The Mariposa Club

The Mariposa Club by Rigoberto Gonzalez

Rigoberto Gonzalez achieves an authentic first person narrative in "The Mariposa Club." Ultimately about friendship and family, the novel is also about being gay. Gonzalez manages to bring together a cast of characters that express a wide range of queer experiences, without it feeling forced. By the end of the novel, I was left with the sense that the four main characters' stories were only at the very beginning, that their stories will continue long after the words on the page run out. "The Mariposa Club" is a worthwhile book to read, filled with a lot of heart.

Reviewed by: Kevin

Open Gaming Day at Rondo

 @

Rondo Community Outreach Library

OPEN GAMING DAY!

Saturday May 2, 2009, 12-3pm

The SWAMP

Open Internet computers, Super Nintendo, and Wii!

Come play Runescape, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and classic Mario games!

 

Rondo Community Outreach Library
461 N. Dale St. 55103
651-266-7400

Scratch Day

We invite Scratch users from around the Twin Cities to share in Day of Scratch on May 16, 2009 hosted by the Learning Technologies Center at the Science Museum of Minnesota.

Who: Everyone
When: May 16, 2009 10:00 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Where: Science Museum of Minnesota, Level 2
Cost: $5.00 advance registration is required. Call (651) 221-9444

This event is open to the general public.

There will be workshop sessions and activities for everyone, including sessions for those new to Scratch, Scratchrs, and Scratch Masters.

Here is a glimpse at some of the sessions we are planning.

Intro to Scratch
Scratch n’ Beats
Scratch Photo Face
Sponge Music PICOboard
Educator Sessions
Interactive Scratch Exhibits
Plus More!

Please check back for a complete schedule of workshops, sessions, and events.

For more information call (651) 221-9444, or contact sgross at smm.org or keithb at smm.org

Scratch is a free multimedia programming software from MIT Media Lab that enables you to design and create your own video games, animations, and interactive stories using its visual programming language. For more information on Scratch visit www.scratchr.org.

You Can't Judge A Book (Or a Person) By Its Cover

Some things to think about from 7 Things for Teens at the Library (Besides Books) by Martha Brockenbrough:

Another really nice thing about librarians is that they can help answer questions without getting all judgmental about it. Jessamyn West told me she'd recently answered teens' questions about witchcraft, Sweet Valley High, and skateboarding regulations, among other things.

And:

This might even be the most important thing for teenagers at the library: someone to help them find what they're seeking, someone to point them toward books, music, movies, and other things that can help them understand themselves better, without all the baggage that can come when parents and teachers know all their
secrets.

Well said.

Highland Library's Teen Book Club

Highland Library's next Teen Book Club meeting will be:

Saturday, May 2, at 2:00 p.m.

We'll be discussing Valiant by Holly Black, due to popular demand.

Summary:
When seventeen-year-old Valerie Russell runs away to New York City, she's trying to escape a life that has utterly betrayed her. Sporting a new identity, she takes up with a gang of squatters who live in the city's labyrinthine subway system. But there's something eerily beguiling about Val's new friends. There's the impulsive Lolli who talks of monsters in the tunnels and shoots up a strange amber-colored powder that makes the shadows around her dance. There's the severe Luis who the others claim can make deals with creatures that no one else can see. And then there's Luis's brother, timid Dave, who makes the mistake of letting Val tag along as he makes a delivery to a woman who turns out to have goat hooves instead of feet. When a bewildered Val allows Lolli to talk her into tracking down the hidden lair of the creature for whom Luis and Dave have been dealing, Val finds herself bound into service by a troll named Ravus. He is as hideous as he is honorable. As Val grows to know him, she finds herself torn between her affection for an honorable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.

Oh, and here's a picture of Holly. Funky hair, eh?



Highland Park Library
1974 Ford Parkway St. Paul, MN 55116
651-695-3700

Come join us!