Must Read of the Weekend!

Graceling by Kristin Cashore is an amazing read. Fans of Twilight just might enjoy this one.

Katsa was born in a land where a select few called Gracelings are born with supernatural talents. This is indicated by their different colored eyes. She is 18 when she discovers that her Grace empowers her to kill a man with her bare hands.

This terrifying skill causes her to be feared by everyone. However, Katsa does not relish her ability, and wants to use it for good. She forms The Council, an underground group who serve to right the wrongs of the oppressed. In a rescue mission she encounters Po, another Graced fighter who dares to stand up to her. Soon they fall in love, and are united in their desire to save their land from corruption.

The romance between Po and Katsa is similarly palpable to the romance between Bella and Edward. The intrigue and dangerous attraction between these two lovers will have you drooling for more. And there will be more. The prequel, Fire is set to be released in October 2009.

Barack Obama wins the 2008 Presidential Election!

Today is a historic day in American history. The first African-American was elected president of the United States of America. Some of you may have been old enough to vote in this election. Most of you weren't. But, perhaps you will be old enough to vote in the next election.

Whether or not you voted, or were happy with the outcome, the significance of yesterday's election had to affect you. The enthusiasm of voters was contagious. For the first time in a long time, people were flocking to the polls in record numbers, bringing their children, and smiling throughout, even if they had to wait in long lines. It made you really love the United States of America.

Perhaps you will be old enough to vote in the next general election (2012). If so, or whenever you have that privilege, remember how wonderful it is to have it, and make the most of it!

Please feel free to offer your comments on the election and your hopes for the next four years.

The Next Anime Club screening is Nov. 11th!

The Rocky River Public Library Anime Club will be screening

Noir: Shades of Darkness, Vol. 1

on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the Purple Room on the library's Mezzanine level.

Noir is the story of two professional assassins, Mireille Bouquet and Kirika Yumura. Neither one can remember their past, but both of them are very good at what they do. They team up to form "Noir", but soon realize that someone is out to kill them.

The anime club is open to teens ages 12-18. All those who are under 18 are required to have a signed permission form to participate. Please stop in at the Adult Reference desk to pick up a form prior to the screening.

Teens Top Ten!!!!!

Announcing the Top Ten Teen Titles of 2008! Click here to vote for your own!

(as voted on by over 8000 teens)


1. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
4. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
5. Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson
6. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
7. The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
8. Extras by Scott Westerfeld
9. Before I Die by Jenny Downham
10. Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

Do you agree? Feel free to comment and add your own!

Psst....Hey You! This just in! Eva Longoria is fat! Give me a break.

Recently speculations have been surfacing about Eva Longoria's weight gain. Apparently, she has gained so much weight, she can no longer be mistaken for a twelve-year-old boy. Could she be pregnant? No, she insists she is just getting "fat" for her role as a frumpier Gabby on Desperate Housewives.

Imagine if every time you stepped out of your door, went to the beach, bought a coffee, went grocery shopping, everyone scrutinized your body. Did you gain a pound? Perhaps your T-shirt clings unflatteringly to your belly as you step out of Subway. Oh, you must be pregnant. Does this happen to men? Of course not. Why does it happen so much to young women and girls? Because we let it.

Well, it's making me angrier and angrier every time I see this. Especially this particular story. Eva Longoria is too thin, as are most of the actresses in Hollywood. She is too small. Perhaps she is gaining weight, not for a role, as she claims, but because she wants to GET pregnant and can't because she is too thin.

If you are a teenage girl, and you are reading this, please know that this is not an image or ideal to aspire to. Here's why. IT'S NOT REAL! Oh, and I forgot to mention one other little reason. For most young girls, trying to look this way can do serious damage to your body.

You may not think dieting or exercising to an extreme to slim down is doing you any harm. And, it may not be noticeable. Now. But, I assure you, it will do damage that will come back to haunt you as you age. Bone loss, infertility, gastrointestinal disorders, bad skin, and many many other ailments plague women who just didn't take care of themselves in their teens and twenties.

