You're invited... to our Cupcake Decorating Party

Join us this Saturday, February 26 at 2 PM in the downstairs Meeting Room for our Cupcake Decorating Party!
We'll provide the cupcakes, frosting, and supplies. All you have to do is show up and get creative with your cupcake designs. We still have openings for this program. Be sure to register online, or call the Information Desk at 847-428-3661 x 308. Stay tuned to the blog for photos of everyone's cupcake artwork!

Who should be cast in The Hunger Games movie?

Movie studio Lionsgate has the rights to Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy, and production is estimated to begin late this spring or in early summer, with an expected release date of March 23, 2012. This means that even though fans have finished all the books in the series (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay), we still have the movies to look forward to. I hope that actual teenage actors, and not twentysomethings, are hired for the roles of Katniss, Peeta, and Gale. If you've read the books, which actors and actresses do you see playing the characters in the adaptation of the first book? Would you prefer that unknown actors and actresses are cast as these characters? Here are the characters to cast, along with a couple of my suggestions:

Katniss Everdeen
Sixteen-year-old Katniss hunts and trades for food to provide for her mother and younger sister. She wears her long dark hair in a braid. Entertainment Weekly recommends Chloe Moretz for this role. My choice: Hailee Steinfeld, who was recently nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in True Grit. She is talented, the right age (fifteen), and has the toughness needed to play Katniss.

Peeta Mellark
Although Katniss knew of Peeta before The Hunger Games, they have never spoken to each other, despite an important event from when they were younger that Katniss never forgot. One night Peeta threw a couple loaves of bread out to Katniss, who was starving and foraging behind his father's bakery for food. Peeta is described as being "medium height, stocky build, [with] ashy blond hair that falls in waves over his forehead." Throughout the Games it is difficult for Katniss to know whether Peeta is being genuine or is simply "playing the game."

Gale
Gale is eighteen years old and best friends with Katniss. He takes care of his family and goes out hunting with Katniss, who he has nicknamed Catnip. Katniss notes of Gale: "He could be my brother. Straight black hair, olive skin, we even have the same gray eyes." While Katniss denies having any romantic feelings for Gale, he may care for her more than just a friend. Do any actors come to mind when you read the following description of Gale?

...if he wants kids, Gale won't have any trouble finding a wife. He's good-looking, he's strong enough to handle the work in the mines, and he can hunt. You can tell by the way the girls whisper about him when he walks by in school that they want him. It makes me jealous but not for the reason people might think. Good hunting partners are hard to find. (p. 10)

Rue
In the book, Katniss says that Rue "can move through the woods like a shadow..." The other tributes underestimate Rue due to her small size. She loves music and is friends with some mockingjays back at home. Only twelve-years-old, she reminds Katniss of her sister.

She has bright, dark eyes and satiny brown skin and stands tilted up on her toes with her arms slightly extended to her sides, as if ready to take wing at the slightest sound. It's impossible not to think of a bird. (p. 98-9)

Prim Everdeen
Prim is the younger sister of Katniss, and has light hair and blue eyes like their mother. My choice to play this character: Eleven-year-old Kiernan Sherpka, best known for her role as Sally Draper on Mad Men.

Haymitch Abernathy
Described as "a paunchy, middle-aged man," Haymitch is drunk when he is first introduced, and is one of only two tributes from District 12 who have won The Hunger Games. I think Robbie Coltrane, who plays Hagrid in the Harry Potter films, would be a good choice for this character.

I had trouble thinking of teenage actors for the roles of Peeta and Gale. Who have I been missing? Plus, don't forget these other roles: Effie Trinket, the mayor, Cinna, the rest of the tributes in The Hunger Games....

Happy birthday, Charles Dickens!

English novelist Charles Dickens was born February 7, 1812, in what is now Portsmouth, England.

Facts about Dickens...

• He was one of eight children in a family that struggled with financial issues, and his father eventually ended up in debtor's prison. 
• By the time Dickens was a teenager he was already working in the law courts as a freelance reporter and stenographer. 
• At the age of 20 he worked as a news reporter and then began submitting sketches to various publications; this work was later published as Sketches by Boz. 
• Dickens was also quite popular in the United States and went on a lecture tour in 1842.  
• He had ten children with his wife Catherine (he separated from his wife in 1858).
• His public readings of his novels were very popular.
• Dickens died of a stroke on June 9, 1870.
• Thinking about visiting London? Visit the Charles Dickens Museum!

Books by Dickens:

• Nicholas Nickleby
• The Old Curiosity Shop
• Oliver Twist
• A Christmas Carol
• David Copperfield
• Bleak House
• Little Dorrit
• A Tale of Two Cities
• Great Expectations

One of my favorite books, and one that I continue to go back to re-read, is Great Expectations. I love Dickens' manner of telling a story and how he writes his characters. Have you read anything by Charles Dickens? What do you think of his writing?

Check out these books just added to the collection!

