A Tragic Kind of Wonderful by Eric Lindstrom

Teens and summer readers:
Reading about someone with a disorder can open up your eyes to what we think we know, but really don't. I recently read a story about a girl named Mel who had bi-polar disorder. The story starts off slow, however it then rushes to a heavy turning point where she must come to terms with how important taking her meds are and friendships that went down after her brother's death.
If you have a friends with bi-polar disorder... this is a good one to read and share. This character in particular, tried to hide her problems and it only made things worse. How can you help a friend with bi-polar disorder? Just listen.

SUMMER READING IS HERE!!!

Welcome back ! Summer reading programs are soon to be in full swing at your local libraries. Whether you live in Texas or California or practically anywhere all public libraries offer a free summer reading program for children, teens, and adults. YOU CAN WIN PRIZES JUST FOR READING...

Here's a great summer review:

Riptide by Scheibe
For Grace Parker summer means a surf competition and fun with her best friend and secret crush Ford. Her parents however, have a different agenda in mind... get into an Ivy League school and stay out of trouble. Grace has to struggle with going after what she truly wants, even if it means standing up to abuse at home and revealing some true raw feelings. A great teen read for those who love the sand, surf, and some family issues.

Oh Yeah Audrey! by Tucker Shaw

Being a strong Audrey Hepburn fan, I caught myself sidetracked by this light fluffy book. I enjoyed the premise of Gemma and her trip to the glamorous side of New York. I also enjoyed the Audrey fandom and her idea of having a Hepburn themed tour of New York. So... what didn't I enjoy? I found the ending to be a bit rushed and Dusty's character to be a bit flat. All along you know that he is too good to be true, but finding out about him seemed a bit rushed. Also, I wanted Gemma to have the conversation with her dad or at least a text!

I'm wondering ... Do I feel this way because I have watched Breakfast at Tiffany's a million times? Because I'm a 40 year old woman? or because I've been reading non-fiction lately? Perhaps this book may be better off in the hands of a teen. What do you think ?  Be ready readers for a strong beginning and an ending that falls a little short. Three stars...

Get Smart on Art Program 2017

Some of you may know that I currently host a monthly art activity program titled "Get Smart on Art" for the Los Angeles County Library. This week we discussed the life of Leonardo Da Vinci and children were taught how to create a one point perspective piece. I was amazed at the talent portrayed during the lesson. I gained the idea from a great website that teaches children how to create art pieces inspired by famous artists. Thank you elementaryartfun.blogspot.com/ for the idea!

New reading for 2017

Hello fellow readers! I have been trying to catch up on my teen reads this month as we enter 2017. I found a great teen read at a book sale for fans of Audrey Hepburn titled, " Oh Yeah Audrey!" and another that I have been finishing titled, " The Secret Language of Sisters." The latter is a shocking fictional story about a teen who is in a coma due to texting while driving. Let me know what your teens are reading here!
This year, I'm going to try to play around with my blog and gain some more readership. I'll need to ask my hubby f

or help in how to gain an audience. Happy reading everyone.

Holiday Ornament Craft

Hello everyone... with Thanksgiving on its way and Christmas waiting in the wings... I thought I'd share my new art activity for the upcoming season. Create fun Christmas tree ornaments with green popsicle and glittery stick-ons. If you're a librarian or a busy teacher, use your older students or volunteers to paint the popsicle sticks a lovely shade of green. We used acryllic paint and the hot glue gun to place sticks together.
Here's what you need:
- Popsicle sticks ( box cutter to cut one end shorter than the others for the base of the tree)
- Sparkly stickers or rhinestones
-Paper stars ( printed from Word or you can use an Elison die-cut for these)
- Brown paper for the stems
Place the pieces together in a triangle and glue the ends with a hot glue gun. (I recommend teens and adults using the glue gun of course! )
Use white Elmer's glue for the sparkly ornaments and allow time to dry.
Hang with a ribbon and enjoy on your tree!
Also, here's some fun holiday books that you can enjoy this season:

Auntie Claus by Elise Primavera--- A holiday book like no other! Filled with a great lesson and a fun read aloud for all ages.
Grades K-2nd

Saranormal by Rivers-- A great book in the series based on a character who has paranormal talents and is haunted by them during the                                                      wintery season. 
                                          Grades 4-6th.

