NEW! Fan Fiction Writers' Coalition - meet up at Cedarbrae - April 25

Cassandra Clare. Sarah Rees Brennan. E.L. James. If you've heard of these names, you probably know they are insanely popular authors who have made it big with the likes of The Mortal Instruments, The Demon's Lexicon, and 50 Shades of Grey, respectively. But did you know these authors first started off writing fanfiction for movies like Harry Potter or Twilight?

Fanfiction has been around for decades, but with the rise of these successful authors and many others like them, it's become an insanely popular pastime for young writers and a very trendy hobby. To celebrate teen authors who love writing stories based on their favourite characters, shows, movies, books, and video games, Cedarbrae Library will be hosting the Teen Fanfiction Writers' Coalition.

When?

On the last Friday of every month, beginning April 25, from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m.

Cedarbrae Library, 2cd Floor, Teen Zone

 

This group is open to all youth ages 12 to 18. It doesn't matter whether you're a seasoned fanfic writer or don't yet know what AO3 or Fanfiction.net are; we want to meet you and hear your stories, whatever they might be.

We also encourage any original writing you’d like to share. Most importantly, all ships and fandoms are welcome here (don't know what those are yet? Join the group to find out). This is a 100% safe space for anything you happen to support and like writing about. Tell your friends. Get your friends to tell their friends.

Fanfic Fridays @Cedarbrae are for everyone, and we want to see a complete fanfiction takeover!

To register or learn more about the group, you can call 416-396-8850 or ask for Nancy-Anne. Be sure to sign up early to beat the rush!

Earth Day Round Up - Get your hands dirty.

     

Ever tried growing something edible?  It doesn't take much space - even a neglected corner on a balcony or step can be transformed.  Besides, it's pretty nice just to pick a carrot or some green onions without going to the store.

Above are some top picks for DIY urban earthiness.  

Want more on eco-living and making something from nothing?

     

Your Bookmark Here: Noggin and Where Things Come Back

Noggin is the name of John Corey Whaley's latest book, and Noggin is the nickname that Travis Coates acquires on his first day back at school after a prolonged absence...a five year absence to be specific.  You see, at 16, Travis, who had been waging a losing battle with leukemia for several years, had opted, with his parents' blessing, to have his head cryogenically frozen and preserved until a time in the future when medical technology had advanced enough to re-animate Travis' head on a donor body.  That was five years ago.

White Pine Author Visit: Colleen Nelson

Please join us in the library in room 2/3 on Friday May 16th 2014 from 10-11. Classes are invited to attend.

Teen Coffee House Thursday April 17th 2014

Please join us at the North York Central Library for a teen coffee house. Come sing your favourite musical number, or perhaps dramatic monologue. Ages 13-19.

GET PUBLISHED! Submit now before it's too late!!!

 

How to Walk in Early March

Wear your rain boots in the evening, one part because of the slush and ninety-nine parts because she said at 2 p.m. this afternoon that they make you look like April weather when you wear them with your yellow floral skirt. -Edmee Nataprawira (age 18) in YOUNG VOICES 2013

 

Send us your creative writing for a chance to be published in Young Voices, Toronto Public Library's magazine of teen writing and visual art.

Poems, stories, lyrics, rants, creative non-fiction... whatever you feel like writing, that's what we want to see!

Open to teens 12-19 years old who live, work or go to school in Toronto.

Submission deadline for 2014 issue is April 5, 2014; submissions received after this date will be considered for the 2015 issue of Young Voices.

New! Fan Fiction Writers' Coalition at Cedarbrae

Cassandra Clare. Sarah Rees Brennan. E.L. James. If you've heard of these names, you probably know they are insanely popular authors who have made it big with the likes of The Mortal Instruments, The Demon's Lexicon, and 50 Shades of Grey, respectively. But did you know these authors first started off writing fanfiction for movies like Harry Potter or Twilight?

Fanfiction has been around for decades, but with the rise of these successful authors and many others like them, it's become an insanely popular pastime for young writers and a very trendy hobby. To celebrate teen authors who love writing stories based on their favourite characters, shows, movies, books, and video games, Cedarbrae Library will be hosting the Teen Fanfiction Writers' Coalition.

