The Hunger Games

Are you excited about the Hunger Games movie out tomorrow at midnight?  I was a little skeptical at first, but everytime I see the trailer for it I get goosebumps!  Whether you are Team Katniss or not, we are having a Hunger Games Challenge tomorrow, Thursday March 22nd during our Read. Write. Talk. program.  From 5:30-7:00 p.m. in the Sendak room, participants will go head to head in physical, cornucopia, and trivia challenges.

All contestants will get a bonus prize for participating, plus the chance to win BIG – movie tickets for the midnight showing or a set of the series by Suzanne Collins.  Hope to see you on Thursday night for some fun times at the library!

Four Things to Do Next Week at the Library

Oct. 25th Author Visit

Oct. 26th Game On @ the Library

Oct. 25th TeensCreate: Creepy 3-D

Oct. 30th Halloween Mini-Movie Marathon

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25th from 5:00-6:30 – Author Visit from Mike Mullin, author of ASHFALL.  Ashfall is an exciting survival tale based in Iowa and has been getting rave reviews! Books will also be available for purchase at the event (in the Sendak Room) and the author will be available to sign copies

TUESDAY, October 25th – TeensCreate:  Creepy 3-D. – stop by between 4:30 and 6:00 in the Seuss Room (next to Bath and Body Works) to make creepy mobiles, zombie dolls, and monster papercrafts all while decorating the library for our Movie Marathon.  Register for this one online here:  http://bit.ly/pCmh2F

WEDNESDAY, October 26th – Game On @ the Library from 3:30-5:00 in the Sendak Room.  Play X-Box Kinect and Wii on your early out day!

SUNDAY, October 30th – Halloween Mini Movie Marathon- Stop by the Sendak Room to watch some classic horror movies. Costumes are welcome!  There will be treats and door prizes given out throughout the day.
First Movie:  The Nightmare Before Christmas 1:15-2:40
Intermission and Prizes 2:40-3:00
Second Movie:  Little Shop of Horrors 3:00-4:35

Vote for Movies for Mini Marathon!

On Sunday, October 30th the Cedar Rapids Public Library at Westdale will be hosting a  Mini-Movie Marathon in the Sendak Room.  Costumes are encouraged and there will be plenty of snacks, with door prizes drawn throughout the day.  Open to 6th grade up through adult!  The first movie will start at 1:15 and we will continue to watch until around 4:30.  Our handy Teen Advisory Group members suggested a few titles, and I’ve thrown some random ones in the mix.  Click on the images below to learn more about the films.  The top title will be shown first, and the runner up will go on after.  Winners will be announced on October 20th.   Don’t see anything you like on the list?  Vote for your own suggestion!

September Anime Club

At the September Anime Club, we tried to watch D-Gray Man (with some technical difficulties),  cosplayed, did some dancing, and some members attempted a random mall flash mob that didn’t really work out.  Here are some pictures, and you can find more on the CRPL Teen Facebook page.  The next CRPL Anime Club is on Tuesday, October 18th from 5:30-7:30 in the Sendak room at the Westdale Library.

9 more days…

…until the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 comes to the big screen and it all ends!  As part of our Teen Summer Reading Program, stop by between today and the 12th of July and get entered to win a pair of tickets to the midnight screening at the Wynnsong Cinemas on Edgewood Road.  There will be an entry box at the Summer Reading Table.  Can’t make it into the library?  Fill out the form below to be entered to win!  Contest is open to all 6th-12th graders in the Cedar Rapids area, and the winner will be notified on July 12th! CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.  CONGRATS TO JESSE, OUR WINNER!

P.S. Have you heard about Pottermore yet? What do you think?

Anime Club Meets Tomorrow

Cedar Rapids Public Library Anime Club is meeting for the second time tomorrow, Tuesday, June 21st from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the Sendak room at the Westdale library.  There will be an art contest (most supplies provided, but you are welcome to bring in what you’ve been working on), pocky-making, and a giant crock pot of ramen (thanks to the suggestion from one of the members).  We will also be watching anime on the big screen. The club meets once a month on the third Tuesday of the month, and is open to all 6th-12th graders, no registration required.

4.5 More Days…

…till the first CRPL Anime Club meeting of the year!  Stop by the Westdale Mall library  from 5:30-7:30 on Tuesday  in the Sendak room to watch a TBA anime from Funimation on a really, really big screen, decide what we watch in the future, make some awesome cube crafts, and eats SNACKS.  If people are willing, I think it would be great to write some letters to Japan as well.  Hope to see you all there on Tuesday, May 17th.  If you can’t make this one, you can find other dates here, and sign up to get some snail mail there as well.

Katniss Everdeen is Jennifer Lawrence

If you’ve read the insanely popular Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, you might already know that they are making a movie of the first book.  If you haven’t, you probably should  check them out because they are awesome! There has been much debate about who will play Katniss Everdeen, and everyone seems to have a different favorite actress to cast as the strong underdog of the Games.  Oscar nominated actress, Jennifer Lawrence, has been cast in the role.  I haven’t seen Winter’s Bone yet but here is a picture of Lawrence in the film: Any thoughts about casting a blond in the role of Katniss, who is described as olive-skinned with dark hair?  I’m pretty skeptical but I just checked out Winter’s Bone at CRPL and I’m hoping she is great.  Suzanne Collins, author of the trilogy,  stated:

“After watching dozens of auditions by a group of very fine young actresses, I felt there was only one who truly captured the character I wrote in the book.”

So, I guess we will have to wait until March 23rd, 2012, which has been confirmed as the release date for the film, to see if Jennifer Lawrence has the odds in her favor. Only 364 days to go…less than a year, at least:)