ages 11-18

NaNoWriMo TGIO Celebration With Author Lara Zielin

Saturday, December 1 | 2:00-3:30 PM | Traverwood Branch | Program Room

TGIO (Thank God It's Over)! Celebrate and recognize the completion of novels by NaNoWriMo participants! Guest author Lara Zielin will share tips on how to get your novel published and the local NaNo organizer be our host. Enjoy refreshments and celebrate!

Join us - whether you were one of the NaNoWriMo participants or a person with a passion for writing! National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a non-profit event that encourages teens and adults to tackle the challenge of writing a novel during the month of November.

Lara Zielin is the author of three young adult books. Her most recent book is The Waiting Sky. This event includes a book signing with Lara's books for sale.

This event is for adults and teens (grade 9 and up).

A New Literary Landmark

On Thursday, November 29th, the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York City will celebrate author and longtime Cathedral librarian Madeleine L'Engle with the dedication of the Diocesan House library as a Literary Landmark. L'Engle's books for readers of all ages were profoundly influenced by her Episcopal faith, belief in science, and strong appreciation for the inner lives of children. This year marks the 50th publishing anniversary of her Newbery Medal-winning book A Wrinkle in Time.

November 29th would have been L’Engle’s 94th birthday. During the dedication, Leonard S. Marcus, children’s literature historian and author of Listening for Madeleine: A Portrait of Madeleine L’Engle in Many Voices, will speak about L’Engle and her connection to the Cathedral.

Middle-School Novel Celebrates Human Kindness

One of the best books I have read recently is Wonder by R.J. Palacio. A recommendation by youth librarians, the book champions kindness in a way that somehow manages not to be preachy. It also reflects the value of loving one's family and not judging people by appearance.

The star of the novel is August ("Auggie") Pullman, age 10, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities. His mother homeschooled him until fifth grade; as the novel opens he is about to enter a private middle school in Manhattan. The novel covers Auggie's turbulent first year, as he struggles to be seen as just another kid. He is gentle and bright, but faces heartbreaking challenges to fit in.

Written for readers in about fourth through seventh grades, the book is entirely believable in its presentation of various personalities and challenges faced by middle-school kids. As the story moves along, the characters develop and grow. Multiple narrators -- Auggie, two new friends at school, Auggie's sister (struggling as she starts high school), and his sister's one-time best friend -- add richness and balance to the story. Auggie's parents are unforgettable, as are his friends, which he does make, one by one.

Life Boats and Tigers and Boys - Oh My!

Life of Pi is a fantasy adventure novel that follows a young man through a perilous journey – both physically and psychologically – and shows that life, no matter how tragic and hopeless it can seem, is always worth fighting for.

Pi Patel, the title character in Yann Martel's 2001 novel, is not an ordinary teenager. He is a practicing Hindu, Muslim, and Christian, and grew up with his parents and brother in a zoo in Pondicherry, India. When Pi is sixteen years old, his family decides to sell the zoo and move to Canada due to political unrest in India. A few days into the journey the family's ship sinks, and Pi finds himself the sole human survivor on a life boat with an orangutan, a zebra, a hyena, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Soon, Pi is left alone in the life boat with the tiger. The two set out across the Pacific on a journey that explores faith, strength, and the line between the truth and the stories we tell ourselves in order to cope with the tragedies and triumphs of life.

The much-anticipated film version of "Life of Pi" is scheduled for release in late November. Take a look at the film's website.

Comic Artists Forum: Manga Artist Kasey Van Hise

Sunday, December 2 | 1:00-3:00 PM | Downtown Library | 4th Floor Meeting Room

Kasey Van Hise, creator of Winters in Lavelle, will conduct a workshop (courtesy of Skype) "Storytelling in Manga". Often overlooked by the western comics' fans and creators, the medium of Manga contains powerful storytelling principles that can be utilized by anyone. In this workshop you'll dissect pages from many different types of Manga, and approach not only understanding the unique language of these comics, but also what you can use and apply in your own work.

Join the Forum to get fresh ideas for your next comics or graphic novel creation. Drawing supplies will be provided, so drop in to draw, learn, and network with other cartoonists.

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

Sailor Twain, or the Mermaid in the Hudson

If you’re looking for a book to curl up with on a gloomy afternoon, then Sailor Twain or the Mermaid in the Hudson is your book!

