YA Book Review: "One Came Home" by Amy Timberlake* **

1871 is a big year for 13-year-old Georgie: her older sister has disappeared with a group of pigeoners and instead of bringing Agatha home, the sheriff returns to their Placid, Wisconsin town with a body half-eaten by animals and missing a face and both hands, but still recognizable by its dress, a beautiful, shimmering, turquoise green gown hand stitched for Agatha by their mother.  For Mrs. Burkhardt and Grandfather Bolte, the dress is indisputable proof of Agatha's death; she is buried the next day.

Georgie suffers through her sister's funeral, but refuses to believe Agatha is dead -- Agatha, who craved a life of education, rather than marriage; Agatha, who climbed up into trees and down into caves and could survive nearly anything; Agatha with the red, red hair.  For the past year, Georgie's worst fear has been the possibility of losing her beloved sister to a husband or to the university, but death?  She knows her sister would never leave her that way, and with her rifle, a mule, Captain Randolph B. Marcy's The Prairie Traveler: A Hand-Book for Overland Expeditions, and a heart nearly collapsing with guilt -- Georgie had betrayed her sister not long before Agatha vanished; had she been ultimately responsible for whatever fate her sister met? -- Georgie sets out to prove that Agatha is alive.

Joined by Agatha's former beau on a journey to Dog Hollow, Wisconsin, Georgie unravels mysteries and discovers others, and is changed in ways she never sought or believed she would be.  One Came Home is a beautiful historical coming-of-age story full of mystery and adventure (Georgie just happens to be the best 13-year-old shot in Placid, if not in all of Wisconsin).  Recommended.

Find "One Came Home" at APL

* I would just like to point out that I wrote this book review for APL Youth Services's more "mature" blog for adults, which is why it doesn't sound like me and lacks all my favorite words to use, like "totally" and "yeah, so" and "awesome."  Rest assured, though, that this book is seriously awesome.  I highly recommend it!

** Also by the way, Amy Timberlake is also the author of the picture book "The Dirty Cowboy," illustrated by Adam Rex.  It's a children's book about, well, a dirty cowboy and it's been challenged, restricted, and/or banned in a handful of libraries, as well as by parents around the country, because it depicts a "half-naked" cowboy who's getting ready to take a bath.  Well I gotta say, librarian or not, I'm on the side of the parents here.  Taking clothes off to take a bath?  Never!  I don't know about anyone else, but I always shower with my clothes on.

Makes Me Wish...

...I knew how to ride a bike.  Oh, by the way, did you know that your teen librarian never learned how to ride a bike?  (I also don't know how to ice skate.)  My guy Kris tried to teach me how to ride a two-wheeler last fall, and it was kind of a disaster, not because I fell a lot (I don't think I fell once, actually), but because the seat was REALLY uncomfortable, and I could barely walk for like, two week afterwards.  I'm thinking we might go the tandem-bike route--Kris gets to do all the work, and I get to happily sit on the back of the bike, pedal, and pretend I'm actually doing something.  Works for me!

So basically, what we've got here is a 2-story high bike named the Stoopid Tall bike by its creator, Richie Trimble.  

Let me stop here to say that there are times in my life when I'm just utterly tired of humanity (one of my dreams in life used to be to move to rural England to become a sheepherder with Kris; he wasn't as into the idea as I was).  People do terrible things to each other -- war and violence and abuse and poverty are very real and very terrible and there are people who experience these things every day of their lives.  Then there's the smaller stuff that's just annoying, like the jerk lady who honked at me yesterday even though I had the right of way.  And when my cat throws up on the floor and it's disgusting and slightly stinky, and I have to clean it up and it makes me late for work.

And then you have something like THIS.  This utterly bizarre and completely wonderful giant bike that makes you glad there are strange and creative and smart people on this planet.  Apparently, Trimble had to climb a series of beams just to reach the seat.  I wonder if his bike is still functional and if so, whether we could convince him to come visit us in Ames for a demonstration?  I do have a little money to hire a performer....

TAG Meeting Minutes: May 17, 2013

People:

Maria, Fletcher, Izanna, Benji, Alex, Zoe, Maya, Kira, Jordan, Angela

Percy Jackson Plan:

Start out by dividing all participants into either Romans or Greeks Five gods will have activities, Hades, Ares, Apphrodite, Posidean and Zues

Hades: Treasure Hunt Tag

                -start point and end point (door to underworld)

                -person as Hades to be tagger

                -pick up treasure on the way

                -person with most treasure in the end wins

‘THE MAZE RUNNER’ FIRST LOOK: GET LOST IN THE GLADE

Best maze EVER

Apparently the picture here isn't a screenshot from the upcoming movie version of James Dashner's The Maze Runner, but is just a picture director Wes Ball created for himself as inspiration for the filming.  Should Wes Ball happen to stumble upon this blog, my thoughts to you are: PLEASE MAKE THE MAZE IN THE MAZE RUNNER LOOK EXACTLY LIKE THIS.  It is awesome.  So freaking awesome.

