Sunday Salon...April 1

Spring Break week ahead.  Do I get a refund if the weather is awful all week?

Weather today... Sunny right now but there is a serious threat of rain. 

In the school library this past week: It was a seriously quiet week in the library.  Just a few classes in and out.  Lots of kids in for lunch time, though, since it was pouring outside.

I'm reading: 1. Emma by Jane Austen and 2. Returning by Christine Hinwood
 
I'm listening to: Beneath a Meth Moon by Jacqueline Woodson. A girl gets involved using meth (she calls it moon) after her family is transplanted to a new town after Hurricane Katrina claims the lives of her mother and grandmother. 

Book finished this week:  

1. Irises by Fransisco X. Stork. Two sisters are left alone to care for their mother who is in a persistent vegetative state after their father dies suddenly. 
2. Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall. A novel in verse. 
3. Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbaugh. A coming-of-age story about a boy who wakes up one morning to discover that he is really fast and athletic. Along the way he makes new friends and discovers a lot about his family history.

 
Reading/bookish goals for the week: I hope to read at least 5 books this week to catch up on my number goal for the year (120) and to knock books off from my reading challenges.  So far, so good.  I've finished 1 1/2  books already. In addition I hope to blog every day and catch up on all my back book reviews that I've been sitting on for a while.


Scripture lesson in church: Palm Sunday! Matthew 21:8-11. Today on the church calendar we celebrate Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem one week before he was crucified.

I'm praying for: Friends who are divorcing after 35+ years of marriage.  It is so sad.

Around the house: This week I have to pack up the whole lower part of the house in preparation for hardwood floor installation the following Monday.  Lucky I have a week off school to do it.

From the kitchen: Daughter #1 made lasagna cups that work for dieting ladies. Yum.

Memorable event of the week: My book club met on Wednesday afternoon. A lot had happened in everyone's lives since the last time we met. We needed to be together to support and love-up on each other.

A favorite quote this week: “Reading...a vacation for the mind..." -Dave Barry

 

Libraries 101...Books in a series

Libraries 101 is a new feature at My Head is Full of Books where librarians and library-goers can talk about issues near and dear---books and bookish related topics specific to libraries.

Today's topic is books in a series.

Any teen librarian today has to be on his/her toes constantly just to stay one step ahead of the teens' insatiable desire for the next book in a favorite series. I could never keep them straight. Constantly feeling overwhelmed and confused I resorted to creating a few tricks to help me stay sane and to look like I knew what I was doing.

1. First I started purchasing two or three copies of the first book in a series so that more kids could be introduced to the popular series without being thwarted before they had a chance to start.

1.1.1.2.2.3.4...

2. Next I created a little blue notebook into which I write out the list of books in particular series, and if I know them, the dates of upcoming books. This little notebook is now a go-to spot for my ardent library readers. One girl even complimented me on it just this past week. "This is the coolest book. I've never seen one in any other library." Of course, the information is available on the card catalog, but that requires several steps in our school system to login and get to the catalog.  This is faster. Not a day goes by that someone, including my clerk, doesn't consult the little Books in a Series book.

This small three-ring binder sits on the circulation desk so that anyone can use it.

Pages are sorted by author, titles are added as new books are published.

A post-it note announces up-coming titles.

3. Another issue with books in a series is how to communicate to the reader that there is another book in the series.  As you know from my last post, I am not a great fan of stickers, so I always struggle with how to communicate with readers so that they will know to look for the next book. Obviously if the kid drops by the circulation desk we would tell them, but frequently that didn't happen so I decided to start displaying books in a series on a shelf in my library.  Post-it notes help us indicate each books' number in the series. Series are rotated onto and off the shelf monthly. This has been a very popular move. Kids flock to the shelf and find that next book themselves.  Often they tell me that they loved the first book but didn't even know that there were other books after it. Success!

All books in the series are marked with post-it notes.

A variety of types of series are highlighted: fantasy, paranormal, realistic, etc.

If books in a series don't move, they are reshelved and others replace them to keep the display fresh.

4. For very popular series, notices on the library bulletin board announce the arrival of the next book in a series.  House of Night. Inheritance Cycle. The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. Hunger Games.


What do you find helpful in identifying the next book in the series?  Join in the conversation.

 

Retrospective Wednesday #3---The Goose Girl

Retrospective Wednesday is a new feature at My Head is Full of Books designed to give bloggers a chance to highlight a book that was published in previous years, in the hope that it will cause others to go back and read it. The featured book must have been published one or more years ago.  Please leave a comment and link back to Headfullofbooks from your blog post. Join in the fun highlighting favorite old books.

Retrospective Wednesday #3---The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale 

"From the Grimm’s fairy tale of the princess who became a goose girl before she could become queen, Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original, and magical tale of a girl who must find her own unusual talents before she can lead the people she has made her own."---from Shannon Hale's Webpage

This marvelous fairy tale never fails to delight readers.  Just today a teacher returned the book to the library saying that she was quite taken with the story and was surprised that she hadn't read it before. She has just become the latest fan of this charming tale that has enough action, romance, suspense, magic, and pageantry to attract a variety of readers.  And if the reader really enjoys this book, there are three other books in the series which carry characters forward and introduce new ones.  Originally published in 2004, this book is targeted toward middle-school aged readers but high school girls (and many adults) really enjoy it, too.


