CLP Teens <3s David Levithan 4ever

It's official: David Levithan has been to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and has left a trail of broken hearts and empty ice cream containers in the wake.

Last Thursday was the third and penultimate event into our Behind the Books: Authors Talk to Teens series, and it was quite the experience. After reading from the new short story collection How They Met, and Other Stories and answering questions from the audience, David Levithan joined us for one awesome afterparty, sponsored by our Teen Sexual and Gender Diversity Alliance (check us out on Facebook).

Needless to say, it was a great time. I could go on for hours about what it's like to meet one of your absolutely all-time favorite authors and be left melted on the floor like an ice cream cone in August, but instead I'll leave it to the teens.

Tim said:

I really enjoyed how down to earth he was, and that we had the opportunity to talk one-on-one during the after party. He was very personable, and will most likely make me anticipate far too much for the times that I meet someone in my top 3 favorite authors in the future.

Sam said:

Ah! David Levithan is awesome fantastic times a million and two! The party was a lot of fun. You know how awesome it was? John from Canada came all the way down from Ontario to come to it. Yeah, beat that!

We've got lots of pictures (via Tim) on the Flickr page, and you can even relive the moments on Youtube (again thanks to Tim).

Finding Books in Multiple Voices

Finding books based on what they're written about is easy, but finding books based on how they're written can be tough. Just today, a teen was asking about books from multiple points of view. I knew a few off the top of my head, such as Alex Sanchez's Rainbow Boys, Brian Sloan's Tale of Two Summers, and David Levithan's The Realm of Possibility, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List (the latter two co-written by Rachel Cohn), and Alex Flinn's Fade to Black. After that, I was stumped. So here's what we did:

A Google search for teen books multiple perspectives got me a Great Booklist from the Brookline Library and an excellent livejournal post.

The website LibraryThing (we even have an account for our new books) lets you search by "tags," which are descriptive words and phrases. Putting together "tag mashes" of multiple narrators, teen and multiple perspectives,teen gave me a couple of nice lists.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh also provides access to a great way to find fiction, called Novelist (have your library card ready). Try this "boolean search" in the "Search Our Database" tab:

Teen Advisory Council Meetin on Sunday, February 17th, 2008.

The Shaler North Hills Library's Teen Librarian brought 3 members of their Teen Advisory Group on Sunday.

They met 7 members of our Teen Advisory Council for some pizza, idea swapping, and a lively game of Apples to Apples. Thanks to everyone who participated! You never know who will show at a Teen Advisory Council Meeting... Find out next month on Sunday, March 16th, at 2:00 PM.

Comics Come to Life @ Art Club

Last Wednesday in Art Club we made our own COMICS. Be sure to check out Art Club, every Wednesday at 3:00pm to see what creative projects we're cooking up next.

Teen Book Discussion

Teen Book Discussion

Sunday, February 17, 2008
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

"Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl" by Barry Lyga

A fifteen-year-old "geek" who keeps a list of the high school jocks and others who torment him, and pours his energy into creating a great graphic novel, encounters Kyra, Goth Girl, who helps change his outlook on almost everything, including himself.


Sunday, March 16, 2008
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

"Hero" by Perry Moore

Thom Creed, the gay son of a disowned superhero, finds that he, too, has special powers and is asked to join the very League that rejected his father, and it is there that Thom finds other misfits whom he can finally trust.


Sunday, April 20, 2008
3:00 PM- 4:00 PM

"Un lun dun" by China Mieville

Stumbling into an alternate funhouse version of her home city, twelve-year-old Londoner Deeba finds herself trapped in a world of killer giraffes, animated umbrellas, ghost children, and flying double-decker buses and menaced by a choking black smog, and is forced to take on the role of unlikely savior to prevent utter destruction.