Do you ever remember reading Imogene’s Antlers as a child? It’s about a girl who wakes up with an enormous pair of antlers on her head one morning? Well David Small the author and illustrator of that book, woke up one morning when he was fourteen and found that instead of antlers on his head – he couldn’t speak. Turns out that his parents had decided not to tell him he had cancer and could die, which is why he had to have surgery to remove one of his vocal cords.
In his graphic novel memoir, Stitches, David Small reflects on his childhood and how his parents’ unhappiness in their own lives was transferred on to his own, from how they approached his cancer – with his dad, who was a doctor, trying his very own treatments of radiation for David’s cancer, to his mother’s anger which was often released in rages at David. What’s a boy to do in a family like this? David Small shows how he survived his family, overcame all the craziness life brought him, and how a little artistic expression can work wonders.
It September 2010, syndicated columnist and author Dan Savage and his partner Terry made a YouTube video for LGBT teens and youth as a reaction to the number of young people who took their lives the past year because of being bullied.
Recently, the band Rise Against has collaborated with the It Gets Better Project to use clips from the video submissions in their newest music video for their song Make It Stop (September’s Children), and the video was released this week. The song draws its inspiration from the rash of suicides of bullied teens. Make It Stop (September’s Children) is on their latest album Endgame, which you can find in the Library’s collection. Also, an interesting note, the band filmed the music video at lead singer Tim McIlrath’s former high school, Rolling Meadows High School.
Even though it is rainy outside, be sure to celebrate Earth Day today! Here are some simple things you can do to celebrate Earth Day:
Turn off the lights when you leave a room.
Eat a vegetarian or vegan meal.
Reduce your water consumption by turning off the faucet when you brush your teeth, cut back 10 minutes on your shower, or buy a reuse-able water bottle instead of buying bottled water.
Turn off your computer when you are done using it.
Recycle, weather it garbage or buying things second hand.
Haley is one of our teen patrons who we can always count on for reviews. Here are a few of her recent reviews:
I read Summer Boys by Hailey Abbott and it was about 3 girls who try to find their first guy. They try to find him and fall in love for the first time but they are in high school. This book was a good book but kind of slow in the first two chapters. I would recommend it.
I read Tuesday’s with Morrie by Mitch album. It was about a man named Mitch you has ALS and needs some help. It was a good book but also sad. I would recommend it.
I read Safe Heaven by Nicolas Sparks. It wasn’t my favorite books by him. It was about a girl and how she is trying to find the right guy to date and be with. Then she finds him and they get together. It is a good book but I would recommend all the others of his especially The Notebook, The Lucky One, The Last Song, as well as A Walk to Remember.
If you’re interested in submitting reviews to the Teen Talk Blog, too, then fill in your information at the top right hand side of the page and submit your review. Don’t forget to hit Send!
The movie Soul Surfer hits theaters tomorrow. It is the true story of the surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm at 13 years old when a 14 foot tiger shark attacked her.
Here’s the trailer for the movie:
Stop by the Library and check out the books Soul Surfer: a true story of faith, family, and fighting to get back on the board by Bethany Hamilton and Shark Girlby Kelly Bingham. Soul Surfer is Hamilton’s own account of the attack, what led up to it and how she overcame the loss of her arm. Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham was actually written before Bethany was attacked and she attracted national media attention. As the author, Kelly Bingham, explains here she had just finished her first draft of the book when Bethany was attacked, so she shelved the manuscript and almost never revisited it. A year later she revised the manuscript and sold it in 2006. It is also cool to note that Shark Girl is a novel in verse (a great way to celebrate National Poetry month!).
Do you ever remember reading Imogene’s Antlers as a child? It’s about a girl who wakes up with an enormous pair of antlers on her head one morning? Well David Small the author and illustrator of that book, woke up one morning when he was fourteen and found that instead of antlers on his head – he couldn’t speak. Turns out that his parents had decided not to tell him he had cancer and could die, which is why he had to have surgery to remove one of his vocal cords.
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