Monday, March 30, 2009

I'm Back and I Got $$$ to Spend!

I have returned from my vacation (I honestly tried to bring the sunny weather back with me, but Florida airport security confiscated it during a routine check).

Just to give you wonderful readers a "heads up": I've ordered A LOT of books lately *and* I still have money in the this year's fiscal budget to order more. (Whoo hoo!) So dear readers feel free to email me any suggestion for titles, authors, or even subjects! Send the email to: ChristinaWolfskehl@yahoo.com or attach it to this post.

Remember: at MPL we want to make sure our shelves are packed with the books YOU want to read!

Friday, March 20, 2009

By The Way....

I'll be on vacation until *next* Saturday. Thus, I'm expecting everyone to play nice and share their toys until I get back.

Oh, and please remember to use your inside voice...

What News Anchors Do During Commercial Breaks



Okay, the video has nothing to do with MPL. However it made me laugh so much, and I immediately thought of you, dear reader!

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

RI Teen Book Award Nominees for 2010

**Recommended for Middle School Students
Darkside by Thomas Becker
Jonathan’s father is in an asylum. He finds secret messages from his father that lead him to the Darkside of London that is ruled by Jack the Ripper’s children. Can he survive?

Keeping Corner by Kashmira Sheth
When Leela is unexpectedly widowed at age 12, her carefree life ends. But with India changing, can Leela learn what she needs to change her circumstances, too?

Schooled by Gordon Korman
When Capricorn’s hippie grandmother falls ill and she can no longer continue to homeschool him, he must attend public school and experience life with his peers for the first time.

Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor
Addie lives in a small trailer with her neglectful mother, but she longs for a normal family and to live with her step-father and half-sisters.

**Recommended for All Students
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
Jenna is a 17 year old who awakens from a coma after a serious accident only to learn a startling truth about herself in this novel where technology knows no bounds.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
Frankie Landau-Banks turns her boarding school's secret society traditions upside down in this fun, feminist, and highly disreputable romp!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Welcome to the Hunger Games, a Capitol-endorsed reality TV show in which Katniss can only prevail by killing the other players … even Peeta, who once saved her from starvation.

The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Celia Galante
When her grandmother takes Agnes, her brother, and her friend Honey from a religious commune, Agnes clings to faith as Honey looks toward a future free of control and cruelty.

Pemba’s Song: A Ghost Story by Tonya C. Hegamin & Marilyn Nelson
As Pemba adjusts to leaving Brooklyn for a small town, a black history specialist helps her research the ghostly images pulling her into the life of a slave who lived in her new house.

Shift by Jennifer Bradbury
When best friends Chris and Win go on a cross-country bicycle trek the summer after graduating and only one of them returns, the FBI wants to know what happened.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman
An orphan, a rebel, and a Chosen One join forces while trying to escape being unwound, a process in which a person is harvested for parts. Will Risa, Conor, and Lev escape the insanity of their society?

**Recommended for High School Students
Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway
Audrey's ex-boyfriend has written a hit song about their break-up, and now she has become an unwilling paparazzi magnet.

Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd
At the height of Northern Ireland ’s “troubles,” Fergus is distracted by his imprisoned brother's hunger strike, being a courier for terrorists, and the body he discovered in a bog.

Child of Dandelions by Shenaaz Nanki
In 1972, the Ugandan president gives 90 days for all Indians to exit the country. Sabine and her family try to preserve a normal life as soldiers terrorize them and people disappear.

Freeze Frame by Heidi Ayarbe
Kyle must re-examine his own memory through the eyes of famous movie directors to solve the mystery of whether he killed his best friend on purpose.

My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, & Fenway Park by Steve Kluger
Follow T.C., Augie and Alejandra for a year as they find their places in the world while navigating through new friendships and first loves.

Newes from the Dead: Being a True Story of Anne Green, Hanged for Infanticide at Oxford Assizes in 1650, Restored to the World and Died Again in 1665 by Mary Hooper
After being convicted, Anne is executed, sealed in a coffin, and awaits autopsy and dissection, but she can't awaken from a coma to stop the doctors from cutting her up alive.

Paper Towns by John Green
Quentin goes on an all-night romp with Margo, on whom he has a crush, before she disappears, leaving Q to spend his final of weeks of high school hunting down obscure clues to find her.

Streams of Babel by Carol Plum-Ucci
Six teens face a bioterrorist attack as four are infected with a mysterious disease and two computer techies assist the US Intelligence Coalition in tracking the perpetrators.

Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher
When her family's rent needs to be paid, Ruby drops out of school to be a taxi hall dancer in 1940s Chicago , where the jazz is hot and the boys are bad.

Three Little Words: A Memoir by Ashley Rhodes-CourterNine years of being tossed around in a terribly flawed foster care system could have ruined Ashley’s life forever, but three little words changed her fate.

