Don't Buy It!!!

Do you think you are media savvy when it comes to buying your favorite things, like music or clothes? Check out this site--you get some really great insight into what being a smart shopper is all about!

Sharon Creech

On September 26, 2009, Sharon Creech, author of Walk Two Moons, Bloomability, Love That Dog and more gave this talk at the National Bookfest in Washington, DC. Listen to this great webcast to find out more about this famous author!

American Indians

November is a great time to read some books about American Indians:

• Arrow over the Door
• Birchbark House
• Enemy in the Fort
• Finding Providence
• Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow
•  I Am Regina
•  Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison
•  Journal of Jesse Smoke: A Cherokee Boy
• Last of the Mohicans
• Little Runner of the Longhouse
• Meet Kaya : An American Girl
• Moon of Two Dark Horses
• Night of the Full Moon
• People of the Breaking Day
• Ransom of Mercy Carter
• Return to Hawk's Hill
• Runs With Horses
• Saturnalia
• Second Bend in the River
• Sees Behind Trees
• Shadow of the Wolf
• Small Wolf
• Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving
• Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims
• Standing in the Light: The Captive Diary of Catherine Carey Logan
• Tapenum's Day: A Wampanoag Indian Boy in Pilgrim Times
• Trail of Tears
• Trouble at Fort la Pointe
• Weetamoo, Heart of the Pocassets: Massachusetts-Rhode Island, 1653
• Winter People
• Wintering
• Pocahontas and the Strangers
• Sing Down the Moon
• Streams to the River, River to the Sea
• The Sign of the Beaver

Next Reads

Did you know about NextReads? You can sign up to receive news of the latest books for Tweens directly to your email account!

Guardians of Ga' Hoole

Remember the young barn owl Twilight and his friends Soren, Gylfie and Digger? Well here is something to look forward to--the movie version of the Guardians of Ga' Hoole ! Based on the book series by Kathryn Lasky, the movie is scheduled for release in September 2010.

Looking for a good read this fall?

Fall is a great time to snuggle up with a good book. But what if you aren't sure what to read next? Maybe it is time to revisit some older titles by some of our favorite authors. Follow this link to a list Amazon has compiled of "Best Books for Tweens" .

Save the date !

Tween Movie night !!!!!

"CORALINE"
November 4th

7:00 pm

Halloween is coming!

We just added some great Halloween reads and fun links to the Tween webpage! Don't forget the old favorites : Scary Stories and More Scary Stories; Scary States of America; That's Ghosts for You:13 Scary Stories; Undone-More Mad Endings and The Scary Story Reader-41 of the scariest stories... 

Warriors by Erin Hunter

Follow this link for a great web site dedicated to the

Warriors Series by Erin Hunter ! Did you know she was

actually three people????????

Back to School

Hello Tweens! We hope you had a great first week back to school ! Fall is exciting, and getting off to a good start is important. Thorughout the year, you will be doing research projects, booktalks and DEAR time. Don't forget to use the public library as a resource for anything you might need. We have a fantastic selection of biographies, books on endangered species, the civil war, the environment, character education, World War I and II, the US Constitution and much more. You can search our catalog online and reserve books from home. Our fiction collection grows every day with exciting new authors and titles you won't want to miss. We know you are busy--but don't forget to stop in to visit us !

Book reviews

Calling all Tweens !!! We are in need of a few good book reviews! If you are in the middle of a great read, think about writing a book review for your friends (and of course, us). It doesn't have to be long, just include the title, author, a brief summary of the book, and of course your opinion of it. You can include a list of similar books by the same author, or a different author, if you would like. Submit your reviews online to mpiccoline@bernards.org, or you can hand deliver them to us at the circualtion desk.

Fractured Fairy Tales

Have some fun with this fractured fairy tale of Leaping Beauty!!!

Enj

New Fall Books are Here!

