Harry and Ginny Potter's youngest son is enrolling in Hogwarts????

Let's hope by now that you all know that the newest Harry Potter adventure is being released THIS Sunday, July, 31! A departure from the other books, this is actually a rehearsal script of a new play written by Jack Thorne based on an original story by J.K. Rowling. The play's world premiere will be in London's West End on Saturday, July 30, 2016.

At the beginning of the play, we find a familiar scene repeated for generations. Harry and Ginny are on Kings Cross platform 9 3/4 to see their youngest son, Albus Severus Potter, off to Hogwarts for the first time. Ron and Hermione are also on the platform to see their daughter, Rose, off to school. She can’t wait to board the train. She’s gregarious and quick to laugh—so much more confident than the nervous Albus.

Because of this new release, we'll be hosting a Harry Potter trivia event tomorrow night, Thursday, July 28, 2016, with the grand prize being a copy of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child." Second and third place winners will be the FIRST ONES to take out the library’s copies of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”, on August 1, 2016. (Winners must check out the books by August 8.)

Harry Potter Trivia Contest
Thursday, July 28 6:00-7:30 pm
6:00-6:15pm Kahoot! Demonstration
6:15-7:00pm Game
7:00-7:30pm Food, mingling
Entering grades 5-12

If you aren’t familiar with Kahoot! already, there will be a warm-up demonstration before the actual contest begins.  The winner will receive a copy of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” which is being released on July 31, 2016. Participants must bring their own devices – anything that has an internet connection. Refreshments served. Registration required. You may register in person, online or by calling 860.673.3331. Space is limited to 40.

The release of this book has brought up the question among some about the whole concept of fictional characters aging. I have mixed feelings about the huge gap in Harry's life for this new release. On the one hand, I wonder what Harry's 20's were like, while on the other hand I like skipping to the next generation of familiar faces attending Hogwarts, as the series really is about the institution itself. I just came across this really interesting article on The Guardian's website about this topic with several well-known authors -- including Anthony Horowitz, Cressida Cowell, Charlie Higson, Francesca Simon, and  Michael Rosen -- offering up their opinions. What do you think? Should fictional characters grow up?

Let me know.

That's all for now.
Peace out, Butterscouts.
-Miss Sara

2017 Nutmeg Reader Meghan C. Tells All

The 2017 Nutmeg Nominees were announced today. Did you ever wonder who picks out the books that are on the Nutmeg Book Award Nominee Lists each year? According to their website, each Selection Committee has a maximum of 15 members including: 1-2 chairpersons, 1 reading teacher, and a mix of school and public librarians. The Intermediate, Teen, and High School Committees also has 2-3 student readers.

It is with great pride and pleasure that I am able to share the experiences of Burlington's own Meghan C., who was a student reader on the 2017 Nutmeg Awards High School Nominating Committee. Meghan is a junior at Lewis S. Mills, where she excels academically, and is a very active member of the Burlington Public Library's Teen Advisory Council.

Q How did you hear about the Nutmeg Student Reader position?

A Our wonderful Teen Librarian, Sara Lo Presti, told me about it and I was immediately interested. Before then, I had no idea that students could be involved in the selection process at all. (Editorial comment: Awwwwwww. Thanks, Meghan!)

Q Was it hard to apply?

A Not at all; all I had to do was fill out an online application, write an essay explaining why I wanted to take part, and provide a reference from a librarian or teacher.

Q How many books did you have to read?

A In total we read about 80 books over five meetings; and discussed anywhere from 15 to 30 books per meeting.

Q What were meetings like?

A We met at the Public Library in West Hartford in a conference room. It was very casual; we all sat around a table, discussed the books we’d read and then voted on whether or not to keep it in the running to be a nutmeg book. We had four two-hour meetings and our last meeting was three hours long, but the time really flew by. It felt exactly like talking about books with your friends.

Q Okay – be truthful – did you REALLY read them all?

A Well, I did read most of them eventually, but not all in time for the meetings. And I’ll admit that there were a few that I started and abandoned; I figured if they couldn’t hold my interest at the beginning, they weren’t going to end up on the list anyways.

Q Were there books that were just awful??? Are there books you really wished made the list?

A There were definitely some bad ones (they can’t all be good I guess) and most were just okay. Most of the ones I really loved were favorites in the group, so they made the list, but a few weren’t able to be Nutmegs because they weren’t going to be available in paperback in time.  I hope that All the Bright Places will be in the running next year!

Q If you had to choose, what was your favorite title that made it on the list?

A It’s so great to FINALLY be able to tell people what made the list!!! I would have to say that my absolute favorite was Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman. It almost didn’t make the list because of complications with publishing, but thankfully Mr. Shusterman stepped in to save the day!

Q Is there anything else you want to tell us about the experience?

A This was probably one of the best things I could have done; it was a great opportunity to read books that I normally would never have even considered and to meet a ton of different people who loved books just as much as I did. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who loves reading and can handle reading a lot of books in a short amount of time. You definitely have to be good at managing your time.

