Did you hear about the wolf spider so big that it took several shots to kill it?  Did you know that Mr. Rogers was a Marine Sniper in Vietnam or that you can prevent Facebook from using your posts by including a simple copyright notification?  What about Manti Te'o’s internet "girlfriend?"

Everything you just read was a lie. How many of you have actually been taken in by one of these hoaxes?  (I'll admit to believing that Mr. Rogers was a sniper.)  Often it's one of your friends sharing it through Facebook or Twitter.  Other times you hear about it on the local news.  How do you know when something is legit?  Is there any way to tell? 

We think so.  That’s why the San José public library is offering the "News Know How" program this summer at the new Educational Park Branch.  We're bringing in real reporters to show you how to separate fact from opinion and hoax from reality.  For two weeks you’ll work with Reporters, Librarians, and your fellow teens to create your own project (check out last year's projects).  Now you may be asking yourself.  Why should I spend two precious weeks of my summer actually learning?  Well, not only will your project be presented online for you to show off, you'll also receive a stipend (read money) for going through the program. 

The program will run for approximately five hours a day Monday through Friday from June 17 to June 28, 2013. Once you've applied you will be contacted in order to schedule an interview. Interviews will begin May 1, 2013 and continue until all the spots are filled. Please contact Erik Berman (Erik.Berman@sjlibrary.org) if you have any questions.

Applications are now live.  Click here to be taken to the registration page.    Once you've completed the application, you will recieve an email with additional information.

Who do you trust for your daily news? CNN, Fox News, NBC, CBS, The Drug Report, Reuters, the Huffington Post? We have so much news coming in so fast and so frequently that it can feel like you can never catch up with the latest Supreme Court decision or celebrity gaffe.  (I just checked my smart phone and two new articles have been released on my favorite news app.)  Knowing who to believe and how to evaluate the credibility of a given article is becoming more important than ever thanks to the influx of news sources and corporate news agencies, be it independent blogs or even the posts from your local library (which of course are impeccably credible).   

That's why the San José Public Library, with the help of American Library Association and the Open Society Foundations, is offering the News Know How media literacy program this June at the newly opening library, Educational Park.  The Library will be recruiting 15 students to participate in a special two week crash course in media literacy.  Students will learn how to critically evaluate the news they see every day.  They will spot misinformation and propaganda; they will check sources and distinguish between a reporter's fact and opinions.  In the end, as teams, they will produce their own report, sharing what they learned with the rest of the world.

The program will run for aproximately five hours a day June 17 - 28, 2013 at the Educational Park Branch of the San José Public Library.  Participants must commit to the full two weeks and to completing the final project.  In return they will receive a stipend.

Any teen interested in the program should follow this link to register.    Applicants will recieve an email with instructions concerning the next step.

Deadly by Julie Chibbaro can be found on Link+.  After reading an article about strong female lead characters in an article by Joanna H. Kraus in the San Jose Mercury News, I became interested in reading the titles she recommended.  Of course, this was after reading the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  I was interested in reading other young adult titles with strong female protagonists like Katniss Everdeen.

Prudence is a young lady who is much more interested in learning about science in the male-dominated early 1900's.  She applies as an assistant to an epidemiologist, Mr. Soper.  Soon, Prudence finds herself involved in finding the cause of several typhoid epidemics around the city. 

This tale is a fictional account of what happened to Typhoid Mary.  Mary Mallon was the first person who was identified as a healthy carrier of the typhoid disease.  It was unheard of at that time for a healthy person to spread disease.  Trying to convince the public, the courts, and Mary Mallon becomes an uphill struggle. 

Julie Chibbaro is also the author of Redemption, also a Link+ book.

Award winning Canadian author Miriam Toews (pronounces Taves)  has won awards for her complicated and slow-moving novels featuring young adults who, marked by traumatic events, are forced to leave their home communities and seek new beginnings. 

19 year old Canadian born Irma Voth lives on the fringe of a Mennonite farming community in northern Mexico. Estranged from her Mexican husband and isolated from her Mennonite relatives and neighbors, she leads a lonely existence until hired as a translator for film crew.  Threatened by her father, and haunted by past memories, she flees, not to  Canada, as expected, but to Mexico City.

Here, in an interview with a Canadian broadcaster, Toews discusses her life and the writing of Irma Voth.

Toews drew inspiration for Irma Voth  from her early Mennonite upbringing and her experience as an actress in  Silent Light. She is featured in scenes in this film clip.