Birthdays galore!

Well, it seems that somehow I took some birthday pics and then never posted them. I think maybe someone borrowed that camera from the library before I'd downloaded them. So when I went to post some new ones, I found a whole bunch of others, too. My apologies to our birthday stars who have been languishing inside the camera for over a month now. I know it's kind of dark inside a camera. I hope you were still able to read. Check out all these great recommendations!!

Ice Cream Insanity

OK, Friday I did one of the most crazy things I have ever done and probably one of the most crazy things I ever will do...I let myself be made into a human ice cream sundae. Of course, it was all in the name of reading. When the students of WOMS come through and read 700 hours+, they deserve some excitement! That's why the 6th grade team, Mr. Garrison and I were all covered in ice cream, chocolate, caramel, and whipped cream WITH a cherry on top, of course on Friday. And so, without further ado, I present you with some pictures from Friday's Ice Cream Insanity. If you want to see the video and a few more pictures, you can go to the WOMS library Facebook Fan page.

Enjoy!

Poetry Friday - "Eel Grass"

Another Emily Dickinson poem this week. LOVE her! Just had someone point out that I had the wrong attribution here.  This poem is by Edna St. Vincent Milay. So sorry for the misinformation. Thanks, reader!

 And what I really love is the beach, too. Although I'm not sure I could love anything called "eel". Have you ever seen one of those? They are something kind of creepy. Kind of cool, but kind of creepy. These are just eel grasses, though, so maybe...My favorite line here is

"The jingle shells that lie and bleach"

That is a fabulous image!


Eel-Grass

No matter what I say,
All that I really love
Is the rain that flattens on the bay,
And the eel-grass in the cove;
The jingle-shells that lie and bleach
At the tide-line, and the trace
Of higher tides along the beach;
Nothing in this place.

Poetry for Young People -- Emily Dickinson Edna St. Vincent Milay

Hey, we got mentioned on the Readergirlz blog!

Check it out here!

Support Teen Literature Day at WOMS

We are having SO much fun on Support Teen Literature Day here at WOMS. Books 4 Giving donated a lot of great books to us recently, so we shared those as our contribution to Readergirlz' fabulous Rock the Drop celebration; we shared poems with each other for Poem in Your Pocket Day; AND we had ice cream to celebrate another fine season of OBOBberry. I don't know how we can top it. Oh yeah, by capping off the week with our heman ice cream sundae celebration at the West Orient's Got Talent show tomorrow. there are sure to be some crazy pics from that event.

In the meantime, you can see a few of the great photos from today's activities here, and find more on our Facebook Fan Page! Search WOMS Library.

Operation Teen Book Drop is tomorrow!

It's time for Operation Teen Book Drop (TBD), an annual event held in honor of Support Teen Literature Day. On Thursday, April 15th, 2010, - the combined efforts of readergirlz, Guys Lit Wire, YALSA, and If I Can Read I Can Do Anything - will be dropping over 10,000 new YA books, donated by publishers, into the hands of teens on Native American tribal lands. Nationwide, librarians, over 100 YA authors, and teens will drop YA books in their own communities. YOU CAN PARTICIPATE IN THIS AWESOME PROJECT BY DROPPING A NEW OR GENTLY USED BOOK SOMEWHERE IN YOUR COMMUNITY FOR SOMEONE TO FIND! Participants can download bookplates to insert into the books they'll leave behind at the Readergirlz website.

Happy birthdays

Last week was Christopher's birthday and today is Cassidy's and both had great recommendations. Christopher chose Oh My Gods, a great Greek mythology book that has about a zillion fun facts in it. Cassidy chose Schooled, by Gordon Korman, a man I'm convinced must never sleep because he's written SO many books. And the thing of it is, they're all good!

Happy birthday to both of you :)

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate - Jacqueline Kelly

I loved, loved, loved this darling book. It's my second favorite I've read this year! It's set in 1899 and the main character, the young Calpurnia Tate, is a burgeoning scientist. Her grandfather, of whom she's generally been afraid all her life, is a scientist himself, and when he discovers Calpurnia is interested in science, they quickly become partners in exploring the world around them. Calpurnia records all her findings in a special notebook, and she makes sure to only include scientific observations once her grandfather's explained that to her, although occasionally that means she has to do a little erasing :)

Calpurnia is the only girl in a houseful of boys, so she has to put up with a lot of shenanigans and also has to learn to do man more "girly" things than she'd like. Her experiences of learning to cook and knit and tat (does anyone even know what that means anymore?) are hilarious and often made me laugh out loud as I was reading.

