TEEN POETRY CONTEST WINNERS

27 poems were entered in the Teen Poetry Contest.  
20 poems were from high school students, and 7 were from middle school students.
Winning poems are posted on the Poetry page.
Many thanks to our three judges for their work in scoring the poems, Jan Dempsey, Library Director; Lorraine Der, Children's Librarian; and Daniel Sklar, Professor, Endicott College.  

.... and, the winners 

of the Hamilton-Wenham Library's Teen Poetry Contest are:

A Life Lost, by Anika Schaedle, for Best Entry Grades 9-12.

A Thousand Lost, by Mariah Manter, for Best Entry Grades 6-8.

The Dead Letter Office, by Anika Schaedle, tied for Best Lost Poem entry.

Icebox Heart, by Coco Young, tied for Best Lost Poem entry.

What Are We?, by Lucy Huang, tied for Best Found Poem entry.

Something Lost, by Jennifer Kong, tied for Best Found Poem entry.

Honorable Mentions go out for the following next highest scoring poems:

Where Do Balloons Go?, by Anika Schaedle.

Lost and Found: This is the Moment, by Becky Moffat

The Loss of Hope, by Caitlyn Passaretti

Fallen-Between-The-Trees, by Siobhan McDonough

Wanderer, by Lila Rose Acevedo

Rusty Memories, by Teddy Lyman

Best Friends, by Jack Huang
 

You are invited to hear the Poetry Contest winners read their poem aloud, at the: 

TEEN ART SHOW & POETRY CONTEST RECEPTION

Tuesday, May 17, 6:30pm to 7:45pm

 

Students of Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School have organized an exhibit at the Hamilton-Wenham Library to showcase the work of several local visual artists and photographers. The contributing artists are all students or recent graduates of high school. A reception for the exhibit will be held in the Young Adult area of the Hamilton-Wenham Public Library. Art work will be available for sale through each artist.

During the reception, the winners of Hamilton-Wenham Library’s Teen Poetry Contest will be awarded their contest prize, and will read their winning poem aloud. The entrants to the Teen Poetry Contest had two themes to work from: lost or found. The art in the exhibit will echo this duality. Each artist plans to exhibit two works with opposite themes. Come and meet the artists, enjoy some refreshments at the reception, and hear the winning poems from the Teen Poetry Contest read aloud. The art exhibit will be on view from May 17 through July 31.

Local Teens Go to Battle

Battle-Gaming of Massachusetts (BOM) was in the Salem News this past Thursday.  Great article.  Now I will have to assess the Warhammer series books in the Young Adult collection to see if we need some additions.  Any suggestions?

To read the Salem News article about BOM 
                               click here: Local Teens Go To Battle  

More Color, New Seating in Teen Area

On Sunday, April 10, two Teen Think Tank members Josh and Ella, and their father Jon Hunt, and I painted the long wall that faces the Young Adult L to Z fiction, with Cupid's Dart purple. This is the same shade of purple that was painted 3 years ago by Teen Think Tank members and I on the Young Adult area's window wall. Also, in the teen area, Jon Hunt and his daughter Ella took on the difficult task of painting the slanted triangle ceiling drop downs with Squish Squash yellow. The yellow has warmed up the area while the purple color will give a visual cue that the Young Adult fiction collection continues down that wall. The purple paint will also connect and increase the gallery space available for teen art displays with the addition of the hanging systems on that wall that were purchased last summer.

The teen area now has a new, cozy, comfortable booth with a lamp, and a new colorful area rug.  These additions to the teen area were purchased thanks to a recent donation to the Library that was given in memory of Rosella Coughlin. The booth, in the short time since it arrived, has become a favorite place for teens in the library. There have been orders for fries and a soda, but all that could be served was Dewey 641-642.  Please stop by the teen area to see the new seating and colorful changes.

 

 

 

THE SCIENCE OF LOVE

Check out the recent spate of new Science Fiction books below, that have arrived with a large dollop of romantic angst, and the sting of dystopia.  If this trend continues, we might need a new genre: Romience?.

GIRL PARTS by John Cusick, 2010.  Summary: The lives of David, wealthy and popular but still lonely, and Charlie, a soulful outsider, intersect when Rose, the female Companion bot David's parents buy to treat his dissociative disorder, forms a bond with Charlie.
My rating: 3 and a half stars.

MATCHED by Ally Condie, 2010.  Summary: All her life, Cassia has never had a choice. The Society dictates everything: when and how to play, where to work, where to live, what to eat and wear, when to die, and most importantly to Cassia as she turns 17, who to marry. When she is Matched with her best friend Xander, things couldn't be more perfect. But why did her neighbor Ky's face show up on her match disk as well?
My rating: 3 and a half stars.

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis, 2011.  Summary: Amy, a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed, is nearly killed when her cyro chamber is unplugged fifty years before Godspeed's scheduled landing. All she knows is that she must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets before whoever woke her tries to kill again--and she doesn't know who she can trust on a ship ruled by a tyrant.  My rating: 4 stars.

