Bishop McNamara Library

New Books - February

2012-02-08T07:49:00.000-08:00

Thursday Book Trailers

2012-02-02T11:33:00.000-08:00

"Wrinkle" is Fifty

2012-02-01T08:42:00.000-08:00

Madeleine L’Engle (1918-2007)

The author of more than 60 books, L'Engle's writing reflected her Christian faith and her interest in science.

“["Wrinkle"] begins, “It was a dark and stormy night,” repeating the line of a 19th-century novelist, Edward George Bulwer-Lytton. “Wrinkle” then takes off. Meg Murry, with help from her psychic baby brother, uses time travel and extrasensory perception to rescue her father, a gifted scientist, from a planet controlled by the Dark Thing. She does so through the power of love.

The book uses concepts that Ms. L’Engle said she had plucked from Einstein’s theory of relativity and Planck’s quantum theory, almost flaunting her frequent assertion that children’s literature is literature too difficult for adults to understand.” (Martin, Douglas. "Madeleine L’Engle, Author of the Classic ‘A Wrinkle in Time,’ Is Dead at 88." New York Times Sept 8, 2007 Feb 1, 2012)

Thursday Book Trailers

2012-01-25T07:56:00.000-08:00

Book Trailer

Dickens' 200th Birthday

2012-01-24T07:30:00.000-08:00

Author of 19 novels and numerous short stories.

Read more at TIME.

New Books - January

2012-01-19T10:33:00.000-08:00

Journal Highlights

2012-01-03T09:10:00.000-08:00

Smithsonian:
--God, government and Roger Williams’ big idea : the separation of church and state
--Evotourism : travel intended to promote awareness of evolution
--An eye for genius : Picasso, Cezanne, Matisse
--Annie Leibovitz : new book and exhibition of American icons

Newsweek:
--The Iron Lady : Margaret Thatcher
--In search of the God particle

Scientific American Mind:
--Want to improve memory? Forget about it! : Learn to erase distractions

Girls with Grit Writing Contest

2012-01-03T09:03:00.000-08:00

Groundwood Books is looking for inspiring Girls with Grit stories written by real teens like you! And the grand prize? Not too shabby, Figs. The winning entry will receive:

• A book cover for your story, designed by a Groundwood Books designer
• A specially printed, limited edition of your story and book cover
• Feedback from a Groundwood Books editor
• Your story posted on the Groundwood Books website

Three runners-up will also have their stories featured on the Groundwood Books website!

What do you have to do? Write a story between 1,500 and 3,000 words starring a girl with grit: someone who knows what she believes in and struggles to do the right thing. Submit your entry by February 29th, 2012. Then you get to decide the 20 finalists by voting on your favorite entries. The top 20 most-hearted entries will be reviewed by the Groundwood editorial team.

How to enter:
1. Read the full rules here.
2. Sign up for Figment.com
3. Write an original story, between 1,500 and 3,000 words, about a girl with grit and press “Publish Now”
4. In the details tab, tag your story girlswithgrit
5. Wait the 2 hours it sometimes takes to see your story appear below

[from Figment website http://blog.figment.com/2011/11/01/the-girls-with-grit-contest/ ]

Are you Santa?

2011-12-21T10:34:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, as I wandered through J.C. Penney, I spied the real Santa Claus. Well, he looked like a human-sized version of the old elf. He had white hair, a lovely white beard, and a round belly. After all, no one has ever seen a skinny Santa.

I was not the only person who spotted the gentleman. A little girl, about 6 years old, and her mother approached him.

“My daughter said that the Santa in the mall is cheesy. And his beard is fake. She wants to know if you are the real Santa Claus."

The man smiled down at the girl. “I am,” he answered, “but I have a lot of helpers. Have you been good this year?”

The girl solemnly nodded her head.

“That’s good. You have a merry Christmas.”

I am sure he smiled again. Maybe he winked and nodded. And away he went, strolling through the store, St. Nick in blue jeans and a navy jacket. The girl and her mother melted into the crowd of shoppers.

And I stood in the sweater section, grinning and thinking, “Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus!*”

[*Francis P. Church, New York Sun, Sept. 21, 1897.]

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause

2011-12-21T09:39:00.000-08:00

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's "Sun," and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.

"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

"VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

[from http://www.newseum.org/yesvirginia/]

Trailers and Quotes

2011-12-19T08:19:00.001-08:00

“Say that I starved, that I was lost and weary,
that I was burned and blinded by the desert sun,
footsore, thirsty, sick with strange diseases,
lonely and wet and cold, but that I kept my dream!” Everett Ruess

Book Trailer : The Underdogs / Mike Lupica

Book Trailer : Scorpio races / Maggie Stiefvater

Fun Fact Friday discussion of Hunted / Adam Slater

Book discussion – The back door of midnight / Elizabeth Chandler

Excerpt from "The Lost Songs"

2011-12-19T07:45:00.001-08:00

Lutie Painter had never skipped school before. . . On the phone, Saravette's voice had been thready and weak, as if she were ill. But one sentence had been strong and sharp. "You have to know," said Saravette suddenly.. .

The bus approached a swell of tall office buildings, and most of the remaining passengers got off. The strangers had been a comfort. Now Lutie's courage collapsed. So did the city.

