Recommended Reads: Flight

This week, we're recommending a book that is kind of controversial. Actually, to be more specific, it's not so much the BOOK that is controversial but the author, Sherman Alexie. Alexie, whom you might know from reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has recently been accused of inappropriate behavior towards women  - allegations which he has chosen not to fully respond to.

So, if this is a deal breaker to you, you can stop here and we'll be cool with that.
Since YCLD doesn't censor books or limit what you are allowed to check out, we're going to recommend Flight (<--- click the link to go to the library's catalog and find a copy) to you for a couple of very good reasons. First, it's one of the books that was chosen this year to be part of the Great Stories Book Club (our library is one of only two in Arizona that was chosen to be part of this club this year!) and second, it's a REALLY good book.

Honestly. I 100% did not think I was going to like this book when I picked it up because it's pretty different from what I usually read, but I was seriously hooked from the first couple of pages. I'm not going to lie - some of the language and subject matter in the story is tough to read, and it's not going to be for everyone's tastes.

The story is basically this: Zits is a half Native-American, half Irish kid in the foster system. He's been in and out of juvie a bunch of times because, as he will tell you himself, he hates everyone - especially himself. He keeps getting kicked out of foster homes because of his attitude, and as the story begins he's just gotten kicked out of his latest one for cussing out his foster dad on his first day there. Zits gets picked up by the cops, and meets a kid his age named Justice who instantly becomes his new best friend. They run away together, and Justice convinces Zits to do something INCREDIBLY stupid: using a couple of guns Justice has gotten his hands on, they plan to rob a bank.

Not to spoil things too much for you, but things go REALLY, REALLY, super wrong and Zits gets himself shot.... and as he is dying, something amazing happens: he gains the ability to time-travel. Downside: he can only time travel by jumping into someone else's body, and he has no control over whose body it is or what time period he ends up in. I won't say much more about it, but things get weird fast, and Zits ends up learning a LOT about himself and other people. That's all I am going to say about it so I can avoid mega-spoilers, but it's definitely a good read.

Official rating: 4/4 Booker Bears

Recommended Reads: Kindred - A Graphic Novel Adaptation

Kindred (the graphic novel version of the novel by Octavia Butler) asks a really interesting and difficult to answer question: would you save the life of an ancestor who you know is a pretty terrible person just to make sure you could be born? Of course, none of us would ever be in that actual situation, but it is the exact situation the main character, Dana, finds herself in.

You see, Dana is a black woman living in the 1970's with a pretty serious problem: she keeps getting sucked back in time to the days when slavery was legal - and every time it happens it is because she has to save the life of her great-great-great grandfather: a man she knows was a slave owner who forced her slave ancestor to have children with him. If Dana ever decides NOT to save his life, there's a pretty good chance she will never actually be born - or at the very least she could get stuck in the past for the rest of her life, and have to live as a slave.

Each time Dana gets pulled back in time, horrible things seem to happen: she even loses one of her arms, as she tells us in the first pages of the book. Yes, some of the stuff that happens to Dana put the "graphic" in graphic novel, but they are things that really happened to real slaves in our country's past. The book really makes you wonder how far a person can be willing to go to survive. You can borrow it at the link ---> here.

Official rating: 4/4 Booker Bears.

Featured Artist: Dani

Our artist of the week this week is Dani. She made us this awesome pencil sketch of Rider from the Splatoon manga! Excellent work Dani!

Rider from Splatoon by Dani

If you want to read all about Rider's adventures, you can check out the Splatoon manga from your nearest library. Check it out here: Splatoon at YCLD

Featured Artist: Melina Flores

This week's featured work of art comes to us from Melina Flores who drew this awesome picture of Tsuyu from the My Hero Academia anime and manga. Great job Melina!

Tsuyu from My Hero Academia by Melina Flores

If you want to check out Melina's inspiration for this work of art, check out the My Hero Academia manga from your nearest library! They're available here: My Hero Academia at YCLD

Featured Artist: Lilith Trip

This week's featured artwork is a pencil sketch by Lilith Trip. It's fan art from Deltarune and we think it's amazing! In case you do not know, Deltarune is a video game, and is a spin off of Undertale.