Sapphique by Catherine Fisher Find it in the catalog! TEEN FISHER	Fallout by Ellen Hopkins Find it in the catalog! TEEN HOPKINS	Fat Vampire: A Never Coming of Age Story by Adam Rex Find it in the catalog! TEEN REX
Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan Find it in the catalog! TEEN TIERNAN	Accomplice by Eireann Corrigan Find it in the catalog! TEEN CORRIGAN	Three Black Swans by Caroline Cooney Find it in the catalog! TEEN COONEY
Deadly Little Lies:  A Touch Novel by Laurie Faria Stolarz Find it in the catalog! TEEN STOLARZ	Bloody Valentine:  A Blue Bloods Book by Melissa De la Cruz Find it in the catalog! TEEN DE LA CRUZ	Bruiser by Neal Shusterman Find it in the catalog! TEEN SHUSTERMAN
Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes Find it in the catalog! TEEN BARNES	Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin Find it in the catalog! TEEN WERLIN	Misguided Angel:  A Blue Bloods Novel by Melissa De la Cruz Find it in the catalog! TEEN DE LA CRUZ
Scrawl by Mark Shulman Find it in the catalog! TEEN SHULMAN	Once in a Full Moon by Ellen Schreiber Find it in the catalog! TEEN SCHREIBER	Heart to Heart by Lurlene McDaniel Find it in the catalog! TEEN MCDANIEL
You by Charles Benoit Find it in the catalog! TEEN BENOIT	Batman:  The Dark Knight Strikes Again by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley Find it in the catalog! TEEN GRAPHIC NOVEL BATMAN	Crazy by Han Nolan Find it in the catalog! TEEN NOLAN
Firelight by Sophie Jordan Find it in the catalog! TEEN JORDAN	Entice by Carrie Jones Find it in the catalog! TEEN JONES	Dark Song by Gail Giles Find it in the catalog! TEEN GILES
The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney Find it in the catalog! TEEN WHITNEY	Twelfth Grade Kills by Heather Brewer Find it in the catalog! TEEN BREWER	Hothouse by Chris Lynch Find it in the catalog! TEEN LYNCH
Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry Find it in the catalog! TEEN MABERRY

Teen Gaming Club

Join us in the Meeting Room this Friday, January 14 from 3-5 PM for the Teen Gaming Club. Choose to play the Wii games Rock Band 3, Guitar Hero, Mario Kart, Just Dance, or Just Dance 2. You can also bring in your own Wii games. While you wait to play on the Wii you can choose from our selection of board games to play, or just eat snacks and socialize with your friends.

Sign up for Winter Reading

Don’t let the winter blues get to you. You can get still get away from the Midwest winter even if you don’t go by plane, train, or automobile. Allow yourself to be transported to different places by opening up a good book. Reading is Your Ticket to Travel is the theme for Teen and Adult Winter Reading this year. Sign up begins Monday, January 10 at the Information Desk. You will receive a reading log where you can write down the books you listen to or read.

You do not have a requirement for a certain number of books to read. Read 1 book. Read 5. Read 15! Grab more entries from the Information Desk if you need them. Each book you read enters you into the weekly gift card prize drawings that will start at the end of week 2 (January 16-January 22), in addition to the grand prize drawing. One teen will win $75 in Target gift cards for the grand prize! The weekly drawings are for $20 gift cards to Classic Cinemas, Dunkin' Donuts, or Target.

New Year's resolutions

Do you make New Year's resolutions? What are your resolutions for 2011? Many people kick into "healthy mode" after the holidays with resolutions to eat better or to exercise five times a week. Since everyone makes these types of resolutions, I thought about other ideas. Funny resolutions. Out-of-the-ordinary resolutions. Just plain weird resolutions. Here is a list I brainstormed for myself:

• Make a daily attempt to insert the phrase "make haste" into normal conversation.
• Try a new recipe (not dessert!!) at least once a month.
• Walk backwards more often.
• Break out Cha Cha moves instead of walking.
• Write with my left hand 30 minutes a day so that by 2012 I will be ambidexterous.
• Come to think of it, I should probably practice my cursive handwriting 30 minutes a day, too, since my handwriting has evolved into a printing/cursive hybrid that is quite awful.
• Only read books told from the point of view of animals (The Art of Racing in the Rain, Animal Farm...)
• Learn sign language.
• Earn at least 9,000 points on all the songs featured in Wii game Just Dance.

Be a little crazy in formulating your resolutions for 2011 and share them in the Comments section!

Happy birthday, C.S. Lewis and Louisa May Alcott

The author of the popular Chronicles of Narnia series, C.S. Lewis, was born November 29, 1898, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, was born November 29, 1832, in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Celebrate these authors' birthdays by checking out a book (or a movie based on a book) written by them!

C.S. Lewis

Chronicles of Narnia series
#1 The Magician's Nephew
#2 The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
#3 The Horse and His Boy
#4 Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia
#5 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
#6 The Silver Chair
#7 The Last Battle

We own various editions and formats and many are located under JUV FICTION LEWIS or PB CLASSIC LEWIS. All 7 books included in The Chronicles of Narnia (PB CLASSIC LEWIS).To find any of the books or movies do a keyword search for "chronicles of narnia."