And then she saw Saravette leaning against a telephone pole.

Lutie signaled for a stop. The brakes on the bus squealed. Lutie tottered down the long empty aisle. The driver raised his eyebrows and nodded toward the neighborhood. "You know what you're doing?"

Lutie had no idea what she was doing.

"This is not a good place," said the driver, which was certainly true.

Lutie pointed at Saravette. "She's waiting for me."

The driver took in the sight of Saravette. Thirty years old, looked eighty. Sunken cheeks from lost teeth. Tattoos and piercings no longer brave and sassy, but pitiful. Wearing two sweaters on an already hot morning. Both dirty.

My mother, thought Lutie.

Impossible. The wreck on the sidewalk could not be related to her.

Carefully, as if the steps were made of glass, Lutie got off the bus. Every other time, the instant his passenger's foot hit the pavement, the driver's foot hit the accelerator. This time he waited and kept the door open. Lutie loved him for that. She forced herself to walk over to Saravette, who gave her a light smelly hug. Lutie cringed.

Once upon a time, Saravette had led Lutie's life. How did you get here from there? Lutie wanted to scream at her. Why didn't you just go home again? What keeps you in this horrible place?

Saravette lit a cigarette. The smoke in her lungs seemed to calm her. The next sentence was rational. "You still going to Miss Veola's church?"

"Yes," said Lutie.

"She still comes to find me sometimes," said Saravette. "I'm one of her lost ones," said Saravette proudly. "I surely am. Miss Veola's still preaching at me. There's a lot to preach about too. By now," said Saravette, laughing, "I've broken all the commandments."

She's using the Ten Commandments as a metaphor, Lutie told herself. Saravette's probably forgotten what the Ten Commandments even are.

Saravette put out her cigarette and immediately lit it again. For the first time, her eyes met Lutie's and stayed focused. "You have to know something," she said quietly. It was not the voice of a crazy person to a stranger. It was the voice of a mother to her daughter.

Panic filled Lutie Painter.

"I skipped school," Lutie said loudly. "What did you need to tell me? Why did you beg me to come?"

Saravette turned away. She still had a beautiful profile.

"Give me a minute," whispered Saravette. "Then I'll be ready." She signaled one of the scary guys at the counter. The man--who looked hardly older than Lutie--hooked his thumbs in his sweatpants and sauntered over, smirking.

She's going to buy drugs, thought Lutie. Right now. With me sitting here.

Saravette's breathing become shallow and quick. Her eyes lit up. The man-boy sat down at the table with them. One hundred percent of Saravette's attention was on him.

She's already forgotten what she said, thought Lutie. What's murder, after all? Just one in a list of ten. Whatever.

Lutie was afraid to get up from the table, afraid to walk out of the coffee shop, let alone walk back to the bus stop. She picked up the little piece of paper on which their tab was scribbled and went over to the woman at the register.

The woman took the money with a sort of fury and glared at Lutie. "How you getting home, girl?"

"Bus," whispered Lutie.

"I'm going with you."

The woman marched Lutie out of the coffee shop. Saravette did not call to her and Lutie did not say good-bye. They walked past people Lutie did not want to know better, crossed the main street in the middle of the block and stood under the little sign for the bus stop.

The bus appeared almost immediately, which was a good thing. Lutie's knees were shaking and her heart was falling out. Her mother might be a murderer.

"Thank you," whispered Lutie.

"Don't cry, honey," said the woman. "And don't come back."

[Excerpts from p. 3-10 of The Lost Songs / Caroline Cooney]

Notice to Students

2011-12-16T08:31:00.000-08:00

All overdue fines must be paid before taking final exams.

All books currently checked out have been renewed with a due date of January 4, 2012.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-15T12:29:00.000-08:00

A musical treat!

New Books

2011-12-15T11:35:00.000-08:00

Adventure calls!

2011-12-14T07:12:00.000-08:00

Pelham Bay Park, New York
The Movie - coming soon!

Jim Davidson - Survival on Mt. Ranier

"Everett Ruess" by Dave Alvin [ballad; beautiful black and white photos]
"Time to Live" [filmed in the Utah desert where Ruess disdappeared. Beautiful!]

2004 Expedition footage

And the Heisman goes to. . .

2011-12-12T08:55:00.001-08:00

Jitters and Butterflies

2011-12-01T07:58:00.000-08:00

A little anxiety is good for you. It can help you focus and remember material for a test, provide extra energy for a performance. But too much anxiety can hinder performance.

Read "The Two Faces of Anxiety" in the December 5 issue of TIME Magazine.

Time Magazine teaser

The miracle of the King James Bible

2011-12-01T07:41:00.000-08:00

The Bible of King James

". . . the King James Bible has sewn itself into the fabric of the language. . .
[Expressions such as]the apple of my eye; old as the hills; at death's door; at our wits' end; baptism of fire; bite the dust; the blind leading the blind; casting peals before swine. . . are the King James Bible speaking through us. . . ."

Read the entire article (and don't miss the gorgeous photos).

[December issue of National Geographic ; p. 43]

Dragons and Economics

2011-11-30T07:48:00.001-08:00

National Book Awards - 2011

2011-11-18T08:38:00.000-08:00

Fiction: Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the bones
A widower and his four children living in rural Mississippi face Hurricane Katrina.

