Back to School Update

Did your teacher assign a major paper to be turned in shortly after Christmas break?  Come on in and let us help you.

Library databases are free to you!  And we've done half of the work for you as you know they are current, authoritative and un-bias.

Visit www.newportlibraryri.org/KTB/teenzone_home.cfm and click "Homework Help". 
You'll find everything you need from encyclopedias to primary sources to scholarly articles AND a free tutor to proofread your work when you finish!

Come visit us in person or on-line.  We'd love to see you!

Famous last words...

Everything free on the internet.

Teen Time!

Thursday, December 2, join us at 3:30pm in the Library program room for an old fashioned Yankee Swap.  Great gifts and homemade eats; what more can you ask for on a cold winter's afternoon?

Gifts and snacks provided.

Registration is not necessary, but a signed behavior contract is required. See young adult librarians, Ms. Kathy and Ms. Becky with questions.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A trilogy about the strength of the human spirit. I am perpetually intrigued by the characters Collins creates and the insights Katniss discovers. It is amazing that Collins could write her as simultaneously so wordly wise and believably naive. The surprises and plot twists keep coming. Though I was told the ending was a bit of a disappointment, I personally found it quite fitting though I am sorry she had to suffer a trial and banishment to get to it. She didn't deserve that! All in all, the ultimate destination of each character seems quite fitting; well except for Prim.



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Heartbeat: Free Verse to Capture the Essence of a Girl

Heartbeat by Sharon Creech

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Annie lives in a small town where little happens or changes. Or so it seems. But twelve-year-old Annie's world is changing. Her mother is expecting a baby and her beloved grandfather, who lives with Annie and her parents, has developed Alzheimer's. Even her best friend and running partner Max doesn't seem the same: his moods are more changeable than ever. Then there's the strangeness of realizing that other girls are beginning to find him attractive. Annie's love of running and her passion for art help her to navigate the shifts occurring in her world. Although somewhat spare, the free-verse poems that make up this short tale capture the movement in Annie's life, and the solidity at its core.



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A Missing Girl Makes for Suspenseful Reading!

Paper Towns by John Green

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Quentin Jacobsen has been in love with his next-door neighbor, Margo Roth Spiegelman, since they were kids. Now both are high school seniors and it seems that Q's unrequited love will remain unrequited, in fact unnoticed. Then Margo sneaks into his bedroom in the middle of the night, dressed as a ninja and ready for a night of revenge on her ex-boyfriend and the friends who betrayed her. Will the seductive Margo convince Q to join in this mad escapade? You bet. But it is when the night of adventure ends that Q's real adventure begins. Author John Green weaves an emotionally true tale of the horrors and highs of high school.

Back to School Update

Struggling in Spanish?  Drowning in French? Stymied by German?  We have the solution for you - Mango Languages.  On-line learning to help you master the basics or learn in depth comprehension and grammar.

CHECK IT OUT!

The Necromancer by Michael Scott

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I can't believe we are four books in and only a week has passed.  What a busy week for Josh, Sofie, Nicholas, D and the rest.  These books are action packed with twists and turns on almost every page, yet still not difficult to follow.  This is book four and there has to be at least one more.  A little sci-fi, a little action adventure, a little mythology and a lot of good versus evil, but who is truly good and who is truly evil?  Great story!



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Confessions of a Not It Girl by Melissa Kantor

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


How can a girl who is written up in "Cosmo" as this season's "It Girl" and a girl who can't form a complete, coherent sentence in front of the guy she likes be best friends?  Well they are.  One is seducing her dad's employees and one is waiting for her baby-sitting charge to make the first move for her. 


It's cliche, with the traditional happy ending, but cute. If you are looking for a nice light read, pick this one up.

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Famous last words...

There is plenty of time to do that later.

Teen Time!

Thursday, November 18 from 3:30-4:30pm, all teens are invited to join us in the library program room.  We will be creating beautiful Thanksgiving Day Banners (see sample on the YA desk).

Snacks and supplies provided.

Pre-registration is not necessary. A signed behavior contract is required. Contact the YA librarians if you have any questions. nptya@newportlibraryri.org or 401-847-8720 ext. 206

Hope to see you there!

A Non-Depressing Book about the Great Recession!

The Not-So-Great Depression: In which the economy crashes, my mom goes broke, my sister's plans are ruined, my dad grows vegetables, and I do not get a hamster by Amy Goldman Koss

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Jacki, the young teen who narrates the story of her family's sudden expulsion from the upper middle class, is a very appealing character. While her fancy lifestyle might at first be off-putting (for example, she and her siblings are chauffeured around by an au pair not much older than they are, and they seem to have every accoutrement of a California dream home), the tensions and struggles that all families experience soon come to the fore. Her parents are divorced and her father has largely dropped out of the work world, bicycling to a part-time job at a bakery. So when her mother loses her lucrative corporate job, Jacki and her brother and sister quickly feel the loss of stability, both economic and emotional, that her mother has provided. The nanny is let go. The cleaning lady is let go. The prom dress for her sister is let go. And soon the house is up for sale. There is nail-biting while her mother decides whether or not to take a job that will move the family far away from friends and relations. While no one here suffers the consequences of long-term unemployment, this story at least begins to bring to light the emotional pain that economic disruption can entail. It's light and has an implausible conclusion, but that might make it just right for teens worried about their parents' jobs and their own futures.




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Targeted Computer Classes

TRAVEL! TRAVEL! TRAVEL!

Whether you are going across town or across country, this is the training session for you.  Come find out how to use the internet to schedule buses and trains to catch a movie in Providence and Thanksgiving dinner with family across the country.

Meet in the Stride Room, lower level, from 3:30-4:30pm on Tuesday, November 9.

Back to School Update - Attention Juniors and Seniors!

Still not sure what you want to be when you "grow up"?  Do you know what you love, but aren't sure how to make money doing it?  Check out the Occupational Outlook Handbook.

The library has paid the subscription fee.  You can use it, FREE, on-line to find out the training and education requirements, earnings, expected job prospects, what workers do on the job and the working conditions for hundreds of different types of jobs.  In addition, the Handbook gives you job search tips, links to information about the job market in each State and more.

Famous last words...

THAT's a real job?!

Back to School Update

NoveList Plus is your guide to fiction and non-fiction reading. You can find books that "readalike" you favorites, what's next in the series you are reading, author biographies and recommendations for good books.  It's all free, we've paid the subscription, all you need is a library card.  Go to 'Homework Help" on the teen page and select "Novelist+".

Got questions?  We've got answers, just call us at 847-8720 ext 206 2-9pm Monday - Thursday or ext 208 during all library hours and we'll walk you through it :-)