Flint Memorial Teen Corner

You could win $500 in books, or a DJ for your school's prom! Want to know how?

Baker & Taylor, our book distributor, has just announced a fanfiction contest based on Laurie Halse Anderson's new book Prom. To enter you need to write a 1,500 word (or less) short story that is a prequel, sequel or alternate ending to Prom. A panel of judges, including Laurie Halse Anderson herself, will select the winners.

Grand Prize (1): $500 worth of books, or $500 toward a DJ at your school's prom, and your story showcased on writerlady.com. Plus, a visit from Laurie Halse Anderson to your school/library in 2006. And $500 in books for your school/library. Pretty cool, huh?

First Prize (2): Your story highlighted on writerlady.com and a complete, signed set of Laurie Halse Anderson's books.

The contest is for writers ages 12-18 and is open until Dec. 31, 2005. Go to Baker & Taylor's site for all the official stuff.

So, go out and read Prom and then get writing!

It's that time of the year again....time to get free comics! For the fourth year in a row, comic book stores around the country will be giving away free comics on Saturday, May 7. Just about every major comic book and graphic novel publisher, from Marvel and DC to Tokyopop and the new Keenspot line of GNs, will be involved in FCBD. Check out the FCBD website for more information. Early next week there should be a database of participating stores, so you can see if your favorite store is on the list.

I just checked the date of the last post and realized that it's been awhile since I've update! Time has, apparently, been flying by over here at the library. But, the good news is that I've been productive with my time away from the blog. I've been ordering books for the Teen Corner (yay!) Here are a few that have come in recently:

• Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson
  Ashley is not excited about her senior prom. Actually, she could care less. Until, that is, Ms. Crane the math teacher steals the prom funds and Ash's best friend, Nat, begs her to help out the prom committee. Laurie Halse Anderson's newest novel has a great narrator (Ashley herself) and some hilarious commentary about life in high school. We have two copies of this, so check one out today!



• Sexy by Joyce Carol Oates
  Sixteen-year-old Darren Flynn, a popular, good-looking high school athlete who lacks self-confidence, learns that his jock friends are hatching a revenge act against their English teacher for failing a member of the swim team.



• Boy2Girl by Terence Blacker
  Sam moves from America to England and he instantly finds trouble, in the form of both pranks and brawls. When his cousin, Matthew, dares Sam to dress as a girl for the first week of school, Sam agrees. To everyone's surprise, he makes a pretty good girl and fools the whole school. What will happen when people find out the truth?



• Tall Cool One by Zoey Dean
  Book #4 in the A-List series.

And some new manga:

• Megatokyo, volumes 1-3 by Fred Gallagher


• Hellsing, volumes 1-4, by Kohta Hirano
  What Dark Horse Comics has to say: "There's a secret organization somewhere in England created to defend the Queen and country from monsters of all sorts. Yes, it's hard to believe in this day and age...but really, isn't this the true age of monsters? Enter Hellsing, an agency, long in tooth, with the experience, know-how, and...er...equipment to handle the problems that arise when vampires, ghouls, and the like take on these dark forces. 'What equipment?' you may say. How about another vampire, and a big pistol loaded with special silver bullets? That oughta do the trick. But what really knocks 'em dead is the sharp wit, awesome artwork, and crazy, bloody action that make up the manga. Hellsing the long-awaited manga is finally in America, thanks to Dark Horse Comics and the folks at Digital Manga, and you're gonna love it. Come get some smart-ass gore and action as only Japan seems to produce, in that crazy 'non-Western' format the kids seem to love. And nice and thick at a full 200 pages! The night is dark, but at least those wacky anti-heroes from Hellsing can make light of it."

Thank you to the person who recommended I purchase the Megatokyo manga series. It will be in my next order! And, until then, you can request the book by clicking on the link above.

If you ever have a book/movie/graphic novel recommendation, remember to use the box in the Teen Corner (yes, I check it every day....sometimes more than once!). Or, you can always leave a comment here, or email me at cshowman@mvlc.org. I love getting recommendations since you know what you want to check out from the library.

Thanks to uber-cool YAB member, Mary, I found out about an event coming to Salem, MA in October: The Witching Hour. It's a conference and symposium centered on the Harry Potter series. It's mostly aimed toward adults, but teens aged 14-17 can attend if they have an adult with them. Check out the website and see what's planned.....they even have a Quidditch game on the schedule!!

Wednesday is an early release day, so why not spend that time doing something fun? Stop by the Library Activity Room between 1pm and 2:30pm on Wednesday, March 9 and try your hand at making a duct tape wallet. All you need are tape, scissors and a bit of creativity. And guess what? The tape and scissors will be provided!