TeenFusion @ the GDL

Express Yourself at a GDL Teen Summer Reading event.  Summer programs feature you writing, drawing, sculpting and performing.  Start with the TeenFusion Talent Show.  Get your act together, make a video then upload your audition to our You Tube website.  Selected entries will perform live at preliminary events to be held at four GDL locations events on Thursdays in June and July.  Three performances from each event will enter the final competition on July 30, 2009 at the Baker Park Branch.  Watch for more details later this week.

Columnist Eileen Button, journalist Angela Seyfried and novelist Renee Hand share their experience as professional writers and challenge you to find your writing style.  Join me at Davison for Read/Write/Lunch, a writing workshop for aspiring teen authors.  Discover how to publish your music and lyrics with Shava Jamerson as she presents Selling Your Song.  Fling your artistic flare drawing or sculpting with Flint Institute of Art instructors when they hold class at seven GDL branches.   Save time for reading with Express Yourself @ the GDL Summer Reading Challenge.  Read for yourself and the branch team to win an end of summer party. Online registration begins June 15.    

Some of the school links have been lost.  Hopefully, all will be restored by the end of the week.  Sorry.

Votes for YALSA’s top ten teen reads from books published in 2007 have be tabulated.  Here are the results.

10. Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

 9.  Before I Die by Jenny Downham

 8.  Extras by Scott Westerfeld

 7.  The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

 6.  City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

 5.  Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson

 4.  Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

 3.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley’s Journal by Jeff Kinney

 2.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K Rowling

 1.  Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

Is your favorite book on the list?

Need homework help?  GDL online resources are available 24/7.  Links can be found on TeenFusion under Issues or Study Tools.  From the GDL homepage look for the word Research near the top center of the page.  Don’t forget to search the digital library or netlibrary for ebooks or audio books.  Over the weekend, I listened to a collection of Edgar Allan Poe short stories downloaded from Overdrive, our digital library.  Feedback on our homework help database would be appriecated.

  The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
By Alexie, Sherman

Wins the 2008 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award.  
Find out why this book has the attention of critics and readers.  This is an amazing story of breaking out of the confines of tradition to explore the possibilities of life outside the reservation. 

Welcome to TeenFusion@thegdl.org. Today we launch a blog designed for you and about you. With your help, we will build a space with information: books, careers, college, news, study tools; art-photography, writing; entertainment-books, gaming, movies, music, podcasts, programs, and more music.

TeenFusion is about reacting to the world around you, confronting challenges, resolving issues and achieving goals. It’s also about sharing your ideas, talents, and thoughts with others. With your creativity and energy we will write and illustrate a dynamic teen blog.

Let me know how you feel about the library, library programs, electronic resources and the new blog. Below are a few questions to prompt your answers.

• What do you need from the library?
• How can this blog help you?
• What special features would you like to see on the blog?
• What links should be included here?