Abby the Librarian

Summer Reading Club: I am In It

2013-05-21T11:07:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the first day of our Summer Reading Club. (Yes, yes, we start very early. Our public school system is moving towards a balanced schedule, which means their last day is tomorrow and they'll go back August 1 [not that I'm counting down already or anything.......]).

April and May are always the worst for me because the anticipation, the worrying over every detail, the not-knowing-how-it's-gonna-go is the worst. This year was maybe worse than most since we changed a bunch of things about our program - we changed the requirements, we're doing it online this year, and we have three new staff people who haven't done SRC before.

But we started yesterday and... I forgot how busy it gets. We had over 100 people registered by the time I left around 5 and some kids have already started to track their minutes. :)

This is our first year using Evanced's Summer Reader module and so far we're really liking it. We've got four laptops set up at a table near our Children's Desk so we can help people sign up. The only thing (so far) that I don't like about doing it online is that I feel like we're not talking with people and explaining the program as much as we have before. BUT maybe that's because the first day is the first day and we're not in our routine yet.

We've had some sign up online from home and I think that'll be bigger next year after people learn about it this year. We distribute information to all the school-age students and many of the preschools, but it seems like very few people actually read it. Or maybe we should have explained it better? I think people are just used to coming down to the library (hooray!), so that's how they're doing it.

We're wrapping up school visits this week and Miss Teresa and I are going to do booktalks for some fourth grade classes on Wednesday. Thursday will be the first day that the public schools are out. And then after Friday we get a nice, long Memorial Day weekend and the library won't be open on Sundays anymore (thank goodness).

Summer Reading Club? I am in it!

Audiobook Review: We've Got a Job

2013-05-20T11:07:00.000-04:00

We've Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children's March by Cynthia Levinson, read by Ervin Ross. Grades 6 and up. Listening Library, 2012 (book copyright Peachtree Press, 2012). 6 hours and 22 minutes. Review copy purchased. Hey, I'm an Audible affiliate, so if you purchase audiobooks after clicking on links in this post, I get a small commission.

In 1963, the people leading the Civil Rights movement were desperately trying to make headway in Birmingham, Alabama - sometimes called "Bombingham" because of the high amount of bombings connected to the Civil Rights struggle. When leaders of the movement got the idea to demonstrate and protest with the goal of filling up the jails to make a media splash, it seemed like a good idea. But the stakes were too high for many adult protesters... So the children and teens decided to go to jail.

Yes, this is a book about the Birmingham Children's March of 1963, but it's also a really rich resource on civil rights in general. There were many civil rights demonstrations that led up to the Children's March - sit-ins at lunch counters, ride-ins on segregated buses, marches and parades by adults - none of which really had the desired effect. This is an important book, not only for telling a little-known story, but for telling a story about kids and teens making a difference. The story of the Birmingham Children's March clearly illustrates that kids can make a difference and sometimes their efforts are essential.

Ervin Ross's narration is steady and clear and it fits the content nicely. This past year I've gotten into NPR and I'm enjoying listening to nonfiction audiobooks all the more (they're like long NPR episodes! You learn so much!). A very nice feature of the audiobook is that parts of Cynthia Levinson's recorded interviews with the featured activists are included. It was great to hear them talking about their experiences in their own words after reading about them in the book.

Often, listening to youth nonfiction books on audio is a little bit of a trade-off because there are photos, diagrams, or illustrations that you're missing. We've Got a Job is no exception, so you may want to hunt down a print copy to see photos of the four featured activists and other events mentioned in the book. I will say that, having listened to the audiobook first and then picked up the print book, there were less photos than I had thought there would be. There's a great deal of uninterrupted text, which may scare off some young readers.

This book is rich with content that would fit Common Core standards. It has much to add to units on Civil Rights and American history. Don't miss it!

We've Got a Job is on shelves now!

Emerging Readers: Start With a Book (Blog Tour)!

2013-05-16T00:01:00.000-04:00

I'm so pleased to be part of the Start with a Book blog tour, featuring some great resources for librarians!

Fluency. Building comprehension. Sight words. These are words that teachers of reading are very familiar with, but children's librarians might not be. And why should we be? We're not teachers. We don't tutor kids who are learning to read. We weren't taught that in library school!

But if we're doing our jobs well, we're supporting the people who are teaching kids to read. And we can best support teachers and parents if we know what they're talking about and what they're looking for when they come in asking for resources to help little Johnny who is struggling.

Enter Start with a Book. This awesome website is a great resource for librarians to start learning about how kids learn to read and what parents can do to help them. We're heading into Summer Reading time, so now's a great time for you to do a little research and get an idea of how to help parents practice reading with their kids.

It seems like more and more librarians I know are starting some kind of beginning readers storytime: a program to help get kids ready to start school and/or help reinforce reading skills and strategies after school. Start with a Book has some great activities that you may be able to incorporate into these types of programs.

Check out the following sections for ideas:

Fluent Kids explains what fluency is (reading like you're speaking, basically) and why it's important. This page includes several ways that parents (and librarians!) can help kids practice their fluency.
Reading Aloud contains many links to pages on the Reading Rockets site with activities to help kids build comprehension, build critical thinking skills, and more! Check these out for a wealth of information on learning how to read.
Literacy Resources includes activities to practice writing and spelling, as well as lots of ideas for early literacy.
The 24 learning themes include tons of age-appropriate book suggestions on popular themes and links to the Reading Rockets adventure packs which provide activities to accompany each theme. This is a great source for finding books to share in programs with this age group and activities to round out your program.

Even if you're not planning programs centered on emerging readers, learning more about how kids learn to read and how parents can help them is great professional development. At the very least, keep Start with a Book in mind to refer parents who come to you with questions about reading.

And don't forget to enter this fabulous giveaway!

Reading Wildly: Funny

2013-05-14T11:07:00.000-04:00

I'm so glad that we talked about humor this month for our Reading Wildly staff reading program! This time of year, public librarians definitely need to get our laughs in. Plus, funny books are such a popular request with kids that it's great to have some on our minds as we head into the summer months.

As we shared and discussed the titles that everyone read this month, one thing I definitely noticed is how many of the books we read were readalikes for each other. We kept mentioning the same series again and again, namely Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries. Those cartoony, diary-format series are certainly hot, but my staff chose a wide range of books this month, as well.