Nonfiction: Stephen Greenblatt, The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
How the salvage and dissemination of Lucretius’ philosophical epic, “On the nature of things,” sparked the Renaissance.

Young People’s Literature : Thanhha Lai, Inside Out & Back Again
The story of a young Vietnamese refugee as she struggles to adjust to life in America.

Poetry: Nikky Finney, Head Off & Split
Poetry about the “emblematic figures and events in African American life. . . from Rosa Parks to Condoleezze Rice to a woman on a rooftop during Hurricane Katrina. . . . [Her poems] ask us to be mindful of what we fraction, fragment, cut off, dice, dishonor, or throw away. . .” (Amazon.com ; 11/17/11)

Lifetime Achievement Award:
Poet John Ashbery, 84, received the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community:
Mitchell Kaplan, a bookstore owner in Florida and a driving force behind the East Coast's largest literary festival, the Miami Book Fair International.

(from http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-book-awards-20111117,0,292135.story)

For the love of . . .

2011-11-18T08:37:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-18T08:36:00.000-08:00

GRATEFULNESSE
~ George Herbert (1593- 1633)

Thou that hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, a grateful heart.
See how thy beggar works on thee
By art.

He makes thy gifts occasion more,
And says, If he in this be crossed,
All thou hast given him heretofore
Is lost.

But thou didst reckon, when at first
Thy word our hearts and hands did crave,
What it would come to at the worst
To save.

Perpetual knockings at thy door,
Tears sullying thy transparent rooms,
Gift upon gift, much would have more,
And comes.

This not withstanding, thou wenst on,
And didst allow us all our noise:
Nay thou hast made a sigh and groan
Thy joys.

Not that thou hast not still above
Much better tunes, than groans can make;
But that these country-airs thy love
Did take.

Wherefore I cry, and cry again;
And in no quiet canst thou be,
Till I a thankful heart obtain
Of thee:

Not thankful, when it pleaseth me;
As if thy blessings had spare days:
But such a heart, whose pulse may be
Thy praise.

Journal Highlights

2011-11-11T07:51:00.000-08:00

In the newest issue of The Atlantic
"The Glory of Oprah"

"The ally from hell." America's Pakistan problem

"The Greatest Gossip." An article about John Updike.

"The Rockford Style." Why James Garner is star.

And in Forbes

"The world's 70 most powerful people"

Happy Veteran's Day

2011-11-11T06:10:00.000-08:00

"This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
Make him a member of the gentry, even if he is a commoner.
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."

[Act IV, scene 3, Henry V /Shakespeare]

Thursday Book Trailers

2011-11-10T07:38:00.000-08:00

“Claire scrambled to pick up her cell phone. . . . [Then] she noticed something sticky on her hand. Blood. . . . She could see now that she had tripped over a person. . . She reached up to the neck to feel for a pulse. Where the neck was supposed to be, there was a space. [The wound] went on and on, until Claire realized that the head was barely attached at all, and that the puddle she was kneeling in was almost certainly not rainwater.(from p. 2-3)
Book Trailer
Book Trailer

“Uncle Spade always called it “boxing,” but what I did was fight. . . . I had gloves…, but we made more money without them. Crowds like a real knockdown show with blood and bruises.” (from the book jacket)
(I could not find a trailer, but this is a book that should be read! Read it and record a trailer.)

“. . . I was the one in a gunfight. . . . Scared isn’t the right word for it. . . [I knocked on a stranger’s door.] I pressed my vest to where my lower jaw used to be—trying to control the bleeding and making my uniform visible so they would know I was a cop. Somehow, I scrawled the words ‘not an accident’ and ‘Polly and the kids—not safe.’ (from p. 20-23)

Cylin tells her story.
Book trailer

“ ‘That’s the exit. . . .’ shouted Kieran. . . . With new energy we splashed up the tunnel. We were exhausted and not thinking straight. We were sloppy. . . . It started with a slight splash up ahead. It took me a second to realize that the light from Jake’s headlamp had disappeared."

‘Jake!’ I screamed. Kieran spun around to face me, then back toward where Jake had been a second ago. We both shouted his name.
But he was gone.” (p. 83)
Book trailer

“Just when Josh thought the worst was
over. . . . He was even more certain now that his father's death was no accident - and he's starting to wonder if he can really trust his closest allies. When he learns of a secret buried within the Ix Codex, he must journey back to the secret Mexican city of Ek Naab. Shocking news awaits him about the mysterious Bracelet of Itzamna. Did Josh's dad really take it? And where is it now? Josh has no idea what's waiting for him. . . .” (http://www.joshuafiles.co.uk/ice_shock; 10/21/2011)
Book trailer

Madison MacDonald’s status updates:
Nate and I have been together for two months, and it’s wonderful. Life is good!
Well, except for the fact that I still might be failing history.
And I no longer have a BFF.
And the assistant headmaster seems to have a vendetta against me.
And it appears that I’m being blackmailed.
Mad_mac is trying not to panic! (from the cover)

Interview with author.

