Bellingham 'brary blog

2009-12-28T08:26:00.000-08:00

The Bellingham Public Library's Teen Blog has been moved to wwww.bellinghamteens.blogspot.com.
Click Here.

And the Winners Are...

2009-09-23T13:49:00.001-07:00

Summer Poetry Contest: Kristy Wessels

Summer Short Story Contest: Jennifer Christensen

Honorable Mentions go to:

Daniel Perkins

Sreeja Bapatla

Amelia Fadden

Melanie Dumont

Hailey Brant

Thanks and nice work to everyone who submitted entries!

Now come by the library and pick up a copy of the FIRST EVER issue of the Bellingham Library Literary Magazine. (This is a collector's item, people.)

Learn to draw Manga!

2009-09-08T10:26:00.000-07:00

Three-part Manga Art class

coming in October

Wednesdays:

Oct. 14

Oct. 21

Oct. 28

from 2:30-3:15

Open to students in grades 5 through 12.

Artists of all levels are welcome!

August Events

2009-08-03T15:18:00.000-07:00

Teen Writing Group

3pm Thursday, August 13 - open to anyone grades 6-12

Rock Band Tournament

5pm Thursday, August 20 - Pre-registration by August 13th REQUIRED

***

Tabletop RPG @ the library brainstorming session

noon Tuesday, August 25th - open to anyone

***

Super Smash Bros. Tournament

1pm Thursday, August 27 - Pre-registration by August 25th REQUIRED

***

Teen Movie: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
2:30 Friday, August 21 - open to anyone

Teen Writing Group is Back

2009-07-23T13:53:00.000-07:00

Join us on the second Thursday of every month for

WRITE NOW

Bellingham Public Library Teen Writing Group

share your stories and poems

participate in creative writing games

exercise your imagination

Always 3 - 4:30

For students in grades 6-12

Next meeting: August 13th

More YAAB members needed

2009-05-04T12:22:00.000-07:00

Join YAAB!
Click here to learn more.

Book-to-Movie Club

2009-04-28T11:24:00.000-07:00

Teen Book Club on Wednesday, May 27 from 5 - 6 pm!

Pick up a copy of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.

Watch the movie at the library on Thursday, May 21st @ 6pm.

Then come talk about them both!

About the book:
Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth.

Yeah, there will be snacks!

Just in case...

2009-04-21T16:20:00.000-07:00

If you've now read The Forest of Hands and Teeth, as I suggested last week, then now you may be concerned about the potential for zombies to pretty much take over the world. Fear not! We have just the book you need:

The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead, by Max Brooks, is not only a New York Times bestseller, it's also a comprehesive guide to everything from identifying zombie behavioral pattern to appropriate disposal of contaminated corpses. A great book for humor lovers and zombie haters.

Check us out on Facebook!

2009-04-21T13:03:00.000-07:00

Now you can be a fan of the Bellingham Public Library on facebook. (And get our events posted to your newsfeed automatically)

Zombies and a love story?

2009-04-13T16:15:00.000-07:00

The Forest of Hands and Teeth
Carrie Ryan

Orphaned Mary seeks knowledge of life, love, and especially what lies beyond her fenced-in village and the surrounded forest, where dwell the Unconsecrated: frightening man-eating undead creatures (hmm... and this is a romance?). I'm told that fans of supernatural romance or postapocalyptic fiction will love this new author. I haven't read this one yet, but it comes highly recommended by a friend of mine, so try it out and post your own review here!

Yay! More Sisterhood!

2009-03-03T16:47:00.000-08:00

I'm very excited that Ann Brashares has put out a new book in the grand tradition of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. 3 Willows is about three new girls, all about to enter ninth grade the same highschool which Tibby, Lena, Carmen, and Bridget formerly attended. The sisterhood doesn't play a large role in the book--in fact, only one of them makes an appearance, that I recall, but they have clearly left ripples in the community they inhabited. Fans of the Sisterhood will be delighted by the cameos of minor characters from the series, but this book stands alone just fine, too. I really liked reading it, and I think you might too. Let me know!

Intense suspence - Th1rteen R3asons Why

2009-02-17T08:56:00.000-08:00

There are 13 reasons why Hannah Baker decided to end her life, and she wants each of those reasons to know exactly how they are responsible for her death. That's right, her reasons are all people, and just before she committed suicide, Hannah Baker recorded one side of a cassette tape for each of them and mailed all the tapes to all of them so that they will know exactly what they all did to her.

Jay Asher's Th1rteen R3asons Why is a haunting book and so suspenseful that I got really jumpy reading it when I was home alone at night. It's also a really sensitive book about a very realistic set of teenagers dealing with life's toughest stuff.

