Peeps Diorama Contest

Create a shoe box size diorama of your favorite book or movie using Peeps! You have all of March to build your scene. Deadline to enter the contest is April 1. Your diorama will be on view in the Library's foyer for the month of April. Judging will take place during National Library Week, April 3 - 9. 

🐤 Click here to download the 

entry form and guidelines.🐤

 

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 Stop by the   Children's Room for 1 box of Peeps to get you started. 

 Supply available while they last. 

 Need a shoebox? Stop by my office on the 2nd floor in the teen area.  

 I have a few shoe boxes to give away - first come, first served. 

 

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Enemies to Lovers

💘Katarina Peteranderl, one of our current Y.E.L.L. (Youth Engaged in Library Leadership) volunteers, created an Enemies to Lovers book display in the teen area this month for part their community service. 

I asked Katarina why they chose Enemies to Lovers as the theme:

 "It's a popular storyline and there are a lot of books that have that trope, particularly in the fantasy genre. I was inspired by a TikTok video I saw about why people like different tropes and books. The one for Enemies to Lovers talked about how people are worried that other people won't like them if they see their flaws. In an Enemies to Lovers story the characters have already seen each other's flaws but they still love each other."

    Contemporary Fiction - Enemies to Lovers

💘Guitar Notes, by Mary Amato. Tripp, who plays guitar only for himself, and Lyla, a cellist whose talent has already made her famous but not happy, form an unlikely friendship when they are forced to share a practice room at their high school.  

💘The State of Us, by Shaun David Hutchinson.  Struggling with the
social expectations of prospective first families, the 17-year-old sons of rival Democratic and Republican presidential candidates secretly fall in love on the sidelines of an increasingly contentious campaign.

💘Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating, by Adiba Jaigirdar. Hani is easy going and popular. But when she comes out to her friends as bisexual, they invalidate her identity. Panicked, Hani blurts out that she’s in a relationship…with a girl her friends hate—Ishu. Ishu is the opposite of Hani. She’s an academic overachiever who hopes that becoming head girl will set her on the right track for college. Ishu agrees to help Hani, if Hani will help her become popular so that she stands a chance of being elected head girl. But relationships are complicated, and some people will do anything to stop two Bengali girls from achieving happily ever after.

💘You Should See Me in a Crown, by Leah Johnson. Liz Lighty has always done her best to avoid the spotlight in her small, wealthy, and prom-obsessed mid-western high school, instead she has concentrated on her grades and her musical ability in the hopes that it will win her a scholarship to Pennington College and their famous orchestra where she plans to study medicine--but when the scholarship falls through she turns to her school's scholarship for prom king and queen, which plunges her into the gauntlet of social media and leads her to discoveries about her own identity and the value of true friendships.

💘A Pho Love Story, by Loan Le.  High school seniors Bao and Linh, whose feuding families own competing Vietnamese restaurants, conceal their budding romance, as well as Linh's desire to become an artist.

💘Tweet Cute, by Emma Lord. A reimagining of You’ve Got Mail follows the unlikely romance between an overachiever from a successful family and the class clown, who exchange snarky tweets that escalate into a viral Twitter war.

💘Tell Me How You Really Feel, by Aminah Mae Safi. A tale told in alternative viewpoints and inspired by classic romantic comedies follows the unlikely on-camera romance between an overachieving cheerleader and the senior film project director who secretly hates her.

💘Today Tonight Tomorrow, by Rachel Lynn Solomon.  A bitter rivalry between two overachieving high school seniors erupts after one of them is named valedictorian on a day that finds them unexpectedly teaming up and falling for each other while competing against their fellow graduates during a farewell tour of Seattle.

💘How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love With the Universe, by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland.  When she takes a job as a "merch girl" on a tour bus full of beautiful influencers, Moon Fuentez, the twin sister of a social media star, questions her destiny as the unnoticed, unloved wallflower she always thought she was.

Fantasy Fiction - Enemies to Lovers

💘The Wrath and the Dawn, by Renee Ahdieh.  In this reimagining of The Arabian Nights, Shahrzad plans to avenge the death of her dearest friend by volunteering to marry the murderous boy-king of Khorasan but discovers not all is as it seems within the palace.

💘Girl, Serpent, Thorn, by Melissa Bashardoust.  Soraya, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch, has lived eighteen years in the shadows but as her twin brother's wedding approaches, she faces choices with unimaginable consequences.

💘The Cruel Prince, by Holly Black.  Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

💘We Hunt the Flame, by Hafsah Faizal. In a world inspired by ancient Arabia, seventeen-year-old huntress Zafira must disguise herself as a man to seek a lost artifact that could return magic to her cursed world.

