Blue Girl is a Thumbs Up honor title for 2005. This yearly award recognizes top-notch teen titles. Walking into a new high school can be daunting, but when Imogene meets up with the ghost of a boy who haunts the school, the story gets even more interesting. True love, bullies, fairies, and soul-eaters, all add to the storyline; written by a master of the fantasy genre, Charles de Lint.

It's fun to get more out of a book than you expect. Yes, Good Brother, Bad Brother offers fascinating information about Edwin, who is fondly remembered as the finest classical actor of his day and John Wilkes, reviled because he assassinated Abraham Lincoln. But the unanticipated bonus is the wealth of information about 19th century American theater. Giblin's theatrical interests in combination with his penchant for thorough research results in a fascinating read about the drama both brothers faced on stage and in real life.

Interested in making films but don't know where to begin? Check out these two new titles in the Teen Collection downtown.

Filmmaking for Teens: Pulling Off Your Shorts by Troy Lanier and Clay Nichols is a great resource for anyone who wants to get started in filmmaking. It not only covers the mechanics but the writing,editing, financing, producing, directing and promotion. The whole process, from conception to final film is spelled out. Its hip language is fun to read and the book is current on all the latest technology. Check out the authors' website to see what other high school students are doing with filmmaking.

Frog researchers worldwide have sounded the alarm: frogs are dying in record numbers and the consequences could be dire. In the eleven years since Kathryn Phillips published Tracking the Vanishing Frogs: An Ecological Mystery researchers have determined that the fungus Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis is responsible for the increase in frog mortality. The fungus causes a disease called Chytridiomycosis, which kills frogs within a week of infection. Learn more with other library books on frogs.

AADL-GT: Ann Arbor District Library Game Tournaments

Preregistration is now open for AADL-GT Round 2, happening this Saturday, September 24th, from Noon - 5 PM in the Basement of the Downtown Library. Doors will open at 11:30 for players in grades 6-12, so be early to get checked in and start warming up. Winners of the Sur-Prize round game will take home $70, $50, and $30 giftcards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. We'll have single-player and team events in both Mario Kart Double Dash and Super Smash Brothers: Melee, and the event will (really this time) be broadcast live on Comcast channel 18 in Ann Arbor, so be sure to bring a signed release form if you haven't turned one in before. We'll be implementing several enhancements this round, including smoother, faster registration & check-in, split-screen single player Kart for more races in less time, checkin and food and tables outside the room, and definitely more pizza. Read on for more.

We'll also be having an All-Ages DDR Tournament, Sunday Sept. 25th, from 1:00-4:00 at the Malletts Creek Branch. Open Gamecube play will be available, and prizes are $40, $30, and $20 giftcards.

... and she may well have been right. Jimi Hendrix died 35 years ago today. Get to know him through his music, his famous performance at Woodstock, or one of the many biographies written about him since his death.

Or learn to play guitar and see how you measure up to one of the masters.

Who knows more about teens than their parents, teachers, or even themselves? Who has enough influence to tell teens what's cool, what's not, and what will be in a few months? The answer to these questions is the subject of this insightful documentary, directed by Barak Goodman, about the relationship between teens and the savvy marketers who target them.

These Merchants of Cool are the "creators and sellers of popular culture who have made teenagers the hottest consumer demographic in America." Learn more about them by watching this documentary and by visiting the film's informative website at PBS Frontline.

The Internet Movie Database is reporting that beautiful and talented Emma Watson has been tapped to play Kate De Vries in the movie version of Kenneth Oppel's book Airborn.

The Leaky Cauldron cautions fans that this may be premature, but all I'm thinking about now is whether Liam Aiken of Lemony Snicket fame is really the right guy to play Matt Cruse..

Youth Service America's website offers a list of organizations that have mobilized to support the relief effort. Also available at this website are project planning tools and resources. Included is a downloadable project planning toolkit and easy to use tip sheets. These will help you and your friends think through the steps needed to plan and impl

Last week featured hip-hop history on the National Public Radio program Fresh Air with Terry Gross. Several artists interviewed on the program have talent to spare. In addition to recording their own music, artists like Queen Latifah, Will Smith, the RZA of Wu-Tang Clan, and Mos Def have acted in movies and television series, composed film scores, and even provided voices for animated films.