Just wanted to let you all know that Al Capone Shines My Shoes, by Gennifer Choldenko is here, but probably not for long. If you can't get your hands on it right away, don't worry, there are plenty of other great new books to choose from. Here's just a few:




NERDS: National Espionage, Rescue and Defense Society by Michael Buckley

Notes from the Dog by Gary Paulsen

Everything for a Dog byAnn M. Martin

Jasper Dash and the Flame-Pits of Delaware: A Pals in Peril Tale by M.T. Anderson



Don't forget: Diary of a Wimpy Kid #4 is due out in October!

Anthony Horowitz, part 2

Listen to the author Anthony Horowitz

Thanks to all who came out for the end of summer Tween get together. We had fun, and appreciate all of your feedback from the survey. Some of the programs you strongly indicated you would like to see at the library are movie nights, crafts, game nights, music and photography programs. We'll do our best to plan some of these for the fall. Keep reading the blog for updates ! And yes, this is a real photograph. You may have seen it on the news recently. This couple was on vacation, set their camera up for a shot, and had a visitor that was more than curious about the camera! This took place in Canada.

End of Summer Tween event

Hey Tweens! Believe it or not, we need to start preparing for the summer wrap up event. We would like to hear from you ! Any and all ideas as to what you would like to do will be welcome. Also, we would like your input as to what you Tweens are looking for in library programs for the fall and winter. Your opinions count, so please let us know by commenting on the blog, coming in to visit us, or emailing us at mpiccoline@bernards.org!

Summer fun !

I have been on vacation with my family, but I am back and happy to hear so many of you had a great time at our Tween programs. The T-shirts look super, and the balloon fun sounds like it was a blast! We were in the Florida Keys--check out this visitor we had at the pool one day!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid #4 is Coming!

Mark your calenders! Greg makes his return in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days on October 12th. I know you are all dying to see what Greg gets mixed up in this time around. All I know so far is that the book is about Greg's summer vacation. You can go the Wimpykid.com for more information.

Paint a T-Shirt a Big Success

Thanks to all the tweens who attended our paint a t-shirt craft on Tweens Night last Wednesday. As you can see, the creativity was flowing and the shirts were all fantastic. I put my shirt through the wash and it still looks great.

We are looking forward to seeing you all tonight for the balloon animals workshop. And don't forget, we will be showing the movie Inkheart this Friday, July 24th at 1:30 p.m. Don't miss it!

Book reviews

If you have read a really good book this summer, please let us know. We would love to publish your reviews on the blog, so submit them to us ASAP !

Duct tape sandals

It was great seeing everyone Wednesday making duct tape sandals! What creativity you all have--some really neat sandals were made and worn home that night! Hope to see all of you when we paint our ouwn designs on T shirts next week--what fun!

Bookwink--Booktalks for Tweens

Check out our new addition to the blog--Bookwink-- The mission of Bookwink is to inspire kids to read. Through podcasting and web video, Bookwink connects kids in Grades 3 through 8 with books that will make them excited about reading. The videos are approximately 3 minutes long and are updated monthly. Each video booktalk is about a different topic, and additional read-alikes can be found on the Bookwink website. You can look for books by subject, grade level, author or title. They are constantly updating the book lists with our newest favorite books.

Tween Yoga

Thanks to all of our Yoga tweens for coming out last night !
Practice Yoga at home with this video:

Attention Baseball Fans: Visit an eMuseum This Summer

I went to a Newark Bears baseball game this weekend and at the stadium there was a traveling exhibit from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. It was really facinating and I thought, "I would love to visit this museum". Unfortunately, the muesum is in Kansas City, Missouri (that's far). Luckily, we can travel there from the comfort of our own homes by visiting the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum's eMuseum. It's chock full of great stuff like player and team profiles, interview videos and a large photo archive and more. A great companion to this wonderful website is the equally wonderful book

We Are The Ship, by Kadir Nelson. It's fantastic summer reading.

Moose Crossing in September

Another book to keep an eye out for this fall is Al Capone Shines My Shoes, Gennifer Choldenko's sequel to the wonderful Al Capone Does My Shirts. I was lucky enough to get a copy and it's just as good as the first one. So if you're a fan of Moose and company, the book will be available September 8th and you can visit Gennifer Choldenko's website for a small excerpt. If you've never read Al Capone Does My Shirts, do yourself a favor and put in on your summer reading list, right now!

