The votes are in!

Voting for the 2008 Thumbs Up! Book Award has ended.

Here's how you voted:

Twisted - 10 votes
Don't Call Me Ishmael - 1 vote
Schooled - 1 vote
Skulduggery Pleasant - 1 vote
My Mother the Cheerleader - 1 vote

To Bee or Not to Bee

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is happening this week! If you'd like to watch the competition live, check out the semi-finals on May 30 (ESPN) from 11am-2pm, AND the championship finals live on ABC from 8pm-10pm. In celebration, here are a few reading & viewing recommendations:

• Spelldown by Karon Luddy (book)


• Akeelah and the Bee (DVD)


• Spellbound (DVD documentary of past years actual competitions)


• Spellbound by Janet McDonald (Same title, but different than the DVD documentary!)

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Featured Title

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie - So what does it mean to be a part time Indian? It means being called a traitor by your own tribe in order to gain opportunity at the neighboring white high school. In Sherman Alexie’s first novel for young adults, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Junior makes the controversial and brave decision to attend high school in a neighboring farm town rather than the local high school on the Spokane Indian reservation he calls home. His parents, sister, and grandmother are proud of him; but everyone else on the reservation, including his best friend, consider him a traitor for not staying loyal to the tribe.

Things heat up even more when Junior (or Arnold as his white friends call him) joins the basketball team and plays the reservation team. Winner of several awards, including the 2007 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, Alexie’s novel is touching, tragic, and funny; sometimes all at the same time. Giving an often heartbreaking account of life on an Indian reservation, this book is a must read for any teenager wondering how or where they fit in, in life.
Review written by Jessica Remington, Youth Services Aide

Summer Reading - Metamorphosis @ Your Library

FINALLY!!!! Teen summer reading events have been posted on the ROPL website. We've got tons of exciting things coming up, including exotic pets, water rockets, improv and of course our usual video game/movie nights. Sign-up for teen events begins on June 7th, which is our annual summer reading kick-off! We can't wait to see you again!

Grief Girl - Featured Title

Grief Girl, My True Story by Erin Vincent - If you're looking for a dramatic, no-holds-barred memior of a teenage girl's sudden life as an orphan, then this is the book to read. When Erin's parents are killed in a car crash, she and her siblings must cope with surviving without parents.

Assuming she can trust her relatives to help her is the first lesson she must learn. As her grandparents fight for custody of her little brother, Trent, Erin also faces troubles when her uncle refuses to give the Vincent children any money for living expenses. This promises to be an absorbing read and a memoir you are sure to remember.

Twisted - Featured Title

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson - Twisted is Halse's fifth YA novel, and once again, she doesn't disappoint. For the first time, Halse's main character is a male, 17-year-old Tyler Miller. During his junior year of high school, Tyler is caught vandalizing school property. He is punished for his crime by carrying out community service, which seems lame at first, but ends up with a surprising outcome. Tyler transforms from dorky and skinny to buff and tough. His new bod and reputation gain the attention of popular girl, Bethany Milbury. However, his interactions with her get him into even more trouble.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a realistic account of what high school is like from a male perspective.

Peak - Featured Title

Peak by Roland Smith - When 14-year-old Peak Marcello is busted for climbing skyscrapers in his home city of NYC, the judge orders Peak to move in with his father, a famous mountaineer living in Tibet, in order to avoid further negative publicity. Though Peak has never been close with his father, living with him in another country definitely beats the alternative of going to a juvenile detention center until he turns 18.

What Peak doesn't realize however, is that being in the custody of his father gives Peak the opportunity to become the youngest climber of Mount Everest. Through Peak's exhilarating chronicle of his struggles during the climb, this tale is guaranteed not to disappoint.

If you love this book as much as I do, make sure to nominate this title for the Michigan Thumbs Up! Award. Ballots are located in the ROPL Teen Center, but make sure to hurry! Voting ends by May 30 (pssst, that's only 2 weeks away!)

Check us out on MySpace!

A library on MySpace -- can you believe it?! We love making new friends, so make sure to add us! We also post reminders about upcoming events at the library on our MySpace, so we hope to see you "virtually" very soon! :)

Vote for Your Favorite Teen Book!

Want to have a say in which young adult books should receive an award? Read a book or two from this year’s noteworthy nominees, and then pick your favorite!

With a list including enthralling books such as Twisted, in which a teen is accused of committing a crime, the books are guaranteed to captivate your interest. Other noteworthy titles include Freak Show, Don’t Call Me Ishmael, and General Winston’s Daughter. For a full listing of this year's nominated books, check out ROPL's Thumbs-Up page.

Last year’s winner was Rash, by Pete Hautman. This sensational sports novel portrayed a grim prediction for the future, where a quarter of the population is incarcerated for increasingly minor offenses such as road rage.

To see a complete list of nominated titles and to vote for your favorite, make sure to visit the Teen Center located on the ground floor of the Royal Oak Public Library. Ballots are located in this area for voting.

All votes must be received by May 30, 2008.

Twilight Filming

If you are curious for behind-the-scenes news from the filming of Twilight, I found this newspaper article. Also, check out this video of the 'Twilight' stars answering fans' burning questions, such as, "What is the coolest thing about being a vampire?", and other awesome questions.