New releases and coming soon: I HAVE ARCS!

Summer's not over yet, you can still get some reading in.

If you want to get your hands on an absolutely-free-no-strings-attached copy of one of these books, come on into the Teen Room!

Rogue by Gina Damico

YAAAAAAAAAH! I just finished it and will say nothing except holy geez I did not see that coming. Or that. And also that. Way to wrap up a terrific trilogy, Ms. Damico!

The 100 by Kass Morgan
On board a space colony, 100 juvenile offenders are given a choice: execution or exile to planet Earth, to see if it is safe for rehabitation.

Gated by Amy Christine Parker

The end of the world is approaching, and Lyla and the rest of The Community are ready.  But what happens when she meets someone from the outside -- someone The Community has sworn to fight against?

Just Like Fate by Cat Patrick

Have you ever wanted to be two places at once?  What if you had the chance to see where two separate paths would take you?

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

I'm gonna direct you to these webisode prequels because WOW.

New releases and coming soon: I HAVE ARCS!

Summer's not over yet, you can still get some reading in.

If you want to get your hands on an absolutely-free-no-strings-attached copy of one of these books, come on into the Teen Room!

Rogue by Gina Damico

YAAAAAAAAAH! I just finished it and will say nothing except holy geez I did not see that coming. Or that. And also that. Way to wrap up a terrific trilogy, Ms. Damico!

The 100 by Kass Morgan
On board a space colony, 100 juvenile offenders are given a choice: execution or exile to planet Earth, to see if it is safe for rehabitation.

Gated by Amy Christine Parker

The end of the world is approaching, and Lyla and the rest of The Community are ready.  But what happens when she meets someone from the outside -- someone The Community has sworn to fight against?

Just Like Fate by Cat Patrick

Have you ever wanted to be two places at once?  What if you had the chance to see where two separate paths would take you?

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

I'm gonna direct you to these webisode prequels because WOW.

Get your summer reading for free

By now you may have realized that you have assigned reading over the summer.  But maybe the book you need is checked out, or you are going to be out of town, or you are already out of town and far and away from a library or bookstore.

Do not despair!  The Internets can help.  There are some great resources online where you can snag some classic literature to read on your e-reader, smartphone, laptop or computer.  Jane Eyre, The Odyssey, The Scarlet Letter -- it can all be yours!

ManyBooks.net
eBooks@Adelaide
Project Gutenberg
Google Play*


I also discovered that Simon Pulse offers some of their books to read online completely free!  New stuff, too!  You do need to register, but as far as I can tell there is no other obligation.

And yes, I know -- reading these books is hard work.  You can do it -- be proud to keep your brain sharp, yo!  Here's a little humor and inspiration to see you through (be warned, there's cussing).




*I searched "free classics" and linked to that -- but you can find lots more available for purchase.

Get your summer reading for free

By now you may have realized that you have assigned reading over the summer.  But maybe the book you need is checked out, or you are going to be out of town, or you are already out of town and far and away from a library or bookstore.

Do not despair!  The Internets can help.  There are some great resources online where you can snag some classic literature to read on your e-reader, smartphone, laptop or computer.  Jane Eyre, The Odyssey, The Scarlet Letter -- it can all be yours!

ManyBooks.net
eBooks@Adelaide
Project Gutenberg
Google Play*


I also discovered that Simon Pulse offers some of their books to read online completely free!  New stuff, too!  You do need to register, but as far as I can tell there is no other obligation.

And yes, I know -- reading these books is hard work.  You can do it -- be proud to keep your brain sharp, yo!  Here's a little humor and inspiration to see you through (be warned, there's cussing).




*I searched "free classics" and linked to that -- but you can find lots more available for purchase.

July is STILL Anti-Boredom Month!

Here are some ideas...

• All Cambridge youth centers are FREE!  All summer!

• Watch a free screening of Life of Pi outside at the Harvard Medical School Quadrangle on Thursday, July 11.

• Become a soap bubble magician.

• Write a letter (and mail it also).  You will make someone very happy!

Image: Dhiren Gala, 2012.

• Check out the Boomtown Festival at the Multicultural Arts Center July 29 thru August 1. 

•  While you are there, visit the rooftop garden at Kendall Square.