I want to know what you think of it!

Sign up to Compete!

2009-01-27T15:51:00.001-08:00

Come show off your strumming skills at the library this February Vacation!
Thursday, February 19th from 2 to 5 pm the Bellingham Public Library will host a Guitar Hero tournament.
Participants must sign up (at the main desk) by February 17th and must be in grades 5 - 12. All ages are invited to come be the audience!
Prizes will be awarded.

A very useful new website

2009-01-20T10:52:00.000-08:00

Next time you are working on a US History or English project, you may want to make shmoop one of your first stops on your quest for research (after the library, of course!). It's a great, well-researched and well-cited site covering poetry, classic literature, and US History. It's got study guides, question-answer discussion boards, and heaps of links to many handy websites. You may even want to get a free account for more useful features--I'm gonna.

Decorate an Ox Cookie!

2009-01-20T08:55:00.000-08:00

Don't forget to sign up by the end of this week if you want to have a delicious sugar cookie to decorate next Monday in celebration of the beginning of the Year of the Ox! The sign-up sheet is at the main desk.

Great line from a new book

2009-01-07T15:57:00.000-08:00

"Entrails. No hissing. This is the closest we will ever come to love."
from Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

About the book:
In a future where North America has become a TV-dominated dictatorship, 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen competes in the bloodthirstiest of reality TV shows, in which the only contestant left alive will win a life of luxury. The only rule: don't eat the dead contestants.

Two Reviews - Wildwood Dancing and Cybele's Secret

2009-01-05T12:21:00.000-08:00

Like the twelve dancing princesses in the fairy tale, Jena and her four sisters are able to leave their Transylvania home through a portal to a magical Wildwood to dance all night under the full moon in Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier. But when four dark and mysterious stranger appear in the Wildwood at the same time as a terrible tragedy leaves the home and lives of the five young women in their power-hungry cousin's hands, Jena finds herself fighting to save everything she holds dear--and learns a lot about what exactly she DOES hold dear in the meantime.
I loved Wildwood Dancing, which came out in 2007, which is an adventure, a love story, and a couple fairy tales all tied up in one delicious bundle. So when its sequel, Cybele's Secret (pronounced Sib-a-lee's) came out a few months ago I was super excited! And then, when I finally read it last weekend, I was... well, disappointed. Jena's younger sister Paula narrated and starred in Cybele's Secret, and her character just didn't have Jena's spunk or attitude. Scholarly though she was, Paula was downright dopey in her poor decision-making and remarkably unobservant. And this really got me: On one page she berates a pirate for thinking she might be so fragile as to have a "fit of the vapors" and then on the next pretends to her heartthrob bodyguard that she did just have that "fit of the vapors"! Oh, and did I mention that she uses heaps of dippy phrases like "fit of the vapors"? Ugh.
My criticism sounds harsh, and perhaps it is. Cybele's Secret wasn't an awful book, it just wasn't a very good one, and after Wildwood Dancing, I'd been expecting something awesome. So absolutely read Wildwood Dancing--I highly recommend it to fantasy lovers--and if you like it and want to learn what comes next, read the sequel. Just don't set your hopes too high.

Loved it - Graceling

2008-12-29T12:50:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to reading this book that has been getting rather a lot of hype--Graceling, by Kristin Cashore--and gosh was it worth it! Graceling is a marvelous fantasy with a kick-butt heroine and a bounty of plot twists and turns. Here's what I think I can tell you without spoiling the suspense of it:

Gracelings are rare. Some are Graced with tremendous talent for ordinary things, like archery, running, singing, or sewing. Some are creepier, like the mind-readers. No matter how useful or harmless their Grace, all Gracelings are feared throughout most of the seven kingdoms, and Katsa is particularly feared--even by herself. Katsa is Graced with killing. At her uncle the King's command, she bullies his subjects into obedience to his tyranny and hates herself for doing it. The few friends who aid her in her work to build the secret Council know that she is more than the unscrupulous king's pet fighter, but Katsa herself can't seem to see that. When the mysterious Prince Po, also Graced with fighting, shows up at the palace and seems to understand her better than she understands herself, suddenly Katsa finds herself changing her own life--and the kingdoms--as she never thought possible.

And then there's the second half of the book which is a thrilling adventure/survival/love story and I can't tell you anything about it because that would spoil the surprise(s).

Check out the author's blog!

Twilight Withdrawal?

