2nd Annual Harry Potter Party!!!

Whoa, guys. You should be soooo stoked for the Harry Potter party on July 31 (check out the deets at the bottom). To get in the mood, here are some cool HP links to check out:

• Daniel Radcliffe said he can't wait to see Fantastic Beasts, but will he be in the movie? He says no, but of course people are speculating that he will.
• Speaking of Fantastic Beasts, you could be the newest star! Producers are holding a casting call in London on July 18 to find an actress for the role of Modesty. Luna Lovegood herself is signal boosting the call!
• How much would it cost to go to Hogwarts? Research has been done, and the result is staggering. Reports say that with Galleon-to-Dollar conversion, Hogwarts tuition would be around $43,031 a year. WHOA. Makes you appreciate Ron's parents even more.
• Fandoms collide! Here is a selfie of cast members for Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, and Harry Potter. [If you don't know what a fandom is, check out The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy: A Handbook for Geek Girls by Sam Maggs (YA 302.23 M).]

I think this photo is gonna make the world implode..... Last night was really great #sdcc2015

A photo posted by @maisie_williams on Jul 12, 2015 at 11:01am PDT

• 100 Things You Didn't Know About Harry Potter
• Test Your Knowledge of Spells
• What's in Hermione Granger's inbox?
• 23 Times Harry Potter Characters Made Deeply Questionable Choices
• What Job Would You Have in the 'Harry Potter' Wizarding World?
• Can You Guess The "Harry Potter" Character By These Emojis?
• Can You Guess Which "Harry Potter" Book These Chapter Illustrations Are From?
• Fans of Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl know about HP-style fanfic. Here is one HP fanfic that has been gaining attention lately, even though it was published in 2001. What do you prefer: Harry Potter fanfic or "Carry On" by Fangirl's protagonist, Cath?
• There is mass hysteria surrounding Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman. Some bookstores are preparing for Harry Potter-like crowds. But this article from Quartz claims that the excitement surrounding the books is J.K. Rowling's fault. What?! Do you blame Queen Jo for fervent children's book fans?
• This fan-made Marauders prequel is everything.

Happy Birthday, Harry Potter! @ Main Library

7/31/2015

July 31 is Harry's birthday, and it marks when he first gets his Hogwarts letter. Come out to the Library and celebrate this super wizard's birthday with crafts, games & snacks! Don't forget to dress as your favorite character!

Location:
Main Library - downtown Harrisonburg




UPDATE: 
The director of some of the HP movies wants to make more!! Yes, please!!!

2015 Summer Reading Games!!!

It's here, everyone!!! You can now officially enter the Summer Reading Games!!! Sign up at any of the MRL branches (Main, North River, Grottoes, Village, Elkton, Page, or Shenandoah). You'll get a...

1. Gameboard
   Keep track of your reading! Every two hours, you'll get a Hero Prize. At ten hours, you'll receive a Superhero Prize Pack. For every hour after that, you can enter the drawing for one of our awesome prizes. All prizes have been graciously donated by these fantastic sponsors.
2. Super Pool Pass
   Get into a local pool for free next week (June 7-13). Participating pools are listed here.
3. Free Friday Wristband
   You can visit a new place every Friday for free! All you need is your Free Friday Wristband! Here is the Free Friday schedule this year. 

We also have some exciting programs planned. Here's what's coming up this summer: 

Every Hero Has a Story (ages 0-10)

