Book Review: Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter

Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (March 29, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312624670
• ISBN-13: 978-0312624675
• --publisher info via Amazon.com
• 
  

Reviewed by Anneliese G.

Witches, werewolves, vampires and faeries! Oh my! Not to mention ghosts that continue to haunt you every second of the day and three guys who seem to hold some part of your heart. Kylie Galen, the main character, is a strong and kind person who is very honest. Despite this, she is faced with many hardships. Her parents divorcing, getting sent to a camp that was supposed to be for the delinquent-like kids that is actually filled to the brim with mythological creatures that shouldn’t exist, dealing with an ex-boyfriend who wants her back, a pregnant best friend who doesn’t know who the father is, finding out what she is, and dealing with a werewolf from her past and a faerie who reminds her of her old boyfriend. What more could go wrong? In Shadow Falls Camp, everything is not what it seems. For two months, the love triangle between Lucas, the werewolf of Kylie’s past, and Derek, the faerie who doesn’t want his powers, and Kylie Galen, the girl who doesn’t want to be there and doesn’t want to accept that she might be something more than human, rages on and has no sure point as to where it might lead. This was a very good read that I would recommend to every Twilight lover and to anyone who loves paranormal with a little side-serving of romance.

DeGroodt's Digital Dash

You already know about the internet and how to search, but do you know about Web 2.0? Join us online at the DeGroodt Library Youth Services Blog starting in January as we highlight a different topic each week for you to explore. 

Here is our schedule of topics for January:

Jan 4^th Web 2.0: What is it? 

Jan 11^th Google: more than a search engine

Jan 18^th Social Media: it's all about connections

Jan 25^th Blogs and RSS: what and how? 

Twilight Prize Pack

TWILIGHT FANS!

The DeGroodt TAG is sponsoring a

Twilight Prize Pack Raffle

$1 per ticket

6 for $5

  Ends Dec 10^th

Enter to win a fabulous Twilight prize pack featuring:

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (Paperback edition)

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (Trade Paperback edition)

The Host by Stephenie Meyer (Trade Paperback edition)

Twilight Saga: New Moon the official illustrated movie companion

Twilight: Jacob 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle

 (3) Twilight Themed Black & Brown Yoga Pants (size S)

Twilight Themed Brown Hoodie Sweatshirt (size S/M)

Twilight Themed Brown Hoodie Sweatshirt (size L/XL)

 (2)Twilight New Moon Jacob Black Ladies T-Shirt (size XL)

Twilight New Moon Jacob Black Ladies T-Shirt (size L)

Twilight New Moon Edward Black Ladies T-Shirt (size XL)

(3) Twilight New Moon Edward Black Ladies T-Shirt (size L)

Proceeds to support the Friends of the Libraries of Palm Bay. Tickets available in Youth Services.

Perfect for holiday gift giving.

Picture It! The Power of Art

The Teen Read Week theme is Picture It! @your library. We love the theme for all the possibilities it brings through films, artwork, photos, and so much more. Art has the power to compel us, inspire us, and inform us. We may have never set foot in France, but we all know what the Eifel Tower looks like, because we have seen photographs and paintings, maybe even miniature statues. We find beauty in the chaos of Jackson Pollock’s paintings and Tiffany’s stained glass. Like the artwork in the NEH’s Picturing America series, art can also share our history and our past with our current and our future.

In Carrie Ryan’s TheForest of Hands and Teeth, Mary is obsessed with the ocean. Raised in the confines of the village, she has never seen anything beyond the fence that keeps the unconsecrated away. Her mother would tell her stories about the ocean and once showed her a photo of her many times great grandmother standing in the ocean as a little girl. Mary describes it as a little girl surrounded by nothingness. However, even after the picture is long gone and Mary claims to no longer believe in the ocean, she still remembers her mother’s stories and that photograph. As she listens to the sound of the wind in the trees, she will close her eyes and imagines herself surrounded by the cool water.

It brings the question to mind…how important is art in your life? Leave a comment below to be entered for a chance to win a $15 gift card to Barnes & Noble. All comments must be made by the end of Teen Read Week (October 22, 2011). 

Zombies vs Unicorns: Who do you think would win?

The debate started last year with young adult authors split on who would win in the ultimate battle of zombie vs unicorns. Think unicorns are nothing but rainbows and sparkles? Well, you haven’t checked out Rampant  by Diana Peterfreund. Her unicorns are bone smashing, battle brawling, monsters.

To settle the debate, bestselling authors JustineLarbalestier and Holly Black created the anthology  Zombies vs Unicorns featuring both zombie and unicorn tales from other bestselling authors like Meg Cabot, Libba Bray, Scott Westerfeld, DianaPeterfreund, Carrie Ryan, and Garth Nix.

