In honor of International Women's Day here some kick a$$ heroines! Who's your favourite? Fictitious? Real? If you like the Hunger Games (cause we all know Katniss kicks some a$$) check out these other titles + join us for lunch!

I have a confession to make -- I am totally and completely in love with made-for-TV Disney movies. It's a sickness, I know... but I can't help myself. There is just something about these totally-formulaic, always shiny movies that sings to my soul.

Especially the ones with, well... singing!

That's not true; for every Camp Rock (wooo! JONAS!!!) there's a Cheetah Girls (uggggggg). Every High School Musical (flip yes!) has a Starstruck (that guy's FACE! Really!?!??! And his name is STERLING KNIGHT?!?!?! You have to be kidding me).

Don't get me wrong, I love real musicals too. But Disney Channel captures my childhood in a way that a gritty Sondheim Song can't.

I picked up Lemonade Mouth the other day on a whim. I'm currently suffering from Bridgette Mendler OVERLOAD (I think Disney put her in every single thing they made over the last two years...) and hadn't heard anything -- good or bad -- about it. But when I popped it in, I was INSTANTLY HOOKED. The formula works: High school setting that is too huge and gorgeous to ever exist in real life + Kids that aren't ACTUALLY kids cuz no one going through puberty looks that good + clearly defined cliques and 100% self-aware protags + a problem that isn't a real problem = smash hit.

It doesn't hurt that the rag-tag team of misfits that makes up "Lemonade Mouth" comes along with just as diverse of music tastes -- their band is this pop/rock/punk/indie/ballad/dance/rap/ska mix of everything -- why doesn't a band like that exist in real life!??!?!

Anyways, suffice it to say Lemonade Mouth is worth a watch. It's cheesy, fun, musical and colourful.

But if you're just into 'up-and-coming-underdog-garage-band-takes-on-established-musicians-who-are-usually-jerks' as a theme in general, here are some other titles from Calgary Public Library that you HAVE to check out:

School of Rock - I'm sure you've seen this classic Jack Black offering, but if you haven't in a while, go check out Miranda Cosgrove before she was a Nickelodeon superstar (thankfully just not one of the ones who sings...)

Scott Pilgrim vs The World - Watch Scott's indie band, 'Sex Bob-Ombs' as they make you 'think about death and get sad and stuff' -- and defeat the evil Gideon Graves, corporate meanie and overall weener. BONUS POINTS for starring a Canadian in a Canadian Setting!

Bandslam - Two previous Disney starlettes, Vanessa Hudgens and Aly Michalka duke it out in a high school garage band, and try, unsuccessfully, to shed their goody-goody days of the Family Channel.

Freaky Friday - Oh mannnnn, ANOTHER Disney Starlette! Okay, if you're just tuning into the program already in progress, Lindsay Lohan is a real hot mess. But if you want to know why people even give a care, it's because she USED to be pretty adorable and reasonably talented. Guys... just be thankful I didn't put a Hilary Duff one in here....

And since music choices are so important to identity, and being in a band (or being obsessed with one) is such a quintessential part of teenagerhood, we've got about a bajillion books about it too:

Freedom to Read Week (February 26th - March 3rd) starts today and we are doing several things to celebrate including selecting the winners of the Who Chooses What You Read? contest.
We would like to invite you to attend the annual event where we honour the Freedom of Expression Award winners, and highlight the teen winners of the Who Chooses What You Read? contest. In addition, there will be a reading from The Hunger Games which was selected as a representative challenged book, and will be presented to City Council during Freedom to Read week at the regular council meeting.
Join us Thursday March 1, 2012
7 p.m @
Owls Nest Books
815A 49 Avenue Southwest
Calgary, AB T2S 1G8, Canada
(403) 287-9557

The Freedom to Read Committee has selected twin brothers Keith and Steven Pridgen as the 2012 recipients of the Freedom of Expression Award. Anne Jayne, the citizen member of the FTR committee writes the following to support the nomination made by Susan Anderson,
"The nomination of the Pridgen brothers is worthy. They were quite brave, as young university students, to take on the university over the issue of being disciplined for having a Facebook page where comments critical of a faculty member were published. Their case was recently heard at the Queen’s Bench, ruling in favour of the Pridgen’s. It is their attention to standing up for their freedom of expression, engaging the university in a formal way and drawing light to the University of Calgary student disciplinary practices."

