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2021 Nutmeg Nominees:
It's Time to Vote!
The Nutmeg Book Award is the only book award in the state where KIDS pick the winner. Voting on the 2021 Nutmeg nominees begins on April 1 and lasts until April 30.
Nominees have been divided into four categories: Elementary (Grades 2-3), Intermediate (Grades 4-6), Middle School (Grades 7-8), and High School (Grades 9-12).
Stop into the library to vote for your favorite or click the links below to cast your vote digitally. All students who cast a vote will be entered into a raffle for one of three $5 gift cards to Dairy Queen.
Winners will be announced on May 15th and next year’s nominees will be announced on May 1st.
For a complete list of 2021 nominees in each category, visit our Nutmeg Books page HERE.
Volunteer Opportunities for Teens
Rather than having in-person volunteers at this time, we encourage you to work on projects that help the library and your community from home. Complete these activities on your own and then send us a picture and we will award you the amount of "hours" listed here. Have fun!
Activity
Come up with program ideas for virtual and in-person teen and kids' programs you would like to see at the Portland Library.
Send cards or letters to nursing home residents.
Sign up to review books through the Page Turners programs at
Words Alive (www.wordsalive.org/page-turners)
Complete a library-themed Tik-Tok challenge that we can post to
our Instagram page
Participate in our library Covid-19 collection: submit photos and
written pieces about your experiences
Paint kindness rocks for our community rock garden
Create Kahoot! questions and games for trivia with younger kids
or other teens
Create original artwork or poetry to fill the teen art bulletin board
Make face masks to donate to people who need them
Register to write letters to people in need through
www.moreloveletters.com. Choose a person from the list to write
to or nominate someone you know to receive letters
Create a video signing “Thank you for your Courage” in American
Sign Language, upload it to social media, and use the hashtags
#Courage4Heroes and #OperationGratitude.
Hours Awarded
1 hour per three ideas
1 hour per five cards
1 hour per three reviews
1 hour per two videos
1 hour per five pictures or two paragraphs of journals
1 hour per two rocks
1 hour per ten questions
Varies
1 hour per two masks
1 hour per three letters
1 hour per video
YALSA 2020 Teen Top Ten Winners Announced
The Teens' Top Ten is a "teen choice" list, where teens nominate and choose their favorite books of the previous year! Nominators are members of teen book groups in fifteen school and public libraries around the country. Readers ages twelve to eighteen vote online for their favorite titles from the list below between August 15-October 12 on the Teens' Top Ten site.
Winners of the 2020 Teens Top 10 are listed below. For a complete list of nominees, check out the video below. For complete book descriptions for each title,visit the annotated list HERE.
2020 Teens' Top Ten Announced!
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Wayward Son (Simon Snow, #2) by Rainbow Rowell.
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Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell. Illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks.
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With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo.
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Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.
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Broken Throne: A Red Queen Collection by Victoria Aveyard.
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#MurderFunding (#MurderTrending #2) by Gretchen McNeil.
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We Hunt the Flame (Sands of Arawiya) by Hafsah Faizal.
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Lovely War by Julie Berry
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Wilder Girls by Rory Power.
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The Memory Thief by Lauren Mansy.
Reading Lists
Great Booklists for Teens
Teen Reads Ultimate Reading List
Epic Reads: booklists, quizzes, games and more!
YALSA's Teen Top Ten 2018 Nominees!
YALSA's Teens Top Ten 2017 Booklist: YALSA's top picks from 2017.
YALSA's Teens Top Ten 2016 Booklist: YALSA's top picks from 2016.
Summer Reading Flowchart: Follow this flowchart of great books to find the perfect read for you!
Read-alikes for Fans of Divergent and The Hunger Games For fans of Divergent and The Hunger Games
Homework Help
Not sure where to start? Stop by or call and we will help you use these resources.
School Links
General
WolframAlpha: Find answers and statistics based on computational data. Lots of charts and graphs!
BJ Pinchbeck's Homework Helper: Great site offering free help in math, science, English and more!
Discovery Education Classroom Resources: Click on Student to find Homework Help and other helpful resources.
Homework Spot: A search engine of homework sites for grades K-12.
Math & Science
Interactive Mathmatics: Learn math by playing with it!
Fun Mathematics Lessons: learn math through games and puzzles
History & Social Studies
U.S. Census Bureau's Statistical Abstract
English & Literature
Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL)
Absolute Shakespeare: everything about Shakespeare!