Teens Spring Events at San Francisco Public Library

    GREAT TEEN BOOK SWAP

    Sunday, March 19, 2017— 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

    FREE book! Just leave us a review.

    Here's how it works: Every Thursday, the librarian will bring out several books and allow teens the chance to look through them for one that you'd like to keep. You will, in turn, swap us a review of the book by the end of the month.

    For ages 12— 18.

    For more information, contact Dorcas at dorcas.wong@sfpl.org.

    THE MIX BOOK CLUB!

    Sunday, March 19, 2017— 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

    Teens aged 13— 18 are welcome to The Mix at SFPL Book Club! We read a different book each month that you help choose. This month we're reading The Sun is Also A Star, by Nicola Yoon. New members and drop-ins are always welcome!

    For more information, please e-mail catherine.cormier@sfpl.org or call (415)557-4404.

    THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY BY HENRY JAMES

    Sunday, March 19, 2017— 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

    Please join Chinatown's World Literature Book Club for an enjoyable discussion of The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James. This famous novel follows the young, free-spirited heiress, Isabel Archer, as she travels from New York to Europe.

    CARTOONING & GRAPHIC NOVEL WORKSHOP

    Saturday, March 25, 2017— 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

    Join teaching artist and cartoonist Aaron Southerland for a cartooning and graphic novel workshop. Students will learn to create their very own cartoon and comic characters through advanced drawing techniques.

    This is a Reading, Writing & Poetry program from SFPL. We love reading/ sharing/ creating words.

    You're in a department store and you see a couple of attractive young women looking at a sweater. You listen to their conversation: “I can't believe it—Lorenzo Bertolla! They are almost impossible to find. Isn't it beautiful? And it's a lot cheaper than the one Sara bought in Rome.”

    They leave and you go over to see this incredible sweater. It's nice and the price is right. You've never heard of the brand of Lorenzo Bertolla, but those girls looked really stylish. Their clothes follow the fashion. They must know. So, you buy it. You never realize that those young women are employees of an advertising agency. They are actually paid to go from store to store, talking loudly about Lorenzo Bertolla clothes to be heard by others.

    Every day we notice what people are wearing, driving and eating. If the person looks cool, the product seems cool, too. This is the secret of undercover marketing. Companies from Ford to Nike are starting to use it.

    Undercover marketing is important because it reaches people that don't pay attention to traditional advertising. This is particularly true of the MTV generation-consumers between the age of 18 and 34.It's a golden group. They have a lot of money to spend, but they don't trust ads.

    So advertising agencies hire young actors to “perform” in bars and other places where young adults go. Some people might call this practice misleading, but marketing executive Jonathan Ressler calls it creative. “Look at traditional advertising. Its effectiveness is decreasing.” It is true, because everyone knows an ad is trying to persuade you to buy something. However, you don't know when a conversation you overhear is just a performance.

    Augustus Saint-Gaudens and his family immigrated to New York, America, from Dublin, Ireland, in 1848 when he was just six months old. As he grew up, Augustus liked racing his friends around the block, buying candies at the store, especially drawing—drawing pictures of the shoemakers at his father's shoe shop. At the age of 13, his father told him it was time to go to work. Augustus replied, "I should like it if I could do something which would help me to be an artist." He began as an apprentice to a cameo cutter out of stone and shell, and carved cameos of people, lions, and even the head of Hercules from Greek mythology, when the Civil War had just begun.

    At 19, with his earnings and his parents' support, he travelled to Paris and Rome for further training and artistic study. Before he left, he drew a portrait of his mother in pencil and sculpted a small bust(半身像) of his father out of clay. Then, 22-year-old Augustus opened an art studio in Rome and worked on his first life-sized sculpture, called Hiawatha. An art patron was impressed with this sculpture and promised to help Augustus "until your genius and labors shall have met with the reward to which I feel they are entitled".

    In 1876, Augustus was chosen to design a monument to the Civil War hero Admiral David Farragut of the U. S. Navy. Completed five years later, when he was 33, his first major sculpture for the U. S. was unveiled at Madison Square in New York City, the sculptor's boyhood home. One art critic called it "the best monument of the kind the city has to show". Then the giant Standing Lincoln in Lincoln Park, Chicago in a setting by architect White, 1884-1887, was considered the finest portrait statue in the U. S.

    However, in 1900, aged 52, his doctors told him he had cancer. Even though he was often ill, he continued to work at his home and studio in Cornish, New Hampshire.

