According to National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, the mortality rate for anorexia is higher than that of any other psychological disorder and without treatment, 20% of those with serious eating disorders of any kind will die. This topic, part of Dawn Farms' Education Series, will define various eating disorders and their consequences, explore neurobiological & behavioral theories of addiction, describe physiological consequences of eating disorders, discuss screening tools, and provide information on treatment options and resources for people with eating disorders. DAwn Farms Education series are free and open to the public. This session is presented by Carl Christensen, MD, PhD and Lori Perpich, LLP, MS Clinical Behavioral Psychology; Cognitive Behavior Therapist. AADL has a number of informative materials on the subject, including databases like Medline plus.

Louise Erdrich's Chickadee has received the 2013 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, announced on January 16. This award was established in 1982 by Scott O'Dell to encourage writers to focus on historical fiction, and it is awarded annually to an author for a "meritorious book published in the previous year for children or young adults," according to the award website. To be eligible for the award, the book must be published by a U.S. publisher and set in the Americas.

Chickadee is the fourth installment in Erdrich's Birchbark House Series and takes place in the nineteenth century, chronicling the kidnapping of Chickadee, an eight-year-old Anishinabe (known today as Ojibwe) boy, and the adventures that follow as Chickadee tries to return home and his family leaves home to look for him.

Some previous Scott O'Dell Award winners in the library's collection:

Dead End in Norvelt

In the historic town of Norvelt, Pennsylvania, twelve-year-old Jack Gantos spends the summer of 1962 grounded for various offenses until he is assigned to help an elderly neighbor with a most unusual chore involving the newly dead, molten wax, twisted promises, Girl Scout cookies, underage driving, lessons from history, typewriting, and countless bloody noses.

One Crazy Summer

In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.

The Storm in the Barn (Graphic Novel)

In Kansas in the year 1937, eleven-year-old Jack Clark faces his share of ordinary challenges: local bullies, his father's failed expectations, a little sister with an eye for trouble. But he also has to deal with the effects of the Dust Bowl, including rising tensions in his small town and the spread of a shadowy illness. Certainly a case of "dust dementia" would explain who (or what) Jack has glimpsed in the Talbot's abandoned barn - a sinister figure with a face like rain. In a land where it never rains, it's hard to trust what you see with your own eyes, and harder still to take heart and be a hero when the time comes.

Click here for a complete list of previous O'Dell Award winners.

Somers TownLooking to discover something unusual in the world of film? Start your weekend off with something different!

From 7-9pm on Friday, January 18, at the Downtown Library, Cinema Night Special offers you a chance to catch a 70-minute feature, a shorter experimental film, and live music in between, along with free popcorn!

The evening will start with the area premiere of the suspense-filled 2012 German short film Pro Kopf (The Maid). Ann Arbor's No Excuses Band then take the stage to play a set of originals and covers ranging from classic rock to folk and pop.

2008's critically-acclaimed Somers Town, a Best Film nominee at the British Independent Film Awards, will round out the night. This warmhearted portrait of an unlikely friendship between two boys which Empire Magazine called "beautifully modulated" with an "improvised feel, sparky comedy and interest in the truth of youth (that) services a story that's both winning and winsome."

Don't miss this special evening of experimental film and live music!

Thursday, January 17 | 7:00-8:00 PM | Traverwood Branch | Grades 9-12

In March, 2013 you get just one shot at the Michigan Merit Exam (MME). One of the MME components is the ACT Plus Writing Test. During the test you have 30 minutes to read a question, think, and then organize and write a short essay. Intimidating? Yes, but Kaplan instructors will provide you a road map for getting ready to write a dynamic response.

The nominees for the 2013 Edgars, honoring all things mystery -- novels, non-fiction, and television -- that first appeared in 2012, have been announced.

Named after Edgar Allan Poe, considered the grandfather of the genre, the Edgar is enjoying its 67th year.

Some of the nominees are:

Best novel category:
Gone Girl, Gillain Flynn. In this twisted, double-triple-quadruple backstabbing epic, the reader falls into an ever-changing quagmire between one of literature's most twisted couples. Haven't heard yet of a reader who read the whole thing and DIDN'T fling it across the room.

Live by Night, by Dennis Lehane is set in the Prohibition Era and stars Joe Coughlin, son of a Boston cop who eschews his father's line of work and strives to be a gentleman gangster. Since this is a Lehane novel, you know that's not going to happen.

Best first novel category:
The Expats, by Chris Pavone -- CIA spy Kate Moore falls in love, marries has two sons, and willingly gives up her career to move to Luxembourg with Dexter, her nerdy banker husband. They are befriended by a couple who raise warning flags for Kate. Soon she becomes in clandestine efforts to unravel the threads that make less and less sense, not the least upsetting is the growing suspicion that even Dexter is not who he seems.

