Who are the first people that come to mind when you think of the Montgomery bus boycotts of the 1950s?  Are there any teenagers on your list? If not, set a place at the table for several, and in particular, for Claudette Colvin. And make it a round table so that as many people as possible can share her story.

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose is the 2009 National Book Award Winner for Young People’s Literature. It is a masterfully crafted, beautifully rendered account of two pivotal events in Claudette Colvin’s life, much of it told in her own words and accompanied by primary documents, police reports, and signage that transport you right to Montgomery, Alabama in the 1950s.

On March 2, 1955, 15-year-old Colvin refuses to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger almost a year before Rosa Parks did the same. Her action wasn’t planned, though a long trail of experiences led her to that moment, including an unquenchable thirst for learning and critically examining the degrading and at times horrific events surrounding her, and her mounting frustration with adults who would bemoan segregation behind closed doors but fail to act.

Imagine yourself at 15 and in her shoes. Two policemen, both bigger than you, pull you right out of your bus seat, sending your school books flying everywhere. One kicks you as they both drag you off the bus and arrest you. Then they ask you to stick your hands out of the police car so that they can handcuff you for all to see. On the way to the city jail – the adult jail – they call you every imaginable name and try to guess your bra size, and when you arrive at the station, they don’t even allow you to make a phone call.

Many of the adult civil rights leaders had much to lose with their brave actions; the teens who stood up (or remained seated) for their constitutional rights had everything to lose. They did not have established reputations on which to draw. Nor did they necessarily have the family status or attend the “best” churches. Rather, they were immersed in the sometimes murky waters of high school where student opinions shift like the tides; one minute you’re a hero, and the next you’re an outcast and are shunned. Given that, Claudette Colvin’s courage is the rawest, bravest kind. She puts her entire future on the line; she had had dreams of attending law school.

The second momentous action that Claudette Colvin takes, at great risk to herself and her family, involves the Browder vs. Gayle case in which the plaintiffs sue the city of Montgomery.  One year after her arrest, Colvin agrees to be a plaintiff in the Browder vs. Gayle case that ended segregation on the buses. Though not widely known, this case changed the relationships of blacks and whites in America and around the world. Another teenager, Mary Louise Smith, was also a plaintiff. Rosa Parks was not.

Author Phillip Hoose first heard of Claudette Colvin in 2000 when he was writing We Were There Too! Young People in U. S. History. When he first contacted her, Ms. Colvin wasn’t ready to tell her story for reasons she talks about in the book. It took four years before she agreed to meet with him.

This 2009 National Book Award Winner is more than deserving of the accolade – it’s a major addition to our understanding of the events that changed the course of history, and the very courageous teens that stepped out onto the front lines to effect that change.  Reserve a copy of this book from the library as fast as you can, and then give this book to everyone you know. (Christie, The Loft)

Watch this video of Claudette Colvin and author Phillip Hoose.

Friday, November 20, 4-5:15 p.m., in the Loft

Friday Afternoon Science Cafe! Using ESP to Talk with Molecules with Professor Josh Kurutz, Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University.

What’s this about being able to talk to molecules?

If you knew your favorite molecule had a voice, wouldn’t you want to know what it had to say? Learn how to engage in conversations with chemicals to figure out what they are made of, how and why they move, and other aspects of their existence.Let’s use all of our senses to experience some molecules, and discuss how we use technology to give us extrasensory perception (ESP). We’ll also explore philosophical relationships between technology, knowledge, and limits on humans’ capacity to know.

Grades 6-12.There will be snacks! Parents, grandparents, and teachers are welcome to attend also! Sponsored by Northwestern University’s Chapter 22 of Sigma Xi. 

Would you drink human blood to become a vampire? Does a chance at eternal beauty with silky, smooth (and shimmering) skin, luscious red lips, and “gold and butterscotch” eyes sound enticing? In the recent world of vampires, whether it’s Twilight’s Edward, Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Angel, Vicki from Vampire Diaries, Eric or Deborah from True Blood, vampires are hot.

And then there’s Dave.

