Summer Reading Celebration 2013!

for Teens (Ages 12-18)

How to Participate ...

1. Starting June 1, 2013, sign up at your local library and receive an Activity Grid or sign up online and print your own Activity Grid.
    
2. Only activities completed between June 1 - July 31 are eligible. 
    
3. Complete any five squares in a row (vertical, horizontal, or diagonal) on the Activity Grid to enter our biweekly prize drawing. Once your grid is complete, every additional book read earns another entry into the biweekly drawing.
    
4. List the specific book titles you've read, or activities you've done in the What I Did section.

Please Note: Those who are 12 years old can choose to participate in the teen program or children's program

Summer Reading Prizes for Teens!!

• Sign Up = Pin, Bookmark
• 1st Complete Row = Book
• June 20 Prize Drawing = $10 Jamba Juice Gift Card
• July 11 Prize Drawing = $10 iTunes Gift Card
• July 25 Prize Drawing = Movie Ticket Bundle
• August Grand Prize Drawing = iPad Mini

Book Trailer Contest

Those who provide a video review will be automatically entered into the Book Trailer Contest.  Our judges will select the best video review and the winner will receive a iPad Mini!

Graphic Novel Making Contest!

Part of the Summer Reading Celebration.

Check our events calendar for other FREE activities to enjoy this summer!

Teen Volunteers Needed for the Summer Reading Celebration!

Help promote the library's summer reading program by registering children and awarding prizes.

Did you miss Free Comic Book Day? Yes - there is a official day in which comic book stores around the Country and participating library systems promote the importance of literacy through comics and graphic novels. A crazy concept I hope many won’t miss for next years event. Because of prior commitments, my family and I missed out on the opportunity to attend this years give away that the SJPL was facilitating throughout all of our branches. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop me from taking my boys to stock up on some new reading material the day before at our local comic book store.

The Free Comic Book Day event occurs every year on the first Saturday of the month of May. Participating comic book stores around the country join together to promote the importance of having brick and mortar comic book shops and how they inspire literacy for the youth by giving away free comics. Growing up, i couldn’t get enough of comic books. From Bill Watterson’s - Calvin and Hobbes, to Marvel’s Spider-Man, it seemed to be the only way my mom could get me to read as a kid. As I grew up, I  then graduated onto more lengthy reads. However - if it weren’t for the influence of the early graphic novels in my youth, I would have never appreciated the art of storytelling as I do now. Back then, the internet along with other online media was still a new concept and the digitization of any literature for consumer use was in its early stages. Too early for it to be readily available for the average household. There was no eBay, no Google, no iPhones, no Amazon, and no eBooks of any kind just yet. I'm sure the majority of you remember those days. However, my kids and the current fortunate generations don't.

Today the majority of our information and consumer goodies come from the vast amount of online services available at just the click of a button, or two. No need for a car ride or locating the address of your destination - since there is no destination, just a URL address. This however does not mean we have improved the consumers experience. That remains to be subjective. I personally still enjoy the experience of browsing through dust filled stacks of comics or books. I don't always know what i came for, but i do know i'm looking for something new. The physical interaction of picking the brain of the comic connoisseur sitting behind the register and discovering new finds while roaming the room, is an experience that humbles the reader. Just as one can walk into the library and browse your favorite subject of choice, then decide what item for the day you want to take home and explore more. The same sense of mystique I hoped my two boys would take away from their visit, became successful. The adventure in searching for just the right comic to purchase and being able to flip through the pages before making their decision has already got them bugging me to bring them back the following weekend. Granted these comics were not free, you can only imagine how excited our library customers were at the Free Comic Book Day event.

Even if you missed out on the fun from this past weekend, you can still enjoy free comic books here at the library. They are not free to keep, however still free to borrow :) - with a great selection of Manga, Graphic Novels, and dozens of comic series to choose from. To stay updated on fun future events for all library customers to enjoy, be sure to check our Events page regularly.

May 4, 2013 is Free Comic Book Day. Come by the library as early as you can so you can get your choice in free comic books while they last!

