Teens

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Come and share your enthusiasm for reading with your friends. We'll be reading A First Time for Everything by the wonderful Dan Santat.

Join this year’s winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, Dan Santat, as he inspires tweens and teens to tell their own stories through graphic novels. His winning book, A First Time for Everything, is a graphic memoir based on his own awkward middle school years and the trip to Europe that changed his life.

Dan Santat began drawing as a young boy and although he first studied microbiology, he pursued his passion in illustration. He spent many hours as a child and teenager teaching himself to draw by copying illustrations from comic books until he developed the unique, recognizable style that we see today. His talk will inspire listeners to draw their own story as well as give them practical tips on the creation of graphic novels.

Think you're a puzzle master? Grab a partner and compete in our puzzle race to put your skills to the test. Register your team of 2 (or compete on your own) by July 26th to let us know you're coming! Call the library or email kmckewin [at] rgpl.org (kmckewin[at]rgpl[dot]org) to sign up.

Song for a Whale, by Lynne Kelly

The story of a deaf girl's connection to a whale whose song can't be heard by his species, and the journey she takes to help him.

From fixing the class computer to repairing old radios, twelve-year-old Iris is a tech genius. But she's the only deaf person in her school, so people often treat her like she's not very smart. If you've ever felt like no one was listening to you, then you know how hard that can be.
When she learns about Blue 55, a real whale who is unable to speak to other whales, Iris understands how he must feel. Then she has an idea: she should invent a way to "sing" to him! But he's three thousand miles away. How will she play her song for him?

The Tween Book club read Song for a Whale, by Lynne Kelly for their February 2021 book discussion. The author graciously agreed to answer questions from the group. Take a look at the interview, which includes a link to a fascinating article, complete with recordings of whale sounds.

Check out this interview with the author of one of our favorite reads, The True Meaning of Smekday. We have often read the book for an end of the year selection (just because we like it so much). Adam Rex offered to answer questions for our group, take a look at what he had to say.