November Book Highlights

2011-11-01T07:22:00.000-07:00

More howls for Halloween

2011-10-31T07:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T07:21:00.000-07:00

“. . . Nothin's real scary except in books." (Scout to Atticus Finch in To kill a mockingbird)

The Raven (excerpts) / Edgar Allan Poe
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
" 'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door;
Only this, and nothing more." . . . .

Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word,
Lenore?, This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word,
"Lenore!" Merely this, and nothing more.
(from Complete stories and poems of Edgar Allan Poe, p. 756)

(from The Historian / Elizabeth Kostova)

“My dear and unfortunate successor:
It is with regret that I imagine you, whoever you are, reading the account I must put down here. The regret is partly for myself – because I will surely be at least in trouble, maybe dead, or perhaps worse, if this is in your hands. . . . (p. 5)
[And so began a young scholar’s acquaintance with the legend of Dracula. It was a legend that would haunt him – and stalk him -- for life.]
The painting was a richly hued watercolor. . . . [The artist] had caught a splotch of color that I recognized as the back of my red straw hat, with my father in blurry tan and blue just beyond. . . .But my glance at [the painting] had shown me a lone figure sitting beyond my father, a broad-shouldered, dark-headed figure, a crisp black silhouette among the cheerful colors of awning and tablecloths. That table, I recalled clearly, had been vacant all afternoon.” (p.88)

[from The Annie Dillard reader pp. 143-46. (http://books.google.com/books?; 10/27/11)]

“When I was five, I would not go to bed willingly because something came into my room. This was a private matter between me and it. If I spoke of it, it would kill me.

It entered the room by flattening itself against the open door and sliding in. It was a transparent, luminous oblong. I could see the door whiten at its touch; I could see the blue wall turn pale where it raced over it, and see the maple headboard of [my sister’s] bed glow. It had two joined parts, a head and a tail, like a Chinese dragon. It found the door, wall, and headboard; and it swiped them, charging them with its luminous glance. . . .
I dared not blink or breathe; I tried to hush my whooping blood.
Every night before it got to me it gave up. . . . I heard the rising roar it made when it died or left. I still couldn’t breathe. I knew. . . it could return again alive that same night.
It was a passing car. . . . When the low roar drew nigh and the oblong slid in the door, I threw my own switches for pleasure. It’s coming after me; it’s a car. . . .”

CEO's and Their Companies

2011-10-28T07:51:00.000-07:00

Answers to CEO Matching

2011-10-28T07:50:00.000-07:00

Highlights from Read for a Lifetime Books

2011-10-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

Book Trailer
Visit with author

Book trailer

Book trailer
Book trailer (Psycho prisoner)

Colin Firth and Rupert Everett as Jack and Algernon

Funny!!

October Books

2011-10-24T06:44:00.000-07:00

Adventure Calls!

2011-10-21T07:11:00.000-07:00

Abbey Library St. Gallen, Switzerland

Visit twenty of the world's most beautiful libraries.

Carpe libris

2011-10-21T07:10:00.000-07:00

Seize the book!

And a few more quotes.....

2011-10-20T07:54:00.001-07:00

Fun Quotes

2011-10-20T07:53:00.000-07:00

Teachers write about Reading

2011-10-20T07:26:00.000-07:00

To learn more, visit http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/

Don't know about Calgon? Click here.

Young Adult Books - National Book Award Finalists

2011-10-19T08:13:00.000-07:00

Chime / Franny Billingsley
(Dial Books, an imprint of Penguin Group USA, Inc. )
Protecting family secrets can be dangerous. A book about guilt and redemption.

My Name is not Easy / Debby Dahl Edwardson
(Marshall Cavendish)
A young man's struggle for equality in Alaska.

Inside Out and Back Again / Thanhha Lai
(Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers)
A young refugee struggles to learn about American culture and fit in at school.

Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy / Albert Marrin
(Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books)
The true story of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in which 146 people died.

Okay for Now / Gary D. Schmidt
(Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
A teenage boy in a new town finds refuge in the local library and in a mission to restore a rare Audubon book.

Young People’s Literature Judges: Marc Aronson (Panel Chair), Ann Brashares, Matt de la Peña, Nikki Grimes, Will Weaver.

Philip Levine -- America's 18th Poet Laureate

2011-10-18T06:45:00.000-07:00

"Detroit is perfect for me," Levine said in his gravelly, urban-Midwestern voice. "It's not dinky. It's just big enough. I know it. I'm a Detroit-sized poet. It took me a long time to be able to write about it without snarling and snapping. I had to temper the violence I felt toward those who'd maimed and cheated me with a tenderness toward those who had touched and blessed me." 1

Philip Levine has been selected by the Library of Congress to serve as 18th Poet Laureate of the United States. Levine was born in Detroit, Michigan, on January 10, 1928. He attended Detroit public schools and Wayne University (now Wayne State). In 1953, he earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop at the University of Iowa where he studied with Robert Lowell and John Berryman.
Levine held a number of factory jobs, including one at Chevrolet Gear and Axle factory, and was inspired by the workers he met.2

“I saw that the people that I was working with…were voiceless in a way,” he explained in Detroit Magazine. “In terms of the literature of the United States they weren’t being heard. Nobody was speaking for them. And as young people will, you know, I took this foolish vow that I would speak for them and that’s what my life would be. And sure enough I’ve gone and done it. Or I’ve tried anyway…”3

For a black man whose name I have forgotten
who danced all night at Chevy Gear & Axle,
for that great stunned Pole who laughed when he called me Jew Boy,
for the ugly who had no chance,
the beautiful in body, the used and the unused,
those who had courage and those who quit.
~From "Silent in America"4

Levine has taught at University of Iowa, California State University at Fresno, and Tufts University and has served as visiting professor at a number of Ivy League schools. He has won the National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize. “For all his acclaim and awards, Levine “goes out of his way to tell us that he is essentially a peasant, . . . he returns again and again to his pre-academic life as a manual laborer…on presenting himself as a common man, more at home with the workers than with the professors.”5

Click here for more poems and articles.

