JoJos in the house

Foxborough singing sensation Joanna "JoJo" Levesque (right) took part in Jumpstart's Read for the Record event at Faneuil Hall. The teen star, who was joined by another JoJo - former Celtic Jo Jo White - and Mayor Tom Menino and Bruins alum Bob Sweeney, read "Corduroy." Now in its third year, the event bills itself as the largest shared reading experience in the country.

Booked solid at the BPL

New Boston Public Library head Amy Ryan had a jam-packed first day on the job Wednesday, touring the central collection, meeting staff, and breaking bread with Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe (above). "I understand it's a million square feet and I think I covered most of it," Ryan said. "I almost felt like I needed a GPS when I went in." Tribe read from his latest, "The Invisible Constitution," before attending a dinner with library board members and Bill and Angela Lowell. He avoided dishing on former student Barack Obama, but talked books at length with Ryan.

Thrill of the grill

Former boxing champ and grill-master George Foreman may be a spokesman for the healthy UFood Grill, but what he really loves is cheeseburgers. "I got hooked on cheeseburgers early in life," he said yesterday at the opening in Landmark Center. "There were seven of us kids. My mom would come home from work - she worked at a restaurant - and she'd have one burger, and we'd all be gathered around it. And I thought, 'One day, I'm going to have one of these for myself.' " Of course, now that he can afford all the burgers he wants, he's had to cut back to stay healthy. "Once you become an athlete, you have to work out and eat right forever."

Cassel's got some backup

Nick Lachey has Matt Cassel's back. The singer formerly known as Mr. Jessica Simpson told us yesterday he's a big believer in Cassel, and even thinks the Pats' untested QB could lead the team to the promised land. Although Lachey's a Cincinnati native who has season tickets for the Bengals, he, like Cassel, attended USC and he knows No. 16 a little. (Cassel didn't start for the Trojans because Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart were ahead of him.) "I think backing up two Heisman Trophy winners was a valuable experience for Matt, and obviously backing up Brady is big," he said. "Matt'll do a good job. . . . If I were a Patriots fan, the defense would be my bigger concern." Lachey was on the line yesterday to tout his work with V8 on Make Every Serving Count, an initiative to stock the nation's food banks with fresh produce.

Bernhard's denial

Comedian Sandra Bernhard is denying widely reported comments about vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, calling the quotes attributed to her "an absolute lie." A few weeks ago, Bernhard defended a segment of her one-woman show in Washington, D.C., in which she was reported to have said Palin would be "gang-raped by my big black brothers" if she came to New York. But in the wake of being cut from the Oct. 16 Rosie's Place benefit in Boston, Bernhard is now saying she never uttered those words. "I did not use the word 'rape,' " she told the Globe yesterday. "Have I called out Sarah Palin on her stand on women's reproductive rights? Darn right, I have. She is a dangerous person." Bernhard said she can't recall exactly what she said about Palin, because those bits were improvised. "I wouldn't want to paraphrase it," she said. "The only time I say the word is when I'm quoting her." The comedian said she would never joke about rape, or make racist comments, and that she has a record of supporting women's causes. She said she's debunking the quote now because she's sorry to have hurt Rosie's Place, and to have put the women's shelter in a tough position. "I feel really bad for them," she said, adding that she's making a donation to the organization. On Wednesday, Rosie's Place head Sue Marsh said the benefit, "Funny Women . . . Serious Business," would go on and that she was looking for a replacement for Bernhard. Marsh couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.

Brady aims to help students

Tom Brady shows his benevolent side in a new campaign to get college kids to combat poverty. The Pats QB has taped a commercial kicking off the ONE Campus Challenge, which seeks to get students involved in anti-poverty efforts across the US. "Winning a game is about the score, winning in life is about making the world a better place," says Brady. "The ONE Campus Challenge is one way to make a difference in the lives of others. . . . In a big game, a championship might be on the line. In the ONE Campus Challenge, lives are on the line." Gisele Bundchen's boyfriend has been a supporter of ONE since 2005. He has traveled to Africa with the organization to see the effects of AIDS and poverty on people living in Ghana and Uganda.

Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.