Tween Friday Program: Wishing Beads

The last Tween Friday program will be held on Friday, August 3rd at 11:00am.  Tween ages 9 - 12 are invited to come for a wishing beads craft project.  No registration is required however Tweens should be signed up for summer reading to attend.

Don't forget to log your reading in your reading log at the library or online.  Tweens should log 6 books to complete the summer reading program (get them in by Tuesday, August 7th!) and need to log at least 3 books (and attend 1 Friday program) to come to the Teen/Tween Summer Reading party on August 16th.

Also, turn in your challenges!  Tween challenges can be submitted anytime at the Children's Desk. 

The race for the kindle isn't over yet so turn in your challenges, come to the last Friday program and log your books today!

Summer Reading Featured Book #7

Book #7: Half Magic by Edward Eager

Half Magic was a Book Buddies Book Club pick in May of 2010.  I loved this book and have gone on to enjoy many other books by Edward Eager.

It all begins with a strange coin on a sun-warmed sidewalk. Jane finds the coin, and because she and her siblings are having the worst, most dreadfully boring summer ever, she idly wishes something exciting would happen.

And something does: Her wish is granted.

Or not quite. Only half of her wish comes true.

It turns out the coin grants wishes - but only by half, so that you must wish for twice as much as you want.

Wishing for two times some things is a cinch, but other doubled wishes only cause twice as much trouble. What is half of twice a talking cat? Or to be half-again twice not-here? And how do you double your most heartfelt wish, the one you care about so much that it has to be perfect?

Puppet Camp

Puppet Camp for ages 8+ begins on Monday, July 30th at 2:00pm.  Kids interested in theater, art, writing and more should sign up today!  Learn all aspects of puppetry and make new friends.  Puppet Camp is a two-week program, Monday - Friday, July 30th - August 10th from 2:00pm - 4:00pm.

• learn the history of puppetry
• write a puppet show script
• design the background scenery
• make paper mache and shadow puppets
• perform and amazing puppet show!

Last Chance to Vote!

Today is the last day to vote for the Tween Summer Movie.  Vote at the children's desk or online by 8:00pm tonight.  Come to the library for our Tween Friday Program tomorrow morning (early this week - 10:30am!) and see if your favorite movie is the winner!

The winning movie will be shown in the lower level program room.  Ages 9 - 12.

Tweens: Learn Magic!

The Tween Summer Reading Program is having a special afternoon event this Thursday, July 26th @ 3:30pm.  Tweens, ages 9 - 12, are invited to see Mat Franco perform amazing magic tricks.  Following the show he'll be teaching you some magic as well!

No registration is required for this free program held in the lower level program room however Tweens should be signed up for the children's summer reading program to attend.

Summer Reading Featured Book #6

Book #6: Changing Moon by Mathieu Mariolle (Nola's Worlds #1 - Graphic Novel)

Good at making up stories that she is not allowed to finish, Nola's teacher and friends little realize that Nola's stories, often an extension of her dreams, may hint at something strange going on underneath their perfect and boring town of Alta Donna, especially after two unusual new students enroll in school.

Tween Summer Movie - VOTE today!

The Tween summer movie is quickly approaching - July 27th at 10:30am.  And as of last Friday there is a two-way tie for first place!  We've received a lot of votes so far both at the Children's Desk and online and voting remains open until Thursday, July 26th.  The choices are:

• How to Train Your Dragon
• The Adventures of TinTin
• Bedtime Stories
• Legend of the Guardians: The Owl's of Ga'hoole

VOTE today and make sure we show your favorite on the 27th! 

All movies are rated PG and are intended for Tweens, ages 9 - 12.

Tween Friday Program: Batman and Other Night Creatures

The next Tween Friday program will feature a special guest speaker and will be held on Friday, July 20th at 11:00am in the John Clarke Children's Program Room.  Wayne Quackenbush from Annex Comics on Broadway in Newport will present the history of comics will special emphasis on Batman and other night creatures.  Don't miss this exciting trip into the world of comic books!

No registration is required however Tweens should be signed up for the children's summer reading program (Dream Big - READ!) to attend.  Ages 9 - 12.

Summer Reading Featured Book #5

Book #5: The Dream Stealer by Sid Fleischman

A plucky Mexican girl tries to recover her dream from the Dream Stealer who takes her to his castle where countless dreams and even more adventures await.

Tween Friday Program: Writing Workshop

Do you like to write?  Want to improve your writing skills and have fun?  Writers are always encouraged to "write what you know."  So come write about yourself!  Come to a writing workshop on Friday, July 13th (Friday the 13th!) at 11:00am in the John Clarke Children's Program Room.  Tweens, ages 9 - 12,  will learn autobiographical writing using Cynthia Rylant's When I Was Young in the Mountains as a guide. 

No registration is required for this free program however Tweens should be signed up for the children's summer reading program to attend.  For more information visit Tween Summer Reading or call 401-847-8720 ext. 204.

Summer Reading Featured Book #4

Book #4: Gossamer by Lois Lowry

Where do dreams come from? What stealthy nighttime messengers are the guardians of our most deeply hidden hopes and our half-forgotten fears?

Curious, unconventional Littlest One is a dream giver, an ethereal spirit who ""bestows"" dreams on humans by touching items that contain pleasant memories like toys, photographs, shells and other personal objects, gathering these "fragments," and wafting them gently into sleepers' ears.  Littlest One is apprenticed to Thin Elderly, whose dream-giving territory is a house belonging to a lonely but loving old woman who is fostering an angry, emotionally scarred eight-year-old boy. When a horde of Sinisteens, dream givers who've gone over to the dark side, bring the boy terrifying nightmares, Littlest One fights back with healing fragments of the boy's triumphant at-bat in a baseball game, his attachment to the old woman's dog, and the comfort of his favorite stuffed animal.

But will Littlest One be able to keep the Sinisteeds away?

Tween Friday Program: Dreamcatchers

The next Tween program will be held this Friday, July 6th at 11:00am.  Tweens, ages 9 - 12, are invited to come learn about dreamcatchers and make a dreamcatcher craft.  No registration is required however Tweens should be signed up for the children's summer reading program to attend.  For more information visit Tween Summer Reading or contact the Children's Desk at 401-847-8720 ext. 204.

Summer Reading Featured Book #3: The Wish Stealers

Book #3: The Wish Stealers by Tracy Trivas!

Griffin Penshine is always making wishes.  But when a sinister old woman tricks her into accepting a box of eleven shiny Indian head pennies from 1897, Griffin soon learns that these are no ordinary pennies; they are stolen wishes.

This box of labeled pennies also comes with a horrible curse: People in possession of the stolen coins are Wish Stealers, who will never have their wishes granted… In fact, the opposite of what they’ve wished for will happen.  Griffin must find a way to return these stolen wishes and undo the curse if her own wishes are to ever come true.

But how can Griffin return wishes to strangers who might not even be alive?  Her journey leads her to ancient alchemists, Macbeth’s witches, and a chance to help people in ways she never imagined, but the temptation of the Wish Stealers’ dark power is growing stronger.  Can Griffin reverse the curse in time to save herself and the people she loves?  Find out in The Wish Stealers.