By the way, Lilith has an Instagram for her art, @TheDemonWolf1548 so give her a follow to show her some support. 

Great job Lilith!

Pencil sketch by Lilith Trip.

If you want to submit art for our blog, drop it off in person at your nearest library's teen room, or e-mail us a high resolution Jpeg scan at teen@yumalibrary.org

Recommended Reads: Ask Again Later

Ask Again Later is a funny book about a girl with a lot of problems. Firs off, her name is Heart LaCoeur (la coeur is French for "the heart" so her name is literally Heart The Heart you guys!). Second, she has vowed NEVER to be in a relationship because she does not want to be like her mom, who got pregnant and married at a young age and ended up leaving the family when Heart was little. Third, two guys have asked her to prom. That last one doesn't sound like that bad of a problem, except that Heart really doesn't want to go with either of them, she wants to stick to her plan of going to prom with a big group of friends and have a great time. But, she feels REALLY bad about saying no to either of them, because one is just a really nice, sweet guy from drama who she's friends with, and the other is her brother's best friend who has just been dumped by his long-time girlfriend. 

Heart can't make up her mind who to go with, so she flips a coin to see what she should do - and that's when things get weird. Basically, the book is told on two separate time lines - you get to read what happens when Heart says yes to her theater friend AND what happens when she says yes to her brother's best friend. Both turn out to be basically the prom from her nightmares - with the added complication that one of her best friends may actually have a huge crush on her, and may have been planning to ask her to prom himself. 

It's a really fun, lighthearted read and you can download it from Hoopla Digital with your library card. 

Official rating: 2/4 Booker Bears. 

Program Review - Financial Planning After High School

On Thursday, November 8th of 2018 the teen room hosted a program presented by Business Librarian Andrew Zollman on financial planning after high school for teens. Teen Blog contributor Nina Hook was at that program and this is what she thought of it.

******

"I am constantly anxious about the future. I think it’s very easy to get caught up thinking about years to come, and how you are going to figure everything out. While the future is unknown, and there is no reason to fret about it, there are ways to plan accordingly to give you the best future possible. 

I recently attended a talk about financial plans after high school for teens at the Yuma County Library and it truly opened my mind to so many options that I didn’t even realize I had. It helped me understand the infinite number of roads the future as in store for me. With the immense variety of topics we covered, this talk was applicable to any and every teen! 

Also, the discussion was great because it answered so many questions that I didn’t even think I needed to ask! There is so much to living on your own that teens don’t even realize. While it was realistic, it helped me understand what I was getting in to, so I could succeed. 

I am pretty set on going to Tennessee for college. I cannot begin to express how much this discussion helped me on figuring out every inch of my move concerning my finances. There were things brought up that I did not even realize were going to financially affect me and my lifestyle. In addition to helping me figure out my financial plans, the discussion shared many helpful tips to help my budget!

Overall, there are 101 ways to get to where you want to go! But I highly recommend figuring out your financial situation before graduating so you can be as prepared as possible. There are so many things unknown to us teenagers, that information like the one I got from the discussion, is vital. 

~Submitted by Nina Hook.

Recommended Reads: The Mermaid Upstairs

The book “The Mermaid Upstairs” by Jami Lilo easily captivated me from the first chapter. The riveting, unique story keeps you on edge throughout the whole book while the realistic aspects relate to your everyday life!

As a teenager, the main character, who is around my age, has a very different life than mine. Nevertheless, I found myself relating to her in so many ways. Rules, boys, and school have never felt so relatable before. The perfect mix of fantasy and reality is found in “The Mermaid Upstairs” and I read the book faster than any before. The anticipation, love, and imagination that was poured into this book is not only eye catching, but mind catching. 

The use of detail to describe the overwhelming change in the protagonist’s life makes the reader feel as if they are experiencing it themselves, without boring them with useless information. When reading in my everyday life, I find myself drifting away from the words due to the overuse of details. However, in “The Mermaid Upstairs” the amount of detail used created an intricate image in my mind while keeping me on focus with the book. The interesting, vivid use of details help the reader zone into the fantasy of the book, while relating to the character’s very real, true problems that many teenage girls have. 