• Dome Theater @ YOUR Library
• Fancy Nancy: The Musical @ YOUR Library
• Stories from Aunt Nelly's Mountain Home @ YOUR Library
• Family Flicks @ Main Library
• Join us for a family friendly movie in the Community Youth Center in the Youth Services Department!
• Films and dates are listed here.
• Summer STEM: Heroes of Design @ North River Library
• On Saturday, June 6, and Saturday, June 11, drop in to the North River Library between 10:30 AM and 12 noon to celebrate a well known hero who has created designs that better lifestyles for humankind and complete a creative design challenge of your own!
• Mission Rescue: Dogs in Need of Forever Homes @ North River Library
• Come to North River Library Thursday, June 11 @ 2 PM to hear from Laura Burchfield, a local teen whose family has made it their mission to rescue stray dogs and foster them until they find a forever home.
• Everyday Heroes @ Main Library
• Kids Like You! Saturday, June 6 @ 1 PM - stories from local kids who we think are real heroes!
• Harrisonburg Police Department, Saturday, June 13 @ 1 PM - Police vehicle display including a cruiser, the DARE Mustang, a motorcycle, a bicycle, and possibly a command post truck! Plus more fun activities inside.
• Fire Department, Saturday, July 11 @ 1 PM - A fire truck to check out as well as other interaction with real-life firefighters!
• Job of a Firefighter @ North River Library
• Local firefighters will share their stories of why they decided on their job, how they became firefighters, and what it takes to continue in their job on Thursday, June 18 @ 2 PM.
• Read to the Rhythm with the Handley Puppeteers @ Village Library
• Stop by the Village Library Thursday, July 16 @ 2 PM and welcome the teen puppeteer troupe from Handley Library! They will present a puppet show set to music with zany antics and designed to promote reading.
• Read with... @ YOUR Library
• Andy the Armadillo, the Chick-fil-A Cow, Police Officer John, the Turks, and a Firefighter are coming for storytime! Dates and locations are listed here.
• Storytimes @ YOUR Library (storytime schedule is here)
• Hero Construction @ YOUR Library
• Kids in grades K-5, dig into craft conundrums and tunnel through intriguing books @ YOUR Library's Hero Construction craft time June 8-July 31. Dates and times are listed here.
• Lego Club @ YOUR Library
• Let your imagination go WILD! Create and build with Legos. Bigger blocks for smaller hands also available. Dates and times are listed here.
• Dogs 2 Read 2 @ YOUR Library
• Grab a book, get comfy & read to YOUR library's very own registered therapy dog. All reading levels are encouraged.
• North River: 4th Tuesdays @ 4 PM
• Main: Thursdays @ 2:30 PM

Unmask! (ages 11-17)

• Incredible Afternoon Movie @ Main Library
• Come out Saturday, June 20 @ 1 PM, watch a great movie, and grab a snack from our popcorn bar, courtesy of DuPont Community Credit Union
• Superhero Survival Skills @ Main Library
• Who doesn't need some great survival skills?
• June 10 @ 7 PM - First Aid
• June 24 @ 7 PM - Car Maintenance
• July 8 @ 7 PM - Managing Money
• July 22 @ 7 PM - Cooking (without a stove)
• Happy Birthday, Harry Potter! @ Main Library
• Celebrate this super wizard's birthday, Friday, July 31 @ 12:30 PM! We'll have potions, fortune telling, prizes, snacks and more! Don't forget to dress as your favorite character!
• After Hours Teen Lock-In @ Main Library
• Have you ever wanted to know what the library is like when it's empty? Saturday, August 15 @ 3:30-7 PM is your chance! We'll play the Awesome Library Race, decorate bookends, kind-bomb the library, eat pizza, and more! You'll even walk out of here with a free book. How cool is that?? Must register by August 8.

Escape the Ordinary (18+)

• Escape... @ Main Library
• Monday, June 1 @ 7 PM - Escape the Ordinary: In Search of the Paranormal 
• Monday, June 8 @ 1 PM - Escape the Ordinary with Local Hero & Founder of Our Community Place Ron Copeland
• Thursday, June 18 @ 7 PM - Escape Your Diet: The Gluten Lie
• Monday, June 29 @ 1 PM - Escape the Funny Pages with Cartoonist John Rose
• Monday, July 13 @ 1 PM - Escape the Ordinary Garden - Hobby Hydroponics: The Weedless Garden
• Thursday, July 23 @ 7 PM - Escape the Planet: Why Do We Explore Mars?
• Monday, July 27 @ 7 PM - Escape the City with Local Nature Photographers Ann & Rob Simpson
• Super Screenings @ Main Library
• Select Saturdays and Mondays in June and July, you can visit the Main branch of MRL for an awesome superhero movie! Look here for more info.

Whoa. That's a lot. Make sure you sign up for Summer Reading at any of the MRL branches to get started!

And finally, here are the hilarious videos the L.O.L. group made to promote the SRG. Hope you enjoy!

Earth Day + Recycled DIY Crafts Event!!!!

On Earth Day (April 22), we'll be making super-awesome DIY crafts using discarded trash! That's right, trash!! Here are the deets:

Recycled DIY Crafts

4/22/2015

Celebrate Earth Day by creating cool crafts with recycled products, Wednesday, April 22, from 6-7 PM! Make a duct tape wallet, soda box pencil case, book safe, and more! Enjoy snacks and book paper origami, too.

