Back to School Survival Books for Tweens and Teens

Summer break is over and we survived the first week of school. Yay! We are all excited, right? Anyways, teens go through a lot. And I mean a lot! From starting out as a freshman, having relationship problems, being bullied, and getting ready to graduate and even prom. Here are some books you can find at the Richmond Public Library to get you through the school year.

YA Fiction Lyga The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy & Goth Girl by Barry Lyga	YA Fiction Gallo On the Fringe by Donald Gallo	YA Fiction Going Kings of the Screwups by K.L. Going
YA Fiction Medina  Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina	YA Fiction Rowell  Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell	YA Fiction Gownley  The Tweenage Guide to Not Being Unpopular  by Jimmy Gownley
YA Fiction Ehrenhaft  Drawing a blank, or, How I tried  to solve a mystery, end a feud, and land the girl of my dreams by Daniel Ehrenhaft	YA Fiction John  Five Flavors of Dumb  by Antony John	JUV Fiction Dowell  The Secret Language of Girls  by Frances O'Roark Dowell
JUV Fiction Yee  Bobby vs. Girls (accidentally) by Lisa Lee	YA Fiction Hartinger Geography Club  by Brent Hartinger	YA Fiction Ziegler  How Not to Be Popular  by Jennifer Ziegler
YA Fiction Halpern  Into the Wild Nerd Yonder   by Julie Halpern	JUV/YA Fiction Patterson  Middle School, the Worst Years of My Life  by James Patterson	JUV/YA Fiction Patterson  Middle School: Get Me out of Here!  by James Patterson
JUV/YA Fiction Patterson  Middle School: My Brother Is a Big, Fat Liar  by James Patterson	YA Fiction Koss  Poison Ivy   by Amy Goldman Koss	YA Fiction Sewell  If I Were Your Boyfriend (Kimani Tru)  by Earl Sewell

Teen Tech Week -Check In @ your library!

During Teen Tech Week™ (March 10 - 16, 2013), the Richmond Public library invites you to Check In @ your library! 
With this year's theme, Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) wants to encourage libraries to open their physical and virtual doors to teens and showcase the outstanding technology they offer, from services such as online homework help and digital literacy-focused programs to resources like e-books, audiobooks, databases and more.

Here at RPL, we want the teens to experience all of the programs RPL has to offer.

Teen Tech Week will be celebrated at the Main and North Avenue Branches. There are so many exciting things to do, from the digital art contest to exploring new technology trends in an open laptop computer lab. You can find out more information by going to the Events Calendar on the library's website or call both branches for more details.

Here are some "cool" things to do on your own during Teen Tech Week.

• Follow us on our Social Media Outlets (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr).
• Visit the library's Events Calendar for programs.
• Use Overdrive to access eBooks and Audiobooks.
• Try out a book-focused website like GoodReads, LibraryThing or Shelfari.
• Start a Teen Tech Club at your school or public library.
• Read and contribute to a blog about technology.
• Join a Teen Advisory Group (Main) or Teen Advisory Board (North Avenue).
• Use our databases located on the library's website.
• Volunteer at your library.
• Share ideas for the new teen page.
• Have a smartphone? Learn a new app.

Tween and Teen Reads with Natasha

Halloween is creeping around the corner and we have some good Halloween reads for you. From new to classic and from creepy to funny -- you decide. Even though Teen Read Week is almost over, this is still a perfect opportunity to take a look at some of these titles. 

Teens

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake 
Cas Lowood has a special gift: he kills the dead. He inherited this gift from his father, who was gruesomely executed by a ghost whom he was trying to kill. Now Cas is carrying on where his father left off, along with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit sniffing cat. 

They arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood. She was brutally murdered in 1958 and she still wears the white dress she died in.  This ghost is not your ordinary ghost and Cas has never experienced anything like her before. She is a dangerous ghost who is possessed by rage and will kill anyone who dares to step into the abandoned Victorian place she calls home, except for Cas.

Expect to see in our collection soon the sequel, Girl of Nightmares.

