Teen Poetry Contest Winners 2013

Wake County Libraries has announced the winners of the 2013 Teen Poetry Contest.  All of the winners and their poems can be found on this page.

Teen Video Contest Entry for Eva Perry Library

Every year, the Collaborative Library Summer Program hosts a Teen Video Challenge.  Teens, ages 13-18 are asked to make 30-90 second videos to promote libraries and reading that incorporate the summer reading theme slogan.  This year, the slogan is “Beneath the Surface.”

A team of teens at Eva Perry Library created a video for this contest.  After 2 hours of filming and countless hours of editing, our video is complete.  There will be one winner in each state, so wish us luck.  The winning teens receive $275 and the sponsoring library also receives prizes.

The video entry was created by Sahil Thakore, Joey Gizzi, Joey Matthews, Christopher Martinez, and Jack Cicin.  The concept was created by a group of teens, script by Sahil Thakore.  Music is by Nax Torres, under a Noncommercial Attribution Creative Commons License. And here is our video!

 

Railsea by China Mieville

Out of all the young adult books I have read in 2012, by far, so far, the most memorable and most impressive has been Railsea.  There is no way to explain this book in a way that will give the full impression of what it’s like without reading it, but I will try.  Mieville has created a brand new futuristic world that is criss-crossed throughout by the Railsea, a system of railroad tracks that covers the whole surface of desert land.  The rivers and lakes have been sucked dry, and there is only desert and miles up on miles of rails that intertwine and cross each other.  The only method of transportation is by rail. 

Eva Perry Teens Video Contest

This coming Thursday, January 10th at 7 pm, the teens at Eva Perry Library will be attempting to create a video entry, less than 90 seconds, for the Summer Reading Collaborative Teen Video Contest.  Any teens can join us for the event.  The theme is Beneath the Surface.  We will need writers, actors, and camera people.  There is prize money involved, $275 for the teen group, and $125 in prizes for the sponsoring library.  For more information, visit the website.

Want to see the winners from last year?  Go here.

Want to Give Blood?: Wake County Blood Drives

All six regional libraries will be hosting blood drives in the month of December.  Giving blood is a great way to give back to your community. Wake County citizens ages 16 and up can give blood, although if you are age 16, you do have to have a signed parent permission form.

Last year was my first time giving blood, and it was easy to do.  I have never been able to give blood before because of low blood count, but thanks so a great multi-vitamin, my hemoglobin is up, up, up. 

Eva Perry Hunger Games Festival

Twelve teens gathered at Eva Perry Library to clean shelves and organize books in the young adult section.  They did a great job!  Our next teen event will be our Hunger Games Festival on Thursday, November 29, from 7-8:15 p.m. We will be playing games based on the popular Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins.  Everyone in grades 6-12 is invited to race to the cornucopia, escape from the tracker jackers, design an appropriate dress for the television interview, escape the fire, and to try and use archery to be the champion.  In honor of the occasion, I am going to post our Hunger Games book trailer that was made long before the series was popular.  Enjoy, and May the Odds Be Ever In Your Favor!

 

Eva Perry Teen Work Project

On Thursday, November 15, 2012 at 7 p.m., teens and pre-teens in grades 6-12 will gather for a Teen Work Project at Eva Perry Library.  Here’s how it works.  Come and work for an hour at the library by doing things to make our library look shiny and new, including cleaning and making sure the books are in order.  Walk-ins are welcome.  After the event, you will get a letter stating that you worked for an hour that you can use for volunteer credit.  Easy and fun because you get to meet new people!

Eva Perry Day of the Dead Event 2012

Nine teens gathered at Eva Perry Library yesterday to learn about Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).  After sharing our previous knowledge about the event, we participated in authentic activities by making tissue paper flowers and sugar skulls.

Eva Perry Culture Club: Day of the Dead Program

On Thursday, November 8, at 7 p.m., the Eva Perry Library is hosting a Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead event.  After discussing what the purpose of the holiday is, we will observe the holiday by making tissue paper flowers and sugar skulls.

The event is a time to remember deceased loved ones.  The people make altars usually near the actual tombs.  The pile items on the altars, including flowers, photos, and favorite foods of the loved one.  Sugar skulls are consumed.  The name of the deceased is written on the skull before it is eaten.  Many times, people share stories.  The stories can be serious or humorous.  It is not a time necessarily of sadness, but of remembrance.

One Wake County teen wrote this post in the past, just check out what she had to say.  Hope to see some of you on Thursday night.  Anyone in grades 6-12 is welcome.

Eva Perry Teen Advisory Meeting

On Thursday, November 1, the Teen Advisory Meeting will happen at the Eva Perry Library at 7 p.m.  The meeting lasts an hour and will happen in the conference room.

The primary focus of this meeting is to plan our Hunger Games Festival which will happen on Thursday, November 29, at 7 p.m.  We will also discuss plans for year 2013.

 

Eva Perry Writer’s Workshop with David Gill

Author David Gill be visiting the Eva Perry Library on Thursday, October 25, 2012, to do a writing workshop for teens in grades 6-12 at 7 p.m.  David Gill is the author of Soul Enchilada,  Black Hole Sun, and his most recent title, Invisible Sun.  If you are interested in participating in National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo) or just like to write and want some great practical tips on bringing your ideas to life, David Gill is a great resource.  He has done writing workshops for the library system before, and there are always well thought out.  Teen writers leave with very practical tips on how to move ideas from your mind onto paper.

Eva Perry Teen Library Work Project

On Thursday, any teens in grades 6-12 are welcome to work for an hour of community service credit.  Be library minions for an hour and help us make our library look even better than usual!

This Thursday, we will keep shelf reading the library, as well as clean up some of the dust.  We promise that it won’t be like this famous clip from the classic sci-fi film, Metropolis.