Location: 

Main Library - downtown Harrisonburg

And while you're here at the library, be sure to turn in your essay and/or artwork for the Honored Teachers Contest!

Honored Teacher Essays/Artwork Due

4/22/2015

All students, K-12th grade, are eligible to enter the Robert B. and Gladys Hopkins Strickler Honored Teachers Writing and Art Contest. Essays/artwork are due today.

Location: 

Main Library - downtown Harrisonburg

And finally, how perfect is this compilation of 2014's greatest hits using household items? We are so going to watch this on repeat during the Recycled DIY Crafts event.

Teen Tech Week!!!!!

Happy Teen Tech Week!!! We had an awesome kick-off party on Saturday. Thanks to everyone who showed up!

And now...the moment you've all been waiting for (even if you didn't know it): The YA March Mayhem Book Bracket is online! Vote for your favorite YA books online or at Main. Each week we'll narrow down the favorites until only one book is left standing! It's like The Hunger Games, only much less violent and much more...well...literary! I'll update this post each week with the new voting link.

Week 1 - http://tinyurl.com/ttw-week1
Week 2 - http://tinyurl.com/ttw-week2
Week 3 - http://tinyurl.com/ttw-week3 
Week 4 - http://tinyurl.com/ttw-week4 


UPDATE: And the winner is... 

March Book Club Post!!

We're doing a super special book club post for March! Since we have four YA authors coming to the library on March 19, all their works are March Book Club Books!

Joy N. Hensley 
Rites of Passage
*The Harder You Fall

Jodi Meadows 
New Soul series: Incarnate, Asunder, Infinite, "Phoenix Overture"
The Orphan Queen series: *The Orphan Queen, *"The Hidden Prince," *"The Glowing Knight," *The Mirror King, *etc.
Dear Teen Me: Authors Write Letters to Their Teen Selves (with several other authors)
*My Lady Jane (with Brodi Ashton and Cynthia Hand)

Lisa Maxwell 
Sweet Unrest
*Gathering Deep
*The Stars Turned Away

Cristin Terrill 
All Our Yesterdays series: All Our Yesterdays, *Tomorrow and Tomorrow, *etc.

* = not published




Our event: 

Young Adult Author Panel @ Main Library
3/19/2015

Join a panel of young adult authors March 19 from 6-8pm for a discussion on their works and the YA genre. Authors include Joy N. Hensley (Rites of Passage), Jodi Meadows (Incarnate series, The Orphan Queen), Lisa Maxwell (Sweet Unrest), and Cristin Terrill (All Our Yesterdays). We will have copies of their books available for signing. If anyone age 11-17 signs up for L.O.L., they'll get a free copy of Sweet Unrest!

Location: 
Main Library - downtown Harrisonburg





More about the authors: 

Four YA Authors to Discuss YA Popularity, Their Books

2/23/2015

Massanutten Regional Library has noticed the popularity of young adult novels, and has invited four YA authors to visit its Main Library Thursday, March 19, 6-8 pm to discuss not only their published works, but the popularity of YA fiction.  This event is free and open to youth and adults alike.

It comes as no surprise that young adult novels are not just for teens anymore.

According to an ongoing biannual study of Bowker Market Research, fully 55 percent of buyers of YA novels are 18 years or older, with the largest segment aged 30 to 34, a group that alone accounted for 28 per cent of YA sales.   Typically YA books are written and published for kids aged 12-17.  When asked about the intended recipient, 78 percent of the time consumers stated they were purchasing for themselves.  These statistics are courtesy of Understanding the Children’s Book Consumer in the Digital Age.

 “Obviously dystopian YA fiction has become a booming genre,” says Emily Correa, Youth Services Assistant at Massanutten Regional Library.  “Book series such as The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Maze Runner, and The Giver have only gotten more popular with the release of their film adaptations. Most of the books that were turned into movies and released last year (The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Maze Runner, The Giver, If I Stay, and The Fault in Our Stars) barely reached our shelves.  As soon as one of these books got checked in, they were put on hold for another patron.  Right now, these books are still getting checked out.”

