Movies, Costumes, and Sugar

Yes, the almost perfect combination of fun! Thursday (the day before Halloween) you'll have a chance to try out your costume at the library's Creature Features, between 1:30-8:30 p.m. See the classic monster movies from way before you were born, featuring Frankenstein's monster, that wacky vampire Dracula and a couple of comedians. Stop by and say boo!

Weird and Chilling Anime and Manga

The community room seemed alive that night. Anna and I had just been enjoying the quiet of the vast space, when suddenly, they began to appear. Like ghosts, they materialized out of nowhere, bursting through the doors, shrieking and squeezing the life out of each other. The teens had arrived...

That's right, people. Last Thursday at our Anime Club meeting, Anna and I managed to wrangle ya'll long enough to get a list of your picks for Scariest, Strangest, and the Best Creatures in anime or manga. And, as promised, here it is:

Scariest

Alive- On Order

Anne Freaks (Y GRAPHIC KOTEGA)

Berserk (GRAPHIC MIURA)

Higurashi When They Cry (When Cicadas Cry)- On Order

Monster (GRAPHIC URASAWA)

Trinity Blood (Y GRAPHIC YOSHIDA)

Best Creatures

Beet (Y GRAPHIC BEET)

Bleach (Y GRAPHIC KUBO)

Blood+ (Y GRAPHIC KATSURA)

Galaxy Angel (Y GRAPHIC KANAN)

Tokyo Mew Mew (Y GRAPHIC IKUMI)

Vampire Hunter D (Y GRAPHIC KIKUCHI)

Strangest

Death Note (Y GRAPHIC OHBA)

FLCL (Y GRAPHIC UEDA)

Missing (Y GRAPHIC CODA)

Naruto (Y GRAPHIC KISHIM)

Tokyo Babylon (Y GRAPHIC CLAMP)

Vampire Knight (Y GRAPHIC HINO)

Local Author Talk at the BCL

On October 25, at 3:00 p.m., the Beaverton City Library will be hosting an evening with local author David Michael Slater in their auditoriam. Slater's new book, The Book of Nonsense, is the first in a series for Young Adults. Here's the description from the author's website: The book is ancient, ravaged and full of utter nonsense. But the moment it enters Daphna and Dexter's lives, bizarre things begin to happen. Why is their father, who found the book, suddenly so distant? Is the old man who took it from him some kind of hypnotist? Why is a giant, red-eyed boy menacing them? And what does their thirteenth birthday have to do with all this? Daphna and Dexter can't stand each other, but they'll have to work together to learn the truth about the Book of Nonsense - before their lives come apart completely.

Find out more about the event here: http://www.beavertonlibrary.org/teens/events.html, or on the BCL's teen blog, http://bclyaknow.blogspot.com/.

Rock the Pizza Vote

Do you ever long to cast your opinion on something truly important? the I suggest you join us in the Community Room on Saturday, October 18 at 11 a.m. to Rock the Pizza Vote. Taste local pizzas and pick your favorite. Even those of you who think pizza is vile are welcome to hang out, drink some tasty beverages, watch a movie (Vote for Pedro!), and browse some library resources about voting and activism. See you there!

Randomness from the Web

Vote now (for your Teen Top Teen). It's Teen Read Week and time for you to vote for your favorite reads. Vote here before midnight on Saturday! Go now!

For serious news...the National Book Award Finalists have been named. This is an award given to writers from writers. The finalists in the Young People's Literature category include the following:

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp.*

And true confession from your librarian, I have read one of the above titles. Shocking! Just means I have some (more) books to add to my reading list! Have you read any of these? What did you think? Comment now!

And now for something fun and completely time consuming -- sand art. Thanks to this blog I follow (thanks, Big A little a!) I zoned out to pretty colors of sand. It took all of my concentration to stop. Have fun!

*Titles underlined link to our catalog.

On Guard!

Fans of the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, The Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan, and the Warriors series by Erin Hunter should have a look at the fabulous graphic novel Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 by David Petersen (Y Graphic Petersen). Sent in search of a missing mouse, three members of the guard discover a treacherous threat that could destroy them. With adventure, intrigue and stunning artwork, Mouse Guard is a book to spend hours pouring over.

