August 31, 2008

Recommended Books For Teens


Dead Girls Don't Write Letters by Gail Giles

Giles gave readers a huge surprise at the book's beginning. Here a major twist, one of several, comes at the end, though it raises more questions than it answers. Ninth-grader Sunny is not entirely sad about the death of her 18-year-old sister in a New York apartment fire. Jazz's perfection has been a thorn to Sunny, but it was all that sustained their depressive mother and alcoholic father. Her death has pushed both parents over the edge. Then one day, a letter from Jazz arrives, and soon after, Jazz herself returns, claiming she was away and only recently learned about the fire. But this girl isn't really Jazz, though she does resemble her and seems to know enough about her to assume her life. Both Sunny and her father realize the truth; Mother seems not to. For a while, though, everyone is willing to have Jazz alive. This is a page-turner with sharp dialogue and psychologically intriguing viewpoints. Readers are continually kept off balance as Jazz and her motives change like shapes in a fun-house mirror. But when Sunny asks her final question, "What have I done?" readers might wish for a clearer answer.

Looking for Red by Angela Johnson

Mike, 12, describes what her life on Cape Cod has been like since her older brother disappeared while swimming in the ocean three months earlier. She still sees Red leaning against the shed and in her dreams. She isolates herself from others who are also grieving, especially Red's best friend, Mark, and his girlfriend, Mona, who were there with her when he drowned. In the fall, Mike begins interacting with her friends again and sees her brother less. She finally tells her aunt about the pact that Mark and Red had made: if Red swam out to a buoy and back, Mark would give him his car. Mona had encouraged him and Mike herself had been hopeful he would win the bet. With the secret told, Red walks out of her dreams. The strength of this story is the accurate portrayal of the surreal nature of grief laden with guilt that the three young people are experiencing. Short chapters include scenes that alternate from before and after the drowning, and piecing them together and making sense of them will be a challenge to some readers.
Green Angel by Alice Hoffman

Beautifully written prose fills this first-person narrative of a teen whose world is turned around in an instant. This is both a survival story and an homage to the need to cherish life's every moment. Moody, introspective Green, 15, stays at home while her parents and younger sister travel to the city to sell their produce. Her disappointment at being left behind causes her to be cold and not say good-bye. Then the city is engulfed in flames, and ashes hover in the atmosphere for a long time. Green is left with her guilt for her sullen behavior and the solitude of her ruined garden. Hoffman has created a multilayered, believable protagonist. Readers suffer along with her and share her fears as she tries to pick up the pieces of her life. The contrast between her original faith in the promise of the future and her later acknowledgment of the tentative nature of reality is vividly and eloquently portrayed. This is not an easy read, and though it is an absorbing tale, it will most likely appeal to more sophisticated readers. A powerfully written and thought-provoking selection.




Are you applying for citizenship? Would you like to pass the citizenship examination? Click the links below for citizenship questions and answers.

http://www.sfpl.org/librarylocations/main/pracquest.htm


http://www.sfpl.org/chinese/sfplonline/web/citizenship.htm

August 27, 2008

Ingleside Branch Library...The Place to be!



Produced by: Richard Le



What's Happening at the Library


Come visit our branch and you will find new Filipino DVDs!



Children's Area

Kid Power Volunteers



















Thank You!



Stratford School is coming to the Ingleside Neighborhood this Fall 2008. For more information, check their website:
http://www.stratfordschools.com/


Teen Area
Another challenge is coming!
Join the Fil-Am Essay Contest in October and win Big Bucks! For more information, call Estelle Oleresisimo at (415) 595-9248.





















Adult Area

On the Same Page for July/August is entitled, The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.


New Library Location



Click on the photo to see the progress of the construction. This is what is presently going on at 1298 Ocean Ave. (at Plymouth), our future home.

Community Events - Come one! Come all!

Sept. 13 - Oceanview, Merced, Ingleside Family Festival
Sept. 27 - Westwood Park Picnic
Oct. 25 - Kids/Family Day


Children Programs 2008


Click on the picture to see selected photos from past programs




Regular Programs

Infant/Toddler Lapsits
Tuesdays at 10:30 am. Ages birth to 3 years old

Family Storytimes/Crafts
Sundays, 2:00-3:00 pm.