We admit to still being on the fence about who would win, both sides make a compelling case. Who do you think would win?  Leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy of the Walking Dead: Days Gone Bye graphic novel. All comments must be posted by the end of Teen Read Week (October 22, 2011). 

Let the Zombie Games begin!

Zombies are all over the media and it is no surprise that zombies can even be connected to online gaming. From role playing shooter games like Call of Duty to apps like Plants vs Zombies, the object of the game is to use your skills to well…survive.

We even found some variations on old favorites with a zombie twist. On college campuses across the country, coeds are playing a variation on the game of tag called Humans vs. Zombies. The object of the game is for all the humans to be turned into zombies or for the humans to survive a set amount of time. While those of you who watch Big Bang Theory might have heard of RockPaper Scissors Lizard Spock, have you every played the game using zombies? Thanks to the folks at Think Geek for giving us this idea:

Fearless Leader: "One, two, three, SHOOT!"
Rules Lawyer: "What's that?"
Free Thinker: "It's a zombie."
Rules Lawyer: "There is no Zombie in Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock."
Free Thinker: "Braaaaaainsssss."
Rules Lawyer: "There are no Brains in Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock."
Merchant Monkey: "Lizard and Spock have Brainnnnnnnsssss."
Second Merchant: "Right. And Rock bludgeons Zombie into a small pile of blood, teeth, and hair."
Free Thinker: "Awwww."
Fearless Leader: "Are you two done? Okay. Again. One, two, three, SHOOT!"
Rules Lawyer: *raised eyebrow*
Free Thinker: "It's the Large Hadron Collider."

--From thinkgeek.com

What are some of your favorite zombie games? Leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy of the Walking Dead: Days Gone Bye graphic novel. All comments must be posted by the end of Teen Read Week (October 22, 2011). 

Top Ten Ways to Know You are a Zombie!

Follow us on Twitter tonight from 5-6pm EST @DeGroodtLibrary for zombie trivia using hashtag #ZAA11. We will have even more chances to win great prizes from our partner Famous Faces and Funnies Comics and Toys.

In the meantime, here in Letterman style are the Top Ten Ways to Know You are a Zombie!

10. You realize you only like your boyfriend/girlfriend for their brains.
9. What you thought was a marathon, is actually people running in fear away from you.
8. You literally shamble to school/work in the morning.
7. You find yourself wanting to hang at the mall a lot…after hours.
6. You find “hoard” has new meaning.
5. You find yourself unable to say anything beyond “braaiinnns”
4. You develop a paralyzing fear of shotguns, baseball bats, flame throwers, and axes.
3. You not only start to lose your hair, but also fingers, toes, and ears.
2. You find it hard to make friends because you keep trying to take a bite out of them.

And the number one way to know you are a zombie…

1. You find yourself spontaneously breaking into dance moves in graveyards after dark.

Beware the Apocalypse!

Did you watch the premier of season two of AMC’s Walking Dead? Have a favorite zombie chiller that you love to watch? Back in 1968, George A Romero introduced audiences to a new type of horror film like they had never seen before, a cult classic was born. Night of the LivingDead continues to thrill audiences and has even been selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Hulu 's link to Night of the Living Dead (1968) NR

Michael Jackson’s Thriller is another classic zombie flick that continues to dazzle audiences. Check out the following youtube videos that pay tribute to the video.

Click here to view Thriller...with LEGOs

Of course we would have none of these without first having Richard Matheson’s classic 1954 novel, Iam Legend. The novel was influential to the development of the zombie horror genre because it introduced the theme of a disease born apocalypse. This was the inspiration behind Romero’s classic. Can you name the other two films based on Matheson’s book? What are some of your favorite zombie films? Once again, comment below for a chance to win a prize from Famous Faces and FunniesComics and Toys.  All comments must be posted by the end of Teen Read Week (October 22, 2011). 

Are you prepared for the Zombie Author Apocalypse?

It’s Teen Read Week at the library! The theme this year is PictureIt @ your library and in celebration we are paying homage to the classic silver screen zombies. To help us celebrate, we will have an author visit, made possible through a grant from YALSA and the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, the Satellite Beach Library and the Franklin T DeGroodt Memorial Library will host the author of the YA bestseller TheForest of Hands and Teeth, Carrie Ryan. That’s right, prepare yourself cause it is time for the Zombie Author Apocalypse. We invite you to join us all week as we discuss zombies, zombies, and more zombies.

From theme parks to commercials to television, zombies seem to be everywhere lately.  Why zombies? Many have said that they are a metaphor for today’s society and well, zombies are fun. This idea of survival has been used by companies to promote awareness of their product in new and interesting ways. Even the CDC has used the concept of surviving a zombie apocalypse to conceptualize on how if you are prepared for a zombie outbreak then you can survive anything (we Floridians know that this is really hurricane survival in the guise of zombie survival, so guess you could say we are ready).