As we each discussed the books that we had read, we made certain to note the type of humor in the book, since there's a wide variety. Whereas Dear Dumb Diary might have some wacky bathroom humor, the Bink & Gollie books have a much more gentle sense of humor. We also had a conversation about Diary of a Wimpy Kid, since most of us had read that book, and talked about whether Greg was a likeable character and whether kids realized that he's kind of a jerk and why they relate to those books.

Since we talked last month about book talks, I had challenged my staff to write a book talk for their books and everyone did a really nice job. I pointed out at our meeting that the necessity of practicing our booktalks is not just theoretical anymore. T and I will be visiting four 4th-grade classes next week to booktalk and I'm really hoping that we can expand our booktalking next year!

Here are the books that my staff and I shared during our Reading Wildly meeting:

The Adventures of Ali Baba Bernstein by Johanna Hurwitz
Bink & Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee
Clementine by Sara Pennypacker
The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish by Neil Gaiman
Dear Dumb Diary (Nobody's Perfect. I'm as Close as It Gets) by Jim Benton
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Greg Kinney
Dorko the Magnificent by Andrea Beaty
Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf by Jennifer L. Holm
The Popularity Papers by Amy Ignatow
Roscoe Riley Rules: Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs by Katherine Applegate
Weird Stories from the Lonesome Cafe by Judy Cox

For next month, we'll be reading bestsellers. I passed out the NYT Bestsellers lists from the past couple of weeks (the middle grade and series lists), as well as a print out of the bn.com Top 100 Children's Books from last week. I've told my staff that I don't care what list they get it from, as long as it's somewhat recent, and if they choose to read a book from a series they may read any book in that series. It's important to stay on top of new books being published and to know what's popular with kids right now!

The Popularity Papers

2013-05-09T11:07:00.000-04:00

The Popularity Papers: Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldbatt and Julie Graham-Chang by Amy Ignatow. Grades 4-7. Amulet Books, 2010. 208 pages. Review copy provided by my local library.

Sixth grade is coming. And best friends Lydia and Julie are getting ready! They've both seen Lydia's older sister go through middle school, ending up a social pariah, and they're determined that their fate will be different. They will be popular! So they devise a plan to observe the most popular girls at their school and write down what they do so they can try it. Some tactics backfire, like Lydia trying to bleach a blonde streak in her hair using the bleach she finds underneath the counter. (Note to self: that bleach will burn off a chunk of your hair.) But the girls will persevere... until it starts getting in the way of their friendship. Why is being popular so important anyway?

We're talking about funny books this month in our Reading Wildly book discussion and this has been a popular series since I bought them for the Children's Room last year, so I knew I wanted to pick up the first book. It's no mystery why these are popular. The cartoony, handwriting-y format is reminiscent of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the myriad of funny cartoon diary books that have sprung up in its wake. Full color illustrations makes this series stand out. But, more than that, Amy Ignatow hits the nail right on the head with her dual tween narrators. As I was reading, I could totally imagine myself starting a notebook like this with one of my best friends in 5th-7th grade.

It's easy to mess up dual narrators, even when handwriting styles can help the reader differentiate, but Ignatow gets it right. She's created two distinct characters here, passing the notebook back and forth as they record their adventures in popularity. She also gets bonus points for diversity (Lydia and her sister are raised by just their mom and Julie has two dads, a fact that's obvious throughout the book but also no big deal).

The book is laugh-out-loud funny and I found myself wanting to continue reading the series purely for my own enjoyment (not because I had to for our book discussion).

Readalikes: Obviously the cartoon diary format and the humorous tone is going to make this a readalike for all those Wimpy Kid-esque books (Big Nate, Dork Diaries, etc.).

I'd also suggest Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf by Jennifer L. Holm for the format. I think the full-color told-through-stuff format might appeal to kids who like all the full color cartoons in The Popularity Papers.

I might also try Smile by Raina Telgemeier. This graphic novel is full color, so format is one appeal factor. Smile also deals with a girl trying to navigate the tricky waters of middle school and the story is sometimes funny and sometimes poignant.

The Popularity Papers is on shelves now! And don't miss the further adventures of Lydia and Julie in subsequent books (book 5 just came out this spring!).

Daycare Summer Reading at the @ALSCBlog

2013-05-08T11:07:00.000-04:00

Flickr CC: usnavy

I'm over at the ALSC Blog talking about the special Summer Reading Club we're creating for daycares and summer camps this year! Click on over to hear all about it and post your advice or questions in the comments.

(Sadly, Michelle Obama is not part of our daycare Summer Reading Club. Hopefully it will still be fun!)

Bink & Gollie

2013-05-07T11:07:00.000-04:00

Bink & Gollie and Bink & Gollie: Two for One by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, illustrated by Tony Fucile. Grades 2-5. Candlewick Press, 2010 & 2012 (respectively). 81 & 96 pages (respectively). Review copies provided by my local library.

Am I the last person to read the Bink & Gollie books? I very well may be, but in case I'm not: don't let Bink-and-Gollie-absence syndrome happen to you!

Bink is short. Gollie is tall. Bink is a little reckless. Gollie is quite practical. Bink loves brightly colored striped socks. Gollie thinks brightly colored striped socks are tacky. They're opposites in a lot of ways, but you know what? Bink & Gollie both love to roller skate. And they both love having adventures. Together.

I had a patron the other day who just might have loved Bink & Gollie. This particular patron was starting to read chapter books, but still much preferred books with lots of pictures. He devoured the books in our graphic novels section, but was also ready for a little bit of a challenge. Bink & Gollie with its somewhat sophisticated vocabulary and plethora of humorous illustrations would have fit the bill perfectly.

These are very sweet, funny stories about two friends who like to do everything together. From roller skating to buying pets to eating pancakes to visiting the carnival, Bink & Gollie are inseparable (even when climbing mountains). Their friendship reminded me of my beloved Frog & Toad and I think this series would be a great readalike for those books. They're a bit longer, but many pages are filled with funny, expressive illustrations, limiting the text on each page.

For this reason, I would hand these books to reluctant readers, as well. The vocabulary may be more suited to kids who are reading well, while the format may entice kids who aren't yet sure that they like to read. Bink & Gollie's ages are never explicitly stated and, really, they could be any age. Although the text is short, these are funny stories that will appeal to a wide range of readers.

