Three Movie Trailers

I think today is a good day to watch some good movie trailers. First, a trailer for the recently-released movie "City of Bones," based on the book by Cassandra Clare:

 


 Next, a trailer for "The Book Thief," based on the award-winning novel by Marcus Zusak. This movie will be released in November 2013:

 


 Finally, the newly-released trailer for the upcoming movie "Divergent," based on the book by Veronica Roth. This movie should appear in theaters in March of 2014:

 


 I'm often hesitant about seeing movies based off of books that I enjoyed, but I'm actually pretty enthused about these book-to-movie adaptations. Anyone else looking forward to these?

Bo at Ballard Creek

Bo has two fathers, but she didn't get them in the usual way.  She also eventually gets a little brother, but he doesn't join the family in the usual way either.  This this charming story tells all about young Bo's childhood as the adopted daughter of two big, burly miners just after the height of the Alaskan gold rush.  The town of Ballard Creek is filled with tough miners and loving Eskimo families, and everyone takes a hand in raising Bo.  Over the course of a year, Bo sees her first airplane, encounters a grisly bear, helps one of her papas in the cookshack, listens to lots of records, and attends a big Fourth of July celebration.  All the while the miners are busy working, hoping that they'll hit enough paydirt to make it through the year.  Even though Bo lives in a small town in the wilderness, there is never a dull moment in Ballard Creek!

Kirkpatrick Hill's charming novel, Bo at Ballard Creek, reminds me quite a bit of Laura Ingalls Wilder's classic Little House in the Big Woods.  Each chapter of the book recounts a different episode in Bo's life and provides exquisite detail about what everyday living in this specific time and place was like.  The story is very engaging, the characters are lovable, and Bo herself is a spirited counterpart to Laura Ingalls.  As a reader I found myself especially fascinated by Bo's papas and their unique co-parenting situation.  Such partnerships may seem unusual to modern readers, but it really does make perfect sense given the time and the place.

Overall Grade:  A+

If you'd like to learn more about this book check out an interview with Kirkpatrick Hill, the author of Bo at Ballard Creek.  Hill herself grew up in Alaska in the company of mining, just like Bo does.  In the interview, Hill describes how some of her own experiences were included in the story.

Teen Summer Program Success

The 2013 Summer Library Program is wrapping up here.  Summer is always our busiest time of year, and this year it felt like especially crazy.  I've been pulling some statistics together for my Teen SLP (which I am completely responsible for) and the numbers don't like:  It really was a lot busier than last year.  A lot busier.  Here are a few of the more interesting numbers:

Total registration in the Teen SLP increased by about 24%.
Total reading done by teens increased by about 16%.
Here's the real kicker:  Total attendance at teen programs increased by a whopping 210%!  This number increases to 431% if you include all of the passive programming that I put together for this summer (none of which existed last year.

No wonder I'm exhausted!  Being around that many teenagers will do that.

There are a couple of things that point to the increase in participation this summer.  The first is that, since I'm not longer the new kid in town at this library, more of the teens in the area know who I am.  Some of the teens who know me especially well (who came to other programs during the school year, etc.) have started bringing their friends to the library and getting them to sign up for summer reading.  Peer pressure and word of mouth does wonders.

I also like to think that the increase in program attendance has something to do with the fact that I put together some awesome teen events this summer.  Enjoy a few pictures from some of these programs:

Last year's popular Ninja Training program returned with
a new and improved format...  And a new and improved
outdoor obstacle course! 

My most well-attended program of the summer was
DIY Henna Body Art.  I ordered and mixed the henna, and
the teens had the change to design their own temporary tattoos.

We did some geocaching at the library...

And found some neat prizes!

We also held a Super Smash Bros.
Brawl tournament.  We had 20 teens
participating in this modified single-
elimination tournament.

The winner of the tournament won
this awesome trophy that  I crafted
from a block of wood, an Iron Man piggy
bank, and some gold spray paint.

To finish off the summer we had an after-hours
zombie party at the library.  Most of the teens
came in costume, and so did I.  I came dressed
as one of the zombies from the hit game Plants
vs. Zombies.  All of teens understood the
reference.  None of my adult co-workers did.

LEGO Librarians

Have you seen the official LEGO librarian minifigure?

Image taken from the LEGO website, link above.

It's pretty much exactly what you expect:  Female, glasses, cardigan, book in hand, and of course a cup labeled "Shhh."  But believe it or not, this is not actually what most librarians are like!  This stereotype has been around for decades, and sometimes it seems that no one except for the librarians themselves quite realizes that the profession is filled with a lot of different types of characters.

Joe Hardenbrook, a librarian at UW-Green Bay here in Wisconsin, saw this official minifigure and decided it just wasn't enough.  He created and photographed lots of other librarian personalities and then shared his creations, along with some snarky commentary, on his blog.  It's spectacular, and it seems pretty much spot-on.  I'm pretty sure that I've encountered most, if not all, of these sorts of librarians at some point.  Enjoy!