We are now accepting applications for Teen Reading Buddies, which is a great way to share your love of reading with a young kid while earning community service hours for high school.  Teen Reading Buddies meet once a week with their Little Buddy to read aloud together, play games, and make reading fun!  Here are the details:

Dates: February 22nd – April 26th

Days/Times: Either Wednesday or Thursday from 4:00 – 5:00pm (you can specify which day works best for you)

Ages: Must be 14 -18 years old for this volunteer opportunity

To Participate, you can download the Teen Application, fill it out, and drop it off in the Aloha Teen Tower or the Children’s area at the Philip S. Miller Library.   We will not be able to accept applications after February 17th.  If you have any further questions, please email Cliff Davidson or Kathleen DiLeo. You can also give either of us a call at 303-791-7323.

]]> http://blogs.douglascountylibraries.org/castlerockteens/2012/02/08/teen-reading-buddies-needed/feed/ 0 http://blogs.douglascountylibraries.org/castlerockteens/2012/02/08/app-book-music-of-the-week-13/ http://blogs.douglascountylibraries.org/castlerockteens/2012/02/08/app-book-music-of-the-week-13/#comments Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:59:38 +0000 psmtic http://blogs.douglascountylibraries.org/castlerockteens/?p=4038 App

The app this week is Learn to Draw Digital Sketchbook by Walter Foster.  It’s pretty cool. Some of us in TIC can draw and some can’t but we all liked trying out this app.  The app is free and so is the intro lesson.  You get a couple different drawings to try.  There is audio that reads the lesson to you while you trace the drawing.  As you get more comfortable you can draw more on your own and eventually try doing it on paper with just the audio playing.  It was so cool to actually draw something and have it look like what we were trying to draw!  You can also use the app as a sketch pad to doodle whatever you want. This is a great app.  The only bummer is that more lessons cost money.  The price range is $2.99-6.99, but if you want to learn to draw this app is a pretty cheap way to get started.  Right now you can only get this app for the iPad. 

 Book

Robbie Forester and the Outlaws of Sherwood St. by Peter Abrahams is the book that we really liked reading this week.  It just came out in January and we had to wait in line to read it.  We really liked reading something without vampires and romance for a change.  We also liked reading something with slightly more realistic characters.  Robbie is like a modern day Robin Hood, but she is not some amazing ninja girl with crazy super powers.  She has her friends, the Outlaws of Sherwood St.) to help her and a worthy advisory in the form of a real estate mogul who will stop at nothing to redevelop Brooklyn and kick out the current residents.  This was a fun book and a clean read.  Anyone who likes adventure and a mystery would like this book.  Click here to put the book on hold with you DCL library card.

 Music

Marchin On by OneRepublic is the song we have been playing nonstop this week.  We can’t get it out of our heads.  We love the way it starts out slow and builds into a real rock song.  Click here to put the CD on hold with you DCL library card.

This week’s app is Flixster.  It’s a great way to see what movies are playing and watch trailers.  If you have the app and are a member you can rate movies, see what your friends are saying about the movie, and check out the Rotten Tomatoes.  We love it.  It works for Apple and Android devices. 

We just read Bumped by Megan McCafferty it was a little weird but in a good way.  Here is the scoop: In 2036 New Jersey, when teens are expected to become fanatically religious wives and mothers or high-priced Surrogettes for couples made infertile by a widespread virus, sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony find in one another the courage to believe they have choices. Click here to put the book on hold with you DCL library card. 

The song that we love, love, love is The Kids From Yesterday from Danger Days by My Chemical Romance.  It’s the last single they are releasing from the CD and it’s the last video.  We wish they would make a video for every song on the CD, but you can’t always get what you want.  Click here to watch the video.

This month we are reading If I Stay by Gayle Forman.  Stop by the Aloha Teen Tower to sign up for the book club and pick up a members only copy of the book.  We will meet on Thursday February 6th at the Philip S. Miller Library in Castle Rock to talk about the book. (Must be in 9th-12th grade to join).

