Teen Scene
Visit the Wright Library Teen MySpace. Give us feedback.
If you read "The Hunger Games," the first book in this series, you've probably already searched high and low for "Catching Fire," book two in the series. When the story opens, Katniss and Peeta have spent almost a year as victors after winning the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are televised games played by randomly chosen teenagers where they fight to the death as a way to suppress the citizens of this dystopian country. Katniss and Peeta are back home with their families, but now they are living with rewards like grand homes and plenty to eat. The relationship with Peeta has been strained since their return, and when the sinister President Snow shows up for a visit with Katniss, he warns her to not provoke the people of their country to revolution. As in "The Hunger Games," the story is a page-turner, with plenty of surprises and unexpected twists and turns. The complications in the story, in the well-developed characters, the plot, and underlying implications of the story, make this book another amazing read. Warning: if you start this series, you will find it nearly unbearable to wait for Book 3, "Mockingjay," which is going to be released in August 2010. Ages 12 and up. 
Newbery Honor-winning author Audrey Couloumbis and her husband, Akila, cooperate to create a World War II historical fiction novel based on his real life experiences in Greece during the conflict. Action centers around Petros aged 12, Zola (his older brother) and two friends, Stavros and Elia. First Italy and then Nazi Germany occupy their small hometown putting Petros's family in greater peril than that of their neighbors because the Couloumbis children were all born in the United States, a declared opponent of Germany. By destroying or burying all traces of connection to America, Petros's father hopes to portray to the invaders the simple picture of a Greek farming family. Zola, chafing under the tension of soldiers everywhere and wanting to take some action, uses the boys and their innocent-seeming active play to communicate war news to the other villagers. Later when the boys' cousin, a freedom fighter named Lambros, comes to hide in their well, and the German commandant comes to live in the farm house with them, they come to realize that war is not a game; it is deadly serious. The authors manage to maintain a boy's point of view throughout the narrative, realistically presenting positive and negative facets of many characters. Quickly read, this novel presents a part of World War II not commonly featured. It will be of interest to those in grades 6 - 10. 
High school senior, Jane, works in a coffee shop and has noticed that she can ascertain personalities by their coffee choices. If someone orders a small nonfat latte extra hot, Jane knows how they differ from a person who drinks a whole milk double cappuccino with caramel drizzle. Innocently, she uses this information to play matchmaker for a friend. Before she knows it, she’s become a town sensation for her coffee matchmaking abilities. Her boss advertises her skills, Jane is flooded with customers, and even TV cameras come looking for her. Sadly, Jane is not so wise about her own love life, including knowing when a boy is interested in her. She’s also clueless about the important decisions concerning her future. This is chick lit for teens, and implausible at times, but a fun read. Ages 13 to 16.
By the author of The Amulet of Samarkand, Jonathan Stroud, The Golem’s Eye is the next refreshingly funny, irreverent, and thrilling installment in the Bartimaeus Trilogy series. The familiar protagonist, Nathaniel—now known by the assumed name John Mandrake—lives in a world where magic is the feared and acknowledged tool of the British government and its many ministers. The wellspring of magic, of course, is the power of demons, of which Bartimaeus—a powerful demon or djinni—is one. In the novel, Nathaniel has advanced far past his previous apprenticed magician level, and is a junior member of the British government. When Nathaniel again needs help tracking the underground Resistance—an organization targeting magic and magicians—he summons Bartimaeus again from the Otherworld and their hilarious partnership is soon resumed. The rest of the novel recounts their new adventures and their encounter with a mysterious magical entity of stone, the Golem.
The fourteenth Tale of Redwall by British storyteller Brian Jacques, Taggerung is a wonderfully enchanting read. The novel, set in a medieval world filled with anthropomorphic mice, squirrels, otters, badgers, foxes, ferrets and many other creatures, recounts the story of the otter, Deyna, and his adventures through Mossflower country. The novel begins at Deyna’s birth and narrates his subsequent kidnapping at the hands of a villainous band of foxes, weasels, ferrets, and other “vermin,” led by ferret Chief Sawney Rath. This tribe of vagabonds and vagrants, called the Juska, believes Deyna to be the new Taggerung, a mystical creature endowed with awesome fighting abilities, and wishes to adopt him as one of their own. Ultimately, Deyna, or “Tagg” as he is called throughout most of the novel, abandons the Juska and returns to Redwall, the sanctuary of friendship and peace in the Redwall series, in order to become a peaceful creature.
Search
Recent Posts
Archive
 | Powered by engagedpatrons.org |
Upcoming events
- Tween CCG: Winter Layers Dessert(4 hours)
- Preschool Storytime(1 day)
- Teen Zone: TAB(1 day)
- Digital Download Demonstration(1 day)
- Digital Download Demonstration(2 days)
- Family Storytime(2 days)
Subscribe (RSS)
Library Hours
Monday - Thursday
10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Friday
10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Saturday-Sunday
1-5 p.m.
