Book fair starts with a bang!

Wowsa! We had so many kids in buying books this morning they were flying off the carts! It was awesome. Take a look at some of the fun that was had at book fair already. We'll be open in the library all week, and then we'll be in the gym at conferences. Bring your parents to the book fair at conferences and get a prize!

Also, Mrs. FB is looking for a few more kids to volunteer on Monday from 10-noon to move the book fair over to the gym. Pizza for all workers will be served at noon!!! sign up in the library.

Happy birthdays!

This week we have two great birthday suggestions from Brooke and Calvin who actually celebrated their birthdays last week! Thanks for the great ideas :-)

Poetry Friday- A book

The Book Fair is opening on Monday!! Time for you to dig under the couch cushions an beneath the car seats to see what spare change you can come up with! there will be lots of great titles available for everyone.



A Book

There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!

Emily Dickinson

Happy birthday, Noah!

Today is Noah's birthday and he's picked a sports book, Summer Ball by Mike Lupica. I was just telling him this morning that I just found out Mike Lupica is a sports reporter as well as a fiction author. I didn't know that until recently when I was listening to a John Feinstein book in which he talks about a lot of real sports personalities and reporters, and Mike Lupica's one of the guys he mentions. When I heard his name, I was like, wait a minute, I know that name...Kinda cool. Happy birthday, Noah! Thanks for a great suggestion.

Hummer talks about the book fair!

Click the play button to hear what Hummer has to say about the book fair! Hope to see you there!

Happy birthday!

Do you know who our secret birthday person is today? Hint: his first name and my first name start with the same letter. Today's mystery birthday guest recommends Eldest by Christopher Paolini. Let me know if you can guess who he is!

Henry's Sisters - Cathy Lamb

This is the third book I've read by this Oregon author, and although I liked the book, it had a lot more sadness in it than her previous books, and I was looking forward to something a little lighter when I picked it up.

One thing Cathy Lamb does really well is character development, and I had a particularly favorite character in this one, and that was Amelia Earhart. No, not the REAL Amelia Earhart, but don't tell Grandma because she's pretty sure she is. The main characters in this story are three sisters and their brother Henry. The story is focused on their relationships with one another as well as their family history which has deeply affected all of them. Their grandmother has Alzheimer's, and she is sure she is Amelia Earhart, the famous woman pilot. She is never out of character and lends a bit of lightheartedness to a sometimes heavy novel.

Recommended for adult readers. Available at the Multnomah County Library.

Poetry Friday - Lander Evening

In honor of Veteran's Day, November 11, here's a poem about a soldier who fought in Vietnam.

lander evening

from Gloria

Bill used to mention
Vietnam sometimes—
Snippets of story
I heard but never
felt.
He might have been describing
Mars or
Disneyland
It was an untouchable
Part of his past.

Last October,
Our Pastor told the Bishop
About Bill's poetry.
While he was here, he
Dropped by.
Bill did his funny ones
Two or three
And mentioned in passing
He had written some
Serious Poems
About his war.

The Bishop asked to hear one, so
Bill went away and came
Back with
"Body Burning Detail."
Halfway through it,
He broke down.

I just remember him
Sitting there,
Shaking,
His agony
His anguish
Pouring down his face
And suddenly,
For me,
It was real.
I could feel
with my heart
and soul
What he could never
Describe
I think
I began to
Understand.

Guess who I get to meet this week?

I am SO excited because yesterday I received a letter in the mail telling me I get to meet James Patterson this week at the American Association of School Libraries conference and get a book signed by him! Can you believe it? SO exciting. He's the author of the Maximum Ride series which I love and a new series called Daniel X. So I'll be away at my conference the rest of the week, and hopefully I'll have great info to share and maybe even a few pictures when I get back! Hope everyone has a great week!

Birthday boys!

Today's birthday book picks are from Michael who chose Inkheart, a fabulous choice, and from Wesley, who picked the very popular Star Wars The Ultimate Visual Guide.

Happy birthday, boys! Thanks for the great recommendations :-)

Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie - Jordan Sonnenblick

It's not often that a book makes me cry and cry and also laugh out loud on the same page, but Jordan Sonnenblick did it in this awesome book, Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie. Admittedly, it's one of the weirder names for a book I've ever read, but I thought it was terrific.

I actually had this book on my list to read for about two years, but you know how my list gets - if I were to start reading today and read without sleeping, eating, or going to the bathroom for the next three years, I probably couldn't finish my TBR stack. So anyway, I never got around to it. But then I read Zen and the Art of Faking It for the Battle of the Books, and I enjoyed it so much, I decided to move this one up on my list. That was a good idea, because I'd been missing out. Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie is a powerful story about a boy whose baby brother gets leukemia. Not a funny thing, right? And it's not. But on the other hand, there's a lot of life, even when you or your little brother have cancer, that's pretty funny. And laughing about things is good for your blood pressure. I think it gets those little endorphin things that make our brains feel good move around or something. So we need to laugh, especially when things are hard. I really believe that, and apparently so does Jordan Sonnenblick.

