Drum roll, please....We have our writing contest winner!

Hello, readers!

November is not just the month where men have an excuse to grow horrid mustaches (claiming it's "Movember" or "No-Shave November"). No, November is also National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. In honor of NaNoWriMo, we'd like to publish a fabulous short story by a fabulously talented young writer. This story is the winner of CCPL's 2012 Short Story Writing Contest for Teens (earning a $25 Visa Gift Card!). Check it out, then check out NaNoWriMo's Young Writers Program and start writing your own novel!

The Library Hermit

by Chloe W.

Prologue

 

 

The library is full of secrets.

 

Some people might think it merely a building full of books. Dull, dusty, and old. But someone taught me the truth: a library is a place of magic. Within the walls and aisles and pages there lies a world of stories where you can find love, adventure, and home when you need it most.

Let me tell you a story of my own, about the extraordinary girl I met there and the world that she showed me.

 

Sarah's Picks: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Hi there!  My name is Sarah, and I work in the Young Adult department at the Charleston County Public Library. Some of my favorite things are: the first day in spring when it's warmer outside than inside, my dogs, Chip and Izzy, and (naturally) a good book.



The book for this round of my picks was pretty easy to, well, pick. Starting today, September 11, teens around the lowcountry are encouraged to try their hand (click here!) at identifying the places we left copies of Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. See a sneak peek here:

Also, I happen to love the book. And have a teensy-tiny (literary) crush on the author.

In the novel, a young Oskar Schell goes on a mission to find a lock. The lock must match the key that belonged to his father, who died in the 9/11 attacks. Interspersed with newspaper articles, photographs, business cards, and plenty of other tidbits, Oskar's quest will captivate you, break your heart, make you cry, make you laugh.  Foer brings his unique writing style to another (also read Everything is Illuminated!) unique narrator.

First sentence:  "What about a teakettle?"

Okay, so you can take this information and run with it--run all the way to any of our branches to check out the book, to our catalog of downloadable books to read an e-copy, to our scavenger hunt website, and/or to meet Mr. Foer (you can bet I'll be there!) on Tuesday, October 23rd at College of Charleston's TD Arena at 5pm.

Happy reading,

Sarah

What Are Teens Reading This Summer?

HERE'S WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY...

What are your fellow teens reading this summer? Dystopias, romance, you name it. Here are recommendations straight from our summer reading contest entries! (Click on any title to put the book on hold at your favorite CCPL branch. Or, click here to search our eBooks.)



Divergent
By Veronica Roth

Rate it! Excellent (9th grader)

What's it about? Beatrice Prior lives in post-apocalyptic Chicago where people are locked in by a metal fence surrounding the city. On kids' 16th birthdays, they must choose a faction. When you choose a faction, you must remain in that faction or you will become faction-less, homeless, and destitute. The factions are: Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent).
(Sequel: Insurgent)

Cinder
By Marissa Meyer

Rate it! Excellent (8th grader)

What's it about? It is a retelling of Cinderella with a big twist: The girl, Cinder, is a great mechanic and also a cyborg. She lives in China, and when it gets infected with a disease, she is immune—and the only ones immune to the disease are Lunars, who are from the moon.

 

Summer Short Story Writing Contest!

CCPL’s TEEN Underground presents…

SUMMER SHORT STORY Writing CONTEST!!

Click to enter our teen Summer Reading contest!

WHO:  Charleston County residents ages 12 to 18.

 WHAT: Your fabulous writing. Send us your very best short story. It should be a complete story written in 1,000 to 8,000 words. Here’s the rub: Your story must involve a library. Any library. Anywhere. In any manner, large or small. But your story must include the word library at least twice.

Want a little camaraderie for this adventure? Join the Underground Writers club on Wednesdays from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Main Library.

WHEN:  Deadline for submissions is August 10. DEADLINE EXTENDED TO AUGUST 22!

Teen Tech Week @ CCPL!

Hey there, techie teens! Looking to upgrade your gear? Enter our contest and you could WIN $50 to Best Buy or Amazon.com.

For this year’s Teen Tech Week, we’ve come up with a heap of challenges that will take you to the outer edges of the internet and back. As you complete the challenges, record your completion of each task on this online form.

For every four challenges you complete, you will be entered once to win our grand prize (a $50 gift certificate to Amazon.com or Best Buy—your choice). Complete ALL the challenges, and you’ll get three chances to win the grand prize!

Take On the Challenge (and Win)!

Read If You Dare: 365 in 60 Days

We have just received a brand new set of the Conspiracy 365 series by Gabrielle Lord. There are 12 books in the action-packed series, one for each month of the year, conveniently named things like January, February, March...you get the idea. Now, we challenge you: Read all 12 books in 60 days!

So, what's a challenge without The Rules? 

What You (and Your Friends) Are Reading

Here's What You Have to Say....

Thanks to all who've entered our summer reading contest! So, what's everyone reading? Tons of Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and the Hunger Games. But what else? Here's what you recommend -- in your own words!

(Keep the entries coming…we have lots more prizes to give away.
Click on titles below to put the books on hold.)

City of Bones
By Cassandra Clare

"Clary is thrown into a world where fairies, vampires, werewolves, and demons are real. Then she finds out that her mother is a Shadowhunter, a group of humans who have angel blood and kill demons. But her father is Valentine -- the evil Shadowhunter trying to destroy all the other Shadowhunters."

(Read City of Ashes next!)

Rating: Excellent

-- 8th grader, Laing Middle School








City of Glass
By Cassandra Clare

"Clary sneaks into the City of Glass and is immediately caught up in a life-and-death battle as the werewolves, vampires, and faerie gather for a war that will 'rend the heavens.'" (Next read the new sequel City of Fallen Angels!)

Rating: Excellent

-- 12th grader, Charleston County School of the Arts

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.)

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!

Brave New Dystopian World Giveaway

Win an Advance Reading Copy of Divergent

As we told you last week, dystopian fiction is on fire!  It seems like everyone is reading The Hunger Games (even celebrities!) and speculating about who will be cast in the upcoming movie.  And there are lots of other great dystopian reads already out there...and still more on the way.

Divergent by Veronica Roth doesn't come out until May 3rd and already people are calling it "unique, gripping and captivating."
It's a dystopian thriller filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance. 

And we're giving away a free Advance Reading Copy of this amazing book:   Just comment on this blog post for a chance to win! (don't forget to leave an email addy where we can contact you.)

Did you know there are three different types of dystopias?   Which is your favorite kind to read about?

Contest: Win an ARC of Demonglass

Demonglass, the sequel to Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins, won't be released until March 1, 2011. 

But if you just can't wait to find out what happens next with Sophie, Archer and the rest of the Prodigium, here's your chance to win an Advance Reading Copy.

Just leave a comment on this blog post, telling us either:

a) your favorite book of all time 
(or)
b) the best book you've read recently.

Contest ends Sunday, Feb 13 2011, 11:59pm EST

A winner will be selected at random, and notified on Monday, Feb 7. 

And if you haven't read Hex Hall yet....what are you waiting for?  It's about a girl who gets sent to a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (a.k.a. witches, shapeshifters and fairies) and discovers ancient secrets about herself, her family, and the true nature of her powers.