Only 2 More Days!

This year, I get to celebrate Star Wars Day!  This Wednesday, May 4th from 4:30-5:30, the teens will be celebrating all things Star Wars.

 

 

I don't want to give away EVERYthing we are doing, but suffice it to say, there will be

GAMES

FOOD

CRAFTS

PHOTOS

TAKE AWAYS

I hope you can make it! You can sign up over the phone, at the library or on our event calendar: http://mdypl.evanced.info/signup/eventcalendar.aspx

Star Wars Sunday

In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, when Kylo Ren has nearly killed Rey, he tells her something...

"I can show you the force." 

in an attempt to convince her to join him in the Dark Side and, more than likely, use her power.

Unfortunately for the writers, fans took this to the next level...

Enjoy your Star Wars Sunday!

Book Review: Evidence of Things Not Seen

Parallel Universes?! Yes, please!

Evidence of Things Not Seen

by Lindsey Lane

Summary from Goodreads:

When high school junior Tommy Smythe goes missing, everyone has a theory about what happened to him. Tommy was adopted, so maybe he ran away to find his birth parents. He was an odd kid, often deeply involved in his own thoughts about particle physics, so maybe he just got distracted and wandered off. He was last seen at a pull-out off the highway, so maybe someone drove up and snatched him. Or maybe he slipped into a parallel universe. Tommy believes that everything is possible, and that until something can be proven false, it is possibly true. So as long as Tommy’s whereabouts are undetermined, he could literally be anywhere.

Told in a series of first-person narratives from people who knew Tommy and third-person chapters about people who find the things Tommy left behind—his red motorbike, his driving goggles, pages from his notebook—Particles explores themes of loneliness, connectedness, and the role we play in creating our own realities.

What a wild ride! Not only does this story deal with a missing person (Tommy), but parallel universes, and Tommy's explanation of them in his notebook.  I love that this book is all over the place, because when you think about it...parallel universes are so vast and abstract and all over the place that it fits perfectly.

You get to meet all the people that knew Tommy, and their self-awareness as to their purpose on Earth, and the choices they make.  This book is definitely A+ and I highly suggest you get it ASAP.

There ARE some sexual situations and language, to keep in mind.

Book Review: Daughters Unto Devils

A spooky story...I really shouldn't have been reading this book right before bed!

Daughters Unto Devils

by Amy Lukavics

16 year old Amanda Verner lives on top of the mountain with her family. But when her father decides to move the family down to the prairie, Amanda is more than willing to leave behind the past---her mother's sickness, the little sister she wishes had never been born, and the secret boy that she has been meeting in the forest and is now with child.

But things are eerie down on the prairie, and when they arrive at their new cabin, they find the walls and floor covered in blood.  Determined to make their new home work, Amanda's father fixes up the cabin, and the Verners attempt to live in their seemingly haunted cabin. But when evil signs keep turning up, Amanda and her family wonder if they will all make it out alive.

I knew this would be a scary story from the start, but I didn't realize how subtle it would be--it seeps into your subconscious as you're reading and by the climax, you have no idea how you got there without noticing!

Lukavics is a natural horror author, and this story will scare the heck out of you!

Book Review: After the Red Rain

Barry Lyga, author of the I Hunt Killers series has teamed up with 2 other guys (like Peter Facinelli from the Twilight movies!) to make this great post-apocalyptic story...

After the Red Rain

by Barry Lyga, Peter Facinelli, and Rob DeFranco

Years ago, the population was cut in half from 100 billion down to 50 billion. In a run down territory, Deedra ekes out a mundane existence building parts to a mysterious machine and scavenging in the ruins in her free time.  But during one scavenging expedition, she has a serendipitous meeting with Rose, a strange boy with a strange name and strange abilities, and the connection is undeniable.

But just as the two form a bond, they are ripped apart following the murder of the Magistrate's son and Deedra's boss.  Fighting for their lives, and the truth, the pair work together to uncover the truth.

As a Teen Librarian, I read a LOT of post-apocalyptic books, and after awhile, they just don't seem so original anymore.  However, this one takes the cake.  Not only have billions of people been killed, but they have been killed in the most inhumane way (that I won't share, due to spoilers).  And the introduction of Rose, who is very plantlike, creates a whole new element that I think I've read in maybe one book ever before this one.

The two fall in love, as is the case in all teen books, but it's chaste, respectful, and honestly too crazy for anything to happen with the Magistrate chasing them down.  I'm assuming this book WILL have a sequel, but perhaps it doesn't need one.  While left open-ended at the end, the reader sees hope, and perhaps that's the point...YOU make your own ending!

BEST DAY EVER!

Do you know why today is the best day ever?! Because your favorite librarian was born on this day 29 years ago! Whoop Whoop! And because you need to see awesome pictures of me...

Today, I will be celebrating with a fancy dinner at Eddie Merlot's....

And I will be stuffing myself silly with steak, buttery potatoes, and desserts that are so beautiful you don't want to destroy! Happy Birthday to me!

Scary Stories Around the Campfire

I'm sure all of you, or most of you have, at one time, told or heard a scary story around a campfire...sometimes about ghosts, maybe Big Foot, or some other made-up creature.  Flashlights are usually involved to create creepy shadows on the face of the narrator, but the fire roars, roasting your marshmallows for your S'Mores.

While this is all well and good, I have the SCARIEST Campfire story for you...in regular Librarian fashion...

I know I'D be screaming and scared stiff!