The Library 12 Days of Christmas--AGAIN!

Last year the Library 12 Days of Christmas were a big hit, so now that it's holiday season again, it's time to run another version.

The directions are pretty self-explanatory. . . just keep track of your answers each day, and on Thurs. Dec. 19--our "Day 12"--drop off your answers in the library BEFORE 2:30 so we can determine the winner. You'll have the chance to pick your prize either later that same day or on Friday. 

Here's an example of what to expect from the day's clue:

Sometimes your answer will be the name of an author, other times the title of a book. You might even be asked to come up with the name of an entire series. Read each day's clue carefully, and if you're not sure what it asks of you, just ask us! 

Good luck! And happy holidays!

Resilience Literature Part II

With resilience literature as a main topic, both 6th and 7th grade language arts classes came into the library for discussion and related work. After talking about features of resilience literature, 6th grade students generated their own list of possible titles, including titles like these below:

Then it was time to work. Using a shared Google doc, students were to select an example of resilience literature, then support their choice with 3 examples from the book that show a character's resilience. Students also had the option to use corresponding images from iClipArt to go along with their text.

CLICK HERE to access the document.

Students had nearly the full period to work on their triangles and talk about books.

Here are a few examples of the work the students created:

Resilience Literature

Recently author Laurie Halse Anderson gave a keynote address discussing resilience literature, and the same topic was featured in a Twitter chat among librarians and teachers. All that talk had me thinking: What is resilience literature? Here's what I learned. . .

Many great titles were recommended as resilience literature, so that meant a new library display!

Some popular resilience literature titles you might recognize include:

Think you might want to read some resilience literature? Stop by the library to browse the display or the shelves for resilience lit books we missed, or feel free to recommend some titles!

Hi - Fi for Wi - Fi: A Website for Historical Fiction

Looking for some historical fiction? Chelsey Kolpin has put together a great resource for us with her website Hi-Fi for Wi-Fi! When working on Master's project, she wrote, "In an effort to get more young adult students interested in historical fiction. . . I put together a website of book trailers and book descriptions for historical fiction."

On the website you can access historical fiction novels based on different periods in history, as well as video links:

Currently 15 books are featured on Kolpin's website, but she tells us that more may be coming soon. One of the featured books is What I Saw and How I Lied. Here's the description of the book:

You can also access book trailers:

Feel free to access the site to browse historical fiction titles. Many are found here in our library, and one of the featured titles--Between Shades of Gray--is an Iowa Teen Award nominee for this year!

Books About Saving the World

Book Riot recently put together a list of books and called it, "Kids Who Save the World: A Reading List." Here's what they had to say about their list:

"Who doesn't remember putting on a cape, tearing through the house or around the back yard, and pretending the future of humanity rested on their shoulders? As kids, we dream of being able to save the work, and as adults, we can revisit through fiction."

So what's on their list? How about these series books--recognize any of them?

If you're interested in seeing how the kids in the stories are able to save the world, stop by the library to check them out!

Final Official Divergent Movie Poster Released

With the late-October release of Allegiant, the final book in the Divergent trilogy, fans are renewing their excitement over the upcoming release of the Divergent movie in March 2014. The final poster--seen above--was released today. 

Want more images from the movie? Visit RedCarpetEndings to see a scrolling video of individual character posters, and you can watch the official trailer below:

Author James Dashner Speaks

The Maze Runner series is one of the most popular in our library. Even though author James Dashner has left The Glade behind him, it's still a big part of his life--the movie based on the book will be released later this spring. Check out the trailer:

But that's not all he's been working on. His most recent book release last spring was The Eye of Minds. Here's what Booklist has to say about the book:

"In Dashner’s futuristic series starter, virtual life offers Michael opportunities to escape the real world. He spends most of his time on the Virtnet, playing Lifeblood Deep with his virtual friends Bryson and Sarah. Now, haunted by his daytime experiences, he needs them more than ever. What Michael fears most comes true: Virtual Network Security tracks him down, but not to chastise him for wrongdoing; rather, they want his hacking skills to get to Kaine, a gamer who is causing terrible tragedies. Michael and his friends begin the trek into the hand-to-hand combat warfare game Devils of Destruction, but with the virtual death of his friends, Michael finds himself alone in his quest. Harrowing evil and dastardly demons place themselves in his path, and he almost capitulates to the pain and exhaustion. What awaits him in the bowels of the game hangs over readers’ heads with each page turn, raising a constant question: Who is human and who is not? In typical Dashner style, this is quick and involving, with the main frustration being the wait time until the next book."

Dashner himself has been promoting both series recently, including this great interview where he talks about the worlds in each book and which he would prefer to live in.


Interested? We have all of the Maze Runner books in the library, and The Eye of Minds was recently added as well. Stop by to check out any of them!

The Book Fair is Here!

The Book Fair is here and open for business on Thurs. Oct. 24! You might find a new graphic novel--check out the table with graphic novels on display!

Are you looking for a new book? We have those, too! (And Allegiant will be here soon, too!)

Or maybe you're looking for some nonfiction? Try these creature nonfiction books!

Stop on by to see the entire selection of books at our  Book Fair! We'll be open each night of conferences, as well as during the school day until Fri. Nov. 1.