TeenDirect

Shelving GN considerations from Emily Brown.
Stefanie suggested this GN resource.
Like to have your GN readers pick up some community service by reviewing GN for YALSA? Contact Barbara.

Greetings!

Fall is here with a ton of activities! I enjoy hearing from you and learning about all the great things you are doing.

Please Keep in Touch,

Barbara

Hauppauge Happenings

It's always nice to visit Hauppauge Public Library and see what Catherine LaStella is doing. I visited Hauppauge when the teens received the Battle of the Books plaque. Catherine had arranged a special celebration, complete with invitations, a nice display of T-shirts, costumes, and other memorabilia from Battles in years past. The teens, especially those teens who had participated in previous Battle of the Books competitions, enjoyed the trip down memory lane, talking about their experiences over the years. Catherine presented each participant with a certificate and a CD of photographs from Battle.

I also took the opportunity to view some of the excellent displays in the Youth Department, and Hauppauge's Going Green display immediately captured my attention. Notice the selection of "recycled books", labeled "Gently Used Books" - a very nice environmental touch!

View additional library photos.

Social Networking: True Story

Who would have guessed that Social Networking could Heidi & Barbara

extend beyond electronic messages, span continents, and create a great new friendship?

I connected with Heide Ayarbe, author of the YA novel Freeze Frame a few months ago on Twitter. Heidi and I began to stay in touch via 140-character messages. Heidi lives in Columbia, so I assumed our connection would be restricted to "Tweets". When she recently posted a message that she would be visiting New York City, I realized that I would also be in Manhattan that day. We arranged to meet and found a connection which extended beyond Twitter.

Heidi has a new book, Compromised coming in spring 2010. She graciously signed a galley of Compromised for me. As some of you know, this ARC cost me a broken arm, but a Ayarbe galley is almost worth it!

If you would like to win this galley, send me a story about your own Social Networking experience and this galley could be yours.

2009 Books: Two More Months

In looking at the calendar, I realize that 2009 will soon be over and there are still so many great 2009 titles to read. Here are two I recently enjoyed:

Crossing Stones is another literary tour de force from Helen Frost. As with The Braid and Diamond Willow, she can do amazing things with poetry. The poetic shapes follow the undulating path of Muriel, as well as the voices of the rounded 'stones' who cross her path. Set in the early 1900's, readers follow the impact of World War I, the women's suffrage movement and the influenza epidemic on the lives of two families living in a small rural community. A heartfelt literary and vidual treat.

Days of Little Texas Days of Little Texas cover

by R. A. Nelson was a surprise. I initially thought this was the story of a young evangelical Alabama preacher and "healer". However, as the story progressed, it was so much more.

Ronald Earl, known as Little Texas encounters a young girl in a blue dress, a haunted plantation, with a place called Devil Hill and a book hidden in an old trunk. While this is definitely a Southern story, it is a fascinating story of good and evil, and of ghosts which continue to haunt the South. Stay with it to the end for a very interesting plot "twist."

Please consult the SCLS Professional Collection for a complete listing of all titles available for examination.