Best paperback original:
Louis Berney produces a sequel to Gunshot Straight (2010) with Whiplash River. In another fast-paced thriller, Shake Bouchon buys a restaurant on Ambergris Gray, an island off Belize. But things don't work out so well -- not only does he dodge three hitmen's bullets, but someone burns down his restaurant.

Another sequel is in contention in this category. Malla Nunn brings back her popular character, Det. Emmanuel Cooper, first seen in A Beautiful Place to Die (2009), in Bleassed are the Dead who is investigating the death of a beautiful Zulu housemaid.

For a complete list of nominees, check out this link.

The winners will be announced on May 2nd in New York.

While there is a basketball theme to the book, Boy21 is not a sports book, and it’s not just for teens. It is a heartfelt and fast paced story of loss, family, friendship, and competition. It's also a book that is on many "best of 2012" lists regarding young adult fiction. From the writer of Sorta Like A Rock Star and The Silver Lining’s Playbook, we meet Boy21, who is one unique teen.

Set in a fictional blue collar suburb of Philadelphia, Boy21 centers around Finley, AKA White Rabbit, who selectively doesn’t say much and calls himself a “minimal speaker.” He goes about his life playing basketball, living with his hardworking father, and hanging out with his fellow ball-playing girlfriend, who is pretty much his only friend. Together they long to get out of the rough and tumble life in Belmont, which is mainly divided between Irish Americans and African Americans.

Life proceeds as normal until one day his coach lets him in on a little secret. There is a new kid heading to town, and Coach wants Finley to keep a big secret about the new kid and stick to him like glue as he helps guide him as he transitions to the new school. It sounds easy enough, but ends up being more challenging than Finley thought. Russell, who calls himself Boy21, has lost his parents in a tragedy and heads to Belmont to live with his grandparents. His coping mechanisms (acting as though he’s from another planet) are hard for Finley to grasp at first, but as the story progresses the boys learn a lot from each other as they find out that they have more in common than just basketball. These boys are coping with more than any teen should, and how they conquer their demons and rise above leaves for a magical ending.

On a “Military History – What are you Reading Now” booklist, I came across the Charley’s War series, set in World War I. Having just completed the excellent historical non-fiction WWII graphic novel, Two Generals, I thought I would check out how "the war to end all wars" was covered in graphic novel fashion.

Wow, I was not disappointed. Charley’s War 2 June 1916 – 1 August 1916 is the first in a series of volumes following the life of Charley Bourne, who enlists in the British Army at the age of 16. In this volume you see Charley go from enlistment to the frontlines just in time for preparations for the Battle of the Somme. By the time the attack is launched, you’ll know just enough about his trench mates to be anxious of their fate as they ‘go over the top’.

This series is actually a compilation of a 3 to 4 page strip that ran in the British comic book "Battle Action" from 1979-85. Writer Pat Mills moves the action along at a brisk but smooth pace. Though a few of the characters may seem a bit stock/stereotypical, every one of them is compelling and pulls you in to learn their story. Joe Colquhoun’s artwork – fantastic. As long as you are not turned off by black and white, there is much to like here. The details in the panels and the way they are laid out works great.

The period history seems well researched, and the book includes not only a section where the writer gives current day commentary and he does address a few things that in hindsight may not have been too accurate or likely to have occurred, but also includes a brief independent essay on the Battle of the Somme itself.

You may not agree with the author’s preface, but I think you will agree the graphic novel itself is one grim and gripping yarn.

Thursday, January 10 | 7:00-8:00 PM | Traverwood Branch | Grades 9-12

Approach the ACT or SAT test day with confidence! Kaplan instructors will present strategies for preparing for the tests and guide you through some questions, demonstrating how to arrive at the correct answer.

If you check out the Amazon Best Sellers in Teen Books you'll see #5 is The Hobbit, by J.R.R Tolkien and #7 is Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I'm thinking that the popularity of these books on teens' Kindles may be fueled by their having seen the two new-ish movies by the same titles and then deciding to read the books. Hurray for reading the books!

Monday, January 7 | 7 - 8 pm | Traverwood | Grades 6 - Adult

Are you an e-reader owner who still loves the feel of a good old book in your hands? Bring your e-reader to the Traverwood branch on Monday, January 7 from 7 - 8pm, and create a custom case for your device out of a recycled hardcover book. We will provide the tools and supplies, all you need is your e-reader so that you can find a book cover that fits it. Then, decorate your e-reader case after it is assembled!

This event is for adults and teens (grade 6 and up).

For more crafty ideas, check out these books from the AADL.