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Geek the Library

Teen Time for Sundae-Making!

Teen Time is a free weekly social program at the Newport Public Library, open to area teens in grades 7 to 12. Join us on Monday, November 28, 4-5pm for Make-Your-Own-Sundae fun. We'll also be making crafts from a potpourri of supplies. It's free, fun, and safe!

The Lost Boy: A Foster Child's Search for the Love of a Family by Dave Pelzer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I looked to this book with hope and for answers to the many questions raised by A Child Called It. It did not deliver on either count. Peltzer focused on the trouble he made, the bad decisions he made and the hopelessness of that time in his life. Now, there is not doubt his transition and healing was a difficult and very long process, but I still would have liked to hear more about the positive times he had with his foster families, the things he worked through in therapy and some of the good that finally came into his life, as well as the difficulties. I'm sure there were still many hardships as an "F-child" and I think it is good to raise those points, but there had to be some good in those six years. Especially compared to the previous eight.



That said, I read it in one sitting which is saying something for the mother of a pre-schooler and a toddler. Peltzer's writing is so frank and the love you develop for in the first books keeps you deeply connected throughout this second book.



Taking A Man Named Dave home tonight.

A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Peltzer's wife says in A Man Named Dave, "I can testify that the events that have happened in Dave's life he has given to readers in bite-sized pieces.... But if it was revealed to people in full strength, it would blow their minds." Peltzer's little boy narrative was so intuitive and so horrible, I had to keep reminding myself he was so young. It does not seem the kind of thing such innocence could or should survive... and his innocence didn't. I took me years after my children were born to build up the emotional strength to read this book. I still don't know if I'm glad I did. left this book filled with hope... he was free and surely someone could love this poor child: though at 12 I'm sure not everyone viewed him as a poor child anymore.



After reading Three Little Words I looked into foster parenting. Sadly we do not have the required bed room space at this time. After reading Peltzer story, I am more convinced that I need to find some way to help.



Questions, questions: How could she? Why did she? Why just him? How could it go on so long without anyone noticing? Why didn't father take him when he left? How on earth did such a young child survive? Why didn't they take his brothers too? Did she turn on them when he left? Questions, questions...

The Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamadour by Michael D. Beil

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I wish I could be a red blazer girl!



Unique teen mystery. The girls are seventh graders so it is quaintly simply yet Beil manages to include some interesting plot elements. Adorably seventh grade girl in tone and thought. An enjoyable story with a few not-so-scary math lessons thrown in ;-)



View all my reviews

Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This prequel to Philip Pullman's classic fantasy trilogy, His Dark Materials, introduces some of the characters from those stories in this fast-paced short work. Set in the coastal Arctic town of Novy Odense, the drama quickly gets under way when 24-year-old Lee Scoresby, an airman from Texas who befriends Lyra Belacqua in later novels, lands there in a hot air balloon. With Scoresby is his "daemon," or animal spirit, Hester--everyone in this world has one. (Hester, by the way, discovers in the course of the tale that she's not a mere jackrabbit but a more interesting Arctic hare!)  Scoresby is soon enmeshed in the intrigues of this frigid harbor town that resembles nothing so much as a frontier town from his own American Wild West. There's corruption in high places, shady business dealings, even a band of loitering vagrants. Icy Arctic temperatures don't freeze the action as Scoresby gets involved in a tense mayoral race and in helping a ship's captain get hold of his impounded cargo of valuable freight. Then there's those walking, talking Arctic bears that hang around town with little to do. There's even a heartbroken, weepy young librarian named Miss Lund to help out. Scoresby has his work cut out for him. Unfortunately, that work involves a considerable amount of gun violence. But the action will keep readers' attention and the fun of being introduced to Iorek Byrnison, the great white bear of later stories, is just part of this yarn's charm. You won't regret spending some time with Once Upon a Time in the North and master storyteller Philip Pullman.

TAKE A STAND AGAINST BULLYING

The Girl you just called fat? She has been starving herself. The Boy you just called stupid? He has a learning disability and studies over 4 hrs a night. The Girl you just called ugly? She spends hours putting makeup on hoping people will like her. The Boy you just tripped? He is abused enough at home. TAKE A STAND AGAINST BULLYING.

 Visit the Newport Public Library Young Adult display on bullying.  We have books both fiction and non-fiction as well as a useful information pamphlet.

This Day in History

"On this day in 1867, the first stock ticker is unveiled in New York City. The advent of the ticker ultimately revolutionized the stock market by making up-to-the-minute prices available to investors around the country. Prior to this development, information from the New York Stock Exchange, which has been around since 1792, traveled by mail or messenger.
The ticker was the brainchild of Edward Calahan, who configured a telegraph machine to print stock quotes on streams of paper tape (the same paper tape later used in ticker-tape parades). The ticker, which caught on quickly with investors, got its name from the sound its type wheel made."  Read the full article at First stock ticker debuts. (2011). The History Channel website. Retrieved 5:31, November 15, 2011, from http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-stock-ticker-debuts.

