tween-quake

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Target Audience & Promotion

The target audience of the teen quake events and collection are young adolescents in the San Francisco Bay Area. The collection is as wide-ranging and diverse- the majority of the items included are current in order to attract the tween audience. The events have been designed to draw in the largest audience possible and are geared toward increasing literacy in the bay area's tween population.

Promotional materials have been designed by the Tween Advisory Group of the main branch of our library and with their assistance, materials will be distributed across the city of San Francisco- to coffee shops, branch libraries, ice-cream shops, arcades, YMCA's, local non-profits serving families and youth, middle schools, and wherever youth hang out in the public sphere. In addition, youth librarians will distribute promotional materials via email to members of the Association of Children's Librarians Northern California (ACL) to post in their libraries across the bay area.

teen quake events

An evening with M.E. Breen, author of Darkwood.
Come and join M.E. Breen, author of Darkwood as she reads from her first novel, discusses her writing process, and the upcoming sequel to Darkwood.

Playing dress up with Blake Nelson, author of Gender Blender
Come and join the author of Gender Blender as he shares tips and tricks of writing for young adolescents as well as the authors that inspired him when he was young. Snacks and beverages will be served. At the end of the event, there will be a cross dressing fashion show complete with prizes for the most creative and fashionable costumes.

Read along book group
Come and join your favorite youth librarians as they read their favorite excerpts from Gennifer Choldenko's historical tale of life on Alcatraz, Al Capone Does My Shirts and Al Capone Shines My Shoes. If you haven't read the stories, never fear for the librarians will summarize the stories before hand and there will be plenty of time for discussion and snacks afterward.

Read along book group
Come and join your not so favorite youth librarians as they read selections from Lemony Snickett’s, The Bad Beginning. If you haven't read the tale, never fear, as we will summarize the story before hand and serve snacks and beverages while we watch the full length motion picture afterward.

Write your own story, Illustrate your own story
Come and join the author Jennifer Holm and her illustrator brother Matthew Holm of Babymouse fame in an event of a lifetime. In the first part of the event, Jennifer will discuss creating a memorable character and writing a story to suit them. In the second half, her brother will help you create illustrations to bring your character and story to life. Please register for this event ASAP as space is limited.

Ivy + Bean

At the heart of the series from award winning author, Annie Barrows, is the friendship between two young girls. The two characters are Ivy and Bean as the title suggests, from the cover of the first book in the series, they appear to be best buddies, but they haven’t always been friends. Bean’s mother suggests that she play with her neighbor Ivy calling her a ‘nice’ little girl- she is, after all, the same age and lives just across the street. ‘Nice’ is just another word for ‘boring’ thinks Bean. The two girls couldn’t be more different- Ivy is quiet, plays by herself, and carries a big book with her everywhere and Bean is loud, full of ideas and schemes, and plays with all the kids in the neighborhood, old and young. One day something changes- while Bean is acting on a plot to annoy her older sister Nancy things go very wrong- Ivy comes to her rescue. That big book she carries around with her isn’t a book of fairytales, it’s a book of spells and directions on being a proper witch. She proves that she is just as crafty and mischievous as Bean. And thus, their friendship is born. Young tween readers between 8-9 will be enamored with the detailed illustrations, snappy dialog, and overall fun, adventurous nature of the stories. Fans of Babymouse and Ellie McDoodle: New Kid in School will surely enjoy this series.

http://www.anniebarrows.com/ivyandbean/

Barrows, A. (2006) Ivy + Bean. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. 120 pages. ISBN: 978-0-81184-909-8.

Ages 6-10

Catwings

This sweet and heart-warming little fantasy from the prolific and award-winning science fiction writer, Ursula K. LeGuin, is a classic. The cats in her four-book series beginning with Catwings, were all born with wings- a fact that their mother, Mrs. Jane Tabby just couldn’t explain. She had an idea though- since their neighborhood had become rough and quite dangerous, she speculated that the wings would serve to take them away from there. And take them away, they did. They helped protect little Harriet from being lunch for a mean and angry dog. After Mrs. Jane Tabby learned that her children could indeed fly, she sent them away to live a better life outside of the dangerous neighborhood. The children do find a better life in the country- food is more plentiful than in the city, but it’s not without it’s own dangers. Each book contains short chapters for easy reading and lush color illustrations by S.D. Schindler to enrich the reading experience. I would recommend the book and series to young tweens up to age 10, especially if they are animal lovers.

