tim Burton Exhibit

I don't mean to be an advertisement for the Museum of Modern of Art or anything, but last week I saw the Tim Burton exhibit there and it was AWESOME.

From the MoMA website:

"This exhibition explores the full range of [Tim Burton's] creative work, tracing the current of his visual imagination from early childhood drawings through his mature work in film. It brings together over seven hundred examples of rarely or never-before-seen drawings, paintings, photographs, moving image works, concept art, storyboards, puppets, maquettes, costumes, and cinematic ephemera from such films as Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman, Mars Attacks!, Ed Wood, and Beetlejuice, and from unrealized and little-known personal projects that reveal his talent as an artist, illustrator, photographer, and writer working in the spirit of Pop Surrealism."

The exhibit is there until April 26, and is totally worth the short wait in line if you don't have a timed ticket (which I didn't). Apparently they are required on weekends, and you can buy them with your ticket, which you can buy online here.

Seriously I'm not trying to advertise MoMA but this exhibit was just so good.

The Amanda Project/Invisible i

I'm not going to lie. I'm a little bit technologically challenged and totally stunted in the social networking sphere, but I have been a librarian for a while and a reader since, well, since I could read. So, believe me when I tell you that The Amanda Project may be one of the coolest things I have ever seen in both the literary world and cyberspace. But, wait. I'm so excited that I'm getting ahead of myself. (But trust me, you NEED to check this out.)

The Amanda Project is a web site dedicated to solving the mystery of Amanda Valentino's disappearance from her school and town in Orion, Maryland. The web site was started by her three "guides" Callie, Hal, and Nia with the help of Hal's younger sister, Cornelia. Now, before anyone loses their heads, Amanda Valentino is a fictional character (or is she?!). She is unique and elusive and completely enigmatic. The beginning of her story and the search to find her can be found in the first book of an eight-book series, Invisible i by Stella Lennon and Melissa Kantor. (Stella Lennon is an invented name to encompass all of the authors who will be writing the series). The web site is a maze of wonder as far as I'm concerned. Readers can sign up for a free account, create their own character/avatar and contribute to the story. Some contributors' posts will even end up published in the books. In addition, new clues can be uploaded to the site with pictures and each week additions to the story are posted by Callie, Hal, Nia and Cornelia. Participants can respond to these stories as well. There's even a Zine that's been started to which participants can submit Amanda/non-Amanda artwork and literature. You can view copies of playlists from the main characters and authors, and you can visit the store and purchase Amanda-related products. My suggestion would be to start by reading the book, Invisible i and to download the Welcome packet from the web site. From there, the web site will make a lot more sense and you can sign up and create your own avatar to participate. Read the Stories left by Callie, Hal and Nia and jump in! This is fan fiction brought to an amazing new level. You will love Amanda's world and be as desperate to find her as the rest of us. So, what are you waiting for? Need more incentive to get started? Check out this video:

Podcast: Women in Science

"Girls are talking.  You should listen." 

That's the tagline for a cool podcast I've just discovered called GirlTalk.  If you're not familiar with the term podcast, Wikipedia defines it as "a series of digital media files (either audio or video) that are released episodically and downloaded through web syndication."   It's the same concept as a syndicated show you watch on TV, but instead this is on your computer.  And because there's little expense in terms of equipment and software (many computers these days come with basic recording and editing programs pre-installed) often podcasts can be created by just about anybody. 

Here's what GirlTalk is all about:

GirlTalk is a mentoring initiative that encourages girls to explore science, math, engineering and technology - in their own words. GirlTalk Radio consists of a series of interviews with women scientists, conducted by girls ages 11 – 16, making their debuts as Pittsburgh radio hosts!

Teen "GirlTalk Radio" hosts get the inside scoop from women who are in the field and know their stuff.  Some of the podcast interviews include:

• a marine biologist and exhibit developer for the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
  
• an expert in clandestine photography and identity transformation who used to be a CIA intelligence officer 
• an orthopedist at the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine and team physician for the Pittsburgh Steelers and other amateur and professional sports teams in Pittsburgh 
• a Google Maps software engineer

Click here to access the podcasts and discover something interesting!

Cell Phone App- Type and Walk

So I came across this advertisement for an app that lets you walk and type at the same time.  Being the self-proclaimed s..l...o...w...e...s...t texter in town and owning one of the most ancient cell phones known to man, I thought this app seemed a little frivolous and unnessary... as well as slightly unsafe in that it lures you into a false sense of security thinking that you've got it all under control to be able to do two things at once.  But then I thought that I might be the wrong audience for this type of thing.  So I put the question out to you, blog readers, do you think this app is cool or not?