Keep an Eye out for Grandma Dowdel

Grandama Dowdel, the surly senior from A Long Way from Chicago and A Year down Yonder will be back in another tale by Richard Peck called A Season of Gifts. It's due out September 17th, so fans of the other books should keep a lookout for it.

Have you joined the summer reading club yet? Be Creative @ Your Library

TWEEN WEDNESDAYS

Starting June 24th @ the Library, TWEEN WEDNESDAYS @ 7pm
activities for you!

What's next for Rick Riordan ?

Find out what Rick Riordan has up his sleeve after The Last Olympian.

Interested in making an Origami crane? Follow this video...

What is a blog ?

For all of you wondering just what is a blog, the following short video will help explain it!

Nutmeg Awards - Books for grades 4-8 !!

In February, 2009 the Connecticut Library Association and the Connecticut Association of School Librarians announced the 2009 book awards for Tween readers. The Nutmeg Award encourages tweens from grades 4 - 8 to read quality literature, and choose their favorites from a list of ten nominated titles. So, if you are stuck for good reading suggestions, check out the Nutmeg Awards !!!!

Intermediate Level: 22380 student votes
4207 votes **MVP: Magellan Voyage Project by Douglas Evans
3270 votes The Homework Machine by Dan Gutman
3229 votes Shakespeare's Secret by Elise Broach
2625 votes Blood on River by Elise Carbone
2558 votes Three Good Deeds by Vivian Vande Velde
1673 votes Eager by Helen Fox
1520 votes Free Baseball by Sue Corbett
1440 votes Gossamer by Lois Lowry
1352 votes Golden and Grey by Louise Arnold
506 votes Close Encounters of a Third World Kind by Jennifer J. Stewart

Savvy by Ingrid Law

Ingrid law's debut book Savvy is one not to miss ! Already being made in to a movie, this book is sure to be one you will want to read this summer !

What programs would Tweens like to see happen at our library?

We would love your opinions and suggestions as to what events you would most likely attend at the library, and what time of the week would be best for you. Here is your chance to help us plan exciting events---Just for Tweens!!!!!

Like a book with great heroines?

Do you like a book with a great heroine as the main character? These are surely to be winners!

• Rules by Cynthia Lord : An unsentimental take on growing up in a family with an autistic sibling.
• Mabel Riley : A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril and Romance History, adventure and women's rights
• Fairest by Gail Carson Levine : Fantasy charms with a refreshingly homely heroine.
• Hattie Big Sky : teen girl homesteads alone in this Newbery winner.

Aurora County All Stars

I'm listening to Deborah Wiles new book Aurora County Allstars, and what a great book! If you like baseball, firendship, mystery, and a little poetry, i recommend this book !

Have you seen X Men Wolverine yet?

Check out the trailer!

Yoga for Tweens

A new session of Yoga for Tweens has been added for May 20th ! Sign up now online or call the circulation desk at 908-204-3031 extension 5.

How to Steal a Dog Booktalk

Click to Play

Booktalk

Olives Ocean booktalk

Click to Play

Fairies, Dragons and Sorcerers

Fairies, Dragons and Sorcerers

I love to read books about magical places and people - fairies, dragons, sorcerers, you name it! Whether it’s a Juvenile, Young Adult or Adult Fiction title, if it’s a good read I’ll check it out. Here are some of my recommendations (alphabetical by author) to help you pass the time over Spring break. Let me know what you think!

Fairie Wars by Herbie Brennan
The Dark is Rising Series by Susan Cooper
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
I, Coriander by Sally Gardiner
His Dark Materials Series by Philip Pullman

Welcome !

Welcome to the Tween blog at the Bernards Township Library ! Just for tweens (come on, you know you are special) we'll have the first word on new books and the best books for you. We will also have book reviews, book talks (here is where we'll ask for your help !) , list events at the library just for you, and ask for your opinions on just about anything ! So join the blog and lets have some fun !