Last-Minute Rush

We have been really busy giving out summer reading prizes this week. In fact, I hope everyone has come and claimed their reading prizes for the reading program, because we are about to run out of prize packs. We had unprecedented numbers of children complete the program this year, and latecomers might have to accept substitute prizes. I'm so proud of everyone who read 50 books or 500 minutes so far this summer!

I'll be on vacation for the next two weeks, so there won't be any storytimes, lap times, or Teen Book Club meetings until the week of August 13. I'm planning on reading a bunch of books during my time off, so I hope I'll have lots of good ones to talk about when I get back.

Manga!

I'm pleased to say that our library now has eight different manga series for kids and teens! For kids we have Pokemon Adventures, Ninja Baseball Kyuma, and The Big Adventures of Majoko in the chapter book section. For teens, we have Fullmetal Alchemist, Ouran High School Host Club, One Piece, Vampire Knight, and Black Butler.

I'm planning on expanding our selection, especially for teens. My to-buy list includes Death Note, Claymore, K-ON!, Tsubasa, Children of the Sea, and Black Bird.

Do you have a favorite manga series I've missed?

The Fun Goes On

We still have two weeks of fun activities to look forward to this summer! Next week we have a Healthy Snacks program with 4-H and a Cooking Up History program where kids will experience hands-on activities relating to the kinds of foods the pioneers ate and how they were made. The week after that, we'll be going crafty with Spaghetti Painting and pretend ice cream sundaes. If you're interested in any of these programs, please call us or email me to sign up!

Halfway Point

So we're halfway through the year, and halfway through our summer reading program. Congratulations to all the kids who have collected prize bags already! My advice about prizes is that if you've marked enough boxes on your log sheet to get a prize bag, you should come in sooner rather than later, since prizes will only be given out while supplies last.

Goodreads informs me that I've read 104 books so far this year. Woo! Some of my favorites so far include The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis, Chomp by Carl Hiaasen, Wonder by R.J. Palacio, The Selection by Kiera Cass, Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King, Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu, Delirium by Lauren Oliver, Liesl and Po by Lauren Oliver, and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.