Free--That's Right, FREE Downloadable Audiobooks!

Audiobooks are one of my all time favorite things. Audiobook narrators do an amazing job of bringing the story to life and create a different way to view a story. For instance, I love reading the Harry Potter books but listening to Jim Dale read them is an entirely different experience. Audiobooks are great for a long car trip or just listening to as your getting ready for bed. Knowing my enthusiasm for audiobooks, you can understand why this is my favorite time of year. The SYNC free downloadable audiobooks are about to begin!

For the past two summers AudioFile magazine, which lets you in on the best audiobooks, and audiobook publishers have been bringing listeners SYNC! For twelve weeks you have access to download a free YA modern title and a classic which is a fitting companion. That's 24 free titles! The only catch: you only have the week they are available to download them, but once you do, it's yours to keep.

Here are all the titles available this summer and when. Now some of these titles might be more suitable for older teens. So make sure you tell your high school teen, or download it anyways for when your child is older. Or for you to listen to! This is a fantastic deal that only happens in the summer. Make sure you download them all!

May 30-June 5
Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

The Tempest by William Shakespeare

June 6-June 12
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, #1 by Maryrose Wood
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

June 13-June 19

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

June 20-June 26

Once by Morris Gleitzman

Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.

June 27-July 3
Rotters by Daniel Kraus
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

July 4-July 10

Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford

She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith

July 11-July 17

The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

July 18-July 24

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Hamlet by Charles Dickens

July 25-July 31

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

August 1-August 7

Death Cloud by Andrew Lane

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

August 8-August 14
Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

August 15-August 21
Sold by Patricia McCormick
Let Me Stand Alone by Rachel Corrie

All you need to do to download the books is click on the link below and follow the directions. In summers past, all you've needed to get the books was your name and email address. Then you'll need OverDrive Media Console to play them (which, if you already download e-audiobooks from our library you'll have already). The whole process is quick and easy!

When your teen is looking for some good books for their summer reading have them check out the SYNC titles! It's a great way for them to get their summer reading in. Post us a comment and let us know which book your teen liked best. I've read Death Cloud, which imagines a young Sherlock Holmes just starting to solve mysteries, and it was fantastically eerie. The top titles I can't wait for? The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, The Raven Boys, The Peculiar, Grave Mercy, and The False Prince. I'm going to have a busy summer!

Visit www.audiobooksync.com to start downloading your books on May 30th.

Calling All Future Babysitters!

Did you babysit when you were a teenager? For many of us it was our first job. I remember being so excited when my next door neighbor trusted me to take care of her toddler. Before I could start sitting for him by myself, she had me take a babysitting class.

Has your teen in grades 6-12 talked about wanting to babysit? Encourage them to register for the library's Want to Babysit? class on Wednesday, March 27th, from 1-5. We'll go over so many different things: how to look for babysitting jobs and how to act once you get them, basic child care, and how to stay safe and keep the kids safe while you're babysitting.

After they take the class, talk to them about furthering their babysitting skills by taking a CPR and first aid class. Before you know it, they'll have the skills and confidence to go out and have their first babysitting jobs. Then, one day far in the future, they'll look back fondly on those days of their first job--and realize that those babies that sat for then are teenagers today!

Have them sign up by visiting our registration page by clicking here or calling the library at 847.376.2839.

We are so grateful to be partnering with Madeline May, the City of Des Plaines Community Health Nurse, and the Des Plaines Police Department. Special thanks to the Friends of the Library for funding this program.

SYNC's Back for the Summer!

I have looked forward to this part of the summer every summer for the past two years. The SYNC free downloadable audiobooks have begun!

For the past two summers AudioFile magazine, which lets you in on the best audiobooks, and audiobook publishers have been bringing listeners SYNC! For ten weeks you have access to download a free YA modern title and a classic which is a fitting companion. That's 20 free titles! The only catch: you only have the week they are available to download them, but once you do, it's yours.

Here are all the titles available this summer and when. Now some of these titles might be more suitable for older teens. So make sure you tell your high school teen, or download it anyways for when your child is older. Or for you to listen to! This is a fantastic deal that only happens in the summer. Make sure you download them all!