2008-12-15T14:59:00.000-08:00

Now that so many of you will have finished reading Breaking Dawn, allegedly the final installment in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series, I've put together a list of books to help cope with lack of Bella and Edward and Jacob in your life. Not all of them are vampire books and not all are romances, but they all come highly recommended!

Blood and Chocolate (werewolves) by Annette Curtis Klause
Sunshine by Robin McKinley (vampires)
Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith (vampires and werewolves)
Tithe by Holly Black (No vampires, per say, but the 'hero' is a lot like Edward)
Sucks to Be Me by Kimberly Pauley (vampires)
Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz (vampires)
High School Bites by Liza Conrad (vampires. And Dracula, actually)
Peeps by Scott Westerfeld (vampirism is carried by a parasite)
In the Forests of the Night, Shattered Mirror, or Demon in My View by Amelia Atwater Rhodes (vampires, witches, shapeshifters--you name it, it's in at least her of these paranormal romances)
Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde
The Darkangel Trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Prom Dates from Hell (short stories from several authors)

2008-11-25T14:50:00.000-08:00

Let me tell you about this really weird book I read not too long ago. There’s this girl, Aslaug, who grew up in an isolated little house in Maine (I mean REALLY isolated. They don’t even have electricity. Or a mirror. Or windows). She lives with just her Mom, who is super brilliant and super crazy. Scary-crazy. When her mother dies, the cops initially think Aslaug killed her. (They’re wrong). Totally alone now, Aslaug packs up the piles of money her mom mysteriously hid away in the outhouse and decides to search for her father—oh, I forgot to mention that her mom told her she literally DIDN’T HAVE ONE. Instead of a father, Aslaug finds an Aunt and two cousins who only seem a little messed up at first, but don’t let them fool you!

It's called Madapple by Christina Meldrum, and we have it on CD, too.

We rearranged the furniture

2008-10-16T16:33:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that we've changed some things in the Young Adult Area. Please feel free to take the poll to the right and post your comments here.

CDs in the YA collection

2008-10-16T11:51:00.001-07:00

Did you know that you can check out your favorite CDs at the library? Here's a short list of some of the artists you can now find in the Young Adult section:

Chris Brown, Boys Like Girls, Miley Cyrus, Kelly Clarkson, Duffy, Gavin DeGraw, Vanessa Hudgens, Jonas Brothers, Lil Wayne, Demi Lovato, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Panic! at the Disco, Paramore, Katy Perry, Pink Floyd, Rihanna, Ashlee Simpson, Taylor Swift, Ashley Tisdale, Three Days Grace, Weezer

A tip: These are very popular titles, and they are usually checked out. If you want to make sure you get your hands on one of these, you may want to place a hold on them by using the catalog.

Honk if you love Twilight!

2008-10-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

In honor of the "Books with Bite" theme for this year's Teen Read Month at the library, I'd like to hear what you have to say about Stephenie Meyer's wildly bestselling vampire (and werewolf) romance series.

Who did you like better, the werewolves or the vampires? If you're a fan, are you excited about the movies?

Whether you loved them or hated them (or loved some but not ALL of them!) speak up about Bella, Edward, and Jacob (or whatever else you want!) in the comments section.

Teens do Read!

2008-10-02T14:44:00.000-07:00

It's Teen Read Month at the Bellingham Public Library, and this year's theme is

Books with Bite!

I hope you're not afraid of vampires...

If you liked A Great and Terrible Beauty...

2008-09-25T12:33:00.000-07:00

If you're a fan of Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle Trilogy (A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and The Sweet Far Thing), you may like these great books too:

Ivy by Julie Hearn
The Luxe by Anna Godbersen
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman
Mad Kestrel by Misty Massey
Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley
Mairelon the Magician by Patricia Wrede
Madapple by Christina Meldrum
The Kestrel by Lloyd Alexander
The Naming by Alison Croggon
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth Speare
Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer
A College of Magics by Caroline Stevermer
Like short stories? Try: The Restless Dead

Have you read any of these? Did you love them? Did you hate them? Let everyone know what you think about these and about Libba Bray's books by leaving your comments!

Loved it - The Opposite of Invisible

2008-09-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

We've all read dozens of books where the main character find herself (or himself) suddenly a "loner" when her best friend falls in love with some cute guy (or girl) and catches (as if it's contagious) his popularity, leaving the less popular main character largely friendless.

Liz Gallagher's new book, The Opposite of Invisible, is a refreshing twist on that old storyline. High School sophomore Alice has always wanted a boyfriend, so when her gorgeous, popular (and actually friendly!) crush, Simon, wants to start hanging out with her, it's only too easy to start neglecting her best friend, Jewel. She and Jewel, artsy Indie kids, have always been "invisible" to the in crowd, and now that's changing--but only for Alice. Now she has to choose between the crush she's always dreamed of and the friendship she's always taken for granted.

