Monroe Teen Advisory Board writes a story.

For those of you who don't know about the Monroe Teen Advisory Board, or TAB, they are a group of teens, ages 12-18 or in grades 6-12 that meet once a month at the library. These teens meet to discuss books they've been reading, talk about what's going on at the library, share ideas for improving the library, take part in activities and crafts, and do other fun stuff! Currently, the group is made up of students from Park Place Middle School, Hidden River Middle School, and Monroe High School but anyone between the ages of 12-18 or in 6th-12th grade is welcome to join the group!

At our last meeting, the group and I took part in a creative writing exercise. If you've ever played Mad Libs, it was similar to that, but with a little twist. We began by having the group supply certain details like a man's name, a woman's name, an animal, a job, a problem, a bad habit, etc. We then plugged these details into a paragraph I had previously written, in 'Mad Libs style', to kick start our story. Next the group members each took turns adding a sentence until we completed the tale! I'm going to share our awesome story with you below. The original paragraph will appear in red text, with the group's 'Mad Lib' style additions written in black. I've also listed my co-author's names in colored text above the story. Each author's contributions to the story will correspond with the color in which their names appear in the following list:.

Authors:

Joseph

Brendan

Janey

Cassie

Amy

Silvia

Chuck (Teen Librarian)

'Mad Libs' words

The Adventures of Charles and Bellatrix

One day, Charles and Bellatrix were sitting with their shark named Shredder in the Pacific Ocean when they suddenly ran out of food! Charles has a bad habit of breaking drinking glasses, but nevertheless he and Bellatrix head off to the White House, where Bellatrix works as a Tae Kwon Do instructor, to help solve their food problem. Despite Bellatrix's obsession with teddy bears, they are confident they will succeed!

On their way to the White House, they ran into a fire demon named Lucifer. Two seconds after, Bellatrix confessed that she had psychic powers passed down from her family, and Charles was awestruck with his mouth hanging open.

But then Lucifer at Bellatrix, and Charles thought she died. But then Bellatrix fought Lucifer from the inside while Lucifer ate Charles.

After Charles was eaten, Shredder came to the rescue with Bellatrix's legion of teddy bears at his aid! Bellatrix then uses her psychic powers to send Lucifer into Outer Space!

But before Lucifer goes, he upchucks them and Charles uses alchemy to turn a broken drinking glass into a sword. When Lucifer comes back down, he uses his gummy ray and turns the teddy bears into gummy bears! It so happens that Bellatrix goes 'Donkey Kong', and sends Lucifer into a dark vortex, which turns out to be a black hole.

The End!

The Monroe Teen Advisory Board is still a very new group - we've only been meeting for a few months, but we have a lot fun. If the group sounds like fun and you'd like to know more email Teen Librarian Chuck Pratt at cpratt@sno-isle.org

Anya and Her Ukulele!

I wanted to to share a little information about a wonderful program we hosted last month at the Monroe Library that featured one of our local teens performing music at the library. Her name is Anya, and as you can see from the YouTube videos below she sang and played music on her ukulele for a crowd of over 50 people from Monroe and the surrounding communities this past November.



I first met Anya at the Monroe Library's summer talent competition called "Monroe's Got Talent". It was held this past June and Anya won first place in that competition when she sang the Jason Mraz song "Grenade", which you can hear her play below:



After hearing Anya play, we thought it would be fantastic if she came and played a concert for people in Monroe at the library. The YouTube videos you see in this post were recorded at that program. Anya packed out the library's community room, resulting in a 'standing room only' performance for the people who did not make it in time to get a seat; she really put on an entertaining show with her music and stories about the ukulele and it's history! Anya did a great job and the library was really lucky to have her perform!



Not only did she play some traditional music, hymns, and covers of popular music during her performace, but Anya also played "The Lonely Children", an original song for which she wrote all the music and lyrics:



If you were lucky enough to attend Anya's performance, I'm sure you walked away smiling. If you missed this wonderful program, don't fret because there are lots of interesting and fun programs held each month at the Monroe Library. Link Click here to check out our calendar of upcoming events and make your plans to attend an upcoming library program!