To kick off our Zombie Author Apocalypse, we ask: What would you do to survive the pending zombie uprising? Comment below and you might just win a prize from our own Famous Faces and Funnies Comics and Toys.  All comments must be posted by the end of Teen Read Week (October 22, 2011). 

Book Review: The Shattering

The Shattering 

by Karen Healey

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (September 5, 2011)
• ISBN: 978-0316125727

Reviewed by Leah S. 

The Shattering was a magnificently written book though I would not recommend it to any child under the age of eleven due to explicit language and material used throughout the book.  Karen Healey helped to portray the reality, despair, and frustration of the situation that the main characters were in by using the tone that many teens can relate to today.  This tone made the book an easy and relatable read.  With each chapter narrated by alternating characters, the reader will be able to connect to the way the characters portray themselves and really delve into their personality traits.  Keri, Sione, and Janna (extremely different from one another but all have one thing in common) had each lost their older brother due to apparent suicides. However, when they start to put the puzzle pieces of the suicides together and discover a pattern; they come to the conclusion that their brothers did not commit suicide-- they were murdered.  Throughout the book, Healey describes obstacles that the three friends encountered throughout their journey; Sione must discover who he is and what he wants to do in life, Janna deals with her true love, and Keri reveals her best-kept secret.  Little did the friends know, there was something more than a murderer behind the deaths of older brothers over the years, something supernatural that was keeping their town of Summerton from falling apart.  People that they trust are now suspected of the murders and many stones are overturned with secrets and hints hiding beneath them.  The Shattering is recommended to anyone who wants to read a gripping and page-turning novel or anyone who had geared their preferences toward science fiction, fantasy, or mystery.  Karen Healey prevails with this thoughtfully-written, infatuating piece of literature that is sure to astound any reader.

Fall Festival!

The Franklin T DeGroodt Memorial Library and the Friends of the Libraries of Palm Bay are pleased to announce that they have received a grant from Target to be used for their annual Fall Festival. Fall Festival is an annual community event that introduces and encourages library use to the children and families of our community.

Come celebrate the fall season with contests, games, food, crafts and more; featuring special guests like RC the Recycling Cat, the Chick-fil-A COW, and Twinkles the Clown with her Fall Carnival! All ages welcome; but patrons under 10 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or older sibling. Costumes may be worn but are not necessary. Admission is free, but food an additional cost.

Fall Festival will be held on Saturday, October 29th from 1-3pm. 

Teen Volunteers ages 12-18 interested in volunteering for this event, please contact the DeGroodt Youth Services Department.

Zombie Author Apocalypse Events

Book Review: This Brave Balance

This Brave Balance

By Rusalka Reh

Paperback: 142 pages

Publisher: AmazonCrossing (August 23, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1611090059

ISBN-13: 978-1611090055

Reviewed by Matt M.

                This Brave Balance is a book from Germany that is set in an unidentified run down city. It focuses on a teenage boy Dipper, and his group of parkour (free running) athletes: Skylark, Jay, and Corone, along with Corone’s mentally challenged sister, Kittiwake. Dipper doesn’t really have much going for him, as he’s not too good in school, works in construction, and hardly sees his mom outside of coffee at 3 in the morning. Parkour is everything to him and his friends, and everything changes when Corone’s ex-girlfriend Kite joins. Kite and Dipper get along “too well”, and a chain of events occur where the group is threatened to be taken apart, with Dipper struggling to apprehend everything going on.

                The story, though short, is decent, but maybe due to cultural and translation issues, the story feels off. To describe the good, Reh ultimately conveys a series of event s through the eyes of a teenager struggling with issues, from family, friends, romance, and parkour. The story feels real, that we may know someone who can relate to one of the characters (if not relating ourselves). While some characters are more developed than others, with Dipper being the main character that grows through the story, it does a good job making the main characters real in a short length. For the not so good, some things can be said. The story would’ve benefited being longer.  To keep spoilers to a minimum, halfway through the story, Dipper learns that Corone has family problems. This seems to be the main problem, as far as showing how powerless some of the characters are, but near the end, the last 20 pages or so, several revelations are revealed, and then settled 2 pages afterwards or so. In short, the pacing is even till the end, when everything starts happening. Also, I feel the story would have been better if it were told through the views of other characters, mainly Corone, Kite, and Kittywake as they are important to the story. One last thing that should be said is the use of strong language, just to let the reader know. All in all, for a foreign story, it’s quite different from other books I’ve read, and feels strange once finished (the ending itself is kinda hanging). A 2.5/5

Zombie Author Apocalypse!

     Brevard County Libraries announces that the Franklin T DeGroodt Memorial Library and the Satellite Beach Library have received a grant from YALSA and Dollar General to support Teen Read Week (October 16-22, 2011)! Teen Read Week™ is the national adolescent literacy initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the fastest-growing division of the American Library Association.

