Own the Night, the Newport Public Library's Teen Summer Reading Program! Sign-up starts today. Visit us in person or online and sign up for activities, prizes, movies and more! If you're a teen in grade 7 to 12, you're eligible to join the program--and you have a chance to win one of five $50 gift certificates. It's easy, fun, and a great way to meet new friends.

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Poor innocent Tessa came to England expecting to start a new life with her beloved brother. Instead she discovers an underworld she never believed existed and dark secrets about herself, her brother and her parents.

Now, Tessa is dying to know what she is; Will is dying to rid himself of a terrible secret; and Jem, well Jem is just plain dying. Together they battle themselves and an evil that could change the mundane world forever.

With Henry, Charlotte, Sophie and Jessamine, they are one unique family in more ways than one and a force to be reckoned with!

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Good news -as of Monday, the library will open earlier! Bad news - it will close earlier too. See our summer hour.

Summer Reading!

Books - Activities - Prizes - Cyber Fun

Do you want to take part, then come on in - in person or on-line - and register for this year's teen summer reading program.  The registration opens Monday, June 25; the fun begins Thursday, July 5!

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Yes, it's a pretty traditional boy meets girl story, but with some interesting twists. I mean lets face it the girl is the star quarterback of the football team. Then again so was the boy, in his home town.

Jordan learns she can open her heart with out loosing the respect of her players. She discovers some dreams are are better left unfulfilled; true love was closer than she ever imagined and finds a father she been missing despite living in the same house for 18 years. That's a lot to ask from one football season!

I needed something light and uplifting; this book delivered. For stars because it did what it set out to do, but it will never be a classic; too cliche.

ENJOY!

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Larklight by Philip Reeve
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First book in the delightful Larklight series (Starcross is the next), this romp through space (actually "the farthest reaches of space," according to the book's subtitle), and a bit of time, introduces us to the Mumbys (Art, Myrtle, Father, and four-and-a-half-billion-year-old somewhat deceased Mother), as well as Jack Havock, Sirs Waverley Rain and Richard Burton, Nipper, Mr. Grindle, Mr. Munkulus, and ship's alchemist Ssillissa, among others. When mysterious Mr. Webster sends Mumby père a note, written on Royal Xenological Society stationery no less, saying that he would like to visit the Mumby family home (known as Larklight) in the aether, the family's "misfortunes," as Art calls them, begin. But trouble is given as well as got. And with Jack's help, along with that of the crew of his brig Sophronia, lots of rousing battles ensue between various enemies (such as those blasted spiders) before the final scene. Which scene, of course, I will not reveal. Read it and find out. The journey is the fun.

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Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012

As a child, Ray Bradbury was influenced by comic strip heroes Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, in love with movies, and inspired by those he met at the Los Angeles chapter of the Science Fiction League. He became a master of science fiction and author of novels, screenplays, and television scripts. According to an obituary in today’s New York Times, more than eight million copies of Bradbury’s books have been sold in 36 languages. Perhaps his greatest book, Fahrenheit 451 describes a future America in which books are outlawed, attention spans are short, sports are all-important, and other forms of media are considered best to keep people from thinking much. Ray Bradbury's work reflected back to readers their own anxieties about society, which made him immensely popular. How did he write so grippingly? Well, according to him, not attending college had something to do with it. Instead, he educated himself through reading. He was especially fond of the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Thomas Wolfe, and Ernest Hemingway. In 1971, he published an essay entitled, “How Instead of Being Educated in College, I Was Graduated from Libraries.” Bradbury was also a longtime supporter of his own public library!