For Teens / Left

Senator Roderick D. Wright is inviting five students who are in 10th or 11th grade to apply to attend a special Youth Leadership Conference this summer.

Each year the Research and Policy Institute of California hosts the African American Youth Leadership Program. The annual conference invites high school juniors and seniors from throughout the state to participate in a week-long conference in Sacramento.  During the week, participants are exposed to training in leadership and personal development and are shown the tools of success in education, business, and government.  Conference participants get hands-on experience, such as developing academic and career plans, running political campaigns and participating in the legislative process.  This training culminates to a mock presentation and debate of proposed bills in California’s Assembly Chambers.  Upon successful completion of AAYLP students are granted admission into the Society of Leaders (SOL).  SOL is a virtual community connecting high-achieving students to academic support, career counseling, and most importantly, to each other.

All housing, meals, program materials and transportation to, from and during the conference site are all provided at NO COST to the participants and the senator’s office will pay the $50 confirmation fee for the five students chosen by his office.

Email me if you’re interested in applying and I’ll put you in contact with the senator’s office. The deadline for applications is April 1st!

For more information about the congeference, please go to http://www.calresearch.org/african-american-youth-leadership-program.html

Louise Beebe
High School Services Librarian
lbeebe@pvld.org

We would like to hear from you about starting a teen book club. Please take this (really) short survey:

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Are you sick of Valentine’s Day?  Looking for something fun to do after school?

Then come to the Annex Thursday, February 11, from 4:30 to 6:30, for our first ever Un-Valentine’s Day Party!  Bring your friends and your broken hearts for pizza and snacks, games, Rock Band, American Idol Karaoke and more!  Or just come and hang out!

All kids grades 6-12 are invited with a school i.d.  See you there!

What’s Innerspark? I’ve never heard of it either, but it sounds like an incredible opportunity. The California State Summer School for the Arts chooses 520 talented high school-aged teens in the visual, literary, media and performing arts to attend a summer art institute on the campus of the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia. They’ll offer instruction in the fields of Animation, Music, Dance, Film and Video, Theatre, Creative Writing and the Visual Arts. The students selected will spend four weeks studying and working with professional artists, writers and performers and they also earn three units of CSU extended education credit! You can find more information and download an application on their website:

http://www.csssa.org/index.php

The deadline to turn in your application is February 27th!

Louise

High School Services Librarian

lbeebe@pvld.org

a few of our newest titles . . .

Liar by Justine Larbalestier

Micah will freely admit that she’s a compulsive liar, but that may be the one honest thing she’ll ever tell you. Over the years she’s duped her classmates, her teachers, and even her parents, and she’s always managed to stay one step ahead of her lies. That is, until her boyfriend dies under brutal circumstances and her dishonesty begins to catch up with her. But is it possible to tell the truth when lying comes as naturally as breathing?

Pop by Gordon Korman

When Marcus moves to a new town in the dead of summer, he doesn’t know a soul. While practicing football for impending tryouts, he strikes up an unlikely friendship with an older man. Charlie is a charismatic prankster—and the best football player Marcus has ever seen. He can’t believe his good luck when he finds out that Charlie is actually Charlie Popovich, or “the King of Pop,” as he had been nicknamed during his career as an NFL linebacker. But that’s not all. There is a secret about Charlie that his family is desperate to hide.

Devil’s Kiss   by Sarwat Chadda

Billi just wants a normal life but instead her father has drafted her into the once-glorious but nearly extinct Knights Templar in order to help defend humanity against the dark forces of the hungry undead. In a modern day story of love, loss, betrayal and sacrifice, Billi must confront an ancient force more powerful, more monstrous . . . and more tempting than anything she could imagine.

Breathless  by Jessica Warman

When Katie Kitrell is shipped off to boarding school by her distant father and overbearing mother, it doesn’t take her long to become part of the It Crowd. She’s smart, she’s cute, and she’s an Olympic-bound swimmer who has a first class ticket to any Ivy League school of her choice. But what her new friends, roommate, and boyfriend don’t know is that Katie is swimming away from her past, and from her schizophrenic older brother, Will, who won’t let her go. And when he does the unthinkable, it’s all Katie can do to keep her head above water.

Last Night I Sang to the Monster  by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Zach is eighteen. He is bright and articulate. He’s also an alcoholic and in rehab instead of high school, but he doesn’t remember how he got there. He’s not sure he wants to remember. Something bad must have happened. Something really, really bad. Remembering sucks and being alive—well, what’s up with that?

Stealing Death  by Janet Lee Carey

“I want that soul sack,” he said suddenly.

“What?” the witch asked around the scrap of meat she was chewing.

“I want it so no one I love will ever, ever, ever have to go inside again.”

“It’s not for mortal hands to have.” The witch spat out a bit of bone.

“You know magic. Give me the power to steal the sack.”

 When fire steals his family from him, Kipp is left with only his little sister to protect as best he can, and he’s determined that death will not come to her–or to the girl he loves but can never approach.  But who would dare to master death? As Kipp finds out, it’s complicated, and possession of the soul sack is no guarantee of success.

Homestretch  by Paul Volponi

Homestretch is a quick and exciting story full of mud, blood, speed, sleaze, and danger, along with some really good guys and a young woman who will help Gas as he slowly unloads his personal garbage.