Anime Explosion

We're promoting Anime Club this Thursday at 6 pm! Play games, meet with fans, and watch anime! Also check out our Anime Club every Second Saturday of the month at 1 pm!

Overdrive Ebooks now on Kindle!

Those of you who have an Amazon Kindle, we have great news: Many Overdrive downloadable ebooks now work on Kindle as well! 

Go here to learn more. Go here to browse our collection.

Talk Like a Pirate Day YA Book List

It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Ahem, excuse me...

Avast ye mateys! It be the annual celebration of speaking after the manner of Buccaneer! Read these books landlubbers, unless ye wish to be run through like the scurvy dogs ye are!

Crogan's Vengeance by Christ Schweizer.

"'Catfoot' Crogan is an able-bodied mariner plying his trade for a dastardly 'legitimate' captain with a grudge against Crogan for a slight committed well before he was born. But when his ship is taken by pirates, will Crogan stay loyal to his law-abiding, if despicable, captain or will he find a new life on the high seas living by the 'Pirate's Code'"?

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

Matt, a young cabin boy aboard an airship, and Kate, a wealthy young girl traveling with her chaperone, team up to search for the existence of mysterious winged creatures reportedly living hundreds of feet above the Earth's surface. In a swashbuckling adventure reminiscent of Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson, Kenneth Oppel, author of the best-selling Silverwing trilogy, creates an imagined world in which the air is populated by transcontinental voyagers, pirates, and beings never before dreamed of by the humans who sail the skies.

Vampirates by Justin Somper

When twins Connor and Grace's ship is wrecked in a storm and Connor is rescued by pirates, he believes that Grace has been taken aboard the mythical Vampirate's ship, and he is determined to find her.

Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer

Reduced to begging and thievery in the streets of London, a thirteen-year-old orphan disguises herself as a boy and connives her way onto a British warship set for high sea adventure in search of pirates.

One Piece by Oda, Eiichiro

One Piece follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a 17-year-old boy who gains elastic abilities after inadvertently eating a supernatural fruit, and his diverse crew of pirates, named the Straw Hat Pirates. Luffy explores the ocean in search of the world's ultimate treasure known as the One Piece and to become the next Pirate King.

Piratica by Tanith Lee

A bump on the head restores Art's memories of her mother and the exciting life they led, so the sixteen-year-old leaves Angels Academy for Young Maidens, seeks out the pirates who were her family before her mother's death, and leads them back to adventure on the high seas. Escaping from the school, she hunts up her mother's crew and breezily commands them out to sea in a leaky boat. Unfortunately, Art's memories of her early life may not be accurate-her seasick crew are actors, and Art's infamous mother was the darling of the stage in a pirate drama. But fiery, pistol-proof Art soon shapes her men into the cleverest pirate crew afloat.

The Price of Freedom by A.C. Crispin

Jack Sparrow is a merchant seaman for the East India Trading Company. His ship is attacked by pirates and he is suddenly in command. He then is made commander of the ship the Wicked Wench, by Cutler Beckett who sends Jack on a voyage to an island called Zerzura to find treasure.

Steel by Carrie Vaughn

When Jill, a competitive high school fencer, goes with her family on vacation to the Bahamas, she's magically transported to an early-eighteenth-century pirate ship in the middle of the ocean.

To Catch a Pirate by Jade Parker

When Annalisa Townsend seeks revenge on the pirates who stole her father's treasure a year before, one scallywag, James Sterling, who stole a kiss on their first meeting, threatens to now also steal her heart.

Ideas for Games?

We recently got a Playstation 3, along with a new tv installed right in the Teen Scene! We'll be playing games there periodically, and I'd love your feedback! What games would be great for teens to play at the library?

Teen Gamers' Club

It's almost Thursday! Time for another night of video and board games at the Rogers Public Library!

Play Super Smash Bros, Guitar Hero and more this Thursday at 6 in the RPL Community Room.

9/11

Did your school have any assignments on the 10th anniversary of the tragic attacks on 9/11/2001? Let us know in the comments below.

Here's a few books related to 9/11 that you can find at your library:

With their eyes : September 11th, the view from a high school at ground zero

Love is the higher law
Three New York City teens express their reactions to the bombing of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and its impact on their lives and the world.

Bullyville
After the death of his estranged father in the World Trade Center on 9/11, thirteen-year-old Bart, still struggling with his feelings of guilt, sorrow and loss, wins a scholarship to the local preparatory school and there encounters a vicious bully whose cruelty compounds the aftermath of the tragedy.

The 9/11 report : a graphic adaptation
Based on the final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States

Let's roll! : ordinary people, extraordinary courage

Teen Anime Club This Saturday!

Second Saturday is Anime Club! Be sure to come and share fan art, fan fiction, and watch anime with other fans! The fun starts at 1 pm in the RPL Community Room.

Teen Movie: The Princess Bride

This Thursday at 6 pm in the Community Room, come see The Princess Bride (PG). A fun, tongue in cheek tale of heroes, damsels in distress, starring among others, Andre the Giant in his most famous role outside of Wrestlemania 3!

Teen Readers Tuesday

Our first Teen Readers Tuesday meeting is TONIGHT at 6 pm in the Community Room. Students ages 13-18 come to the Community Room and enjoy pizza and talking about your favorite (or not so favorite) books! No sign up necessary, come on down and join us!

Book Review: Smile by Raina Telgemeier



Brace Yourself

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

5 of 5 stars.

This comic/graphic novel cuts out a slice of a few years in a young girl's life, from middle school to early high school, which were dominated by a simple but momentous event: Her two front teeth being knocked out. The next few years are dominated by trips to dentists, self conscious feelings and problems with friends. It's humorous, and a lot of fun, with more than a few cringe worthy moments building up a satisfying coming of age story.

The illustrations have a cartoony but detailed and realistic, each page loaded with details. For example, our video game loving protagonist in one panel has clearly just beat Super Mario Bros 2, rather than some non-descript game. There's stories of boys and cruel girls here, ones that feel realistic. The 'dental drama' isn't a bigger than life problem, nor is the abuse Raina's friends drop on her the sort that drive her into a permanent mental depression. She simply absorbs it until one day she has the epiphany that if her friends are constantly treating her like garbage...maybe they aren't her friends. It's a story that adults, teens and middle schoolers can relate too, not a fantasy story nor a twisted mind altering dive into abstract feelings, things comics tend to lean towards. When I think of comics as a way to tell simply, straightforward entertaining stories, this is going to be one I think of.

Overall, I'll give this 5 stars, something I don't give out lightly, simply because I don't feel like there's much if anything that could make this better. I think it's worth rereading and I find it to be a fine example of a growing number of comics/graphic novels that can appeal to a non comic reader.

Interested in talking about books you like? Come to Teen Reader's Tuesday this Tuesday at 6 at the Library!