Camden County Library Teen Zone

Lock-In September 29 -- Permission Slip Info

Hey, if you are thinking about attending our Teen Lock-In on Saturday, September 29 (and really, you should be thinking about it, because it will be made out of awesome), please call the Youth Services desk at 772-1636 extension 3360 to reserve a spot, and then Download and sign the Lock-In Permission Slip.  We have a few simple rules, and both you and a parent or guardian must sign it if you want to attend.  You can bring the completed Permission Slip with you on September 29.  No Slip, No Entry. 

Download permission_slip.pub

Back To School Thoughts

The new school year is nearly upon us, so I offer you the following:

Last-minute Summer Reading Info: Find your school's summer reading list here.  You can even search the catalogue for titles and place holds where necessary.  Caveat lector, though: it's kind of late in the game for this, so even though we have purchased at least four copies of every book on these lists, there may not be enough copies to go around at this point.  Local booksellers also have the school lists and may be able to sell you a copy if we don't have one available for you.

Cornell Method of Note-Taking:  Okay, this is admittedly quite nerdy, but hello, I am nerdy. The Cornell Method is a note-taking strategy designed to help you get the most out of your notes, whether you use them for writing a paper, or just for studying later.  It can be overwhelming looking at pages & pages of your own handwriting, and the Cornell Method helps you sift through the notes for the most important information & insights.  Here's an explanation of how it works, and I even found a handy personalized Cornell note paper PDF-generator.  Nerd heaven!  By the way, if the Cornell Method is not for you, The Learning Toolbox is full of ideas, methods, and strategies for nearly every subject.  One of them is bound to help you get a leg up.

Find Back-to-School Bargains: RetailMeNot is full of great online shopping coupon & freebie codes, so if you are going the online route for some of your back-to-school supply & clothing purchases, make sure you sift through their listings for ways to save a buck.

Persepolis to Close NYC Film Festival

Persepolis and Persepolis 2 are graphic novel memoirs by the Iranian artist Marjane Satrapi.  Fast-paced and eye-opening, the books chronicle Satrapi's childhood under the Islamic Revolution in Iran, her teen years exiled to France, her eventual return to Iran, and her final departure for a life in France as an adult.  The books are also a crash-course in Iranian history and culture: by reading these books, I learned more about Iranian history, Iran's stormy, bloody relationship with Iraq, and the ethnic differences among Iranians and other peoples of the Middle East than I ever did in school. 

Now, these amazing books have been transformed into a great-looking film, which has been selected to close the New York Film Festival in October.  This is a huge honor, particularly for a film based on graphic novels, and bodes well for the film's future release prospects in this area.

• Read Persepolis and Persepolis 2
• Watch the trailer for Persepolis:

Superbad = Super Buzzy

When Superbad hits theatres this weekend, it'll be poised to make gajillions of end-of-summer dollars. I find Judd Apatow's career fascinating, and am pretty psyched to see this film, myself.

Here's the third installment in a funny round-table discussion among the three lead actors in the movie, from Entertainment Weekly, and The Onion's AV club has also interviewed them (just so's you know, the EW interview bleeps out the profanity; the AV club doesn't).

Here at the library, you can enjoy other offerings from Apatow & company, including:

• The 40 Year-Old Virgin
• Talladega Nights
• Sadly, no Arrested Development -- I'll see what I can do about that one.
• Freaks & Geeks -- Dang!  We used to have this on DVD, but it looks like it was stolen or damaged.  I'll see about a replacement copy.

This One Goes Out To Fans of The Wire

Here's some fascinating reading for those of you who are budding sociologists & economists:  Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Street Gangs (But Didn't Know Whom To Ask), an interview with gang expert Sudhir Venkatesh.  He has a book about gang life coming out in 2008, called Gang Leader For a Day. 

Venkatesh talks about what makes a gang a gang, how racial perceptions alter our views of gang membership and activity, and the likelihood (low, Venkatesh thinks) that Jay-Z and 50 Cent were ever big-time crack dealers. 

The interview is published at the Freakonomics blog.  If you like what you read, you might want to pick up the book.  Place your holds here.

Day of the Eclipse

The final volume of Stephenie Meyer's vampire trilogy hits the streets today, and we have a bunch of copies.  To put your copy on hold, click here (remember to choose a branch for pick-up).

While you're waiting for your copy to become available, check out Meyer's Good Morning America appearance today, or read this interview from Entertainment Weekly. 

I'm off to place a hold on the first book in the series, Twilight, because I'm a few years late to the Bella-Edward-Jacob party.  To find books & audiobooks from the series, click here.  And for more vampire romance, try the Vampire Kisses series by Ellen Schreiber, or the now-classic TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (we have all seven seasons on DVD).  Happy reading/viewing!