Picture It! Photo Scavenger Hunt for Teens
Clue #4 - Week #4 (October 24th-30th)

This Historic building is located on Main Street in Monroe, and is known to many as a HALLmark of our downtown. The building was completed in 1908 and over time many changes were made to the location. At one point or another, the Monroe Fire Hall, Monroe Library, Evergreen District Court, Monroe Police Department, and the offices for the City of Monroe were all located in this building. Today, it houses a museum and is home to the Monroe Historical Society.

*To participate, all you have to do is take a picture of the landmark described in this clue with your cell phone or a digital camera and email it to cpratt@sno-isle.org with the phrase “Photo Scavenger Hunt Entry” in the subject line. (Or, you could drop off an actual photo at the Monroe Library). If you don’t have a camera, it’s OK if you find a picture of the landmark on the internet and submit that picture. Entries should be submitted before midnight on Sunday of each week – a new clue will be revealed each Monday on the Monroe Library Blog and posted on the Teen Board at the library. One winner will be drawn at random from all correct entries each week and will receive a prize. One grand prize winner will be drawn at random from all contestants who have submitted a photo of the correct landmark for each of the four weeks of the contest. All landmarks will be located in Monroe, WA. Contest is open to teens between the ages of 12-18, or in grades 6-12.

Picture It! Photo Scavenger Hunt for Teens Clue #3

Picture It! Photo Scavenger Hunt for Teens
Clue #3 - Week # (October 17th-23rd)

It was really cool and refreshing to see this famous advertisement in downtown Monroe get a recent facelift and new paint job. In fact a whole laundry list of people were pleased to see how well the recent renovations to this large ad for an American icon turned out. You’ve probably noticed this sign more than once if you drive through downtown Monroe very often. It promotes a product that is often advertised as “the real thing” and that you are often told to have with “…a smile”.

*To participate, all you have to do is take a picture of the landmark described in this clue with your cell phone or a digital camera and email it to cpratt@sno-isle.org with the phrase “Photo Scavenger Hunt Entry” in the subject line. (Or, you could drop off an actual photo at the Monroe Library). If you don’t have a camera, it’s OK if you find a picture of the landmark on the internet and submit that picture. Entries should be submitted before midnight on Sunday of each week – a new clue will be revealed each Monday on the Monroe Library Blog and posted on the Teen Board at the library. One winner will be drawn at random from all correct entries each week and will receive a prize. One grand prize winner will be drawn at random from all contestants who have submitted a photo of the correct landmark for each of the four weeks of the contest. All landmarks will be located in Monroe, WA. Contest is open to teens between the ages of 12-18, or in grades 6-12.

Picture It! Photo Scavenger Hunt for Teens Clue #2

Picture It! Photo Scavenger Hunt for Teens
Clue #2 - Week #2 (October 10th-16th)

Sometimes when visitors come to Monroe and see this awesome facility, they leave feeling for evergreen with envy. In fact, I’d say it’s fair to say that happens quite a lot. This landmark, which is actually a group of buildings and other facilities, is located on a stretch of land that used to be the Snohomish County “Poor Farm” as far back as the 1890s. If you like fireworks shows, car races, swap meets, equine events, dog shows, or many other events that attract large numbers of people from the community, then I’ll bet you’ve visited this place at least once!

*To participate, all you have to do is take a picture of the landmark described in this clue with your cell phone or a digital camera and email it to cpratt@sno-isle.org with the phrase “Photo Scavenger Hunt Entry” in the subject line. (Or, you could drop off an actual photo at the Monroe Library). If you don’t have a camera, it’s OK if you find a picture of the landmark on the internet and submit that picture. Entries should be submitted before midnight on Sunday of each week – a new clue will be revealed each Monday on the Monroe Library Blog and posted on the Teen Board at the library. One winner will be drawn at random from all correct entries each week and will receive a prize. One grand prize winner will be drawn at random from all contestants who have submitted a photo of the correct landmark for each of the four weeks of the contest. All landmarks will be located in Monroe, WA. Contest is open to teens between the ages of 12-18, or in grades 6-12.