The latest Narnia film, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, is out in theaters December 10.

Louisa May Alcott

An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving
JUV FICTION ALCOTT
Find it in the catalog!

The movie An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving, based on the short story

Little Women (1868-1869)
FICTION ALCOTT // JUV FICTION ALCOTT
Find it in the catalog!

Little Women film adaptations : 1933 version starring Katharine Hepburn; 1949 version starring June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor, and Janet Leigh; and the 1994 version starring Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, Claire Danes, Christian Bale, and Kirsten Dunst.

more books about the March family:
Little Men: Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys (1871)
JUV FICTION ALCOTT
Find it in the catalog!

Jo's Boys (1886)
FICTION ALCOTT
Find it in the catalog!

To find more writings, just do an author search for "Louisa May Alcott" in the catalog.

Recipes from the Harry Potter Movie Release Party

We had an excited group of 45 Harry Potter fans attend our Harry Potter Movie Release Party last Saturday. For the party I prepared some food and drinks that have been mentioned in the books as being served on the Hogwarts Express or in The Three Broomsticks. 


Pumpkin Cookies (with brown butter icing)
◊ Cookie recipe from Rosmerta's Recipes on MuggleNet
Icing recipe from the book Martha Stewart's Cupcakes ("Brown Butter Icing")







 
Rock Cakes
◊ Recipe from Rosmerta's Recipes on MuggleNet
This was the first time I've made this recipe, and I definitely didn't cut the butter into the flour enough, leaving the butter to run out of the cakes, which I'm guessing is the reason why they came out pretty flat. Oh well, at least they tasted good.

Cauldron Cakes
All I did was prepare one of my favorite cupcake recipes (Devil's food), turned the cupcakes upside down, and dipped them in a huge bowl of chocolate ganache glaze. Then I sprinkled some purple sugar on top of each to make a bubbling-potion effect. I also got the bubbling-potion effect in another way-- I have a set of three stackable cookie racks that I was using to place the cakes after I dipped them in the ganache. The glaze from the cakes on the top tier dripped down on top of the cakes in the lower tiers, which gave the appearance of a bubbling cauldron!

To bake the cupcakes I used silicone baking cups. I like using the baking cups because then you do not waste paper lining holders and they are easy to clean. Plus, they are perfect for making the cupcakes look like cauldrons -- if you use paper liners you'll have to remove each one by hand before you glaze them.

◊ Cupcake and chocolate ganache frosting recipes from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.

Pumpkin Juice
◊ Recipe from BellaOnline.
I added some water to each batch because I thought it was a little too sweet. Very delicious, and a big hit with all the Harry Potter fans! We went through 3 pitchers at the party!


Butterbeer
(not able to take a picture due to the HP Madness at the party)
Place a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a glass and then top with a teaspoon of butterscotch syrup. Pour cold vanilla cream soda or club soda over the ice cream and stir.

I found several promising looking Butterbeer recipes from MuggleNet and other sources on the Internet, but decided to go for a simpler version of the recipes I'd run across. I'd originally hoped to make a warm version of Butterbeer, but it would have been too difficult to serve such a large group without having cooking capability at the library.

Accio Harry Potter fans!

If you're a fan of J.K. Rowling's books and the movies adapted from them, then be sure to join us on Saturday, November 13 as we celebrate the release of the upcoming movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. Answer trivia questions, play games, win prizes, and eat fun foods that are mentioned in the books! You can register online or call the Information Desk at 847-428-3661 x 308. Muggles of all ages are welcome!

Have you read all the books? If you need to catch up, the library owns multiple copies of each of the seven books in the Harry Potter series. What about the movies? We have you covered on that, too. Click below for any of the books or movies.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Year 1)
Book  Movie
 
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Year 2)
Book  Movie
 
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Year 3)
Book  Movie

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Year 4)
Book  Movie
 
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Year 5)
Book  Movie

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Year 6)
Book  Movie

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Year 7)
Book

Photos from the Teen Horror Fest

Our zombies Antoine and Oliver got all spiffed up to attend the Teen Horror Fest last Saturday the 20th. Thirteen people attended and we had fun making masks, decorating chocolate chip cupcakes, and playing a word game. How many words can you make using the letters in "All Saints Eve" in one minute? For the word game we used old DVD cases and put letters inside the plastic... they look like giant Scrabble tiles! Oh, and I almost forgot several people decided to "zombie up." I'm not sure if this slang phrase has been used in other parts of the US, but at the Horror Fest it referred to dressing like a zombie and then taking pictures alongside that zombie. I love to zombie up! Anyway, check out how creative the teens were in how they decorated their masks and cupcakes. Click on any of the pictures to see a larger version.

Antoine, an unnamed spirit, and Oliver	Oliver, always cool and collected--even when covered in buckets of blood.
Antoine's so stylish everyone would like to hold his hand and skip around! Ahem. Or maybe that's just me...
	"Yuck, Oliver! Your heart popped out of your chest!"
	Creating words using the letters from "All Saints Eve."