Jennifer A. Nielsen, New York Times bestselling author, will be visiting 7th and 8th grade classes at your school from October 24-28. She is the author of many historical fictions such as Resistance, A Night Divided, and her newest book, Lines of Courage. She is also the author of the Mark of the Thief and Traitor’s Game series. One of her more popular titles is Words on Fire, a historical fiction story following a family of book smugglers in 1893 Lithuania.
Anyone who loves reading, writing, history, fantasy, or just wants to pick an author’s brain will enjoy her presentations.
For those who may miss Jennifer at school, join us at Campbell County Public Library Thursday, October 27 at 7pm in the Wyoming Room for a presentation by the author!
If you are interested in purchasing a book, a selection of Jennifer Nielsen’s books will be available for purchase and autograph at all events throughout the week.
September 18-24 is Banned Books Week, an annual celebration for the freedom to read. In 2021, the Office for Intellectual Freedom, or the OIF, tracked 729 book challenges. This was more than double the number of reported challenges in 2020, affected 1,597 titles, and was the most challenges in the history of the OIF.
There’s always been some confusion on the difference between a challenged book and a banned book. So, let’s take a look at what they are. Challenges are an attempt to remove or restrict a title for whatever reason. Banning books are removing them from the library completely. Even though a book may be banned or challenged in another state/library doesn’t mean it will be removed from your library. It simply means it was challenged/banned at that location. Challenging and banning books happens all over. In 2022, books have been banned in multiple states including Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.
Campbell County Public Library has not banned any books and believes in your intellectual freedom to read what you want. And that’s one of the best ways to celebrate Banned Books Week, read banned books! You can search online for popular banned books; you’d be surprised what’s on there (The Lorax?!?!). You can also ask the librarians at your public or school library for help as well. Meanwhile, here is a list of the most challenged books in 2021.
Calling all muggles, witches, and wizards! CCPLS is hosting a Harry Potter themed reading challenge from September 1-October 24. The Harry Potter: Read for your House challenge will be completely tracked in the Readsquared website/app. If you need your username and/or password, stop by the Teen Room desk and we can help you. Pick your house and start logging your pages/minutes to earn points for your house. All members of the winning house that log will receive a small prize and will be entered to win a bigger prize drawing.
Don’t know your Hogwarts house? No problem! You can take the Pottermore sorting hat quiz, any other Hogwarts house quiz, or you can just pick a house.
You can read anything, not just Harry Potter literature. Happy Reading!
Did you know that July is National Culinary Month? It is also National Peach Month, National Blueberry Month, and National Ice Cream Month. What I’m saying is that if you love food, this is your month! We have a lot of great cookbooks down in the Teen Room, but also fiction books with a food theme. Here are a couple, but come visit us to see more!
The Heart-Break Bakery by A.R. Capetta
Syd loves to bake and works at the Proud Muffin bakery. Syd uses baking for any big issue or problem in their life. So, when Syd is dumped, they obviously whip up a batch of brownies. There is only one problem: everyone who eats Syd’s break-up brownies ends up breaking up. Can their magical baking talents fix this problem, or just cause more?
Radha & Jai’s Recipe for Romance by Nisha Sharma
Radha is on her way to becoming one of the best kathak dancers and Jai is captain of a Bollywood dance team. Both of their future dreams are shattered due to family issues. Radha tries to reinvent herself at the Academy of Arts and Jai realizes she might be just what he needs for a knockout last year.
Bloom by Kevin Panetta
Ari wants nothing more than to move to the big city with his band, but first he has to talk his dad into letting him quit his job at the family bakery. He likes the job, but he doesn’t want to be there forever wasting away. Ari starts to interview candidates to take over for him when he meets Hector, and all of his plans change. This graphic novel has a heartwarming story and beautiful images to go with.
Donuts and Other Proclamations of Loveby Jared Reck
Oscar and Lou couldn’t be any different. Oscar hates school and wants nothing to do with college. Lou has valedictorian in her sights and lofty college goals. A relationship neither of them anticipated grows when Lou and Oscar must work together on a service project reducing food waste in their high school.
Did you know libraries are for everyone! Campbell County Public Library is no different. We have a very diverse collection of books for you to choose from! But why is diversity important in a collection? Diversity is important because it shows people that they aren’t alone in the world; there are others who have similar experiences. It also helps teach people about experiences they may never have. Having a diverse collection builds empathy in readers. Here’s four diverse books for you to pick from!