Eva Perry Culture Club: Rock the Vote

Are you ready to Rock the Vote?  The Presidential Election Day is fast approaching, and with it, the deadline to register to vote.  In order to vote this year, you first be registered to vote, and the deadline to register is Friday, October 12, 2012.

To facilitate this, Eva Perry Library is hosting a Rock the Vote Culture Club on Thursday, October 11th, from 7-8 p.m.  This program is sure to get you ready to vote this year or anxiously awaiting your turn once you turn 18!

A special guest speaker will explain the history of voting.  Afterwards,we will have a mock debate and election with two surprise candidates.

Read to Win 2012 Winners

Alexis, age 12, winner at Eva Perry Library

The State Fair is coming up and will occur in Raleigh from October 11-21, 2012.  Teens all over Wake County were given a chance to Read to Win passes to the State Fair!

From September 1-October 1, 2012, teens were invited to pick up a reading log.  For each hour they read, teens could earn a ticket.  The tickets were put into a pool, from which each library drew 2 winners!

The winners received enviable prize packs that included four free passes to the North Carolina State Fair, two t-shirts, and a commemorative coffee table book about the history of the State Fair.  A special thank you goes out to the State Fair for donating these prizes!

This week, all over the county, happy teens are picking up their prizes.

Eva Perry Library Teen Advisory Group

This week, Eva Perry Library’s Teen Advisory Group (TAG) is meeting on Thursday, October 4, 2012 at 7 p.m. to plan some awesome events for the library and community teens.

The three big events on the agenda are the Rock the Vote program on October 11, 2012, the Super Smash Video Game Tournament on November 3, 2012, and the Hunger Games Festival on November 29, 2012.  Teens meet, help plan events, and earn volunteer credit.    Here’s how one library did the Hunger Games event.  What events would you like to see?

Hot Books for 2012?

The Eva Perry Mock Printz Book Club is hard at work choosing the best book of the year.  While the group is far from reaching their decision, I wanted to share a few titles that the group has talked about a lot.  Some of these are loved/liked by everyone, and some of them are controversial and the teens either love them or hate them.  But these are the books we are talking about on a weekly basis.  (You can find a complete list of our initial favorites here.)

The List by Siobhan Vivian

It happens every year.  A list is released.  No one knows who writes the list.  On it are the names of the prettiest and ugliest girls in each grade.  Each of the girls reacts differently to being put on the list.  We get to hear all of their stories.  Teens cite enjoying how realistic the book is.  They feel like the characters really exist in the people they know at school.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Hazel has terminal cancer, but she has managed to survive all this time with her wit and humor intact.  During a support group, she meets August, who also has cancer in the leg, and he is handsome and charming, and for some reason, instantly falls crazily for Hazel, despite the fact that she has a tank.  This character’s voice will get you in the gut.

Children and the Wolves by Adam Rapp

A controversial book for sure, Children of the Wolves is about three cruel teens who kidnap and hold a child named Frog in captivity in a basement.  While she’s there, she’s playing a video game where wolves are paired against children.  The teens are holding her captive so they can raise money to purchase a glock weapon.  What is the world coming to?  This is an unusual and violent book.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

She always considered herself brave, until she was captured by the Gestapo, held, and tortured for information.  Now she’s telling them everything, absolutely everything if only they won’t torture her any more.  Her writing is a confession and a tale of friendship about her friend, the pilot, who may be dead.  Ultimately, this narrator is more than meets the eye, as we don’t get the full story of who she is until the very end.  What is truth?

Teens’ Top Ten 2011: Angel by James Patterson

Angel by James Patterson is one of the Teens’ Top Ten Nominations for 2011.
After reading Patterson’s Angel for our high school book club I found myself looking forward to finding out what the book club members thought of the book.  Angel is the latest book in the hugely popular Maximum Ride series.  None of the book club members had read any of the books in the series before, but everyone agreed that Angel was written so that you can just jump into the action and get caught up as you go.

Teens’ Top Ten 2011: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White is one of the Teens’ Top Ten nominations for 2011.

When a dark prophecy begins to come true, sixteen-year-old Evie of the International Paranormal Containment Agency must not only try to stop it, she must also uncover its connection to herself and the alluring shapeshifter, Lend.

To read more about the Teens’ Top Ten, click here here.  To request this book from Wake County Public Libraries, click here.  Voting begins August 22, 2011 and ends September 16, 2011.  To vote during these dates, click here.

Teens’ Top Ten 2011: Blessed by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Blessed by Cynthia Leitich Smith is one of the Teens’ Top Ten nominations for 2011.

Even as teenaged Quincie Morris adjusts to her appetites as a neophyte vampire, she must clear her true love, the hybrid-werewolf Kieren, of murder charges; thwart the apocalyptic ambitions of Bradley Sanguini, the vampire-chef who “blessed” her; and keep her dead parents’ restaurant up and running before she loses her own soul.

To read more about the Teens’ Top Ten, click here here.  To request this book from Wake County Public Libraries, click here.  Voting begins August 22, 2011 and ends September 16, 2011.  To vote during these dates, click here.

Teens’ Top Ten 2011: I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore is one of the Teens’ Top Ten nominations for 2011.

In rural Ohio, friendships and a beautiful girl prove distracting to a fifteen-year-old who has hidden on Earth for ten years waiting to develop the Legacies, or powers, he will need to rejoin the other six surviving Garde members and fight the Mogadorians who destroyed their planet, Lorien.

To read more about the Teens’ Top Ten, click here here.  To request this book from Wake County Public Libraries, click here.  Voting begins August 22, 2011 and ends September 16, 2011.  To vote during these dates, click here.