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AXIS: Info for Teens 12-18.

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Crafts

Fabric-Covered Flower Pots

Saturday June 24, 2017: 2:30pm to 3:30pm
Downtown Library: Secret Lab
Grade 6 - Adult

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Blog Post

Meet “It’s All Write!” 2017 Judge #1: Cara Chow!

by BugsAndSlugs

The “It’s All Write!” Teen Writing Contest of 2017 is wrapping up, and it’s time to introduce the judges! If you're still working on your story, don't worry - submissions will be accepted until midnight on February 24th! Check out the Flash Fiction and Short Story guidelines for more information.

Cara Chow, author of the young adult novel Bitter Melon, was born in Hong Kong and grew up in the Richmond district of San Francisco. Ms. Chow was a 2001 PEN Emerging Voices Fellow, and Bitter Melon, her debut novel, made the Young Adult Library Services Association's 2012 Best Fiction list. Cara currently lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband and son.

Stay tuned for more information about the “It’s All Write!” Teen Writing Contest 2017 Judges!

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Blog Post

Only a Few Days Left to Enter the "It's All Write!" Contest!

by krayla

If you're a writer in grades 6-12, you still have time to send your work to the "It's All Write!" Teen Writing Contest! Just copy and paste your short story or work of flash fiction in the submission form by midnight on Friday, February 24. Please send any questions to Kayla at allwrite@aadl.org.

Happy writing!

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Blog Post

Unbecoming, by Jenny Downham

by manz

In Unbecoming, by Jenny Downham., we meet three generations of red-headed women, all with their own secrets and stories.

Seventeen year old Katie lives with her uptight mother Caroline and her younger brother, until one day Caroline’s Mother Mary abruptly comes into their lives. Estranged for years, Caroline does not want her mother to come live with them, even though she is suffering from dementia and needs care. As she temporarily stays with the family while social services sorts things out, everyone’s world turn upside down in different ways. On top of caring for her brother, and now her grandmother, Katie struggles to please her mother and keep secret who she’s been kissing. Caroline tries desperately to keep the past in the past and shove Mary away, while Mary tries so hard to remember her past as she wakes up daily wondering who these people are that she’s living with.

Wonderfully crafted, the book mostly stays in present day, but shifts back to Mary’s young adult life. The truth begins to unfold a rich family history of strong women who are either trying to break the rules or trying hard to follow them and keep things quiet and uneventful. Mary will have none of it! She wishes for adventure. If only she could remember.

It is an absolutely touching YA novel and it was a pleasure to spend time with these characters finding their place within their family and in the world. I would love to have a picnic with Mary on the beach.

The Stonewall Book Award is given annually to English-language children’s and young adult books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience. This year there was one winner and three honors – one of which was Unbecoming.

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Blog Post

Blind Date with a Book and Surprise Books for Kids!!

by PizzaPuppy

Stop by any of the AADL locations for a sweet February surprise!

Adults and teens will find Blind Date with a Book displays, where one can hopefully find the mysterious item of their dreams! Books (and movies!) are wrapped in butcher paper and decorated with hearts in red, pink and purple. They have a short description of what the material inside contains… but you’ll have to check out the item and take it home to unwrap to find out if it’s really meant for you!

Kids aren’t left out either! There are Surprise displays at every location too, where kids will find mystery items decorated with stars and question marks in bright rainbow colors, and wrapped up with only hints written on them to imply what’s inside.

These displays will be up for the entire month of February, so don’t miss your chance to find your match!

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Blog Post

Printz Awards Announced!

by manz

This morning many awards were given for excellence in books, video and audio books for children and young adults at the American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards. One the biggies given annually is the Michael L. Printz Award, which is given for excellence in literature written for young adults. This year four Printz Honors were named in addition to the winner.