    In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt requested that Augustus redesign American coins—to convey the strength of the nation. Augustus made lifelike pencil sketches of his coin designs. Yet, Augustus died in August 1907, two months before his l0-dollar and 20-dollar gold coins were issued. Augustus Saint-Gaudens had fulfilled his dream-and more! He was one of the greatest American sculptors not only of his day but also of all time.

    Today show's Kathie Lee Gifford is hoping to bring the story of David to a new generation with her latest musical project, The Little Giant.

    The 13-song album tells the story of the shepherd (牧羊人) boy who defeated a giant with five stones and a slingshot and became a king. The idea of the record came after Gifford and her husband Frank went on a life-changing trip to the Holy Land in 2012.

    Gifford hoped to shine light on David's story to help a new generation find their own purpose; it's why she decided to compose this album that invites kids to hear the tale of the shepherd in a fun and educational way. Gifford based the record's opening track "What is Your Stone" on bravery and faith. She hopes the songs can help children find confidence in themselves.

    Though the album is aimed towards families and children, Gifford found recording the story of David to be an exercise in healing after the death of her beloved husband Frank who passed away two years ago.

    "I catch myself saying that I lost him sometimes," Gifford says, "No, he hasn't been gone. The trip took root in my husband's life, because he truly came to understand exactly what David did. "

    Gifford says the trip and the teachings stayed with her husband until his death. 66For the next three years, when people came to visit us, they'd always see Frank's trophy (奖杯) room because it's like a museum," Gifford explained. "He would take them over. Instead of all of his trophies, he would point to the stones we brought back from the travelling destination and talk a out them. "

    Gifford expects her own journey, her new album and her commitment to bringing a bit of joy to people through her show can help inspire children to discover their own faith and purpose.

China successfully launched the Chang'e-6 spacecraft on Friday. A Long March-5rocket lifted it off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan. This was a huge success and a remarkable achievement for China's space exploration program. The launch not only shows China's advanced technological abilities but also makes scientists and space lovers around the world excited.

Collecting samples from the far side of the moon is a new thing for humanity. We have very little knowledge about this mysterious side. If the Chang'e-6 mission is successful, it will give scientists important and direct facts to know more about the far side's environment, geological features, and material make- up. This will be an important step forward in our exploration of the moon and the universe as a whole.

The Chang'e-6 spacecraft has an orbiter, a lander, an ascender（上升器）, and a returner. When it reaches the moon, it will land carefully on the far side. Within 48 hours after landing, a robot arm will carefully collect rocks and soil from the lunar surface. Also, a drill will go into the ground to take samples from deeper layers. At the same time, a series of complex scientific tests and analyses will be done to get valuable data.

The far side of the moon is very different from the side we can see. The Apollo basin in the South PoleAitken Basin is chosen as the landing and sampling place for the Chang'e-6 mission. This area is thought to have precious clues about the moon's formation and development, giving possible ideas about the early history of our celestial（天体）neighbor.

This mission has many technical difficulties and needs the latest technologies. It also gets help from international cooperation, showing the spirit of working together in the global search for space exploration. The exploration of the far side of the moon may provide valuable scientific data and open up new possibilities for future space activities, such as setting up long- term lunar bases and using lunar resources.

The success of the Chang'e-6 mission has the possibility to make more international cooperation in space exploration. It shows China's strong wish to add to the growth of global knowledge about the universe and encourages other countries to work together to find out the secrets of the universe.

My phone rang. It was a text from an unfamiliar number, showing a photo of a smiling man in his 30s. "What a strange picture to receive!" I thought to myself. 

For the past three years, I have been getting texts meant for this man, Jared. When the second text came, I was a playful sixth grader. 

"My Mom just told me that the Football Club will host a free barbeque dinner on Saturday! Hope you all will enjoy it, " it said. 

"YUMMMY!" I carefully responded. 

The story of Jared became deeper. I learned that he was part of the" Bowery Mission, " which sounded like a gaming group. Looking it up, I realized it was an organization that helped poor families. This was around the same time I stopped volunteering in my community. I spent more time taking art classes and trying different sports. I then joined the group texts. When a message came about donating food, I texted back, "Count me in!"

However, I started to feel bad about this lie. A man sent a long message, talking about the hopeless moments in his life. As I imagined what a good friend Jared could be, I felt ashamed that I was unable to provide the support this man needed and realized that I was not even a good listener to my own friends. 

Throughout this time, I noticed how much Jared's life has changed and I have also been discovering who I am. Learning from Jared, I have grown out of the naughty self, made more efforts tor my community, and become a more understanding friend. Last month, I received another text. Yet, I replied:" Hey, sorry, this is-not Jared, but I hope he is doing well. "