Maureen's Favorite Realistic YA books

Most of the time, I’m really a fantasy reader (or, to be fancy, ‘speculative fiction’), but every now and then I do enjoy a really satisfying realistic YA book. Fortunately, we’re in a golden age of YA publishing right now and there’s plenty to choose from! Here are a few of my favorites.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green: I’m going to be all un-mainstream here and say that Katherines, John Green’s second book, is my favorite. It’s about a former child prodigy who has dated nineteen girls named Katherine. Mostly, it’s just plain funny and a bit weird, but definitely awesome.

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta: Jellicoe is the third book by Australian author Melina Marchetta, and it won the Printz award in 2009. It’s a book that manages to be completely heartbreaking and completely wonderful at the same time. I love it for the characters, whose stories come together in a fantastic way, and for the writing, which is beautiful.

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins: Sequel to Anna and the French Kiss, Lola takes place in San Francisco and is definitely in the sweet category of realistic YA. I really like Lola’s story and re-read it whenever I’m looking for the book equivalent of a piece of chocolate.

Me & Earl & the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews: Okay, chocolate this one is NOT. In fact, it’s frequently gross, morbid, and otherwise not what you’d expect in a Cancer Book. However, it’s also surprising sweet, hilariously funny, and completely original. 

Heist Society by Ally Carter: I love fun spy/burglary movies like Ocean’s Eleven or How to Steal a Million, and the Kat Bishop series (of which this is the first installment) are the book equivalent of those. Completely ridiculous, and really enjoyable.

-Maureen

May = Class visits

Hopefully you know about Summer Reading Club, that wild, busy, fun time for the library. But what about May? In the Children's Room we spend May helping people as always, but also cleaning out closets (maybe!) and the big May thing… CLASS VISITS. We love ‘em!

Every visit is different somehow. Some even involve the Indiana Room or a wander through the art gallery upstairs, but here's a common pattern. “Hello! Let’s get started! Who has been here before? Who has not? Glad you're all here today. Time for a short tour, follow me! There are the beginning reader books, there are the computers. Did you know we have board games? Who has gone to a library program in this activity room? You can use our textbooks for homework if your forget your at school. This is our new and amazing Art Zone, peek in!” And so on. Usually we read a short, rollicking, story. There’s a pep talk about the great programs planned for summer and we reveal the newest Summer Reading t-shirt (get them while they last! Hint – this year the shirt features an upside down mouse.) Some classes look around or play with the giant caterpillar, train table, or puzzles. Others bring library cards, so they can pick some books to take home. Time runs out, so we meet on the zebra rug to say goodbye with invitations to come back any time, while peeking to see if the next class is already lining up outside the doors. 

-Jan

Changes coming for Freegal!

Many of you have by now (hopefully) heard about Freegal, the library's music download service.  With your library card, you can download three mp3 tracks per week - legally and without annoying DRM limitations!

On June 1st, Freegal will have some exciting new features!

Music videos 

Freegal is adding 8,000 MTV type music videos - the complete music video collection of Sony Music Entertainment.  Patrons who choose to download (and keep) a music video will only use 2 of their 3 weekly downloads.

New search features

A brand-new search engine and a whole new look which will make Freegal easier to use and more dynamic than ever.   The update will also have new features like song delete on the app, and iTunes backup on the app, a wishlist for downloads and more!

Expanded content 
Freegal is expanding their collection from 3 million tracks to nearly 7 million! They will be adding Some of the best music that we don't have from Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Bob Marley, Dion Warwick, George Winston and the London Symphony Orchestra.

A photograph has a soul of its own.

A photograph has a soul of its own. It represents something we have seen and want to keep as a memento, a special event or occasion encountered. A moment captured in time and space that can stir memories and create fantasies. The more we look, the more we see. The more we see, the more we respond.

It's said that the photographer communicates in the language of light, form and color. And so is it any wonder that my love of photography is so connected to this journey of my spirit - both containing positives and negatives, black, white, and color, and of course darkness and light.

During the past few days I've set out on foot with my camera and my three canine companions to capture signs of Spring. I found myself drawn to the trees in various stages of new growth along the country roads we traveled. Photographer Joyce Tenneson observes, "Trees, throughout history have inspired deep symbolic meaning in cultures around the world. The 'tree of life' metaphor expresses the mystical concept that all forms of life are connected. When we stand with the trees, we feel they are part of us. They give us a sense of belonging to the greater universe." In his book Small Graces, Kent Nerburn says of trees"[T]hey shave so much to teach us. Like us, their roots are unseen, and no matter how glorious the front they put up for the world, their true strength lies in the hard work that takes place unnoticed beneath the surface.They have good years and bad years and yet they endure. They know how to withstand all seasons, to be patient with adversity, to store up strength for the hard times. When the wind blows, they understand the power of the unseen, and bow their heads before it."

When I made my living with photography, I specialized in portraits of people and capturing their esssence. Although people have now been replaced by trees, I still find that I am seeking a spiritual element in my subjects. My thoughts resonate with Joyce Tenneson when she says, "As with my people portraits I seek to reveal in a single frame, the complex lives of trees - including their hardships and tragedies. Perhaps this is why I've been drawn to photograph trees with broken and misshapen forms, as well as those whose strong presence give them an aura of benevolent power. Their life journey is visible as is often true of the human face...I have found in nature 'icons' that speak to me personally."

I took a photograph two-three years ago during a walk through the woods. An old tree had fallen and it's crown was covered by a blanket of snow. There was something powerful about it that spoke to me and I snapped the shutter. While in the darkroom developing the print I was drawn to the image even more and I printed it over and over, varying the contrast by manipulating the amount of light that hit the negative.

I realized the small photograph is a symbol of my life. Although it is predominately black and white, it has many shadings and combinations of those two contrasts. The background is tangled and blurred, but the foreground gives way to the strength and beauty of the paths of branches that lead back to the unseen.

-Jennifer