Two Parties, One Tux, and a Very Short Film about the Grapes of Wrath by Steven Goldman
Mitch, a shy and awkward junior, negotiates the difficult social situations he encounters, both with girls and with his best friend David, after David reveals to him that he is gay.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

And the Winner Is...

Young adults from across Rhode Island chose Michael Scott’s The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel as their favorite book for the past year in a statewide election. As a result, Scott’s book was awarded the 2009 Rhode Island Teen Book Award. The award is sponsored by the Rhode Island Educational Media Association and the Rhode Island Library Association. Runners up for the award include Devilish by Maureen Johnson and Just Listen by Sarah Dessen.

The Alchemyst kick’s off a series, which is scheduled to have six volumes, filled with magic, mythology, and vampires, readers are introduced to Sophie and Josh Newman, the 15-year-old twin children of archeologists. They have taken summer jobs across the street from one another, Josh in a bookstore and Sophie in a coffee shop. When a sinister man in a sleek, dark car arrives to change their lives, he turns the bookstore to rubble using powerful magic. The bookstore owner turns out to be Nicholas Flamel, a 14th century alchemist, who, with his wife Perenelle, guards the secret to immortal life ... and the sinister man is Dr. John Dee, a magician/astrologer from the court of Queen Elizabeth I, who has been chasing the Flamels across time and space, determined to steal the book that gives them their powers. Josh and Sophie are immediately caught up in an epic battle between these powerful magicians and the ancient beings of myth and legend that they call upon. With Perenelle held captive and Flamel’s powers waning, the safety of the entire human race may depend on Josh and Sophie learning to use their own latent powers, but can they survive their “awakening?”

Saturday, March 14, 2009

COMING SOON! (On Order Now!)

Did you know that Slumdog Millionaire, the little ol' film that picked up about a trillion Academy Awards this year, is based on a book? (Aren't all the best movies these days based on great novels?)

The novel is called Q & A by Vikas Swarup.

From Booklist
Swarup's inventive debut traces the fortunes of Ram Mohammad Thomas from "Asia's biggest slum" to his sudden acquisition of enormous wealth as the biggest winner on the popular quiz show, Who Will Win a Billion? A poor, uneducated waiter, Ram is arrested after the final episode in the belief that he must have cheated. In jail he shares his hardscrabble life with his lawyer: his abandonment at birth in a used clothing bin, the church orphanage where he was dubbed an "idiot orphan boy," the foster home where children were purposely crippled and forced to beg, the estate of an Australian diplomat who was really a spy, the home of an aging Bollywood actress, and his meager waiter job. Each chapter in Ram's life provided him with a correct answer on the show, as a la Forrest Gump, he has been in the right place at the right time. Ram's funny and poignant odyssey explores the causes of good and evil and illustrates how, with a little luck, the best man sometimes wins.
--Deborah Donovan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Check It Out!


Easily one of the best websites about graphic novels on the Internet is No Flying, No Tights. This website reviews graphic novels for teens. You can browse by genre (superheroes, fantasy, historical fiction, nonfiction, crime and suspense, science fiction, and "realism") or skim the "new sensation" section. Resources particularly appropriate for younger teens are starred. Updates are also available through a free email subscription service.

Read an article that was published (by one my of favorite geek magazines) about this site School Library Journal! (In the article creator Robin Brenner explains where the wacky name of the site came from.)

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Reading Across Rhode Island

What if every person in Rhode Island read the same book? What would we learn about ourselves? What would we learn about each other? Reading Across Rhode Island is the state’s community read. The book selected for the 2009 project is Five Skies by Ron Carlson.

Five Skies tells of the friendship that develops among three men thrown together on a bizarre building project in the isolated canyons of Idaho. With a crisp description narrative, Carlson outlines not only the transformations that take place in the three men, but also develops the setting into a fourth character. Themes for discussion include relationship between men, the value of work, environmental issues and the beauty of nature.

Here are some upcoming programs and events scheduled to celebrate this book!
*A live videoconference with Ron Carlson for schools and libraries on May 8, 2009.
*The annual May Breakfast on Saturday, May 9, 2009 at Rhodes-on-the-Pawtucket in Cranston with Ron Carlson as the guest speaker.
For more information, call Louise Moulton at 455-8134

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

COMING SOON!

Forever Princess by Meg Cabot

Are you a big fan of the Princess Diaries movies (you know The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2)? As you probably know, these popular movies are based on a wonderful series of books by noted young adult author Meg Cabot. Ms. Cabot just released the latest Princess book and it's a great read!

Summary
Although she has recently completed a 400-page romance novel, Princess Mia, in her last month of high school, has yet to pick a college, find a prom dress, or decide if her boyfriend J. P. is really The One.

And for more on the author and her inspiration for this enchanting series go to her website!