A Few New Books...

A few new books are in the library today - quite a spectrum, actually. Are you into animals or photography, or fascinated by the strangeness of the natural world? Take a look at Animals Up Close. My personal favorite - the ageless axolotl! (Although the hermit crabs come in a cute close second...)
For history buffs, we've got Laurie H. Anderson's novel Chains. This is a powerful story of slavery in the Revolutionary War period. In non-fiction, there is the true story of John Wilkes Booth - Chasing Lincoln's Killer.
In the suspense category, take a look at Murder at Midnight, (a new Avi) and Chris Wooding's Malice, which is part traditional novel, part graphic novel.

We're Back

Well, summer is really over.

As you probably know, we are renovating the library, and hope that it will be completed sometime in November. In the meantime, we're making do with a mini-library (I do mean mini...) in room 245.

I've been checking out some of the good books published over the summer. Read Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins? If you haven't, it is a must read - suspenseful and captivating. The sequel, Catching Fire, is already in the Sage library. If you like E. Lockhart (The Boyfriend List, The Boy Book) her latest, The Treasure Map of Boys, is available as well. Lockhart is chick lit at its very best. Soon to come but not yet published: the prequel to Graceling. Ask me about it in a month!

In a few weeks we'll be starting our non-fiction book clubs again - Yell-Oh Girls and Born on a Blue Day. The books were provided by a grant called New Yorkers Read - soon you'll be seeing promotional materials around the school. Look for it!

Dreamhunter

This one is for fantasy fans! It does well what truly excellent fantasy does - it creates a world that pulls the reader in and makes him believe. Elizabeth Knox blends elements of our world with a world in which select people can enter "The Place," an area where dreams can be caught, and then shared - for a price. Exciting dreams, healing dreams - and nightmares. 15 year old Laura is the daughter of Southland's most esteemed dreamhunter, and is in training to become a dreamhunter herself, when her father suddenly disappears. Political corruption, ethical debates, personal relationships - many issues are brought up, but are left unresolved - I'm looking forward to Dreamquake, the conclusion of Knox's duet, to get some answers.

The Graveyard Book... :)

You know the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child"? Well, in Neil Gaiman's Newberry winning novel, The Graveyard Book, what it takes is a graveyard. Orphaned at 18 months by a mysterious murderer, Bod (short for Nobody) is taken in and raised by Mr. & Mrs. Owens, a loving but childless couple, who just happen to be dead (long dead - about 300 years or so). You can't help loving these graveyard inhabitants! The tale, as it unravels, is by turns scary, funny, and touching, and the conclusion is dead on. I just loved it!

Flowers for Algernon book club

And we're off! As you start reading this (truly fantastic!) book, think about a few things. First of all, about how old, mentally, do you think Charlie Gordon is? Would you call him a happy person? What things seem to matter to him? Let me know what you think.

Born on a Blue Day

To all my Born on a Blue Day book club members: Talk to each other - comment on what your classmates are saying. We want to get a dialogue going!

Okay, a question. Daniel Tammet is now 27 years old. What do you think his life will be like 30 or 40 years from now? Why?

The Reformed Vampire Support Group

Catherine Jinks had me laughing hysterically with her new book - The Reformed Vampire Support Group. Forget your powerful, gorgeous, Twilight-type vampires - these are my kind of vampires - pale, listless, pitiful, and prone to puking. How'd you like to live on a diet of guinea pig blood? Have some compassion! They don't want to infect others - thus the support group for these "reformed" vampires. You will chortle your way through a plot replete with vampires, vampire slayers, kidnappers, and werewolves. The complications multiply like rabbits, but there is an eminently satisfying conclusion. There's even a touch of romance! What more could you ask?