Coming Soon!

Sept. 14: Slapstick! with Derique McGee
Oct. 22: Scary Stories for Halloween
Nov. 16: Pop-ups Made Easy!
Dec. 14: Chung Ngai Dance Troupe

Special Clown Performance
Derique McGee's one-clown show features physical comedy, circus arts, and Hambone body drumming. It will tickle the funny bone of children of all ages!








Book Talks for Teens



Listen to our book t
alks
(Click on the links below)



Esperanza Rising
by Pam Muñoz Ryan. Scholastic.


Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse. Scholastic.


Monster
by Walter Dean Myers. HarperCollins


Other Recommended Readings
(My Favorite Books)

Click here to listen to them.



August 12, 2008

What's Happening at the Library


Come visit our branch and you will find new Filipino DVDs!



Children's Area

Kid Power Volunteers




















We are proud of you for serving as our helpers during the Summer Reading Program. Your patience, regular attendance, cheerfulness and en
thusiasm are commendable. You are our heroes! Now, it is time to relax and party. Come to the library on August 27th at 5:30 p.m. It is party time!

Stratford School is coming to the Ingleside Neighborhood this Fall 2008. For more information, check their website:
http://www.stratfordschools.com/


Teen Area
Another challenge is coming!
Join the Fil-Am Essay Contest in October and win Big Bucks! For more information, call Estelle Oleresisimo at (415) 595-9248.





















Adult Area

On the Same Page for July/August is entitled, The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.


New Library Location



Click on the photo to see the progress of the construction. This is what is presently going on at 1298 Ocean Ave. (at Plymouth), our future home.

Community Events - Come one! Come all!

Sept. 13 - Oceanview, Merced, Ingleside Family Festival
Sept. 27 - Westwood Park Picnic
Oct. 25 - Kids/Family Day


Children Programs 2008


Click on the picture to see selected photos from past programs




Regular Programs

Infant/Toddler Lapsits
Tuesdays at 10:30 am. Ages birth to 3 years old

Family Storytimes/Crafts
Sundays, 2:00-3:00 pm.

Coming Soon!

Sept. 14: Slapstick! with Derique McGee
Oct. 22: Scary Stories for Halloween
Nov. 16: Pop-ups Made Easy!
Dec. 14: Chung Ngai Dance Troupe

Special Clown Performance
Derique McGee's one-clown show features physical comedy, circus arts, and Hambone body drumming. It will tickle the funny bone of children of all ages!








Adult Programs 2008

How to Cope with Chronic Pains and Arthritis by Darlene Cohen - Coming Soon!


Darlene Cohen, M.A., LMT, earned her graduate degree in physiological psychology in 1966 and began sitting at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1970. She was ordained as a zen priest in 1999. While living at Green Gulch Farm, Zen Center's temple in Marin County, she developed rheumatoid arthritis, which had also plagued her mother. This painful and crippling disease led her to explore the potential of her meditation training to address chronic pain and catastrophic situations. In 1980 after receiving her certificate as a massage and movement teacher from Meir Schneider, the reknown Israeli self-healing teacher, she began instructi
ng people with chronic illness in various meditation and concentration practices, many of them involving comforting movement.



Click on the picture to see selected photos from past programs.



Author Reading and Discussion

Nov 5 - Cara Black, Mystery Writer

Crafts
Oct 4 - Papel Picado - Mexican Papercutting for Everyone
Dec 6 - Holiday Wreath Making

Health
Sept 10 - How to Cope with Chronic Pains and Arthritis
Oct 8 - Climate Change Slideshow



Book Talks for Teens



Listen to our book t
alks
(Click on the links below)



Esperanza Rising
by Pam Muñoz Ryan. Scholastic.


Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse. Scholastic.


Monster
by Walter Dean Myers. HarperCollins


Other Recommended Readings
(My Favorite Books)

Click here to listen to them.