Good Stuff for School!

Topic Search is a current events database that allows you to explore social, political and economic issues, scientific discoveries, and other popular topics you may be required to research for your teachers.

We've done half the work for you. Why not take advantage of us?!

Teen Time!

Join Ms. Becky on Monday, November 21, at 4 pm in the Library Program Room.  We'll be making hand tied Thanksgiving pillows to rest your head on while you watch football and sleep off all that Thanksgiving turkey.

As always fabric, stuffing and snacks will be provided.

No pre-registration is necessary, just bring your friends and show up for some time to chat with your buds and make something fun.

Famous Last Words

No, I read once that if you're driving over 55mph on the freeway and pull the key out of the ignition, the steering wheel won't lock, it's designed that way for safety.

Teen Time! Games in the Library

Join Ms. Kathy Monday, November 14, at 4pm in the program room for one full hour of games in the library. She's know for giving game prizes - lots of them! So come along and bring your friends.

As always, admission is free and snacks are provided. Hope to see you there!

Dead Is Not An Option by Marlene Perez

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Is Wolfie up to his old tricks again or something bigger going on? Who would have thought Count Dracul would be the one to make Circe play nice? I never would have fingered the right man for head of the Scourge? And a death in "the family" really caught me off guard. The end however still felt a bit anti-climatic (lowering my rating for 4 to 3 stars).



Perez delivers again with some good old fashion, true to high school characters and not so true to high school adventures in the paranormal town of Nightshade. I actually stayed up to finish this one and that is saying a lot since my two year old is getting up at 5 these days.



View all my reviews

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


DJ Swank, "little" sister to two of Red Bend's most successful high school football players has discovered... she's a cow.



Brian Nelson, QB on their rival football team, has been ordered by his coach to help out in Swankville. He and DJ did NOT hit it off.



When her father was injured she quit basketball, buried all those college recruitment letters, and is now single handidly - mostly - running the Swank family dairy farm. Brian has been ordered to help with the haying, the milking, cleaning and painting the barn and whatever DJ has up her sleeve. Oh yeah, and SHE is supposed to coach HIM! When Brian points out that she "is a cow" because she does whatever she's told without question or protest, no matter what the sacrifice, he really ticks DJ off. He also gets her thinking. By the end of the summer, she decides she is not going to be a cow. [spoiler] SHE joins the football, reunites her family, gets her silent brother to talk and kicks Brian's butt all over the football field. But that isn't really important, this one truly is all about the journey.



Join DJ, Brian and the rest of the Swank family on this comical, insightful ride of a summer. You won't be bored, but you may end up wondering if you too... are a cow.

Suite Scarlett--Just the Right Amount of Sweetness and Plenty of Fun

Take a boutique Manhattan hotel with 1930s charm, run by the happy but down-at-the-heels Martin family. Add a dose of Scarlett, a fifteen-year-old with unruly curls, a cuter-than-cute black designer dress borrowed from her older sister, and a first crush on a great-looking guy new to the Big Apple. Shake in one mysterious but well-paying guest who smokes like a fiend and wants to call the shots for the whole hotel. And top with an adored older brother who is scheduled to go to culinary school and eventually help out at the struggling hotel, but whose heart is set on an acting career. What do you get? A perfect recipe for a mixture of frothy teen romance and mild urban intrigue, set amid the excitement and glamour of New York. This book is just plain fun, with a dollop of drama (both among the characters and in the staging of a slapstick version of Hamlet) that's sure to please teen readers. Okay, the idea that Shakespeare's fanged adders Rosencrantz and Guildenstern should be portrayed as clowns on uni-cyles is certainly stretching it. But who cares? Scarlett and the other Martin siblings are real and likable, and their adventures will have readers (well, female teen readers) asking for other books like Suite Scarlett!

Claws and Effect by Rita Mae Brown

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This book was "okay". She was a little repetitive on the character development, mentioning some facts 3 and 4 times. This is a slower paced mystery than most I've read, but that and the filler details gave it a small town feel that I liked. As for the mystery itself, I got a little lost in the details, but she pulled it together in a logical, easy to follow manner and included a few interesting twists and turns. I wouldn't recommend against this book, but there are others I'd recommend before it.

Teen Time! Movie!

Calling all teens - help us celebrate National Aviation Month with a free showing of  The Rocketeer.  Monday, September 7, at 4pm in the library program.  Admission and snacks FREE!

Good Stuff for School!

AskRI.org, sponsored out of Providence Public Library and serving RI: resources YOU need!