Jodi Meadows, an Elkton resident, is the author of four dystopian YA fiction books and will return to MRL as a member of the YA panel and discuss her writing and publishing experiences on March 19.  Her Incarnate novel, the very first novel in her Incarnate trilogy series, made the Top 10 Young Adult Fantasy Books in 2012 as recommended by Lisa Parkin, a columnist for The Huffington Post, along with such national favorites asDivergent, by Veronica Roth, and The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins.

According to Meadows, fantasy comes naturally to her when writing.  “Fantasy is where my heart is. I've always loved the idea of magic, how people might use it, and the ramifications of that,” says Meadows. “Every now and then I think I might have an idea for a more contemporary story -- but it never really seems like mine without an element of magic.” 

A prolific reader, Meadows mainly focuses on YA material when reading since that is what she writes.  She tries to keep up with what is popular and hitting the best seller lists.  Meadows advises aspiring writers to be prepared for negativity. 

“Writing is not an easy career to have.  There’s a lot of heartbreak and rejection, and all of it feels personal, but if you love writing and telling stories, then there’s nothing else quite like it.”

Northern Virginia author Lisa Maxwell’s first book, Sweet Unrest, combines the present with the past and follows its main character through a paranormal adventure.  The setting of the novel is New Orleans, a place she visited and did research for the YA novel.  She also went to Oak Alley (the plantation that the fictional plantation LeCiel Doux is based on) and toured the house and grounds.  Upon her last trip to Oak Alley, Maxwell wrote her last third of the book there.  The book has a dark setting and eerie tone.

Maxwell will join the panel and discuss not only her novel, but what it is like to work as a college professor and write novels on the sideline.  Her second book, Heartless Things, debuts in 2016.

Joy N. Hensley’s debut novel, Rites of Passage, creates a strong female student who enters a military school.  Reviews of the novel describe it as “intense, hard-to-put-down, and a surprising” read.
The idea for the book came from a dare of one of her high school friends. 

“After my freshman year in college, she dared me to go to military school for a year.  If I survived, she’d give me $25.  That was right after VMI started accepting females.  I ended up being accepted to two military universities and decided on Norwich University in Vermont since they’d had females since the 70s.  Rites of Passage comes from my experiences there.”

Hensley presently is writing another YA for HarperTeen.  “I’m also working on a new adult book (a story where the main characters are college-age), and an adult romantic suspense,” says the young author.

 Hensley will join the panel and discuss her experience of writing and publishing.

The last guest panelist, author Cristin Terrill, says her love of science fiction started when she was young and read Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time.  Her debut novel,  All Our Yesterdays, is classified as science fiction and has been described by one reviewer as a “masterpiece.” 

Terrill’s writing ritual is set with a daily word count she prescribes for herself daily.  “Sometime I hit my goal in an hour and other times it takes me most of the day.  On average, though, I spend about three hours writing per day,” states the young author.  “I didn't really choose to write YA. It's just that the stories in my head all happen to be YA!”

Bonus Post: Calling All Writers!

The Virginia Festival of the Book is coming up! After our YA Author Panel here in Harrisonburg on March 19, Charlottesville will be packed with authors from March 17-22. One of the very cool panels will be for teen writers. Submit a short story and get feedback from three authors! One of the authors is Jodi Meadows, who will be at our YA Author Panel. (How many times can I promote our YA Author Panel in one post??)

Here's the information about submitting a story: 

StoryFest & Pub Day: First Pages for Teen Writers

Sat. March 21, 10:00 am - 11:00 am

Village School

215 E High Street, Charlottesville, VA 22902

Hosted by: Charlottesville-Albemarle creative writing teachers and Young Writers Workshop of the University of Virginia

A StoryFest and Pub Day Event! Are you a teen (13 to 18) who likes to write? Teen writers may each submit one page (no horror or erotica) to receive anonymous feedback from authors Jen Karetnick, Jeff Martin, and Jodi Meadows. Priority will be given to pages submitted to VABookTeenWriters@gmail.com by March 16. You may bring a page to the panel, but we cannot guarantee that it will be discussed. 

Important! To make sure that we have time for as many entries as possible, each page must be no longer than 250 words AND properly formatted. (Se example here: Teen 1st pages submission format.) We will return improperly formatted submissions.

Why Should You Attend?

You will have a terrific opportunity to learn from the authors' feedback, but only if you submit!