Works Cited
1.“The Poet of the Night Shift.” Russell Frank. Dec. 28, 1994. 8 Aug. 2011 .
2.“Philip Levine.” Poets.org : from the Academy of American Poets. 30 Sept. 2011.
< http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/19>.
3.“Philip Levine : biography.” Poetry Foundation. 30 Sept. 2011 < http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/philip-levine>.
4.Frank, Dec. 28, 1994.
5.Ibid.

What does Heisman do in the off-season?

2011-10-17T07:30:00.000-07:00

Or, you can learn a lot by reading a Sports Illustrated ad!

Highlights from Read for a Lifetime Books

2011-10-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

Stories of opulence and wealth; poverty, despair, and hope; and resistance that spat in the eye of evil.

Truth and Treason, a film based on Hübener’s life and starring Haley Joel Osment, will be released in 2012.

Video of Hubener.

Video of Author.

Book Trailer

Video of Author

Clip of the production starring Katharine Hepburn and Sam Waterston.

Try It illinois - Tips

2011-10-05T07:43:00.000-07:00

For anyone who needs help accessing the databases from Try It Illinois.

Have fun searching!

Highlights from Read for a Lifetime Books

2011-10-04T07:45:00.000-07:00

Singing City Children's Choir
A creative presentation (Don't miss this!)

Book Trailer

Interview with the author

An actor portrays Edwin Booth.
A tour of Ford's theater.

Highlights from Read for a Lifetime Books

2011-09-30T08:29:00.000-07:00

Book Video created by Bishop Mac alum, Scott Korthals.

Meet Lava

Book Trailer

Interview with Linda Sue Park Park's book is based on a true story. For clips about Salva and the struggle to find clean water in Africa, visit YouTube.

Clip from The Long Walk, Ali Hobb's documentary on women's struggle to find water in Ethiopia.

Thursday Book Trailers

2011-09-29T08:21:00.000-07:00

Shiver, Linger, and now, Forever make up the popular Wolves of Mercy Falls series.

Video

Author video

Smithsonian - October, 2011

2011-09-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

The passion of Madame Curie

Ten Female Scientists you should know

The Top Ten books we will never read

If you liked these articles, try these books:
Rosalind Franklin and the structure of life (572.8092 POL)
The double helix : a personal account of the discovery of structure of DNA (572.86 WAT)
The fossil hunter : dinosaurs, evolution, and the woman who changed science(590.92 EML)

Newsweek - Sept. 26, 2011

2011-09-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

Banned Book Week

2011-09-28T07:06:00.000-07:00

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." First Amendment, Constitution of the United States

New Books -- Hot Topics

2011-09-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

Hot Topics, controversial issues. New Books for research (or just interesting reading!)

At issue series
Sexting
Child labor and sweatshops
Concealed weapons
What rights should illegal immigrants have?

Opposing viewpoints
Offshore drilling
Ethics

Thursday Book Trailers

2011-09-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

Yes, they are a day early. Don't hold that against the books!

Watch video.

Author Katie Finn answers questions about her writing and related book, "What's your status?" (And yes, it's coming to a library near you!) Watch video.

Thursday Book Trailers

2011-09-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

Watch Video

The adventure continues . . .

Video

Read for a Lifetime

2011-09-13T07:53:00.000-07:00

To read or not to read? That is a silly question.

It is time to register for “Read for a Lifetime,” a program sponsored by the Illinois State Library.

To participate you need to:
• Sign up with the Librarian or any teacher by October 28
• Read at least four books from the designated list
• Keep a list of the books you read
• Submit your list to the Librarian by April 9, 2012.

In return, you will:
• Have fun reading good stories
• Receive a certificate from the Illinois Secretary of State
• Possibly earn a prize for reading the entire list
• Receive drink and/or food coupons from local merchants during the year
• Enjoy a party with really good food.
• Expand your general knowledge
• Improve your vocabulary
• Improve your reading comprehension and writing skills
• Improve your classroom performance/ grades
• Boost your test scores

Click here to see the 20011-12 book list.

Man Booker Prize shortlist announced

2011-09-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

Julian Barnes The Sense of an Ending (Jonathan Cape - Random House)

Carol Birch Jamrach’s Menagerie (Canongate Books)

Patrick deWitt The Sisters Brothers (Granta)

Esi Edugyan Half Blood Blues (Serpent’s Tail)

Stephen Kelman Pigeon English (Bloomsbury)

A.D. Miller Snowdrops (Atlantic)

The Man Booker Prize is sponsored by Man Group plc, an alternative investment management business with expertise in a wide range of liquid investment styles. Man manages $71.0 billon.

