Free Audiobook Downloads from SYNC

Teens and other readers of Young Adult Literature will once again have the opportunity to download and listen to current bestselling titles and classics this summer. Each week from June 14 - August 22, 2012, SYNC will offer two FREE audiobook downloads.

June14 – June 20, 2012
The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch, Read by Dan Bittner
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Frank Galati [Adapt.], Read by Shirley Knight, Jeffrey Donovan, and a Full Cast

June 21 – June 27, 2012
Irises by Francisco X. Stork, Read by Carrington MacDuffie
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, Read by Wanda McCaddon

June 28 – July 4, 2012
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud, Read by Simon Jones
Tales from the Arabian Nights by Andrew Lang, Read by Toby Stephens

July 5 – July 11, 2012
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake, Read by August Ross
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, Read by Ian Holm

July 12 – July 18, 2012
Guys Read: Funny Business by Jon Scieszka [Ed.] et al., Read by Michael Boatman, Kate DiCamillo, John Keating, Jon Scieszka, Bronson Pinchot
The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Stories by Mark Twain, Read by Norman Dietz

July 19 – July 25, 2012
Cleopatra’s Moon by Vicky Alvear Shecter, Read by Kirsten Potter
Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare, Read by a Full Cast

July 26 – August 1, 2012
Pinned by Alfred C. Martino, Read by Mark Shanahan
TBA
 
August 2 – August 8, 2012
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, Read by Khristine Hvam
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Read by Simon Prebble

August 9 – August 15, 2012
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy, Read by Rupert Degas
Dead Men Kill by L. Ron Hubbard, Read by Jennifer Aspen and a Full Cast
 
August 16 – August 22, 2012
The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera, Read by Jay Laga’aia
The Call of the Wild by Jack London, Read by William Roberts

A Fresh Baker's Dozen of New Audiobooks

Enhance your summer vacation with tales adventurous, sometimes humorous, tales of survival, autobiographical and historical, romantic, or gruesome. A dozen-plus new audiobooks are on the shelves in the Young Adult area. The following titles are audio award winners:  Beauty Queens, Dead End in Norvelt, Okay For Now, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Rotters.  (Descriptions below are from the EBSCO database, NoveList Plus.) 

Beauty Queens, by Libba Bray.  When a plane crash strands 13 teen beauty contestants on an island, they struggle to survive, to get along with one another, to combat the island's other diabolical occupants, and to learn their dance numbers in case they are rescued in time for the competition.
Genre: humorous, satire, action/adventure.

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, & Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins.  In a future N. America, the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition that pits young people from each of twelve districts against one another, 16-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place.
Genre: science fiction, survival.

Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos.  In the historic town of Norvelt, PA, 12-year-old Jack spends the summer of 1962 grounded for various offenses until he is assigned to help an elderly neighbor with a most unusual chore involving the newly dead, molten wax, twisted promises, Girl Scout cookies, underage driving, lessons from history, typewriting, and countless bloody noses.
Genre: autobiographical, humorous.

The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green.  Sixteen-year-old Hazel, a stage IV thyroid cancer patient, has accepted her terminal diagnosis until a chance meeting with a boy at cancer support group forces her to reexamine her perspective on love, loss, and life.
Genre: witty realism, romance, death/dying.

Rotters, by Daniel Kraus.  Sixteen-year-old Joey's life takes a very strange turn when his mother's tragic death forces him to move from Chicago to rural Iowa with the father he has never known, and who is the town pariah.
Genre: gruesome realism.

A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Down.  13-year-old Conor awakens one night to find a monster outside his bedroom window, but not the one from the recurring nightmare that began when his mother became ill --an ancient, wild creature that wants him to face truth and loss. (Includes 1 bonus disc with illustrations from the book with accompanying audio excerpts.)
Genre: horror, urban fantasy

Mastiff, by Tamora Pierce.  Book 3 in Beka Cooper series. Beka, having just lost her fiance in a slaver's raid, is able to distract herself by going with her team on an important hunt at the queen's request, unaware that the throne of Tortall depends on their success.
Genre: fantasy, adventure.

Okay For Now, by Gary D. Schmidt.  While Doug struggles to be more than the thug that his teachers and the police think him to be, he finds an unlikely ally in Lil Spicer, as they explore Audubon's art.
Genre: historical fiction, friendship.

The Ring of Solomon, by Jonathan Stroud.  Wise-cracking djinni Bartimaeus finds himself at the court of King Solomon with an unpleasant master, a sinister servant, and King Solomon's magic ring.
Genre: fantasy, adventure, magic.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone, by Laini Taylor.  Seventeen-year-old Karou, a lovely, enigmatic art student in a Prague boarding school, carries a sketchbook of hideous, frightening monsters--the chimaerae who form the only family she has ever known.
Genre: urban fantasy, supernatural, romance.

The Name of the Star, by Maureen Johnson.  Rory, of Boueuxlieu, Louisiana, is spending a year at a London boarding school when she witnesses a murder by a Jack the Ripper copycat and becomes involved with the very unusual investigation.
Genre: mystery, paranormal.

Leviathan, Behemoth, & Goliath, by Scott Westerfeld.  In an alternate 1914 Europe, fifteen-year-old Austrian Prince Alek, on the run from the Clanker Powers who are attempting to take over the globe using mechanical machinery, forms an uneasy alliance with Deryn who, disguised as a boy to join the British Air Service, is learning to fly genetically-engineered beasts.
Genre: science fiction, steampunk, adventure.