Bonus Post: ANTI-VALENTINE'S BLACKLIGHT PARTY!!!!

Do you have plans for Valentine's Day, or are you thinking of boycotting the holiday? How about doing both! We're having an Anti-Valentine's Blacklight Party! Come to the Main branch (Downtown Harrisonburg) on Saturday, February 14 from 1-2:30 PM and dance in the dark! We'll have glow-in-the-dark everything, heart (pinata) breaking, sock volleyball, hi-liter t-shirt signing, and more! It's going to be da bomb dot com. (Do kids still say that? I guess only the cool ones do.)

Here are the full deets: 

Anti-Valentine's Blacklight Party @ Main Library

2/14/2015

Join us for a non-Valentine's Day glow party from 1-2:30pm! We'll have dancing with glowsticks, highlighter t-shirt signing, and blacklights! You could even win one of the books from Amy Kathleen Ryan's Sky Chasers series (Glow, Spark, or Flame).

Ages 11-17

Location: 

Main Library - downtown Harrisonburg

Book Dominoes Video!!!!!!

Okay, no one's as excited about the book dominoes video as I am. But it's so cool! I love it! If you haven't seen it yet, here it is:

During one week of the 2014 Summer Reading Games, the Massanutten Regional Library circulated 1,189 young adult items and 10,857 items in the children's section. We asked our teen and tween volunteers to help show you what that looks like. They set up 1,189 books like dominoes...and then they knocked them over!

For more information about MRL and our services, visit our website!www.mrlib.org

BONUS Bonus Post: Teen Read Week!!!

I totally forgot to mention that we're having a kick-off party for Teen Read Week!!! The theme this year is "Turn Dreams Into Reality," and we're going all out! We're going to brighten up the library with banners and sidewalk chalk, decorate a cloud bookshelf, and eat pizza and cloud Jell-O!

We're having a fun night on Thursday, Oct. 16, too! The JMU Golden Key group is going to teach us how to make dreamcatchers, and we'll enjoy ice cream floats!

You guys will also get the first chance to enter in for one of our TRW drawing prizes! If you drop your check-out receipt in the box at Circulation, you'll be entered in a drawing for one of the amazing prizes! We have gift certificates and goodies from all over Downtown Harrisonburg. You could get a prize from:

Blue Nile
Bella Luna
Benny Sorrentino's
Earth & Tea Cafe
Las Chamas
You Made It!
Larkin Arts
Glen's Fair Price Store
The Indian & American Cafe

All you have to do is check out a book to enter! How amazing is that?!

Here are the deets:

Teen Read Kick-off @ Main Library

10/11/2014

Get ready for Teen Read Week (October 12-17) by celebrating with a party! Snacks will be provided. Make awesome art and watch the video from the Book Domino event. You can even enter your name for prize drawings! This event is for ages 11-17.

Location:

Main Library-downtown Harrisonburg

A Night on Cloud 9 @ Main Library

10/16/2014

Celebrate Teen Read Week and "Turn Dreams Into Reality!" Teens, ages 11-17, come make a dreamcatcher and enjoy an ice cream float, provided by JMU Golden Key. Don't forget to drop your checkout receipt in the box at Circulation for a chance to win a prize! We have over $100 in prizes from awesome businesses in downtown Harrisonburg!

Location:

Main Library - downtown Harrisonburg

Bonus Post: Teen Dominoes!

We're having an awesome event on Saturday. We'll be setting up books like dominoes! It will go a little like this:

Come help us make something amazing! There will be pizza!

Teen Dominoes @ Main Library

9/6/2014

Were you ever obsessed with dominoes? Put those skills to use and help us make a domino chain of books! Enjoy pizza, fun, and book dominoes! You may even end up on an impressive video to promote the library. Come back in a month for the Teen Reed Kick-off (October 11) for the video premiere!
Ages 11-17 Event.

Location:
Main Library-downtown Harrisonburg

Before the Summer Ends + HARRY POTTER BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!