Fall Reads

Hello fellow readers,
Don't be afraid to share you favorite books for tweens, teens and young adults with me on this blog. This fall, I'm trying to catch up on some great reads I learned about from my recent visit at the CLA Conference and also from my library's YA Meet and Greet.

Here's a few covers I'm interested in reading... What are you reading this fall? Comment below...

Create a Frankenstein for Halloween

Hi Friends!
I found a super cute Frankenstein craft. There is a lot of pre-cutting needed but if you have older teens or volunteers at your school or library ... this is a great project for them.  The template is located here: http://fromabcstoacts.com/frankenstein-sun-catcher.
I made the craft more cost effective by not using contact paper. This will create a sturdy Frankenstein instead of a suncatcher. You can take the green paper away so that light flows in, just keep in mind that it may be harder for little ones to glue the pieces this way.

Here's what you need;
-  Green tissue paper
-  Glue and Black Crayons
-  Black and White Cardstock
-  Printer

Directions: 
Pre-cut the green tissue paper into 1-inch squares. Various shades of green are fine.
Print out the template and begin gluing the squares to the frame of Frankenstein boxed shaped head.
Carefully attached the squares line per line. Similar to how you would add fringe to a pinata.
Glue eyes, bolts, eyebrows etc...
Draw some scars and a smile for scary fun!

The Flipside by Shawn Johnson

This book, written by Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson was absolutely fabulous. Charlie, is a championship winning gymnast who also uniquely attends public school. As she juggles both worlds, she has made an earlier decision to keep both lives a secret from some of her closest friends. Although, her best friend Gwen and family warn her that these two worlds might collide one day... Charlie decides to take some risks that almost end up costing her everything she has worked so hard for. Mix in a cute boy, his snide ex-girlfriend, friendship issues, and behind the scenes gymnast issues for a "hard to put down" teen book. Teens and readers should take a look at Shawn Johnson website for more fun and some interesting YouTube videos that tell about some of her struggles. What a great role model for teens and young adults! 

Great adult book for teens - Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

Hello fellow readers... if you're out there! I just finished a great book that was one of the best Chinese immigrant stories that I have ever read. Kimberly moves from Hong Kong to Brooklyn to better her life along with her mother who is widowed tragically. In Hong Kong, Kim was at the head of her class and her family was fairly well off. Now in America, they live in a cockroach infested apartment in Brooklyn due to her aunt's selfishness and she has to work in a sweatshop. Kimberly's only escape is school, but even this proves to be difficult as she struggles with English and making friends when she herself is so different. It's a heartbreaking story of trying to achieve your dreams with a strong love story at the heart of the book as Kim falls for a boy who knows all about her struggles.
High school teens who loved Memoirs of a Geisha and even Esperanza Rising will truly become attached to this book. Check it out.

Jinx by Meg Cabot

Hello August readers,
I hope you had an enjoyable summer thus far. As it nears the end, my brain is already traveling into early fall so that I can begin thinking about Halloween and sweater weather. With that said, I have just finished a great audio book by Meg Cabot titled Jinx. Back in the days, when I was once a middle school librarian this was a book that circulated many, many times in my library.
Jinx, is a young teen who has left her small town in New York to live with her cousin Tori and her family. Tori, is not too happy about her cousin reappearing in her life, and has a few secrets up her sleeve. She is well aware that Jinx has been granted special powers from their family heritage of witchcraft that skips generations. While Jinx tries her very best to fit in, she soon discovers that the magical powers within her is causing animosity between her and her cousin. As the situation deepens, Jinx soon finds herself in danger and must embrace her magic powers to overcome her cousin's wish to do her harm.
I wanted to like this book a lot more than I actually did. Readers of fantasy fiction may enjoy it, especially since the general theme is very interesting. As a avid teen reader, I felt it was a little slow to start however the ending made up for it just the same. Hope you like it!