Blood Red Road, by Moira Young.  In a distant future, eighteen-year-old Lugh is kidnapped, and while his twin sister Saba and nine-year-old Emmi are trailing him across bleak Sandsea they are captured, too, and taken to brutal Hopetown, where Saba is forced to be a cage fighter until new friends help plan an escape.
Genre: science fiction, dystopia, adventure.

Settlers Game Club

A Settlers of Catan (click on the link to learn how to play) strategy board game club for teens (ages 11-19) is forming at the Hamilton-Wenham Public Library. The first game day will be this Saturday, June 9, 10am to noon. The club plans to meet the 2nd Saturday of the month, 10am to noon, on:
June 9, July 14, August 4(first Saturday of August), and September 8. No registration, just drop in.

POETRY CONTEST WINNERS

Conferring and re-conferring, the judges have decided - just this afternoon - on the winners of the 2nd annual Teen Poetry Contest.  This year there were 25 entries, 18 from middle school age students, and 7 from high school age students.  Last year for the 2011 contest there were 27 entries, 7 entries from middle school students, and 20 from high school students. Winning poems will soon be posted on the Poetry page of this blog. Many thanks to our three judges for their work in scoring the poems, Jan Dempsey, Dede McManus, and Daniel Sklar.  ...and the winners are:
 

Three Nazi Teens, One Jewish Man, by Chip Cring, 

for Best Entry Grades 6-8.

You Don't Know Me, by Amy Thissell, 

for Second Place Grades 6-8.

Human, by Mariah Manter, 

for Honorable Mention Grades 6-8, and Director's Choice Award.

Breakfastime, by Savannah Panjwani, 

for Honorable Mention Grades 6-8.

The Better, by Fiona Worsfold, 

for Honorable Mention Grades 6-8.

 

They Said, by Devin Hoyle, 

for Best Entry Grades 9-12.

The "C" Word, by Jack Schreuer, 

for Second Place Grades 9-12.

Insignificant Words that Pale in Comparison to Nights they fail to Describe, by Jack Schreuer, 

for Honorable Mention Grades 9-12.

You are invited to hear the contest winners read their poem aloud, 

at the: 

Poetry Contest Reception

Tuesday, May 15, 6:30pm to 8pm, 
H-W Library first floor meeting room

The featured speaker at the Poetry Contest Reception 

will be Carla Panciera.  Ms. Panciera has published fiction, poetry and memoir in several journals including The Chattahoochee Review, The New England Review, Painted Bride and Nimrod. Her first book of poetry, One of the Cimalores, received the 2004 Cider Press Book Award. Her second volume of poetry, No Day, No Dusk, No Love, was awarded the 2010 Bordighera Poetry Prize. She lives in Rowley, MA, and teaches high school English.
Following Ms. Panciera, poetry contest winners and honorable mentions will read or recite their poem aloud. 
 

Art Scene: Girl Topia Exhibit

Twelve words, six interlocking pieces, and a vision of Girl Topia. Senior Girl Scout Troop, Troup 60111, has put an exhibit of their work in the teen area of the Library.  The title of their show is "Girl Topia."  Each girl created a piece that contains two puzzle pieces, to represent two words, that describes their vision of "Girl Topia."

Below are the names of the girls 

with the title of their particular piece: 

Jenna Crosbie, Light and Laughter 

Audrey DeLorenzo, Beauty and Love 

Laura Jennings, Imaging and Equality

Maddi O'Connor, Paradise and Dream 

Liz Perrotta, Vision and Friendship 

Kate Vanier, Dance and Create

Girl Topia will run in conjunction with Annie Li and Hannah Kwon's show (see previous Art Scene post).  Both shows will be on view until the end of May.

ART SCENE

WHAT:	Art Show
WHERE:	Hamilton-Wenham Library in the Young Adult Area
WHEN:	April 27 through May 31

An art show of work by Annie Li and Hannah Kwon can now be seen in the Young Adult area of the Hamilton-Wenham Library.  Annie and Hannah are students at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School. Annie’s hobbies are music (playing the piano and listening) and art.  When asked about her work Annie said, “a lot of my art pieces reflect the 'moodiness' of music; my art is generally not based off real things”.  Hannah smiled, hung her work, and left so quickly there was no chance to ask her about the inspiration behind her pieces, you will have to come and see for yourself.   

Their show runs through May.

All teen artists are welcome and encouraged to submit their artwork for display in the Young Adult area of the Library.  Work submitted must be ready to hang on the wall, and the Library reserves the right to accept or reject any work as it deems appropriate. For more information, please stop by the Hamilton-Wenham Public Library, or contact Kim Claire, Young Adult Librarian at 978.468.5577, ext. 14, or at kclaire@mvlc.org.

Starlit Summer Programs for Teens

The 2012 summer programs for teens at the Library are stacking up.  This year the Statewide summer reading slogan for teens is "Own the Night," so several of the programs listed below will have a night theme.  The summer brochure should be ready in a couple of weeks.  The final schedule will be posted on this blog on a separate page.

Here is what is on the summer calendar so far:

 

• Two Babysitting Courses, June 28th and July 12th
• Two session photography workshop and student exhibit featuring low light/night shots/painting with light, with Toni Carolina in June - days to be determined.
• Two session writing workshop: Telling Your Stories in Verse, with Holly Thompson, author of Orchards, a novel in verse, to be held on July 10 and 19.
• Drawing class for teens and adults, date to be determined.
• O'Keefe Pastel workshop for teens and adults, August 2nd with Gregory Maichack.
• Star Party astronomy program, sponsored by the North Shore Astronomy Club, on August 16th.
• Henna workshop and a Bollywood movie on August 28th.
• Two Teen Think Tank meetings, June 7 and August 9th
• ...and a few movies (any suggestions?)