LibraryPoint Blog

Top Pick:  

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins  - In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place.

Other Favorites:

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman- After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.

Word Nerd, by Susin Nielsen -When some bullies at his new school almost kill him by slipping a peanut into his sandwich, friendless nerd Ambrose, forced to be home-schooled by his overprotective mother, coerces his neighbor Cosmo into taking him to the West Side Scrabble Club, where people accept him for who he is. 

Somebody, by Nancy Springer - At the age of fifteen, a girl who has spent most of her life moving around the country with her father and brother, filling the emptiness inside her with chocolate, remembers her real name, Sherica, and searches the Internet to learn the truth about her mother and her own past.

The Chosen One, by Carol Lynch Williams - In a polygamous cult in the desert, Kyra, not yet fourteen, sees being chosen to be the seventh wife of her uncle as just punishment for having read books and kissed a boy, in violation of Prophet Childs' teachings, and is torn between facing her fate and running away from all that she knows and loves.

Each year we celebrate National Poetry Month in April with our Teen Poetry Contest.

Teens in grades 7-12 from Fredericksburg, Stafford, Spotsylvania, and Westmoreland, are invited to submit up to three originial poems. Out-of-region library cardholders may also enter.

The winners are chosen (anonymously) by University of Mary Washington professor and Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Claudia Emerson.

Entries are accepted online between April 1 - 15.
Winners are selected from participants in grades 7-9 and grades 10-12.

Winners are awarded prizes and invited to read work at Teen Poetry Night at Headquarters Library: Thursday, April 29, 2010, 7:30-9:00

We had 122 poems from 57 poets this year! Here are the winners ...

Virginia Johnson, CRRL's Web Content Librarian, has won the following awards in the 2010 Virginia Press Women Communications Contest for these LibraryPoint.org articles:

1st Place: Writing for the Web: Feature Articles
"Marlborough Point: In the Stream of History"
Judge's comments: "This article is appropriate for the audience and is virtually tailored to their needs. Images and bold text highlight information and links lead to sources."

2nd Place: Writing for the Web: Educational or Nonprofit
"The Good Doctor Was a Spy: The Lively Times of Robert Wellford"
Judge's comments: "Impressive research/fascinating story about an important Revolutionary War figure whose influence might easily be ignored or forgotten. Nicely done."

At the CRRL we have known for a long time that we are lucky to have such a talented writer on staff, who can handle emerging technologies with ease and adapt texts to different audiences. Congratulations, Virginia!

Just because you're older doesn't mean you can't have fun while staying in shape. Porter Library's Awesome Seniors Exercise Class meets most every Thursday from 9:30 to 10:30. This free class is for people 55+. Exercises are done with the help of a chair.

Check them out!
The library has books and videos for older adults who want to keep moving to keep healthy.