This Summer

This Summer, our teen programs center around change.

Famous playwright William Shakespeare wrote about our human capacity for change and growth:
"We know what we are, but not what we may be."

I like these lyrics from Switchfoot (If you watch American Idol, you may have seen David perform this song recently):

Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
Everyone's here
Everyone's here
Everybody's watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next?
What happens next?

I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before

Welcome to the fallout
Welcome to resistance
The tension is here
The tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be

I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened

Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go?
Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here

I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened before

Who Will You Become This Summer?

Teen Spy Novels

Ya know, I loved spy novels as a young girl. I was reading Quiller novels, Len Deighton, John LeCarre, Robert Ludlum, Ian Fleming, and Alistair MacLean books in middle school...in fact, I wrote the FBI in fourth grade and told them I wanted to work for them as a spy! (They sent me back a fat packet with information that included the fact that accountants and computer programmers were those most likely to find employment with the FBI...and they probably opened a file on me :-)

My spy reading went a little dormant in recent years, though I did truly love the Bourne movies. I read Stormbreaker a year or two ago, and liked it okay, but I really enjoyed a FEMALE-oriented teen spy novel I just finished.

I liked I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You, partially because it included some Harry Potter-type elements. These super-genius girls go to this top-secret school filled with interesting professors and cutting-edge (though not magical) technology. There's lots of cool spy-info, a little romance, great friendships - it's a good read. There's a second book in the series out now, and they're even making it into a movie!

Beanball: A Novel in Verse

I'm not a big sports fan, but I enjoyed Beanball, a novel told in verse about a high school baseball player. I've got a lot to do (like sleep!), so I'm going to use a summary from Barnes and Nobel instead of writing my own:

"It's the last inning of a high school baseball game between arch-rivals Oak Grove and Compton. Center fielder Luke "Wizard" Wallace steps up to the plate--and is hit by a beanball, a wild pitch that shatters his skull, destroys the vision in his left eye, and changes his life forever.

In this riveting novel, the events surrounding this pivotal moment are recounted through free-verse monologues by 28 different voices, including those of Luke and his Oak Grove teammates; the pitcher, Kyle Dawkins, and other Compton players; the two coaches; Luke's family members and teachers; and Sarah Edgerton, a new classmate who seems more affected by Luke's injury than his girlfriend is.

With its unusual format, gripping subject matter, and economy of language, Beanball is a thought-provoking, fast-paced read."

I've read lots of novels written in verse, and that's not the strength of this book - if you're looking for something with a real poetic quality to the writing, look to The Braid or Locomotion or Love That Dog. I liked the compactness of this book, the varying viewpoints, and I came to care for all of the characters.