Keith and Steven Pridgen are delighted with this news. Fortunately, Keith has recently returned to Calgary and will be available to accept it from a representative of FFWD magazine, the award sponsor. The Freedom to Read committee is especially pleased to draw attention to the efforts made by these younger citizens and the use of social media to express personal opinions.

At Central we also have a book display in both our Teen and Children's zones showcasing books that have been banned by various groups at various times for various reasons. Interested in learning more? Click this link for Censorship in Canada, click here for the most recent list of challenged books; and here is a list by Google.

We issue a challenge: pick a book to read this week in honor of freedom of expression. Let us know what you're reading in the comments section. We might just add it to our banned books list!

Additionally, the art show up in the TEENZONE (2nd Floor Central) by students of Sir John Franklin High School is called SPEAK and is a great showcase of photographs by fellow teens dealing with issues around freedom of expression. SPEAK runs alongside the city wide EXPOSURE 2012 photography festival.
Last but not least, our Freedom to Read Contest winners have been picked! Stay tuned for announcements...

(With thanks to Allison Thomson for some of the content of this blog).

Are you as scared of shopping as I am? Perhaps it’s something about malls (I feel too small in them), or the over eager sales representative that seems a little too enthusiastic to ask me about my clothing size. If you’re not my friend I am not going to tell you. Seriously. Whatever it is, I love clothes, don’t get me wrong, but am a little timid when it comes to setting foot into a store to look for new costumes with which to adorn myself.

Enter the much anticipated event called the Prom Dress Extravaganza…it’s got to do with dresses and it’s got nothing to do with the mall!

But speaking of which, even if you love the mall, you may not find what you’re looking for if you limit yourself. Nor will you find your own style if you copy a mannequin. So, even if you love shopping, you should come check it out.

Some of my best dresses are what is known as “pre-loved.” Actually, some of my best clothes in general are clothes that I have traded, or swapped, with my friends. This program lets you do just that – swap clothes, or just simply add some style to any new or used dress. A designer is going to be there to help you find your own new chic creative way of reinventing a dress. Not to mention that you will get to take a dress home – there will be many dresses, in many colours, and you could end up with the dress of your dreams.

It’s happening at both the Bowness and Village Square libraries. You do need to register, which you can do easily with your library card – natch! The link and the dates are as follows: Bowness, Saturday March 3^rd from 1-2:30pm, and at Village Square on Saturday March 10^th from, 1:30-3pm. To register, follow the link: http://calgarypubliclibrary.com/services/programs-events/register-for-programs?ad=s&dt=s&lc=s&pt=s&kw=prom%20dresses&pg=1

There are only four kinds of people in this world.

Okay, that's not true. There are a million kinds of people in this world. But on Valentine's Day, there are really only four:

- People who are alone and wish they weren't

- People who are alone and are glad they are

- People who have someone and are glad they do

- People who have someone and wish they didn't

When you break that down even further, only 50% of people are happy with their relationship status, and the other half are hoping and waiting for something else, something better. Valentine's Day is the painfully glaring reminder of all this. The one day (oh... and two weeks prior to... and several days after...), where we have everything we're supposed to want or have shoved right at our consumery faces. But some people don't want a romantic relationship. And some people are in them and don't need one day to celebrate 365 days of love. And the people who don't have what they want and aren't happy with life need self-empowerment to achieve their goals, not a 'holiday' reminding them of everything they don't have.

Far be it from me to single-handedly revolutionize this day. I'm not saying anything new and the holiday is clearly not going anywhere.

Instead, here are some ways to celebrate the day (in a Carpe Diem way, not in a spend $170.00 kind of way), no matter what 'type of person' you are!

Single and lovin' it

Yeah. There is such a thing as being single and being happy. It happens all the time. It's not all about an "in-between" thing -- "I just broke up with my ex and need some time to myself before I start dating again" or a permanent thing -- "It's a lifestyle choice to not tie myself down to any one person" -- it's a human being thing. It's about loving who you are and your life as it is with you being the biggest star in it! Single does not equal lonely. Singles can fill their time however they want, whenever they want, with whomever they want. They completely pilot their happiness. Besides, all you have to do is look around to know that being in a relationship does not necessarily make you happy! There are MILLIONS of people stuck in ruts or bad relationships who, for whatever reason, decide to stay that way. Life on the single-side, when you're doing it right, is... the bomb.