All things considered, I think that this was a really great experience. I really loved having the opportunity to have a part in deciding what books people my age are recommended to read, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

View a complete list of all the 2017 Nutmeg Nominees here.

YA Authors Take On DC Comics

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a YA novel!

Mashread exclusively reportedly on March 31, 2016 that four top YA authors will be penning full-length novels starring DC's most iconic characters. The lineup includes Leigh Bardugo (The Grisha Trilogy) on Wonder Woman, Marie Lu (The Young Elites) on Batman, Matt de la Peña (Mexican Whiteboy and The Living) on Superman, and Sarah J. Maas (The Thrones of Glass series) on Catwoman. The novels will be released in that order, starting in August 2017.

Leigh Bardugo and Marie Lu

I wonder how this is going to work out for the hardcore DC comics fans. I know you've been mostly accepting of the movie adaptations, but those still include the visual elements that you find in graphic novels and comic books. While a straightforward novel seems, well, novel, I am not sure if it is such a good idea. I mean, if it were, wouldn't it have been done by now? I am sure there have been attempts before, but it's not like comic-based novels are flooding the market.

Matt de la Peña and Sarah J. Maas

I AM pleased to see that DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Consumer Products, and Random House Books for Young Readers have chosen such renowned authors to undertake this project. It gives me hope that the novels will at least be well crafted. Still and all, it will be interesting to see how they are received by true DC comics fans. I personally have my doubts that they'll be a smash hit. I guess I'll have to revisit this topic in August of 2017!

Peace out, Butterscouts.
-Miss Sara

Peepshi? I don't think so.

RIGHT. Making sushi out of Peeps®. It looks so easy. The end result looks so cool. Aren't they just the cutest things ever??? Makes you want to run out to buy a boatload of Peeps and get started this afternoon.

WRONG. Ask ANYONE in TAC and he or she will set you straight. Peeps are the most uncooperative crafting material ever. EVER. Did I mention ever? Literally 9 months later, they were still squishy and not dried out from our epic fail to enter a diorama into the Washington Post's annual Peep Show contest last year. Just back away from the Peeps with your X-acto blade in the air and no one gets hurt.

Fine. You want to live dangerously? Don't  say I didn't warn you. Peepshi directions are here.

The far better way to deal with Peeps is by looking at the winners of the 2016 Peep Show. And bow down to their creators. This year's winner is "A Peep Inside (Out) Donald J. Trump."

Or, better yet, just bite their little heads off and enjoy.

 

Peace out, Butterscouts -
Miss Sara, aka Bubblegum Zombie Eternal

I meant MANGA!!!!!

How incredibly funny. To prove how much I don't read MANGA, the whole last post was about MANGA, not ANIME. I have driven around for the past 36 hours fearing that I had made this mistake. So, even bigger apologies to the MANGA followers out there. Today's apology includes the purchase of Volume 14 and 15 of Blue Exorcist. Please forgive me. (Hangs head in shame.)

    

We also have received a donation of The Walking Dead graphic novels, volumes 1-5, from an adult patron who is a kid at heart. As some of you may know, The Walking Dead television series is based on the graphic novel series.

I do appreciate those of you who have dared to participate in the ANIME Series Naming game from the previous post. (Insert eye roll and smiley face here.) 

Peace out, Butterscouts.

Once again, I remain -

Bubblegum Princess X (My maiden name series)

Bubblegum Zombie Eternal (My married name series)

What is your Anime Series Title???

Okay. True confessions. I do not read Anime. It's not my thing. Maybe it is the whole reading back to front concept? Maybe it is just too many characters to keep track of? Maybe it is that whole alternate universe thing? Maybe it is all those overly big eyes? Whatever the case, I just don't read it. I try like heck to buy some titles now and then when my informants clue me in, but, I admit, it isn't always on my radar.

So, as my apology to the Anime fans out there, I am sharing this funny Anime Series Title generator that was posted today on Baker & Taylor's website. THIS I understand. And find funny. Give it a whirl and share YOUR Anime Series Title.

Peace out, Butterscouts -

Bubblegum Princess X (My maiden name series)

Bubblegum Zombie Eternal (My married name series)

Louise Rennison passed away today. :(

Lousie Rennison, best know for her hysterical teen novel Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging, passed away at the age of 63 today. She is fondly remembered in many articles today in The Guardian, BBC, and Huffington Post. As remembered in The Guardian, "One thing is for sure, the world is a less glittering place without Louise Rennison, and we will miss her terribly.."

Here are some of The Guardian's favorite quotes:

He who laughs last laughs the laughiest.

― Dancing in My Nuddy-Pants (book four in the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series)

He says we should take it easy and that maybe he overreacted a bit.”

Dave said, “A bit? That’s like Hitler saying, ‘Oooh, I just meant to go for a little walk, but then I accidentally invaded Poland.”
― Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? (the 10th and final Confessions of Georgia Nicolson story)

I am soooo excited, I am over-excited. I’m hysterical, I may have to slap my own face in a minute at this rate.

