Deb Caletti is in Ann Arbor for the upcoming Book Festival and is the guest speaker for the library sponsored Teen Short Story Writing Contest for area teens! Of her newest release, Fortunes of Indigo Skye, Caletti says, "It's about a waitress with a great family and a hunky refrigerator-delivery-guy boyfriend. Her life changes one day when she gets a big tip. A BIG tip." This newest title is already listed on 2009 Best Book Nominations for teens.

Later on Saturday the Celebrity Spelling Bee is also on tap, with Deb Caletti, Cassandra Carter, and others matching wits.

Whether you're shopping used cars dealers or Craigslist, auto technology instructor Paul Kruthaup will tell you the things you need to know to buy a car that not only looks good but runs well too. This program, titled "Buy a Ride: No Clunkers, Lemons, or Junkers," will be held from 7:00-8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13, in the Malletts Creek branch program room.

Great news! The premiere edition of The 826 Gazette published by students of 826michigan is attractive and impressive. I just picked up a copy at the downtown library youth desk, and I particularly liked the articles ”Restaurant patrons to help fight cystic fibrosis,” by Maureen McCord, and “Michigan’s Green Schools initiative aims to make schools more environmentally friendly,” by Andrew Yoo. The newspaper was written and reported by local tweens age 10-14. Erik Gable of The Daily Telegram in Adrian helped with the journalism, many volunteers assisted, and printing was donated by The Ann Arbor News. Yay! Already I’m looking forward to the next issue this summer!

If you loved the Death Note manga, you won’t want to miss the fabulous anime adaptation now available on dvd at the library. For those of you unfamiliar with the series, it’s the story of a bored high school student, Light Yagami, who takes justice into his own hands when he finds a notebook which gives him the power to kill simply by writing down someone’s name. But when criminals begin to die of unexplained causes, the authorities send the legendary and eccentric detective L to track down the killer. The cat-and-mouse chase between Light and L is one for the ages. Volumes 1, 2, and 3 are in, and volume 4 is on order. Add your name to the hold list today! For older teens and adults.

Girl detectives have come a long way since Nancy Drew first hopped into her roadster and solved The Secret of the Old Clock. Learn the history of the Nancy Drew series in Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak, or watch a modern-day girl detective in the tv show Veronica Mars. Or read Kelly Link’s amazing short story “The Girl Detective” from her collection Stranger Things Happen. (Don’t want to wait for the library’s copy to be returned? Download the book for free under a Creative Commons license, or listen to this free audiobook version of the story.) And tell us about your favorite girl detectives in the comments.

If Duff, from Jeanne DuPrau’s Car Trouble, had come to Malletts Creek on Tuesday, May 13 (7-8 pm) and heard auto technology instructor Paul Kruthaup share his knowledge about buying your first car and keeping it in great condition, it probably would have not been much of a story.

But instead, Duff goes out unprepared and buys a used car. It runs ok but the dash lights don’t work. Duff thinks it’s no big deal since he plans to do all of his cross-country drive in daylight and can easily read the speedometer and gas gauge. But that is no help for the engine trouble lights. Three hours into his trip he has no way to know he has low oil and eventually throws a rod. Don’t be a Duff. Join us May 13.

Some twelve year olds might be prodigies. Artemis Fowl, however, is a criminal mastermind. While plotting to restore his family's wealth after his father's disappearance this young Irishman discovers an entire world below Ireland, full of fairies, elves, and all manner of creatures of legend. But gone are the days when magic is their only weapon. These mythical folk are armed with high-tech gadgetry and they bring it all out in defense of their gold.

All the audiobooks are read by Nathaniel Parker who does excellent Irish accents and voices for all the characters. The stories also start and end with a techno-rock theme that, while some may find cheesy, I quite liked and I thought it definitely fit the tone of the story. I liked the audio versions so much that I listened to the entire series which is currently five books long with a sixth (Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox) scheduled to come out July 15th. It is also worth noting that the audio versions are the original Irish editions and not changed or edited for America. There are very few changes, but if you'd like the original versions, audio's the way to go.

