JCPL Teens

Intrigued? Check out the series.

Seen any good movies lately? Some of the best (and worst) movies are based on books! Here is a list of some movies based on books for teens. Let us know if you've seen them and what you thought of them. Did you know you can post movie reviews on the Library's website?

Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
The Clique
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
Eragon
The Golden Compass
Hoot
New Moon
Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist
The Outsiders
Princess Diaries
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Speak
Twilight
The Vampire's Assistant

Rock out in celebration of summer! To mark the last day of classes, teens are invited to the Standley Lake Library to play Guitar Hero until their fret-fingers cramp up. Friday, May 28 3-4:30 p.m. - Drop by any time!

They have the lip biting down.

Mad that I posted an anti-Twilight video? What's your favorite for-Twilight video?

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is about two boys named Will Grayson. The first Will Grayson tries to keep his head down but his best friend is the fabulous Tiny Cooper ("the world's largest person who is really, really gay, and also the world's gayest person who is really, really large") and nothing is calm around Tiny. The other Will Grayson is dealing with depression but has one bright spot in his life - Isaac, a boy he met online. But arranging to meet Isaac reveals that the boy of his dreams doesn't really exist and Will #2's world is crashing. That's how the two Will Graysons meet - entirely by accident - in downtown Chicago. And Tiny is there with Will #1 so he and Will #2 meet too. And love blossoms. Meanwhile Will #1 decides he likes his friend Jane right when she gets a boyfriend.

Sounds complicated, hm? It is, but it's fun too. And I haven't even mentioned the best part of all yet! Tiny Cooper is putting on a musical about his life and loves. And he has loved quite a few boys in his life! All the characters agree the musical is brilliant, but it's clear from the snippets of song lyrics that both Wills put into their accounts that it is really, really bad. It's so bad, it's funny. That was the part I enjoyed most of all about this book.

If you enjoy:

• a good high school romance (for both hetero- and homosexuals), or
• a story about a musical, or
• coming of age stories, or
• stories told by two characters in alternating chapters, or
• just a good people-in-high-school story

then this is for you!

Have you read it? What did you think?  Leave your own review in comments.

What’s more important? A state-wide award or a local competition? Both can only succeed with your help. How about both at once?!? Help your favorite librarian be the winner – and your vote will count in the state-wide contest determining the best teen book of the year!

The Colorado Blue Spruce Book Award is all about Colorado teens voting for the best book of the year, and nominating the books for the next year’s list. Students in sixth through 12th grades (no adults allowed!) have until Dec. 31 to read at least three of the nominated titles and submit a ballot. The list of 2011 nominees is below, with convenient links to the catalog. I bet you’ve already read at least three of them! Then talk to your teen librarian about getting a ballot.

And when you vote, you help your teen librarian win a competition between her and the other teen librarians! Across JCPL, we’ll be counting how many completed ballots each library turns in. The librarian with the most ballots gets bragging rights and can display the prize cow from last summer. You can only vote once, but you can encourage your friends to vote too!

Here are the nominees. This list was nominated by sixth through 12th graders, which means some of these are great for 12-year-olds and some are actually adult books. If you need help figuring out which titles are appropriate for and of interest to you, please ask a librarian.

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway
Betrayed (House of Night Book Two) by P.C. Cast
City of Ashes (Mortal Instruments Book Two) by Cassandra Clare
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (Book Two) by Jeff Kinney
Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass
Gorilla City (Amazing Adventures of Charlie Small Book One) by Charlie Small
Graceling by Kristen Cashore
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Identical by Ellen Hopkins
The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson Book Five) by Rick Riordan
Max: A Maximum Ride Novel (Maximum Ride Book Five) by James Patterson
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
Peak by Roland Smith
Rise of the Evening Star (Fablehaven Book Two) by Brandon Mull
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Summer Ball by Mike Lupica
Swindle by Gordon Korman
Syren (Septimus Heap Book Five) by Angie Sage
Truancy by Isamu Fukui
Under the Dome by Stephen King

Which direction do you agree with?

And if you're intrigued by a poem that can be read in both directions, check out this book.  Yeah, it’s for kids, but it’s awesome!