As it gets closer to that time of year (you know — PROM), you may begin to stress about the cost of it all: flowers, limo, dress, shoes, hair, nails, tickets… where does it end???  That stuff is not cheap. Well ladies, have I got a deal for you.

St. Anthony’s Bridal is hosting a Ciao Bella Prom Dress Giveaway. That’s right, I said giveaway!

This Sunday, April 19th at the Silver Spring Hilton, girls in 12th grade can receive a free, gently used prom dress as well as jewelry and shoes! You can’t beat that! Registration is required and this is only open to girls from Prince George’s, Montgomery and Fairfax Counties, along with the District of Columbia.

Don’t miss out on a way to save some major money and look beautiful at your prom

Have you ever read a book, listened to music, or watched a movie and thought to yourself: “Self, that was really awesome!” or “That was the worst piece of crap I have ever read/listened to/watched.”

Well, now you can share your thoughts on Library books, music and movies with other people. Yeah, that’s right. Our spiffy new Library Catalog allows you to leave reviews that everyone can see. Here’s an example:

In the catalog, if you click on where it says “10 reviews,” you’ll be able to read what people have already said, plus you’ll be able to write something yourself. Cool, huh?

You will need to register the first time – but it only takes an email and password.

The 2009 Teens’ Top Ten nominations are in and you have until the second week in October to read as many of these books as you can. Why, you ask?

Teens’ Top Ten is a “teen choice” list, where teens nominate and choose their favorite books of the previous year. Nominations are posted in April during National Library Week, and teens across the country vote on their favorite titles each year during Teen Read Week (October 18 – 24). Readers ages 12 – 18 are eligible to vote.

In the meantime, get reading! Here are your nominees:

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Untamed by Kristin & P.C. Cast

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Truancy by Isamu Fukui

Truancy: Origins by Isamu Fuku**

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Paper Towns by John Green

Runemarks by Joanne Harris**

Identical by Ellen Hopkins

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Daughter of the Flames by Zoe Marriott

Wake by Lisa McMann

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

Bloodline by Katy Moran

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Evermore by Alyson Noel

Geek Charming by Robin Palmer

Melting Stones by Tamora Pierce

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith

Wherever Nina Lies by Lynn Weingarten

Impossible by Nancy Werlin

Absolutely Maybe by Lisa Yee

**The Library does not own these titles, but you can request them through Marina with a library card (borrow them from another library system).

If anything can make people feel better, it’s chocolate, right?

Well, have I got good news for you! Mars, the maker of such classics as Snickers, Twix, M&Ms and 3 Musketeers, is sponsoring “Free Chocolate Fridays” from now until September. That means for anyone aged 13 and older, they will be giving away free downloadable coupons for full-size packages of candy to 250,000 entrants. Those are some pretty good odds

Check out the site here.

Can you absolutely NOT wait for the movie New Moon to come out? Well, I can’t make it come out any sooner, but I can tell you that an exclusive preview will be shown at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards.

So be sure to tune in on Sunday, May 31 at 9:00pm. And if you miss it? Sorry, then you have to wait until the movie is released on November 20.

Summer Reading 2009 is here! I know you are all excited – please try and contain yourselves…

In the past, when you signed up for Summer Reading, you got a reading log (had to read 4 books) and when you turned it in received a small prize — usually a pencil, bookmark or something like that. Well, you all told us that didn’t really get you excited to participate and this year we listened to you.

Here are your options for participating this summer:

1. Read 2 books
2. Read 1 book and write a review
3. Attend a library program

Easy enought, right? Every time you do one of these things, you get entered into a drawing for a prize. And the prizes are… $25 Visa gift cards and 2 Nintendo Wiis. Quite an improvement over pencils and bookmarks.

So, get to registering, people. Here’s the link. Happy Summer Reading!

Check out the free events happening at all the libraries in Prince George’s County this summer as part of the Summer Reading Program…

You’ll find:

• Gaming
• Mehndi and Body Art
• Manga and Comic Drawing
• Jewelry Making
• and more!!

So don’t forget — if you’re registered for the Teen Summer Reading Program, every time you attend a library event, you get entered into a drawing for a prize! It doesn’t get any easier than that.

So if it’s not already easy enough to come to the library and borrow free books, now you can join publisher Simon and Schuster’s new Pulse It site and they will offer 2 new books every month for you to read.

Here’s the catch — you have to register and create a profile, be between the ages of 14 and 18, and you have 60 days to read the book you choose.

After that, you can comment, review or share whatever else you thought about it with other teens on the site.

If you’re interested, check it out.

Some of you may think that being in the music program at school is a drag. Others are probably obsessed with it. Either way, the talent spectrum in elementary, middle and even high school is kind of all over the place — some kids are really good, and some aren’t.

But that is NOT the case with PS22’s Choir. They are awesome, as you can see here. And they cover a lot of current stuff. Pretty inspiring! Check out what else they’ ve done.