And, here's another thing that makes me mad..fashion designer Rachel Zoe's new reality show, The Rachel Zoe Project. This walking skeleton of a woman creates bohemian fashion for overly skinny celebrities like Lindsey Lohan, Nicole Richie, The Olsen twins, and others. It was rumored that she pressured Lohan to "slim down" to portray the image that her clothes aspire to. Who knows if that is true, but I can almost guarantee that if a normal sized woman like Queen Latifah asked her to dress her for an awards show, not that she ever would want to, Ms. Zoe would probably politely decline. Why does she deserve her own stupid show?

Now, if you are a teenage girl and reading this, you are also probably saying something like "I know all of this already. My mom, my teachers, everyone harps on having a better body image." Well, they should. And, you probably don't. More and more teenage girls are emerging with low self-esteem and poor body image. This can really make it difficult to survive in the real world. How can you change that? Read everything you can get your hands on and tell yourself every day that you are beautiful and awesome. Because, even though it sounds corny, repeating this will eventually help you believe it.

Here are some suggestions for reading material on this topic that doesn't suck and doesn't preach to you:

Body Drama

Nancy Amanda Redd

Teen Nonfiction

Life Doesn't Begin 5 Pounds From Now

Jennifer Weiner

Adult Nonfiction

All made up : a girl's guide to seeing through celebrity hype and celebrating real beauty

Brashich, Audrey D.

Teen Nonfiction

Gossip Girl the series....

The further adventures of Gossip Girl continues to be very popular on the WB. Did you know that it was first a series of popular teen pbks by Cecily Von Ziegesar?

Ms. Von Ziegesar is an actual person, unlike Lisi Harrison and Zoey Dean, the credited authors of The Clique series and the A-List series respectively. She is from a wealthy Connecticut family, and actually went to a boarding school in upper East side New York, the Nightingale-Bamford School. So, I guess she knows what she is writing about. However, I doubt much of what she writes is based on reality, but who knows.

In case you have been living under a rock for the past few months, Gossip Girl is basically the story of a few super rich socialites living in Manhattan's upper East side. No one knows who Gossip Girl is, except GG herself. She is the anonymous writer of an online blog in which sex, relationships, scandal, and much more is shared among its readers. For those of you who care to read the popular series, here is the order:

Gossip Girl
You Know You Love Me
All I Want Is Everything
Because I'm Worth It
I Like It Like That
You're the One That I Want
Nobody Does It Better
Nothing Can Keep Us Together
Only in Your Dreams
Would I Lie to You?
Don't You Forget About Me
Prequel
It Had To Be You
The series also has two spinoffs, The It Girl and Gossip Girl: The Carlyles.

Do You Wanna Be a Rock Star?...and the further adventures of XBox 360

Well, now's your chance to be a rock star in the library! Rocky River Public Library now has three, yes, THREE gaming systems which will be available for open play on Tuesday, Sept. 23 from 3:30-5:00 p.m. in the library's Auditorium.

Our newest purchase is the XBox 360 Arcade, which joins a PS2 and Nintendo Wii. The XBox 360 game Rock Band 2 has been preordered, and should arrive shortly, hopefully by the 23rd.

Now this leads me to my latest teen fiction recommendation for the aspiring punk rock goddess.

I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone

by Stephanie Kuehnert

Teen Paperback

It's the story of a teenage girl named Emily Black who is growing up in a small town stuck in the mid-70's. Her mother left her when she was just a baby to track down the Ramones and live the fast life in the punk rock scene, or at least that's what her father tells her. In case you are wondering, Joey Ramone was the eccentric front singer for the rock band the Ramones. The Ramones were trailblazers, to say the least, in the punk rock scene.

Emily is in love with punk rock music and thinks if she starts her own punk rock band, and it's successful, maybe, just maybe, her mother will show up at one of her concerts. So she does. It's a moving story about mothers, daughters and a rock bond that cannot be broken. This is Kuehnert's first novel, but if it is any indication of her writing talent, there will be more.

Rock On!

Interested in trying out this new equipment? All you have to do is be a teen and show up. Oh, and it's also a good idea to try to act reasonably normal if you can. Rowdy behavior and a refusal to play nice is annoying to everyone.