• Cut your hair.  Yes, you will initially feel trepidation, but once you get going it is quite exhilarating!

• Make popsicles.  If you don't have popsicle molds, use ice cube trays, muffin tins, or paper cups!

• Learn to say "hello" in another language.  You may also wish to learn how to say "help!"
  

• Go to the sandcastle competition at Revere Beach on July19-21.

• Wait for someone to water their yard, and then dive through their sprinkler.

• Learn some dance steps at The Mission (call 617-349-6273 to register), then salsa at Boston City Hall on Friday, July 12.

• Join an online writing community.

• Learn something new about birds, plants and animals at a free Fresh Pond event.

• Give your old Barbie a makeover.

 

• Watch cliff divers fall 90 feet into Boston Harbor at the ICA on August 25.

• Name all the feels. 

• Museums all over Massachusetts are participating in Free Fun Fridays -- find one near you!

• Just play: at the Sunday Parkland Games near the Weeks Footbridge on Memorial Drive.

• Finally, make your own souvenir t-shirt to commemorate it all!

Got more ideas of how to beat boredom to a pulp?  Share them with us in the comments!

July is STILL Anti-Boredom Month!

Here are some ideas...

• All Cambridge youth centers are FREE!  All summer!

• Watch a free screening of Life of Pi outside at the Harvard Medical School Quadrangle on Thursday, July 11.

• Become a soap bubble magician.

• Write a letter (and mail it also).  You will make someone very happy!

Image: Dhiren Gala, 2012.

• Check out the Boomtown Festival at the Multicultural Arts Center July 29 thru August 1. 

•  While you are there, visit the rooftop garden at Kendall Square.

• Cut your hair.  Yes, you will initially feel trepidation, but once you get going it is quite exhilarating!

• Make popsicles.  If you don't have popsicle molds, use ice cube trays, muffin tins, or paper cups!

• Learn to say "hello" in another language.  You may also wish to learn how to say "help!"
  

• Go to the sandcastle competition at Revere Beach on July19-21.

• Wait for someone to water their yard, and then dive through their sprinkler.

• Learn some dance steps at The Mission (call 617-349-6273 to register), then salsa at Boston City Hall on Friday, July 12.

• Join an online writing community.

• Learn something new about birds, plants and animals at a free Fresh Pond event.

• Give your old Barbie a makeover.

 

• Watch cliff divers fall 90 feet into Boston Harbor at the ICA on August 25.

• Name all the feels. 

• Museums all over Massachusetts are participating in Free Fun Fridays -- find one near you!

• Just play: at the Sunday Parkland Games near the Weeks Footbridge on Memorial Drive.

• Finally, make your own souvenir t-shirt to commemorate it all!

Got more ideas of how to beat boredom to a pulp?  Share them with us in the comments!

Wednesday Tech Tips: Easy listening

After an afternoon spent karaoke-ing, it is only fitting that today's tip is about finding some sweet tunes online.

If you are already downloading songs illegally, don't tell me I don't want to know.  But there are alternatives!  Would you believe, FREE alternatives?

You're probably already familiar with Spotify and Pandora, two services that offer free streaming music.  Songza also gives you free streaming, with a difference.  Along with the option to browse and select songs, Songza features playlists "curated by music experts," and their offerings vary with date and time.  So right now, on Wednesday evening, my playlist options include "Unwinding", "Entertaining Cool Friends" or "Going to a Festival."  Within those categories are subcategories like, "Electronic Chillout," followed by sub-subcategories like "Downtempo Instrumentals."

And if you like a playlist, you can save it!  You will also find suggestions for similar playlists -- and of course folks can comment on what they've heard.

Another music service I learned about this week is Noon Pacific.  Like Songza, their playlists feature handpicked songs.  You subscribe using your email address, and at noon (Pacific time) every Monday, the best songs from around the web are sent to you.  Simple as that.  You can also listen to old playlists and check out the Noon Pacific blog for trending music news.

*****

There is still a problem here: these are streaming services, and if you don't have Wi-Fi at home then you can't bust a move.  Sadness.  I think we should all get Wi-Fi for free and pay for, I dunno, water instead -- but until that day comes, you can still enjoy these services here at the library for free.