Love 'em - Artemis Fowl

2008-09-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

Let me recommend a seriously fun series. I've only read the first five Artemis Fowl books, but I have a hold on the sixth, and I sure hope Eoin Colfer never stops writing them!

The lead character, Artemis Fowl, is a super genius criminal mastermind--and, oh yeah, he's twelve. In the first book he breaks into the highly secret fairy world and kidnaps the novel's co-star and Artemis's sometimes arch nemesis is Captain Holly Short, the only female officer on the LEPrecon squad. In the series "fairy" is a generic term for all magical beings (Holly, for instance, is an elf) and the fairies not only have magic, but also have super advanced technology--exactly the sort that power-hungry Artemis would love to get his hands on.

I don't want to give anything away, but let me assure you that this fantastic series keeps getting better with every installment. Each book is full of suspense, action, humor, and tons of fun. You definitely do have to read them in order, so here's the list:

Artemis Fowl
The Arctic Incident
The Eternity Code
The Opal Deception
The Lost Colony
The Time Paradox

Go read them. Seriously, I think you'll love them.

Teen Zone's Back!

2008-09-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

The end of summer absolutely raced by and suddenly we're back at school! And you know what school means...

Teen Zone!

So drop by the community room at the library any

Monday,
Tuesday,
Wednesday, or
Thursday
between 2:30 and 4:30 in the afternoon,

and play Wii Sports, Rock Band, Super Smash Bros., Sonic & Mario Olympics, Guitar Hero, DDR, Twister, Yahtzee or a whole bunch of other games, or (gasp!) you can even do your homework (there will be plenty of people to help if you need it!)

I want your opinion!

2008-08-14T07:21:00.000-07:00

Tell me what you like and what you don't like about this webpage right here in the comments section of this post! Don't worry, you don't have to give your name.

Feel free to speak about the !and the Young Adult area and programming in general, too. Anything goes, be free to speak your mind!

Liked it - The Dead and the Gone

2008-08-13T16:43:00.000-07:00

CAUTION: Don't read this book when you're already in a bad mood.

It only took me a few days to read Susan Beth Pferrer's new book, The Dead and the Gone, but for those few days I could not stop thinking about it. And since it's a pretty depressing book about a really horrific natural disaster, I was pretty depressed the whole time. It's about how drastically life changes in New York City when an asteroid knocks the moon closer to the earth and totally screws up our weather patterns. In particular, it's about how 17-year-old Puerto Rican American Alex Morales tries to keep his younger sisters and himself from starving or worse in the months that follow. The book paints a pretty bleak and horrifying picture, but it's SO engrossing that if you're interested in this sort of story, you'll definitely love The Dead and the Gone.

And if you do find that you like it, you'll be delighted to hear that it already has a companion novel, Life As We Knew It, about the effect of the same disaster elsewhere in America. I'll read it too, but only after I've read something a lot more jolly to cheer me up.

Upcoming Events: Babysitting Job Fair

2008-08-13T16:37:00.000-07:00

Calling all Red Cross Certified Babysitters!

August 26th at 6pm until 7:30pm

Kids and parents looking for sitters or mother's helpers will drop by the library to meet you. Feel free to bring a resume or a coloring book or some fun game to play with little kids, but it's okay to come empty handed.
You MUST sign up ahead to be allowed to participate in the job fair.

Loved it - Weird Weather

2008-08-07T16:49:00.000-07:00

Everybody MUST read Weird Weather: Everything You Didn't Want To Know About Climate Change but Probably Should Find Out by Kate Evans. It's what I call a graphic not-novel. Graphic Non-fiction. As the title suggests, it's all about climate change. It's full of statistics, detailed explanations, and careful research research research. It's very easy to understand--and that's what makes it SO DARN SCARY! I have to admit, I got a little freaked out by this book. But I fell like it's kinda important that I did. Ignorance is NOT bliss, my friends. So brace yourself for a little shock and grab this book. Then share it with everyone you know.

Just a note: This book was originally published in 2006 in the UK, so the data is all metric and about a year-and-a-half old. Keep that in mind while you're reading. It's nice to have a handy converter like this one on hand.

Liked it - A Certain Slant of Light

2008-07-29T08:45:00.000-07:00

It's hard to talk about this book without giving too much away. Laura Whitcomb's A Certain Slant of Light is a love story between ghosts. It's also a story about guilt, redemption, and facing your nightmares. Helen and James are hundred-something-year-old ghosts who find a way to inhabit a human body--but only if the spirit of the human within has already fled. So when they takeover the bodies of two human teenagers, they are suddenly faced with the crises that forced Jenny and Billy's spirits to break and flee.