💘These Violent Delights, by Chloe Gong.  In 1926 Shanghai, eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, heir of the Scarlet Gang, and her first love-turned-rival Roma Montagov, leader of the White Flowers, must work together when mysterious deaths threaten their city.

💘A Curse So Dark and Lonely, by Brigid Kemmerer.  Eighteen for the three hundred twenty-seventh time, Prince Rhen despairs of breaking the curse that turns him into a beast at the end of each day until feisty Harper enters his life.

💘Serpent and Dove, by Shelby Mahurin. Set in a world where witches are burned at the stake, finds a young witch forced into marriage with a church huntsman, a situation that is further complicated by their growing feelings for each other.

💘Kingdom of the Wicked, by Kerri Maniscalco.  Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe - witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family's renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin...desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister's killer and to seek vengeance at any cost-even if it means using dark magic that's been long forbidden.

💘Renegades, by Marissa Meyer.  In a ruined world where humans with extraordinary abilities have become the world's champions of justice, a vengeance-seeking girl and a justice-seeking boy team up against a villain who has the power to destroy everything they have worked to protect.

💘Dance of Thieves, by Mary Pearson.  When outlaw leader meets reformed thief, a cat-and-mouse game of false moves ensues, bringing them intimately together in a battle that may cost them their lives--and their hearts.

💘This Savage Song, by Victoria Schwab. As the heirs to opposing sides in a warring city, Kate Harker and Augustus Flynn should never have met. A Romeo and Juliet-esque fantasy about the difference between good and evil and the blurry gray area in between

💘Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception, by Maggie Stiefvater.  On the day of an important music competition, talented but painfully introverted and nervous Deirdre Monaghan is helped to perform by the compelling and enigmatic Luke Dillon and finds herself inexorably drawn into the mysteries and dangers of the faerie world.

Meet the Writers

Meet our grades 6-8 story writing Write the Hook contest winners: Evelyn Esdaile and Molly Degnan. It was great to get to know them. Thanks Evelyn and Molly!

Six Questions for Molly Degnan ("Moonshade")

 

1. Did you enjoy the contest? How did you hear about it?

Yes, the contest was more fun than I thought it would be. I have a passion for writing, and the contest inspired me. It gave me extra writing practice. My English teacher, Cassandra Wilfert, told the class about the contest and gave us extra credit if we entered.

2. What was your writing process and how did the story idea come to you?

I worked on my story with a friend, with Evelyn, who won first place. We read each other's stories and revised them together. I'm a night owl and have sticky notes next to my bed to jot down ideas and things I want to remember so I can clear my mind to sleep. The story was in my head for a long time. I don't remember why I first thought of it. The contest made me put it on paper. My inspiration was to have a villain as the main character. I didn't expect the idea to turn out as it did. I wrote multiple drafts, but then discarded the whole thing and rewrote it. I feel it came out much better.

3. How much of the story did you write? Did you finish? Are you still working on it?

I paused all other stories I was working on to write Moonshade. I am still in the process of writing it. I wrote more of it over the Winter break. I hope to complete it and share it with my family.

4. What do you think your story's ending will be?

Every time I think about it the ending changes. I think that only the close friends in the story will really know what happened, but I do like a happily ever after ending. I'd like to develop the story into a series.

5. If the contest is offered again next Fall, do you think you will enter?

Definitely, it was a lot of fun.

6. What are you reading now and what is something you recently read that you liked?

I'm reading The Giver, by Lois Lowry. It's a page turner, though I didn't think I would like it before I started reading it. I like dystopian books, because the characters come together to fight for a cause and to solve problems. My favorite books are Divergent, and The Hunger Games.

 

Six Questions for Evelyn Esdaile ("Another Survivor")

1. Did you enjoy the contest? How did you hear about it?

I like writing and writing contests. I entered a Scholastic writing contest and won a gift certificate to donate to an animal shelter of my choice. I also entered a school writing contest. My English teacher told me about the Write the Hook contest.

2. What was your writing process and how did the story idea come to you?

My first idea for the story was imagining someone running through streets with a suitcase, and then I added a monster. I wrote it all down in an hour, and then showed it to my teacher and to my parents.

3. How much of the story did you write? Did you finish? Are you still working on it?

I haven't finished writing it, but I might. It's about 700 words now.

4. What do you think your story's ending will be?

I would have to kill one of the people in the helicopter to make it interesting, but would let the rest live -- also I'd have to kill the weird thing that was chasing them.

5. If the contest is offered again next Fall, do you think you will enter?

I probably would enter.

6. What are you reading now and what is something you recently read that you liked? 

I've read and re-read all of the Percy Jackson books (by Rick Riordan) three times,. I am now reading the Magnus Chase books (by Rick Riordan). I love all the characters in these books, plus the comedy, adventure, and Greek mythology.