Picture It! Photo Scavenger Hunt for Teens Week #1

Picture It! Photo Scavenger Hunt for Teens
Clue #1 - Week #1 (October 3rd-9th)

Since this is the first week of the photo scavenger hunt, I’ll give you a condensed version of a clue that leads to the landmark I’m looking for, so you should milk this for all it’s worth. The landmark in question is about 150 feet tall and almost 11 feet in diameter at its base. On March 23rd, 1944 a fire destroyed the facility (which was processing flax into linen for the war effort during World War II) that this landmark was attached to, so it is all that remains of a much larger building. Even though the rest of the building burned many years ago, this landmark remains the tallest structure in downtown Monroe.

*To participate, all you have to do is take a picture of the landmark described in this clue with your cell phone or a digital camera and email it to cpratt@sno-isle.org with the phrase “Photo Scavenger Hunt Entry” in the subject line. (Or, you could drop off an actual photo at the Monroe Library). If you don’t have a camera, it’s OK if you find a picture of the landmark on the internet and submit that picture. Entries should be submitted before midnight on Sunday of each week – a new clue will be revealed each Monday on the Monroe Library Blog and posted on the Teen Board at the library. One winner will be drawn at random from all correct entries each week and will receive a prize. One grand prize winner will be drawn at random from all contestants who have submitted a photo of the correct landmark for each of the four weeks of the contest. All landmarks will be located in Monroe, WA. Contest is open to teens between the ages of 12-18, or in grades 6-12.

Birds, Pajaros, Aves, Uccelli, Oiseaux

I am new to Washington and one of the most amazing things about this state is the wonderful wildlife - the birds, namely. 

I come from Arizona where pigeons are considered pests, not beautiful, white symbols of peace. We also have hummingbirds, which are very interesting and probably my favorite bird. But that's because beyond pigeons and hummingbirds, I don't know any other birds. I take that back. I think the state bird of Arizona is the cactus wren although I've never seen one.

Here in Washington, you can't help but pay attention to them. They are swooping overhead, on a mission to find the perfect twig for the fluffy bird nest they're building. Those nests are the coziest looking baby beds I've ever seen. I can say that because here at my new place of work, the Monroe Library, there is a bird's nest right outside my office window. A co-worker later told me that the nest building bird is a robin, "a plain old robin," she said. But these robins have orange bellies and are large! They don't seem ordinary to me.

I was walking into the library one day when I saw what looked like a blue cardinal. I stopped and stared because it was almost the coolest thing I'd ever seen in my entire life. It was like the fairy tale "Mr. Blue Bird on my shoulder" song from childhood. Only, it wasn't a blue bird and it wasn't a cardinal either. I was later told by a co-worker that it was a Stellar's Jay. How does everyone know the names of these guys?!

Even if I didn't have birds swooping over my head, building nests outside my office window and stopping me mid-stride just by the sheer burst of color catching my eye, I wouldn't be able to ignore the birds. Everywhere people are talking about birds. One of the nearby elementary schools I visit is known all over the world by bird people for it's unusual resting spot for a bird called Vaux's Swift. These birds migrate to the area every year and swarm an old chimney and people come with blankets and chairs to witness the birds come in swarms over the school.



There's a nest up there, I promise. Think down comforter.



I was commenting one day on this Audubon phenomenon when one of my bosses said, "that's because they are a big deal here. People like birds." This was after I had called the whole group I was with "birders". It surprises me that I can talk to just about anyone if I start with a bird conversation.

She's right. Washingtonians just like birds. Just the other day, a library customer came up to me and said, "you should come look over here, there's a nest just outside the window that's just hatched some baby birds". And so I did, me and the other 12 or so Washingtonians. Kids had their eyes glued to the support beam outside, where the beautiful robins that had just been born, their beaks reaching for the sky. If I were those birds, I wouldn't ever want to leave that oh-so-fluffy nest. Those birds will fly the coop some time soon, though, just like I did. I left my home in Arizona and migrated to Washington, the land of birds. I'm glad I did.