“The Mermaid Upstairs” relates to teenage girls my age and helps us realize we are not alone in our problems with boys, school, family issues, and other similar problems. It shows us the importance of family, to respect your parents, and to be true to yourself in an interesting, fantasy-like way. Showing the true importance of family is often not seen in teenage books, whose main focus is typically romance. However, “The Mermaid Upstairs” captures the importance of family, romance, and friendship all in one. It truly relates, entertains, and shows the morals needed in this world to all, especially the teenage age group. I highly recommend reading it, for it will give you a completely new perspective. 

Submitted by Nina Hook.

(Hi guys - this is Elia. Just letting you know that we do not have this book at the Library at this time, but Nina liked it so much I will do my best to order it for the teen room so we have it to check out! Keep an eye on the catalog to see when it is in!)

Shoutout to Yuma Catholic High School!

At the end of November the Main Library's teen room hosted over 100 students from Yuma Catholic High School. They came in to get brand new library cards and tour the building, which some of them had never been in before! They also learned how to navigate the library's website and catalog with a little quiz the library staff made up for them.
We just wanted to take a minute and tell them we appreciate them stopping in and we hope we see them a lot more in the future! Hope you enjoy using your new library cards guys!

Teachers - if you would like us to come visit your Middle School or High School classes, we would be more than happy to! E-mail us at teen@yumalibrary.org for more information!

Recommended Reads: Binti

     Sometime in the distant future, Binti, a girl from the African Himba tribe, is such a gifted mathematician that she has become the first of her people to be given a scholarship to the prestigious Oomza University.
    The problem is, Himba people do NOT leave their tribe. EVER. Tribal tradition is very strict and no one, especially no girl, has ever left their land - let alone gotten on a space ship and flown across the galaxy to the Oomza University planet. But Binti knows she has to do this. It is her dream, and nothing is going to stop her - so she leaves without telling anyone where she is going.
    And that's when the trouble starts. Binti's school ship is attacked by the warlike Meduse - a race that is at war with Oomza University because of something very precious the school stole from them long ago. Everyone on the ship is killed and Binti is now more alone than ever, forced to fight for her life against creatures who don't understand her, and think of her as nothing more than an animal, or worse.

Binti is the first book in a trilogy, and bonus - each book is super short so you can read the whole trilogy super fast. Even though it's short there is a lot to the story though, and it will definitely keep you interested throughout. If anything, I thought maybe the story was TOO short, and the author wrapped the first book up too fast, I wanted to keep reading.
You can find Binti as a book from the Main Library at the link here, or as an audio book from Hoopla Digital .

Official Rating: 3/4 Booker Bears!

Escape Rooms Are Back at Main Library!

One of out most popular programs in the teen department is back: Mrs. Eva Cervantes is bringing back her super fun monthly escape rooms, each month with a different theme.

The program returned on October 17th with a spooky themed room just in time for Halloween. 18 teens were given 45 minutes to work together to solve a series of puzzles with themes like Dracula and Edgar Allen Poe and tried their best to unlock multiple locks to get to a treasure hidden inside the lock-box. (The treasure was candy, and who doesn't want free candy)!

In the end, the teens managed to complete the escape with just about 3 minutes left on the clock! Good job to everyone who participated.

If you missed the October escape room, make sure you stop by for the November room, which will run at 4:00 PM on Wednesday, November 14th, 2018. The theme will be Harry Potter. Mrs. Cervantes is also planning a Nightmare Before Christmas themed room for December! The date on that one will be decided soon.

They made it with 3 minutes, 16 seconds to spare!

Recommended Reads: Dead Girls Don't Lie

If you love mysteries, and are looking for something with a great plot twist, we recommend Dead Girls Don't Lie by Jennifer Shaw Wolf.
It's not a new book, it's been out since 2013, but it is definitely one we would call a "hidden gem."

