Divergent: Could Thinking for Yourself Get You Killed?

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Why did I read it?

Dystopian novels are huge right now, so we decided to read this book for TeenBookWorms. We meet on the fourth Tuesday of each month from 4-5pm, to discuss a book together.

What happened?

After a devestating war ravaged the planet, survivors created factions that focused on a particular virtue to combat the evil that caused the war. Those who said the war was caused by deception formed Candor (the honest), those who blamed selfishness formed Abnegation (the selfless), those who blamed cowardness formed Dauntless (the brave), those who blamed anger formed Amity (the peaceful), and those who blamed ignorance formed Erudite (the intelligent).

Many years after the establishment of this seemingly perfect society, Beatrice Prior will choose which faction she will join just like every other sixteen-year-old in Chicago. For most, a simulation will definitively tell them which faction will be the best fit for them. But, for Beatrice, her choices in the simulation are inconclusive, and that can mean only one thing; that she is divergent.

While no one will tell her exactly what that means, she is told repeatedly that it is dangerous and could get her killed. Fantastic! As if surviving initiation in her chosen faction isn't going to cause enough problems for her.


What did I like or not like?


Veronica is only 22 years old and this is her debut novel, but it is amazing! She does a great job imagining a world where society members are split by personality, and how focusing on one virtue can mess us up instead of help us.

The initiation process that Beatrice has to endure provides a great mix of excitement, adventure, discoveries and a little bit of romance. But, beneath it all, there is something more sinister that Beatrice can't put her finger on, and it is this undercurrent that eventually rears its ulgy head and threatens to topple the system her entire society is built on.

P.S. There is some violence (this is a Dystopian novel) and some brief sexually-themed discussions.

Fakebook: Create Facebook Style Profiles

So there has been a couple of times on a Facebook wall that I wonder, how did they do that? One time it was what the founding father's might have said if they had FB profiles. The post had profile pictures, a status update, likes, and comments. I thought it was a funny idea.

Then there was an article I stumbled across, unfortunately I can't find it now, about a teacher who created two FB profiles for students who lived 100 years ago. The teacher was going to use it as a teaching tool, but Facebook deleted the profiles because the students were deceased.

Both of these instances jumped to my mind when I heard of Fakebook. This is a service from ClassTools.net, and it allows you to create Facebook looking profiles. ClassTools mentions that this tool is for educational purposes, and allows students and teachers to create realistic profiles for historical characters, the plot of a book, a series of historical events, or whatever else you can think of :)

States of Matter Experiments

Another great idea for a science experiments program is talking about states of matter. I found some fun websites to help with these ideas, and another related topic I found was the surface tension of water. I've attached some links and explanations of what we did :)

Anti-Gravity Water

Everyone knows that when you turn a cup full of water upside down, all the aqua spills out. But, with a rag stretched over the surface of the glass, the water will literally defy gravity.

States of Matter Explanation

I've always had a hard time visualizing the different states of matter, so when I found this quick and easy way of thinking about it, I was really excited. Basically, you use different numbers of marbles to represent each state of matter.

Surface Tension

This website had several ideas that would be fun to do. Personally I used Stretch the Surface of Water and Cut and Connect Water Droplets.

Leak-Proof Bag

If you stab a pencil through a zipper lock bag, the water is going to leak out, right? Not if the bag is made out of a special kind of molecules called polymers, which your typical zipper lock bag is :)

Bubbling Lava Lamp

This fun experiment bubbles which is always a plus, and also lets you talk about the interaction between a solid, a gas, and a liquid.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns: Why Did God Choose Me?

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

Why did I read it?

Because Nick is a fan of the required reading list for my Young Adult Literature class :)

What happened?

Elisa always imagined her older sister, Alodia, would be married first. She was the older, more beautiful princess, and had a knack for playing the games that came with royalty and politics. So, imagine Elisa's surprise when she is very quickly and quietly married to their ally, King Alejandro de Vega. Thinking this rushed ceremony strange, Elisa's suspicions are confirmed when her sister warns her to trust no one, and her husband tells her she was relocated to protect her.

Could it have something to do with the godstone in her navel, the symbol that she is the chosen of God, designed for some divine purpose? While she has never been sure how God could have chosen her, overweight and useless, her questions only multiply when she is kidnapped by desert dwellers who have their own plans for her, and their own ideas about the will of God.

