December Teen DVD order

Hey Guys and Gals!  I was recently inspired by Michael Stephens when he came to talk to our class at Dominican.  One of the things he focused on was library transparency.  Yes, our library is a public institution so you should have your input heard.  If you have suggestions leave a comment here or send them to jmarcantonio@plainfield.lib.il.us.  The following is a list of the items ordered for the Teen DVD section (December 2009) at the Plainfield (IL) Public Library.

New Movies
(500) Days of Summer
9
Death Note 3: L, Change the World!
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2 copies)
Terminator Salvation (2 copies)
Transformers 2 (replacement, yes already)

TV Shows
Degrassi Next Gen Season 4
Glee Vol. 1: The Road to Sectionals
Kyle XY Season 1
The Secret Life of the American Teen Season 3

Anime
Bleach Season 4 (Pt 1)
Gunslinger Girl OVA

Music Monday: Simian Mobile Disco

Simian Mobile Disco consists of producers James Ford and Jas Shaw from England.  Musically they are from somewhere else completely.  Combining styles of house and electro spanning several decades the result is a high-octane danceable pop heavy with vocals and hooks.

IN 2007 Simian Mobile Disco dropped their first album, Attack Decay Sustain Release.   The album quickly earned them underground success and has resulted in the groups accelerating fame.  Below is the lead single from Attack Decay Sustain Release:  ‘It’s the Beat’

World War Z by Max Brooks

Every so often a book comes along that replaces every other book in the genre.  Thus enters Max Brooks’ World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.  Laid out like transcripts from interviews taken from survivors 12 years after the outbreak had laid waste to most of the human population.  Each survivor tells what it was like in their region or at a particular battle.  The stories they relate are wrought with human emotion and despair creating a haunting transcript of a fictional war.  There is certain amount of social commentary on such regions as Israeli/Palestinian borders and the Pakistani/Indian border.  There is quite a bit of focus on America as well and how we fell from a world power to one of the most devastated regions.

The audio book is expertly crafted and is voiced by many great actors like Alan Alda, Carl and Rob Reiner,  John Turturro, and Henry Rollins.  Hearing the audio adds to the creepiness of the book.

This book is highly recommended for fans of zombie lit and sci-fi but would also appeal to war fiction fans and readers of intense drama.  And if Hollywood is listening: this is the zombie film that needs to be made.

Music Monday: Holy Ghost! – I Will Come Back

Brooklyn natives Nick Millhiser and Alex Frankel combine to form the new house sensation Holy Ghost!  Making splash from remixes for the likes of Moby, MGMT, Phoenix and Cut Copy; Holy Ghost! plans to release their debut album in the beginning of next year.

Check out the video for “I Will Come Back”.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time by Mamoru Hosoda

For those that think Anime is all fighting and fan service, I submit for your approval the Girl Who Leapt Through Time.  This is the story of an ordinary high school girl, Makoto, and her two friends.  Their world is perfect, filled with nights of baseball and just hanging out.  Helping out after class one day Makoto finds a mysterious object that lights up and fizzles out.  The next day she is late to school, the brakes on her bike go out, and she hit by a train but right before impact she jumps back in time to a couple moments before the accident.

Realizing that she has the ability to go back in time she does what every person would do…sleeps in, spends hours with friends, and generally wastes time.  Until she starts changing the more important aspects of her life she doesn’t realize the impact she is having.  And one of her friends knows more than he’s saying.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a heart warming anime romance which is both visually stunning and expertly crafted.

Music Monday: La Roux – Bulletproof

The Teen Section Blog is trying something new.  We will post some sort of music ever monday.  Maybe it’ll be a mixtape, a write up on an artist, or just a little sampling of something delicious!

For the first Music Monday we have La Roux the English duo, Elly Jackson and Ben Langmaid.  Named for the lead singer’s bright red hair and inspired by the synth-pop groups of the eighties, La Roux has made quite a splash in England.  Now the furor moves to the states as hipsters try (most unsuccessfully) to pull off Elly’s signature eighties look.

But isn’t it about the music??  Of course it is, sorry.  La Roux is everything good about the eighties with the sensibility of the new school.  What I mean is that La Roux constructs great danceable tracks without going off into synthesizer solo heaven.

Without further adieu I present the video for Bulletproof by La Roux…you just gotta love it!

Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

The fourth and quite possibly most dangerous novel in the series yet.  The Battle of the Labyrinth takes Percy from another new school, which he may or may not have played a part in blowing up, to the labyrinth underground.  Cronus is summoning an army and his eyes are set on destroying Olympus but in his way is Camp halfblood and the heroes of Olympus.  Seeking to find a way to swiftly move his army across the country Cronus has sent scouts into the labyrinth to find a way through or to find it’s creator Daedalus.  As the minor gods determine their allegiance Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson must quest to find Daedalus and win him over to the Olympians cause.  This book sets up the series finale in which Cronus will rise to either destroy Olympus or fail in his conquest.

Battle of the Labyrinth is a great inclusion to the series with plenty of action and adventure.  Quick paced, this is a great book for boys and reluctant readers.  Grades 5-8.

Ghosts Caught on Film by Dr. Melvyn Willin

Happy Halloween!  Ghosts Caught on Film delivers exactly what the title promises.  Dr. Willin has collected photos from around the world of the unexplained apparitions.  Each photo is accompanied by an explanation of what is going on in the photo as well as expert photo analysis to determine its validity.

This is a creepy little book that is perfect for the holiday.  Ghosts Caught on Film is one of those books that will be constantly pawed over by teens and kids with a love for the paranormal.

The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan

Another hero, another quest.  The Titan’s Curse opens at boarding school where Grover has found a set (brother and sister) of half blood’s and in typical fashion a chase ensues.  The monster that was after the siblings was a manticore which is man with lion feature, a scorpion tail, and bat wings (picture included), horrible, I know.  After it seems like Percy, Thalia, Anabeth, and Grover have met their match the Hunters led by the god Artemis swoop in to save the day.  The ward off the manticore but not before he takes Anabeth.  Artemis vows to pursue the beast and demands the Hunters go to Camp Half Blood.  Eventually word reaches the camp that Artemis has been taken also.  Percy, Thalia, Grover and two Hunters are now charged with quest of finding Artemis, Anabeth, and figuring out what the horrible monster that could bring about the end of Olympus actually is.

Riordan keeps a quick pace and the adventures never cease.  However the best part of the series for me is the personality of the gods.  They are hilariously vain and self-serving which makes for great exchanges when the quest has to deal with them.  Another great addition to the series!

Pandora.com

The problem with the radio is that they play crap.  No, not all of it but have you ever really listened to an hour of radio where you liked all the songs?  If you said yes, you’re a liar or just very easy to please.  If only there was a way to tell the radio what you liked to hear and based on that the radio choose songs you may like…if only.  WAIT!  That’s where Pandora comes in.

The process is super simple.  You begin by selecting your favorite song or artist.  The song begins and you check whether you liked it or not.  Pandora then selects the next song with similar musical features and you again select whether you like that song or not.  As you make decisions about the music Pandora will become better at suggesting music.

Another great feature of Pandora is the ability to create stations.  You can create a station to fit a mood or that contains only songs from a particular genre.  They are constantly adding music so go ahead give it  a try, you might like it!