There is one more service I discovered recently -- and I wish I could give you a definitive report, but they still aren't offering an app for Android devices. 

The service is called Bloom.fm.  I thought it was free when I first read about it, but they are a little tricky: the APP is free, you can listen to their "radio" for free, but you subscribe to borrow songs.  It's not terribly expensive though, between $1.50 and $15.50 depending on how many songs you want to borrow per month.

Why borrow and not keep forever?  Well, you are limited by your subscription to so many songs per month, but if you get tired of a track you can trade it in for another one!




That's what I've got on my end.  If anyone else has suggestions, I would be so grateful to hear them in the comments!

Wednesday Tech Tips: More Free Books!

Last week's WTT covered two easy-peasey ways to read books for free and without too much hassle.  This week we are going to go down the rabbit hole and learn how to download ebooks from the library.

This is more involved and hopefully I won't be too crap at explaining it.  Honestly, it has been a real trial for me learning how to download books successfully using our e-media host, OverDrive, so if you run into problems, step back and take some deep breaths before punching out your computer.

The good news is, there is now an option for reading an available e-book immediately without having to download anything!  You can also download titles directly to your e-reader, MP3 player, or phone, but this may require installing software.  Take a look at your options and decide how you want to proceed.

One thing you ARE going to need?  Your library card and PIN number.  You can check out up to 5 titles.  The nice bit is, you don't have to remember to bring them back, they will automatically *poof!* from your account on their due date.  Of course, if you space out and forget when they're due back you may get cut off mid-read, but thems the breaks.

OK!  Let's just go through getting a book onto your computer.

(1) Head on over to the Minuteman catalog.  (I'm using the classic format, because I'm OLD SCHOOL.)  Center bottom of the page you'll find a menu with the option for the Digital Media Catalog.  You can even go straight on through to the Teens Digital Media Catalog if you so choose.

(2) Here we are!  You can browse the jacket art, or start narrowing your search.  I'm going to select "Teen Fiction."

Let's look only at what is available.

and e-books instead of audiobooks.

Results!

(3) Now I'm making a selection -- I'm going to go with Fat Vampire.

(Skipping all the log-in pages, that's pretty self explanatory.)


(4) Here's where you decide whether to read it right now in your Internet browser, or download to either a Kindle or...whatever else you got.

 

 

(5) Because I already have Adobe Digital Editions on my computer my book will just open up there.

 

 

 

Not so terrible after all!  The insta-read feature is a nice addition, since the library computers aren't going to let you download a mess of software. 

 

I am experimenting with downloading straight to my phone; if anyone has any advice or dreadful disasters, please share them with us.

 

I hope this is a good start for everyone!  Even if you prefer to read analog books, give this a try.  You never know when the option might come in handy.





More stuff to keep you busy

• The New England Poetry Club's annual contest is back! No dirty limericks, please.

• The Moore Youth Center has all sorts of boss activities during February Vacation Week. It's FREE, there's a SHUTTLE and FOOD. We've got the deets here in the Teen Room, or you can call 617-349-6273.

• Forget high school reunions. These guys have been playing tag for 23 years.

• Dr. Who fans rejoice! Preview new stories by Michael Scott and Eoin Colfer.

Credit: www.shillpages.com/dw/bakert.shtml

Stick it in your ear

Because it's FREE!  Today's book recommendations are audiobooks and the list comes to you from SYNC, who are offering free downloads of swell books throughout the summer.

You can see the schedule and link to the downloads here.

That Grainy Audio, Be Still My Heart

Lots of people love audiobooks.* Some people like it best when the author reads their own work because all the vocal inflections will be exactly as they intended them to be. Other people prefer when someone with some acting chops (or at least reading-out-loud chops) reads the book.

Here is a collection of no-longer-living authors reading some of their own work. It's kind of cool because a lot of these recordings were pre-audiobook, and some of them are read to (very enthusiastic) live audiences. You might be especially interested in J.R.R. Tolkien reading a chapter of The Hobbit. I know I was especially excited about Flannery O'Connor reading A Good Man Is Hard to Find**. No matter who you're excited about, this is a pretty cool piece of literary history.