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff 

In the small town of Gentry, there is a sixteen-year-old boy named Mackie Doyle. He is known as a Replacement, a fairy child who replaced a human child when he was just an infant. His adopted parents know what he is as well, but no one talks about it. He wants to fit in, but he is slowly dying in the human world. He becomes interested in a girl named Tate. When Tate's baby sister goes missing, it is up to Mackie to save the young girl by going to the place where he truly belongs, the underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem. This is a place where a tattooed princess rules over living dead girls. He must face the creatures in the underground world and find out where he truly belongs.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Check out my previous mentions of the book here: Tween and Teen Reads with Natasha, June 28th.

Tweens

Prince of Dorkness: More Notes from a Totally Lame Vampire by Tim Collins 
If you like the Diary of the Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, you may like this book. 
Nigel Mullet has new found vampire abilities and he is finally happy and popular in school. He has a girlfriend named Chloe, but a new guy, Jason, ends up stealing Chloe from Nigel and that is when everything goes downhill. Nigel is bullied by his little sister and is losing his popularity at school. Desperate, Nigel decides to spy on Jason and follows him into the woods one day. He finds out a horrifying secret about Jason: he and his family are werewolves!
Will this secret help him win Chloe back or just make him even more lame? 
This book is the sequel to Notes from a totally lame vampire : because the undead have feelings too!. 

Something Wicked this Way Comes by Ray Bradbury 
In this timeless 1962 classic, a mysterious carnival arrives in a Midwestern town. Everything seems normal at first; there are many attractions, rides, mazes and sideshow tents. But soon people start disappearing and thirteen year old James Nightshade and William Halloway are suspicious of the carnival owner, Mr.Dark. No one will listen to the two boys when weird things continue to happen. The only person who believes them is William's father, a janitor at the local library. Will James and William be able to save the rest of the people in the town?


For more classic Halloween reads, read The Halloween Tree and by Ray Bradbury.

The Graveyard Book  by Neil Gaiman

A lonesome baby is the only survivor after a gruesome attack on his family. Left alone, the toddler leaves the house and ends up in a graveyard where ghosts find him.The ghosts, the Owens, decide to keep him and he is known as "Nobody Owens."
Soon the toddler grows up and the story revolves around him as he befriends a girl named Scarlett Perkins and convinces her mother that he is an imaginary friend.

Nobody Owens does not realize he is in danger: the man who killed his family is coming after him.

Closed for the Season : A Mystery Story by Mary Downing Hahn
Logan, a thirteen year-old boy, and his family move into a rundown old house in rural Virginia where a woman was murdered years ago. Logan eventually befriends his neighbor Arthur and they begin to investigate what happened so long ago in that house. During their quest, they make some dangerous discoveries that put their lives in danger. Will the two make it out alive?

 

Tech Trends for Teens: Cool (Free) Apps for Teens

Everybody loves to play on their cell phones, right? Thanks to our Library Science student intern, Laura Buell, we have compiled a list of exciting apps for teens and tweens so you can check them out! And they're free!

Pandora
Pandora is an internet radio station that adjusts itself to your musical tastes! You can create up to 100 different stations and select your likes and dislikes to create the Perfect Music Experience!

myHomework
Great way to keep organized! First, input your classes so you can have a schedule in your phone (especially helpful for the beginning of the year). Second, put your assignments into the "Homework" section. Finally, there's an area called "calendar" where you can view all of your assignments at once.

OverDrive
Just in case you hadn't heard: OverDrive connects you to this library so you can download eBooks and audiobooks!

Temple Run
For when you just need a little fun, Temple Run is an adventure game. Your objective is to stay away from whatever is chasing you -- and as fast as you can!

Shazam
Do you ever hear a song you like, but you don’t know what it’s called or who sings it? The next time you hear it playing, use Shazam to figure out what it is!

Instagram
You can use this app to edit your pictures -- make them black and white or give them other effects to change their appearance. Lots of fun to play around with!

There are a ton of fun apps to play with and these are just a few that we know are fun to play with!