So, what are you waiting for? Get thee to the shelves and pick up Bink & Gollie. And do not be at all surprised if reading that first one makes you a lifelong fan. I'm warning you now. ;)

Bink & Gollie and Bink & Gollie: Two for One are on shelves now! Also look for the recently released Bink & Gollie: Best Friends Forever.

2015 Newbery Committee, Here I Come!

2013-05-06T11:07:00.000-04:00

The Newbery Award is administered by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). Newbery Medal image copyright ©2013 and used with permission of ALSC/ALA.

Well, the ALA Election results were announced last Friday and I am thrilled to announce that I have been elected to the 2015 Newbery Committee!! I'd like to thank everyone who voted in the election. It is so important for ALA members to make our voices heard within the organization. And congratulations to my fellow Newbery committee members and the elected members of all the other ALSC and YALSA selection committees! 2015, here we come!!

(And if you're wondering what that means for this blog, well, I'm not entirely sure yet. I will certainly refrain from reviewing anything eligible for the award here, but I hope to continue blogging about library programs and services during 2014!)

Lessons Learned at the Craft Table

2013-05-02T11:07:00.000-04:00

In December, one of our long-time staff members retired from the Children's Room after 40 years at this library and we had a card drive for her. Not wanting to leave her beloved young patrons out, we put up a little table right by our reference desk so that kids could make cards for Miss Jan. It was such a hit that it's stayed up ever since!

Okay, yes, it's messy sometimes. And yes, sometimes parents argue with their young children about whether or not they're allowed to use the scissors. But here's why we love our craft table:

1. It attracts kids to the desk. From there, we may be able to have a conversation with them or at the very least, we can be a friendly face.

2. It gives kids something to do when mom or dad is engrossed with filling out a job application (or, let's face it, checking Facebook) on the computer.

3. Coloring or scribbling with crayons helps develop fine motor skills. Using scissors is a skill that kids need to learn in Kindergarten. Depending on the craft, kids may get a chance to practice their writing. Crafts that require instructions require kids to read and/or to practice following instructions.

4. It gives kids a chance to make something for their families. Right now, we've got Mother's Day cards as our craft. Kids can't drive to the store. They may not have craft materials at home or their parents may not use craft materials with them. This is a very simple activity, but kids love to show appreciation to their loved ones and this station helps them do that!

You can see how we've got it set up in the picture above: a small half-table that butts up against our reference desk. (We'll probably find another place for it come summer when we're sure to have lines at the desk.) We place a couple of stools there and we made sure to have a trash can nearby. Depending on the craft, we'll set out crayons, scissors, glue, construction paper, scrap paper, stencils, and/or templates. Another good thing about having it right at our desk is that it allows us to keep an eye on the materials and we haven't had any incidents so far.

We aim to change out the craft about once a month and we're planning to change it out every other week over the summer. The crafts we've done so far include: retirement cards, cut-paper snowflakes, Valentines, game boards (you can find the template on this blog post), paper kites (template here), and this month's Mother's Day cards. We're also planning on doing a bookmark craft to get kids ready for summer reading and Father's Day cards.

A couple of tips:

Yes, it'll be messy. Especially glue. And cut paper. To me the benefits outweigh the potential hassle of cleaning up the station. Make sure you have a trash can nearby and monitor the table regularly to help keep a handle on the mess.
Remember that the process is more important to the kids than the final product (generally). Don't be dismayed if you find finished crafts left behind.
Sometimes the parents want to sit down and color, too, and that's okay.
Have some scrap paper handy for littles who maybe aren't really old enough to do the craft but would like to color. Or be prepared to throw away a lot of construction paper or templates with scribbles on them.
Think about taking down the craft station if you have a class coming to visit. Our station is very small, so it can be overwhelming to have 15 kids all wanting to do a craft at the same time. We'll typically take down the sign and supplies if a group visit is coming in or when we have our toddler programs and expect a lot of young children in the room.
Keep statistics! We make sure to count how many templates or sheets of paper we're putting out so that we can count this activity in our department statistics. It may not be an This is a passive program, so make sure you're counting it towards your stats!

Anybody else have a make-and-take craft space in your children's or teen area? What crafts have you loved?

Animals Welcome

2013-04-29T11:07:00.000-04:00

Animals Welcome: A Life of Reading, Writing, and Rescue by Peg Kehret. Grades 3-6. Dutton Books, 2012. 173 pages. Copy provided by my local library.

Author Peg Kehret loves animals.
I mean she loooooves animals!
So much that:

- Peg and her husband had their property declared a wildlife sanctuary. They've seen deer, elk, and even bears on their property and rescued many animals.

- Peg co-authored three of her books with a cat!

- She kept a pet cat who wouldn't allow her to pet him, turned her late husband's workshop into a home for foster cats, and she's spent thousands of dollars on vet care for stray animals she's rescued.

In Animals Welcome, Peg Kehret writes with warmth and humor about the animals she has known and loved. The writing is friendly and personable and she shares information she's learned about animals throughout the book. She also writes about animals in her novels that are based on animals she's known in real life.

I'd definitely classify this as a memoir, not an autobiography, since Peg concentrates on a specific aspect of her life. She includes photos of some of the animals she talks about and information about how to treat animals kindly. I can definitely see this book inspiring young readers to stand up for pets that are being mistreated or to get involved at their local animal shelters.

This memoir is sure to please animal lovers and anyone who cares about their pet (or wishes they could have a pet!). I'd also recommend it to fans of Peg Kehret's other books since she talks about the animal characters in her books and also about fans of her writing that she's met through her work with animals.

Readalikes:

Looking for another true story of a person passionate about animal rights? Try Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World by Sy Montgomery.

Readers looking for more true pet stories might like Marley: A Dog Like No Other by Jon Grogan or Dewey the Library Cat by Vicki Myron (both are young readers' versions adapted from adult books).

Fiction series and novels about pets abound, but two I might recommend are Ribsy and Socks by Beverly Cleary for their gentle tones.

Young readers looking to read more about conservation and efforts to protect wild animals might like the following:

Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins
The Elephant Scientist by Caitlin O'Connell and Donna Jackson
Kakapo Rescue by Sy Montgomery
The Manatee Scientists by Peter Lourie
Shark Life by Peter Benchley

Animals Welcome is on shelves now!