*If you're one of them, come on down to the library because we have TONS.
**Have any of you ever read this story? I avoided it my whole life for some reason and just read it for the first time last year and MAN is that story ever not about what I thought it was about.

Teen Events at the ICA

Two very exciting events at the ICA are coming up. In order of appearance:

DJ School 101:
One Day Intesive
Saturday, March 17, 12pm - 5pm

This is an introductory course on scratching records, and you'll leave with your own mix. Fun times! No experience necessary, and this is only for high school students.

More info may be found here.





Next up:

Teen Night: Streetology
Friday, March 23, 6pm - 9pm


First of all, this is FREE FOR TEENS! Secondly, ICA featured artist, Swoon, will co-hosting along with the ICA Teen Arts Council. Oh, there'll be DJs and museum tours too, and a large-scale group art activity inspired by Swoon's instillation and designed by particpants. The museum only hosts these Teen Nights about twice a year. So this a special event, not to be missed.

More info may be found here.







(photo credits: http://s568.photobucket.com/albums/ss130/whenshilohcomes/BB%20Wallpapers/Turntables/?action=view&current=turntables1.jpg&newest=1 ; http://www.cute-wallpaper.com/preview.asp?id=2661 )

S-A-T-U-R...actually, just S.A.T.

After you watch this, so you can understand this incredibly dated pop culture reference, it may interest you to know that not only does the library have an annual S.A.T. Quiz Bowl, but we also offer FREE test preparation classes!

Eight Wednesdays

Beginning March 14

6:00 - 8:00 PM

Main Library

449 Broadway

To reserve a space, contact Maria Balestrieri at 617-349-4013.  You will actually have to dial and talk to her, not text her.  She's super nice, so don't be shy!

FREE SAT Test Preparation Class

Are you taking the SATs this year? Can't wait for the awesome SAT Quizbowl to roll around again? Don't fear!

There is a 4-week (FREE) SAT Prep class being offered at the Central Square Branch!

When: 4 Tuesdays (beginning Oct 4) 6:30-8:30pm

Where: Central Square Branch Library, 45 Pearl Street

Register: Call 617-349-4013

I guess the class size is limited to ten, so hop to it, hoppy!

Salsa in the Park

Free lessons, so fear not, wallflowers!

You can also call 617-983-1418 or email metamovementsdance@gmail.com for more info.


Now get over there and shake it.

Area IV is open over April break

All Cambridge teens (14-19) are invited to the AREA IV Youth Center over April Vacation for fun, FREE activities, food and events. The center will be open from 3-9 p.m., Tuesday-Friday, April 19-22. All other youth centers will be closed to teens for the week.

There will also be a 3 FREE college tours offered by the Cambridge Youth Programs next week, each from 9a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, respectively. Signed permission slips are required. For more information, contact Pierre Sully, Area IV Youth Center at 617-349-6262 or psully@cambridgema.gov.

Opportunity for fashion designers

This sounds completely cool. Learn from the best about sneaker design, at this free weekend workshop! You need to submit a portfolio, though, so polish up your sketches and give it a go. If you can't see that url, it's: femalesneakerfiend.com

Salsa in the park

Don't know how to salsa? Don't worry, these folks are giving free lessons every Monday at the Blackstone Community Center park in the lovely South End. DJ and everything. Beginner lessons and advanced lessons for those of you who are mas suave with the moves.

Monday Night Movie

Here in the blessed coolness of the Main Library's Lecture Hall. We are celebrating the 50 year anniversary of Harper Lee's most famous work, and that's all I'll say about that.

Showtime is at 6:30 p.m. This is a family-friendly feature, so feel free to bring along Mom, Dad, Grandma or other Designated Family Member. I am super-excited, not only about the film, but about having a film screening in our spanking new space!

As always, this event is FREE FREE FREE.

Listen up!

Because I have audiobook news for YOU. Have a long car ride ahead for the July 4th weekend? Packing up to go out of town and you don't want to lug along a zillion CDs?

Then check out this free audio download promotion from Sync. To promote audiobooks among listeners 13+ they are giving away two free downloads every week, starting this Thursday, July 1st. You can kick it off with The Angel Experiment by James Patterson and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (heh! those go pretty well together, come to think of it).