What did I like or not like?

This story grabbed me from the beginning. Elisa's voice is so truthful and unsure, that you feel everything that she feels. Then, as the novel progresses, you applaud as Elisa finds the strength and faith that she needs to save her new country. While this is Carson's first novel, the plot is tight, the characters are interesting, the stakes are high, and it kept me guessing to the end.

Wikipedia: Someone Recommended a Graphic

So I got an email from a representative of Open-Site: Free Internet Encyclopedia this week, and she asked me to share a graphic with all of you. I'm not used to people asking me to put stuff up on my blog, so I was pretty excited, and so the graphic is below. I wouldn't put just anything up, but I found this graphic about Wikipedia very interesting, and I thought you might as well.

Via: Open-Site.org

Strange Food Mixes: Why Not?

So here's a weird and fun programming idea for you; Strange Mixes. I thought, why not give kids a chance to experiment with different combinations of food items?

For my program I bought the following list, but you can mix and match with pretty much anything:

spreads (Nutella and cream cheese)
vegetables (celery)
fruit (grapes, pears, raisins, and a dried fruit mix)
crackers (Ritz and Saltines)
cheese (Swiss, Gouda, Provolone)
french fries
dipping condiments (ranch, barbecue sauce, ketchup, and mustard)

The idea behind the french fries and dipping condiments is if a kiddo couldn't find anything else they liked, they would at least like the french fries.

Also behind the scenes of this list was cheeses with fruit, different ways to make ants on a log, and cheeses and crackers.

Another aspect we wanted to do, but didn't have time for, was adding different spices to the spreads and condiments. My boss, Miss Karen, suggested adding cinnamon, nutmeg and all spice (experiment with each separately or all together) to the cream cheese and maybe some chili or curry powder to the ketchup.

If you are on a tight budget, buying a lot of food might be a bit expensive. But, if you have the means, this program was a lot of fun and encouraged kids to try new things and actually think about why something might taste good together.

The Wishflower Field: A Story from a Local Author

The Wishflower Field-Marie's Triumph by Jennifer Fallaw

Why did I read it?

Jennifer is a local author promoting her first novel. She thought of stopping by the Hayden Library for a book reading, and I wanted to read the novel to see what it was all about.

What happened?

Marie is tormented by frequent nightmares, and consequently, even ordinary things in her waking hours become terrifying. Even though her Mom stays in the room as she sleeps and tries to encourage her, nothing seems to make the monsters go away. But, Marie's Grandma might have a solution. Its a secret that has been passed down from one generation to another, and it might be just what Marie needs to conquer her fears and find the strength she has inside.

What did I like or not like?

Even though the novel is something of a modern fairy tale, filled with a magical dream land, there is quite a bit of realism behind the story. Jennifer's eldest daughter struggled with night terrors at a young age, and a happy visualization helped her dispel the fears. Marie lost her father to an accident, and Jennifer and her daughters lost their husband and father to an accident as well.

Another cool thing is why Jennifer started writing the story. After her husband passed away, she was wondering what to do next. Her daughters loved dandelions and called them wishflowers. These wishflowers were part of the solution for her daughter's fears, and she thought it would help other children as well. When a single dandelion was poking through her frozen lawn on a cold November morning, Jennifer thought it was about time to share her story with others.

If you want to connect with her, this is her Facebook page: http://facebook.com/Jen.Fallaw

HISHE: You Can't Watch Only One

So a large part of Techno Tuesdays is to let you know about great resouces at your library, and online. But, another part is just to show off some cool websites. One such website is HISHE (How It Should Have Ended), and if you haven't heard about it, you are in for a treat.

There tagline is "sometimes movies don't finish the way we'd like." So, to rectify the situation, Daniel Baxter, Tommy Watson, and Tina Alexander do a monthly animation parody of a popular movie.

Now, two things about these parodies. First, they are hillarious! This group of creators are extremely talented and funny. Secondly, these videos are addicting! You know how some chips are marketed with "You can't eat only one?" I think that applies to these videos as well.

To give you a taste, I've attached a HISHE video. This one is called Super Cafe: Super Social Network, and it paradoies the characters of Batman and Superman. Enjoy!