So! Want to celebrate being young, single and free? Check out:

Beauty Queens -- NOT your average run down the catwalk, this book follows the lives of a plane full of Pageant contestants who crash land on a deserted island and have to learn how to fend for themselves - WITHOUT hair straighteners and mascara. It pokes a lot of fun at contemporary consumer culture, and DOES stereotype some ideas of young girls -- but stick with it, and you'll discover an island full of empowered, kick-a$$ young women who are saving the day and having a lot of fun doing it.

And what about a guy who is so busy blowing stuff up and rescuing the planet that he doesn't even have time to THINK about dating? Stormbreaker has enough action to keep your heart palpitating without any of that lovey dovey stuff.

Sometimes it ISN'T easy, fun, or exciting getting to the healthy side of single (and there are rarely any pyrotechnics). The "Alice" series are a tried and true map of teen life -- in this book, Alice has to navigate a recent break up from her boyfriend, Patrick, and figure out who she is, and how to love life now that it's just her.

And then there's Hollywood's take on the matter: CLEARLY it's better to live the high-life as a onesie than have to deal with crazy stalkers or have people dying on you all the time. I'm thinking "Misery" for psycho love and "Romeo and Juliet" for dying lover... or "Titanic"... or "Moulin Rouge"... you know, there are a lot of those out there... There's also the BRILLIANT "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (check the ratings for all of these, guys... just a heads up!), which has a futuristic sci-fi feel in the idea that we could erase entire chunks of our memories as if they never happened... leaving our personalities intact, but nixing say, those pesky reminders of a relationship gone wrong...

I believe in a thing called Love

... But then again, there's a lot to be said for love. Many people who aren't in relationships DO want them, and for good reason. You can get so much out of life by sharing love with another person; a feeling of companionship, someone to share hopes and dreams with, constant feel-good hormone rushes... If you're single, but hopeful, there is a light on the horizon. Don't believe me? Scope these out:

Tiny Cooper is in LOVE with being in love. He's had a million (and counting) boyfriends. The kid just does not give up! Enter Will Grayson, his next beau, who, plot-drivingly enough, shares the same name as Tiny's best friend, Will Grayson, and who decidedly does NOT believe in love. We keep finding lists to put this book on because it really is one of the funniest, loveliest, weepiest, thought-provoking and awesome books out there.

The Statistical Probability of Falling in Love at First Sight (phew!) lives up to it's fluffy, feel-good promise. It's a light read -- with a few Kleenex moments -- that will take up your time until you're ready to go out and fall in love yourself.

Everyone knows you have to hit rock-bottom before you can start climbing back up again (unless you're one of those freakish movie stars who can support their entire body weight with one hand dangling down the edge of a cliff for like, an eternity...). Tom's rock-bottom is a heartbreaking one, but he slowly patches his life back together, and yup, finishes the story by being in love. The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta.

Need a flick? Kat doesn't believe in love... until she meets Patrick. Uhhhh, yeah. That's Heath Ledger. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Don't need much more than THAT to believe in love... unless you love Shakespeare like I love Shakespeare... cuz it's got just a little sprinkling of that too. Borrow 10 Things I Hate About You from the library -- you won't regret it. Oh, and here's the jam you can rock to through the whole love-loving day: The Darkness - I Believe in a Thing Called Love

Breakaway

So. You believed in love. You really did. But now it's gone and sucker-punched you, and you need to get out of this relationship -- fast. Fear not, you are FAR from alone. Anybody and their dog could name you the best Break-Up movies, so instead we made a list of the greatest break up songs. Need to cry? Check. Need to scream? Check. Need to realize-how-awesome-you-are-and-how-much-better-you'd-be-without-them? Double Check.

I Will Survive -- Gloria Gaynor
I Hate Everything About You -- Three Days Grace

I Want To Break Free -- Queen
Too Little, Too Late -- JoJo or Leave

Face Down -- Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Since U Been Gone -- Kelly Clarkson
Irreplaceable -- Beyonce

This Love -- Maroon 5

Fighter -- Christina Aguilera

Survivor -- Destiny's Child

These are guaranteed hits... but if you've got something a bit less... top 40, leave us a comment to let us know. We're ALWAYS looking for good music. I personally believe that "Wild Hope" by Mandy Moore is the BEST break up album ever -- she wrote it after her split with Zach Braff, and this chick knows heartache. But, she's not everyone's cup of tea, so fair warning. Now that I think about it... Kelly Clarkson's a killer crooner for break-up anthems too... she's got a whole album of them.

Sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G

Okay. So you're in love. And the person you love is loving you back. And everything's great. And it's Valentine's Day. And you've already watched every Nicholas Sparks movie ever (or been 'forced' to watch... although really, who are you kidding, you liked it too...) So... what? Try a Classic. Not like an OLD classic, although flicks like "Roman Holiday" and "Bringing up Baby" are pretty awesome. I mean like... something just heart-warming that you could watch again, and again, and again. Maybe the movie you saw on your first date? Or something you haven't watched since you were a kid. Or the movie your PARENTS saw on their first date (now that's something to keep you guessing...)

Here are some pics I could watch a hundred times and never get sick of:

So Happy Valentine's Day; whoever you are, wherever you are. Rock it out YOUR way.

Wanna be a Manga star? Well, there is a FREE Manga & Comics Drawing Workshop at Thornhill Library this Thursday February 8th! Register Here! Now!! I know you wanna!

When I was a teen, one of our groups' favorite things to do was hang out at various red-neck diners drawing art and comics for each other all night. Maybe we were all on a kamikaze mission but... sharing all those comics and making zines together was certainly a blast! And sometimes we even sold them at All Ages shows making back our coffee money. DIY! There was always an edge... who could draw the awesomest MANGA? Make the coolest character? Have the weirdest plot? ... or get us in the most trouble?...

At any rate - Come to this workshop, brush up your comic skillz, and possibly MEET others who are as obsessed with Manga as you are!

Then publish your drawings: SUBMIT them to our TEENSCREATE page! From there it's just a short jump to DC... with maybe a few coffee shops and diners along the way...

In the meantime here are also some cool suggestions to get you started drawing.

Plus one of my favorite titles Steamboy by Katsuhiro Otomo. Who's your favorite Manga character?

Altogether too often people get caught up with talk about how terrible the state of the world is. Crime, poverty, environmental crisis and inequality can get downright depressing. I know plenty of people who have simply stopped listening to the news because it gets them down. Add to that pending destruction of earth in late 2012 and the many prophecies about fire and brimstone and you'd be tempted to give up on life.

Not long ago I met a Junior High school teacher named Kate McKenzie. Kate teaches current events and as you can imagine, this can be a very heavy topic. Early on in the year, Kate's students said they were getting super depressed by all the negativity in the news. Kate didn't want to leave her students feeling hopeless, so she set out to show them all the good things going on in the world.

Because there are good things going on!

Kate is determined to prove to her students that there are ways to combat hopelessness - she is travelling to 8 countries in 8 months and documenting inspiring stories of people doing great things to build their community. Learn more about her project here.

While she's away, we are partnering to provide a youth leadership opportunity.

Kate and The Calgary Public Library want to help fight hopelessness by equipping Calgary youth with the leadership skills they need to get involved in their communities and have a positive impact. We're calling it Youth Worldviews Project.

A series of four sessions will be held in which youth can come together to discuss what they can do to make a difference in their community. Mentoring opportunities will be available including Skype sessions with Kate. Ideas like marketing, volunteer recruitment, grant writing, and event planning will be discussed.

Come! Join us! Help make a difference.

Events will be held at the Central Library on the second floor on these dates:

February 18th from 12:00-1:30 pm

April 28th from 12:1:30pm

May 26th from 11:30-1:00pm

September 15th from 12:00-1:30pm

I can't wait to hear about how you plan to get involved!

Okay... so this whole Twisted Fairytales thing is totally blowing me away. I don't even know where to start! With TWO Snow White revamps coming up this year alone, not to mention that "Once upon a Time" TV show on ABC (yeah... it's about Snow White too...) I realized it was high-time to shed some light on this trend. Thus begins the first of a chain of blogs dedicated to unravelling, demystifying, and just plain gushing over the many adaptations of our fave classic stories.

