Fanboy and Goth Girl: You're Not Alone

The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga

Why did I read it?

This novel has showed up on multiple teen lists that I keep track of, so when I had a long drive to a library training ahead of me, I figured I'd get the CD book and listen to it. 

What happened?

Donnie sometimes wishes that all the jock jerks in his school would get killed by some terrorists. For absolutely no reason they trip him, beat him up, pick on him, and generally make his life miserable.

That isn't the only thing; his Mom doesn't get him at all, and the step-fascist (his Mom's new husband) got her pregnant. Now he has to hear about all the terrible things that he is doing in the context of what a terrible older brother (step-brother!) he is going to be.

The only thing that makes his life worth living is the graphic novel he is working on. Donnie is convinced that this graphic novel is the key to getting out of his small town, and show all those jock idiots who is really the boss.

Enter Kyra, the weird Goth chick who loves his graphic novel and hates the jocks as much as he does. They would be a perfect team...if she wasn't possibly serious about killing the jocks and have some disturbing problems in her own past as well.

What did I like or not like?

This book dragged me in and wouldn't let me go. Lyga does an excellent job showing two troubled characters who might have problems with each other, but still find comfort in each other's presence and direction.

Ultimately, Donnie finds that he isn't as alone as he once thought, and if you want to find out more about Kyra, you can read my post next week about Goth Girl Rising.

P.S. There is language and sexual references throughout this one. 

Bacon Number: 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon

Has anyone seen the original Footloose? Well, Kevin Bacon was in that movie and just over 70 others (according to the ever trusty and awesome Internet Movie Database). But, something that you might hear is 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon. What is that?

Basically, that is the notion that pretty much every actor in Hollywood can be connected to Kevin Bacon through movies that both have been in. For instance:

Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter appeared in Dark Shadows.

Helena Bonham Carter and Kevin Bacon appeared in Novocaine.

You get the idea. Now, it used to be that people would try to figure out these connections on their own, but now with the trusty help of Google, you can figure out any actor's "Bacon Number" by typing it into Google after an actor's or actress's name. (Hence Johnny Depp's Bacon Number is 2, and I got that by typing "Johnny Depp Bacon Number" into Google).

 If you don't know too much about Kevin Bacon, this might seem like an exercise in futility. But, I challenge you to find any actor that appears on Google's list that is more than a 4, even a 3, Bacon Number. Good luck and have fun (btw this is really fun with some crazy friends lol).

Book Fair of Death: Murder Mystery

One of the final High School programs that we did over the summer was a Murder Mystery Night. It was called Book Fair of Death, and it gave participants a chance to take on a role, and solve a mystery.

Emily Thornton was supposed to appear at a book fair and author signing at the Hayden Library, but just hours before the event, she was found dead! But, don't worry. Detective Bibliophile is on the scene, and he is going to get to the bottom of it...with a little help from the program participants.

Ultimately I got the idea and the majority of how to run this program from the Collaborative Summer Library Program 2012 Teen Summer Reading manual. They had already written the scenario, given some short character sketches, and a list of the props necessary.

The manual mentioned two different ways of running the program: getting volunteers and staff to appear as the characters in the murder mystery, and then the teens that came would just be asking questions and trying to piece together what happened. Or, the teens that came could be the characters, and try to figure out which one of them had murdered the victim. We kind of blended the two ideas with a couple staff members and volunteers mixed in with our teen participants who also played some characters.

Between examining evidence, getting statements from the characters, asking questions, and accusing someone, the program took about an hour and a half and was way too much fun! The teens really got into asking other characters questions and trying to figure out which one of them had done it.

If you would like to run a similar program, you can purchase scripts and character lists from MyMysteryParty.com, or you could get a hold of me and I could most likely share more information about the script and characters that we used =D

Stinky Cheese Man: A Fairly Stupid (Hilarious) Tale

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith

Why did I read it?

We purchased a new copy of this book (I say new because I know that we had one before, so we must have replaced it), and I couldn't help but read it, and then I couldn't help but laugh hilariously.

What happened?

This is a book that is making fun of books in general and fairy tales specifically, and that is just funny. The back cover of the book features a chicken making fun of the fact that there is an ISBN number. The dedication page is being held upside down by an elf who comments that no one reads the dedication pages anyway.

Then you get to the actual stories. Instead of being Fairy Tales, they are Fairly Stupid Tales. So Goldilocks goes into the home of three elephants instead of three bears, and can't come close to using any of their stuff because it is sssooo big!

