Hunger Games Tribute Training Camp

Your name was drawn at the reaping...

We hereby summon you to Tribute Training Camp to be held under cover of darkness after the Main library closes at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 9. Ages 10 to 18 shall attend. Arrive in comfortable attire or costume.

You will demonstrate: Nerf sharpshooting, costume preparation, game strategy, knot tying, Tracker Jacker evasion, and specific knowledge of The Games.

You will attempt to win prizes (including movie tickets, posters, and books) by gaining the favor of our elite Gamemakers.

You will eat free pizza and snacks.

You will depart at 8 p.m.

For more info, call 843-805-6845 or email teenunderground@ccpl.org.

May the odds be ever in your favor.

(BTW, if you loved The Hunger Games, click here for our list of other creepy dystopias that will likewise give you nightmares and question the future of our wonderful world.)

Happy training!

Jen's Pick: The Future of Us...Your Future on Facebook

Greetings! My name is Jennifer, and I work with young adult books at the Charleston County Public Library. Welcome to my random thoughts about books for teens. If a book grabs you, click on the title to reserve a copy…or click here to search CCPL's e-books. Happy reading!






The Future of Us

       The Future of Us

By Jay Asher

and

Carolyn Mackler
 

 

Imagine seeing your Facebook self 15 years in the future. Maybe you’re married to the hottest guy or girl in school, you’re making big bucks, and you have a gaggle of cute kids? Awesome!

Sure, but what if your future life really stinks?

So goes the premise of The Future of Us, the new book by Jay Asher (Thirteen Reasons Why) and Carolyn Mackler (The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things).

That Reminds Me of a...Hurricane

Welcome to That Reminds Me of a Book, a regular feature where we link current events and pop-culture happenings with YA books.

Storm day!

Happy day off school thanks to Hurricane Irene! (Too bad you have to make it up later.) Still, why not spend today hiding from the rain with a great book? Try these titles about two of America's most horrific storms.

Hurricane Song
By Paul Volponi

When Miles's mother remarries, Miles decides to move to New Orleans to be with his father. But he and his father are so different. Miles's dad lives for jazz. Miles's loves football. Then, Hurricane Katrina hits, and the two seek refuge in the Superdome. The safe haven becomes a nightmare when the power fails and gangs take over. When his father decides to rebel, Miles faces a choice that will alter their relationship -- and their lives -- forever.

             AND

Dark Water Rising
By Marion Hale

Seth's family has just moved to Galveston, Texas, and the 17-year-old is unhappy. Yet, his uncle finds him a summer job, he meets a girl he likes, and Galveston is a fun place to live. But Sept. 8, 1900, changes everything. The town is obliterated by a storm that kills nearly all of its 8,000 residents. Through Seth's eyes, relive one of the worst storms in U.S. history.


Click on the titles to reserve them at a CCPL branch!

Meet Author Katie Crouch

Author Katie Crouch Pens New YA Book

Katie Crouch, bestselling author of the adult books Men and Dogs and Girls in Trucks, has just released a new teen book set in Savannah. Check out Magnolia League now (click on the title)!

In it, 16-year-old Alexandria Lee must move in with a wealthy grandmother she's never known who lives in Savannah. By birth, Alex is a rightful (if unwilling) member of the Magnolia League -- Savannah's long-standing debutante society.

White gloves and silk gowns are a far cry from the vintage t-shirts and torn jeans shorts she's used to. Yet, even as Alex questions the Magnolia League's intentions, she becomes entangled in their seductive world.

(Watch for Crouch's sequel later...)



What inspired you to write Magnolia League?

When I was growing up, my babysitter often spoke of Hoodoo. I think she might have practiced it. Salt by the door, burying the hair left in the comb, grave decoration -- that sort of thing. It caused me to get interested in the Gullah culture of the Sea Islands. I wrote my thesis on it in college. I also love writing about high school, so when it came to creating this series, the peanut butter sort of went with the jelly, you might say.

New School Year, New You

Books For a Better You

A new school year is the perfect time for self-improvement! Whether you need to brush up on style, diet, stress management, study habits, body changes, friend drama, dating, whatever -- we have a book for you. (Click on any title to reserve a copy at a CCPL branch.)

