Hello, dear readers!
I’m your new sometimes-staff member, Lindee. I started working in the Teen Room right about the time it shut down for COVID, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to fangirl about how cool the Teen Room is. And maybe plug in a little reminder of what all the Teen Room has to offer.
So of course, there are the books. I think there’s just something special about young adult literature. It can tackle some of the biggest issues we face today, and it can do so without taking itself too seriously. If you’re going through something, we have books that can remind you you’re not alone. And if you need a little escape or just a little fun, we have books for that, too.
My favorites so far are the Avatar Kyoshi duology and These Hollow Vows. One’s pretty new, and one’s been around for a bit.
Avatar the Last Airbender: The Rise of Kyoshi and The Shadow of Kyoshi bring readers back to the world of the Avatar, before the GAang saved the world from the Fire Nation army. Kyoshi as the Avatar is not who anyone expected—she’s not even that good at bending her original element! But being raised away from the limelight and outside of the political machinations of her best friend’s mentor (as he teaches who he THINKS is the Avatar), might be the absolute best thing for the Avatar. Who else could save the Earth Kingdom, on the brink of war, but someone impartial?
These Hollow Vows marries some classic fairytale elements with some high fantasy characters, when character Brie must attend a ball in the Faerie world to save her sister, Jas. Jas was sold to Mordeus, the uncrowned king of the Dark Throne, when Jas and Brie couldn’t pay their aunt their “life debts.” With love triangles, a smattering of unexpected magic, and TWO twist endings, you won’t be surprised to hear I was positively betrayed when I learned the sequel is still 6 months out!
Our nonfiction section has some really cool books, with my favorites being the themed cookbooks. Yep, themed. Like, Doctor Who, and Harry Potter, and general nerd cookbooks. There are tons of other topics in there too, y’know. History and mental health and programming. But somehow I always end up at the cookbooks.
Next there’s the makerspace, with a little bit of everything. Fancy teaching yourself to sew? There are sewing needles for hand sewing and even a sewing machine! (Does the Teen Room nonfiction section have books on sewing? Better explore and find out!) The Perler beads are always popular, and I’ve seen some excitement about the crochet looms. There’s an ever-shifting collection of creative outlets there, so feel free to dig around and make something amazing!
There are more adventures ahead in our tour of the Amazing Teen Room, so keep an eye out for installment 2!
Library Link: The Rise of Kyoshi
Library Link: The Shadow of Kyoshi
Library Link: These Hollow Vows