For those of you who haven't read The Maze Runner, it's about this kid Thomas who wakes up in an elevator that rises up out of the ground and drops him off into this lush, green pasture-type place called the Glade, where a bunch of other kids -- all dudes, no girls -- sleep, eat, work, hang out, and basically live, trapped in the Glade, with no adults in sight.  It sounds kind of awesome, but it isn't -- Thomas can't remember anything other than his name, a lot of the other guys in the Glade are hardened and tough, they have no memories or any idea why they've been brought here, and seemingly the only way to escape what is essentially their prison is to try to find their way through a maze that changes each morning and is deadly to be trapped in at night.  Also, there's no girls (this is not a main plot point.  Thomas doesn't sit around wishing there were girls.  I'm just saying, a green field with a bunch of smelly guys and no girls?  Lame.)  There's a lot of suspense in The Maze Runner, plus a couple of pretty good plot twists.  It's not like, my most favorite YA book ever, but it's definitely pretty great.  Worth reading for sure, two thumbs up, etc.

The Maze Runner will star Dylan O'Brien as Thomas, and the official movie release date is currently set at February 14, 2014.  Valentine's Day!  Nothing says romantic like a dystopian movie about teenagers who've had their memories wiped and are forced to fight for their survival, right?

TAG Minutes: April 13th and 26th

TAG April 13^th and 26^th Minutes

May Events

·      Blackout Poetry May 17^th 7pm

·      Bake Sale at Ames Public Library, May 18^th 10-12pm

o   Volunteers needed!

·      Friends Foundation Meeting May 9^th

o   Maria and Zoe

·      Next TAG meeting May 11^th

o   Voting for one new co-president

o   Characteristics of a good co-president: availability, sense of humor, creative, consistent involvement and dedication, where do you see TAG in the future?

Summer Events listed below are all at Bandshell Park, 4pm

·      Percy Jackson, June 12^th

·      Tie-dye, June 19^th

·      Carnival, June 26^th

·      Harry Potter, July 10^th

·      The Hobbit, July 24^th

·      The Hobbit Movie at APL, July 31^st

Things That Have Happened in the Last Forever

1) E. L. Konigsburg died, which is sad, because she was an awesome author (she's got TWO Newbery gold medals, which only a few other authors have (another is Lois Lowry) and she's the ONLY AUTHOR EVER IN THE HISTORY OF AUTHORS to have won both a Newbery gold medal AND a Newbery honor IN THE SAME YEAR--that's like winning best actress and best supporting actress at one time!).  This is also particularly sad, because From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler was my favorite book when I was in 6th grade, and I've read it probably more times than any other book (in fact, my copy was so ragged that it completely fell apart and was held together with a rubber band).  If you haven't read it, it's the story of Claudia and Jamie Kincaid, a sister and brother who team up to run away from home to live / hideout in the Metropolitan Museum of freaking Art, which, if you haven't been, is MASSIVE and wonderful and solemn and gorgeous and is part of the heart of New York City, one of the best places on the planet.  They sleep in Marie Antoinette's bed.  They bathe in the glorious fountain in the museum cafe (then realize that they can um, borrow some of the coins people have wished on to buy food and other necessities).  They hide in bathrooms from security guards.  Oh, and they end up finding a mystery to solve, too.  The book is sort of old timey, yeah, since it was published in the late 60's, but the old timey-ness comes across more as quaint than lame (like, it costs them a dollar or something each to travel by train from Connecticut to New York; um, hello, the last time I took the train from New Jersey into New York it was like, 40 bucks or something, and Jersey's way closer to the city than Connecticut is).  ANYWAY.  Mrs. Konigsburg's passing is a bummer for sure.  Rest in peace, lady.


2) These grass heads made by some TAG'ers are awesome, plain and simple.

3) Oh, and HERE'S something else that happened: I updated this blog!  Amazing!  Big pat on the back to me!  I've decided to make it a goal to write at least once a week.  I used to think things like sleep and eating and snuggling my cats are important, but obviously I've had my priorities wrong.  This will happen, even it means doubling my general intake of 3 cups of coffee a day.  I might just die, but rest assured, this blog will be updated.

(What I will probably look like in a few weeks)

Tag Meeting Minutes, 3/15/13

TAG Minutes

March 15, 2013
Present: Eunice, Caitlyn, Maria, Jenny, Caleb, Izanna, Benji, Fletcher, Angela, Alexander, Zoe, Mya

• Volunteers signed up to attend Friends Foundation Meetings--this is to prevent confusion about who will be attending the meetings.  If you sign up but can't make it, just let the group know.  At least one person from TAG should be in attendance each month.
• April 11 -- Zoe and Mya wil attend
• May 9 -- Maria and Zoey will attend (and maybe Jenny)
• May program -- Blackout poetry and Madlibs
• SUMMER PROGRAMS!!!!  TAG came up with basically the best ideas ever
  
• Rock the Library -- still need a date.  Friday, August 16?
• Harry Potter party celebrating Bill & Fleur's wedding!
• This will be a dance, but maybe with other stuff too?
• Last program of the summer
  
• Hobbit party!  Smaug treasure / scavenger hunt with obstacles
• Possibly have to compete in some obstacles wearing cheap flip flops?
• Have Kris dress up as Smaug for the final obstacle
• Percy Program!  We probably want this to be our kickoff event.  Ideas
• separate everyone into Roman vs. Greek, then separate further into separate cabins
• maybe have a test that divides everyone into their cabins
• have mini-events that you compete in to earn points that go towards your final score
• could also have extra water balloons to use in final battle as rewards
• use pool noodles
• the last battle is a water balloon capture the flag -- if you get hit, you're frozen until tagged by a teammate OR....you die
• The end.