Best Friends Forever

Best Friends Forever: a World War II Scrapbook by Beverly Patt

Best Friends Forever tells the story of 14 year old Japanese American Dottie Masuoka and Louise Krueger  as their lives and friendship must change with the internment of all Japanese American during World War II. Louise starts a scrapbook, documenting events that have happened with the intent of sharing it with Dottie when she returns.
I think those of you who enjoy historical fiction or enjoy a mixed media sort of book will breeze through this one.
Things I liked: the scrapbook format, the newspaper clippings and advertising promos of the time, the different fonts used to indentify the girls.
Things I didn't like: I wish it were a Canadian book, I didn't like how open ended it was - is this the first installment of a series?, and of course at the end of the book there is the statement "Three days after Pearl Harbour, Germany and Italy declared war on the US as well. World War II had begun."

Dead End in Norvelt

Dead End In Norvelt by Jack Gantos

This book just won the Newbery Award for best children's fiction. Jack Gantos once again gives us a glimpse of what must have been a crazy upbringing (even if these events didn't exactly happen to him, he still is drawing from something he knows to make it so believable.)

Summary:

Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional , Dead End in Norvelt, is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, who's plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his fueding parents, and who's nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets. But plenty of shocks and excitement are coming Jack's way once his Mom loans him out to help a fiesty old neighbour with a most unusual chore.

Endlessly surprizing, this sly sharp-edge narrative is the author at his very best, making readers laugh out loud at the most unexpected things in a dead-funny depiction of growing up in a slightly of kilter place where the past is present, the present is confusing, and the future is completely up in the air.

I can say from personal experience that this book not only had me laughing out loud, but I've tested it on grade 7's and 8's and yes it got them laughing too.

Book trailer.



Random Acts of Kindness

So, I created a bulletin board for other people to enjoy -- when I entered our library Monday morning this is what I found.

Thank you Mrs. Hudson and your awesome group of Grade Seven's, you not only made my day but quite possibily my whole month. I hope your Random Acts of Kindness keep spreading.

Voki

I have been thinking of a variety of options students could use in presenting book talks. Here's a cool one for books that contain a strong main character that could promote the book or books that contain an avatar character, such as the one I created for Rash by Pete Hautman.
Check out -- voki.com -- if you want to try it for your next project.
Read and create.

Libraries ...

This past week I created a display for the Lethbridge School District head offices. I chose to make a giant size Wordle, I asked my friends at school to finish this sentence - Libraries are... - this provided tonnes of inspiration. I included numberous photos from libraries in the district and of course ours.Take a look.

The Crazy Man

The Crazy Man by Pamela Porter

I wanted to revisit this gem of a book, it left me hungry for the hot, dry days of summer, with crickets chirping, winds making the fields of wheat move as if in choreographed wave, and a simplier time.

Here's the summary:
In 1965, twelve year old Emaline , living on a wheat farm, must deal with a family that is falling apart. When her dog Prince, chases a hare into the path of the tractor, she chases after him, and her father accidently runs over her leg, leaving her with a long recovery and a permanent disability. Even worse, from Emaline's point of view, is that in his grief and guilt, her father shoots Prince and leaves Emaline and her mother on their own.

This is a novel written in verse, so it reads very quickly, it's a touching story and will make you think about how times and values have changed.
Here's my favourite passage.
"Heard coyotes in the night
from my open window.
Far away.
One pack calling,
another answering.
Young ones yipping
along with deeper voices.
Smell of wood smoke
on the night air.
A full moon.
Their high whines.
Their wild choir.

It's like I'm standing right there next to Emaline, hearing and feeling everything she is. Now that's good writing.
If you enjoyed The Crazy Man you might want to try reading Karen Hesse's - Out of the Dust.
Read On

Choose your own adventure

Sometimes Choose Your Own Adventure books require teamwork -- especially when it involves zombies. Book of choice was Zombie Hunter by Steve Barlow & Steve Skidmore, it's part of the iHorror series.

Wolf Rider

Wolf Rider by Avi

This is an interesting twist on the boy who cried wolf story. I was in need of a change up from the stack of dystopian future books that I'd been reading, and this provided just the right amount of mystery / thriller that I was looking for. A fast read with an unexpected ending.

"The phone rang three times before Andy picked it up. "Hello?" he said. A voice replied, "I just killed someone. I killed ... Nina."

Andy Zadinski in convinced that the man who calls himself "Zeke" is serious. But no one will listen to Andy - not his friends, not the police, not even his father. They all say he's crying wolf, even when Andy discovers that there really is a Nina Klemmer. Even when he spots her at the local college and sees that she fits Zeke's description fo her. Exactly.

Despite warnings from his father that he should just forget about the call, Andy feels obligated to track Nina down and warn her. What if Zeke really is plotting to kill her? When Andy investigates futher, he finds out that Nina may not be Zeke's only target...

All These Things I've Done

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

In 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city's most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine. It consists of going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new assistant DA's son, and avoiding her loser ex-boyfriend. That is until her ex is accidentally poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she's to blame. Suddenly Anya finds herself thrusts unwillingly into the spotlight - at school, in the news, and most importantly within her mafia family.

I've enjoyed all of Gabrielle Zevin's books so far, so I was not disappointed with this one either. I quickly fell into liking the character Anya and her family, I love the Romeo / Juliet concept of forbidden love - and family duty, I liked the dystopian future ideas although I think that they could have been elaborated on. So I'd probably give it 4/5 on the readability scale - unfortunately I think they've talked Gabrielle into making this a series, when it really is a great stand alone story.
I think lots of you will enjoy it.
REad On

Nex-generation digital book

Last week Mr. Hall sent a very interesting link to a TED talk that is very relevant to libraries, schools and the future of books.
Here's the link:
http://www.ted.com/talks/mike_matas.html

Later in the day I watched the clip with two classes of grade seven's. Here is some of the discussion and comments we had.
Cool -- (first and foremost.)
Content could be constantly revised and updated with the latest statistics, info-graphs and maps -- maybe information could also be made country specific rather than looking at info only pertaining to United States we could look at others as well.
Jobs of the future -- graphic design, videographers, software design, copy editors (fact checkers).
Appeals to a larger audience - than just text.
Problems with creating a digital divide between the haves' and the have/nots.
Easily damaged - if you drop it, etc.
Hacking issues.
Eliminates the problem of heavy backpacks.
Choosing the best/right format. What will it be next month - is this the flavour of the week?

Students weren't sure if they would be seeing this sort of textbook in their high-school years, some were optimistic in thinking 2 years, but most thought it was about five years away.