Fruit Ninja is the app we can’t stop playing this week.  You can get the lite version in the app store and try it out to see if you want to pay $2.99 for the full version.  We love it when games give you a free sample so you can see if you like it.  In this case the game is totally addictive!  How it works is that fruit flies in the air and you use your sword to cut it up.  It’s great!!  You can get the game for: iPhone – iPad – Windows Phone 7 – Android – Samsung Bada – Nokia Ovi

Book

The book we love this week is Steel by Carrie Vaughn.  Here is the plot:  When Jill, a competitive high school fencer, goes with her family on vacation to the Bahamas, she’s magically transported to an early-eighteenth-century pirate ship in the middle of the ocean.  How kick butt is that.  All of the sudden she is fighting for real not just for trophies, but for her life.  We can’t get enough Carrie Vaughn.  Click here to check it out at the library. 

Music

The song of the week is Iridescent by Linkin Park.  This song is from Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon.  It has been playing pretty much nonstop all week in our houses.  Click here to check it out at the library.

This month we are reading Totally Joe by James Howe.  Stop by the Aloha Teen Tower to sign up for the book club and pick up a members only copy of the book.  We will meet on February 8th at Pegasus in Castle Rock to talk about the book. (Must be 18 or older to join).  If you have read the book and want to leave a comment to let us know what you think just click on the title of this post and a comment box will appear at the bottom of the page.

This month we are reading Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson.  Stop by the Aloha Teen Tower to sign up for the book club and pick up a members only copy of the book.  We will meet on February 9^{th @}  4:30pm at the Philip S. Miller Library to talk about the book. (Must be in the 6^th, 7^th, or 8^th grade).  If you have read the book and want to leave a comment to let us know what you think just click on the title of this post and a comment box will appear at the bottom of the page.

The app of the week is hands down Wattpad!  O.K. so here’s how it works.  You can download to iPhone, iPad, Kindle Fire, Blackberry, and Android.  (Free)  Then you have access to thousands of electronic books, and poems and short stories.  They have a big teen section where teens can publish their work.  If you create an account (free) you can make comments on other people’s work and publish your stories.  Some of books are self-published and others have been published in magazines and with publishing houses.  This is a great app if you want to read something new or if you want to publish your own work.

This week we are reading The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor.  It’s a retelling of Alice in Wonderland.  Alyss goes from being a princess in Wonderland to a regular girl in the regular world.  We hear the story from her point of view and find out all about the battle to control the land.  It’s full of action and is an amazing take on the original story. 

We will be watching the Grammy’s this year so that we can cheer for the Foo Fighters.  To get in the mood we have been listening to “Walk” and all of the songs on their new album “Wasting Light”.  Click here to use your Douglas County Library card to download a free MP3 of the single.

Will you survive?  If you are a fan of the books and are excited for the new movie come to the

Philip S. Miller Library on February 4th @ 2pm.   Test your skills in “The Arena” and see how you’d

survive.  Archery, extreme survival trivia and more. Dress in costume for a chance to win a prize!

Click here to sign up for The Challenge.

App

The app we can’t get enough of right now is ComiXology.  ComiXology lets you read comics and graphic novels.  The app is free, and there are plenty of free comics to read on it.  You can also by comics and graphic novels in print or as a digital download.  The best part is the views you can use.  We like the frame by frame view.  When you “turn the page” the app moves you to the next frame so you never read the wrong frame.  Also all of the small frames are now big enough to fill the screen on your device.  We also really like that you can get this app for Apple, Android, and Kindle Fire. 

Book

Runaways: Pride and Joy

The books we couldn’t put down this holiday season are the Runaways series.  We love what Brian K. Vaughan wrote.  What if you find out your boring, work every day, make you do your chores parents are Super Villains?  That’s what these books are about.  We love all of the books written by Vaughan.  The series ended for a little while and someone else started writing the new books.  So far we only read the first seven books.  These graphic novels are a most read for guys and girls. 

Music

Heartbreak by the Fray is on our iPods and we can’t stop listening.  I guess we are feeling the local musicians.  You can download it for free with your Douglas County Library card by clicking here.  Or you can check out the whole CD by putting it on hold at the library.  The CD comes out on February 7^th, 2012.