The plot goes like this: Jaycee had a best friend named Rachel. They grew up together in a really small town, and were pretty much inseparable until Rachel (who is half Mexican in a town where being Mexican is NOT considered a good thing to be) started hanging out with some local gang members and changing basically everything about herself and keeping secrets from Jaycee. Then something horrible happens: Rachel is shot dead, in what SEEMS to be a gang-related drive-by shooting. This is the second gang-related death of a teenager in the small town - the first was a teenage boy who had been hanging out with Rachel and her gang friends.
Then Jaycee gets a text - from Rachel. The text basically lets Jaycee known that Rachel's death is not what it seems to be, and that a lot of people in town are keeping some really dark secrets, including Rachel and Jaycee's mutual crush and his two brothers (one of whom is a Sheriff). Rachel's message tells Jaycee the only person who can be trusted is a guy named Eduardo, a known gang member with a rap sheet. Jaycee knows she needs to figure out what really happened to her BFF, but she is not only dealing with her first real relationship, but she's hiding some secrets herself - and if they get out her life could be in danger too.

This book is definitely a mystery with a lot of twists and turns. It kept me guessing until almost the very end, and then the twist ending was totally unexpected. It is available to check out from the library in both regular book and e-book here: Dead Girls Don't Lie at YCLD.

Official Rating: We give it 3 out of 4 Booker Bears!

Reviewed by: Elia, Teen Services Manager

Featured Artist: Angel Lander

This week's featured work of art was created for us by Angel Lander who tells us this is an original character she created based on the video game Undertale. She calls the character "Arial Bold." AMAZING!

Featured Artist: Aidean Garcia

This week's featured artist is Aidean Garcia who drew himself as a Super Saying from Dragon Ball! Very nice job Aidean! We love it!

Featured Artist: Pablo Sanchez

This week's featured art is an amazing pencil drawing by Pablo Sanchez!

Congratulations Pablo! For the rest of this week, your art will be our blog's background image!

Program Review: Debit, Credit and Alternative Forms of Payment

On Thursday, August 16th, Business Librarian Andrew Zollman took over the teen room at the Main Library to host a program about finances for teens. This is the first program in a series of financial classes on different topics specially for teens. Blogger Nina Hook was at the program and she tells us what she thought.

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"As teenagers, most of us are learning responsibility little by little from the things we do wrong and the praise we get when we do right. However, one of the biggest responsibilities in life that sometimes never gets taught is money management.

On a Thursday evening, I attended an informational session on credit, debit, and cash for teenagers that really opened my mind and gave me a new perspective. Walking in, I felt confident in my responsibility and my knowledge on the subject, but walking out, I had a new perspective due to all the important pieces of information that I hadn’t known.

The program hit on the vital basic knowledge of credit, debit, and cash while diving deeper into tips and tricks, like when to use what. The basic knowledge was so important to understanding the concepts and ideas that came later. In addition, knowing when to use what truly helped me realize how much better I could be managing my money.

The session touched on subjects from basic credit card formats to money markets and how to keep a high credit score. For teenagers, this is such a helpful approach because every teenager is at a different level when it comes to their prior knowledge of money management.

The second I got home, I ran to my dad to tell him how much I’ve learned in just a short hour and how I wanted to start another savings account with a higher interest rate to save for college, or my adulthood, and other similar things. This idea sprung to my head during the informational when the speaker informed us about the importance of a savings account with a high interest rate, especially if you are wanting more long-term growth. My dad, surprised as ever, was very eager and happy to look into it for me and very grateful for the informational I attended.

Young adults often have crazy busy lives and already plenty of responsibilities, but we often forget that there are so many more important things to learn. There are things to learn that are applicable to our lives right now and their importance should not be underestimated. Money management through credit, debit, and cash truly opened my eyes to a new perspective. It encouraged me to get a financial start on my life now and I highly encourage that you take that opportunity too. "

Submitted by Nina Hook. 

*****

Andrew Zollman will be offering his next program in our teen finance series on Thursday, September 20th in the teen room at Main Library. This session will focus on the different types of banks out there and the different types of accounts they offer. The program is for ages 13-18 but parents are welcome too if they are accompanied by a teen. 

Featured Artist: Andres Felix

These ARE the droids we were looking for!

Congratulations to Alex Felix, who is our artist of the week! Andres, your art will be our blog background for this week. Great job!

Star Wars Droids by Andres Felix

Featured Artist: Andy Monteverde

Check out this amazing drawing of Goku in Super Saiyan form by local teen Andy Monteverde! We think it's pretty awesome!