The Prize is awarded to a full-length novel, written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland and published in the United Kingdom for the first time in the year of the prize. The novel must be an original work in English (not a translation) and must not be self-published. The Prize is worth £50,000 to the winner.

To learn more visit, http://www.themanbookerprize.com/

New Books

2011-09-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

Student Book Review - Jen Rowe

2011-09-07T11:10:00.000-07:00

Magic Under the Glass / Jaclyn Dolamore
By Jen Rowe

Nimira is a foreign performer forced to dance for mere pennies. One performance becomes the performance of her life when the rich and powerful sorcerer Hollin Parry offers her the chance of a lifetime -- to accompany a piano playing automatron. All of her dreams were laid in front of her but upon accepting, Nimira discovers she has become a key component in a conspiracy that involves ghosts, demons, a supposed mad woman, treason, magic, and the possibility of love. The spirit of the dashing fairy prince is trapped within the automatron and only Namira can find a way to break through this curse. With a seemingly-unavoidable war with the fairies, Nimira must discover the truth about Hollin Parry hidden behind the lies before it is too late.

After checking this book out of the library, I couldn’t put it down. It’s a love story with a sinister twist, and I’d read it again in a heartbeat!

Magazines

2011-09-06T07:37:00.000-07:00

What happened to goodbye?

2011-08-30T08:56:00.000-07:00

Watch interview with Sarah Dessen.

Ben Carson

2011-08-26T10:37:00.000-07:00

New Nonfiction Books

2011-08-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

More New Fiction Titles

2011-08-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

New Books - August 24, 2011

2011-08-24T08:10:00.000-07:00

We're back! The library is always adding new books and magazines for your reading and researching pleasure. Here are a few of the most recent additions:

2011-05-05T10:52:00.000-07:00

Read for a Lifetime

2011-05-04T06:45:00.000-07:00

“Read for a Lifetime” is an Illinois State Library program designed to encourage high school students to develop a lifelong habit of reading for information and pleasure. The State Library selects a list of twenty five titles. Students register in the Fall, read at least four books from the designated list, and report the titles they have read in the Spring. Twenty-one students registered for the program. Nine students(*) received certificates signed by the Illinois Secretary of State. Amanda Krawiec and Jennifer Rowe received special awards for reading all twenty-five titles.

2011 Pulitzer Prize Winners

2011-04-19T07:47:00.000-07:00

from http://www.pulitzer.org/node/8501

2011-04-18T10:53:00.000-07:00

"Daffodils" (1804)

I wander'd lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

By William Wordsworth (1770-1850).

2011-04-04T08:06:00.000-07:00

2011-03-25T09:17:00.001-07:00

New Books 3/25/11

2011-03-25T06:25:00.000-07:00

Current Events (meets health and science!)
Healthcare for everyone
Sports concussions
Torture

Hot topics
Social networking
Plagiarism

Economics
Fair trade and how it works
How currency devaluation works

Health and Science
Bacteria and viruses
Living with dyslexia
Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Africa
The history of Southern Africa
The history of Western Africa

New Books - 3/22/11

2011-03-22T09:42:00.000-07:00

Point/Counterpoint – Current Issues
Dealing with bullying / Alexa Murphy
Racial profiling / David L. Hudson
Regulating violence in entertainment / Paul Ruschmann
Tort reform / Paul Ruschmann
Unions and labor laws / Martha Bridegam
Universal healthcare / Victoria Sherrow

Science
Forensic science : from fibers to fingerprints / Lisa Yount
Nuclear power : the study of quarks and sparks / J.S. Kidd & Renee A. Kidd

Psychology
Autism / Heather B. Veague
Cerebral Palsy / Jacqueline Langwith, ed.
Cerebral Palsy : a complete guide for caregiving / Freeman Miller & Steven J. Bachrach

New Magazines

2011-03-15T09:36:00.000-07:00

Newsweek : 150 Women who Shake the World

New Books: Very Short Introduction Series

2011-03-10T07:54:00.000-08:00

2011-03-08T11:47:00.000-08:00

"Newsweek"

Brain freeze: information overload and the ability to make decisions.

The Bieber revolution

"Time"

America : in decline or still no. 1?
A tale of two freshmen : Illinois' Adam Kinzinger and Joe Walsh

"People en Español"

"Discover"

Big bang in a box: the greatest secrets in the cosmos may already be sitting on a hard drive near you.

New Periodicals

2011-02-23T06:37:00.000-08:00

Rolling Stone
"Justin Bieber - Super boy"

Time
Feature article on Rahm Emanuel
Protesters in Egypt : the generation changing the world

Scientific American Mind
"Neuroscience resilience : how minds bounce back"

Scientific American Mind
"Day dream power : Head in the clouds? Find you creativity there"

Words of comfort

2011-02-18T14:03:00.000-08:00

"God will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever." Rev. 21:4

"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial, because when she has stood the test, she will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him." (I Cor. 2:9)

Pie Jesu, qui tollis peccata mundi dona eis requiem.
[setting by Andrew Lloyd Webber; performed by Sarah Brightman]

A unique story of faith

2011-02-17T11:52:00.000-08:00

"I've spoken to a Chinese physicist who converted from atheism to Christianity because ice floats. He told me that every other liquid sinks when it freezes. If water sand when it froze, he assured me, the earth would be entirely lifeless. We exist because water behaves in this odd way. That, he said, cannot be a coincidence and so he believes in our Creator God."

from "Why I love being a priest" by Fr. Charles B. Gordon, C.S.C. in U.S. Catholic, March, 2011

Children's Book Publisher

2011-02-16T11:54:00.000-08:00

Margaret K. McElderry, children's-book publisher, dies at 98.

