Blog Post
Teen Stuff: The Crafty Girl's Guides to Almost Everything
by Caser
Are your everyday items becoming a little too ordinary? Does your calculator need some sparkle to its numbers? Is your handbag looking lifeless these days? Good news: the Crafty Girl series has a solution (more like hundreds of them) to all of these problems. Author Jennifer Traig is fantastic at transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary with easy-to-follow steps for the crafty girl looking for some daily inspiration. Each book in the Crafty Girl series is dedicated to making one part of your life really sizzle, from Beauty to Accessories to Hair. Happy crafting!
Blog Post
Teen Stuff: The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt
by manz
Read this book. Really. The Wednesday Wars is a hilarious look at September through June in the seventh grade. Told from the POV of Holling Hoodhood, who is the only Presbyterian in his class, the younger brother a flower child teenager, and “hated” by his teacher Mrs. Baker. For Holling seventh grade is full of death threats, pranks, escape rats, penitentiary-bound eighth graders, baseball stats, and creampuffs covered in chalk dust- you know the usual seventh grade stuff. Set in Long Island, NY in 1967-68, during the Vietnam War, with Walter Cronkite on the TV, the book isn’t all fun and games. Holling is stuck spending Wednesday afternoons with Mrs. Baker, who may or may not hate his guts, reading Shakespeare plays, which makes way for some great metaphors throughout the book. Holling learns a lot that year, about himself and the world around him. This 2008 Newbery Honor book made me laugh and cry, and I was sad it had to end. (For grades 6 and up.)
Blog Post
Parent Magazine Update -- Good for You
by MariaK
This month's parent magazine update focuses on things that nourish the soul and body, starting with my personal favorite -- books.
Book Links magazine starts with some interesting articles on multi-platform books -- books that include online components. The popular 39 Clues series is a great example of this innovative genre, as is the Skeleton Creek series for teens. Also featured in this issue are series books that are good for reading aloud -- The Porcupine Year, Al Capone Shines My Shoes, and The Runaway Dolls for example -- and books about young artists, along the lines of Peter Reynolds' classic The Dot.
Mothering magazine has its own list of recommended books -- "visually sophisticated" picture books. Though he isn't mentioned in the article David Wiesner would be my personal recommendation in this category. This issue also features lots of other good-for-you stuff -- foods to boost the immune system, ways to foster creative play indoors and an article about celebrating your daughter's menarche in a supportive and empowering way.
Blog Post
The Countdown Continues!
by MariaK
With only two weeks to go, we at AXIS Coffeehouse are doing our best to send you to summer with a bang. Last Friday we got a visit from Detroit rap artist The Chozn Bravesoul, and this Friday we will host another special guest -- Maggie Hanks of Ann Arbor Word Works! Don't miss this chance to get some writing advice from a poet described as "bold and insightful".
Also, our last day at AXIS Coffeehouse, March 26th, will be recorded for for the AADL podcast, so bring that poem you've been working on for a chance at library fame!
As always, AXIS Coffeehouse will offer food, drink, good writing and good company -- as well as $5 fine forgiveness coupons and free books for those who present at the mic. Join us at Mallett's Creek this Friday, from 6:30-8 for a great time!
Blog Post
AXIS Coffeehouse Enters the Countdown
by MariaK
AXIS Coffeehouse only has three weeks to go before we break for the summer, so we are going to make the most of it!
This Friday, March 12, local rap artist The Chozn Bravesoul will be visiting to talk a little about rap and poetry. And next Friday, March 19, we will host special guest Maggie Hanks of Ann Arbor Word Works, who will surely have some interesting writing ideas herself.
This free event offers snacks and great conversation as well as $5 library fine forgiveness coupons for those who present at the mic. Don't miss out on these awesome opportunities! Mallett's Creek, 6:30-8:00 pm. Be there!
Blog Post
Teen Magazine Update -- Ahead of the Game
by MariaK
Do you enjoy being one step ahead of the game? Name dropping and looking cooler than your friends? Then this month's teen magazines are for you!
Wizard Magazine starts off this party with the "Wizard 20" -- a list of games, movies, artists, authors and comics that you should probably already know about. We are lucky enough to have many of these pearls of awesome here at the AADL -- such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer graphic novels. Not to be missed in this edition -- the ten worst superhero girlfriends of all time!