Have a look at the official web page for a taste of what to expect from the book. The book is actually a collection of the six issue mini-series published in hardback form. The follow up Mouse Guard : Winter 1152 is due early next year.

Teen Read Week, Yippee!

So it seems like we've been talking about it forever, but Teen Read Week Books with Bite is finally here! It's when we celebrate (are you ready for this?) teens reading! See the super display Lisa created behind the Teen Desk. She's got free bookmarks there, too. See the nominations for the Teen Top Ten list and vote for your faves.

And for fun, stop by our Books with Bite Party Thursday, October 16 from 5-8 p.m. in the Community Room. Chocolate, a movie, and hanging out -- it doesn't get much better than that.

Except maybe for pizza, which is why you can Rock The Pizza Vote Saturday, October 18 from 11-12:30 p.m. Taste a variety of local pizzas and vote for your favorite.

Bump in the Night

In celebration of Teen Read Week, the super cool blog readergirlz will be hosting online live chats with your favorite teen authors at 6pm every night between October 13 and 17. Ally Carter, Holly Black, Tamora Pierce and Christopher Golden, to name a few, will be on hand to chat with their readers. Check out the full schedule at readergirlz and pick up the books at the library.

More Rave Reviews from the Teen Book Group

'Tis time for another batch of reviews from the fabulously critical member of the Teen Book Discussion Group. Feel free to comment, and if you want to be a part of the group, just stop by the Children's Reference Desk to register and pick up a free copy of new month's book, An Abundance of Katherines.

This month's book was Life as We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer, a harrowing account, through a 15-year-old's journal entries, of the catastrophic consequences when an asteroid knocks the moon closer to the Earth.

Teen on the Street (or in the Puett Room) Reviews:

*No comment.

*Close to what could happen [in real life].

*If I wrote a book like this, I would include Godzilla.

*The cover freaked me out, but the book was good.

*The book was so awesome that the title as an option for my future band name, and the cover.

*SPOILER ALERT* I really, really liked the ending. I though it was gonna be one of those sad lame books that want you to think about life and how it sucks, but I think books should always end happily. Who needs books about life? We're IN life!! I want to read something HAPPY.

Creepy and Cool

So I was introduced to the creepy and cool world of Neil Gaiman with Coraline. The comic book king has a knack from creating very real characters is some strange situations. His newest book The Graveyard Book features a young boy Owen who has grown up, you've got it, in a graveyard raised by ghosts.

The audio book of Coraline was spectacular, with eery music and Mister Gaiman reading. The Tigard Library has 4 copies of The Graveyard Book on order. If you can't wait or if you just want a sneak peak, you can listen to Neil Gaiman reading you his book online! Every day of his 9-city tour he's been reading one chapter and then posting it online. So far he's on the beginning of Chapter 7. I'm not sure how long this will be available...so go have a listen!

Midnight Sun

More news from the world of Stephenie Meyer and Twilight! Now this is from way back in August, so many of you will be way ahead of me, but after an early draft of Ms. Meyer's Midnight Sun (Twilight from the vampire's perspective) was leaked and went viral on the Internet, the author decided to post it legally on her own website. To get a little taste of the mind of Edward Cullen, follow this link: http://stepheniemeyer.com/midnightsun.html.

Letters about Literature

Has a book ever changed your mind about anything? Do you credit a certain book or author with helping you form your worldview? The Letters about Literature contest gives you a chance to share about the books that have been most influential in your life and possibly win prizes for yourself and your school library. All you have to do is write a personal letter to an author, living or dead, explaining how that author's work changed the student's way of thinking about the world or themselves. Find out more about the contest, and download participation forms here: http://oregon.gov/OSL/LD/youthsvcs/aboutlit.shtml

Death Note II

OK, Animanga fans. Get yourselves motivated, 'cause the live-action Death Note II is coming soon to a Portland theater near you. Check out this website for more information: http://www.deathnotefilms.com/home.php. And if you're unfamiliar with Death Note, come by the library to check it out (you'll probably need to put it on hold): Y Graphic OHBA, or Y Graphic DEATH for the first volume.