Summer Fun In July

Check out some of the pictures so far below & on the right of the page! Teens have made great masks, played games, solved a murder mystery, learned how to do improvisational comedy, read more than during any other summer, won prizes, and volunteered at programs. There's still fun ahead for July:

• Expresso Yourself starts on Tues. July 14. Create works of art with coffee and coffee grindings. Make beads from magazine pictures. Create sand art with colored salt and plastic bottles.


• GameFest Tues. July 22 Warm up with open play on the PlayStation 2 and Wii. Then compete in tournaments for prizes if you want to. Enjoy food & pop while you play.


• Keep reading and submitting those entry forms. Three winners will be chosen each week. Win t shirts, tote bags, & more! And you could win the grand prize of an MG3 player!

Who IS behind the masks???.....and....Who killed Lola LaPoufe?????

Summer Programs for Teens 11 & older
@ the Cedar Lake Branch Library

June 8-August 1 Read for prizes!
Put in an entry form for every magazine, 100 pages or book! 5 winners each week and a grand prize drawing for an MP3 player!

Summer Programs for Teens @ Your Library

· GameFest--Monday, June 8 & Wed., July 22@3pm
Play a variety of PlayStation & Wii games. Those who wish may compete in tournaments for prizes. Food and pop will be provided. Join the fun!
· Crafting Mania--Tuesday, June 9@ 1pm
Make your own famous Greek drama mask from a variety of materials. Help make a puzzle masterpiece, too! Recreate famous paintings one square at a time. All supplies (and snacks) will be provided.

· Red Cross Babysitter Training --Wednesday, June 17 @9am – 4:30pm
Teens, ages 11 to 15, will learn to care for infants and young children, to make decisions in emergencies, and keep themselves and children safe. Bring a sack lunch. Fee of $25 must be paid at the time of registration. This class is limited to 10 students.· Mystery Dinner Theater--Monday, June 22@ 4pm
Participants will play the parts as they work to solve the mystery of the sudden demise of actress Lola LaPoufe. The one who solves the prize will win a prize. Then play games that include drama, improv and lots of laughs while you eat a dinner of pizza and pop.· Laugh Out Loud @ Your Library--Wednesday, July 8 @7pm
The hilariously funny comedy troupe Tom Foolery will perform improvisational humor. They will teach members of the audience some games, too, so everyone can contribute to the hilarity. LOL!!!

· Expresso Self --Tuesday, July 14@ 4pm
Enjoy espresso and other snacks while you create amazing paintings with brewed espresso and coffee grindings. Create open-ended art with a variety of recycled materials, too.

New @ the library: If the Witness Lied

If the Witness Lied by Caroline Cooney will keep you guessing to the end. A 3 year old Tris did an unspeakable thing, but is he really guilty of murder? The family is falling apart. Now orphaned, Tris's two sisters find other places to live and that leaves oldest brother Jack to protect his youngest brother. Aunt Cheryl moves in to help out, but is she really helping? Besides Tris, she was the only witness to the accident--or was it?
Reviewed by Linda
Check out this new book @ the library!

Book Review: The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Movies and pictures are marvelous inventions. I think that both are aspects of education that are severely overlooked. I previously posted a review of the graphic novel Robot Dreams by Sara Varnon in which I mention how reading pictures is an important skill that is often times forgotten after learning how to read written words.

In The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick perfectly combines the use of images and words to tell stories in a way graphic novels typically do not. He uses 158 different pictures interspersed between pages of literature. The reader of the novel is required to read the words written by Selznick, but also to read the pictures.

The pictures often times present an unclear image and with each turn of the page the perspective provided in the image is enlarged. For example, the story opens with the moon, then the night sky, then the night sky over Paris, then the sun rising over a small part of Paris, then a train station, then the entrance of the train station, then the crowded inside of the train station, and lastly a close up of Hugo Cabret, the stories protagonist. This is a effect that makes reading the book seem like watching a movie.