I'll start with Snow White because that's what got this ball rolling... but FIRST! A little history:

When the Grimm Brothers first published their works in 1857, the young girl who WE know as Snow White was then known as Snow-Drop or Sneewittchen. And while I just called her a "young girl" you might be surprised to know exactly HOW young. In the original version, she is only SEVEN YEARS OLD. As time went on, I suppose people decided it was just too creepy for some random prince to come waltzing by a glass coffin, see a pretty, little [dead] seven-year-old, decide he's gonna kiss her, and then take her to his castle to be his bride. As with a lot of these stories, the disturbing and scary originals are continually adapted to fit current trends and inclinations. So! At one point the story said that Snow White was a kid when she "died" but kept aging in the coffin, so that by the time the prince got to her she was... 16... (still not great...), and eventually, people just decided that she was 16 when she went into the woods, 16 when she died, and then 16 when the prince woke her up. Check out all the sordid details about your fave Fairytales from this awesome E-resource available for FREE from the Calgary Public Library: World Folklore Today and Folklife

But now let's take a look at something a little more twisted:

Mirror Mirror

With an All-Star cast and GORGEOUS costuming, this rendition promises to be a fun flick about "the untold story" of Snow White, full of political intrigue, role-reversals (I believe Snow saves Prince Charming on several occasions...) and some light-hearted jibes at an aging Julia Roberts.

Mirror Mirror has a release date of March 16th of this year, but to tide you over, you can watch the trailer on IMDB here.

Snow White and the Huntsman

Unlike Mirror, Mirror, this redux of Snow White promises to be much darker, and much angstier. Ready to leave Bella Swan far behind her, Kristen Stewart takes on this new role with gusto. She is apparently doing her own stunts, and even if she's not doing them so well, it's much better than letting Edward and Jacob get all the action.

Snow White & The Huntsman will come out on June 1st, but if you follow the title link there are lots of video clips and images to placate you in the meantime!

Once Upon a Time is ABC's crack at the fairytale revamp. It modernizes some of our favourite childhood characters (although it must be noted that they use the Disney versions of most characters, not the original ones, as ABC is owned by Disney) and drops them into a small town in the states, where time is frozen and Snow White's daughter is the key to unlocking an evil curse. I've never seen it, but I've only heard good things.

And it's not just movies and TV shows, although if you want the full list of film adaptations available through CPL, we have a list pending. There are dozens and dozens of books featuring Snow that we have currently circulating in our collection. I've only put the highlights of the other collections and ALL the YA ones here, but feel free to come into ANY branch if you're looking for a specific version.

Picture/Storybooks in the Juvenile Collection:

Adult Spin Offs:

Young Adult and Graphix:

Non-Fiction

Dead to You is a fast-paced, suspenseful, and page-turning Young Adult novel written by the New York Times best-selling author Lisa McMann. The book starts off with a 16 year-old boy named Ethan finally finding his family after the 9 years he has been gone. At age 7 Ethan was abducted from his driveway, and a search has been going on for the last nine years. Now that he is back at home in the town of Belleville, everyone begins to ask questions about his abduction. These memories -- or anything about his childhood, really, -- are irrevocable. Rest assured for him, everything is slowly turning back to normal, but he is hiding something. What is preventing Ethan de Wilde from recollecting all these memories? Tensions in his family between siblings and parents are becoming more and more progressive, and suspicion becomes nigh unbearable for Ethan. Something ominous from his past is slowly being revealed, and it’s going to cost him.

An amazing quality about Lisa McMann (also the author of the best-selling Wake Trilogy) is how convincingly she is able to write in a teenager’s everyday vernacular, but also how true to life the events in her realistic fiction novel are. Dead to You is a very fast-paced novel, never monotonous or stationary, always moving. One after another, events occur that cause things to happen: whether it is tensions in the family, an exuberant love life, or hurtful statements from those you love. However, McMann always leaves something better looming around the corner, until the ultimate ending. If you enjoy suspense, mystery, and engaging reads, this book is the one for you.

Reviewed by Sahad

Expected Publication Date: February 7, 2012

YAC (Youth Advisory Council), is a bunch of Calgary youth who volunteer to help shape teen services at CPL through sharing their ideas, time and talents. They have started reviewing ARCs (Advance Reading Copies) of books and we are pleased to publish them here. So... stay tuned for more reviews from YAC.