Book Review - Grenade

📖Recommend for Grades 6 and up📖

Grenade

by Alan Gratz

Ray and Hideki are fighting for opposite sides of the island of Okinawa during World War II. Ray is an American soldier, while Hideki is from the island but part of the Japanese army. When the two find themselves face to face, a split decision could be a fatal one.

            Readers will enjoy getting both sides of this superb novel. There is some military action that takes place but the story is mainly about both boys and their feelings and journeys throughout this part of the war. 

Library Catalog - E-book - Downloadable Audio

Teen Space Program

🎮with Mr. Travis🎮

The second meeting of our new Video Game Program was another success.

 

This week Teens had fun playing NBA Playgrounds 2 and Blazblue: Central Fiction both of which are PS4 games. Unfortunately neither are currently available from UPL for circulation but if you're interested let us know and we can look into ordering them.

Stop by the Teen Space to sign-up and join the fun.

Next meeting is February 5th.

[📷Credit: Alan]

Weekly Wednesday Quote

Book Review - The Cheerleaders

📖Recommend for Grades 9 and up📖

The Cheerleaders

by Kara Thomas

            Five years ago, five cheerleaders (who were also best friends) died in three different instances. Two of the girls died in a car accident, two were murdered and Jen committed suicide. Monica still can’t believe her sister committed suicide and feels there may be more to the story. What’s more, she thinks the five girl’s deaths may be connected.

            There are a lot a complex parts to this story making this one readers will have to pay attention to. At times Monica can be a little annoying, but given her history that unfolds throughout the story, readers will see why. Some readers may find themselves staying up late to find out if Monica’s suspicions are correct.

Library Catalog - E-book - Downloadable Audio

Time to Geek Out

The first official trailer for

Spider-man: Far From Home

is here!

This trailer gave me all the feels. I was so happy to see some awesome characters return for the sequel and some new ones. Also a familiar face to the Marvel Universe who wasn't in the first movie.

Peter Parker will return to the big screen on July 5, 2019.

(Although that is 2 months and 9 days after Avengers: End Game)

[🎥 credit: Sony]

[📷 credit: IMDB]

Did You Hear?

Congrats to 

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

on being named the winner of the

2019​ ​Walter​ ​Award,​ ​Teen​ ​Category

The 2019​ ​Walter​ ​Honors,​ ​Teen​ ​Category are

Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany Jackson

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

 

"Inaugurated in 2016, the annual Walter Dean Myers Awards for Outstanding Children's Literature recognize diverse authors (or co-authors) whose works feature diverse main characters and address diversity in a meaningful way. Two to four Honor Books are also named annually. We Need Diverse Books defines “diverse” to be one or more of the following: a person of color, Native American, LGBTQIA, a person with a disability, and/or a member of a marginalized religious or cultural minority in the United States." (source: WNDB.org)

Teen Space Program

Gourmet Pizza

with The POWER of FOOD Productions

 

On Saturday teens were in for a treat when Chef/Dr. Robert Dell'Amore of The POWER of FOOD Productions came to show them how to make Gourmet Vegetarian Italian Bread Pizza.

Teens were shown how to make the crust, sauce and top with delicious cheese and other toppings. These toppings included onions, mushrooms and spinach. All this was done in a toaster oven and skillet.

After the demonstration, every one who attended got to try the pizza.

[📷Credit: wishes to remain a secret]

Did you hear?

The Critics Choice Awards were last night and Marvel took home some awards.

Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse won Best Animated Feature

Those behind Black Panther also took home three awards.

The film won for Best Visual Effects

Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart won for Best Production Design

Ruth Carter won for Best Costume Design

While it would have been cool to see it win for Best Action Movie (Darn you Mission: Impossible -- Fallout) and/or Best Picture (Darn you Roma) it was exciting to hear of these wins.

Congrats to all the winners. 

Book Review - Here We Are Now

📖Recommend for Grades 8 and up📖

Here We Are Now

by Jasmine Warga

Taliah’s mom has always kept the identity of her father a secret though Taliah has done some investing and discovers her father is a famous rock star, Julian Oliver. One day while her mother is out of town, Julian shows up on Taliah’s doorstep informing her that his father is ill. Taliah ends up accompanying him on a journey to see her dying grandfather and meet the rest of her paternal family. Taliah doesn’t want to make things easy for Julian suddenly showing up, but her desire to know about his past with her mother causes her to take this journey.

While the story is Taliah’s, the story of her mother Lena’s immigration to the United States is wonderfully woven in as a big part of Taliah’s story. Lena’s story is as told by Julian to Taliah and is a magnificent story within the story but also a big part of the main story. An intriguing story of finding where one belongs.

Library Catalog - E-book - Downloadable Audio

Teen Space Program

🎮with Mr. Travis🎮

This past Tuesday our new video game program LVL 100 Gamers kicked off.

Twice a month you can come and play 90 minutes of competitive video gaming using PS4 and Nintendo Switch consoles. The games will rotate between Fighting, Sport and Party Games. We supply the consoles and the games that will be projected on a big screen.

For this day of game play, Teens had fun playing Mario Tennis Aces (Nintendo Switch), Splatoon 2 (Nintendo Switch) and Under Night In-Birth (PS4).

 

Splatoon 2 is one of the Switch games available for you to borrow and play at home. Just click here to check availability. You can also come to the library and browse our small but growing collection.

[📷&🎥Credit: Alan]