Teens' Top Ten for 2012

It is time to vote for your favorite YA books for 2012!  YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) now has voting open.  You can vote now through September 15th for your 3 favorite books!  The Teens' Top Ten will be announced during Teen Read Week, October 14-20, 2012. 

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

Monument 14 is an action packed, dystopian novel that will keep you turning the pages.  This novel follows sixteen young people from elementary age through high school as they are hold up in a discount store after their bus driver plows through the entrance in an effort to shelter them from a horrendous hail storm.  At first they  act like most teens and are thrilled that they have all the junk food available to them that they could possibly want.  The hail storm is just the beginning as they are exposed to a massive chemical spill that could change their world as they know it.  Realizing they are in for the long haul, the kids step up to accept daily roles. Because there is such a wide range of ages among these kids, they start to get to know each other on levels they never would have through just sharing a bus ride. 

At the end, Monument 14 will leave you waiting to find out if there will be another book and will this be a series.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Ca't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

Explores how introverts have been overlooked in our society while extroverts have become the ideal in the twentieth century and discusses the research that has been done in the fields of psychology and neuroscience which reveals the differences between these two types of people. Includes chapter notes and an index. 

I found this book so fascinating!  If you are an introvert, you will probably relate.  If you are an extroverts, it will help you to understand and get along with others who are introverts.

Prepare and Cease the Moment

To help you on your road to college and eventually a career, I am always looking for information that I feel can benefit you.  In reading my daily blogs, I came across a post by Darren Hardy, publisher of Success Magazine, in which he shares information about the diversity that is happening the workplace.  This is a diversity of gender and generations. 
In a blog post I did on Teenspeak last spring, I talked about how to prepare to work with people from multiple generations currently in the workforce.  In Mr. Hardy's blog post, he states, "today because people are living and working longer we will soon have five generations in the workplace, all at once".   If you have a part-time job, you are probably already working with people from multiple generations.  What does this mean for you?  To fit in, contribute and stay competitive, you will need to be able to adapt to fit in and work with many personalities to help shape the culture, productivity and profit of your chosen company. 

Help us celebrate!

This is National Library Week and a great time to use the resources of your local or school library. If you haven't been down to the FHS Library lately, stop in and use our resources, read or just kick back and relax. We are also online 24-7 @ www.friscoisd.org/ly/schools/fhs/fhslibrary.htm

Are you a texting walker?

If you are like most young people, you probably have found yourself walking and texting. Hopefully you haven't come face-to-face with a wall, rail or post because you were so into texting that you lost track of where you were. All you have to do is check youtube videos on 'texting walkers' and you will find all kinds of videos that you should find real entertaining, but show the hazards of doing this. To avoid any mishaps, keep your eye on your path since you are probably one of the 'texting walkers'.
Do you want to hear some other interesting statistics about your generation?
You are now known as the iGen.
You are in one of the fastest-growing generations who have your smartphone attached to your hand.
Amazon has always been a store with free shipping.
Sadly, the most important book is not in the school library, but for you of course, it is Facebook.
September 11, 2001, is taught in history class.
You have seen your parents struggle to find a new job in an unstable economy.
You are in the most diverse generation in U.S. history.
Other generations your age have not spent nearly the time looking at screens (computer and phone) as you have.
With all of this technology you have and know how to use, take advantage of learning how to be use it to prepare for college, to be successful in college and then how to make an impact for your future employer as well as society and the world.

What online presence do you want to project?

I happen to be reading an article about the presence that teens project online. If youhave a facebook, twitter, or tumblr account or some other social media, that means you should be thinking about how you project yourself online. Right now you are in high school, but soon you will be in college and eventually in the workforce. Below is information gathered from an article I recently read on online presence.

Do you know many college admissions officers are looking at kids' online presence on social networking sites? They have found information on these sites that could negatively impact over 10% of college applicants. Students have even lost scholarships because of comments or photos they've posted online. Many job recruiters may make hiring decisions that are influenced by a job seekers' online presence.

Things to think about include how to keep things private whilc creating a positive online presence. Use strong passwords that include numbers, capital letters and symbols. Check your privacy settings on social media sites. Routinely delete posts or photos that would be hard to explain to a college admissions officer or future employer.

Don't discover too late and learn the hard way about creating a positive online web presence.

Source: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/