 

Review: Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley won both the prestigious 2012 Printz Award and the Morris Award for debut authors in January. The day those awards were announced was the first day that I paid any attention whatsoever to this book and author. And I might add, I wish I had paid closer attention because this book is a gem. It is truly a winner. I agree with Rollie Welsh, a writer and librarian from Cleveland Public Library, who said, "[it's] victory surprised the oddsmakers. It won't surprise those who read the book."

Cullen Witter lives in the sleepy little town of Lily, Arkansas where nothing ever happens. Ever. That is until someone comes along and spots a Lazarus woodpecker, a bird thought to be instinct for 70 years. At approximately the same time Cullen's younger bother, Gabrielle, goes missing. Cullen understandably becomes very upset with the fact that people in Lily were more concerned with making money off of the woodpecker than finding his brother.

Lest you think I am making this book sound dull or boring, let me assure you that this book has a lot of surprises, quite a bit of humor, and just enough teen angst to make this book very satisfying and memorable.  There is even an odd religious story that runs concurrent to Cullen's. For a while it seems confusing as to how this story related to what is happening in Lily.  But Whaley does a masterful job bringing together all the pieces and parts of the story at the end of the book.

I can't wait to get this book back into circulation in the library. I trust that students who like reading well-written, well-plotted books will find a lot to like in Where Things Come Back.


 

Sunday Salon, March 25

Weather today... Sunny with blue skies. Earlier this week it snowed two inches and school was delayed by two hours. Crazy, crazy weather for the Pacific Northwest.

In the school library this week: The Biology classes were in the library all week working on fruit-fly labs on the computers. It gave me a chance to interact with teachers I rarely see. My clerk and I untangled several funny mysteries and, all in all, it seemed like a productive week.

I'm reading: 1. Emma by Jane Austen and 2. Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall.
 
I'm listening to: Irises by Fransisco X. Stork. Two sisters are left alone to care for their mother who is in a persistent vegetative state after their father dies suddenly.

Book finished this week: 

1. Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones. Set on Bougainville, an island that is part of Papua New Guinea. The teacher, Mr. Watts, reads Great Expectations to his class. The main character in the book, Pip, plays an important role in the life of Matilda, the story's protagonist.
2. Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley, the Printz Award winner for 2012. Look for my review later today.
3. Mirrormask by Neil Gaiman. Look for my review this week.
4. Zeus: King of the Gods by George O'Connor. Book one of a series of graphic novels about the Greek gods.
   

Abandoned book: The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta. I abandoned this book this past summer because I just couldn't get in to it.  But then I decided to give it another try.  Once again I felt confused.  Then another blogger contacted me and recommended that I read Saving Francesca before I read this book.  So I am giving myself permission to abandon this book until I get a chance to do just that.

Scripture lesson in church: Matthew 21:13- ¹³ And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”

I'm praying for: Patt, my friend's husband, who was hospitalized this week.

Around the house: Daughter #2 is home for Spring Break. We've watched lots of movies.  At one point all four of us were sitting with our electronics playing the new Drawing program that is such a craze right now.  Yesterday the hubby and I went out and pruned all the roses and the hydrangea bushes.  We also tidied up one flower bed in the front of the house.  Keep your fingers crossed that we didn't do it too soon.

From the kitchen: Vegetable Beef Soup that was simply delicious..

Fun event of the week: We went to see Hunger Games, the movie yesterday as a family then went out for an early dinner at a sports bar so the hubby could watch the end of one of the NCAA tournament  basketball games.

A favorite quote this week: “Remember, we're madly in love, so it's all right to kiss me anytime you feel like it.”- Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games
 
 

Review: Zeus: King of the Gods by George O'Connor

The first four graphic books in the Olympians series by George O'Connor are very popular in my library right now. Zeus, Athena, Hera, and Hades are the Gods highlighted in the first four books of this series by a masterful illustrator, George O'Connor. Always fascinated by Greek mythology, but by no means a scholar, a refresher course seemed like a good idea so I picked up Zeus, the first book in the series.  It not only provided a review but also taught me a lot about the stories that I never knew before.

Take a look at George O'Connor's page for examples of his illustrations. I can't wait to make my way through the whole series.

Retrospective Wednesday #2---The Book of Lost Things

Retrospective Wednesday is a new feature at My Head is Full of Books designed to give bloggers a chance to highlight a book that was published in previous years, in the hope that it will cause others to go back and read it. The featured book must have been published one or more years ago.  Please leave a comment and link back to Headfullofbooks from your blog post. Join in the fun highlighting favorite old books.

Retrospective Wednesday #2---The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

John Connolly's The Book of Lost Things is one of those books that is "clutch-the-book-to-your-chest-when-you-are-finished good. When I tell students about this book I admonish them to NOT tell me if they don't like it because it is so special to me.  I don't want anything to tarnish it's reputation in my mind. This 2007 Alex Award book appeals to older teens, and those teens who enjoy reading fairy tales or those whose taste in books runs a little toward the warped or to satire.