This month's issue of Rolling Stone Magazine features two old school masters of awesome -- Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, two of rock music's most amazing guitarists. Also in this issue, comedian Tracy Morgan discusses his hard-knock life, and Matt Taibbi tells us how Wall Street is setting the entire country up for a fall. Good times.
For the awesome girls out there, Justine Magazine features bios of Elissa Bernstein, author of the scrumptious blog 17 and Baking and 17-year-old tennis star Melanie Ouden. And, talk about being one step ahead of your friends, this issue also features a ten-step prom countdown and a guide to job hunting, from resume to interview.
Blog Post
The Return of the Revenge of AXIS Coffeehouse
by MariaK
Like some monster out of the depths, AXIS Coffeehouse just keeps on coming back.
Unlike most b-movie monsters, however, AXIS Coffeehouse will let you write poetry, hang out, and eat snacks...Oh, and it will give you goodies like $5 fine forgiveness coupons when you present your work at the mic. How delightfully nefarious!
The mayhem will take place at Malletts Creek branch, from 6:30 -8 PM on Friday March 5th. Be there!
Blog Post
Youth Nonfiction Finds -- Special Edition: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
by MariaK
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a day when we should look forward and backward -- backward into history to appreciate how far we have come as a country and the hard work of those who brought us here, and forward to the challenges we still have to face in order to bring about true equality. Here are some good books to help you get a good understanding of the history of the Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King Jr.:
Who Was Martin Luther King Jr.? provides a concise biography of its titular subject and background on the issues underlying the Civil Rights Movement, such as Jim Crow Laws and the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision. My Brother Martin, written by Christine King Farris, tells the story of Martin Luther King Jr.'s childhood, for a more human picture of the great man. Did you know that he was quite the prankster as a child? I Have a Dream presents Dr. King's famous speech in manageable bites, accompanied by evocative illustrations.
For those who want to learn more about the Civil Rights Movement itself, Nobody Gonna Turn Me 'Round presents a very understandable, illustrated history of the major events of the movement. A Dream of Freedom provides a more in-depth look at the issues, from Emancipation to the Black Panther Party. In Freedom's Children activists like Claudette Colvin and Ruby Bridges share their experiences of growing up during those tumultuous times. Finally, The Civil Rights Movement for Kids combines history with activities, like skits, songs, speeches and even recipes, to really bring history home.
Blog Post
Parent Magazine Update -- Inspiration Information
by MariaK
I hope you feel rested and refreshed at the end of this holiday season. On the other hand, if you feel like you used up all your creative energy picking gifts and planning activities, January's parent magazines have tools to inspire and inform you.
The Horn Book Magazine is a great guide to the best inspirational tools on the planet -- books! This issue contains an interview with children's author Margaret Mahy, an article in defense of fanfiction (an under-appreciated genre in my opinion), and of course, abundant book reviews. The editors' book picks this issue include Imogene's Last Stand, wordless picture book The Lion and the Mouse,Crossing Stones - a teen novel about World War 1, and graphic novel The Storm in the Barn.
Working Mother Magazine features some inspiring portraits of successful career women, with a bio of White House deputy chief of staff Mona Sutphen and an article by Lynn Blum, the founder of resale shops Once Upon a Child, Plato's Closet and Clothes Mentor. On the more serious side of things, Working Mother also covers recent changes in custody settlements brought on by an increase in stay-at-home dads, with suggestions to minimize the effects of divorce on children.This issue also contains tips on keeping track of your teenager, and some tasty-looking one-dish recipes. I think that "Vegetarian Paella" and "Chicken Olive Tagine" sound pretty inspiring, don't you?
Blog Post
AXIS Coffehouse Returns
by MariaK
Rejoice, poets and poetry fans! AXIS Coffehouse returns from winter break this Friday, January 8th at 6:30 pm, with more books, more snacks and more fine forgiveness coupons than ever before.
For those of you who are new to the program, AXIS Coffeehouse is space where you can hang out and share poetry in a comfortable and laid-back environment. Read your own work, or someone else's, and you get free goodies, including $5 fine forgiveness coupons!
So, whether you're new to AXIS Coffehouse or not, come on down to Malletts Creek this Friday for an evening of poetry and fun. Feel free to bring a friend.