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
The children of Lucille are all told there are no more monsters. But how can that be true when Jam meets Pet, a monster with horns and claws? Pet tells Jam they’ve come to hunt a monster that lurks in Jam’s best friend’s house. Jam now must not only fight to protect her friend but also uncover the truth. Emezi’s debut novel raises the difficult question about what choices you can make when society is in denial.
This Is My Brain in Love by I.W. Gregorio
Jos Wu has two wishes: to make it through high school without dying of boredom, and to direct a short film with her best friend.
Will also has two goals: to get assigned to a position with the school paper and to find a summer job.
But when things don’t go their way Jos and Will find an unlikely friendship in each other. They think that the only thing getting in the way is family prejudices but quickly find out it’s their anxiety and depression. This Is My Brain in Love is a contemporary romance that explores mental health, race, and self-acceptance.
Last Night At the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
1954 in America is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love; Chinatown makes it even more unsafe for Lily and Kath. The two are willing to risk everything to let their love survive. For Lily a Chinese American, that might include her father’s deportation despite his hard-won citizenship.
When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore
Miel and Sam are best friends who are inseparable and a little strange. Miel can grow roses out of her wrists and Sam is known for the moons he paints and hangs in trees. But even Miel and Sam stay away from the Bonner girls, four sisters who are rumored to be witches. Now the Bonner girls want the roses that grow form Miel’s wrist, convinced that the roses can make anyone fall in love. When the Moon Was Ours is an exploration of love and identity.
If you’re interested in more diverse books just let us know and we’d love to help you! Don’t forget to sign up for our Summer Reading
Did you know one of the great things about literature is sometimes authors from the past get retold and reimagined in new unique ways? Shakespeare is a great example of classic literature being reimagined. Another popular author to reimagined is Jane Austen. Many of Jane Austen’s works get retold; here are four retellings of Pride and Prejudice you can find in the Teen Room.
Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price
The first book in A Jane Austen Murder Mystery series, Pride and Premeditation is the murder mystery retelling of Pride and Prejudice. Lizzie is a huge law enthusiast and wants to prove she’s a formidable litigator. Unfortunately, women are only allowed in the court room as witnesses and the man accused already has a lawyer, Mr. Darcy. Instead of letting either of these deter her, Lizzie decides to steal the client out from under Darcy and solve the murder. True to the murder mystery genre, Lizzie discovers that being a lawyer can often be a dangerous job.
Bookish Boyfriends: A Date with Darcy by Tiffany Schmidt
Let’s be honest: boys are so much better in books – at least that’s Marrilee’s opinion. Real-life boys just don’t know how to woo her, until she transfers to Reginald R. Hero Prep where the boys look like they’ve stepped right out of her romance books. Now brooding Monroe is trying to woo her and make her feel like Juliet incarnate. But when things unfold in ways she didn’t picture, she starts to realize that only she is in charge of her story.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
A mysterious plague has fallen upon Meryton causing the dead to return to life! Elizabeth is determined to wipe out the menacing zombies, but she’s soon distracted by the arrogant Mr. Darcy. Now she must mind her manners and mind the undead. This book has something for everyone: romance, swordfights and rotting corpses.
Pride by Ibi Zoboi
Zuri wants nothing to do with the two new wealthy Darcy boys who have moved in across the street. She can’t stand Darius especially when she’s forced to find common ground with him. With college applications and family vying for her attention Zuri must fight to find her place in an ever-changing world.
It’s that time again! Our Summer Reading Program starts next week.
The last day of school is May 25th and sixth graders officially become seventh graders. That means you can now come into the Teen Room and participate in all it has to offer! Stop by the Teen Room on May 25th and pick up your paper reading log at our desk. You can also check out our website www.ccpls.org to participate in the program digitally.
2022 Oceans of Possibilities Teen Programs:
Summer Reading Kickoff– Movie in the Lab, June 4, 11-1
Sidewalk Seascapes- June 9 & 30, July 21, 1:30-3:30
Shipwrecks Escape Room-June 15, 1:30-5
Life Size Forbidden Island- June 22, 1:30-4
Shark Week! July 11-July 15, activities all day!