Be warned: Throughout most of it, this is not a happy book. Helen and James are adult spirits trapped inside teenaged bodies, dealing with such heavy issues that the bodies' former owners couldn't cope with living. If you're looking for a creepy ghost story that's not so darn depressing, try Mary Downing Hahn's Deep and Dark and Dangerous. Or, if creepy's not your thing, try David Levithan's Marly's Ghost. If you like A Certain Slant of Light, you'll probably also like Love, Ghosts, & Facial Hair by Steven Herrick.

Congratulations, Steve!

2008-07-22T16:32:00.000-07:00

Steve is the reigning Guitar Hero of the Bellingham Library!

... until our next tournament.

And congratulations to all who participated, especially Robert and Nick, our second and third place heroes. Thanks to everyone for making it a tough competition!

Loved it! - A Countess Below Stairs

2008-07-22T07:43:00.000-07:00

During and after the Russian Revolution, much of Russia's nobility fled to Western Europe and made new lives for themselves among the lower classes of country like England and France. Dukes, Princes, and Countesses suddenly found themselves working as housemaids, chauffeurs, and factory workers in order to keep their families fed. Eva Ibbotson's A Countess Below Stairs is the story of a young Countess who finds herself in just such a situation. But like Ibbotson's great and very whimsical children's books (T he Secret of Platform 13, The Beasts of Clawstone Castle, and Which Witch?, to name a few) A Countess Below Stairs isn't very realistic--which is exactly what I liked about it! The main character is uncommonly eager to spend 15 hours a day scrubbing floors, washing dishes, and doing laundry. In many ways like Cinderella or Snow White, Anna charms everyone she meets, is adored by small woodland creatures and the Earl's giant Baskerville, and always whistles while she works.
A Countess Below Stairs is a great summer read, a fanciful romance, but steer clear if you don't like ridiculously pleasant characters.

About Commenting

2008-07-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

The comments option will almost always be open on my posts, so feel free to put in your own two cents on program ideas, book and movie reviews, or anything you want to talk about!

Liked it - Persepolis

2008-07-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

A few nights ago I finally had the chance to see Persepolis, which several of my friends have recommending to me since it was out in theaters ages ago. I borrowed it from the library (I never play for movie rentals anymore! Why would you, when the library will give it to your for a WEEK for FREE?) and it turned out to be just as good as everyone had said!
Yeah, the story is fairly depressing it's also oddly hilarious much of the time. The animation style grew on me--it's nothing like Disney and it's nothing like anime. Sometimes it reminded me a little of Charlie Brown, especially in Marjane's childhood scenes, which were my favorite part of the movie.
I'm not going to ramble on here, because I really think anyone should see it for themselves. The most amazing thing about this film, though, is that it is entirely true, it's the artist/author's autobiography, and reality is always more mindblowing than fiction.

Now I really need to read the two graphic memoirs the movie is based on!

Upcoming Event: Guitar Hero Tournament!

2008-07-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, July 22nd at 5 o'clock PM

Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers compete in the first ever
Bellingham Public Library Guitar Hero III Tournament

Sign up at the main desk by July 21st to participate or just drop by to watch as the competition heats up!

Prizes will be awarded for the "Heroes" in each level.

Upcoming Events: Teen Game Night

2008-06-26T18:53:00.001-07:00

If you've been having Teen Zone withdrawal these last few weeks, your woes are at an end! Starting July 3rd and continuing on every-other Thursday for the rest of the summer we'll be having Teen Game Night at the Library. Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, DDR, Wii Sports... plus Apples to Apples, Twister, Pictionary, or Chess! We're game for anything.

Just drop by, no sign-up required.

July 3rd, 17th and 31st, August 14th and 28th

Always from 6pm to 7:30.

Upcoming Events: Book Brunch

2008-06-26T07:50:00.001-07:00

Tired of reading the back of the cereal box at breakfast time? Every Thursday* in July and August the library invites you to a Book Brunch from 10am - noon. We'll feed you tasty breakfast snacks (like OJ, fruit, muffins, bagels) and you can read to your heart's content in our air-conditioned Community Room. Borrow our books and magazines and newspapers or bring your own! It's an easy way to get your summer reading done, even if your library card has fines on it.

Noisy people will NOT be fed.

*There will be no book brunch on Thursday, July 10th. Instead, the brunch will be on the Tuesday of that week, July 8th.