Afterschool: April

2013-04-25T11:07:00.000-04:00

April was kind of a tricky month for our afterschool visits. Summer vacation starts May 23 for our public schools, so the kids are getting a little squirrelly and the librarians are a little tired from working on (and constantly thinking about!) Summer Reading Club. Still, we persevered. Here's what I shared with my groups this month:

One of my groups is ... spirited, let me say that. In March one of the most "spirited" kids in the group asked me to bring The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, so I did, and all we read was stories from that book. I let the kids pick out which stories to read and I read the ones they picked out. We probably shared four or five of the stories from this collection and that was that.

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. Viking Juvenile, 1992. This collection of fractured fairy tales definitely delighted the kids. They're silly and, well, stupid, and that was just what the kids wanted.

The other group is generally very receptive to whatever I bring. These are kids who love books and stories and will sit through longer stories. I often bring some of my favorites from my childhood to share with them. But this month they were a little subdued when I came in. I don't know what was going on with them, but the only book they really responded to was Mo Willems, which is a title I've read to them before last year. Oh, well. Sometimes there are days like that!

The Three Triceratops Tuff by Stephen Shaskan. Beach Lane Books, 2013. This is a retelling of The Three Billy Goats Gruff that would be great to pair with Mo Willem's Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs. It's not really a fractured fairy tale and not really as funny as Willems's title, but using some great dino voices can spice it up a bit. I love the colorful illustrations.

Timothy Tunny Swallowed a Bunny by Bill Grossman, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. HarperTrophy, 1989. I saved this one from the weeding cart and chuckled to myself about the funny poems in this collection. I thought it would be great to share in celebration of National Poetry Month, but this group was maybe a little too young for it. I got mostly blank stares at the punch lines. Sigh.

The Boy Who Cried Bigfoot! by Scott Magoon. Simon & Schuster, 2013. I guess fairy tale retellings were kind of my theme this month. This retelling of The Boy Who Cried Wolf is told from Bigfoot's point of view. The concise, funny text lends itself to reading aloud, although the illustrations are a little dark for large-group-viewing.

There is a Bird on Your Head by Mo Willems. Disney Hyperion, 2007. FINALLY A LAUGH. This is one of my all-time favorite readalouds and, honestly, this was the only one that the kids really responded to during my visit. I don't know if it's because they love Elephant and Piggie (they do) or if it's because it's a book I'm very familiar with and confident reading so I just read it better. But we went out with a bang, sharing one of our favorite books together.

This month's craft was scratch-art bookmarks that I had leftover from last year. When they asked why I wouldn't be coming to visit them in May, I talked about the Summer Reading Club with my groups and encouraged them to all come and see me over the summer. And that wraps up my Afterschool visits for this school year!

Any great ideas for books to share or easy crafts to do next school year?

Fourmile by Watt Key

2013-04-23T11:07:00.000-04:00

Fourmile by Watt Key. Grades 6-8. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2012. 228 pages. Review copy provided by publisher for Young Hoosier Book Award consideration. My review reflects only my own opinion, not necessarily the opinion of the committee.

Things are a little rough for twelve-year-old Foster right now. Ever since his dad died, the farm he lives on has been slowly falling apart and now his mom says they have to sell it. Foster's not sure what kind of decisions his mom is capable of, though, since she's decided to date Dax, a bully of a man whom Foster instantly disliked. One day as Foster's painting the fence, Gary shows up and things start to change. Gary, a wandering ex-military man, offers to stay and help fix up the farm for minimum wage and a spot in the barn to sleep. Foster takes a shine to Gary who's calm and quiet and capable and seems to understand the pain Foster's still feeling over his dad's death. Though Foster keeps telling himself that Gary will have to move on, he starts to hope that Gary can stay. But Gary is not being completely upfront about his past and as the summer sizzles on, things will come to a blistering head.

Foster is a very realistic tween guy that kids will identify with. I completely believed in his confusion after his dad died, his frustration at his mom dating a jerk, and his instant attachment to Gary, a solid father figure. I loved Foster's devotion to his dog (who also doesn't like Dax) and the devotion he discovers he has to his farm. As Gary and Foster begin the process of fixing up the place together, Foster is able to let go of some of the pain he feels over his dad's absence and start to love Fourmile Farm for what it is.

Although this is a character-driven story about Foster coming to terms with his dad's death, the story also has a lot of action. Dax is a truly slimy guy and there is a lot of drama surrounding Dax and his mistrust of Gary and his mistreatment of both Foster and his mother. Although some of it felt a little over-the-top, the action blends nicely with the character development to make a story that will capture kids' interest.

The story also has a strong sense of setting. Watt Key brings Fourmile Farm to life with descriptions of the fields at different times of day, the rain coming down, the smells of the barn (and how they change as Foster and Gary start fixing things up). As much as this is a story about Foster and an action story, it's also a love letter to a Southern farm.

Readalikes: Readers looking for another story of a tween guy dealing with family issues in a rural setting might like Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Perry. In the story, Brother is searching for his place and trying to help take care of a ranch when his brothers are off at war.

Readers who like the blend of character development and action might like Bull Rider by Suzanne Morgan Williams. Between skateboarding, ranching, and bull riding, there's a lot of action in this book, but the protagonist Cam is also dealing with his brother coming home injured from war.

Fourmile was on the shortlist for the Middle Grade Cybils Award and it's also been reviewed by The Boy Reader and A Patchwork of Books. It's on shelves now.

What Sank the Titanic?

2013-04-22T11:07:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, I held a STEM program at my library investigating the science behind the Titanic disaster. It was a really fun program and I want to share what I did.

I pulled a lot of inspiration from Amy Koester's program Sink or Float: Titanic Edition and pulled some activities from the Titanic Science Activity Guide (opens a PDF). I've also done a different Titanic program at my library a few years ago, but that one wasn't centered on STEM concepts.

The book:

I always want to center my science programs around literature and utilize the awesome nonfiction books we have in our collection. For this program, I chose several passages from the fantastic book Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkins and read them throughout the program.

The setup:

The program:

I started out by introducing myself and reading a passage from the book. I read the short passage about the Titanic's cat and how she carried her kittens off the ship shortly before the ship launched (found on page 16). Then I asked the kids what they knew about the Titanic. They were happy to share facts with me and almost everyone knew at least one fact to share.

Next, we talked about buoyancy, the force that pushes upwards on objects in water. I demonstrated the concept of buoyancy with modeling clay (as found in the Titanic Science activity guide, linked above). My helper had made a boat out of modeling clay, which floated due to the large surface area. When I squished up the modeling clay into a ball shape, it sank because the surface area was smaller. As I did each step, I asked the kids to predict what they thought would come next.

Then I read another passage from the book, the first page of IMPACT on pages 73-74 and we talked about icebergs. I had created a model iceberg for the kids by freezing water in a balloon. The kids noticed how most of the iceberg was underwater, which made the iceberg hard to see.

Next, I read a passage that talked about the damage done to the ship (pages 84-85) and demonstrated the Titanic's sealed compartments with an ice cube tray. I found a spread in the book Story of the Titanic by Steve Noon which showed a diagram of the Titanic and the bulkheads that separated the compartments. I passed that around to show each kid and then showed them how the ice cube tray could float with a certain number of "compartments" flooded, but started to sink after several were filled with water.

I also did a demonstration to illustrate water pressure using a 2-liter bottle (found in the Titanic Science activity guide). This showed the kids that water pressure builds as you go deeper and that made the water gush in very fast because the holes made by the iceberg were fairly deep under the water. The activity guide has some facts about how fast the water came in, which I also shared.

After all that demonstrating, it was time for the kids to do some hands-on work. I provided supplies for them to make their own boats that would float in our demonstration tub. A tip here: I had our tub situated on top of a cart for easy transport and that worked well for the demonstrations - it was up high so everyone could see. But when it came time to float the boats, I wished it was a little lower so the kids could reach more easily. A shallower tub for the floating wouldn't have gone amiss, either, as some of the boats did not float on the first try. :)

Have many, many towels available! You can't have too many towels!

I provided: modeling clay, craft sticks, aluminum foil, pipe cleaners, and bits of yarn and ribbon that had been cut for some previous craft program. I found that many of the kids wanted to use the modeling clay, despite the fact that it was a fairly heavy material compared to the other materials. We had lots of sinking clay ships, giving us an opportunity to talk about surface area and buoyancy!

Tips:

- Try out each demonstration before you do it! I discovered on my trial run that the tub I thought I'd use had a crack along the bottom and water was leaking out. It's definitely a best practice to try everything out and make sure it's going to do what you think it will before you try it in front of a room full of kids.

- You cannot have too many towels! Obviously, putting the boats in the water to test them got them wet. Then if the kids wanted to take their boat back to their table to modify it, the table gets wet, too. It's all in good fun, but just have plenty of towels. :)

- This is a great time to display your Titanic books!

We had a nice crowd for this program on a particularly beautiful Saturday afternoon, so I call that a successful science program!

And hey, it's Nonfiction Monday! Head on over to A Mom's Spare Time for this week's roundup!

Reading Wildly: Adventure

2013-04-18T11:07:00.000-04:00

This month, our Reading Wildly book discussion was all about adventure. As we talked about the adventure genre, we discovered a few things. Adventure is one of those "genres" that can blend with many different genres. Books shared this month ranged from historical fiction to contemporary to science fiction to mystery. Lots of kids come to our desk looking for "an adventure story" and it turns out that can mean almost anything!

Adventure encompasses a range of genres and it can encompass a range of pacing, too. Many of the books we shared were fast-paced stories with lots of action, but some were slower and had more character development. Series like the 39 Clues have madcap adventures involving lots of foreign places and exciting situations, while series like The Penderwicks or Little House on the Prairie might feature gentler adventures. So just knowing that a kid wants "an adventure story" doesn't mean you know what they want. A readers' advisory conversation is definitely warranted to find something that they'll like!

This month, we also talked about book talks. My staff have varying levels of familiarity and comfort with book talks - some have done them and some haven't. I'd like to get to the place where we're all sharing book talks with each other at our monthly meetings, so we talked about what they are and I gave everyone some tips when writing up book talks. At the moment, our department is not involved in a lot of book talking, but I'm hoping that will change at some point. If I have my staff developing book talks as they're reading, they'll have a stack ready to start with if we ever do get in to the schools.

Here are the books my staff and I talked about at our meeting this month:

Brother from a Box by Evan Kuhlman
Capture the Flag by Kate Messner
The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne DuPrau
Down the Rabbit Hole, Chicago, Illinois, 1871: The Diary of Pringle Rose by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (and the sequels)
Here Where Sunbeams Are Green by Helen Phillips
I Survived the Attacks of September 11, 2001 by Lauren Tarshis
I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916 by Lauren Tarshis
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (from our teen librarian)
A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool

After our meeting, one of my staff members asked me if we're going to do this every month or if we were going to take a break at some point. I think it's a program that they all enjoy and this same staff member had just told me earlier that day how our discussions had helped her with a readers' advisory transaction. This particular staff member has a toddler at home and struggles to find time to read sometimes, so I think next month we'll share some tips with each other about how to squeeze in reading time.

Next month is funny books, which is another category that lots of kids love. It's a difficult category for me, personally, because you really have to put your kid hat on, so I'm glad we'll have a list of titles after next month's meeting!

Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different

2013-04-15T11:07:00.000-04:00

Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different by Karen Blumenthal. Grades 6 and up. Feiwel & Friends, 2012. 310 pages. Review copy provided by publisher for Young Hoosier Book Award consideration. This review reflects only my own opinion, not necessarily the opinion of the committee!

Steve Jobs was one of the world's biggest technology innovators and this thoughtful and readable biography brings his story to dazzling life. Starting with his childhood growing up with his adoptive family and losing interest in school early on because he wasn't challenged, this biography illuminates Jobs's indomitable spirit throughout. It doesn't shy away from the rough bits, either. Jobs fathered a child he ignored for many years, at times refused to bathe, and was fired from the company he started because he sometimes had a hard time getting along with people. But there's no questioning that Jobs was able to sense future needs in a way that few have ever done and because of him humans made huge leaps in technology.

Ask a class of kids to raise their hand if they have used at least one Apple device in the past week. From computers in schools to iPods to iPhones, Apple is everywhere. Here's a chance for students to learn how it came about.