It's the end of July! That means you've got some serious summer reading to fit into the last few weeks before school starts up again. To give you some inspiration, check out the following:

• YALSA is having a Teen Blogging Contest for Teen Read Week! If you're passionate about YA lit and love to blog, this is perfect for you. TRW isn't until October--more about that later--but you only have until August 1 (that's Friday!) to sign up for the contest! Click here for more information.
• This one isn't just for the girls! Meg Medina, author of Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass and The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind, and Gigi Amateau, author of Claiming Georgia Tate and Come August, Come Freedom, made a summer reading list of books about amazing girls. This list is awesome, and should be required reading for any kid, in my opinion. (I'm still working my way through some of them!) Fun fact: Both authors live in Richmond!
• Veronica Roth did an interview with Goodreads about her Divergent trilogy and subsequent prequel(ish) quartet of short stories about the male lead, Four. It has some major spoilers, so don't read it unless you've read at least up to Allegiant. Before you go back to school, this is a perfect time to get caught up on one of the hottest literary trends of the past few years! Then read the interview to get some questions answered for you.

The coolest and most awesome thing you can do before July ends is come to the Harry Potter birthday party we're having at the library tomorrow night! It's going to have everything: Butterbeer, Hagrid's (cup)cakes, wandmaking at Ollivander's, the Sorting Hat, and even Quidditch. That's right--the JMU Quidditch Team is going to be here to teach us the greatest wizarding sport ever and help us play a game. It's going to be amazing, so put on your best HP costume and come to the Main branch to throw Harry Potter the best birthday party he never had!

Happy Birthday, Harry Potter!

7/31/2014

Teens (ages 11-17) are invited to celebrate Harry Potter's birthday by drinking butterbeer, making your own wand, and playing his favorite wizarding sport with the JMU Quidditch team. You'll even be sorted into one of the Hogwarts Houses!

Location:

Main Library-downtown Harrisonburg

Dumbledore's Army Reunion BY J.K. ROWLING!!

J.K. Rowling wrote an amazing update for the Dumbledore's Army for Pottermore.

(If you don't know what Pottermore is, it's an online Harry Potter resource, with games [you can make potions and cast spells!] and a very safe social aspect [it's completely anonymous]. You follow the course of the books through chapters--meaning you answer quiz questions written by Queen Jo herself to get sorted into a house at Hogwarts in the first one! Plus there is so much background on all your favorite characters, locations, potions... It's just really cool and fun! Wait until you read Professor McGonagall's background; she's fantastic.)

Queen Jo wrote an article as Rita Skeeter and posted in on Pottermore yesterday as though Dumbledore's Army (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna) had a reunion at the Quidditch World Cup! You also get an update on some other faves. In case you were wondering, the article mentions that Harry is 34 years old (The Deathly Hallows takes place from 1997-1998).

When I first started reading it, I saw it on Tumblr without seeing the caption and I just thought it was an insanely good fanfic, but I got to a certain point and realized it was her...it was the queen. If you come to the Harry Potter Birthday Party on July 31, we can gab about everything and--oh, enough talk! Here's the article she posted! (If you zoom in, you'll have to read all the left columns before the right ones.)

Major spoiler alert!! If you don't want to know what they're up to all these years later, do not read past this sentence!

Adaptation News!!!

THERE'S A MOCKINGJAY PART 1 TEASER THAT'S SO AMAZING IT MAKES ME WANT TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS.

"PANEM TODAY, PANEM TOMORROW, PANEM FOREVER."

Wow, guys. This is going to be great. Which reminds me...

I've been speculating with people about where the first part of Mockingjay is going to end. It's not like the book is easily broken into parts. Where do you think they're going to end Mockingjay Part 1? Comment with your thoughts.
*Note: This makes the comment section definitely a spoiler zone! Watch out for that!

Also, if you haven't heard already, John Green broke some major news on his Twitter last night:

So excited to announce that the brilliant filmmaker Sarah Polley will be writing and directing a film adaptation of Looking for Alaska.
— John Green (@realjohngreen) June 26, 2014

For those of you keeping tally of John Green movie adaptations:
TFiOS: Check
LfA: They're working on it
Paper Towns: Other people are working on it
An Abundance of Katherines: Some other people might be working on that one, too? There have been rumors.

So if you like John Green's books, this is a really good week for you.

And finally, we've all been totally excited for the addition to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios--and totally jealous of anyone who's lucky enough to visit. But now you can see what it's all about! Slash Film offers us an insight into Diagon Alley with tons of detailed pics of the decor, props, and even food & drinks! Take a look around and enjoy--and get ready for the Harry Potter Birthday Party we're throwing here at the library on July 31 (more details to follow)!