― Withering Tights (the first book in Louise’s series about the misadventures of Tallulah Casey, Georgia Nicolson’s younger cousin)

Honestly, what planet do these people live on? And why isn’t it farther away?

― It’s OK, I’m Wearing Really Big Knickers (published as On the Bright Side, I’m Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God in the US where people don’t wear knickers as people in the UK wear knickers, book two in the Georgia Nicolson series).

I am going to become a writer for Cosmo - you don’t have to make any sense at all. Or maybe I’ll be a bloke, they don’t have to make sense either.

― Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging

As she left my room I knew I should shut up. But you know when you should shut up because you really should just shut up… but you keep on and on anyway? Well, I had that.

― Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging

I can already feel myself getting fed up with boys and I haven’t had anything to do with them yet

― Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging

He had everything a dream boy should have. Back, front, sides, Everything. A head.

― Withering Tights

I will not have him in my brain; there is no room for anyone else in the cakeshop of agony. It’s crowded enough in there already.

― Startled by His Furry Shorts (book seven in the Georgia Nicholson series)

"The Martian" and other books to film...

I just saw the movie "The Martian" this weekend - wow that was good! It's like Apollo 13, but funnier. And it has Matt Damon. Enough said. Best of all, we have the DVD available at the library.

 

That being said, I had no idea it was based on a book of the same name written by Andy Weir, which we also own.

Goodreads has created a massive list of lists of books THAT HAVE BEEN turned into movies and books that SHOULD BE turned into movies. My own perfect pair, where I feel both versions are brilliant, is "The Remains of the Day." The 1990 book was written by Kazuo Ishiguro and the 1993 film starred Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. (The library owns the book, but not the DVD.)

Which list does YOUR favorite book appear on?

Peace out, Butterscouts.

-Miss Sara

Joseph Gordon-Levitt's hitRECord

It PAINED me to my core to discover that the vast majority of TAC members don't know who  Joseph Gordon-Levitt is.

Joe, Joey, JGL, Regular Joe has been acting since he was a child and has NOT imploded like so many other childhood actors. While people MY age know him best for his role in the comedy "Third Rock From the Sun," those of a tender age may know him best as Batman's ally, Officer John Blake, in "The Dark Knight Rises." Joe is an amazingly talented and brilliant individual, so very grounded, and hysterical. Check out his lip sync battle with Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Merchant at the 3:40 and 8:00 minute marks.

Which brings us to the most amazing creative opportunity that I have heard of in a very very very long time. Joe founded and directs hitRECord, an open source collaborative production project. As their website boasts, "We make all kinds of art and media together." And make money in the process! 

Check it out.

Peace out, Butterscouts.
-Miss Sara

 

TGIF!!!

Midterms are FINALLY over. Congrats and thank goodness. Treat yourself to some reading just for fun this weekend!

Peace out, Butterscouts.

-Miss Sara

When your favorite book gets turned into a movie... ARGH!!!!

Baker & Taylor Children's and Teen Services, the vendor that we purchase most of our materials from, recently shared this hysterical story from Bustle.com about the emotional roller coaster we all ride when our favorite book gets made into a movie. As we all know, it often isn't pretty.

How many of the 12 can you relate to? 
 
12 Emotional Stages Of Watching Your Favorite Book Get Turned Into A Movie

ALA Announces 2016 Book Awards

Forget the Golden Globes, the American Library Association (ALA) announced the 2016 Youth Media Award Winners today!!!!!!

You may be most familiar with the Newberry and Caldecott Awards, but there are so many more. Here are some of the awards for teen literature that I've chosen to highlight:

Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults:
“Bone Gap,” written by Laura Ruby, is the 2016 Printz Award winner. (We own.)
Printz Honor Books: “Out of Darkness,” by Ashley Hope Pérez (On order.)
“The Ghosts of Heaven,” by Marcus Sedgwick (We own.)

Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience:  The teen (ages 13-18) winner: “The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B,” written by Teresa Toten (We own.)

Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults: David Levithan is the 2016 Edwards Award winner. (We own multiple titles by him.)

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults: “Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War,” written by Steve Sheinkin (On order.)

View the complete list of winners here. Happy reading!

Peace out, Butterscouts.
-Miss Sara

YALSA's Teens' Top Ten

Suggest a title published in 2015 to be considered for YALSA's Teens' Top Ten - a "teen choice" list, where teens nominate and choose their favorite books of the previous year! The process is very simple. Once nominations are received they are reviewed by a selection committee and are announced during National Library Week, which falls on April 10-16 of this year. Teens are then allowed to vote for their choice between mid-August and Teen Read Week, which falls in mid-October. The winners are announced the week after Teen Read Week.

What is YALSA you ask? It's Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association. While much of this association's function is geared toward teen services' librarians, participating in Teens' Top Ten is one way that YOU, a teen reader, can be involved. 

For more information on YALSA's Teens' Top Ten list, including lists of past winners, visit the Teen's Top Ten website and scroll to the bottom of the page. I always love seeing which books teens are really reading.

Peace out, Butterscouts.
-Miss Sara