Instead of Little Red Riding Hood, the story is Little Red Riding Shorts. Instead of The Ugly Duckling, its The Really Ugly Duckling, and then the topper is the combined story of Cinderumpelstiltskin.

What did I like or not like?

I've read The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Scieszka before, and this one is just as funny. Scieszka has a great way of staying true to the story while turning everything on its head.

The added elements of some of the characters knowing they are in a book adds another angle of hilariousness to it.

Smith, the illustrator, has a cooky style that fits right along with Scieszka's crazy stories!

Another reason I liked it is because it is short, so you can enjoy the stories without having to put too much time into it hehe.

Awesome Space Pictures: One Small Post for Me...

Anybody think that space is cool?

If you do, I think you'll appreciate these things.

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), has a website set up that gives you an Astronomy Picture of the Day. Sound boring? You should check them out!

These pictures are legit, not fabricated, and are ridiculously high quality. Another cool fact: NASA has been doing this since June 16, 1995 (if you noticed, consistently since June 20th).

A friend mentioned this site to me yesterday, and I couldn't resist sharing it =D

Something else he mentioned that blew my mind was the Kerbal Space Program. Its a game that allows you to build your own space program. Build your own rocket or shuttle with different features and parts, and see if you can get into space.There is a free demo version available, but the whole program costs $18.

Not sure if you'll find these things as interesting as I did, but I figured I might as well try hehe.

The Maze Runner: Mystery Within, Death Without

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Why did I read it?

This was the title for our TeenBookWorms group in July, but it took me a while to get a blog post up about it.

What happened?

After waking in an elevator, Thomas finds himself in The Glade, with no memory of what brought him to that point.

The Glade is a society, made up of entirely teenage boys, that depend on their own strength, wit, and ordered existence to survive in the center of an ever-changing maze, inhabited by the mysterious and deadly Grievers.

Their only chance of escape is to explore the maze, hoping that an exit presents itself. But,
their society is turned on its head when a girl arrives only days after Thomas, and claims that everything is going to change.

As if that wasn't strange enough, she is the only person that Thomas can seem to remember...from whatever happened before...

What did I like or not like?

While the book takes a little while to get going, it is totally worth it once it does. The plot is something that you aren't expecting, and the mystery surrounding what is going on keeps you guessing the whole time.

Like many Dystopian books, the characters inhabit a dangerous world, full of high-stake choices and situations,  where one false move could get you dead. This excitement is coupled with the mystery, right up until the book ends, leaving you begging for the second one, The Scorch Trials. That is what happened with me anyway hehe.

Counting Down To: Your Program

Have you ever wondered how a website gets a countdown timer on it? Ever wanted it for a program that you are having?

WEBSITE COUNTDOWN WIDGET

Well countingdownto.com lets you do it. You can either choose to create a simple widget, or an actual web page that you can link to.

Obviously, most free websites are there to make money, and this one is no exception. If you want more features, you have to pay for the lifetime membership Pro version. It gives you more color options, more text options, and doesn't have countingdownto's link at the bottom of your timer.

But, for a simple widget or link, the free version does a pretty snazzy job of giving you a feature that I know I normally don't get =D

An example of the widget is above, and here is an example of the web page. (FYI, we actually are doing a Hunger Games showing on October 20 from 6-9pm. Pizza and snacks will be provided, and we'll have a few discussion questions at the end while we're munching. This program is a part of North Idaho Reads (more info will be coming in another post, but if you want more info now, you can check out the website.)

Darth Vader and Son: What if Vader raised Luke? LOL!

Darth Vader and Son by Jeffrey Brown

Why did I read it?

I popped into work today, my second day after a two-week vacation, and my boss was checking in some new books. I recognized some of the artwork from some posts on Pinterest, and I couldn't resist reading it.

What happened?

Anybody remember Star Wars? Everybody right! =D

Well, instead of Darth Vader being reunited with his long lost son and having some problems, imagine Darth Vader raising Luke Skywalker instead.

Now, imagine that this is actually in a comic strip format and its actually for laughs instead of a serious story.

You would be imagining Darth Vader and Son, and you would be laughing a part of your body clean off!

What did I like or not like?

This collection of strips isn't very long, but it is so worth it! The author did an excellent job taking all of the quintessential lines from Star Wars, and working them into a comic situation between Darth Vader and a four-year-old Luke Skywalker.

As an example to whet your appetite, this is one of the ones I really liked:

Darth Vader is looking over the shoulder of his young son, and demands, "Luke, why aren't you ready for school? I'm here to put you back on schedule. Perhaps I can find new ways to motivate you."

Obviously it's so much better with the illustrations, but that gives you a taste of this witty collection of awesomeness :)