Duct Tape or Duck Tape? Either Way it Got Your Attention Right? lol

As many of you know, making stuff with Duct tape is awesome, and I couldn't resist doing a Duct

Tape Creations program anymore. So, we made Duct Tape wallets with Duck Tape brand tape and it was amazingly fun :)

We did this program for our Elementary (3-6 grade) and Middle School (6-8 grade) patrons. I hadn't actually created anything with Duct tape before, so I asked one of our Teen volunteers to sit in on our Middle School programs and give some pointers. I also took advantage of a couple websites that broke the whole process down for me. Enjoy :)
P.S. I found that only having 6 rolls of duct tape for 18 kiddos (what happened for our Elementary program) doesn't quite work out. It takes quite a while to get anything done because they had to wait so long for the duct tape. If I were to do it again, I'm thinking of having 1 roll of duct tape for every 2 people that are there. I would also have duplicates of the same colors so if one is over here, than one can be over there. Just some thoughts on the logistical side of things, and now to the websites. Pretty much I found a whole bunch of useful ideas on Instrutables and wikiHow.

Conventional Duct Tape Wallet

Just your straight up wallet.

Magic Duct Tape Wallet

If you put money into one side and close the wallet, it shows up on the other side.

Woven Duct Tape Wallet

Makes a really cool checkerboard kind of design for your wallet (the picture above).

Duct Tape Roses

A really simple way to make flowers that will last.

Realistic Duct Tape Roses

A slightly more complicated, but much more true to life, way to make a flower that will last.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox: What If There is Only 10% Left of Me?

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Why did I read it?

Another one of those books I probably wouldn't have read without it being on the required reading list for my Master's class. But, it was a fascinating read.

What happened?

After waking from a year-long coma, all Jenna Fox knows it what she is told. At the request of her parents, she watches videos of her life before the accident, hoping that it will spark her memory. Hoping that if Jenna will just remember, everything will go back to normal, and they will have their perfect daughter once again.

But, somehow, Jenna doesn't believe that she will ever be the same again. Maybe it is the odd feeling she gets when she walks or tries to clasp her hands together. Maybe it is the voices that she hears calling to her. Maybe it is the memories that she beings to have, even though she shouldn't have them. Slowly, Jenna starts to piece together her life before the accident and the accident itself. But when she does it doesn't bring clarity; only more questions.

What did I like or not like?

Science Fiction is so interesting because obviously these circumstances aren't reality, but with ever increasing technology, these futures aren't that far outside of what is possible.

In a future where bio-engineering allows entire organs and limbs to be replaced, strict scientific boards have been formed to make sure these life-saving techniques aren't taken to an extreme. But, what if they were? The questions about bio-ethics, humanity, and how to move on that arise from this situation are really interesting to read and experience.

AdLit.org: What about The Older Ones?

At my library, we host a literacy play group every Friday. Its a time for kids to learn literacy skills in a fun environment, and a chance for moms and dads to relax while their children play. Its kind of like a play date at the library.

The program has been well attended, and kids learning about reading while they play is really cool to watch. Early literacy is something that many libraries support and work into every program that they have. Something on the same token, but that still doesn't get as much notice, is adolescent literacy.

Turns out that we focus on teaching kids how to read in grades k-3, but then we start to focus on having kids read to learn. For adolescent readers that might struggle a little bit, this shift causes them some problems.

This situation is something I didn't really think about until I looked up AdLit.org. This is a website filled with useful research, videos, podcasts, articles, and information to equip educators and parents to help adolescent readers have the literacy skills they need.

The site also includes information on getting ready for college and several reading lists. Even though I wasn't familiar with the site until recently, I'm definitely going to start checking it out.

5 Websites for Gaming at Your Library

The third Monday of each month we are planning on having a gaming program. At this point we are just thinking some video games, but it will most likely extend into card games and board games in the future.

I'd let you know more about it, but we haven't had a chance to hold one yet because Martin Luther King Day and President's Day both fell on third Mondays.

But, as I thought about video games, I figured I might as well find some websites for you. Enjoy!

IGN.com

My brother really enjoys this site for game trailers, video reviews, and best-of lists.

iLoveLibraries/gaming

This page starts with an outdated announcement, but has some great info on why libraries should play games below it.

libsuccess.org/gaming

This is a wiki on best practices for libraries, and they have a section on gaming.

Library Journals Best Video Games of 2011

That link pretty much says it :)

10 Classic Video Games You Can Play Online for Free

What is better than free? Awesome things that are free!