Worthingteens

September 1, 2010

Wildlife abounds
Posted by: Ann Pechacek

I am back from my trek to Africa. What an amazing amazing place to visit! I highly suggest every one of you put Africa on your to visit list. The people of Botswana are so incredibly friendly, the animals beautiful and the landscape awe inspiring. Everyone that is a follower of this blog should know I wholeheartedly advocate traveling and learning about other cultures. This trip was life changing for me. I witnessed a leopard in labor and got to see the baby cubs hours after they were born. OMG!!!!!!!

Check out some of the pictures.

Permalink - 2:40 PM | Miscellaneous | Print
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August 30, 2010

The new HIP snack food
Posted by: Sarah Cofer

Just came across this article on USAToday.com that says baby carrots are getting a cool new makeover. Hmmm....so do you think people will suddenly be tricked into eating baby carrots because the bag is neon green and has a hip new slogan? This Halloween, look for "scarrots" in your school's vending machine!

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August 24, 2010

Glee!
Posted by: Jen Bravard

Hello teens of Worthington! My name is Ellie and I’m super excited to be doing my first guest blog post for the Worthingteen Blog. I’m a practicum student, which means I’m learning and working at the Worthington Libraries because I want to do just what your teen librarians Ann, Gwen, and Jen do.

I CANNOT BELIEVE WE ONLY HAVE A MONTH UNTIL GLEE STARTS UP AGAIN! The first episode of the second season airs on Tuesday, September 21. If you couldn’t tell, I’m a BIG Glee fan and have been since their single-episode premiere after Adam Lambert lost American Idol. There’s just something about those singing Lima, Ohio kids that makes me completely happy. I’ve heard that there’s going to be a Rocky Horror Picture Show episode, as well as a Britney Spears themed episode. How could they go wrong?!

So my friends and I have an un-written Glee rule that when we watch it together, no one is allowed to sing along to the songs in a new episode, UNLESS everyone says it’s okay. Old episodes are always fair-game for singing along.

Also, don’t forget, Ann is having an awesome Glee program called Get Your GLEEK On! at Old Worthington Library on Saturday, September 18 at 4pm.

Our questions to you: Do you sing along to new episodes of Glee? How about old episodes? What are you looking forward to most this season?

Photo by Neal Jennings

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August 21, 2010

Annexed, a FABULOUS companion to The Diary of Anne Frank, causes some controversy
Posted by: Sarah Cofer

I just finished Annexed by Sharon Dogar and I LOVED IT! When I think about the myriad of mediocre teen fiction published these days, I get kind of cranky. Teens deserve quality literature!! Lots of things are just getting published because publishers know they will sell, even though the writing is blah. So I am super excited to find a book that I love! I honestly believe Annexed is one of the best written books published in 2010. Enough of my gushing, let me tell you about the book.

Annexed is the imagined story of Peter van Pels, the real life boy who was stuck in the attic with Anne Frank. Sharon Dogar uses Anne Frank's diary and historical facts to imagine Peter's side of the story. Ms. Dogar imagines what life must have been like for Peter, a teenaged boy stuck in an attic with two girls and so she imagines him falling in love with Anne Frank. At first, Peter thinks of Anne as an annoying child who is always going through his "room" to get to the attic. After Anne and Peter are in hiding for several months, they can't really avoid each other and become friends. They spends lots of time in the attic looking out at a little peice of sky trying to remember the outside. Peter starts to notice things about Anne, like how she smells, and he begins to fall in love with her. Make no mistake, this is a story about the Holocaust and if you are familiar with Anne Frank's story, you know this story does not have a happy ending. But...I loved reading this book from Peter's perspective and will recommend it to everyone I see!

I actually wrote a review of Annexed for VOYA. When I have to write a professional review, I never look the book up online or talk about it with anyone because I dont want anything to sway my opinion of the book. I decided to write this blog post and went in search of some links, I found some interesting articles that note that Annexed has caused some controversy:

The Guardian has an article titled 'Sharon Dogar fights back over 'sexed up' Anne Frank Novel"

The NYDailyNews.com also published an article called "Anne Frank's cousin angry about racy fictional Peter van Pels diary, 'Annexed,' by Sharon Dogar"

I've read the book and never ever came away with the idea that Peter and Anne had sex. They do share a kiss, but definitely no sex. I wonder if the people criticizing Annexed really read it. Hmm....check it out (it comes out in October 2010) and decide for yourself.

Permalink - 3:33 PM | Book Discussions | Print
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