"High in the attic bedroom, twelve-year-old David mourns the death of his mother, with only books on his shelf for company. But those books have begun to whisper to him in the darkness. Angry and alone, he takes refuge in his imagination and soon finds that reality and fantasy have begun to meld. While his family falls apart around him, David is violently propelled into a world that is a strange refection of his own---populated by heroes and monsters and ruled by a faded king who keeps his secrets in a mysterious book, The Book of Lost Things...John Connolly tells a dark and compelling tale that reminds us of the enduring power of stories in our lives."---from the book jacket

Published in 2006 this book deserves another look on the retrospective Wednesday. Both teens and adults will find something within that will both delight and demand closer attention. I find myself chuckling aloud when recalling passages from this special book. I hope you, too, find it just as delightful.

If you have an old, favorite book you'd like others to read, feel free to join in and add a book to Retrospective Wednesday on your blog.

Top Ten Books On My Spring To-Be-Read list

Top Ten Books On My Spring To-Be-Read list

My selections today will help me with three projects:
A. Make progress on my reading challenges;
B. Identify new selections for my Nifty Fifty Cart; and
C. Start reading books published in 2012 that may make my Mock Printz list.

Books on my A list (Reading Challenges):
1. Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
2. The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
3. Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
4. Putting Make-up on the Fat Boy by Bil Wright
5. Soldier Bear by Bib Tak
6. Stotan! by Chris Crutcher (also for B)

Books on my B list (Nifty Fifty prospects)
1. Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach
2. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
3. The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
4. Black and White by Paul Volpoini
5. Sabriel by Garth Nix

Books on my C List (Potential Mock Printz selections)
1. The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour
2. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
3. Master of Deceit: J. Edgar Hoover by Marc Aronson
4. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

If you have some suggestions for my B and C lists, I am very open to suggestions.
The Nifty Fifty cart is just a special cart I have in the library with 50 different books that are generally liked by all readers, high and low.  The lead up to the Mock Printz Workshop, kids read 10-15 preselected books that I think might win the Printz Award in January. 

It's Monday, March 19 and I'm reading...

Jen and Kellee at Teach Mentor Text

Sheila at Book Journey

                                                                   What I am currently reading and my progress:
 
1. Piper's Son by Melina Marcheta...set in Australia, a group of friends are coping with the death of another friend. 50% complete.
2. Emma by Jane Austen.. ..I started reading this book on my smart phone during jury duty. 15% complete.
3. Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley... Can't seem to get much traction on this book.  I must bear down on it this week. 10% complete.

What I am listening to:

Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones---This was an Alex Award winner a few years back. Set on a small island in Papua New Guinea. The teacher, Mr.Watts, reads Great Expectations by Charles Dickens to his class and this book becomes important for a variety of reasons.

What I've recently finished:

The Final Four by Paul Volponi--- a fictionalized account of a semifinal game in the NCAA Basketball tournament with four of the players highlighted. Very good!

What I hope to read next:

-Under the Mesquite by Guadeloupe Garcia McCall
-Irises by Francisco X. Stork...I've checked it out from the library but haven't looked in it yet.

What are YOU reading this week?

Sunday Salon... March 18

Weather today... Rain, sun, snow, hail. It is actually quite ridiculous.

In the school library this week: The state HSPE (High School Proficiency Exam) was held on three days, plus an additional make-up day on Friday. The library was the room used for students who needed a longer time to finish it. We had to lock out all other students, teachers, and classes.  It was actually quite boring. Watching students take tests.


I'm reading: 1. Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley, the Printz Award winner for 2012; 2. The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta

I'm listening to: Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones. Set on Bougainville, an island that is part of Papua New Guinea. The teacher, Mr. Watts, reads Great Expectations to his class. The main character, Pip, plays an important role in the life of Matilda, the story's protagonist.

Book finished this week: The Final Four by Paul Volponi. A fictionalized account of a semifinal game in the NCAA basketball tournament. Read my review here.

Bookish event: I attended an author event at the Garfield Bookstore last night where six new/upcoming YA authors answered questions and read from their books.  Unfortunately, the event was very poorly attended. I enjoyed myself but felt sorry for the organizers of it since I'm sure they made no money on it at all.

Scripture lesson in church: Isaiah 43:18,19

¹⁸ “Forget the former things;
   do not dwell on the past.
¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
   Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? 

I'm praying for: My friends. Two of my friends have lost their mothers in the past few weeks. Two other friends' husbands are currently being treated for cancer. Moral of the story, aging sucks!

Around the house: The new washer and dryer are installed and we've spent most of Saturday catching up on laundry! They are both front loaders and we have been amusing ourselves watching the laundry tumble around.  Ha!

From the kitchen: Corned beef and cabbage and second day, Rueben sandwiches.

Musical event of the week: The University of Puget Sound Adelphian Choir and RHS Concert choir shared a concert at our church. It was an excellent event.

A favorite quote this week: "Don't give up. Don't ever give up!" ---Jimmy V.