Having grown up reading a lot of fantasy books, I used to be of the opinion that the world didn’t need any more retellings of the King Arthur legend. Didn’t the ones already out there cover all the bases? But I’ve been forced to revise my opinion after reading The Winter Prince by Elizabeth Wein. This retelling is told from the perspective of Medraut (called Mordred in most other versions) and is more a character study than the usual quest. So if you’re looking for a fantasy book that’s a little different, check this one out—and then read the companion books: A Coalition of Lions, The Sunbird, The Lion Hunter, and (coming soon) The Empty Kingdom.

Plan to buy your first set of wheels soon? Come to Malletts Creek Tuesday, May 13 (7-8 p.m.) to learn what you need to know to buy a car that not only looks good but runs too. Auto technology instructor Paul Kruthaup will share his knowledge about buying that first car and keeping it in great condition.

Meg Rosoff, the 2005 the Printz Award winner for her first novel,How I Live Now has written another winner with her new book, What I Was. In 1960's Britain, an unnamed student at a grim boarding school near the coast discovers an orphan boy named Finn who lives in a hut on the beach and survives with what little he makes from odd jobs yet seems content. The student contrives to spend as much time as he can with Finn who he admires, both for his physical beauty and skills in managing his life without much interference from the outside world. In a surprising twist, the unnamed narrator discovers that he can be strong because he has to be. Rosoff writes poetically of basic human activities like shelling crabs, climbing cliffs and learning to sail, those times that can bring people closer out of necessity.

In Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey tells the story of Lessa. She is the sole survivor of the noble family ruling Ruatha Hold, located on the northern continent of Pern. Lessa eventually becomes a dragon rider and attempts to save Pern from an impending Thread reappearance, which would destroy the existing civilization. If you enjoy this story, you can find other Pern stories. You can also listen to Dragonflight on CD.

I was not the only Helen Keller obsessed girl in my 1963 classroom. We read everything about Helen and Annie that we could get our hands on and we would have eaten this book alive! This dramatic tale, told through the suffering eyes of Annie Sullivan, will create a whole new generation of Helen and Annie fans and remind older children that words are filled with power.

Princess Rosalind is meant to fulfill a 600-year-old prophecy foretold by Merlin. As the 21st queen she will restore her family's good name and end a war. But there’s one little problem - her left ring finger is a dragon talon. To hide the secret, the Queen forces Rosiland to wear gloves at all times while she seeks a cure.

When a dragon carries off Rosiland everything she thought she knew falls apart. How is it that Rosiland carries dragon’s blood? And what other secrets have her mother kept from her all these years? Dragon’s Keep will keep you turning the pages to the very end.

When two women with the same name meet on the train to Tokyo, neither of them guesses that it’s the beginning of an incredible friendship. Sweet and naive Nana Komatsu is headed to Tokyo to be with her boyfriend, Shoji, while glamorous Nana Osaki is pursuing her dream of being a punk rock star. The two Nanas decide to become roommates solely to save on rent, but it’s not long before they’re caught up in the drama of each other’s lives. The manga series Nana is so popular in Japan that it was adapted into a 47-episode anime series as well as two live-action movies. The library owns the first 8 manga volumes in the this ongoing story; catch up on the latest surprising events today!

Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass) follows the story of Lyra Belacqua, the secrets surrounding her birth and future, and travel between the worlds.

With the recent film and a revival of the controversy that has always surrounded the Golden Compass series, these books are once more in the public eye. I've been told that even people who like them find the books difficult, but I throughly enjoyed listening to them on audio. This is possibly because they're performed by a full cast complete with sound effects and narration from Philip Pullman himself, making the whole experience more like an old fashioned radio drama than your average audio book. I highly recommend the entire series.