Each chapter begins with a quote from Darwin's Origin of the Species, and the title is a play on words based on his theories of evolution and Calpurnia's evolution as a young woman and as a scientist.

Calpurnia's character is extremely well developed, and I was very impressed when I read that this novel is this author's first book. I was also doubly impressed when I read she's also a lawyer AND a doctor. talk about over-achievers! Holy smokes.

People who like books about long ago, strong girls, or science are sure to love the journey through this novel. Available at the WOMS library.

Poem in Your Pocket Day is only TWO days away!

Make sure you've got a poem in your pocket on Thursday so you can earn PAWS!!!!! You only need four lines. Can't wait to hear what you've found!

Happy Library Appreciation Day Today!!

Here is a lovely poem from author Linda Sue Park to celebrate this auspicious day! Enjoy

Villanelle: Why I Love Libraries
by Linda Sue Park

I lose myself within the book-walled maze,
with no end to the promises in sight,
through passages to many worlds and ways.

The aisles meander pleasantly. A craze
of unread pages beckons, tempts, invites;
I lose myself. Within the book-walled maze

a googolplex of lexical arrays
for exploration flanks me left and right.
True passages to many; worlds and ways

that lead to corners sharp with turns of phrase,
and tales both commonplace and recondite
to lose myself within. The book-walled maze

reveals its pleasures slowly, but repays
the debt of time in thousandfold delight—
through passages to many worlds, in ways

mapped out by words. A sudden blink of light:
It's checkout time—they’re closing for the night.
I'd lost myself within the book-walled maze,
through passages to many worlds and ways.

©2009 Linda Sue Park. All rights reserved.

Poetry Friday - Hope

I love this poem, particularly in springtime when all the birds are out and there's a hope of summer in the offing!

Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chilliest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Poetry for Young People -- Emily Dickinson



definitions:
Gale -- a strong wind
Abash -- to astonish, to make feel ill at ease or self-conscious
Extremity -- a most difficult or dangerous time or situation

A bunch o' reviews of kid books. Yippee!

OK, as promised, I'm reviewing a WHOLE bunch of kids books I've read recently, so hold onto your hats. If you want more info, please email me or come see me. these books are all worthy of full reviews, but I've been kinda busy teaching, so a QUICK spin is all you get.

Surface Tension - Brent Runyon. the story of a young man and his experiences with his family at their lake cabin 4 years in a row. It's interesting to see how he changes from year to year. Frankly, I liked him better when he was younger, but I'm pretty sure he's going to be OK when he grows up.

Gym Candy - Carl Deuker - Disturbing story of a HS football player who decides he needs to take steroids to be competitive. This book made me really want to keep reading! Steroids are nasty business, and Carl Deuker does NOT sugar coat anything about them in this story.

Change-Up - John Feinstein. another mystery with Stevie and Susan Carol, teen reporters who are always encountering a mystery at a major sporting event. Less tension in this one than some of the others, but I kind of liked it better.

Not to leave the girls out, I also read a couple books which are definitely more girly.

Dear Pen Pal - Heather Vogel Frederick is the third installment in her four book series, and just as much fun as the rest. For me, though, I wish I'd read the others closer to reading this one so I didn't forget some of the details about the characters. I really enjoy reading about these girls and I love how the author weaves in the books their group is reading with the rest of the plot. A great series that all the girls I know who've read it love.

Boys Bears and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots - Abby McDonald The lovely people at Candlewick sent me an ARC of this book - I entered a contest and won! Very exciting stuff to find a new book in my mailbox, I'll tell you! And I loved this one. It's a coming of age story about a young woman who goes to spend the summer with her godmother up in Canada. She has some pretty firm ideals, but she learns that perhaps those won't necessarily hold up for everyone, and she learns some powerful lessons about judgment and trusting. This book deals with serious issues but also has some fine humor which keep it from being weighed down. I definitely recommend this book also.

Finally a book for everyone. The Magician's Elephant - Kate DiCamillo. Well, I say for everyone, but really you need to be a special kind of reader to do this one, as it's a little bit different. It's interesting, but strange. A bit of the mystical interspersed with some realism. It's a little dark, as well. It's by the same author as The Tale of Despereaux, but if you haven't read either of those and you're going to choose one by this author, I'd definitely go with Despereaux.

I hope you'll have a chance to take a look at some of these books and let me know what you think! Leave me a comment or stop by the library. Enjoy :)

stay tuned - kid reviews tomorrow!

