Stuff for the Teen Age

Sloane lives in a world where teens have to hide their true emotions. If a friend, teacher, or even a family member sees her having an emotional outburst, they could report her and have her taken by force into The Program. That's why she can't risk crying where anyone else can see her. Because while the treatment she would get in The Program would remove her depression, it would also remove her memories. In other words, she might as well be dead.

As yet another school year draws to a close, here is our next batch of recommendations to tide you over until the fall!

What is Steampunk? For a way to explain a fantasy subgenre, Steampunk is not very descriptive. According to The Steampunk Bible (2011), it can be explained most easily by this equation:

Steampunk = Mad Scientist Inventor [invention (steam x airship or metal man/ baroque stylings) x (pseudo) Victorian (or Edwardian) settings] + progressive or reactionary politics x adventure plot. (p. 9)

One of the most common questions we get from our young readers is "Where are your scary books?" Unfortunately, books for children and teens that will keep readers on the edge of their seats are usually mixed in with the rest of the fiction section, so they can be a little tricky to find… until now.

Are we teaching New York's teens tools for a life of crime?! Not exactly. Hackasaurus is a website that makes it easy for people to manipulate our favorite webpages while we learn about the ins and outs of HTML. A group of six teens met on a Tuesday afternoon to try out this new program and add their personal touch to the internet.

Last year I wrote a popular blog post entitled "OMG! I Love That Song!: A Guilty Pleasure Playlist" where I confessed my song shame only to find out that many of you shared the exact same musical taste. Than this past February, several of my choices also ended up winning Grammys. I should have named that blog "A Not-so-Guilty Pleasure Playlist" instead. This year this post is once again a "no judgment zone" and I am declaring my love for the songs that I have on constant replay and can't get out of my head. Chances are they're on your player too and if they're not they should be. Okay, now I'm judging you.

I can't say that I've always been the biggest poetry fan. But lately I've been getting into novels in verse, which have been popping up all over the YA Fiction scene for awhile now. Ellen Hopkins is the queen of this and if you've never read her work before, do yourself a favor and check out Crank as soon as possible. You will be hooked... freaked out... and hooked.

Every year the Young Adult Librarian Association (YALSA) awards the William C. Morris YA Debut Award for the best novel by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature. It is named for William Morris, a legend in children's and teen publishing who worked tirelessly promoting children's and teen literature and the importance of libraries.

The award honors books that have compelling or high quality writing, that have proven or potential appeal to teen readers and the integrity of the book as a whole. This past year I was honored to serve on the 2013 committee. It was a tough decision choosing a winner and four honor books but 

Harajuku? Geisha? Robots? Awesome! Japanese culture has been an obsession of mine for a while now, as well as for the teenagers at my branch, so when we recently had the opportunity to invite Lucia Brea, Fukui Friendship Ambassador, to stop by and talk to the Kingsbridge Library's Teen Advisory Group, I jumped at the opportunity. Lucia spent four years in Japan through the JET Program teaching English to students of all ages in the Fukui Prefecture, and I was able to sit down with her after her visit to ask her a few questions about her experience:

Cassie, a 6th grader, is an avid reader and has pretty much read everything worth reading in the Seward Park teen collection. In fact, to find her something she hasn't read usually takes a lot of effort — on both our parts. Her favorite genre? Supernatural romance. "You're not getting bored by it?" I ask. "Never! It's so interesting to see the connections between the human characters and the supernatural ones. Even if it's the same type of supernatural being there is always a different plot." That's not to say that she likes everything she reads. She definitely knows what she likes and what she doesn't like and she is always bringing books back and letting me 

The NYC Teen Author Fest is BACK, and the Mulberry Street Library is happy to host a panel with some of your favorite authors on Monday, March 18th at 6 p.m.! The panel's title is "I'll Take You There: A Change of Scenery, A Change of Self" and will focus on characters getting pushed into new places and forced to revel their true selves. Sounds pretty great! Take a look at the authors that are stopping by!

Do you have a gently-used iPod that you'd like to donate to a good cause? Because the Kingsbridge Library's Teen Advisory Group is going to be collecting used iPods on behalf of the Music & Memory program.

Browsing the shelves for a good book to read can be intimidating. There’s thousands of new books published every year and how do you know if a book is good anyway? It’s cover? Haha! Every year the Young Adult Library Association (YALSA) publishes lists of books that have been certified by librarians and readers as excellent reads. One of those annual lists is the Alex Awards. The Alex Awards are given to books that have been written for adults but have special appeal for teen readers. So if you are looking for great books that tackle complex subjects you’ve come to the right book list.

The teens at the Mulberry Street Library had a special treat at their weekly Crafternoon, a workshop with Mehndi artist Mengala Bühler-Rose of MehndiNYC!

Imagine a world gone mad, where everyone seems to be after you behind a backdrop of pointless, unending war. All you want to do is protect your newborn child from danger, but it looms whatever just beyond every path you take.

This fall, several teenagers from the Kingsbridge and Grand Central branches of the New York Public Library participated in a very unique program. When Robin Bowman created The American Teenager Project, she was photographing and interviewing teenagers all over the country.

Readers who think historical fiction is blah or boring STOP RIGHT THERE! This list of books, set in Nazi Occupied France, is filled with fast paced adventure, high stakes thrills, nail biting tension, whirlwind romance and daredevil girls who are cool under pressure.

Teen Central at Grand Central Library partnered with Yianni Stamas and Lights, Camera, Read to create Digital Communication Arts projects aimed at bettering and bringing awareness to the New York City community and beyond. Teens and NYC youth participated in this year long program. We'd like to acknowledge the three Platinum Pia winners who also injected themselves into the life and culture at Teen Central.

When I first saw a copy of Regine's Book: A Teen Girl's Last Words by Regine Stokke, my first thought was that this would be a great book to recommend to teenagers who are always looking for more books like Dave Pelzer's A Child Called "It" and other books that are both tragic and real.