For me, personally, this was an interesting story because I remember so many of these technological milestones playing out as I was growing up. Our first family computer was an Apple II GS. I remember Apple's decline and playing on my friend's family's computer which had Windows 3.1, a distinct change from the floppy disks at my house. It was fascinating to me to read the stories behind these stories and hear about Steve Jobs's part in them. Of course, today's tweens and teens won't have this personal background, but Apple's products are so ubiquitous today that many of them will have some experience with them.

Steve Jobs's unconventional path to success will be an inspiration to some. He dropped out of college in his first semester, proving that one can be a success without a degree. The book also clearly shows how very hard he worked to bring about that success. The book is exquisitely researched and back matter contains a time line, an author's note, a bibliography, and source notes. Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different was shortlisted for the Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults award.

Since Steve Jobs's death in 2011, there have been an influx of biographies about him for young readers, but this one stands above the rest. Make sure you stock your shelves for the tweens who are starting to do reports about his life.

Readalikes: For the story of a hardworking man behind another fairly ubiquitous American brand, check out Mr. Sam: How Sam Walton Built WalMart and Became America's Richest Man by Karen Blumenthal. Sam Walton was not a technological innovator, but he was an innovator just the same and he built great success for himself.

Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different is on shelves now!

Happy Nonfiction Monday!! You can find this week's roundup at NC Teacher Stuff, so go check it out!

Ah yes, it is April

2013-04-11T11:07:00.000-04:00

I told my staff and my boyfriend that I pretty much spend the entire month of April in a haze of anxiety as we wrap up our spring programming and it really becomes time to buckle down and iron out the Summer Reading Club.

This April has been no exception. I've been scheduling visits to the schools to talk about the Summer Reading Club. This year we're switching to doing the reading program online using Evanced's Summer Reader. It's going to be a big change for patrons and for staff, so I'm trying to get everything airtight with our setup before we start staff training. We've all been working on our summer programs, getting copy together for the summer program calendar (we have patrons asking for it every day now, despite the fact that there's still over a month of school left) and figuring out what supplies we need to order.

I've also been reading rather frantically for the Young Hoosier Book Award committee and I've been busy with our Indiana Library Federation district conference which was held last week (I'm on the planning committee). Free time has been scarce. Heck, time to even just think about anything has been scarce.

I actually love summer once we get into it. I have a cracker jack staff and we have lots of fun programs planned. Summer's the time to put aside some of the work that can wait until later and concentrate on serving patrons. It's a time of year when we see people we may not have seen since the summer before. Yes, it's busy but that means that people are using their library. Our shelves will look completely different by mid-June, bare space everywhere!

Of course, we can't put aside all of the other work - we'll definitely be planning some new programs for the fall. We're revamping our preschool storytimes and adding a beginning reader storytime and possibly other programming.

Anyway, all of this is just to say that I may have been a little absent on this blog and I will probably continue to be a little absent. I'm just dealing with all that April stuff, trying to check things off the massive to-do list, just like the rest of you public youth librarians probably are.

And if you, like me, feel overwhelmed with the amount of things you need to get done, just try to relax and take things as they come. We can only do what we can do and no one will be harmed if things don't go exactly like the ideal summer programs we have in our heads.

Tally ho! Summer's a'comin!

Splendors and Glooms

2013-04-10T11:07:00.000-04:00

Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz. Grades 5 and up. Candlewick, 2012. 384 pages. Review copy provided by my local library.

It's Clara's birthday and all she wants is a day of fun and frolic, a day she doesn't have to think about her poor lost sisters and brothers who died of cholera, a day when Grisini's marvelous puppet troupe will perform for her and her friends. Clara is fascinated by Grisini's puppets and by the children, Lizzie Rose and Parsefall, who bring the puppets to life. When Clara mysteriously disappears after the puppet show, suspicion immediately falls on Grisini, and as Lizzie Rose and Parsefall struggle to untangle the mystery, things will take a turn for the deadly.

Splendors and Glooms has the feel of a classic and I think it's a book that could appeal to a certain subset of a wide range of ages. Certainly it's a dark story with dead siblings looming over Clara's head, an evil witch plotting against children, and a diabolical puppet master who will stop at nothing to increase his own wealth. But it's also a story with a lot of love and hope and characters who strive to do the right thing and to protect each other. I can see this being a very special and beloved family read.

This book... made me feel the feelings. I got caught up in the lives of the characters and Laura Amy Schlitz broke my heart in certain scenes. Her carefully chosen words bring across the pain and betrayal felt by Clara, Lizzie Rose, Parsefall, and the witch Cassandra in a vivid way. They also bring the setting to life, from the dirty streets of Dickensian London to the crisp, clear winter at the witch's estate.

The book started off a little slowly for me, but once I was hooked I was hooked and I couldn't put it down until the story, with all its twists and turns, had played itself out. This is a book to lose yourself in and I'd hand it to kids looking to be transported.

Readalikes: As I was reading, I kept thinking of the book A Little Princess by Frances Burnett because Clara reminded me of Sara Crewe.

I've not read it, but I've heard comparisons around the interwebs to The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken, so I'd try that one as a readalike for its setting and storyline.

Splendors and Glooms won a 2013 Newbery honor and it's also been reviewed by these fine folks: Book Nut, The Book Smugglers, A Fuse #8 Production. It's on shelves now!

Stoplight Sorting

2013-04-05T11:07:00.000-04:00

Here's a prop activity to add to your transportation storytimes: stoplight sorting!

Why use it: I got the idea on I Heart Crafty Things, where Rachel had her son sort Legos and colored blocks. Sorting colors helps reinforce color concepts and the concepts of same and different. Knowing what traffic lights mean is a life skill that can help keep kids safe, especially as they get older and might be outside on their own.

I decided to use clothespins because pinching them open is a great activity to build fine motor control. I learned from one of our local kindergarten teachers that they use clothespins in the classroom because it helps build up those muscles so that kids can hold pencils properly, so I wanted to incorporate that activity into my storytime.

How to make it: I made the stop light from cardboard covered over with construction paper. A pizza place donated some misprinted cardboard pizza boxes to us at one point and we're still working our way through them. I used small paper plates as a template to make the circles the size I wanted, but you could use any circle of whatever size you want as a template. I attached each circle to the cardboard back with black yarn because I wanted the kids to be able to pinch the clothespins on. If you wanted to sort different objects, you could make a flat stoplight. You could also make a felt stop light and pass out small felt circles for children to sort.

You could make it more durable by laminating it or covering it with contact paper if you wanted. I purchased a huge pack of clothespins for about $8 and had a volunteer paint 30 of them. She just painted the top and the bottom - I wasn't too concerned with her covering every inch of them.

How to use it: This would be a great activity for programs on transportation or colors. You may want to teach them this little song about stoplight colors first:

(To the the tune of the first two lines of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)

Red means stop.
Green means go.
Yellow watch out!

You better go slow.

(That comes from my childhood, so I have no idea who made it up!)

You may also want to play stop and go, either with musical instruments like bells and shakers or physical activity like jumping up and down, spinning around, marching around the room, etc. Stop and go games are a fun way to practice that concept so that when parents really need kids to STOP, they'll think it's a game and do it!

If you have a group or a class, you could have the basket of clothespins and invite them to take turns coming up one at a time to choose a clothespin and match it to the right color. You might also want to pass out clothespins and invite each child to come up and pin theirs on. You could also use this as a toy for playtime after your storytime and have the set available for children to try. If you made a sturdier version than mine, you could also put this out as an early childhood station in your children's room or your classroom. The clothespins are cheap to replace if they walk away or are lost and it's a great activity to get ready to learn to write!

Stocking Up at the @alscblog

2013-04-03T09:17:00.000-04:00

Today you can find me over at the ALSC Blog talking about what series and popular standalone titles I'll be stocking up on for summer! Please click through and add your two cents - I'm sure I'm missing series that I need to be restocking!

Bad Girls

2013-04-01T11:07:00.000-04:00

Bad Girls: Sirens, Jezebels, Murderesses, Thieves, and Other Female Villains by Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple, illustrated by Rebecca Guay. Grades 5 and up. Charlesbridge, February 2013. 164 pages. Review copy provided by publisher.

In brief biographies of notorious women, authors Jane Yolen and her daughter Heidi Stemple explore the women of the past and ask themselves (and the reader) if they were really all bad or if they just got a bum rap. Women included range from well-known (Lizzie Borden, Typhoid Mary, Cleopatra) to those you might not have heard of (Alexe Popova, Elisabeth Bathory). Each woman gets a 2-4 page biography and then a one-page comic that details some of the research and investigation that went into creating part of the book.

The brief biographies are perfect for dipping in and out of, making this book a great recreational read for tweens and teens on the go. I loved the inclusion of the comics, illustrating some of the questions the authors faced as they wrote the book. They also help break up the text as the authors move from subject to subject. The writing is succinct and the tone of the book is light throughout. Although the nature of this book calls for the biographies to be brief, there is certainly enough there to inspire an interest in further research.

The authors selected a wide variety of notorious females from a variety of places and time periods, from spies to poisoners to pirates to exotic dancers. Back matter includes a bibliography for each of the subjects in the book (hooray!), an index, and a note on changing gender roles, which may redefine our idea of "bad" over time.

This is a great book to spark an interest in women's history and introduce tweens and teens to a variety of famous and interesting women throughout history.

Readalikes: I'd be quick to hand this to readers who have enjoyed Lives of Extraordinary Women by Kathleen Krull, as the format and content are similar. There is definitely room for both books on your shelves, as Bad Girls contains different content and is presented in a different format.

Readers looking for more books featuring strong female characters should take a gander at the Amelia Bloomer Project book lists.

Bad Girls is on shelves now!

It's Nonfiction Monday (no foolin'!), so head on over to Wendie's Wanderings for this week's roundup.

Preschool Storytime: Spring

2013-03-28T11:52:00.000-04:00

Last week, I had two Head Start classes visit the library for a storytime about spring! To be honest, it does not feel like spring here, but I'm hoping that the more we talk about it, the sooner spring will arrive. Here's what I did:

Opening Song: My Hands Say Hello. We practice saying "Hello" with different body parts. I suggest a few and then ask children for their suggestions.

Book: First the Egg by Laura Seeger. I have long loved this deceptively simple book about different growing things. With very brief text, Seeger is able to illustrate a complicated concept. When I shared this book, we talked about how things grow, like tadpoles grow into frogs, seeds grow into flowers, words grow into stories, etc. This lead nicely into talking about growing with our next book...

Book: The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Pop-Up Book) by Eric Carle. This book is a perennial favorite of children everywhere and many of the kids in this group were familiar with the story. When I share a familiar story, I always mention that it's one of my favorites and that's why I wanted to share it today. This encourages print motivation by demonstrating that I love this book enough to read it over and over again. We have the pop-up book in our programming collection and that adds a little something special because probably kids have not seen this version.

Song: Ten Little Flowers - via Storytime Katie who modified it from The Holiday Zone

(Tune: Ten Little Indians)
One little, two little, three little flowers
Four little, five little, six little flowers
Seven little, eight little, nine little flowers
Ten flowers in the spring.
Give them rain and lots of sunshine
Give them rain and lots of sunshine
Give them rain and lots of sunshine
So they’ll grow up tall.

I had them stand up and we did actions to go along with the words. Fingerplays and action songs help develop fine and gross motor skills and they also help to get some of the "wiggles" out when kids have been sitting for awhile.

Book: Cold Little Duck, Duck, Duck by Lisa Peters, illustrated by Sam Williams. This book perfectly describes what I'm feeling about spring this year. Little Duck is so ready for spring, but her pond is still iced over, so she dreams about spring until it arrives. Repeating words on each page give this book a nice rhythm and it uses lots of sound words, which encourage children to play with words and sounds (helping them learn that words are made up of smaller sounds). I think I read this one a little too slowly starting out and the kids started getting a little squirrelly. If I did it again, I'd read it a little faster, empahsizing the rhythm of the words.

Song: Five Little Ducks with stick puppets. I like to do this song with duck stick puppets and leave one behind my back each time fewer ducks come swimming back. At the end, I ask the kids to help Mother Duck call for her babies and we QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK louder and louder until I bring back all the duck puppets!

Five little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mama duck said, "Quack, quack, quack, quack,"
but only four little ducks came waddling back...

(Repeat, counting down.)

Book: Duckie's Rainbow by Frances Barry. This simple story is great for practicing colors as Duckie makes her way home before a rainstorm.

Song: If You're Wearing Red Today. I wanted one more action song and this went nicely with the color theme of our last book. I asked the kids to notice what colors they're wearing and then to be good listeners because this song was going to mention a color they might be wearing and ask them to do something. I switch up the color and the action (clap your hands, touch your nose, pat your knees, stick our your tongue, rub your tummy, etc.) each time. This song is great for encouraging listening skills.

(Tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb")

If you're wearing red today, red today, red today
If you're wearing red today, please stand up

Mystery Bag: We've incorporated the Mystery Bag in order to reinforce letter knowledge. Today's letter was "S" for spring! I asked the kids what sound it makes and if they could think of any words that started with "S" (sun, snake, their teacher Miss Starr). Then I brought out the objects from the bag and we talked briefly about each one. In my bag I had a stick (a rain stick!), a square shape, a seashell, and a scarf.

Closing Song: Do You Know What Time It Is? Using opening and closing songs help signal to children when storytime is beginning (and they know it's time to listen) and when storytime is ending (and they know it's time to move on to something else).

Afterschool: March

2013-03-26T11:07:00.000-04:00

I found some awesome books to share with the kids at my afterschool visits this month and we had a really fun craft, too. Here's what I shared with them and how it went:

Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky. Greenwillow Books, 2012. This one was one of my favorites and I wanted to try it as a readaloud. I think it works, but it's maybe a little better with a smaller group and make sure you practice it first. What worked for my groups was pointing out where Moose is hiding in the illustrations, but also reading straight when you get to "R is for Moose, S is for Moose", etc.

How Big Is It? by Ben Hillman. Scholastic Reference, 2007. I have been having a little trouble finding books that engage my first group of the month, and this is a surefire hit. This book has photoshopped pictures that help explain just how BIG some big things are. I don't read all the text, but show the pictures and share a few facts about the animal or object in the photos.

Little Pea by Amy Kraus Rosenthal, illustrated by Jen Corace. Chronicle Books, 2005. This book has a really fun story. Little Pea likes many things, but you know what he hates? Candy. But that's what little peas have to eat for dinner and if he doesn't eat his candy, he won't get dessert... a huge helping of spinach! The kids found the role-reversal really funny.

Epossumondas by Coleen Salley, illustrated by Jan Stevens. Harcourt Children's Books, 2002. This is one of my very favorite books to read aloud. I read it with an exaggerated southern accent and the kids find it hilarious! Don't miss the Epossumondas books!

This month's craft was a fun one, too. We again got away from the scratch art (it'll be back next month...) with gameboard templates. Some of our neighboring librarians brought this template to our district meeting in January and I immediately wanted to try it with the afterschool kids. It's easy for us because we only have to run off the templates (the sites provide crayons). The kids can be creative in designing their gameboards however they like (one contrary guy wrote "go back" on every space!), but they can also just color it if they're not feeling creative.

Please feel free to download and use the template.

Next month will be our last visits for the school year. We wrap them up in April because we take time in May to visit each of the schools and promote the Summer Reading Club. School's out here on May 22 and our Summer Reading Club will be starting May 20!

Hanging Up Our Earbuds

2013-03-25T11:07:00.000-04:00

Kelly and I are hanging up our earbuds and retiring the monthly AudioSynced Roundup.

While we have LOVED hosting the roundup and seeing so many great audiobooks getting attention throughout the blogosphere, we're both in a position where we're unable to make audiobooks a big part of our lives like they have been in the past. It's time for us to move on to other projects.

If you're looking for great audiobook reviews (and I hope you are!), please remember that Audiobook Jukebox continues to collect audiobook reviews from around the internet. You should also definitely add Reading With My Ears to your blogroll, as Lee posts many fantastic reviews each month. And don't forget about the great audiobook lists on the American Library Association's website: Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults, Children's Notable Recordings, and the Odyssey Award. You may also want to check out other audiobook awards like the Audies or the Grammys.

And both Kelly and I are absolutely fine if anyone is inspired to pick up the torch and start hosting some kind of audiobook review roundup. Go for it!

It's been a pleasure listening with you these past few years. Would you please tell us your favorite audiobook(s) or audiobook blog in the comments?

Reading Wildly: Science Fiction

2013-03-21T11:07:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week, our Reading Wildly staff genre reading program met to discuss science fiction titles. Again, it was a really great meeting and I was really pleased with the breadth of reading my staff are doing. They're encouraging each other and finding additional titles they're interested in at our meetings, too, which is awesome!

We started this meeting by talking a little bit about the readers' advisory training we had a couple weeks ago from Suzanne Walker at the Indiana State Library. We mentioned some of the things we learned at the training and discussed the appeal factors that Suzanne taught us about. Then we shared our booktalks and I asked staff to consider the appeal factors as we went. For our future meetings, I've revised the book review forms to include the four appeal factors (pacing, characterization, storyline, and setting).

Science fiction is another genre that we get asked about quite often. One of our middle schools has been doing Donalyn Miller's 40-book challenge with their students and requiring them to read from a variety of genres. Middle-grade science fiction is often one of the genres that kids have trouble with. Either they like it or they don't, and our quest is to find middle-grade books that will appeal to kids who are not really that interested in sci-fi.

Here are the books my staff read for our discussion this month:

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

The Doom Machine by Mark Teague

Eye of the Storm by Kate Messner

Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities by Mike Jung

Invasion (Animorphs #1) by K.A. Applegate

Lunch Walks Among Us (Franny K. Stein #1) by Jim Benton

The Missing series by Margaret Peterson Haddix

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau

The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke

Our teen librarian played along again this month and shared The Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride #1) by James Patterson and Eve and Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate. We had a great discussion about being nonjudgmental in readers' advisory and about our honest opinions of some of the series that are very popular with kids and teens.

Next month, our genre is adventure and that's definitely one I'm looking forward to. What are your favorite adventure books for kids?

Oh hey, ALA Elections

2013-03-19T11:07:00.000-04:00

Oh hey, it's ALA Election time again! Voting begins TODAY and continues through April 26, 2013. You can find more info on ALA's website (and I believe that ballots will be emailed out).

I really, really, really, really, really, really encourage all ALA members to vote.

I know that the ballots are long and it can be a time-consuming process, but I truly believe it's an important process. Every vote counts and we need every voice. Please set aside the time and make your voice heard.

Also, ahem, you will find me on your ballot this year, running for the 2015 Newbery Commitee. I personally would appreciate your vote, but even if you don't want to vote for me (or if you are not an ALSC member), I still want you to VOTE!!!