In fact, film is an important aspect of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which makes the film like quality of his illustrations that much more poignant. Selznick draws upon real life movies and people in this novel to tell his work of fiction. He even uses the famous filmmaker Georges Melies as a major character and incorporates his films as part of the plot.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret was awarded the 2008 Caldecot Medal which is an award for illustrations in children's literature. While this was awarded a medal for children's literature, this book is perfect for use in high school classrooms to teach many important aspects of literature and film, as well as reinforce skills in reading images.

Reviewed by Mike

Book Review: Robot Dreams by Sara Varnon

Reading Comics
"No wonder grownups don't read comics: they don't know how." -Hollis Rudiger

The quote above comes from an article I read while working on a project for an English course. A common misconception about comic books is that they are for children because they use pictures as a primary method to tell the story. Unfortunately once we are taught how to read words, reading pictures is often times a skill that is thrown away. When reading comics do not focus solely on the words, but also read the pictures.

Book Review: Robot Dreams
Robot Dreams is a perfect comic to start for readers who are new to the genre, however it is filled with such detail that it is a treat for experienced comic readers. Sara Varnon tells a bittersweet story of a dog and a robot who become best friends, but unfortunately a trip to the beach separates the two (as robots and water do not mix). Through the use of pictures alone, Varnon tells the story of the year the robot and the dog are separated(the reader is given words only through the different months, sound effects, and other subtle details). The dog tries to make new friends with a family of ducks, anteaters, a snowman, and a penguin. All of these friendships do not last for one reason or another (usually humorous). All the while the robot who is trapped in his rust covered body at the beach dreams of his old friend and making new friends.

This is a wonderful book filled with great pictures, a well thought out story, and valuable lessons in friendship that is appropriate for all ages. It is often times happy and silly, but there is a nostalgic or melancholic tone to the tale. Varnon incorporates into her story several books, movies, and comics from real life as set dressing (many of which can be found in Lake County Public Libraries).

Works to Look For in Robot Dreams

• Castle in the Sky* (film)



• Charlie Brown* (Peanuts comics and films)



• Rotten Ralph* by Jack Gantos (children's book)



• Project Telstar (comics anthology)



• Doctor Desoto* by William Steig (Newberry Award winning children's book)



• Spaniel Rage by Vanessa Davis (comics anthology)



• The Rabbi's Cat* by Joann Sfar (graphic novel)



• The Clouds Above (graphic novel)

*Can be found at the Library

-Written by Mike Dodaro

New @ the Library

New @ the Library
Check out The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman--you know him from Sandman and other graphic novels--and Coraline. The Graveyard Book just won the coveted Newbery Award for best children's book of 2008. But don't let the word 'children' fool you. This one is for teens, too. A toddler wanders out of the house just as the mysterious and lethal man we only know as Jack is methodically going through the house and murdering the entire family. Jack knows he has missed the baby and follows him into the graveyard. But the baby has already been awarded the protection of the graveyard and Jack can't find him. The baby is 'adapted' by Mr. & Mrs. Owens, who never had children while they were living. He also has a guardian--the only one in the graveyard who can come and go and can bring the baby food. He is not a ghost--but he certainly isn't human, either. And so the baby, called Nobody, or Bod, Owens grows up in the graveyard amid ghosts from ancient to not so ancient times as well as ghouls and other creatures of the night. But Jack and members of his order are determined to kill the child--they must before he reaches adulthood. And when Jack discovers where Bod is living....

In Ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley, Charlotte is determined to not let being dead keep her going to the senior dance with the boy of her dreams. In life she was invisible to almost everybody--death isn't much different. She has to cooperate with the other dead kids so they can all 'move on', but she can't let go of life until she fulfills her dream. She had a plan for her senior year and, until death came along, it was working--sort of. Whoever thought that a gummy bear could change things--well, choking on one....reviewed by Linda Johnsen