We challenge you to think about our Pass the Book, Scott Westerfeld’s The Secret Hour!   Post an answer and be entered into a prize drawing.  (Remember to keep it fun and keep it clean.)

This week’s challenge is….

How many words can you make from this 39-letter phrase:  accordionists orchestrating embarrassment?

Post your answers in the comments below, before midnight on Monday, September 13, 2010, and we’ll put your name in a drawing for a free personal pan pizza.  (Thanks Pizza Hut!)  We contact winners using the e-mail addresses you give us, so don’t forget to check your inbox.

Didn’t find this challenge until after September 13?  Don’t worry!  Post your answer, anyway, and we’ll put your name in another drawing at the end of Pass the Book (in October 2010.)

Remember to read, register, and pass.  Good luck!

We challenge you to think about our Pass the Book, Scott Westerfeld’s The Secret Hour!   Post an answer and be entered into a prize drawing.  (Remember to keep it fun and keep it clean.)

This week’s challenge is….

Who is your favorite Midnighter?  Why?

Post your answers in the comments below, before midnight on Monday, August 30, 2010, and we’ll put your name in a drawing for a free personal pan pizza.  (Thanks Pizza Hut!)  We contact winners using the e-mail addresses you give us, so don’t forget to check your inbox.

Didn’t find this challenge until after August 30?  Don’t worry!  Post your answer, anyway, and we’ll put your name in another drawing at the end of Pass the Book (in October 2010.)

Remember to read, register, and pass.  Good luck!

Here at Pass the Book Headquarters we were pleased to see another long-range pass this week as book 87 was passed 2300 miles from Elkridge, MD to Phoenix, AZ. Arizona is the sixteenth state to host one of our specially-marked copies of The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld, and this 2300 mile pass is a significant entry in our longest pass contest, which ends this Sunday, August 15, 2010.

This long pass is not our only highlight this week. Book 33 was registered with a third reader in Germantown this week too, and book 442 was registered locally for the first time. Here are the details:

• Books have been registered 310 times since we launched Pass the Book in October 2009.
• 223 copies of The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld are being actively registered and passed.
• Book 562 has been registered six times.
• Book 446 has been registered five times.
• Three books have been registered four times.
• Fourteen books have been registered three times
• Forty-nine books have been registered twice.

Readers have passed these books to sixteen states and seven countries so far, and we’re always watching to see where these books are sent next. Where would you like to send a copy of our 2010 Pass the Book title?

Our “farthest pass” contest has lent an international flavor to Pass the Book in recent weeks, and this week is no different. Thanks to some intrepid and creative book-passers, books found their way to two new countries this week, and we recorded two 3000 mile-plus passes in the same week!

Book 144, first registered in Columbia on June 17, was registered 3670 miles away in Bergen, Norway on July 30. Meanwhile, book 441 traveled quickly from Ellicott City to the waterfront on the east side of Dublin in the Republic of Ireland, a distance of 3368 miles.

Seven different countries have now played host to a Pass the Book copy of The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld! In addition to the U.S., you’ve sent books to Canada, the U.K, China, Russia, Norway and Ireland. Way to go! Book 37 was also registered for the first time this week. Here are the details of this week’s activity:

144 Bergen, Norway 2010-07-30 18:20:20

37 Ellicott City, MD 21043, USA 2010-07-31 10:48:42

441 Sutton, Dublin 13, Co. Fingal, Ireland 2010-08-05 06:00 PM

• Books have been registered 307 times since October 2009.
• 222 copies of The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld are being actively registered and passed.
• Book 562 has been registered six times.
• Book 446 has been registered five times.
• Three books have been registered four times.
• Thirteen books have been registered three times
• Forty-eight books have been registered twice.

This has been a big international week. Remember, our longest pass contest comes to a close on August 15, so you still have some time to pass your book as far as you can. We’ll  be watching, so don’t forget to register, read and pass the book!

If you’re still looking for your Westerfeld fix this summer, join us for one of our 2010 Book Camps.

Book camps are based around your favorite young adult series titles.  Each camp features crafts and activities, pizza for dinner, and a movie screening that is related to the books.  For fans of Pass the Book, there are two camps coming up based on the works of Scott Westerfeld.

On Monday August 9, join us at 3 pm at the Glenwood Branch for activities based around the Uglies series of books, pizza, and a screening of the movie Outsiders. You’re invited to register today.

On Thursday August 12, you’re invited to join us at the Savage Branch at 3:30 pm for an evening of Pass the Book and Midnighters-themed activities, as well as pizza, and a screening of the movie Gremlins. Register now.

Want more Book Camp?  There are four more book camps scheduled in August.  Fullmetal Alchemist fans can register for the August 4 camp at the East Columbia Branch.  Fans of Eragon can register for the August 10 camp at the Central Library.  Harry Potter fans can register for the August 17 camp at the Elkridge Branch.  Ranger’s Apprentice fans can register for the August 26 event at the Miller Branch.

Each Book Camp has something for everyone.  We’ll see you there soon!

Book camps are sponsored by Pizza Hut.

We challenge you to think about our Pass the Book, Scott Westerfeld’s The Secret Hour!   Post an answer and be entered into a prize drawing.  (Remember to keep it fun and keep it clean.)

This week’s challenge is….

How many words can you make from this 39-letter phrase: masterminding gossipmongers eavesdropping?