One hundred years ago. On the foggy Hudson River, a riverboat captain rescues an injured mermaid from the waters of the busiest port in the United States. A wildly popular - and notoriously reclusive - author makes a public debut. A French nobleman seeks a remedy for a curse. As three lives twine together and race to an unexpected collision, the mystery of the Mermaid of the Hudson deepens.

All drawn in black-and-white charcoal - the surreal riverboat Lorelei, the forbidding Hudson River wrapped in continuous drizzle along with enigmatic characters will pull you in for a fantastical 400-page ride that will leave you pondering long after you finish the last page.

Science Fair Expo

Saturday, November 17 | 12 - 2 pm | Downtown | Grades 6 - 12

It's Science Fair season! Students and parents are invited to hear Clague Middle School science teacher, Soon Morningstar, discuss the basics on planning and assembling a successful science fair project. Ms. Morningstar has been helping students create science projects for the Southeastern Michigan Science Fair for eleven years, and she has many helpful resources on her website.

After the presentation, try several of our hands-on science experiments, and be the first to test some of our new Science Tools including two types of microscopes!

Ask questions, get answers about Science Fair projects this Saturday at the Downtown library.

Can't make the event? Check out this list of Science Fair resources available at the AADL. Also see the Science Fair Adventure website and the Science Buddies website for great project ideas.

November's New Book Clubs to Go

We have 5 new sets of Book Clubs to Go for your book clubs. Again, we tried to strike a balance between the classics, the literary, the popular, and the award winners - fiction and nonfiction.

A Death in the Family is the 1958 Pulitzer Prize–winning novel by James Agee who reconstructs through the lens of fiction the real-life car accident that claimed his father when James was not yet six years old.

Half Broke Horses, called a true-life novel (read the New York Times review) by Jeannette Walls who brings us the story of her grandmother Lily Casey Smith, a no-nonsense, resourceful, hard working woman who survived tornadoes, droughts, floods, the Great Depression, and the most heartbreaking personal tragedy.

Ava Bigtree has lived her entire life at Swamplandia!, a gator-wrestling theme park in the Florida Everglades. But when her mother the headliner dies, the family is plunged into chaos and it is left up to Ava to save them all. Karen Russell's Swamplandia is a seriously fun read to share.

The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua is a story about a mother, two daughters, and two dogs. It was supposed to be a story of how Chinese parents are better at raising kids than Western ones. But instead, it's about a bitter clash of cultures, a fleeting taste of glory, and how you can be humbled by a thirteen-year-old.

In The Tiger's Wife , Natalia, a young doctor, is compelled to unravel the mysterious circumstances surrounding her beloved grandfather’s recent death. Searching for clues, she turns to his worn copy of The Jungle Book and the stories he told her of his encounters over the years with “the deathless man.” But most extraordinary of all is the story her grandfather never told her—the legend of the tiger’s wife. Winner of the 2011 Orange Prize for debut novelist Tea Obreht.

2012 Teen NBA Winner Announced

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Goblin Secrets has received the 2012 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Rownie, the youngest in Graba the witchworker's household of stray children, escapes and goes looking for his missing brother. Along the way he falls in with a troupe of theatrical goblins and learns the secret origins of masks. Now Graba's birds are hunting him in the Southside of Zombay, the Lord Mayor's guards are searching for him in Northside, and the River between them is getting angry. The city needs saving—and only the goblins know how. Don’t miss Goblin Secrets!

Author William Alexander studied theater and folklore at Oberlin College and English at the University of Vermont. He currently lives, writes, and teaches in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His short stories have been published in many magazines and anthologies, including Weird Tales, Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, Interfictions 2, and Fantasy: The Best of the Year 2008. Catch an interview with William on The Enchanted Inkpot.

NaNoWriMo Write-In this Saturday !

Saturday, November 17 | 2:00-3:30 PM | Traverwood Branch

The clock is ticking. Head to the Library for some space to work on your novel for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Hurry - the novel has to be finished by November 30! AADL provides the space - YOU provide the creativity! Then whether you finish or not come to the TGIO (Thank God It's Over) Celebration with author Lara Zielin on Sat., Dec. 1.

National Novel Writing Month is a non-profit event that encourages teens and adults to tackle the challenge of writing a novel during November. The goal is to write a 50,000 word, (approximately 175 page) novel by 11:59:59, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved. For more information about NaNoWriMo, visit nanowrimo.org.

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