Like to make a little money this summer? You could be a youthmapper with the countywide Community YouthMapping Project. Teens ages 14-18 canvass the county in search of places to go and things to do that are available for youth. YouthMappers will be paid and will gain knowledge of local geography and marketable skills such as interviewing, data collection/entry, problem-solving and much more!

Applications are available now! Contact Chana Hawkins at (734) 222-3936 or hawki125@msu.edu; Debi Samuels at (734) 487-6570 or dsamuels@emich.edu; or
Angelina Hamilton Broderick at (734)487-6570 or angelina.hamilton@emich.edu.

We JUST got big posters and postcard-style flyers for all the anime related programs at the Library. Where do you think we should put them?

If you have a place in mind, or some friends who need a reminder, feel free to ask for a pile of postcards at the downtown youth desk. I'm taking some to Wizzywig, Gamestop.. any other ideas?

UPDATE: ZOMG that was fun (still peeling glue off my fingers, but its all good). Thanks to all who came, you made my last program perfect!
Saturday June 17, 2006: 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm -- Downtown Library Multi-Purpose Room. Featuring anime viewing, DDR, pocky prize quizes and headband design.
I think that about fourty headbands ended up being made.. with plenty of glue to spare..

Do they still have All Seniors All Night?

The Thumbs Up! Award committee has voted Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar as the 2006 Thumbs Up! Award winner. Sleeping Freshmen. . . is the journal of Scott Hudson during his first year in high school. It’s a year full of bullies, romance, honors classes, and brotherhood, and oh yes, his mother’s pregnancy.

The committee also chose three Honor books. They are Twilight by Stephenie Meyer which received the most teen votes, Looking for Alaska by John Green, and Peeps by Scott Westerfeld.

The Narutothon is Animanga Club's way of Ninja-ing up your summer. Make a ninja headband from a hidden village of your choice, dance a little DDR (okay not really Naruto-related, but still fun) and watch Naruto anime. Discuss what Kakashi looks like under his mask. Contemplate whether or not Sakura will fall for giant eyebrow boy. Talk about something other than Naruto (yes, its allowed). There will be brownies, quizes and general mayhem. I'm thinking we'll do prize pocky again as well.

I can't do homework.. its makes me sick.

SAT prepping kid #1: What's hydrolysis?
SAT prepping kid #2: Dude, don't you play Grand Theft Auto? Hydrolysis is what makes the cars bump up and down.
SAT prepping kid #3: Um...Hydrolysis is the splitting of things in water.
SAT prepping kid #2: Whatever. Same thing.

--overheard on 2 train near Borough Hall (New York City)

Elvis Costello is returning to Ann Arbor! The Summer Festival, which technically starts on June 16th, is bringing him to Hill Auditorium on June 13th. Costello will be acompanied by his band The Imposters and the New Orleans stylings of Allen Toussaint. "No dancing," by the way, is a track from his first album, My Aim is True.

Summer is fast approaching - AADL’s busiest time of the year. Volunteers are needed June 19-July 9 at AADL’s four branches (Northeast, West, Mallett’s Creek, and Pittsfield) to help sign up Summer Reading participants. Interested? If you are between the ages of 12 and 18, stop by the information desk at a branch and pick up some forms. Fill out and return the forms by June 14.

Jump in and lend a hand to make this our biggest summer yet!

Thanks to the following judges of the teen's short story writing contest for area Teens! We appreciate their expertise and careful considerations of each story.
Middle School:
CHRIS HEBERT- Fiction Editor at the University of Michigan Press (previous Hopwood Winner)
AMY SUMERTON - Serves as executive editor of 'Orchid Literary Review' for three years. Her fiction can most recently be found in Red Cedar Review. She plays cello in a local band called Canada. Amy currently makes a living as assistant director for 826 Michigan, a nonprofit writing center designed to help students aged 6-18 develop their writing skills.
LARA M. ZIELIN - Author of Make Things Happen Networking for Teens and she edits the alumni publication at the University of Michigan's College of Literature, Language and the Arts.

High School: