For the three weeks leading up to our Library Book Fair next week, we've had a Peeps Hunt Contest. Each Monday we've hidden a marshmallow Peep somewhere in the library, and the first student to find it wins a $10 gift certificate to the book fair.
I anticipated the admin's objection to sugary candy lying around in the library and possibly drawing ants by painting each Peep with a layer of Elmer's glue to seal it. I also anticipated the way kids are sneaky and occasionally dishonest by spray-painting each Peep a different, secret color. (So a kid wouldn't be tempted to buy a package of Peeps, sneak one into the library, and say, "Look, I found it!")
Week 2: The Blue Peep
The first Peep was found in about 5 minutes.
The penultimate Peep was discovered after about 7 minutes.
The final Peep, though, I inadvertently hid VERY well, apparently. It was sitting on a very bottom shelf in the corner, atop a book on Egypt. This was the black Peep, so it was harder to spot in its shadowed location.
Week 3: The Black Peep
By the third week there were plenty of kids who were aware of the contest, and determined to get the last gift certificate. I counted at least 30 students who filled the library as soon as lunch started (that's when I said the hunt would begin) and immediately spread out and began frenziedly searching.
After 10 minutes no one had found it, and they were all clamoring for hints. One of the girls eyed the two eraser hamsters that sit on my monitor and said, "I bet THEY know where it's hidden."
I said, "Maybe I didn't tell them."
She smirked, "I think they see EVERYTHING that goes on in here."
After 15 minutes the Peep was still undiscovered. I started thinking I might have to let it stay there until after school, when they could search for it some more. But in the meantime they were racing up and down the aisles, peering under tables and chairs, knocking into each other, the panic building...
One of the boys kept saying, "Found it!" even though he hadn't, just to screw with the other kids' heads. They kept yelling at him to stop saying that. I couldn't help snickering.
More and more kids were coming up to me, eyes wild, begging for hints.
"Is it in the locked cabinet?" (No, of course not.)
"Is it up higher than where we can see?" (Duh, NO.)
"What color is it this week?" (Not telling.)
I had to tell them that it was definitely not anywhere behind my desk, so they didn't converge in my work space.
I could see the artificial ficus trees at the back of the library thrashing and shaking like there was a hurricane blowing through the room.
"Hey!" I yelled, "I did not hide it anywhere that requires DESTROYING anything!"
I realized the library would never survive more hunting after school, so I had to start giving hints.
"Okay, first hint: Neither of the eraser hamsters can see the Peep from where they're sitting."
Eraser hamsters
One of the kids said, "The brown one is missing his left eye, is that important?!"
"No," I sighed. "Just pretend he has both eyes."
The kids began assessing the hamsters' lines of sight, which was pretty funny. But the clock was ticking away and still they weren't finding that stupid Peep. Meanwhile, there were a bunch of other kids working on the computers, printing stuff, and checking books out. I was ready for lunch to end.
One of the Peep-hunters ran up to the desk and asked earnestly in a rush, "Do you have a ladder?"
"Okay everybody!" I yelled, "Second hint: the Peep is LOW."
All 30-some Peep-hunters dropped to all fours throughout the library, and it sort of looked like a covert military maneuver. One of the high schoolers hanging out by my desk shook his head in amusement. Most of the hunters were junior high kids.
I thought for SURE they would find it after that hint, but a few more minutes passed.
One of the kids asked, "What if somebody ATE it?"
I said they'd be very sick because it's covered in a layer of glue and spray paint.
The cleanup bell rang.
"Third hint: EGYPT!" I yelled.
In the resulting chaos, one of the kids yelled, "What? Regis? Did he say Regis?"
"Not Regis, EGYPT!" I clarified, wondering if that was a Regis Philbin reference. Do teenagers even know who Regis Philbin is?
There was a chorus of exclamations and squeals, thundering of feet, etc. Finally the sounds of triumph and disappointment as an 8th grade girl claimed the prize.
Whew!
The cool thing is that because of the nature of this particular school (college-prep academy with high standards) the girl who found the Peep went through the Egypt section and straightened it up for me of her own volition, because she had noticed what a mess it was after the frenzy of the hunt.
Incidentally, I ate a few stale Peeps last night. They really do taste like shit.
"Read, Know, Grow," plus a sneak peek at the upcoming book fair
Okay, after processing a bunch of new books we were able to order with profits from our Amazon Associates Account, I finally added wording to the Library Pinwheel Bunnies board. The Librarian suggested the old stand-by, "Read, Know, Grow..." Simple and springy.
I just printed the letters out using the "Curlz" font on green paper.
I also printed out some sneak preview pages from the Mrs. Nelson's Book Fair website. We're hosting one of their fairs the last week this month, right before we all go on spring break.
By the way, the background on this bulletin board is striped because I didn't have enough of any one of these colors. Time to hit the school supply store, again.
After spring break the only things I'll have to change right away are the Easter Eggs and book fair preview pages. That'll buy me some time.
Our district is planning to lay off all the credentialed Teacher Librarians again this year. They threatened that last year, but this year the general consensus is that it will really happen. By law the district has to keep ONE Teacher Librarian, but how effective is that going to be, for 18 school sites? Please. Anyway, this will mean all of us Library technicians will have almost no support at all, and have to establish new parameters as far as what we're willing to do, and what we're NOT. Some services will have to go by the wayside. One person can only do so much.
Anyway, that's one of the reasons I'm thinking bulletin board decorations may be low on the priorities list when we get back. There's already lots of angst and drama and resentments brewing. Easter Bunny better bring me some f*cking Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs.
It's a blurry cell phone pic, but you get the idea.
There's a class that meets in the library 4 days a week. In early December, their teacher was organizing a Secret Santa gift exchange, and asked them each to write down 2 or 3 things they would like, to give their Secret Santas some ideas for gifts.
After the class left that day, I found the above slip of paper lying on the floor. I stashed it in my desk because I thought it was funny, and forgot all about it until I recently re-discovered it.
We're having a book fair in the school library. To create excitement for it, I thought it would be cool to do a contest and give out three $10 gift certificates to the book fair. We could give one out each week for the three weeks leading up to the fair.
Seasonally speaking, we have Easter to work with, which is pretty fun. So... Peeps, right?
Instead of an egg hunt, we're doing a Peeps Marshmallow Bunny hunt. Each week a special Peeps Bunny will be hidden somewhere in the library, and the student who finds it first wins that week's gift certificate, to be redeemed at the Book Fair at the end of the month.
Secret Silver Peep
When I first emailed the Principal to get her approval for our contest, I forgot to mention that I'd be coating and spray-painting the Peep. So this was her first response:
Would you be willing to hide plastic colored
eggs with a specially marked message inserted rather than the marshmallow
bunny? We definitely support the promotional idea!
To which I responded:
Is the marshmallow bunny a
problem because it’s food and might attract bugs or something? Because I had a
plan for that. I was going to paint them with sealant and then spraypaint them
a different secret color each week. Does it help that they would be inedible
and coated with sealant?
It’s
not that I wouldn’t be willing to do plastic colored eggs instead, but Peeps
bunnies sure would be more INTERESTING, in my humble opinion.
Plus, I
wanted to use the slogan, “HOP on over to the Library Book Fair and take a PEEP
at what’s new!”
But
whatever you say goes, boss. ;)
So she wrote back: Yes, the issue was that it was a sugary food
item, but sounds like you in your great wisdom thought through all of the
administration's possible objections. So , Peeps it will be since you are making them inedible and
using a sealant.
I'm assuming that was the most inane conversation of her day. Oh- and another good reason to paint the Peep a secret color is to keep sneaky kids from trying to claim the prize with just any old Peep from the store. The only promotion I had a chance to do last week was to put up a bulletin board (at the beginning of this post) with a message about the contest, and to put the contest info on the "date due" slips we put in all the books that check out. But even with that minimal amount of PR, we had a bunch of kids asking about it first thing this morning. I let them all know that the secret Peep would be hidden by lunchtime, and the hunt would start then.
Where is it?
There it is! Do you see it?
A group of very determined girls came flying into the library at lunch and hunted for about 15 minutes. We watched them pass right by the hidden Peep several times. Then finally, shortly before lunch was over, one of them spotted it, and won the first gift certificate.
Now the other kids are jealous, but I've been assuring them that we have 2 more Peep hunts before the Book Fair.
Bless me Father, for I have sinned.
I'm not even Catholic, but my guilt has driven me to confess. Please help me find forgiveness in the eyes of (insert Higher Power of choice).
I had been noticing that one of our library regulars here in the school library kept telling me she had this or that book on her Kindle already. Recent releases, and LOTS of them. Finally I made some comment about how much money she or her parents must be spending on all of these eBooks.
She gave a sidelong look and muttered, "Yeah... not really..."
To cut to the chase, kids know how to get digital files for free, illegally. They are EXPERTS at it. They do it constantly, like breathing. Apparently without compunction.
I knew this, but hadn't applied this knowledge to eBooks, yet. There's so much digital literary content that's free LEGALLY, and I'm very aware of DRM issues (digital rights management) since I work in a public school library, and am a writer myself. Obviously I have a high regard/respect for creators' rights.
When this student first told me about "torrents," and illegally downloading bestselling eBook files, I was horrified and disappointed. I made it clear that such a thing is WRONG, and not fair at all to the writers or publishers. After that, whenever she would mention already having a certain book on her Kindle, I would snark, "Yeah, ILLEGALLY."
Meanwhile, I'm pretty poor at the moment, and almost all of the legally free content for Kindle is free because it's OLD, and the copyright has long since expired. I continually troll Amazon, Project Gutenberg, Inkmesh, and even Bartleby for free digital books I would actually want to read.
Slim pickin's, my friend. Desperate times.
Finally the pressure became too much. One day last week when that particular student was near the circ desk, I blurted out, "What website did you say you go to, to get these illegal free eBooks which I do NOT approve of?"
She wrote it down, along with a few notes about what to do and which files to download. It was a dirty transaction, and I felt like I was involved in a drug sale.
"Well, that is one website I will most certainly NOT be going to!" I insisted indignantly.
Later, alone in the library, I discovered that the school district's firewall blocks sites with illegal "torrents" or whatever you call them. And it's a good thing! I was just checking, to make SURE the firewall knew to block that site.
That night, at home, I found the website confusing and scary, and quickly backed out of it, looking over my shoulder.
Then yesterday that same student was telling me about a new YA novel that she's currently reading on her Kindle. She LOVES it, she was raving about how awesome it is, and describing the characters and the plot to me. I immediately made sure it was at the top of our school library's Amazon wishlist. For whenever we might actually have a little bit of a book budget.
The more the student raved about the book, the more it sounded like the kind of thing I myself would very much enjoy reading.
The student glanced around, then quietly said, "I have the file on my flashdrive right now. I could email it to you."
I gaped, slack-jawed, the blood draining from my face. I REALLY want to read that book... But it's WRONG! I should absolutely NOT be encouraging digital piracy, especially of BOOKS. I know better than that, don't I? I have high moral standards, and it's important to me to set the right example for our students. Besides, I'm a goody-two-shoes at heart and doing stuff you're not supposed to do SCARES me.
The seconds passed, my jaw working but no clear words coming out.
"This is a terrible decision for you..." the student observed.
The Devil appeared in a flash of red smoke and sealed the deal. I watched as if from behind a screen, helpless in the face of such bibliophilic temptation. I failed.
Luckily, before I had time to do anything with the file, one of my fellow library technicians from another school reminded me in an email (purely by chance) of Netgalley, which is yet another way to LEGALLY obtain free eBooks, even NEW ones. Mainly if you have some connection to libraries, book stores, or book reviews. You have to request titles, and get approved for each one before they are downloadable. Basically, Netgalley is looking for beta readers, people who will read and review new and upcoming titles. I quickly requested a handful, and started getting approved for downloads.
Hopefully Netgalley will keep me out of jail.
We just received the new issue of Writer's Digest, and on the back there's an ad for "ThrillerFest VII" in New York. The ad features headshots of some of the special guest authors, including Jack Higgins, Catherine Coulter, John Sandford, and... R.L. Stine. There are other authors pictured, but my eye was caught and assaulted cruelly by the little photo of Mr. Stine.
Every time I run across a photo of him, I gasp and recoil, my horrified heart skipping a beat. Much the same way his books are supposed to affect his young readers, but I find it hard to believe they do, given the goofy joke-driven nature of his writing. If only he could capture in his writing the chilling terror of his looks.
I know it's mean to call attention to his looks, but come on. He has made, and still continues to make, more money than I'll ever see in my life, and I KNOW he is aware of that thing on his forehead. He can well afford to have it REMOVED. Why does he suffer it to exist?! That goofy smirk and those bushy untamed brows would be disheartening enough, but to over-accessorize with that damned MOLE is just... Well, it's just poor taste, that's what it is. And I will not keep quiet about it.
Titles like, "Say Cheese and Die" make my blood boil with rage, but that mole-topped bushy-browed smirk turns the boiling blood to LAVA in my veins. Mr. Stine, you go TOO FAR.
Well, February is just packed with things to make mention of in the Library. Presidents' Day, Valentine's Day, Black History Month, even Groundhog Day. I am ignoring Groundhog Day. Not because I don't think they're cute and winsome, but because I've run out of bulletin boards and display areas.
Normally I hate decorating for Presidents' Day because it's hard to do much with images of Lincoln and/or Washington. But I ordered Last Gasp's FREE full-color catalog of arty books and stuff, and there was this awesome two-page spread of one of Mark Ryden's paintings from the Snow Yak Show, with Lincoln's giant spectral head appearing in an icy cave before a young girl. Perfect! With a few minor alterations, it became my Presidents' Day poster on the circ desk.
"Thank you for Presidents' Day, Mr. Lincoln!" "You are welcome, young lady!"
Last year I made some Valentine's hearts that reflect diversity. Boy + Boy; Girl + Girl; and Girl + Boy. Love is universal, y'all. I made a display interspersing images from various teen books that show examples of each configuration.
"Boy + Boy; Girl + Boy; Girl + Girl"
At the back of the room I revived an old "Take time to REFLECT on what you read" display I put together one of the first years I worked at this school. It became quickly apparent to me that these are smart kids who DEVOUR books, but sometimes I wonder if they're so eager to increase their number of books read that perhaps they race through things without taking time to savor good writing. I'm not impressed by how quickly they read, or how many books they check out. I'm impressed by how much they contemplate and internalize. And enjoy! This is leisure reading, not English novel assignments.
Anyway, I made the "REFLECT" letters out of reflective prismatic paper. ;)
"Take time to REFLECT on what you read"
The best, most exciting thing we have going on this month is a visit by published author Stephanie Jefferson, whose historical fiction novel, Princess Kandake, is now available through CreateSpace and Amazon.
She'll be speaking to 7th and 9th graders about her writing process, and signing copies of her book. I'm totally looking forward to it. (And not just because she happens to be a personal friend of mine!)
"READ THE MOVIE but don't judge the book by the film"
After I tore down all the Christmas crap in the library, things were bare for a while before I could wrap my head around what to put up next. Then we received a copy of the ALA catalog and I saw the new "READ" poster featuring the cast of the Hunger Games movie, so I thought it would be a good time to revive the "Read the Movie" theme. We've ordered the Hunger Games poster, and I'll add it when it arrives. In the meantime I cut out the image of the poster from the catalog and taped it to the front of the circulation desk, and kids are totally noticing it and squealing and dragging their friends over to look at it. I feel like saying, "Okay, take it DOWN a notch so I don't end up HATING the Hunger Games!"
Left to right: Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence), and Gale (Liam Hemsworth)
Detail of 3-D foam film reels and filmstrip ribbon
For my b-board I used a construction paper marquee I made a few years ago, with the library symbol. The film reels are cut out of foam sheets, and spray-painted silver. I used black construction paper circles glued between to make it look like rolls of film. The filmstrip ribbon is something you can get at party supply stores that have "movie theme" stuff. I used more foam to create spacers between the halves of the film reels. It wasn't that hard, really.
I went through all of our posters and used the best from books that were made into films. I purposely did NOT use the Twilight poster because some girls saw it out and said they'd be very disappointed in me if I put that one up. I happily obliged them by exiling it. They reminded me that when it was up before, during the heyday of Twilight, I ended up sticking goggly eyes on Kristen Stewart. They liked that.
I also weeded out the Diary of a Wimpy Kid poster just because... well, it's lame. The books are lame, the movie looks lame, the poster is lame. The "READ" poster actually has an illustration of the Wimpy Kid on the TOILET. I am not putting that up.
Oh- and I cut out stars and printed this slogan across several of them: "...but don't judge the book by the film."
Did you know that January 21st is official "Squirrel Appreciation Day?" Well, it is. And you should do something about it. Last year my mom special-ordered a tie with a squirrel on it for me, to represent. I wore it proudly and received many nice compliments. This year, however, the calendar is cruel and has placed Squirrel Appreciation Day on a SATURDAY, when I will not be at work and not have a good reason to wear a tie.
One of the students I work with suggested I wear it on Monday instead, so I guess I'll do that. But it won't be the SAME.
I love seeing the perplexed yet delighted reactions of the students when they see the Squirrel Day board.
"Read Zombie Fiction: Don't let a good brain go to waste." (Zombie pointing at juicy pink brain: "You gonna eat that?")
After thoroughly saturating the adult horror market, zombies are now leaking into YA fiction. We just purchased Jonathan Maberry's Rot & Ruin and the sequel, Dust & Decay, so I thought it might be time to highlight zombies in the 'brary.
Here's the list of zombie fiction I pulled together today for our display:
The Boy Who Couldn't Die by William Sleator
Cell by Stephen King
The Death Collector by Justin Richards
The Drum, the Doll, and the Zombie by John Bellairs
The Enemy by Charles Higson
"Forest of Hands and Teeth" series by Carrie Ryan
"Generation Dead" series by Dan Waters
My Rotten Life by David Lubar
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry ("Benny Imura" series)
Someone Comes To Town, Someone Leaves Town by Cory Doctorow
"Strange Angels" series by Lili St. Crow
Zombie Blondes by Brian James
Zombie World (graphic novel) by Mike Mignola (creator of "Hellboy")
Zombies Calling (graphic novel) by Faith Erin Hicks
ADDENDUM 1/20/2012
Two more titles to add, although we don't have them in our little library quite yet:
How To Be a Zombie by Serena Valentino
World War Z by Max Brooks
Brad Pitt is starring in the movie version of World War Z. I think that's weird and sort of a surprising choice for him, but I read and liked the book.
In my last post I cited Brian Sibley's blog post about Pauline Baynes as a source of info and images. I left a comment there, and he responded and said that in fact he had read my "Wonderland" graphic novel (illustrated by the talented Sonny Liew), and posted about it HERE. Isn't that cool? I had no idea, so that was a nice surprise.
What's really cool is that he explains in his post (which is about all sorts of things Alice-related) who Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie were. If you don't remember, in Carroll's original work the Dormouse talks about them. In our graphic novel, the three sisters actually make an eerie appearance.
Iconic illustration of Mr. Tumnus and Lucy in Narnia, by Pauline Baynes
A former student donated a bag of books that were mostly Tolkien and Terry Pratchett. As I was processing The Tolkien Reader, I noticed some very nice illustrations throughout it, and thought I recognized Pauline Baynes' work. Sure enough, it was.
Baynes is best known as the original illustrator of the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis. If you've only seen the cheap paperbacks with only black & white illustrations, you should check out some of the nicer editions and see her full-color work as well. It's beautiful, detailed, and classic.
Beautiful Baynes illustration for a biscuit ad, wish I'd seen this closer to Christmas!
The idea of her illustrating anything other than Narnia was new to me, so I decided to do just a little research and find out more about this charming artist from the good old days of children's illustrated literature.
Pauline Baynes was born in Brighton in 1922, and died at the age of 86 in 2008, leaving some unfinished work on illustrations for Aesop's Fables. She was a busy creative lady up until the very end, and jolly good for her!
"Bilbo's Last Song" by Pauline Baynes
Tolkien and Lewis were contemporaries and friends, but it was actually Tolkien who worked with Baynes first. Tolkien was preparing Farmer Giles of Ham for publication, but was unhappy with the first illustrator. Tolkien actually dumped him in favor of Baynes' more authentically Medieval and humorous illustrative style.
C.S. Lewis saw Baynes' work for Tolkien, and enlisted her for his own Narnia books.
Aslan with Susan and Lucy, by Pauline Baynes
Baynes was a prolific artist, though, and worked on many different projects throughout her entire life, such as The Arabian Nights, a bunch of fairy tales and fables, and even some of her own original stories.
In 1968 she won the Kate Greenaway Medal for Uden's A Dictionary of Chivalry. I think maybe nobody (in the U.S.) gives a shit anymore about the Kate Greenaway Medal, which is too bad. It's still awarded every year for "outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people." I guess the Caldecott Medal overshadows it. Kate Greenaway and Randolph Caldecott were both classic Victorian-era children's illustrators.
I have to include one of Kate Greenaway's own illustrations, it's just so lovely and English and gay:
Girls in pinafores by Kate Greenaway
Back to Pauline Baynes: Later in life she illustrated a bunch of religious picture books. When I first read that, I was like, "Ugh..." but then I saw she had also done illustrations for the Koran, so apparently her religious views were fairly open and scholarly. In fact, I later found this cool quote from The Guardian, UK:
It was somewhat to her chagrin that she developed a reputation over the years as an illustrator of mostly Christian works and, to redress the balance, one of her last creations (her "children" as she called them) was a series of designs for selections from the Qur'an, scheduled for publication in 2009.
I couldn't find any record of that edition of the Qur'an actually getting published, so I'm not sure what happened with that. But I love that she was "chagrined" about her rep as a Christian illustrator, and felt it needed "redressing."
"St. Francis" by Pauline Baynes
One of the best sites I found while looking into Baynes' life and work was Brian Sibley's blog, which includes something thrilling for a Lewis Carroll enthusiast like me. Pauline did a small line drawing for the "lost" chapter of Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. The chapter involves a wasp with a wig reading a newspaper, and Sir John Tenniel said he couldn't illustrate such a thing. The nerve! Sibley was a close personal friend of Baynes near the end of her life, so his blog post about her is really interesting.
The "lost" Wonderland character as illustrated by Pauline Baynes
This is what our "hold" shelf looks like today.
Today is the first day back to school after our 2-week winter break, and it was SUPER busy this morning. Loads of books were returned, many of which had holds placed on them by other students. This means they go onto the "hold" shelf, and we send a notice to the students in their English classes. Our policy is to allow one week for the student to pick up their hold, otherwise it goes to the next student in line.
It's interesting to see what's popular right now, isn't it? I mean, I just got back from vacation so I'm trying really hard to give a shit about work. Anyway, let's take a look at the hold shelf.
Predictably, all 3 books in the "Hunger Games" series by Suzanne Collins are there. And the final book in the "Eragon" series by Christopher Paolini. "39 Clues" by various authors, "Heroes of Olympus" by Riordan, "Kane Chronicles" by Riordan, "Gone" by Grant, and that stupid "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Kinney are all still highly sought-after series. But there's also a book on Greek Mythology by Donna Jo Napoli, which is nice to see.
I hate to admit it, but one of those "Left Behind" books is also in the hold queue. They've been around since the '90s, but I guess kids always like a freaky apocalypse scenario.
Only one manga title sits on the hold shelf at present. "Chibi Vampire." The kiddies love that. It looks intensely annoying to me, but whatever.
Oh- and there's also Legend by Marie Lu. Surprise! it's dystopian! I'm pretty sick of the whole dystopian trend. It's just not my scene, dig?
To sum up:
Teens are way into series fiction right now, they're not at all scared away by the idea of many, many volumes and even spin-off series.
Fantasy and Dystopia are the reigning king and queen of genres. Not sure who wears the pants, though.
With TWO popular series currently under way, Rick Riordan must be raking in the bucks.
Believe it or not, WHILE I was typing this a student came up and asked to put a reserve on the Hunger Games. We only have 2 copies, and as you can see they are BOTH currently reserved.
Ugh. Tomorrow I definitely have to drag down all the Christmas decorations and stuff it all away until next school-year. That damn Christmas tree is staring me in the face like a dead cockroach nobody wants to clean up.
I keep meaning to do this whenever we're able to buy some new books for the library (which is not often anymore), and this time I finally did. We received $500 from our PTA in the form of an Amazon gift credit, which we immediately spent. We were able to order 45 books, most of them new fiction, but also a handful of NONfiction. I'd been reading reviews in Booklist, and found some things I thought would be perfect for us. Once all the books were processed (which was quick, due to my lightning-speed efficiency), I was afraid the nonfiction might get lost on the shelves, so I composed the following message to "all staff," by pasting in summaries and pics from Amazon. I included some fiction that was noteworthy for being dystopian, and/or just cool.
I got a good response from some of the teachers, one of them came in immediately to check out Things I've Been Silent About because she saw it was by the author of Reading Lolita in Tehran. Then students started coming in asking for books I'd put on the list, and when I asked them where they heard about them, they said one of the teachers had forwarded my original message with the book blurbs to her students. Cool, right?
Anyway, here's the message I sent out, and maybe YOU'LL find one of these books worth seeking out...
Staff,
Here are some new books of note we recently received for our library. This is just a small sampling of the books we were able to order thanks to the PTA. Some of these may fit into your various curriculums, or make good recommendations for certain students. J
The Third Wave: a Volunteer Story by Alison Thompson
Alison Thompson, a filmmaker living in New York City, was enjoying Christmas with her boyfriend in 2004 when she saw the news reports online: a 9.3 magnitude earthquake had struck the sea near Indonesia, triggering a massive tsunami that hit much of southern Asia. As she watched the death toll climb, Thompson had one thought: She had to go help. A few years earlier, she had spent eight months volunteering at Ground Zero after 9/11. She’d learned then that when disaster strikes, it’s not just the firemen and Red Cross who are needed—every single person can make a difference.
With $300 in cash, some basic medical supplies, and a vague idea that she’d go wherever she was needed, Thompson headed to Sri Lanka. Along with a small team of volunteers, she settled in a coastal town that had been hit especially hard and began tending to people’s injuries, giving out food and water, playing games with the children, collecting dead bodies, and helping rebuild the local school and homes that had been destroyed. Thompson had intended to stay for two weeks; she ended up staying for fourteen months. She and her team helped start new businesses and set up the first tsunami early-warning center in Sri Lanka, which continues to save lives today.
Hell No: Your Right to Dissent in 21st-Century America by Michael Ratner
In the Age of Terrorism, the United States has become a much more dangerous place—for activists and dissenters, whose First Amendment rights are all too frequently abridged by the government.
In Hell No, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the country’s leading public interest law organization, offers a timely report on government attacks on dissent and protest in the United States, along with a readable and essential guide for activists, teachers, grandmothers, and anyone else who wants to oppose government policies and actions. Hell No explores the current situation of attacks upon and criminalization of dissent and protest, from the surveillance of activists to the disruption of demonstrations, from the labeling of protestors as “terrorists,” to the jailing of those the government claims are giving “material support” to its perceived enemies. Offering detailed, hands-on advice on everything from “Sneak and Peak” searches to “Can the Government Monitor My Text Messages?” and what to do “If an Agent Knocks,” Hell No lays out several key responses that every person should know in order to protect themselves from government surveillance and interference with their rights.
Beginning with a preface by Vincent Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a frequent legal commentator on CNN, MSNBC, and NPR, Hell No also includes an introduction on the state of dissent today by CCR board chair Michael Ratner and Margaret Ratner Kunstler. Concluding with the controversial 2008 Mukasey FBI Guidelines, which currently regulate the government’s domestic response to dissent, Hell No is an indispensable tool in the effort to give free speech and protest meaning in a post–9/11 world.
Things I’ve Been Silent About: Memories of a Prodigal Daughter by Azar Nafisi
Azar Nafisi, author of the beloved international bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran, now gives us a stunning personal story of growing up in Iran, memories of her life lived in thrall to a powerful and complex mother, against the background of a country’s political revolution. A girl’s pain over family secrets; a young woman’s discovery of the power of sensuality in literature; the price a family pays for freedom in a country beset by political upheaval–these and other threads are woven together in this beautiful memoir, as a gifted storyteller once again transforms the way we see the world and “reminds us of why we read in the first place” (Newsday).
Nafisi’s intelligent and complicated mother, disappointed in her dreams of leading an important and romantic life, created mesmerizing fictions about herself, her family, and her past. But her daughter soon learned that these narratives of triumph hid as much as they revealed. Nafisi’s father escaped into narratives of another kind, enchanting his children with the classic tales like the Shahnamah, the Persian Book of Kings. When her father started seeing other women, young Azar began to keep his secrets from her mother. Nafisi’s complicity in these childhood dramas ultimately led her to resist remaining silent about other personal, as well as political, cultural, and social, injustices.
The Most Dangerous Man in the World: the Explosive True Story of Julian Assange and the Lies, Cover-Ups and Conspiracies He Exposed
by Andrew Fowler
The battle lines are drawn: freedom of speech against the control of the State. The Internet is the battle ground. In this war there will only be one winner. In The Most Dangerous Man in the World, award-winning journalist Andrew Fowler talks to Julian Assange, his inner circle, and those disaffected by him, deftly revealing the story of how a man with a turbulent childhood and brilliance for computers created a phenomenon that has disrupted the worlds of both journalism and international politics. From Assange’s early skirmishes with the “cult” of Scientology in Australia to the release of 570,000 intercepts of pager messages sent on the day of the September 11th attacks and on to the visual bombshell of the Collateral Murder video showing American soldiers firing on civilians and Reuters reporters, Fowler takes us from the founding of WikiLeaks right up to Cablegate and the threat of further leaks in 2011 that he warns could bring down a major American bank. New information based on interviews conducted with Assange reveal the possibility that he has Asperger’s syndrome; the reason U.S. soldier Bradley Manning turned to an ex-hacker to spill military secrets; and how Assange helped police remove a “how to make a bomb” book from the Internet. The mother of one of his children also talks for the first time about life with Julian when he was setting up WikiLeaks.
Will Eisner: a Dreamer’s Life in Comics by Michael Schumacher
In Will Eisner: A Dreamer's Life in Comics, Michael Schumacher delves beneath Eisner's public persona to draw connections between his life and his art. Eisner's career spanned a remarkable eight decades, from his scrappy survival at the dawn of comics' Golden Age in the late 1930s to the beginning of the twenty-first century, when Pulitzers began going to graphic novels (a term Eisner is widely credited with creating). Schumacher's extensive research and interviews with Eisner's family, friends, and colleagues, as well as other comics creators who have built upon his work, create a detailed portrait of Eisner the man and Eisner the artist.
The Dreamer (biography of Pablo Neruda) by Pam Munoz Ryan
A breathtaking illustrated novel from Pura Belpre Award winner, Pam Ryan, and MacArthur fellow and three-time Caldecott Honoree, Peter Sis!
From the time he is a young boy, Neftalí hears the call of a mysterious voice. Even when the neighborhood children taunt him, and when his harsh, authoritarian father ridicules him, and when he doubts himself, Neftalí knows he cannot ignore the call. Under the canopy of the lush rain forest, into the fearsome sea, and through the persistent Chilean rain, he listens and he follows. . . Combining elements of magical realism with biography, poetry, literary fiction, and sensorial, transporting illustrations, Pam Muñoz Ryan and Peter Sís take readers on a rare journey of the heart and imagination.
This book on mythology is noteworthy because it's by a really awesome writer, Donna Jo Napoli, who usually writes fiction.
Legend by Marie Lu
(Fiction) What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.
From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.
Full of nonstop action, suspense, and romance, this novel is sure to move readers as much as it thrills.
This Dark Endeavor: the Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel
(Fiction) Victor and Konrad are the twin brothers Frankenstein. They are nearly inseparable. Growing up, their lives are filled with imaginary adventures...until the day their adventures turn all too real.
They stumble upon The Dark Library, and secret books of alchemy and ancient remedies are discovered. Father forbids that they ever enter the room again, but this only peaks Victor's curiosity more. When Konrad falls gravely ill, Victor is not be satisfied with the various doctors his parents have called in to help. He is drawn back to The Dark Library where he uncovers an ancient formula for the Elixir of Life. Elizabeth, Henry, and Victor immediately set out to find assistance in a man who was once known for his alchemical works to help create the formula.
Determination and the unthinkable outcome of losing his brother spur Victor on in the quest for the three ingredients that will save Konrads life. After scaling the highest trees in the Strumwald, diving into the deepest lake caves, and sacrificing one’s own body part, the three fearless friends risk their lives to save another.
(Fiction- sequel to Matched) In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.
Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.
One of my favorite students, a library regular, brought me this adorable handmade blue origami owl and a very nice letter for Christmas. In the letter she thanks me for speaking to the school's Gay/Straight Alliance club at a few of their recent meetings, and for being an "awesome librarian." She goes on to explain in a diagram with arrows how her thought process arrived at the owl being blue. She even drew Totoros, and suggested I might like Studio Ghibli's films, if I hadn't already seen them. (I have, and I LOVE Totoro, of course)
That owl had to have taken some major time and effort, LOTS of little cunningly-folded pieces of paper, and it is solid! What a sweet thing to do.
Finally one of our students brought up the "Steampunk" genre in our last library book club meeting. She was way excited about it, eyes wide and mind on fire. I thought, NOW is the time to put together a bibliography on Steampunk books for our students!
A few years ago at a writer's conference I attended a presentation by David Gale, Editorial Director for Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. He told us that "Steampunk" was going to be the next big thing in children's publishing, and blow up all over the place.
Feel free to reproduce this image if you like, we put it on one side of our bookmark, with the reading list on the reverse.
Here is the list we came up with, using only books currently in our library collection. Some of these have all the elements of Steampunk, some of them may only have a few. If a particular title seems not Steampunky enough for you, just consider it "recommended if you like..."
If you're not sure what Steampunk is, think Victorian Science Fiction, with fantastical machinery using steam power. Gritty London streets, either in the actual Victorian era, or influenced heavily by it. Top hats, goggles, cogwheels and clockworks... Jules Verne and H. G. Wells are considered the grandfathers of Steampunk. You tend to find mechanically-inclined strong female characters in Steampunk.
Here are some other core Steampunk titles, which may or may not be appropriate for junior high and/or high school libraries:
Incidentally, I remember first hearing about Steampunk way back in about 1993 when I was working at the Santa Ana Public Library in the children's and young adult section. Just sayin'. The genre ain't NEW, but apparently there's a resurgence. Which is cool for those of us who work with teens.
I've been reading The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson's engrossing nonfiction book about the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and the murders that took place in conjunction with it. This morning I came across this line:
Visitors also encountered the latest and arguably most important organizational invention of the century, the vertical file, created by Melvil Dewey, inventor of the Dewey Decimal System.
When I read that I actually GASPED ALOUD, and immediately turned the corner of the page down, so I wouldn't forget where to find it. I am such a nerd.