     New York Times bestselling author, Carrie Ryan, author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth will be talking about her books and writing on October 22nd at the Satellite Beach Library at 11am and the Franklin T DeGroodt Memorial Library at 2pm. Throughout Teen Read Week virtual book discussions and special contests will be held through the library social media outlets (i.e. Twitter & Facebook), including a Zombie Self-Defense program, and a Zombie Art contest. 

     Teen Read Week™ is held annually during the third week of October. An updated sponsors and supporting organizations list can be found at the Web site, www.ala.org/teenread.

Book Review: GAMER GIRL

Gamer Girl

By Mari Mancusi

Dutton Children’s Books

248 pages

Reviewed by Matt Monte

Gamer Girl is like a new candy flavor, new and sweet but doesn’t last long. The story is about Madeline “Maddy” Starr, a teenage girl who moved from the big city to a small suburb in New England after her parents divorced. Add to the fact it’s halfway through the school year, and she has to live with her mother in her grandmother’s house, far from her friends; and on the first day of school, through a series of misfortunes, is named “Freak Girl” by the popular group, which she nicknames the Haters (and she has a crush on one of them), her life is not rockin’. If this sounds familiar, it’s only because this setup has been done many times in many romance stories. After reading the first 4 chapters or so, you’ll be able to predict how the story will generally end.

What makes this story stand out (and separates it from other romances), is that Maddy is into manga and video games. She gets through school drawing, and when she’s home, she play’s the MMO Fields of Fantasy, where she is a totally different person, even having an online romance with another player. The pop culture references are small, but make the story more realistic, mentioning animes/mangas like Inuyasha, .hack//sign, My Chemical Romance, and even Voltron. The only problem with this story, though, is that it’s short, took me 2 days to finish it, and thus, only Maddy fully develops, the rest of the characters don’t change, or change slightly (save for one character), and there’s no real reason. In one part, Maddy’s sister is described as a Hater, but later, she stands by Maddy’s side with no real reason. Also, the manga and MMO details were good, but could have been developed more. This book gets a 3.5/5, the story is short and predictable, but has enough ideas to make it somewhat original (maybe it would’ve been better as a manga).

Book Review: Dragonbreath: Curse of the Were-Wiener

Dragonbreath: Curse of the Were-Wiener

by Ursula Vernon. 

ISBN 0803734697

Review by: Jerry L. Collins II

In the book, best friends Danny Dragonbreath, a young dragon, and Wendell, an iguana, try to stop an impending attack from those bitten by "Were-wieners,"(special red hotdogs from Transylvania,) and their leader, the Alpha Wurst. But to stop them, they'll need a little help from a friend from the past. The town where the character lives is unspecified, although the school in which much of the story takes place is Herpitax-Phibbias School for Reptiles and Amphibians. I found this story quite enjoyable and it made me want to pick it up and keep reading. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a strange, yet entertaining story.

Great Scavenger Hunt Reading Challenge!

What is it?

Every month we participate in the Great Scavenger Hunt Contest hosted by YA author extraordinaire Kay Cassidy. Many of the titles have been featured on Florida Teens Read and Sunshine State Young Readers Award.  Participate for a chance to win the national drawing for a $50 gift card to the bookstore of your choice and free books for the library. There is a new winner every month. Awesome!

How it works!

1.       Check out the list of books on www.kaycassidy.com/hunt  or ask the Youth Services Librarian to show you the collection.

2.       Choose the book you want to read and print off the trivia sheet.

3.       Read the book and answer the trivia sheet.

4.       Turn the trivia sheet in to the Youth Services Librarian to be scored.

5.       Get at least 8 out of 10 correct and the librarian will enter you into the monthly contest. (Make sure your name, age, and phone number are on the sheet!)

Want to make it more interesting?

Brevard County, Florida Teens! Your mission, should you choose to accept it is the following:

·         Select 10 titles from the list to read and enter prior to Teen Read Week 2011.  TRW begins on October 16, 2011.  Our contest ends on October 21, 2011.

·         Create a campaign poster, flyer, or video (no more than 2 minutes) promoting your favorite book from the list.

·         Everyone (ages 12-18) who completes the challenge will receive 15 volunteer hours from the library.

Interested?

·         Once you have read the books, fill out the trivia sheet and turn it in to the Youth Services Librarian.

·         Create your campaign materials.  Pick out your favorite book from the list and make a poster, flyer, or video promoting the book.  Tell us, why you think other people should read this book? 

·         Email campaign materials to jhopwood@brev.org or drop them off at Youth Services by October 21^st.

·         Remember, you can enter the Great Scavenger Hunt as many times a month as you would like.

While anyone under 18 may enter The Great Scavenger Hunt, the Reading Challenge is only open to teens ages 12-18 and runs from Children’s Book Week in May to Teen Read Week in October 2011.   New titles are added to the list every month!