Post your answers in the comments below, before midnight on Monday, August 16, 2010, and we’ll put your name in a drawing for a free personal pan pizza.  (Thanks Pizza Hut!)  We contact winners using the e-mail addresses you give us, so don’t forget to check your inbox.

Didn’t find this challenge until after August 16?  Don’t worry!  Post your answer, anyway, and we’ll put your name in another drawing at the end of Pass the Book (in October 2010.)

Remember to read, register, and pass.  Good luck!

The life of one of our more interesting books got even more interesting this week, when book #484 moved even farther away from Columbia, MD… or maybe it got closer, depending on how you look at it. Book #484 started out the week 7500 miles away in Henan, China, and was registered on Wednesday in Derevnya Bogachevka, Kamchatka, which is part of the Russian Federation, but is geographically closer to the U.S. than to Europe.

Book #484 moved 3000 miles from Henan to Kamchatka, and is now 5100 miles from Columbia, MD,  across the Pacific Ocean and North America.  Already our farthest-traveled book, book #484 has clocked up 10,000 miles plus, and this week’s pass of almost 3000 miles makes this a book of interest in this summer’s farthest pass contest.

Pass the Book copies have been registered in five countries; Canada, The United Kingdom, China, Russia and the United States, as well as fifteen U.S. states: California, Colorado, D.C, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.

Book #484 isn’t our only long-distance read. As a reminder, here are the rest of our high-mileage copies:

• Book #562 has traveled 3700 miles, visiting six readers in five states.
• Book #183 has traveled 3630 miles in a single pass, to Harpenden, Herts, U.K.
• Book #585 has traveled to Exeter, Devon, England, 3520 miles away
• Book #542 was passed from Laurel, MD to San Francisco, CA, a distance of 2818 miles.
• Book #207 made the leap to Elma, WA, 2831 miles from its starting point in Elkridge.
• Books #101 and #130 have traveled 2600 miles from Columbia, MD, to Torrance and Laguna Beach, CA.

Three other books were registered locally this week, all for the first time:

Here are the latest totals:

• Books have been registered 304 times since October 2009.
• 221 copies of The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld are being actively registered and passed.
• Book 562 has been registered six times.
• Book 446 has been registered five times.
• Three books have been registered four times.
• Thirteen books have been registered three times
• Forty-six books have been registered twice.

Keep registering, reading and passing specially-marked copies of The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld when you find them! We can’t wait to see where your books end up next.

Yesterday was another milestone day at Pass the Book headquarters as we recorded our 300th pass! Book 446 was registered for the fifth time yesterday in Ellicott City, finding a fifth reader and being recorded as our 300th registration. Great work, book-passers, and special congratulations to those of you who are keeping book 446 moving! In addition to this exciting event, two other books were registered for the first time this week to get us to 300. Book 87 was registered in Elkridge, and book 457 began its journey in Ellicott City.  Here are the details:

The news from Ellicott City this week gives us some exciting numbers to report:

• Books have been registered 300 times since October 2009.
• 218 copies of The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld are being actively registered and passed.
• Book 562 has been registered six times.
• Book 446 has been registered five times.
• Three books have been registered four times.
• Thirteen books have been registered three times
• Forty-five books have been registered twice.

Keep reading, registering and passing the book! We’re always waiting for the next surprise or milestone. Don’t forget that we’re looking for the three longest passes made this summer. Register your book, then send it to someone who will register it as far away from Columbia, MD as possible. If you launch one of our three farthest-traveled copies before August, we’ll have a prize for you, and for the person you’ve passed the book to.  Check back next week for another update on Pass the Book by the Numbers.

We challenge you to think about our Pass the Book, Scott Westerfeld’s The Secret Hour!   Post an answer and be entered into a prize drawing.  (Remember to keep it fun and keep it clean.)

This week’s challenge is….

In The Secret Hour, mindcaster Melinda says she “tasted loneliness dry and powdery as chalk.”  If loneliness tastes dry and powdery like chalk, what might other emotions taste like?

Post your answers in the comments below, before midnight on Monday, August 2, 2010, and we’ll put your name in a drawing for a free personal pan pizza.  (Thanks Pizza Hut!)  We contact winners using the e-mail addresses you give us, so don’t forget to check your inbox.

Didn’t find this challenge until after August 2?  Don’t worry!  Post your answer, anyway, and we’ll put your name in another drawing at the end of Pass the Book (in October 2010.)

Remember to read, register, and pass.  Good luck!

As Howard County’s middle and high-school students make waves with the 2010 summer reading club, three more books were passed this week. Book 33 was passed from Elkridge to Laurel,  book 143 was registered in Columbia for the second time, and book 350 was registered there for the first time.

• Books have been registered 297 times since October 2009.  Three more registrations are needed for us to record 300 passes!
• There are now 216 copies of The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld being actively passed.
• Book #562 has been registered six times.
• Four books have been registered four times.
• Thirteen books have been registered three times
• Forty-five books have been registered twice.

Remember, we’re on the lookout for the longest pass that you can make this summer. Between July 1 and August 15 we’re on the lookout for the three copies of Scott Westerfeld’s The Secret Hour that are registered the furthest distance from Howard County Library.  Prizes will be awarded to the three people who pass those books and the three people who register those books, so make sure you register the book before you pass it! We can’t wait to see where you send these books. Check back next week for an update on Pass the Book by the Numbers.