Read her story at The New York Times.

New Periodicals

2011-02-14T06:58:00.000-08:00

The Atlantic
Mind vs. Machine - the Turing Test, a battle between the world's most advanced artificial intelligence and ordinary people. Technology isnt just changing how we live, it's raising new questionsa bout what it means to be human. (from the article introduction.)

Inside the Secret Service

Justin Bieber : Daydream believer

Popular Science
After earth : the case for populating the Universe and how we'll get there

Sonnet 43 / Elizabeth Barrett Browning

2011-02-14T06:27:00.000-08:00

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

New Books - 2/14/2011

2011-02-14T06:21:00.000-08:00

Research
Paranormal phenomena / Karen Miller, ed.
Researching the unexplained. (Opposing viewpoints series.)

Fiction
Fade / Lisa McMann
Gone / Lisa McMann
Books two and three in the “Wake Trilogy.” In Fade, dream-catcher Janie and her boyfriend, Cabel, use her gift to catch a predator. In Gone Janie deals with her troubled family and the trilogy reaches a hopeful conclusion.

Head games / Keri Mikulski
PRESSURE! That’s what Taylor is getting from her parents, her teachers, her coach, and her team mates. She’s beautiful, level-headed, and a basketball star. But can she carry all the pressure?
A Pretty TOUGH novel, a series of Young Adult books highlighting sports and girl power.

The things a brother knows / Dana Reinhardt
After serving in the Marines for three years, Levi’s brother Boaz has come home. But he’s different. He is quiet; he won’t leave the house, won’t ride in cars, won’t see anyone. At night, Levi hears him screaming.

Favorite Sentences selected by Stanley Fish

2011-02-10T12:27:00.000-08:00

Recently, Slate ran five of Stanley Fish's favorite sentences from the history of English. Then asked readers to submit beloved lines—along with an explication of what makes them tick so beautifully.

The three sentences selected by Fish, powerful in their different ways:

"One had to forget—because one could not live with the thought that this graceful, fragile, tender young woman with those eyes, that smile, those gardens and snows in the background, had been brought in a cattle car to an extermination camp and killed by an injection of phenol into the heart, into the gentle heart one had heard beating under one's lips in the dusk of the past."
- From Vladimir Nabokov's Pnin, submitted by Brian Siano

"Then Amnon hated her with very great hatred; so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her."
- From 2 Samuel 13:15 (Revised Standard Version), submitted by an STURGEON

"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!" "
- From Jack Kerouac's On the Road, submitted by Disa Grey

Taken from Brow Beat: Slate's Culture Blog. Read the entire article here.

Book Review

2011-02-08T08:19:00.000-08:00

Susannah Meadows, NYT reviewer, says Jed Rubenfeld's new book, The Death Instinct is great. She sets the scene in this manner:

" The Death Instinct opens on that September day when Lower Manhattan was blown apart, and Americans started wondering who could hate them so much. The day the word “terrorist” became part of our vocabulary, and the country rallied to war.

The year was 1920.

It was lunchtime. An overloaded horse-drawn cart was parked in front of J. P. Morgan’s bank, jamming traffic. A taxi driver got out of his car, ready to chew out the cart man, but he was nowhere to be found. Then the cabby heard an odd noise. He put his ear to the burlap: ticking. Seconds later dozens of people were dead. To this day the crime remains unsolved."

Jed Rubenfeld's newest book, The Death Instinct,is a sequel to his 2006 novelThe Interpretation of Murder .

Read the entire review atThe New York Times (2/8/11)

New Books - 2/7/11

2011-02-07T11:34:00.000-08:00

Literature
The Jim dilemma : reading race in "Huckleberry Finn"
"The author, who embraces her own slave heritage,... challenges opponents to read [Twain's] novel closely. She shows how Twain has created not another Uncle Tom but a worthy man of integrity and self-reliance." (from the back cover)

Fiction
The false princess / Eilis O'Neal
She was the princess and heir to her father's throne. But on her sixteenth birthday, she learned the truth. She was an impostor. Her real name was Sinda and she was a "false princess."

Scarlett fever / Maureen Johnson
The sequel to Suite Scarlett finds Scarlett working for theater agent Amy Amberson, beginning her sophomore year at a tough school, and dealing with typical teenage problems.