Winner:

March: Book Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
The stunning conclusion of the award-winning and best-selling MARCH trilogy. In this graphic novel, congressman John Lewis, an American icon and one of the key figures of the civil rights movement, joins co-writer Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell to bring the lessons of history to vivid life for a new generation, urgently relevant for today's world. (This book also won the Non-fiction, Sibert, and Coretta Scott King Author Awards)

Honors:

Asking for It by Louise O’Neill
It's the beginning of the summer in a small town in Ireland. Emma O'Donovan is eighteen years old, beautiful, happy, confident. One night, there's a party. Everyone is there. All eyes are on Emma. The next morning, she wakes on the front porch of her house. She can't remember what happened, she doesn't know how she got there. She doesn't know why she's in pain. But everyone else does.

The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry
In mid-thirteenth century Provence, Dolssa de Stigata is a fervently religious girl who feels the call to preach, condemned by the Inquisition as an "unnatural woman," and hunted by the Dominican Friar Lucien who fears a resurgence of the Albigensian heresy; Botille is a matchmaker trying to protect her sisters from being branded as gypsies or witches--but when she finds the hunted Dolssa dying on a hillside, she feels compelled to protect her, a decision that may cost her everything.

Scythe by Neal Shusterman
In a world where disease has been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed ('gleaned') by professional reapers ('scythes'). Two teens must compete with each other to become a scythe--a position neither of them wants. The one who becomes a scythe must kill the one who doesn't.

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Natasha is a girl who believes in science and facts. Daniel has always been a good son and good student. But when he sees Natasha he forgets all that and believes there is something extraordinary in store for both of them.

Looking for more Printz winners? Here’s a list of the winners and the honors that have been awarded since 2000.

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Crafts

Felt Ball Fun!

Saturday March 11, 2017: 2:00pm to 3:30pm
Pittsfield Branch: Program Room
Grade K - Adult

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Crafts

Amigurumi Crochet Critter Joy

Saturday April 22, 2017: 2:00pm to 5:00pm
Traverwood Branch: Program Room
Grade 6 - Adult

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Blog Post

From the Page to the Screen: Hidden Figures

by PizzaPuppy

The new movie Hidden Figures is in theaters now, and is already generating positive reviews and a plethora of award nominations. This amazing true story, first published as Hidden Figures: the American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly, chronicles the trials and tribulations of a group of extraordinarily talented and dedicated African American female mathematicians, whose calculations launched John Glenn into Earth's orbit and won the space race. These "human computers" used slide rules, pencils, and adding machines to perform the advanced mathematics needed to calculate trajectories, launch windows, and navigational charts in case of electrical failures, among others. These brave women faced adversity through sexism and segregation, but persevere through it all to become key players in evolution of NASA and space exploration. This amazing story is also available on audiobook and Large Print.

Author Margot Lee Shetterly will be speaking at Rackham Auditorium on January 24th from 4-8:15 PM. More information is available here.

Looking to learn more about the phenomenal women scientists that propelled us into space? Check out Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars (also available here in Large Print. Or learn more about the many women who have since traveled to outer space through items such as Promised the Moon, Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream, and Astronaut Pam: Countdown to Commander (an especially interesting nonfiction movie that follows Commander Pam Melroy and her crew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery). We also have books about women inventors, such as Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women.

Also check out our resources regarding two very famous pioneering female astronauts: Mae Jemison and Sally Ride. Books on Sally Ride for an adult audience include this photobiography and Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space. To the Stars, Sally Ride: Life on a Mission, and Who Was Sally Ride? are all intended for kids interested in learning more about Sally Ride. We also have many resources on Mae Jemison, the first African American woman to travel to space, such as this biography, You Should Meet Mae Jemison or Mae Jemison, Awesome Astronaut!. You can even read books written by the astronaut herself, such as The 100 Year Starship.

Just into space? We have lots for you to check out here at the library, such as Eyewitness Space Exploration, or the Astronaut Handbook. The Dream is Alive is a fascinating DVD that uncovers life on a space station, and witnesses the first space walk performed by an American woman. We also have a Library Space Camp program for kids coming on Thursday, April 6th at the Downtown branch, where you can learn all about what makes a successful astronaut and complete cool space activities.

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Public Event

Community Vinyasa Yoga

Saturday May 13, 2017: 10:00am to 11:00am
Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room
Grade 6-Adult