The Scorch Trials: Out of the Maze, Into the Fire

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

Why did I read it?

Because I couldn't stop reading the series after The Maze Runner =D

What happened?

SPOILER ALERT

While Thomas and others from The Glade thought they were finally safe...nothing could be further from the truth. It turns out that the very people who "saved" them were the very people who had put them in the maze in the beginning, and their next challenge starts now!

In the maze, the Gladers had a sense of control. They had figured out their surroundings and their was a certain amount of safety behind the walls of The Glade. But now, there is nothing protecting the Gladers from the terrifying reality of planet Earth. Apparently, huge solar flares have ravaged the surface of the planet, and if Thomas and his friends want to survive, they have to reach a haven that rests on the other side of the worst desert on the planet.

But, getting across The Scorch is going to be everything but easy. If the lightning storms don't kill them, it will be the Cranks (people who have been affected by a terrible disease called The Flare). Or will it be each other?

What did I like or not like?

Dashner does a great job of keeping this story fast-paced, exciting, and mysterious. Around each turn and new character there is danger, and slowly, ever slowly, we start getting glimpses of what might be going on here.

Thomas helps us with this as he slowly starts to remember things that happened before the Glade. But, the more he remembers, the more he wonders if he ever wants to remember at all...

While many second books suffer from a lack of story line as the author waits for the third installment, this book has plenty of action, character development, and plot. Once I got done with it, I had a hard time not reading the third and final book, The Death Cure. 

Infographic About How the Internet Works

Posted from Open-Site.org

Goth Girl Rising: Lashing Out or Moving On

Goth Girl Rising by Barry Lyga

Why did I read it?

Because I finished The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl and had to know if Kyra was going to be able to work through her problems, or if she was going to get worse...

What happened?

SPOILER ALERT

So Donnie thought that he might have unintentionally told Kyra to kill herself, so he freaked out and called her Dad who swiftly dropped her back in the mental hospital. Oh sweet!

Well, Kyra just got released, and she is still ticked at her Dad and Fanboy (Donnie)! But, she is willing to give Fanboy a chance because she really did like him, and even though he still has a lot of work to do on Schemata (his graphic novel), he understands girls better than any other boy she knows.

But, she very quickly realizes that she can't forgive Fanboy like she thought. Not only did he not write her a single email while she was imprisoned, he seemed to forget she even existed and completely move on without her. He even had the nerve to publish Schemata in the ridiculous school art paper.

So needless to say, Kyra is not happy, and she is going to stop at nothing until she has absolutely destroyed Fanboy!

What did I like or not like?

As I mentioned, I decided to read the sequel because I had to figure out what was going to happen to Kyra, and I also got totally drawn into these characters and this world. Lyga's sequel doesn't disappoint. You still have the same interaction and characters from Fanboy and Goth Girl, but instead of it being from Donnie's perspective, this time we get a peek inside of Kyra's head.

Similarly to Donnie's experience, Kyra goes through a whole bunch of things that ultimately make her realize that she isn't as alone as she might have thought. But even more ultimately, Krya finds a way to deal with her anger, and her mother's death, that is both realistic and hopeful.

P.S. Just like the first title, there is language and sexual references throughout this one.

"Five Things I've Learned" from Yours Truly

Hey everybody =D

So I was looking through the statistics on my blog yesterday, and this is my 202 post! Thank you to everyone who reads and supports me. You are awesome!

While this isn't quite a Techno Tuesday, I thought it would be cool to link to my earliest post, and give you a synopsis of what I've learned since then. 

I started posting on April 9, 2012 with a post called From Page to Librarian, which told a little bit about how I got from shelving the books to working as the Young Adult Librarian.

Since that time, I've learned quite a bit more about how to do my job, and these are some of the highlights =D

Let me preface by saying I haven't perfected any of these, and that I'm a big advocate of the first one!

1. Be Teachable

Things are always going to be changing, so be willing to roll with the punches.

2. Be Fearless

Things aren't always going to be easy, but the hard stuff often pays off.

3. Be Consistent

Things need to build on themselves, and it works really well if you get them out consistently.

4. Be Collaborative

Things don't always work in a vacuum, so ask questions and be willing to ask for help. 

5. Be Resilient

Things aren't always going to work or work out, so keep on trying.

Thanks again for reading, and here's to constantly growing and improving!

Make Your Own Pretzels

Does anybody else ever have trouble coming up with program ideas? At the end of the summer, we obviously start planning for our Fall programs, and its always a crazy time trying to figure out what we're going to be doing.

One of the programs I struggle with the most is our Play With Your Food cooking program. While I'm not totally inept in the kitchen, it is still a little intimidating to be in charge of telling kids how to cook something that is going to taste good when you are finished.

But, the programs we've done so far have been successful, fun, and have tasted pretty good, so I guess I'll just try to do what I've been doing =D

All of that to say, the first program we held for 3-5 graders this Fall was Make Your Own Pretzels. I grabbed a recipe from allrecipes.com, and went for it. Turns out that the recipe is quite fabulous, and the kids had a really good time making them.

One thing the recipe didn't mention that we tried was making our own shapes instead of everyone sticking with the traditional pretzel shape. We made chips, hearts, balls, and even a lizard.

While the program worked really well, the one problem we had was with the dough. It tended to be a little dry which made it harder to mold, but adding a little bit of extra oil seemed to help, and they turned out awesome in the end.

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).