Dave from Life Sucks prefers to steal his nutrition from the blood bank rather than kill humans. And the fact that his life will drag on to eternity does nothing to improve his mood. Pretty much deemed a loser as far as bloodsuckers go, Dave endures his wage slave status working the night shift at a convenience store and kow-towing to his master Vlad. His friends call him a “wuss.” Dave is smitten with cute goth girl Rosa, though she doesn’t even know he exists. When Dave finally gets her attention, she wants to let the sunlight into his tiny apartment, or go outside with him in the daytime. The last person Rosa suspects of being a vampire is Dave. She’s too busy glamorizing the world of vampires and is desperate to be bitten. Given Rosa’s highly idealized vision of vampires, how could Dave possibly fit the bill?

I picture this vast network of dark, beautiful, intellectual, artistic people, living forever with only the best things, the best food, the best clothes, beautiful homes…it would just be a better life, living amidst beauty and with all the time and energy in the world to concentrate on the finer things…(Rosa, Life Sucks: p. 139)

Dave wants to protect Rosa from the realities of vampirism as he knows them, but then there’s surfer dude and vampire Wes, Dave’s archenemy. Wes is hot, hot, hot – unscrupulous, lives in a mansion, and wouldn’t think twice about the kill and ”becoming Rosa’s Master.”

Sometimes, life sucks. But the book definitely doesn’t! This new and witty spin on the vampire tale is complimented by Warren Pleece’s striking drawings and Hilary Sycamore’s vibrant colors. (Christie, The Loft)

Only 2 days left until the release of New Moon. And if that’s not your cup of blood, there’s always The Vampire’s Assistant, or the TV vampire shows. Or do you prefer werewolves? Join us in the Loft this Thursday for a bloodtacular program, Get Marked: Vampire Fiction Event, at which we will make goth sock puppets and get henna tattoos. And visit our vampire and werewolf bibliographies!

When The Lovely Bones was published in 2002 it took off like a shot, catapulting its author, Alice Sebold, high into literary stardom. This dark, wrenching novel of disquietude and loss is the story of Susie Salmon, a 12 year old girl who is raped and murdered in an underground den by a neighbor one afternoon when she takes a shortcut home from school. Susie narrates the story from a place of solitude – her own personal heaven – where she observes her grief-stricken, traumatized family as they come to terms with her death while searching for answers about the crime. She also watches as her killer evades justice. Written in spare, at times lyrical, at times graphic, prose, Sebold’s novel is unsettling in its evocation of a conflicted afterlife, as well as its depiction of a terrifying, brutal crime that tears a family apart.

Now, seven years after it appeared as a book, The Lovely Bones will be a film. The bestselling novel has been brought to filmic life by Peter Jackson, the visionary director behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy, with an impressive cast that includes Mark Wahlberg, Susan Sarandon, and the amazing young actress, Saoirse Ronan. It’s even scored by Brian Eno. Watch the trailer below. To me, it’s one of the most compelling, artful trailers I’ve seen in a long time, and promises a deeply emotional experience with a searching tone and eerie, almost painted, beauty to it.

Are you a fan of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak? Then don’t miss Alice Sebold’s first book, Lucky, a memoir about the rape she experienced her freshman year at Syracuse and the unlikely justice she eventually saw served, also available in the Loft.

GET YOUR GAME ON this Saturday, November 13, 1:30 pm in the LOFT and enter our Super Smash Bros. Brawl Tournament! Play against other libraries. PRIZES!

WII WANT YOU TO PLAY AT THE LIBRARY THIS SATURDAY. It’s National Gaming Day @ Your Library!

Thursday, November 12th, 2009. 4:30 p.m.

Are you dying to make noise? Or maybe you want to pound on something as hard as you possibly can!  Now’s your chance with Drumming in the Loft.  This scrappy percussion ensemble will thrash out energetic rhythms and create original
beats on found objects, junk salvage, old drums, and recycled parts.  Open door: No drumming experience necessary, all teens are invited. Ear plugs will be provided. Register at the Fall Programs link up above and then meet us in the Loft at 4:30 p.m. See you there.

What food in your refrigerator makes the best fake blood? How should you angle the camera if you want someone to appear menacing and creepy? These are the types of questions that preoccupied Alfred Hitchcock, the masterful director of macabre, tightly-plotted, classic suspense films like The Birds, Rear Window, and Strangers on a Train. Hitchcock was famous for his precision as a director: shots were carefully plotted far in advance, editing was scrutinized, and special effects (like the sound of a stabbing) were achieved through imaginative use of everyday objects.