June 14-June 20
The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

June 21-June 27
Irises by Francisco X. Stork
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

June 28-July 4

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

Tales from the Arabian Nights by Andrew Lang

July 5-July 11

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

July 12-July 18
Guys Read: Funny Business by Jon Scieszka [Ed.]
The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Stories by Mark Twain

July 19-July 25

Cleopatra's Moon by Vicky Alvear Shecter

Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare

July 26-August 1

Pinned by Alfred C. Martino

TBA

August 2-August 8

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

August 9-August 15

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

Dead Men Kill by L. Ron Hubbard

August 16-August 22

The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

All you need to do to download the books is click on the link below and enter your name and email address. Then you'll need OverDrive Media Console to play them (which, if you already download eaudiobooks from our library you'll have already). I just downloaded the first two titles and it was quick and easy!

When your teen is looking for some good books for their summer reading have them check out the SYNC titles! It's also perfect for them to listen to in the car during those long family car trips. Post us a comment and let us know which book your teen liked best. Personally, I can't wait to download Skulduggery Pleasant--it's one of my favorite books and I LOVE the audio version. I'm excited to own it so I can listen to it anytime I want!

Visit www.audiobooksync.com to start downloading your books today.

Meet Raina!

When I was younger my absolute favorite book series in the world was the Babysitter's Club by Ann M. Martin. What's the Babysitter's Club? It's about a group of girls who met weekly to take calls to arrange babysitting jobs for themselves for parents in their neighborhood. They were awesome. When I was a kid that was what I wanted to do.

So imagine my complete happiness when a couple of years ago I discovered that the first four books of the series had been adapted as graphic novels by Raina Telgemeier. Raina is an incredible graphic novelist. She did a fantastic job with the stories. When I read them, it was like I was revisiting my childhood and Raina captured exactly how I imagined the characters to be and seem in her amazing drawings.

Then two years ago she released another book that was even more incredible. Her book Smile is an autobiographical account of her time in middle school. In it she deals with friends (if your friends are mean to you are they really your friends?), family (sometimes mom, dad, and siblings just don't understand), as well as the trauma of unending trips to the dentist to repair her mouth when she knocked out her two front teeth. Raina, in her personal experience, captured the highs and lows (and there are many--at least for me) of middle school and high school. Both boys and girls have enjoyed reading it--a rare treat.

I'm so happy to announce that Raina will be hosting a program for the library called Creating Comics: A Hands-on Workshop. In the program, teens from grades 6-12 will learn about writing stories and making illustrations for comics and then get a chance to start their own. After the program Raina will be signing copies of Smile for them. Each teen who comes will get a copy of Smile to take home with them as a memento of the program. Copies of Smile were generously donated by the Friends of the Library.

This program is being held at Algonquin Middle School in the Library Media Center. A map of where Algonquin Middle School is located can be found here.

When: Thursday, March 22 from 4:30-5:30, book signing to follow
Where: Library Media Center in Algonquin Middle School

Smile
BSC #1 Kristy's Great Idea
BSC #2 The Truth About Stacey
BSC #3 Mary Ann Saves the Day
BSC #4 Claudia and Mean Janine

2011 Graphic Novel Wrap Up

Here at the library we love graphic novels! In fact, we recently started a new section just for juvenile graphic novels. This way kids can easily find these popular materials. 2011 has been a strong year for graphic novels. As an avid reader of the genre there are many I would recommend. Here are my top choices for the year. Drumroll please!

J Graphic Novels

Squish by Jennifer Holm and Matt Holm (ages 7-9)

From the creators of Babymouse comes a funny new character. Squish was introduced in Babymouse: Mad Scientist when Babymouse discovered a new kind of amoeba. Squish is just your regular amoeba. He reads graphic novels starring his favorite super hero Super Amoeba. He's late to school. His best friend mooches his lunch money every day. And Squish has a problem with the school bully. If he doesn't let the bully cheat off his test the bully will hurt one of Squish's friends. What's an amoeba to do?