I've been so behind on my book reviews that I feel like people are going to wonder if I even read anymore! Watch tomorrow for a passel o' kid books being reviewed. I figure if I put this statement out in public it will force my hand in getting it done. Down with procrastination!

some grown-up books reviewed (finally!)

I am way behind on my reviewing, so I'm going to try and catch up by doing shorter reviews of a bunch of books at once. today, the grown up books, tomorrow the kid books. Here are four grown up books I've read lately.

The Game on Diet by Krista Vernoff and Az Ferguson, The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale, Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani, and Await Your Reply by Michael Chaon.

The Game on Diet is my current obsession. I'm playing this fitness challenge with 16 friends, and it is a LOT of fun. the focus is on creating good habits, about eating, exercise, sleeping, drinking water and life habits, like trying to stop procrastinating. You eat 5 small meals a day which have to include a carb, a protein, and a fat, and then you also eat veggies twice a day. I am loving it and hoping I'll be more fit when the four weeks ends!

The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale was not my favorite Shanon Hale - I mean how can you beat Princess Academy and Book of a Thousand Days, but it was a fun story to read. Required a bit of suspension of disbelief, but it worked. I laughed and cried both in this book. Good beach read!

Lucia, Lucia is by Adriana Trigiani, an author I saw reviewed by Mrs. Yingling and She Who is Too Fond of Books both (see links to their blogs on the right!). I trust both those ladies, and they were spot on with this author. Great character development and loved the focus on fashion. It was so fun. I've started another by her now. Both on audio.

Await Your Reply is a strange one. It's on the best Books for Young Adults list, but you'd really have to be someone who's willing to persevere to stick with this one! It's a mystery that has three individual stories being told, but somehow the author manages to wrap them all together, and the reader's job is to try and figure out how. I sort of figured out how two of the stories were connected before I finished, but I never would have guessed the other. That's my adult book group choice for this month, so I'll be interested to see how others liked it.

Our amazing student assistant Katie

Check out this amazing Hmong outfit that Katie, our fantabulous library assistant wore today for her speech about her culture. She jingles when she walks! Awesome! :)

Thanks for sharing your culture with us today, Katie, and your amazing talents in the library every day. You are a superstar!

Happy birthday, Ally

Happy birthday today to Miss Ally. She chose Trapped Between the Lash and the Gun for her recommendation today. She was one of our OBOB team members, and this one was one of her faves! Happy birthday :)

Support Teen Literature day April 15th!

We've got a couple of fun things going on on for April 15th - Support Teen Literature Day!

One fun thing will be our second annual Poem in Your Pocket celebration. We invite students to find four lines of a poem you like. Write the lines down, and put them in your pocket. On April 15th, whenever you pull those lines out and read them to an adult in the building, you'll earn a PAW.

The other fun thing will be free books available to students who want them. We got a large donation of new and gently used books from Got Books Go Green, and we're sharing them with you as part of Operation Teen Book Drop. Come on down to the library and choose a book. We encourage you to then leave a book somewhere for someone else to find that same day!

It's gonna be a great day, so start getting ready!

Happy birthdays!

Although Cornelius was not too happy to have to have shared his birthday with the Easter bunny, he still had a smile on his face! As did the lovely young ladies who also had birthdays today. And GREAT recommendation choices from all of them as well! Happy birthday, kiddos.

Poetry Friday "Words"

This is another poem written by a teen. We should all practice using more Hello words, I think! I know I'm going to be working on it.



WORDS

Words fly across the paper like blackbirds across the sky
and I think to myself why oh
why oh why
why why,

Why would anyone use words like
I hate and
I can’t and
I quit therefore I won’t and
Goodbye
Good Bye?

Why not take that beautiful skill and use words like
I love and
I can and
I will or
at least I’ll try and
Hello… hello,
because I believe in word conversation
and if you’re going to use a word at all
it should be one that glides off your tongue
and floats around to sit comfortably in someone’s ear.

So next time I see you
I’ll be using the words like
I love and
I can and
I will or
at least I’ll try and
Hello… hello.
Yeah, words.

April is National Poetry Month!

Happy National Poetry Month! Poetry sometimes gets a bad rap as being boring or hard to understand, but that doesn't have to be the case! Sign up at poets.org to receive a poem a day in your email box and see what I mean!

We'll be celebrating National Poetry Month with a Poem in Your Pocket celebration on April 15th. Stay tuned for more details.