DELIRIUM by Lauren Oliver, 2011.  Summary:  Lena looks forward to receiving the government-mandated cure that prevents the delirium of love and leads to a safe, predictable, and happy life, until ninety-five days before her eighteenth birthday and her treatment, when she falls in love.
My rating: 3 and a half stars.

WITHER by Lauren DeStefano, 2011.  Summary: After modern science turns every human into a genetic time bomb with men dying at age twenty-five and women dying at age twenty, girls are kidnapped and married off in order to repopulate the world.
My rating: 3 and a half stars.

MAGAZINES PHYSICAL AND VIRTUAL

THE HIDDEN MAGAZINE COLLECTION

To read back issues of popular magazines not available in the library as a physical subscription you must enter the realm of databases (be brave, it's only a few clicks till you get there):
 

1) Go to Hamilton-Wenham Online Databases

2) Scroll down to: InfoTrac® PowerSearch

3) Keep scrolling to: General OneFile. (click on it)

4) Click on: Browse Publications.
 

In the search box type in the title of a magazine you would like to read.  For example: to see the publication, Guitar Player, type "guitar" in the search box, then click on Guitar Player to view past issues. To see past issues of Transworld Skateboarding magazine, type in "skateboarding" in the search box.  Explore.  If you have any questions, send me an email or stop by my desk in the Library.

There are MANY more magazines, journals, newspapers, etc. available to read through the Library's paid online research databases, because what are the online databases, but a scanned, digitized collection of magazines, academic journals, and newspapers.

THE PHYSICAL MAGAZINE COLLECTION

The H-W Library has over 100 magazines subscriptions.  You can check them out for the same amount of time (3 weeks) as a book.  H-W Library magazines are kept for 2 years.  They are out on the shelves for 6 months, and then housed in the closed stacks.  If you want an issue older than 6 months just request it through the online catalog or visit the Reference Desk on the 2nd floor and staff there will retrieve it for you.  The Young Adult area has 11 magazine subscriptions:

• Alternative Press
• Cicada
• GamePro
• Kiki
• MAD
• Make
• Rolling Stone
• Seventeen
• TeenInk
• Teen Vogue
• Transworld Snowboarding

February Break Library Programs for Teens

Monday, February 21

Library Closed for President's Day Holiday

 

Tuesday, February 22

Beverly Hospital Babysitting Course 10am to 5pm

(Babysitting Course has not been canceled.)

Wednesday, February 23 

Health & Happiness @ Your Library  1:30pm to 4pm

(Health and Happiness has not been canceled.)

Thursday, February 24
Toy Story movie showing has been canceled.

Teen Think Tank Movie Series: TOY STORY 3  2:30pm to 3:45pm

 

Teen Think Tank Meeting  6:30pm to 7:45pm

(see right side bar on this blog for more information about the Teen Think Tank) 

Friday, February 25
Henna Tattoo program has been rescheduled for July 28.

Henna Tattoo Party and a Craft  1pm to 3pm

Henna Tattoo Party (with Tracey Pistorio) and a Craft is for teens ages 12-18.
You must pre-register for this event at the Library Reference desk, 

or you may call 978-468-5577 x14, or send an email to Kim Claire at kclaire@mvlc.org. 

Saturday, February 26

BOM Battle-Gaming of Massachusetts  10am to 4pm

 

P O E T R Y C O N T E S T

The Hamilton-Wenham Public Library 

is pleased to announce the first

TEEN POETRY CONTEST: Themes are LOST and/or FOUND

Teen Poetry Contest is open to teens in grades 6 to 12.   

Contest begins February 1, 2011, and ends at midnight April 30, 2011.  

Two winning grade categories: grades 6-8, and grades 9-12. 
Two winning theme categories: lost or found.

Cash prizes to be awarded 
(provided by The Friends of the Hamilton-Wenham Library).  
Finalists will be notified by phone or email by May 10th.

Winners to read their poem aloud at the teen art show reception 
in the Library’s Young Adult area on Tuesday, May 17th, 6:30 pm. 

    Poetry Contest Rules to qualify for judging:

• Entries must be original work.
• Maximum of 3 poems per person.
• Poem must have one or both of the two themes: lost / found
• Every poem entered in contest must have a title.
• Include the title of the poem on the entry form and on the page with your poem.
• Do NOT place your name anywhere on the same page as your poem.  To comply with blind judging, author's name must not appear on the same page as the poem, not even on the back.
• Attach EACH POEM to a copy of the entry form, or to a separate page with your name, email address, street address, phone number, school, and grade.
• Deadline for submission: midnight April 30, 2011.

click here for CONTEST ENTRY FORM

Hand deliver or mail entries to:  
Teen Poetry Contest c/o Young Adult Librarian
Hamilton-Wenham Public Library 

14 Union Street 
S. Hamilton, MA  01982

Or email entries to:  kclaire@mvlc.org

For more information contact:  
Kim Claire, Young Adult Librarian, 978-468-5577 x14