Teens


Youth Poet Laureate

The Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center (MoSt Poetry), in partnership with the Stanislaus County Library, Stanislaus County Office of Education, and MJC’s School of Language Arts and Education, is happy to announce the contest is open for 2024 Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate (YPL) program. Applications for the program, which brings Stanislaus County youth the opprtunity to create positive change in their communities through activism and art, opened October 27, 2023, to students ages 15 to 19 who reside or attend schools in Stanislaus County.

Click here to view the Press Release. Click here for the Application.


A light brown area that looks like torn paper with the words Teen Book Box in black on a white background is on the left. On the right is a map of parts of Stanislaus County and San Joaquin County.

Teen Book Box Information

Register today for a Teen Book Box! Each box in this FREE teen subscription program will contain a handpicked reading recommendation based on your preferences, treats, and swag. Return the book and box by their due date but keep the treats and swag. Teens can register each month for another exciting box, to be picked up at the Stanislaus County Library location of their choosing. Register here. Is the list full? Mark your calendars, a new list opens the first of every month.



Homework Help

Ahhhhhhh! Is there no end to this dreaded Homework? Soon enough, but until that time here's some really great sites that'll help you build a strong brain and maybe lessen the pain and confusion created by even your favorite teacher.

  • FactMonster - A little lighter than the others, and a bit more fun.

  • Biography Reference Center: A comprehensive collection of full-text and unique narrative biographies from many of the top-ranked biographical reference collections and magazines.
  • Explora Middle School Resources: Designed for middle school students. Includes information on thousands of subjects including art, music, literature, language, geography, history, world cultures, science, technology, and more.
  • Explora High School Resources: Designed for high school students, includes information on arts, literature, biographies, business, government, current issues, health, science, and more.
  • LearningExpress Library College Admissions Test Preparation: Prepare for college entrance exams: ACT, SAT, PSAT/NMSQT, AP exams, the TOEFL iBT and IELTS tests, and college admissions essay writing.
  • LearningExpress Library High School Equivalency Center: Study and prepare for the GED® test, HiSET®, or TASC™. Includes practice tests, interactive tutorials, and eBooks to help you.
  • LearningExpress Library School Center: Provides eLearning support to students of all ages for academic skill-building, standardized test prep, college entrance exam prep, career certification test prep and more.

Art and Music

Books to Read

English

  • Classic Reader - Read and search a large collection of classic books online by authors such as Dickens, Austen, Shakespeare and many others.
  • MLA Citation - Cornell University outlines the most used Modern Language Association citation formats.
  • Teen Lit - Publish your own poetry, essays and short stories.
  • CliffsNotes - Read a large selection of literature notes online for free.
  • SparkNotes - Get study guides online for English, history, math, science, and many other subject areas.
  • Writing Prompts - Find inspiration for creative journaling and writing from the Creativity Portal.

Fun and Entertainment

  • Internet Movie Database - Find movie plot summaries, cast lists, actor biographies, trivia, awards, and quotations.
  • Letterboxing - Letterboxing is an intriguing pastime combining navigational skills and rubber stamp art in a treasure hunt style outdoor activity.
  • Puzzlemaker - Create crosswords, mazes, math puzzles, word searches and more.

History

  • dMarie Time Capsule - Create your own online time capsule. Enter a date, pick from the top headlines and famous people born, top hits, top TV shows, hot new toys released, and top books released.
  • HyperHistory - An expanding scientific project presenting 3,000 years of world history with interactive lifelines, time lines, and maps.
  • History Place - Presents a fact-based approach to the history of humanity.
  • Digital History - Roam through time with this extensive history resource.

Math

  • Martindale's Calculators Online - Find over 20,000 different calculator links. A huge resource for nearly calculation need imaginable.
  • Math.com - Find definitions, in-depth descriptions, examples and workout problems for basic math topics.
  • Crucial.com.au - Explore links to helpful math and science websites from all over the world.

Projects

Some of your teachers ask you to do projects that can seriously bend your mind. Here at the Stanislaus County Library we're collecting sites that will help you with these specific projects. If you have a project that you're having a tough time with drop us a line and we'll try to add it to this list.

Reference

  • Infoplease Homework Center - Covers geography, history, language arts, math, science, social studies and more.
  • Bartleby.com - Search their online books of quotations, biographies, encyclopedias, fact books, and classic literature.
  • Guinness Book of World Records - Be amazed by the Web version of the popular record book. Includes a place to submit your own records and record attempts.
  • Occupational Outlook Handbook - Learn about all the different types of careers and how to get involved in them with this tool from the US Bureau of Labor Services.

Science

  • Science Buddies - Use the Topic Selection Wizard to help you find science projects that are of interest to you. Plus a Project How-To Guide to take you step by step through your project and an Ask an Expert forum for those science questions you just can’t answer.
  • Science Fair Central - Find what you need to know to create a great science fair project….brought to you by the Discovery Channel.
  • Exploratorium - Visit online the museum of science, art and human perception.
  • How Stuff Works - Ever wonder how space elevators, electromagnets or zippers work? Find answers here.
  • Nova Online - Follow up information from programs seen on the PBS Nova television program.
  • Crucial.com.au - Explore links to helpful math and science websites from all over the world.
    • Einstein's Big Idea - Explore a multitude of resources gathered by PBS for their special presentation based on David Bodanis’ bestselling book E=mc²: Biography of the World’s Most Famous Equation.
    • Einstein-Image and Impact - Read about Einstein's astounding theory of relativity and his discovery of the quantum, his thoughtful philosophy, and his rise above a turbulent life including marriages and exile.

Book Lists for Teens

Made by your friendly neighborhood Stanislaus County Librarians. Want more? Ask us, we don't bite!

Pocket Lists - lists so tiny you can put 'em in your pocket! Title, author, and tag-line makes finding a new book quick and easy. Also makes a great bookmark.

Want more? These lists have everything the Pocket Lists have and more! #forreals There is a more detailed description of the Pocket List books but, since we have more room, we added more books as well.

Kids Book Lists