• The Fault in Our Stars
• Beautiful Creatures
• City of Bones
• Catching Fire
• Ender’s Game
• Divergent
• The Giver
• Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
• Delirium

This is going to be a ridiculously exciting year for movies.   All of the books listed above have movies in the works.  I’m probably most excited about Catching Fire after being blown away by the adaptation for The Hunger Games.  I know it’s going to be awesome.  I’m really hoping they don’t mess up some of the others.  The Giver?  Could be good, but also could be awful.  Fault in Our Stars?  As long as John Green has some creative input, I’m sure it’ll be great.  After watching the first Percy Jackson movie with some disappointment, I’m actually pretty psyched about the Sea of Monsters after seeing the trailer.  It looks good – definitely better than the first.

How about you?  Which are you excited about, and which ones make you nervous?

Okay, okay.  You got me. It’s not really the cover.  It’s Fake Photo Month here in the Vault, and we want to see your crazy library pictures.  Email them to me at [rraleigh @ wnpl.info] – without the spaces – and I’ll be sure to post them.

Rules:

• Grades 6-12
• Theme – “Today at the Library…”
• Photos should be taken inside the library or in the parking lot.
• Entries will be accepted until May 31.
• Photos must be in jpeg format.  Please include your name and grade so we can give you proper credit.
• If real people are included, please get their permission!
• Have FUN with this and be creative!

Because you just never know when a monster may call!

A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

…………………………………………

This is incredibly powerful, and so very sad. It’s hard to put down once you start, so be prepared to get immersed in Carey’s story. Mental illness, drug addiction, sexual abuse make this a story for older readers, but I recommend it wholeheartedly. The relationships, even the dysfunctional ones, are real and very well-written. Although it deals with heart wrenching themes, it’s a hopeful book, and speaks volumes about love.

Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines
he wrote a poem
And he called it “Chops”
because that was the name of his dog
And that’s what it was all about
And his teacher gave him an A
and a gold star
And his mother hung it on the kitchen door
and read it to his aunts
That was the year Father Tracy
took all the kids to the zoo
And he let them sing on the bus
And his little sister was born
with tiny toenails and no hair
And his mother and father kissed a lot
And the girl around the corner sent him a
Valentine signed with a row of X’s
and he had to ask his father what the X’s meant
And his father always tucked him in bed at night
And was always there to do it

Once on a piece of white paper with blue lines
he wrote a poem
And he called it “Autumn”
because that was the name of the season
And that’s what it was all about
And his teacher gave him an A
and asked him to write more clearly
And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
because of its new paint
And the kids told him
that Father Tracy smoked cigars
And left butts on the pews
And sometimes they would burn holes
That was the year his sister got glasses
with thick lenses and black frames
And the girl around the corner laughed
when he asked her to go see Santa Claus
And the kids told him why
his mother and father kissed a lot
And his father never tucked him in bed at night
And his father got mad
when he cried for him to do it.

Once on a paper torn from his notebook
he wrote a poem
And he called it “Innocence: A Question”
because that was the question about his girl
And that’s what it was all about
And his professor gave him an A
and a strange steady look
And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
because he never showed her
That was the year that Father Tracy died
And he forgot how the end
of the Apostle’s Creed went
And he caught his sister
making out on the back porch
And his mother and father never kissed
or even talked
And the girl around the corner
wore too much makeup
That made him cough when he kissed her
but he kissed her anyway
because that was the thing to do
And at three a.m. he tucked himself into bed
his father snoring soundly

That’s why on the back of a brown paper bag
he tried another poem
And he called it “Absolutely Nothing”
Because that’s what it was really all about
And he gave himself an A
and a slash on each d*mned wrist
And he hung it on the bathroom door
because this time he didn’t think
he could reach the kitchen.

Entries are due April 12.

A $20 gift card will be awarded to the best entry.