Final Party & Grand Prize Basket Drawing: July 27, 1:30-4
Please call us at 687-9227 or stop by the Teen Room desk with any questions.
Behind the Super Top Secret Door…of the office that is surrounded by windows and that teen volunteers go in all the time.
Now, the reason we Smaug-smuggle the following items into the office is that they take a little more time and require a little more involvement on the side of their operator (eh hem, YOU). Sometimes the Teen Room might be a little crazy or a shift change might be in the works, so these aren’t always available on demand. But on a quiet day, ask the desk librarian for one of these awesome things to try.
So if you read through my rant about the 3D printer, you won’t be surprised at how excited I am by the 3D Doodlers. They’re pens that extrude plastic sticks into designs you create. With these babies, you become the 3D printer. Bonus points if you sing while you work. There is a learning curve to the pens, but when isn’t there a learning curve? Experimentation is half the fun! Give these a try when you have a little time for the pens to warm up and make Glenda proud. (Glenda is the 3D printer. I named her. Just now.)
Now. Here’s where I’m out of my element. Up to now I’ve had some idea what I’m talking about, although it may not seem like it. But. We have these OTHER robots. They’re little. They’re cute. They’re completely unused in the time that I’ve worked here. So if you’re a robotics person, or willing to learn to be a robotics person, it would give me endless joy to find you at the desk, politely and excitedly asking for the Ozobots or the Spheros. Two different kinds of little robots even, I mean really! I can hand over the mechanical creature of your choosing and sit back to see what happens next.
This concludes my too-excited tour of the Teen Room. There’s obviously stuff left out, like our clubs, and programs, and volunteer opportunities. The magnets on the vending machine, just waiting for your poetry. The corkboards by the door, just waiting for your artwork. There’s just so much to explore down here.
I can’t give away all the secrets. Best leave some for you to find yourself.
Find some yourself, when you head down to the best part of the library to say hello.
Can we talk for just a minute about the Teen Room 3D printer? As the staff that runs it, I’ve had to approach it cautiously. Stay calm. Don’t let it smell fear. But I think (think, mind you), that I’ve befriended the tiny singing robot, and its friendship is A-MAZING! I’ve made a brooding Batman and a tiny turtleduck and a pretty real-looking LEGO brick so far, and I’ve only sustained one minor injury. So explore the free plans on Thingiverse, find something to print, and for 10 cents a gram you also can bond with the super-fancy singing glue gun. It melts plastic instead of glue, get it?
Now may I take a moment to note that the folks that designed the Teen Room really thought of everything. Have you noticed the charging station behind the desk? There’s a variety of cords for a variety of devices with little slots so there’s room for everyone. Have your own cords? There’s a charging tower with wall and USB outlets in the seating area with the super-comfy chairs. Plug in a laptop or tablet or phone and let your devices enjoy some delicious electricity.
Now, we’ve arrived at the board games: an offering near and dear to my nerd heart. Try Niya, a connect-four, tic-tac-toe cross that’s quick and easy to learn with tokens that are fun to clink together like Sir Hiss from Robin Hood
Or if you have a little more time, Kill Doctor Lucky is like reverse Clue. Instead of solving a murder, you race your opponents to be the first to kill off annoying Doctor Lucky. There’s a whole collection to be explored, and lots of ways to add your own twists if you get board (little pun for you there. You’re welcome). At least so says the creator of Who Wants to be a Trivial Three of a Kind. The world is welcome for that too.
Next to the board games, we have our take-home craft kits. No time to hang out in the makerspace? These kits can go home with you! Perler bead kits and glue gun kits come with included accessories, and paired with your own imagination (or Pinterest’s imagination, if you’re me), can make something amazing.
Whew! Outta breath. Running on too much excitement. I’m going to take a break and come back fresh with Part 3 of my trilogy.
Do you like to bake?! If you said yes, we have the perfect program for you. This year the library is holding the 1st Annual Library Foundation Cookie Wars, previously Cupcake Wars. This year we want you to make tasty cookies, decorate your table and area, and have fun.
There are two categories, decorated cutout cookies, and classic cookies. Any baker under the age of 18 can enter under the Junior division, there is also an Amateur and Experienced division. Registrations are available now and are due by April 1, 2022. But hurry, there are only 14 spaces available.
