Teen Scene
May 2023
 
APPLY to Teen Volunteer League
Announcing applications for
the 2023 Virtual
Teen Volunteer League!
 
This year, teens will gain leadership skills to help us design teen volunteering opportunities at the library. 
  • Gain valuable experience and job skills
  • Build your resume
  • Assist in library projects
  • Get to know library staff and make friends
  • Earn volunteer service hours
  • Give back to your community
  • Learn from local leaders
Application
opens Monday May 15
Deadline: Wednesday May 31
 
Teen volunteers can expect to receive:
  • At least 15 hours of community service
  • Resume support and job skills trainings
  • Mentorship from library staff
  • Access to community resources
  • Leadership experience
  • and more!
Teen volunteers will: 
  • Co-design a teen volunteering program that benefits teens, the library, and community
  • Explore and research leadership development for teens
  • Assist in library activities and special projects
  • and more!
 
 
"A great experience and
great memories."
"Teen Volunteer League showed me how friendly librarians are and that they really do care about the community and youth!" 
 
"Everyone in the program
was very caring and understanding!"
"It's important to be involved in your community."
"I have a better understanding of all of the different resources and opportunities offered by the library and around our community."
 
 "I feel better prepared regarding interviews and
my resume."
In This Issue
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May News
  • Announcement: Our Own Expressions
  • Programs: Stress Relief Series
  • Spotlight: JobNow
  • Booklists
Winners Announced
CONGRATULATIONS WINNERS 
of the 27th Our Own Expressions!
 
Congratulations to the 36 winners of the Our Own Expressions Teen Writing & Art Contest.
Thank you to the more than 500 talented students who entered and to our final judges who had the incredibly tough job of selecting our winners:
Lydia K. Valentine, Dave Sederberg, Daniel Carrillo, and Ray Stoeve
 
We look forward to sharing the winning entries in a published chapbook available to check out
at Pierce County Libraries and on Instagram @pclteens. 
 
Winners
Art
 
Grades 7 and 8
1st - Alexis Rosendo, Glacier View Junior High School, Red Panda
2nd - Victoria Nozdrin, Other, Dusty
3rd - Karime Briseno Iris, Pioneer Middle School, Aztec Warrior
 
Grades 9 and 10
1st - Valentina Gutierrez, Fife High School, Green Model
2nd - Masha Skulskaya, Bonney Lake High School, Dwell in Superiority
3rd - Audrey Skipworth, Bonney Lake High School, Experience and Function of the brain
 
Grades 11 and 12
1st - Iris Rogel, Bonney Lake High School, Enduring Support
2nd - Charlotte Southworth, Stadium High School, Close Community
3rd - Evelyn Bang, Bonney Lake High School, Feeling Blue
Photography
 
Grades 7 and 8
1st - Miren Sansburn, Home School, Blinding Lights
2nd - Abigayel Hone, Key Peninsula Middle School, The Power of Sunsets
3rd - Kaeli Kinney, Gray Middle School, Bridge to Nowhere
 
Grades 9 and 10
1st - Rylan Carter, Foss High School, Me & Me
2nd - Avelina Zhukov, Other, Golden Hour
3rd - Bryce Lovett, Rogers High School, Mystic Portal
 
Grades 11 and 12
1st - Logan Hunsicker, Sumner Senior High School, Foggy Morning
2nd - Lola Cordero, Steilacoom High School, Luminescent
3rd - Laila Fuqua, Rogers High School, Beauty in Nature
Poetry
 
Grades 7 and 8
1st - Dean King, Pioneer Middle School, Ode to the Rain
2nd - Samara Amstutz, Pioneer Middle School, About A Girl
3rd - Jonathan Burket, Pioneer Middle School, Ode to Chess
 
Grades 9 and 10
1st - Samson BeSerra, Covenant High School, Gnomestradamus
2nd - Kaiya Whaley, Covenant High School, What was the point?
3rd - Yumiko Doi, Bellarmine Preparatory, Feeling
 
Grades 11 and 12
1st - Ian Fisher, Covenant High School, World of Noise
2nd - Ashtin Roy, Curtis Senior High School, The Jazz Man
3rd - Jacob Lawty, Covenant High School, Icarus
Short Story
 
Grades 7 and 8
1st - Lydia Smith, Lakeridge Middle School, Barnacles and Beer Cans
2nd - Maya Holmes, Kopachuck Middle School, أعطنا الأمل (Give Us Hope)
3rd - Lanaya Villaverde, Kalles Junior High School, Purple Blur (Based on a true story)
 
Grades 9 and 10
1st - Lyric Milligan, Tacoma School of the Arts, Brushstrokes
2nd - Jonathan Taylor, Covenant High School, The Peril of Power
3rd - Ava Carlson, Covenant High School, Memories Upon the Sight of Death
 
Grades 11 and 12
1st - Grace Adam, Covenant High School, February 5th
2nd - Rylie Wood, Covenant High School, The Dream Collector
3rd - Pedro Call, Franklin Pierce High School, Pool of Memories
 
Stress Relief Series
Stress Relief Program Series
 
Enjoy an inclusive space to hang out with friends, de-stress, and eat snacks! No registration is required, and newcomers are welcome!
 
