Teens' Top Ten

Each year, YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) creates a list of Teens' Top Ten titles from books published in the last year.  Books are nominated by teens and the winners are determined by teens voting for their favorites.

See more information here and submit your vote here.

See the list of books in our library here.  

New Books

Today is the last day to receive prizes for your summer reading, but don't let that stop you from reading! Check out these new books to enjoy reading during your last weeks of summer.

We have several new additions to favorite series:
I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: The Legacies by Pittacus Lore
Nevermore: The Final Maximum Ride Adventure by James Patterson
Rapture: A Fallen Novel by Lauren Kate

We also have recently received several new books on the list of nominations for the Teens' Top Teen list.  See the list here.  Read them and be ready to vote for your favorite later this month.

  

  

   

100 Best-Ever Teen Books

Have you seen the list of "100 Best-Ever Teen Books" compiled by NPR?  What do you think of the list?   For the newer books, do you think they'll remain a "best-ever" or are they just "best right now?" 

Hunger Games

Did you like The Hunger Games? Are you looking for something similar to read? Find a new book in this flow chart from Lawrence Public Library. We have most of the books in our library and can request others for you through MeLCat.

Paint the Windows

See photos from our Paint the Windows program in the Milan News-Leader here.

Creatures of the Night

Nancy from Howell Nature Center brought six nocturnal animals for us to see and learn about today.  We met a great horned owl, a flying squirrel, an Eastern screech owl, a European ferret, a barn owl, and an opossum.

All of the animals we saw today are from Howell Nature Center's Wild Wonders Wildlife Park which provides homes for animals and birds that are not able to live in the wild.  

Great Horned Owl
This great horned owl is 24 years old and has been living at Howell Nature Center since he was young.  He, like all owls, can fly silently due to the type of feathers at his wingtips.  He has excellent hearing which is enhanced by his ears being at slightly different heights. 

 

 
Flying Squirrel
Flying squirrels have skin stretched from their wrists to their ankles which allows them to glide similar to a kite.  Like all nocturnal animals, he has large eyes. 

 

Eastern Screech Owl

This owl's name is Farley.  Eastern screech owls may be red or grey;  Farley is a grey phase owl.  He, as all of the owls today, was very interested in something in the park; he kept looking out the window at the geese and other animals outside. He arrived at Howell Nature Center after his wing was injured when the tree he lived in was cut down.  Due to the damage to his wing, he can not fly.  Although this owl was quiet today, we heard a recording of a screech owl and learned that it sounds similar to a horse.

European Ferret 
Ferrets are a type of weasel and are in the Mustelidae family.  Like ferrets kept as pets, this ferret has had its scent glands removed. 

Barn Owl

Opossum
This opossum loves broccoli and walked back and forth across the table to find and eat more.  Opossums are marsupials.  Baby opossums are about the size of the tip to the first knuckle of a pinkie finger.  They live in the mother's pouch for about two months.

Usually when you find a baby animal alone, you should leave it where you find it because the mother will return.  Opossums are an exception to this rule.  Mothers often will not realize they have lost a baby, so young opossums alone should be reported to an appropriate facility to help them.

Contrary to popular belief, opossums can not hang by their tails. They can use their tails to help them climb or hold things, but their bodies are too heavy to hang by them. 

The human owl
Owls eyes are very large.  Like other nocturnal animals, their large eyes help them see at night.  If humans' eyes were proportionately the same size as owls' eyes, this is what our eyes would look like.  Our volunteer also had an owl wing to demonstrate how quietly owls can fly.

Owls' feet
  

Teen Book Finder App

If you have an Apple device, see this free Teen Book Finder app to find book suggestions from lists of award winning books, create your own reading lists, share books on Twitter and Facebook, and more.