Lauren Conrad Style
By Lauren Conrad

Hit the halls of school knowing how to get your red lips just right, when to buy cheap jewelry, and how to decode invitations so you know what to wear. This book is full of fashion and make-up tips from Lauren Conrad, star of the MTV hit The Hills and author of L.A. Candy and Sweet Little Lies.

Are Mermaids the New Vampires?

The Mermaid's Tales

Mermaids might be the hottest thing in new releases, but don't expect a bunch of Disney-type tales about Ariel losing her voice. Most are serious stories about identity and belonging. Who needs a tail to relate to that?


 
Lost Voices
By Sarah Porter

In this new release, 14-year-old Luce is assaulted and left on the cliffs outside of her grim Alaskan fishing village by her abusive, alcoholic uncle. She expects to die when she tumbles into the icy waters below. Instead, she transforms into a mermaid -- and is faced with struggles and choices she could never have imagined.


 

Hottest Summer Reads

Escape the Dog Days of Summer

Summer is time for fun and adventure! Right? Unless, of course, you're facing a 14-hour drive to Aunt Nellie's. Or a flight with two layovers and a storm delay. Or maybe you get can't even get out of town because the gas funds dried up. Hey, they're all good reasons to escape into these great summer reads.

Click on titles to reserve them at your favorite CCPL branch. If it says "on order," place a hold on the book. You'll be one of the first to get it once we do!

We'll Always Have Summer
By Jenny Han

The summer after her first year of college, Isobel "Belly" Conklin is faced with a choice between Jeremiah and Conrad Fisher -- the brothers she has always loved -- when Jeremiah proposes marriage and Conrad confesses that he still loves her.

This is the brand new sequel to The Summer I Turned Pretty and It's Not Summer Without You.




 
 

Take a Trip Back in Time

Updated with new books at the top!

History's Intrigue

Clandestine meetings, killings and torture, romance, scandal, betrayal, adventures on the high seas...who says history is boring? Meet some of history's feisty women and courageous guys by taking a trip back in time. 
(Click on any title to put it on hold!)

Between Shades of Gray
By Ruta Sepetys

It's 1941 when Lina, her mother, and her  brother are pulled from their Lithuanian home by Soviet secret police and sent to a freezing work camp in Siberia. Her father is taken away and sentenced to death. Lina clings to the drawings she hopes will find their way to him, if he's still alive--and if she can survive the horrors.

Book-O-Scope: Your Summer Reading Forecast

Wondering what to read next?

Find answers in the stars!

Gemini
May 21 -- June 21

You’ve been feeling confused lately. Yet, the answers are all there for you to find -- if you look. Read Beatle Meets Destiny by Gabrielle Williams, and find out if John decides to stay with his girlfriend, Cilla, or to take a chance with Destiny.

Take a Picture, Win a Camera

Click here for Stacy Pearsall's blog about the winners!

(Then, come see the fantastic pictures

on display in the Main library's lobby.)

Here I Am

Where exactly are you this summer? First, think literally. Are you going on a trip? Hanging out at the beach? Where do you wish you were going? Now, think in the abstract. Where are you inside your head? Where do you feel most like you?

Now, pick up a camera to illustrate your idea. Envision lighting, angles, and space. Take the picture. Try again. Perfect it. Then, send us your favorite. You might be one of three lucky winners to receive a brand new Nikon digital camera!

Many thanks to the Charleston Center for Photography, which is sponsoring the contest! Check out the center's site -- the photography will inspire you. (Director Stacy Pearsall served three tours in Iraq until she was wounded and received the Bronze Star Medal and Commendation with Valor for heroic actions under fire.)

South Carolina Junior Book Awards

Updated with Goliath, new Skeleton Creek books!

What Should I Read Now?

From silly humor to chilling war stories, check out these South Carolina Junior Book Award nominees for 2011-2012. (They're great for middle schoolers --and might appear on your school summer reading lists!) Last year's nominees included The Hunger Games. Which of this new batch will be the next Big Thing?





Anything But Typical
By Nora Raleigh Baskin

What is it like to be an autistic boy facing daily sixth-grade life, not to mention lifelong struggles, in a "neurotypical" world? Jason Blake is most comfortable in an online writing forum called Storyboard, where his stories spark an email friendship with a girl. But what would happen if he had to meet her in real life?

Books Fell on Charleston





#1:  Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Where Am I? 

In celebration of Teen Lit Day, Reading Underground dropped awesome books for teens in random places around downtown Charleston.