Lunch Lady and the Field Trip Fiasco by Jarrett Krosoczka (grades 3-4)

The Lunch Lady graphic novels is hands down one of my favorite series. This is an imaginative take on what if the school's lunch ladies were crime busters and their inventive food related items actually helped them with their crime fighting abilities. Only the Breakfast Bunch gang knows their secret. In the latest addition to the series Lunch Lady fills in as a chaperone for the field trip to the art museum. However she's so excited to see how the fantastic works of art that she's oblivious to the fact that something is suspicious about the museum. Can the Breakfast Bunch figure out what's going on and wake Lunch Lady up to the misdoings at the museum?

Sidekicks by Dan Santat (ages 8-12)

Sidekicks is my pick for older J Graphic Novel readers. Captain Amazing decides that since he's getting older it's time for a sidekick. His dog, hamster, and chameleon decide that want the job. While out working on their training that run into Captain Amazing's old sidekick, Static Cat. Static Cat agrees to help train them. Which sidekick will Captain Amazing choose? Will he defeat the villain Dr. Havoc? Older readers will enjoy this superhero comic with plenty of heart and adventures.

YA Graphic Novels

Stickman Odyssey: An Epic Doodle by Christopher Ford (grades 5-8)

Once this graphic novel starts the action never stops. It's a clever retelling of The Odyssey. Zozimos is the King of Sticathia and he's trying to make his way back to his kingdom. The figures are all cleverly done in stick figure style and there's lots of sly humor mixed with potty jokes ("By Zeus' butt!") which is perfect for middle school boys (and girls).

Astronaut Academy by Dave Roman (ages 10-14)

Author Dave Roman takes the drama and fun of middle school and sets it in a futuristic space academy that includes a panda as an instructor. Hakata Soy is new transfer to the school. Starting a new school is challenging and it's about to get even worse for Hakata when his enemy creates a duplicate robot version of Hakata and sends it to the school to destroy him. Ah, the joys of middle school.

Next time you're at the library stop by to check out one of these titles for your child or feel free to ask a librarian for more great suggestions. If your child loves graphic novels please tell them to come to the desk and tell us about their favorites! We always love to hear what they enjoy reading.

Get Your Teen Involved @ DPPL!

Is your teenage child (grades 6th-12th) looking to do some volunteer hours this year? Talk to them about volunteering at the library! During the school year the library accepts volunteers from grades 6th-12th. All they have to do is fill out an application and commit to doing at least 8 hours of volunteer work. I have a lot of kids ask me, and no, it's not 8 hours in a single day! They can spread out those 8 hours during the school year.

Volunteers do lots of different tasks for us. They might be able to assist during a program like Family Game Night, put together a craft sample, or make necklaces for storytimes. Or it could be refilling displays and dusting the shelves. The tasks they do depend on what we need done for that day. We always appreciate everything that the volunteers do for us. Your child can pick up an application on the 2nd floor.

Another way older students, grades 7th-12th, can make a difference at the library is through our Teen Advisory Board. The Teen Advisory Board (TAB) gets together once a month to talk about what programs teens want to have at the library and make sure the library is purchasing materials teens want to read and listen to. TAB even picked out the colors for the Teen Lounge on the third floor and designed how it should look. Meetings are only 1 hour long AND come with snacks. Have your teen stop by the next meeting so they can get involved. The next TAB meeting is September 29 from 4-5. Bonus: teens also get a community service credit hour for each meeting they come to.

Whether being a volunteer or joining TAB, there are lots of ways for teens to make a difference at the Des Plaines Library. Have them stop by the library to find out more information.

College is a Waste of Time pt. 2

So, with all of my questions surrounding the last post about College students thinking that their time (and your money) is being wasted, I thought perhaps we might get a few responses... but surprisingly, my questions about whether or not all College students think their time is being wasted were answered in the form of another article on CNN.  The article, A College Education is Your Best Bet, can be read here. 

What are your thoughts?  Are they both right?  Can college be worth your money and their time, but still not be giving kids all that they need in order to fit into real world situations?  The article describes how one man gave kids $100,000 to drop out of college and pursue their entrepreneurial ideas (one of those kids is the author of the article in our previous blog post).  He wanted to see if a college education would really make a difference, or if these students would be able to make it simply based on their abilities and merit without a college education - if college was stifling their abilities.

