Word Out! 2009

Final Week’s Prizes (iPods) Drawn

August 31, 2009 | Word Out Team | Comments (12)

Check your emails–we've drawn the grand prize winners for the summer, so seven of you will receive iPod Shuffles, and one will get the grand prize of the iPod touch. I wish we could have given everyone a prize, but we don't have the budget to do that with around 2000 of you joining for […]

The “Farewell Until 2010” Post

August 31, 2009 | Word Out Team | Comments (16)

First of all, thank you to everyone who made Word Out! 2009 happen: the TPL staff, the authors and creators who gave their time, the celebrity guests at the BATTLE OF THE BOOKS, and most especially the teens who joined and contributed.   We didn't quite reach 4000 comments, but we came pretty close. 🙂 So what […]

We’ve Got Extra iPod Prizes!

August 28, 2009 | Word Out Team | Comments (44)

Great news! We ended up having some extra cash in the budget as we neared the end of the summer, so here's what's being done:

Nonfiction of the Week for August 24: The Bite of the Mango

August 28, 2009 | Word Out Team | Comments (24)

Nonfiction Book for August 24: The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara Here's an inspirational book for all you Word Out readers. Mariatu Kamara was twelve years old when a violent civil war broke out in her native Sierra Leone. A once happy and stable life spent with an extended family in a peaceful, […]

Help Plan Word Out! 2010

August 28, 2009 | Alan H. | Comments (26)

Hey Word Out-ers, The Toronto Public Library staff responsible for Word Out this year are already planning for next year, and your feedback is important to us. If you could find the time to take the end of summer youth survey it would help us out in our planning for next year. Update: End of summer survey […]

Graphic Novel of the Week for August 24: Groo – Hell on Earth

August 26, 2009 | Cameron | Comments (22)

Groo: Hell on Earth by Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier Dear sweet Groo is a truly misunderstand graphic novel character. He is written by Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragones. He is kind of like the three stooges of dimwitted Barbarians and he has been facing adventure after adventure (well kind of messing things up as […]

Seventh Week’s Prizes Drawn

August 24, 2009 | Word Out Team | Comments (54)

Check your email–we've drawn the prize winners for the August 17 - August 23 period and sent emails to the winners. Congratulations to the winners!  Next week we'll draw the grand prizes.

Random Book Prize Opportunity, Part 2

August 24, 2009 | Alan H. | Comments (22)

Hey Word Outers, I've got a copy of On the Record: the Scratch DJ Academy Guide (last week's nonfiction feature) to give away.

Fiction of the Week for August 24: The Hunger Games

August 24, 2009 | Word Out Team | Comments (38)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins I received this book as a gift from a friend who loves reading YA novels.  She knew I liked stories that take place in a post-apocalyptic world and she also knew about my reality show obsession, and of course that is what the Hunger Games is all about. 

What We Read Last Week – August 24

August 24, 2009 | Alan H. | Comments (32)

Oh no!  It’s the last What We Read Last Week post of Word Out! 2009.  Let’s make it a good one. Last week I started reading Frank Portman’s King Dork after Mariko Tamaki said it was “The best YA novel I’ve read in a long time” in her interview last week.  I’m about twenty pages from the […]