On Thursday, October 22nd, 2009, in honor of Teen Read Week, the Loft hosted a film workshop devoted to the works of Hitchcock. Inspired by the theme of the week – Read Beyond Reality – we decided to “Think Like Hitchcock,” and explore the world as captured by the late ingenious film director. What follows is a wrap-up of that dark and drizzly afternoon.

***

The day started off small. We watched scenes from Rope, Vertigo, Spellbound, and Psycho, analyzing each for their point-of-view (POV) shots, editing, inventive camera movements and set mechanics, and simple special effects. We talked about how Hitchcock used these elements to increase a sense of dread in his audience. The dream sequence in Spellbound (designed by Salvador Dali), as well as the grisly childhood accident flashback and final gun-in-your-face POV shot were riveting. We leafed through Bill Krohn’s excellent book, Hitchcock at Work, and discussed the use of storyboards and grand locations like the Golden Gate Bridge in Vertigo and Mount Rushmore in North by Northwest.

One thread in conversation centered on Hitchcock’s aprupt endings, how it seemed like he was more obsessed with the cinematic process of reaching the end of each film than the actual endings themselves. We discussed how, in a way, this is a model approach to life – endings and beginning are brief, it’s what you do in the middle, the attention and care that you pay to living, that count.

Maybe if Marion Crane in Psycho had understood this she would have noticed the door opening behind her, the blurry figure approaching…

When we watched the shower scene in Psycho and Marion’s screams and Bernard Herrman’s classic score rented the air the whole room stopped dead – teens on computers, teens looking for books, teens studying – and everyone turned to watch. When it was over, and Marion lay slung over the edge of the bathtub, the water dripping off her fingertips, the room exploded with Hitchcock chatter. Who knew? Turns out there were some serious Hitchcock buffs in our midst.

Then came the stabbing.

When Hitchcock was making Psycho he asked his props master to line up a whole slew of fruits and vegetables and knife each one to find the best stabbing sound. With about 8 teens in the center of the Loft we re-created this Psycho production moment; I challenged them each to “think like Hitchcock,” to choose the best effect for their own murderous shower scenes.

On a table I laid out a cantaloupe, honey dew melon, tomato, carnival squash, pineapple and more, and I stabbed each of them with a large butcher knife. Some fruit were an obvious No, like the too-ripe papaya, but others, like the squash, gave us pause. Sides were chosen, with friendly arguments erupting regarding the best sounds of the knife. (Check out pics from the Fruit Stabbing in the Loft Flickr stream in the margin to the right).

Lore has it that Hitchcock settled on a casaba melon. Our group was finally torn between a pineapple and a large, onion-shaped turnip. Finally, after careful consideration and a final vote, the turnip won.

Then we devoured the produce.

I never imagined the Hitchcock workshop would turn into a discussion about food, nor did I imagine it would become a delectable feast, but we’d obviously worked up an appetite. The teens were ravenous. While Loft staff cut up the melon we started talking about spaghetti squash, inspecting the inside of the turnip to figure out exactly what it was (with some even biting into the vegetable raw) and generally chowing down. We ate up almost everything – cantaloupe, honey dew melon, even the tomato was consumed like an apple. And I was worried about wasting food.

While we ate we also talked about our favorite Hitchcock films with The Lady Vanishes, Vertigo and The 39 Steps recommended as favorites. Yum.

When it was over, the table covered in fruit flesh, seeds, and rinds, one teen checked out Spellbound to take home, while others vowed to seek out more Hitchcock soon. I kept a pretty squash for myself.

Thank you, everyone, for a great event!

(Jarrett, The Loft)

UPDATE (11/10/09): On Saturday I was in the grocery store and I came across the mystery turnip that won the stabbing contest. It’s called a jicama and is, according to the website Wisegeek, “a crispy, sweet, edible root that resembles a turnip in physical appearance, although the plants are not related.” The website’s definition goes on to explain that, “Jicama has been cultivated in South America for centuries, and the vegetable is quite popular in Mexican cuisine. Jicama has a unique flavor that lends itself well to salads, salsas, and vegetable platters.”

It also lends itself well to horror effects. -jd

The instant Bobby sees the abandoned Skoda(car) in the driveway, he starts formulating a plan. It was his ma’s decision, not his, to leave Dublin; away from his friends that maybe aren’t the best influence, away from ma’s own set of problems.  Well, she may have moved them down to Ennis, but he would get back to Dublin. In Dublin, there’s his cousin Fluke, Psycho Mick, and Beetle; his gang. They steal cars and wallets, and use the proceeds to get high.

It’s too quiet out in the country, and there’s nothing to do. There’s always something to do in Dublin; a car ‘to borrow’ and take for a ride, something, anything.  PJ Dooley, the man who owns the cottage they’re renting seems decent enough, if not a little bit too trusting.

His mother, Mrs. Dooley pays them a welcoming visit. Along with the eggs, she brings the story of the only child to have lived in their cottage, a little girl; a little girl who was never allowed outdoors, and was never seen by anyone except her parents and a nurse. This is the same child, whose cries would wake Mrs. Dooley and cut her to the bone with the pain in them.  To make the visit stranger still, as she leaves, Mrs. Dooley tells them to be sure to put out the little green bowl full of milk each night for the fairies. To city folk like Bobby and his mum, this seems ridiculous, but his little brother Dennis is happy to play along.

The idyllic country scene is shaken like an Etch a Sketch when Bobby steals the Skoda and high tails it back to Dublin. Things don’t go as planned. Bobby ends up being hauled into a police station after Mick crashes the car. Smooth talking and a bit of finger pointing get him off the hook, and a ride back to Ennis. This is where things change.

Lars, the Skoda’s owner may have mysteriously disappeared, but he’s not forgotten. PJ Dooley is determined to have Bobby work off the value of the car, in order that he should be able to send it  to Lars’s mother.

Remember the bowl of milk to be left out for the fairies? Dennis, Bobby’s little brother does. Bobby is woken up night after night by the sound of Dennis down in the kitchen, chattering away to someone. Dennis says he’s talking to the little woman.

As the story progresses two things are clear: hard work is good for Bobby, and there’s a mysterious force at work. As you turn the pages, you can feel it tightening around your chest. Something is going to give; the picturesque scene can’t and won’t stay as is. Will it be Psycho Mick, the creditors, or someone else from their past in Dublin? Maybe the girl who lived in their house; Bobby heard a disturbing story about her. Or what about that ‘little woman’ Dennis is always going on about?

Short chapters make this book fly by. Bobby isn’t always the most upstanding citizen, but you can’t help liking him. His voice rings true. You find yourself desperate to find out what or who is the creature of the night.

(Bridget, The Loft)

On Thursday, October 29, at 7 pm, Sharon Flake will speak at the Evanston Public Library in the Community Room!  Flake is the author of the following acclaimed YA favorites: Money Hungry; Begging for Change; The Skin I’m In; Who Am I Without Him; and Bang!

To welcome Sharon Flake to the Evanston Public Library and to celebrate her stories, the Loft’s theatre troupe will perform a scene from Money Hungry. The dance troupe Variations will also perform! Don’t miss it! FREE.

Did you know…

Most toilets flush in E-flat. -Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Bacteria account for 10% of our dry body weight. -Crispin Tickell

Two-thirds of the world’s people have never seen snow. -Canadian Weather Trivia Calendar 2008

The words “tomato,” “coyote,” “avocado,” and “chocolate” all come from the Aztec language Nahautl. -Marginal Revolution, February 22, 2006

At birth, most babies cry at C or C-sharp. -Financial Times, July 31, 2003

Facts shorn out of context can potentially bolster a weak opinion, and facts cunningly combined with other carefully selected pieces of information can distort truth. Sometimes it’s what people do with facts that is the most perplexing – and the most disturbing. Nonetheless, this entertaining compilation of facts has been collected to “amuse and astound,” and “perhaps to inspire its readers to see the world slightly differently.” I will spend the day wondering if the fact that most toilets flush in E-flat sheds any light on the history of music masterpieces.  (Christie, The Loft)

YOU Are One-Third Daffodil and Other Amusing Facts to Amaze, Amuse, and Astound, compiled by Tom Nuttall.