Babymouse

Babymouse is a dreamer. Not the lay on your back, stare at the clouds dreaming of being an adult dreamer. Nope. She has a wild imagination and vivid fantasies of being the most popular and beautiful mouse in her school. In reality, her school already has one such creature, the Queen of the World, Miss Felicia Furrypaws. She has everything that Babymouse wants- devoted friends, fans, and purrfect whiskers. She is the epitome of cool, grade school style. As Babymouse clamors for an invite to Felicia’s sleepover, young tweens will relate to her desire to be part of the in-crowd and as the story draws to a close, they will be pleasantly relieved with the conclusion. This graphic novel series written by Newberry Award winning author Jennifer Holm and illustrated by her brother Matthew Holm will delight even older readers as Babymouse navigates friendships, family life with a pesky younger brother, and school hierarchies. Themes of self-acceptance and gratitude are sprinkled through the series, and covert moral lessons are entrenched in the clever, witty text and illustrations. Fans of the Sardine in outer space series or Ivy and Bean will be sure to enjoy the many adventures of Babymouse.

Holm, J.(2005). Babymouse: Queen of the World. New York: Random House. 91 pages. ISBN: 978-0-375-93229-8.

Ages 9-12

Regarding the Bees

This is not a typical, boring story of middle school students preparing for a very important, life changing, standardized test. If the seventh graders of the Geyser Creek Middle School fail their BEE (Basic Education Evaluation) then they will have to repeat all of middle school. In addition, the student’s teacher is not helping them prepare for the test at all, he’s acting as principal. So, the class is being taught by Florence Waters, fountain designer and substitute teacher, from a distance. Ms. Waters corresponds with students via letters giving them their assignments while she is travelling for work. The story is told through the format of letters, notes, newspaper stories, memos, and transcripts. As the students correspond with Ms. Waters, they solicit her advice on matters of the heart as well as their schoolwork and the upcoming BEE’s. The class is invited to participate and compete in a spelling bee with a rival school, and when their teacher is found to be using unsavory methods, the students at Geyser Creek Middle School will have to learn about compassion.

This selection is a part of the Regarding the … Series and will delight younger and reluctant readers with it’s whimsical illustrations and format, while entertaining and engaging older readers with it’s plethora of puns- all bee related. By encouraging her students to be curious and engage with their subject in a meaningful way, Ms. Waters will inspire young readers to do the same. Fans of illustrated books and graphic novels such as Ottoline and Sardine will become enamored with the format and storylines created by the Klise sisters.

http://kateandsarahklise.com/

Further readings from the Klise sisters:
Regarding the Trees: A Splintered Saga Rooted in Secrets
Regarding the Sink: Where, Oh Where, Did Waters Go?
Letters from Camp
Over My Dead Body: 43 Old Cemetery Road

Klise, K. & Klise, M.S.(2007). Regarding the Bees: a lesson, in letters, on honey, dating, and other sticky subjects. Orlando: Harcourt. 122 pages. ISBN: 978-0-152-05711-4.
Ages 9-12

Galen: My Life in Imperial Rome

Marissa Moss is skilled at capturing the voices of young adolescents removed from the modern world in a way that young adolescents today can engage with and understand. In this selection, Galen, she has applied her award winning style of journaling with detailed color illustrations to the life of a 12 year-old slave boy in Imperial Rome. She blends historical facts about Rome including major figures and events with the fictitious life of young Galen and his family, who live and work in the household of Augustus Caesar. He works with his father, a famous artist, decorating Livia’s house. When he discovers a plot to assassinate the emperor and his stepson Tiberius, he reveals the plot saving both and in the process earning freedom for himself and his family. Young readers will gain insight about the daily lives of slaves and members of the emperor’s family- what they eat, where and how they lived. They will be so engrossed in the story that they will hardly feel like they are learning valuable facts about history. The volume is complete with hand drawn maps on the inside front cover and a glossary in the back cover. I would highly recommend this selection for reluctant readers, as the confessional tone and illustrations make for an easy, delightful read. As the first in the Ancient World Journal series, this volume stands out.