History
American uprising : the untold story of America's largest slave revolt / Daniel Rasmussen
"In January, 1811, 500 slaves dressed in military uniforms and armed with guns, cane knives, and axes, rose up from the plantations around New Orleans and set out to conquer the city." (from the cover)

Films
The adventures of Huck Finn
-starring Elijah Wood, Courtney Vance, Robbie Coltrane, and Jason Robards

Julius Caesar
-starring Charlton Heston, Jason Robards, and Richard Chamberlain

Free Audiobooks

2011-02-04T08:47:00.000-08:00

The following is from "Electronic Audio: Looking for Success"
by Kathleen Meulen at VOYA Online
[accessed 2/4/2011]

Audiobooks and Free Audiobooks App by Cross Forward Consulting available from the iTunes App store.

http://www.travelingclassics.com

I spent the summer downloading and enjoying the free audiobooks that are available from this easy-to-use audiobooks app by Cross Forward Consulting. Their Web site boasts over 3,500 audiobooks that are available for quick download directly to a smart phone or an iPad. The content comes from the LibriVox project (http://www.librivox.org) which finds volunteers to read books that are in the public domain. After sampling several, I will have to say that some narrators are much better than others. I was suitably impressed by the narrator of the first book I listened to: Ruth Golding, reading Riddle of the Purple Emperor by Thomas Hanshewe. I have yet to find another with the same clear pronounciation and lovely English accent. With most of the narrators, there’s the occasional mispronounced name or word but it generally is not a major distraction.

The fact that users don’t have to download the file for transfer over to the device is what we are going to see in the future and I appreciated the ease-of-use for this app. I can certainly recommend it to my students who have access to a device like a smartphone or iPad.

Electronic Audio: Looking for Success
Kathleen Meulen

December 2010

Spirit Day!

2011-01-21T05:56:00.000-08:00

Bishop McNamara is celebrating a spirit day in honor the Bear-Packers game this weekend. The Bears practice on the campus of Olivet Nazarene University where my husband teachers. More power to 'em. I hope they win.

But honestly,my loyalties run lie in a different direction. A Southern direction. Hats off to the Greatest Team ever -- the 1972 Miami Dolphins. Undefeated in season play and Super Bowl VII champions!

The Old New-Book Blues

2011-01-21T05:49:00.000-08:00

Melancholy. That’s the word I would use to describe yesterday’s mood. No, it was not the weather, the dense clouds, the snow. Well, maybe that explains part of the story, but not all of it. It’s the books.

Every library has a “new books” section, a special, prominent shelf where the new books spend their first weeks at the library. Books arrive shiny and new, with spotless covers and pristine spines. They are cataloged and processed, covered and stamped. They are displayed on the “New Books” case in an attractive manner. And then they wait.

If only they could talk, they might yell or plead or whisper,
“Pick me. Pick me!”
“I have just the information you need for your paper.”
“I have a great story to tell.”
“I know a secret.”

But “New Book” status only lasts so long. As books are purchased, others must give up their coveted spot and join the ranks of circulating books in the stacks. Hence, the melancholy. Emptying the shelves is rather sad. So many books have gone untouched. Some great stories have been overlooked. Great laughs and memorable characters have been missed. Will these books be discovered among the rank-and-file, or will they land in the discard pile five years from now having never been checked out even once?

The new semester begins in a few days. Thirty new books have arrived, dressed for the big dance and determined not to be wallflowers. Like their predecessors, they are cataloged and processed and artfully arranged. Blank date-due slips wait to be filled like old-fashioned dance cards. Words sparked to life in their author’s imagination silently wait to be born again in their readers.

Databases for English, Spanish, French, and much more!

2011-01-20T07:10:00.000-08:00

Resources for looking up vocabulary words, learning Spanish and French, and much more! Login through the Database link on the library homepage or just type in the URL.

Oxford Reference Online : http://oxfordreference.com
A collection of dictionaries and other resources covering:
•Accounting, Math, Economics, Statistics
•Art, Artists, Music
•Language: English, English Grammar, American usage and style, Spanish
•Literature from around the world, including Shakespeare and Chaucer
•Politics, History, Supreme Court
•Religion: Bible, Christian Church, Hindu, Buddha, Islam, Judaism
•Science: Medicine, Nursing, Biology, Earth Science, Physics

Visit this link for a complete list of the titles included.

Oxford Language Dictionaries : http://oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com
Covers Spanish, French, Chinese, German, Italian, and Russian.
•Translations of words and phrases.
•Audio of pronunciation by native speakers.
•Click-through explanations of phonetic symbols and mouse-over explanations of parts of speech.

Tidbits

2011-01-19T07:44:00.000-08:00

"If memory is a palace, let me live there, forever with her, somewhere in that place between sleep and morning. . . Let me dream a palace in the clear night sky, . . . a place lit by stars and a winter moon."
The Memory Palace / Mira Bartok, 2011 (quoted from the review in The New York Times)

"To feel most beautifully alive means to be reading something beautiful, ready always to apprehend in the flow of language the sudden flash of poetry."
Gaston Bachelard

Christopher Buckley was preparing to sell his parents' home. Instructed by the real estate agent to "lighten and brighten," he painted shades of white over his mother's palette of reds and browns. A friend told him that his mother would be proud.

He replied, "It's possible. It's also possible that any night now, she's going to appear at the top of the staircase in a nightgown, holding a candelabrum and pointing a finger, and saying, 'Ec-ru, Brute?'"
(The Atlantic, Jan-Feb, 2011)

New books - for the Mark Twain enthusiasts

2011-01-19T07:29:00.000-08:00

Or for those students writing a paper about Huck Finn.

Mark Twain : