Arts & Crafts for Teens

We love arts and crafts, especially during the holidays. On December 16th, teens may join us at 7:00 p.m. in the McEntee Room for ARTS & CRAFTS MANIA! Create a gingerbread cottage, craft a holiday ornament or make a gift for someone special. See you there!

Game Night @Newport Library

Newport Public Library continues Teen Third Thursday events with an after hours video game arcade for students, ages 12 to 18. Teens are invited to play virtual interactive games at the library’s “Game Night”, November 18th at 7:00 PM.

Dance, Dance Revolution and Rock Band are two of the active games the library will offer that require players to be physically involved while making points by following dance steps or playing instruments. The Wii game system will also be set up using the large screen and interactive controllers. Traditional board games will round out the offerings. Refreshments from Pepsi and a meal from Subway will be provided.

Teen Third Thursdays at Newport Library is a continuing series for young adults. Youth are asked to pre-register for the October program at the library’s front desk or by calling 265-2153. Space is limited and more information is available from Jennifer in youth services.

Karbon Karma

Laura Brown lives in London, and is 15 in the year 2015. The country is about to ration energy use, so she decides to keep a diary. She is a normal 15 year old; she hates her sister, is embarrassed by her parents, and has a crush on the cute boy next door. As the reality of rationing starts to affect her daily routine, she complains in her diary about how annoying it is. Conditions continue to get worse, as weather patterns change because of global warming, and England experiences a drought, the ...more In 2015, Great Britain issues each citizen a "Carbon Card" to limit energy use. Laura Brown begins her diary on January 1 to document life in light of the new restrictions.  She is a normal teen; she hates her sister, Kim, is embarrassed by her parents, has a crush on the cute boy next door, and plays guitar for an eco-punk band called "The Dirty Angels."  As the reality of rationing starts to affect her daily routine, she vents in her diary. Showers are down to 5 minutes a day, computer use is restricted, and driving is no longer an option. Laura's father loses his job as a Travel and Tourism instructor and sinks into alcoholic despair, her mother leaves to work in a women's collective, and Kim is sent to Carbon Offenders Boot Camp.


Conditions spiral downward as weather patterns change because of global warming, and England experiences a drought, then a catastrophic flooding and cholera. Laura's diary entries gradually shift from complaining about her parents and teachers, to becoming involved in the fight for survival. The Carbon Diaries 2015, by Saci Lloyd, is often laugh-out-loud funny, in spite of the hardships, and never predictable. I look forward to reading the sequel, The Carbon Diaries 2017!

You gotta have friendship and courage and whatever!

That's a line from Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life, the first in a graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O'Malley. Scott is a slacker Canadian guy. He's bassist in a band called Sex Bob-Omb, and he plays a lot of computer games. We know that Scott plays computer games, because the plot of this novel makes NO SENSE unless you yourself have a solid grounding in old-school computer game logic. (What happens to the corpses of your slain enemies? They turn into coins. Of course.)

One way to read Scott Pilgrim is this: his life is a video game, and the rules of video games apply. For instance, he's just met this amazing woman named Ramona Flowers; but if he wants to date her, he must battle her Seven Evil Exes.

Maybe there's a second way to read Scott Pilgrim. Maybe the novel presents the intersection between reality and Scott's overactive imagination. In his ongoing fantasy, his life is a video game. In reality, he has to adjust to the fact that Ramona has a past. Ramona has not been a princess in a tower, waiting to be rescued; she has experience, and she has baggage. How will Scott deal with all those exes? His own insecurity? Will he rethink his expectations of women? Will he examine the way that he's treated girls in the past? Will it help to engage in a fantasy that turns these real-life issues into a video game quest?

Or maybe I'm subjecting a fun graphic novel to a little too much examination. However you look at them, these books are exciting and weird and laugh-out-loud funny, and if I were you I'd read them all. Titles in the series are:

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness
Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
Scott Pilgrim Vs. the Universe
Scott Pilgrim in his Finest Hour

P.S. I liked the movie, too.

Cupcake Mania - sweet!

Bring on the cupcake mania!

On Thursday, October 21st at 7:00 PM, teens are invited to have fun with cupcakes! Celeste from Celestial Cupcakes is leading a workshop just for teens at the Newport Public Library. Creativity and taste testing will be encouraged! All that is required is a sweet tooth and a desire to be inventive. It's super easy to sign up. Just call 541-265-2153 and ask to have your name added to the list. How sweet is that?

"You will . . . travel the Road," says the gravelly monotone voice coming through the static in Marshall Seaver's cell phone , and it makes a shiver go up his back-and yours. Morpheus Road: The Light is a supernatural thriller intended for the YA crowd, but I'd call it creepy and engaging enough for all. Outstanding fast action, and loads of fun.

Marsh is a total geek, into comic books, making rockets, and playing air-drums; and not so into talking to girls, at least not very well. His best friend Cooper, though, is the opposite; popular, rebellious, cute, and charming enough to be forgiven for all the trouble he causes. When Marshall breaks a decorative South American glass sphere left to him by his dead mother, and it explodes in a dripping splatter of blood across his bedroom wall, it's the beginning of some very weird times. Marsh wants Coop by his side, but Coop has disappeared. The more Marsh tries to find him, the weirder things get.

Coop's sister Sidney is known as the Ice Queen. She's on the fast track to an Ivy League school, and won't let anyone forget it, but her perfectionism hasn't endeared her to her brother. Marsh has a bit of a crush on her, but he learns a whole lot more about her when what's haunting him decides to go after her as well.

This book is full of supernatural twists and turns, and I don't want to spoil a single one. What I really appreciated was the way the plot opened out; just as you begin to think you understand what's going on, the story gets bigger. Apparently, MacHale intends it to be a trilogy. It's not often that I would describe a book as simply fun, but this one is, with a cinematic/ graphic novel feel. I will travel the Road . . . and like it!

Can you Guess?

You will never guess how many teens recorded their summer reading and volunteering to earn raffle tickets. So, I'll just have to tell you. Out of 48 students, ages 12 to 18 years old, they turned in 1,581 tickets! Isn't that totally amazing? We thought so.