The Free Comic Book Day tradition started in 2002 and is celebrated by comic book stores and libraries every first Saturday of May. It's a great day to introduce or re-introduce yourself to comic books and graphic novels, and of course if you're already a current aficionado, this day is made for you. Enjoy.

Free Comic Book Day Occurs at the King Library, Willow Glen, East San Jose, Bascom and Seventrees branches.

AMC recently showed the Season Three finale of The Walking Dead to an audience of approximately 12.42 million viewers.  The popular zombie apocalypse television series is based on the graphic novel series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard.  I am normally not a fan of horror and gore, but the excellent writing and acting drew me in and now I can’t wait to see what happens next each week.  If you haven’t seen Season One and Season Two, then I recommend that you come to the nearest San José Public Library to check them out.  Season One is currently available and Season Two should be on the shelves very soon.

You may also want to check out the source material, although the storyline of the television series and the graphic novel series do differ.  SJPL has the first seventeen volumes as seen below.

Come view a screening of the animated film, Persepolis, on February 15, 2013 at 10:00 AM in King Library Room 255/257, 2nd floor.

Persis Karim, SJSU Professor of English and Comparative Literature, will lead a discussion after the viewing.

Persepolis is a  coming of age story and the story of pre and post revolutionary Iran told as a graphic novel through the eyes of 'Marji, a young Iranian woman and her family.  After the Shah is defeated in the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Marji experiences the new Iran as a repressive tyranny.  Sent to study abroad Marji finds herself struggling to adjust to a different culture. On returning to Iran, Marji discovers both she and her homeland have changed and she and her loving family must decide where she truly belongs.

Some questions to think about as you read the book and view  the film:

• How do stories shape and give meaning to our experience?
• What do you think Satrapi is saying about religion’s effect on the individual and society?

Feel  free to participate in the discussion by leaving your comments below.

This showing of Persepolis is part of a series of programs, Bridging Cultures:  Muslim Journeys, a joint project of the San Jose Public Library and the San Jose State University Library.

The Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys is a project of the National Endowment for the Humanities, conducted in cooperation with the American Library Association. Support was provided by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York. Additional support for the arts and media components was provided by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art.

 “Comics are just for little kids, right?”

I hear that quote all the time and from people of all walks of life both teens and adults.  Even some who read comic books will reluctantly agree.  And who can blame them?  The big eyes, colorful pictures, and fast paced action certainly seem to be aimed at children.

Of course, no one told that to Naoki Urasawa.

Naoki Urasawa, author of Monster and 20thCentury Boys, is not your usual manga writer. You won’t find outlandish facial expressions, ridiculous hair styles, or unbelievable sight gags.  Instead you’ll find realistic characters, multilayered storylines, and complex mysteries.   Take a look at the two manga covers at the bottom of the page.  The first is from Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy.  The second is from Naoki Urasawa's Pluto.  Both covers depict the same character, and tell the same story but Pluto radically transforms  one of Astro Boy’s first adventures into a complex mystery full of intrigue, betrayal and secrecy.      Pluto follows Geist, a German police officer investigating the murder, one by one, of the world’s strongest robots.  The trail he follows leads across the globe, into a world radically changed by the introduction of robotic labor, and also into the past, exploring the terrible consequences of the 39th Middle-East War.      It pulls no punches portraying the gritty consequences of conflict and the quest for weapons of mass destruction.  However, Urasawa does so by humanizing the characters, even (or rather especially) the robots.  Each of them -from the very human Astro Boy to the monstrously inhuman Pluto- feel real to the reader. You can’t help but empathize with them even as you are reminded of their inhuman origin.  Each chapter revealed new layers of the mystery and answered questions implied, by never asked in earlier in the series and even as I mourned the loss of favored characters, I loved how the story unfolded drawing me deeper into the plot volume by volume.    Pluto is a compelling mystery, one that treats the future as respectfully and honestly as any Asimov or Heinlein novel.  Point to it the next time that someone dismisses the graphic novel you read as "childish" or use the ideas Pluto explores to debate the nature of humanity.  Better yet, hand them a copy of Pluto, and let them discover it for themselves.

Don't miss my other Great Graphic Novels

Full Metal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa

Skip Beat by Yoshiki Nakamura