It was part of the Rock the Drop movement, and it gave us a great excuse to visit some of the interesting, historic and beautiful places around town that we sometimes forget to notice.

Do you recognize the locations where we left these books? Do you want to win a WHOLE BOX of FREE BOOKS (Advance Reading Copies of YA books that will be published later this spring/summer) AND a retro-tastic vintage summer reading t-shirt?!

If so, send an email to teenunderground@ccpl.org or leave a comment below telling us where you think these pictures were taken. First person to correctly identify all the locations wins! If no one gets them all, the prize goes to whoever gets the most right, so why not go ahead and guess?

Contest ends:  May 1, 2011.

The rest of the photos are after the jump...

ROCK THE DROP!

Books, Books Everywhere!

Find any teen books left in random spots around downtown Charleston today? If so, welcome to Rock the Drop 2011!

This is an awesome day-long event that gets teen books into the hands of people all over the world. Here in Charleston, the Reading Underground joined up with Readergirlz and Figment to "Rock the Drop" in honor of YALSA'S Support Teen Lit Day which is...yes, today. So, if you found books on park benches, beside cannons, strategically balanced in mounds of jasmine, consider them gifts from us. Leave a comment telling us where you found them!

Also, check back here tomorrow for a contest to see if you can identify Charleston landmarks where we "dropped" a few titles. Identify the most spots, and win a whole box of books! 

Check back soon...


UPDATE:  CLICK HERE TO SEE WHERE WE DROPPED THE BOOKS AND TO ENTER THE CONTEST!!


Good luck!

It's Wicked, It's Sexy...It's a Poem?

Warning: This Is Not Grandma's Poetry!



April is National Poetry Month -- and, sure, we love Poe and Frost and Longfellow. But let's talk modern poetry, stuff written for today's teens about today's issues -- friend drama, drugs, divorce, meltdowns, crushes, exams, peer pressure and even fun, fun, fun!

In poetry, it's all fair game. Whatever you're dealing with, there's a poem just for you. Plus, writing poetry is a great way to get down -- and get out -- whatever is on your mind.

Click on any title to learn more...



Slam

Edited by Cecily Von Ziegesar

Poetry is cooler than ever, whether it's Maya Angelou or W. B. Yeats, Tupac Shakur or Sylvia Plath. As proof, Slams -- spoken word poetry readings -- are taking place in cities across the country. Check out this collection edited by the Gossip Girl series' author.

The Undead Walk Among Us...Again

Zombie Plague Returns

New release alert! Book three in Carrie Ryan's zombie series comes out this week. The Dark and Hollow Places picks up after The Forest of Hands and Teeth (also available as a downloadable audiobook) and The Dead-Tossed Waves.

Years after a zombie plague destroyed society, small holdouts of humanity struggle to survive in the face of their undead enemies. Annah lives in the Dark City alone after losing her twin sister and their best friend, Elias. She's near despair when she meets a new boy, Catcher, and begins to hope again. 

But Catcher has his own dark secrets connected to Annah’s past. Brimming with suspense, romantic turmoil, and threats of death by zombie, don't miss the series!   

Want more zombie books for your braaaaaaaaaains? Click on "Read More":

Underground Manifesto

The mainstream comes to you, but you have to go to the underground.  ~ Frank Zappa.

CCPL’s Teen Underground started in 1998 with a group of teens who met once a month at the new Main Library to talk books, eat popcorn, and make a difference. Originally called TeenLAB, the group functioned as a Library Advisory Board, and helped the new YA Services Department at CCPL plan programs and events.

After time, the group renamed itself the Teen Underground, with the slogan: making a difference from beneath the surface. They saw themselves as an underground movement, a disenfranchised group banding together to affect changes in the way the library served teenagers.

The original members have grown into adulthood, but the spirit of the Underground lives on.  No longer a formal group, the Teen Underground represents a network of teens, in Charleston and beyond, who love books and libraries and want to make their voices heard.

Reading Underground stands for that spirit of subculture and resistance: rejecting the mainstream and changing the world.  Yes, teens who read WILL change the world. It also calls up images of subterranean reading caves, secret spots for hiding out with a book.  And let’s face it, being a teenager has its moments: sometimes you wish the ground would just open up and swallow you. Get swallowed up by a book instead.  Go Underground.