Strange Like Me

I came across this wonderful comic today. I wanted to share it and hear your thoughts.

http://zenpencils.com/comic/frida/

Makey Makey

Stickney-Forest View Public Library has purchased a MaKey Makey! We tried it out the other day during one of our Loft parties. We made a veggie piano. 

What is a Makey Makey? 

1. MaKey MaKey is an invention kit for the 21st century. Turn everyday objects into touchpads and combine them with the internet. It's a simple Invention Kit for Beginners and Experts doing art, engineering, and everything inbetween
2. Want to see it in action? Come by the Loft and ask! The possibilities are endless and FUN!

The Hunger Games: A Cookbook Book Club

Do you like to eat?

Do you like to cook?

Join the Cookbook Book Club here at the library!

We call it The Hunger Games, because as we sample our yummy creations, we will also play games. You name it--cards, scrabble, chess, darts? We are open to ideas and suggestions!

The cookbook for this month is The Chicago Cubs Cookbook and it's available at the front desk. Next month's cookbook will be chosen by attendees of the March meeting. If you have a suggestion for a cookbook, please drop by the Teen desk or put it in the suggestion box.

Please join us!
March 21st
3pm
In the Conference Room

Google Doodle

I was inspired today to have a fun little on-going activity here at The Loft involving Google Doodles. I personally use Google about 100 times a day. That may be an exaggeration, but I use it a lot throughout my day at work and at home. However, given that I am usually using Google on a mobile device, or simply going directly to a webpage, I rarely get a chance to enjoy the Google Doodles.

Today's was pretty cool.

Today is Alessandro Volta's 270th birthday. He is celebrated as "the father of the electrical battery." I love that Google celebrates people and things in this creative way. I often learn so much from them, as a simple Google Doodle will start me on a path of discovering of many other things. So you go to Google.com and if there is a Google Doodle that day, you will see it instead of the the plain ol' word Google. Sometimes there is a play button and it will play a short film, or GIF. Once you click on the Doodle after it has played, Google will link to information about that Google Doodle. Try it, it's awesome!

Today as read about Alessandro Volta, I learned that his contribution to our modern world originated when he was dissecting a frog. I also learned that his hypothesis that animals generate their own electricity was the inspiration for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Pretty cool, huh? Something else that's cool is once you link to the page about the Doodle, you will get to view Google Doodles from around the world. They even have a map where you can click on a part of the world and see what Google Doodles originated there. More fun ways to learn new things!

This brings me to my idea for a fun little activity we can do at The Loft. When there is a Google Doodle, you just have to tell me three things that you learned by experiencing it and reading about it and you GET A PRIZE!

See you at The Loft!

New Books!

Invisibility

This book is a collaboration between Andrea Cremer (Nightshade series) and David Levithan (Boy Meets Boy, Everyday) about a boy who was born invisible to everyone--even his parents and himself. Everyone, that is, except for Elizabeth. When they meet it's love at first sight and they set out to find the cure to the curse that has made Stephen invisible.

Fantasy League

Charlie “The Brain” Gaines may be an average seventh grader in most respects, but he possesses an uncanny knowledge about football teams and a sixth sense about game strategy. A so-so linebacker for his own Pop Warner team, the Culver City Cardinals, Charlie would much rather be on the sidelines, calling plays along with the coach. Best friend Anna Bretton shares Charlie’s passion for football, as it is in her blood—her grandfather and uncle own and manage the Los Angeles Bulldogs. She invites Charlie to meet Grandpa Joe and Uncle Matt at a game, and it isn’t long before Gramps is captivated by Charlie’s commentary. His advice to replace the quarterback with an older and relatively unknown player named Tom Pinkett helps to turn around their losing record. Signing Pinkett to the team turns out to be a winning idea, and when word gets out that the call was made by a 12-year-old, Charlie is hounded by the media and thrust into a spotlight he isn’t sure how to handle. Nearly losing his friendship with Anna, Charlie learns a lesson about fame and valuing relationships. Tension soars when Joe Warren falls ill, and readers will be alternately cheering and reaching for a tissue during the final playoff-deciding game for the Bulldogs. This will be devoured by young football fans, who appreciate intricate game details and won’t mind a touch of heartwarming sentiment.--School Library Journal

The Darkest Part of the Forest

Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries' seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.
At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointy as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.Until one day, he does...As the world turns upside down and a hero is needed to save them all, Hazel tries to remember her years spent pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?

Pretty Girl-13

Pretty Girl-13 is a disturbing and powerful psychological thriller about a girl who must piece together the story of her kidnapping and captivity and then piece together her own identity.
When thirteen-year-old Angela Gracie Chapman looks in the mirror, someone else looks back--a thin, pale stranger, a sixteen-year-old with haunted eyes. Angie has no memory of the past three years, years in which she was lost to the authorities, lost to her family and friends, lost even to herself. Where has she been, who has been living her life, and what is hiding behind the terrible blankness? There are secrets you can’t even tell yourself.
With a tremendous amount of courage and support from unexpected friends, Angie embarks on a journey into the darkest corners of her mind. As she unearths more and more about her past, she discovers a terrifying secret and must decide: when you remember things you wish you could forget, do you destroy the people responsible, or is there another way to feel whole again?
Liz Coley’s alarming and fascinating psychological mystery is a disturbing—and ultimately empowering—page turner about accepting our whole selves, and the healing power of courage, hope, and love.

'Til Tuesday: A Music Club for Teens

As we kick off our new music club for teens at The Loft, we want your feedback! What do you want from a music club? Want to sing? Learn an instrument? Share new music? Make a music video? It's all possible right here at the library! Today we listened to pop music and ate Rain-Blo Pops! 

See you next month!

Manic Mondays at The Loft have begun!

Join us on Mondays when we do nail art, craft, or make jewelry! Lately we have been painting our nails, but next week we are going to collage!

Collage (From the French: coller, to glue, French pronunciation: ​[kɔ.laːʒ]) is a technique of an art production, primarily used in the visual arts, where the artwork is made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collage

We will bring in containers such as tea and coffee tins, tubs, and boxes. We have a plethora of fashion, art, and graphic design magazines on hand. We will cut out images, words, and photographs, or simply designs, and paste them to the containers. We can then draw or paint over them or layer the images however you desire. You may even bring your own images, photographs, prints, or magazines. 

We will also have an ipod for music. If you have any suggestions or songs you would like to hear, let is know and we will add them to the ipod.

We are looking forward to seeing you Monday!

p.s.  The following is a list of links to collage art.

http://www.anothermag.com/current/view/3318/Top_10_Collage_Artists_Hannah_H%C3%B6ch_to_Man_Ray

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/magazine-collage

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/12/13/get-creative-with-collage-trends-and-inspiration/