When?

On the last Friday of every month, beginning April 25, from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m.

Cedarbrae Library, 2cd Floor, Teen Zone

 

This group is open to all youth ages 12 to 18. It doesn't matter whether you're a seasoned fanfic writer or don't yet know what AO3 or Fanfiction.net are; we want to meet you and hear your stories, whatever they might be.

We also encourage any original writing you’d like to share. Most importantly, all ships and fandoms are welcome here (don't know what those are yet? Join the group to find out). This is a 100% safe space for anything you happen to support and like writing about. Tell your friends. Get your friends to tell their friends.

Fanfic Fridays @Cedarbrae are for everyone, and we want to see a complete fanfiction takeover!

To register or learn more about the group, you can call 416-396-8850 or ask for Nancy-Anne. Be sure to sign up early to beat the rush!

Get your b&w artwork published in YOUNG VOICES magazine

Send us your black and white hand drawn artwork for a chance to be published in Young Voices, Toronto Public Library's magazine of teen writing and visual art.

Open to teens 12-19 years old who live, work or go to school in Toronto.

Submission deadline for 2014 issue is April 5, 2014; submissions received after this date will be considered for the 2015 issue of Young Voices.

Encounter by Rosa Kang, age 17, published in YOUNG VOICES 2013

Get your B&W photos published in YOUNG VOICES magazine

Send us your black and white high resolution photographs for a chance to be published in Young Voices, Toronto Public Library's magazine of teen writing and visual art.

Photos should be 300 dpi at 8 inches by 10 inches.

Open to teens 12-19 years old who live, work or go to school in Toronto.

Submission deadline for 2014 issue is April 5, 2014; submissions received after this date will be considered for the 2015 issue of Young Voices.

Photo from YOUNG VOICES 2013, by Nicole Johnston, age 15

Book(s) of the Week: Music To My Ears

I LOVE music, so whenever there are new books with a music theme, I snap them up. These two from early this year crossed my path and predictably, I grabbed them. As much as they both carry a heavy music theme, though? They are SO different from each other, it's near impossible to link them beyond that really general theme.

The first one, Road Rash, is a really music-focused book, and its author, Mark Huntley Parsons, has good pedigree for writing about music, being a drummer and sound engineer, as well as writing for Modern Drummer magazine. It shows, too, in the way he writes about music. The story itself is not particularly new or groundbreaking - boy gets fired from one band for dubious reasons, gets picked up by another, better band, and is thrown into stresses of life on the road and tough band dynamics. It feel realistic, though, and it is clear that it's a life Parsons knows. The real standout parts, though, are when Parsons get his music geek on.

If you've ever played in a band and seen how music is recorded, you know how overall sound is built by different pieces fitting together and complementing each other for a fully rounded sound, and the writing of this process is really strongly expressed by someone who clearly knows what he's talking about where this is concerned. For this fascinating peek into the world of music live and tracked, I really enjoyed what might otherwise have been a fairly average story of being in a band.

Blues for Zoey. Now this is something altogether different. Music still plays a huge role here - particularly the music of one iconoclast legend, newly discovered by Kaz when his neighbour hands him a CD, and the music created by Zoey, a new girl in town who fascinates Kaz.

Kaz has, so far, been pretty single-minded about saving money to help his mom get treatment for a strange and rare disease, which he hopes will also make life easier and more normal for him and his sister. But when Zoey comes along, he's taken with her and her own strange music, her weird but amazing instrument, and her interesting and gorgeous self. Soon enough, a fast-talking high-roller notices her instrument, and tries to conspire with Kaz to buy it for cheap from Zoey, as he claims it's worth a fortune, and Kaz runs into a serious ethical dilemma.

After this, things take a wild twist, and Kaz ends up looking back over his summer and seeing things in a whole new light, which makes for a jaw-dropping and very interesting note to end on, as a reader. I thought about this one for a few days - but then, every book that Robert Paul Weston writes seems to strike me, though each is also incredibly different from the last. It's an unusual and interesting talent - much like this book, in fact.