DPL Teens

Rules by Cynthia Lord is a great story about 12 year Catherine who manages  living with her autistic brother with the help of her list of “rules”. Reasonable rules for David such as:

-”chew with your mouth closed”

-”it’s fine to hug Mom but not the clerk at the video store”

and one of my favorites: “keep your pants on”

Catherine has others rules that are sometimes a little more complicated:

-”Sometimes people laugh when they like you but sometimes they laugh to hurt you”

-”leaving out isn’t the same as lying”

-”late doesn’t mean not coming”

Catherine struggles with wanting her family to “be” and “look” normal, especially to a potential new friend who moves in right next door. I was touched especially by Catherine’s relationship with her brother – she may have a really tough time with him but they have something pretty special.  Enjoy this Newberry Honor book!

-Rebecca-

If you’re looking for a great book you might want to check out one of the following award winning titles.  Both the Morris Award and the Printz Award winners were recently announced. 

The 2009 Printz Award Winner: 

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. 

The 2009 Morris Award Winner: 

A Curse Dark As Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

If you haven’t read them yet, now is the time to add them to your list!

-Christie

Getting ready for SuperBowl XLIII?   Going to Tampa this weekend to check it out?  What — no??   But you’re thinking about having some friends over to watch the game?   What – no??   Thinking about having some friends over to avoid watching the game?   Well — whatever!!   Either way you may need some snacks — here’s one of my favorites to get you started whether it’s game day – or any day!  (check out the snack books after the recipe for more great idea’s!!)

7 Layer Guacamole Dip

What you’ll need:
- 2 cans of bean dip
- 1 cup onion (chopped)
- 1 1/2 cups guacamole dip (see note below)
- Sour cream mix (see recipe below)
- 2 cup fresh plum tomatoes (chopped)
- 6 ounces black olives(chopped)
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese (shredded)

So easy you won’t believe it! All you need to do is layer the ingredients above in the order you read them. For instance, place a nice layer of the bean dip on the bottom of a glass bowl, followed by a layer of the chopped onion, etc…

Your dip will look beautiful through the glass bowl and should be topped with the shredded cheese.

If you don’t want to use prepared guacamole, make your own. It tastes better in my opinion, although there are some good frozen guacamole dips you can buy. Just make sure to completely unfreeze the dip before layering.

Homemade Guacamole:
- 3 ripe avocados
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice

- Dash of Tabasco sauce
- salt and pepper (to taste)

Simply mash the peeled avocados with the other ingredients to make your own guacamole.

Sour Cream Mix:
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 envelope of taco seasoning

Mix all the ingredients together to add to the layer dip in the order specified above.

Party snacks! : 50 simple, stylish recipes to make you a popular party host
Rathbun, A. J.      641.812 RAT

Finger food : [bite-sized snacks to share with friends]
Gasparini, Katharine    641.812 Fin

Happy snacking!

–angie

Tech Lab tomorrow night at 5:30 at the Fairmount St. Library.

We’ll be exploring the world of podcasting.

Enter at your own risk!

 -Christie

Jamie T’s album is sooo my most favorite music to move to these days and has been for about the last year or so.  It totally rocks my brainbox.�

Care for a double dose?

Maybe a triple shot…

So you like it, so you don’t.  Either way the library is always taking requests.  Tell us what music you want to hear and we’ll do our best to serve it up…for freeeeeeeeeeee.

-Christie

Civil Rights.   You hear about it them the time.  Well, at least every once in awhile.  And it’s pretty easy to think it’s an old concept that doesn’t have much impact on today. But, what exactly does it mean to you?  Well –  lets look at it for just a minute.  Civil — in this case talking about citizens in their ordinary capacity, or of the ordinary life and affairs of citizens.  And Rights — something that is due to a person by law, tradition or nature.  So basically we’re talking about everything that every person in a society is  able to do freely.  So we’re not just talking about African Americans and the whole movement from slavery to presidency — although that story does have a lot of power.  It’s not just about women marching for a right to vote and the chance to leave the home and compete in a man’s working world.  It’s not a used up, tired concept.  Think of the issues of today — should gay couples have the same rights afforded to heterosexual couples; how should recent immigrants be treated — legally and morally; how about the treatment of prisoners from other countries or cultures?  And that’s just some of the big issues hitting the media today — how about in your schools and neighborhoods?  Can you think of a group of people that are being singled out or treated differently because of ethnic, educational, religious,  or economic reasons?  How about people who have different interests or hobbies?  People who dress differently or listen to different music?  Are their rights being trampled?  Are yours?  I’m thinking that today — a day set aside to honor a man – Martin Luther King, Jr. – who literally gave his life chasing a dream of equal rights – is a great day to reflect on what we can do today to explore all the ramifications of what rights we think should be afforded to which ordinary citizens.

–angie

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

Winner of the 2007 Printz Award—an American Library Association award given to the best young adult literature of the year— and a National Book Award Finalist, Yang’s graphic novel American Born Chinese is utterly stunning. His exploration of Asian American identity blends three wildly divergent plotlines: a Chinese legend of the Monkey King –

A realistic story of a young Asian American boy struggling to make friends and find acceptance in school –

And a third story about an American boy painfully ashamed of his Chinese cousin, a cousin who embodies all the worst stereotypes imaginable –

The stories are engrossing, and the way that they are deftly brought together is seamless and remarkable. The artwork is clean and deceptively simple, effectively drawing attention to the important issues Yang raises.  This book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys thought-provoking graphic novels, such as Maus or Persepolis, and a great book for all of us struggling to find our places in the world.

– Sam