A Busy Month Ahead ...

   What is it?? Teen Read Week is a national literacy initiative that promotes reading among teens. The initiative was started in 1998 and is celebrated the third week in October every year. This year’s theme is LOL@ Your Library. What makes you laugh out loud? Meg Cabot, author of the Princess books, says that  "excruciatingly embarrassing social gaffes always make me laugh! Which is awful, since goodness knows I've committed enough of them!"

  There are lots of books in our collection that'll give you a laugh or two. Check out our humor mini-display in the library.  Stuck for titles? Have a look at the Laughing Out Loud reading list from Hennepin County Library; and at some teen reviewers' selections. Get your list together and check the library catalog for availability.

   We have two great new databases this year! The Biography Resource Center from Thomson Gale offers a ton of information for all your biography projects. You can search by name, keyword, category (sports, world leaders, etc.).

   Opposing Viewpoints, another database from Thomson Gale, will be very helpful for your contemporary issues projects. All the "hottest social issues" are covered in full-text magazine and newspaper articles, primary source materials, and web links.

   The scariest holiday in our year has its origins with the ancient Celts, who lived more than 2,000 years ago. The Celts believed that, on the eve of their New Year (which was November 1), the boundaries blurred between the living and the dead. On the night of October 31, the ghosts of the dead returned to walk among the living. To celebrate, the Celts wore costumes (usually animal heads and skins) and danced around bonfires.

  The following links will help you make this the most terrifying Halloween ever! Have a look at Halloween Online, which features costumes, scary stories, pumpkins, recipes, and much, much more! Don't know what to wear? Check out Costume Idea Zone. Having a party? Get some ideas from the razzle-dazzle   kitchen. Need help with your pumpkin? Click on Pumpkin Carving 101. Need something scary to read? Find a list of Horror / Suspense books HERE.

New Faces

   We have an Intern from SUNY Library School with us this fall.

Say HELLO to Mrs. Myers!

Our Featured Author ... Stephenie Meyer

Stephenie Meyer might write vampire books, but she actually considers herself a bit of a wuss. In a recent interview, the 33-year-old writer acknowledged that she was "too much of a wuss for Stephen King's books." And she's "waaay too chicken to read horror.'' (Click here for the rest of this interview with Meyer.)

   Meyer was born in Connecticut in 1973, but grew up in Arizona, and went to Utah for college, where she majored in English. She is married, the mother of three sons, and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Meyer says that the idea for Twilight, the first book in her "vampire love saga," came to her in a dream (the dream later became Chapter 13 in the book). The very successful Twilight was followed by New Moon in 2006. Eclipse is the third book in the series, and will be available soon.

  Check out Meyer's Official Web Site for some really cool stuff, like outtakes from Twilight, the Twilight "soundtrack," frequently asked questions about the book, and lots of other trivia ... and that's just about Twilight! There's also biographical info, books, and a calendar of appearances.

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