Steven is in 8th grade, so you know there's a lot going on in his life already that's kind of tumultuous; adding his little brother's leukemia to the mix makes a lot of things much harder, and Steven sometimes has trouble dealing. So do his parents. so now you've got a 13 year old boy who's stressed and not very well able to cope without the people he relies on most to help him through because they can barely cope themselves. It's kind of a recipe for disaster. And there are definitely some disasters along the way. But there are a lot of good things that come out of it, too. I think this is an important thing to remember, although often hard to do, when someone gets really, really sick. Yes, it's cruddy and icky, and horrible to go through, but there are bound to be some bright spots along the way, and holding tight to those will help a lot.

I do some charity photography work with the Children's Cancer Association, and so I'm always looking for books that I think would be helpful for kids with cancer and/or their families to recommend to them. This one's going on that list.

Next up is Notes from a Midnight Driver. Jordan Sonnenblick told me (he's my Facebook friend!) it's his mom's favorite, so I can't wait to figure out why. He'd better get going on a new middle grade novel pretty soon, though, because after that, I'm out of novels by him, and I'm not going to be too happy about it!

Girls Dinner Club - Jessie Elliott

I just picked this book up off the shelf at the library the other day - not like I don't already have 25 books out, but what's one more, right? It just seemed to be calling to me. I love books that center around food. Julie and Julia, The Last Chinese Chef, Cathy Lamb's books, Like Water for Chocolate, the list goes on. I was intrigued by a book about teenage girls that involved food, because that's not so common. Probably because I doubt that many kids are spending time cooking, although they definitely should. Talk about a life skill. Anyway, I digress.

This book has three girls as the main characters, two of whom have been friends for a long time, and a third girl who's just becoming their friend. This book is high school chick-lit. Friends, family, school and BOYS are the main topics of conversation, but the part I love is the role that food plays. The girls plan and shop for and prepare food for and with one another and I think it's magical. I truly believe in the healing power of food and in the power of food as a gift, so this book really spoke to me.

Character development is really strong in this book as well, and you know I love strong character development.

This book would be a great addition to a high school collection. I think it might take a little salesmanship to get kids reading it, but that's what librarians are for, right?

Available at the Multnomah County Library.

The Scarlet Letterman - Cara Lockwood

This book was recommended to me by an 8th grader. I liked it a lot, but I think it's a better choice for a high school collection. One thing they did in this novel that I think older readers would appreciate much more than younger readers, is include tons of literary allusions. The teachers at the boarding school where this story (and series, in fact) takes place, are all ghosts who were writers of major works of fiction, like William Blake, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, Mary Shelley, and Charlotte Bronte. Not many kids at the school know they're ghosts, but Miranda, the main character, and a few friends do.

I thought it was cool how these authors were included and their works referenced - Blake's "Tyger, Tyger" poem is, in fact, a huge part of the story, but I doubt most kids reading it would even get it. Middle schoolers aren't often reading Blake. In high school they probably do - I wonder when? I'm not sure it makes a big difference as to whether a reader would like the story, but I do know that you'd get a lot more meaning from the story if you DO have that background as opposed to not having it.

If you were the person who recommended this book to me, please leave me a comment. Of course you may leave me a comment even if you aren't that person and you have something to say. :)

Have a great day!

Happy, happy birthday!

Sidney chose one of my favorites today to recommend on her birthday, Twilight.
And our very own beautiful Alex chose Beautiful Creatures as her recommendation.

Happy birthday, ladies!

Poetry Friday - Three Witches from Macbeth

Happy Halloween!

Three Witches from Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Round about the cauldron go; In the poison’d entrails throw. Toad, that under cold stone Days and nights hast thirty one Swelter’d venom sleeping got, Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot. Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Fillet of a fenny snake, In the cauldron boil and bake; Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting, Lizard’s leg, and howlet’s wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Happy birthdays!

Today Quincy and Dorell have birthday recommendations for you. Quincy recommends Harry Potter book 7 and Dorell recommends a biography of Allen Iverson. Happy birthdays to both of you!

I read this quote on Booklist online today, and I totally love it because although the author, Katie, was talking about herself, she's also talking about me. Really, one of the only reasons I exercise is to listen to audiobooks on my ipod. Go, Katie!

Audiobooks—burning calories,
protecting my social sanity,
and improving my mind.
A biblio-trifecta. Woot.

Feliz cumpleaños

Did you even know we had libros en español in our library? Apparently some people do, because today's birthday chica picked one out to share with you. El Misterio de la Curva del Muerto.


Disfruten!

Happy birthdays!

More happy birthdays from last week!

Mother Daughter Book Club - Join us!

West Orient has a great book club for moms and daughters called GAB - Girls and Books. We meet once a month on Wednesdays at 4:00 for about an hour. We talk about great books, have awesome snacks, and do fun craft activities. There's always room for more people, so please contact Mrs. F-B (leave a comment here or call or email her at school) if you're interested. Our November meeting is the 18th and we're reading Trapped Between the Lash and the Gun. These pictures are from our October meeting where we discussed The Wild Girls, had ice cream sundaes and cheetos with whipped cream, and made monster boxes.

Poetry Friday - Autumn Storehouse

Winter will be here before we know it, and I need to start storing up the glorious days of fall (not the rainy ones so much)!


Autumn Storehouse
I'd like to take October days
And store them in my mind,
To warm me during Winter's reign
When nature proves unkind.

Then I remember sunshine,
The Autumn rich with gold,
And tawny fields a-flower
With wonders quite untold.

My thoughts will ease the moments
When in reverie I dwell,
And linger for the present
In some bright majestic dell.
~Virginia Borman Grimmer~