Congratulations Andy, you're our Artist of the Week! For the rest of this week, your drawing will be used as the blog background image! WOOT!

Super Saiyan Goku by Andy Monteverde

Caption This - August Contest

Every month, our blog will host a "Caption This" contest. Give us your best, funniest caption for the month's featured photo. The teen staff will pick their three favorite captions and they will be featured here on the blog. Comment your caption below, e-mail it to us or send it in via e-mail to teen@yumalibrary.org

August's featured picture:

Caption This!

And The Winner Is........

We have a winner for our "caption this" contest for July!

Check the picture below for the winners and the runners up!

The winning caption: "My Fortnight Squad!"

Other captions that made us laugh:
"The Jedi Reporgblick."
"The Porgs Awaken."
"When you're the only one to show up in a costume...."

Check back next week for a new contest!

Inside the Pages - A Poem

Inside the Pages

By: Jasmine Perez

     I have scanned nearly every possible

shelf in each bookstore and library

and have never experienced a book

that has warned me about the tragic dark stages

of life;

a book that also reminds

me of all the light in myself.

  But I don’t blame the authors

for the misleading lies about life.

I blame life for being so

unpredictable

that one cannot shove the meanings

of life

into words stuffed into a book

and placed onto dusty bookshelves.

  A book written about life

and it’s aspects would never perish;

the pages would never dissolve into the floorboards

of an empty forgotten attic,

waiting to be remembered.

 Life, as a really good book

never fades.

Caption This - July Contest

Every month, our blog will host a "Caption This" contest. Give us your best, funniest caption for the month's featured photo. The teen staff will pick their three favorite captions and they will be featured here on the blog. Comment your caption below, e-mail it to us or send it in via e-mail to teen@yumalibrary.org

July's featured picture: 

Caption this!

What I Love About the Library - by a Teen Volunteer

Coziness, kindness, and clarity are just a few words to describe the library and all it brings. 

Being a teen myself, I always want time away from home, friends, and all the stress and drama of life, making the library the best place to get my mind off things. Not only can teens benefit from the selection of books, movies, and magazines, they can also benefit from the atmosphere that makes you feel at home and allows you to escape your troubles. 

Reading is something that transports you and expands your knowledge and imagination. Reading makes you who you are, and helps you grow. However, I truly need peace and quiet to allow reading to grow my imagination and transport me to many different places. Though peace and solitude are rarely found in busy lives, the library helps you gain the much needed space and explore worlds unknown. 

Teens can gain much by meeting new people with similar interests as well! The library is full of people who want and crave the same things you do. While quietness can be achieved, so can expanding your horizons by meeting people that you can connect with. The summer reading program for children, teens, and adults is a great example of how reading and music can truly speak to people and bring them together.

I volunteer twice a week at the library and I can truly see children’s minds expanding and growing due to not only the great reading time, but the making of new friends. Reading expands their imagination and creativity but meeting new friends that have the same interests as them makes them feel comfortable and happy. Seeing smiley children talking about their favorite books and truly connecting is a beautiful sight to see. 

The best of both worlds can easily be achieved for kids of all ages due to the ability to connect with others while still having tranquility and peace. In addition, the immense variety of all different types of books, magazines, and even movies truly help children find their passion and can expand their imagination immensely. For myself, my favorite part about reading is the ability to be completely taken captive by the characters, settings, and plots of the book. The library truly helps you transport yourself to worlds unknown and allows you to indulge in foreign places, people, and stories. The peaceful, welcoming environment helps you truly find your place, whether that is inside a book or connecting with others! 

Submitted by Nina Hook, Library Volunteer

Welcome to Our New Blog!

Welcome to the TeenXing!

It's pronounced "teen-zing" btw, and it stands for Teen Crossing. It's the new Teen Blog for the Yuma County Library District with content created by the Teen Services staff (for now) and the teens themselves (eventually)!

We will be posting all kinds of content - everything from artwork to essays to fanfic as well as games, contests, book recommendations and silly stuff.

So, welcome, watch this space for updates, and send us submissions of things you would like to see either by leaving us a comment below or by e-mailing us at teen@yumalibrary.org. We're looking forward to sharing your work and your thoughts with the world!