While Stephens seems to think that he was correct, there is direct evidence to the contrary.  Read the article and share what you think.  College is definitely not for everyone, and everyone has their own strengths.  Are the kids who feel college is wasting their time actually wasting their time?

College is a Waste of Time?!?

I'm sure you have never heard those words before - I know I hadn't, and I was disheartened to read the headline as I have barely put a dent into the student loans I took out to finance that 'waste of time'.  As a parent, I am sure you might be surprised to hear that some people think that College is a waste of time... even some students who are still in school are expressing that opinion.

An article on CNN outlines the grievances here, but what I found most surprising - is that students are demanding more of a collaborative environment.  They want to make failures into learning experiences and work together with others instead of strictly competing with them. They say they aren't getting the experiences they need to be able to work and learn with others in real-world environments. 

With college tuition on the rise, it is very concerning to hear students complain that it is a waste of their time... and a waste of their parents (your)  money.  What do you think? Will this type of attitude trickle down into high schools and middle schools?

With all of the pressure on teachers today to get kids to perform on national and state-wide examinations, it is hard to make sure kids get the well-rounded education they need.  Perhaps, along with piano lessons, soccer leagues, and art classes, you can supplement your child's education with experiences that encourage learning from mistakes and failures outside of school. 

Is this just a passing fad or a few very vocal and concerned students?  Thoughts?

Getting Good Deals

How money-savvy are your kids? I remember my father telling a story he heard from a colleague. The man's son had gone off to college with a checkbook in hand. The young student assumed that as long as there were checks left in the checkbook, there was still money in the account. You can imagine how that turned out. Teens make up an enormous chunk of the consuming public these days. Advertisers bombard teens with products and services clearly designed for their tastes and interests, and sometimes pushing them in directions they didn't even know they wanted to go. Help your teen be a conscientious consumer. The Des Plaines Public Library is once again a partner with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago for Money Smart Week 2011, April 2-9. The library is hosting three Money Smart programs in April, one of which is Getting a Good Buy: A Money Smart Week Program for Teens. Professor Helen Roberts of the University of Illinois at Chicago Center for Economic Education will present a workshop of educational games and information for students in grades 7-12. Participants will take an active part in learning why the items we want to buy sometimes cost so much more at one store than they do at another, why buying things like smartphone plans and computers makes you feel like you're comparing apples and oranges. In this workshop we will work on taking the frustration and mystery out of getting the best deal.

Free YA Downloadable Audiobooks!

Is your young adult looking for something great to listen to this summer? Have them check out Sync. The online group Audiobook Community is all about connecting people with audiobooks. Sync is the YA section of the group and they are offering free downloads of two different audiobooks each week. They're pairing up a modern story with a traditional tale that compliments it. For example, in week 1 they offered The Angel Experiment by James Patterson and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Downloading the titles is super easy- they just need your name and email address. And best of all they're free!

Here are the titles for this week and for the rest of the weeks in the program:

July 8 - July 14
Over the End Line by Alfred C. Martino
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay

July 15 - July 21
Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

July 22 - July 28
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

July 29 - August 4
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

August 5 - August 11
Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

August 12 - August 18
Beastly by Alex Flinn
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

August 19 - August 25
Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

August 26 - September 1
Handbook for Boys by Walter Dean Myers
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

I know I'm excited for Bloody Jack and The Looking Glass Wars. And remember-they're not just for YAs! Parents, enjoy listening to these stories as well and then talking to your child about them and hear what they have to say. It's a great way to talk with your teen about books-and books they'll love listening to!

Click here to go to Sync. Make sure you scroll down to where it says: Download audiobooks here. Make sure you follow all instructions. Overdrive Media Console is needed to play the audiobooks and there is a link on Sync to download it free if you don't already have it. (Overdrive Media Console is what's need to play our library's digital audiobooks, so if you check materials out from My Media Mall you might have it downloaded already.)