Tuesdays at 4:30pm
  • May 2nd: Inner Kindergartener Night Forget your obligations and tap into your inner kindergartener. Stream kids cartoons and movies, play kids games, finger paint, and more!
  • May 16th: Sensory Night De-stress and reconnect with a variety of sensory activities in a calm space.
  • May 23rd: Stretch and Sketch Take a moment to breathe, stretch, doodle, and sketch. Art supplies are provided.
  • May 30th: Rest and Relax
Sumner Pierce County Library
1116 Fryar Ave Sumner Library WA 98390
 
JobNow
Are you looking for a summer job? Need help creating your first resume?
Try JobNow for expert resume feedback, interview coaching, and more! 
 
Booklists
Find booklists by grade level on our website,
curated lists featured in our digital Teen Reading collection,
and even more book suggestions on Instagram. 
 
Check out the booklists below. All titles are available to download
or pick up at the library:
  • Recent Releases
  • Love and Romance Starring Asian Characters
 
 
Recent Releases
Throwback
by Maurene Goo

Starring: 16-year-old Samantha Kang, who doesn’t understand the "all-American" dreams her first-generation Korean American mother Priscilla has for her.

History repeats itself: Desperate to get away from her mom, Samantha uses a rideshare app that magically transports her to the 1990s, where she meets Priscilla as a 17-year-old. And falls for a football player!?

Why you might like it: This heartfelt novel explores inherited trauma and the immigrant experience within a sparkling romantic comedy.
Stars and Smoke
by Marie Lu

What it is: a suspenseful, romantic adventure pairing Winter Young, a Chinese American pop star, with Sydney Cossette, a 19-year-old spy hiding her fatal lung condition.

What happens: To gather intelligence on a notorious crime boss, Winter performs at a private party while Sydney plays bodyguard. As their mission unfolds, Winter and Sydney's grudging respect turns into something deeper.

Author alert: Fans of author Marie Lu's action-packed Skyhunter, Legend, and Warcross series will enjoy this glamorous and thrilling series opener.
Into the Light
by Mark Oshiro


The set-up: The Sullivans adopt Manny and Elena, ending the siblings' years in foster care. But after Manny is sent to -- and kicked out of -- a manipulative religious leader's camp called Reconciliation, he's alone in the wilderness.

The journey: Manny connects with the kind Varela family to solve the mystery surrounding the body found outside Reconciliation. Is it Elena?

How it's told: This compelling thriller's nonlinear structure, offering shifting points of view and flashbacks, mimics Manny's disorienting experiences.
While You Were Dreaming
by Alisha Rai

To the rescue: Sonia Patil saves her crush James Cooper when he falls into a canal. Because this happened on the day of a Comic-Con, Sonia was in full superhero cosplay.

Behind the mask: Sonia’s rescue goes viral, threatening her family's low profile. Her mom has been deported, her sister is undocumented, and Sonia would rather stay in her daydreams than face reality.

Read it for: a thought-provoking exploration of immigration policies and toxic social media alongside a romantic coming-of-age story.
A Door in the Dark
by Scott Reintgen

Meet: Ren, a talented scholarship student at Balmerick University. She'll graduate with magical skills, but finding work after graduation will take the right connections too.

What happens: A botched spell lands six students in dangerous wilderness, one already dead. Ren can prove herself, if the group's tangled secrets or the lurking monsters don’t kill them first.

Is it for you? This compelling fantasy blends a magic school setting like Naomi Novik's A Deadly Education with a twisty mystery like Karen McManus' One of Us is Lying.
Love and Romance Starring Asian Characters
This Time It's Real
by Ann Liang

The set-up: Aspiring writer Eliza Lin's essay about her devoted boyfriend gained her internet fame and a paid internship at a popular literary website.

The problem: Eliza made the guy up. So she offers her classmate, famous actor Caz Song, help with college essays if he'll pretend to be her boyfriend. And maybe he's a little too good at pretending.

For fans of: fake dating romances like Jenny Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before and David Yoon's Frankly in Love.
When you wish upon a lantern
by Gloria Chao

To save her family's struggling wishing lantern store, Liya secretly fulfills the wishes people write on the lanterns they send into the sky and, in doing so, rekindles her friendship with Kai, which unexpectedly leads to something more.
The love match
by Priyanka Taslim

When her meddling mother arranges a match to secure their family's financial security, Bangladeshi American teen Zahra and her match, Harun, decide to slowly sabotage their parents' plans, allowing her to explore her feelings for a co-worker who understands her in a way no one has before.
Hani and Ishu's guide to fake dating
by Adiba Jaigirdar

Everyone likes Humaira 'Hani' Khan--she's easy going and one of the most popular girls at school. But when she comes out to her friends as bisexual, they invalidate her identity, saying she can't be bi if she's only dated guys. Panicked, Hani blurts outthat she's in a relationship...with a girl her friends absolutely hate--Ishita 'Ishu' Dey. She's an academic overachiever who hopes that becoming head girl will set her on the right track for college. Despite their mutually beneficial pact, they start developing real feelings for each other.
It all comes back to you
by Farah Naz Rishi

When their siblings start dating, exes Kiran Noorani and Deen Malik silently agree to keep their past a secret even though the chemistry between them is undeniable. 
The queens of New York
by E. L. Shen

Spending their first summer apart since they were 7 years old, 17-year-old BFFs Jia, Ariel and Everett, as they each deal with heartbreaking surprises and shocking self-discoveries, realize even though they're physically apart, they are still strong together. 
Jade fire gold
by June CL Tan

When Ahn, with no past and no family, meets Altan, a lost heir, she sees him as a way to unlock her past and understand her arcane magical ability but the price may be too high to pay. 
Contact your librarian for more great books for age 14 and up!
Pierce County Library System
3005 112th St. E • Tacoma, WA 98446
253-548-3300

piercecountylibrary.org/