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Sunday, August 29, 2010

Tara's Book Review: A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner

A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend is a coming-of-age/coming-out/road trip/romance/dead-best-friend novel, and it is absolutely gorgeous. Cass' best friend Julia dies, and Cass decides to take a cross-country bicycle trip to commemorate her. As Cass travels, her trip becomes a way for her to learn about herself, figure out her feelings about Julia and her friends, and develop the independence and confidence she never had before. Upon her return, however, she learns that her friends are staging the totally awesome ninja musical that Julia wrote before her death, and that they've cast her arch-enemy Heather in the lead role. While Cass struggles with her feelings for Heather--at first, those of loathing, but later, something much different, she also comes to terms with Julia's death. This book alternates between chapters describing Cass' summer road trip and those unfolding in the present, making it possible to see how much Cass has grown, and how her summer experiences help her become the girl she is in the following school year. The prose is beautiful, perfectly describing feelings of grief, alienation, heartbreak, and infatuation.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Lisa's Book Review: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella by Stephenie Meyer

Welcome to the seamy side of vampirism. Even if you are not a Twihard (one who is an exuberant fan of the Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer), but like action-packed plots with large dollops of blood and gore - you will enjoy this book. Centered around the character of Bree Tanner (who makes a brief appearance in Eclipse), this novella delves into the dangerous world of newborn vampires. The plot unravels like an intriguing mystery as Bree and her friend Diego attempt to figure out the truth behind the vampire who created them and why they are being trained for a deadly battle.

There is a sprinkling of romance in the story, but nothing compared to the Bella-Edward-Jacob triangle found in the Twilight series. In fact, the Cullens don’t even make an appearance until the final scene of this brief novella. So, even if you are not a Twihard, and you think vampires suck, you still might like to bite into this book!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Program Spotlight - Teen DIY: Rubbed Out

Our next Teen DIY is Monday, August 23 @ 4:30pm in the Teen Room. We'll be using rub-on transfers (kind of like temporary tattoos-meets-stickers for craft projects) to decorate photo cubes and plastic bangles. It will be lots of fun, so don't miss it! Check out the samples Tara made below:

Monday, August 09, 2010

TSR is over!

Teen Summer Reading 2010 ended last week. We hope you all participated to get your t-shirts! Congratulations to our grand prize winners:

Digital camera winner:
Catherine, 17, from Headquarters

Nintendo DSi XL winner:
Sarah, 12, from Inman

Kindle winner:
Tashia, 14, from Cowpens

TSR may be over, but that doesn't mean there isn't still great stuff to do at your library--check our events page to see what's going on for teens in August!

Sunday, August 01, 2010

Heather's Book Review: How to Cosplay Volume 1

I have never cosplayed. Indecision on what character I would play, lack of time, and a general fear of sewing machines have all prevented me in participating in what is perhaps the greatest affirmation of one’s anime/manga geekhood. But should I ever find a way around these little obstacles, this book could help me cosplay to the best of my nerdy otaku ability.

For the uninitiated, cosplay is short for “costume play” and, in anime circles, involves dressing up as one’s favorite anime character and often impersonating the character while in costume. Some cosplayers take the simple route by wearing a hat or some such accessory with the likeness of the character on it. Many others, though, are hardcore cosplayers, and their costumes and makeup can rival the quality of that seen in Hollywood films. How to Cosplay is for cosplayers who want to attain that quality in their outfits.

This volume is essentially about makeup, including tutorials on such specific and useful subjects as how to make small eyes appear large (essential for an anime costume), how to make certain facial planes more or less prominent, how to create certain ages through makeup, and even how to change the seeming shape of an eyelid. Later tutorials cover special effects makeup, showing how to create convincing scars, prominent veins, and webbing and scales for non-human characters.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the book, though—and the part that most non-cosplaying readers will turn to first—is the last section, which features complete costumes exhibited by some extremely talented cosplayers. This section alone was enough to inspire me to try to conquer my fear of sewing machines. So who knows? Maybe I might show up to the next anime convention in a costume rivaling those in this book. Others who pick up this book might do the exact same thing.

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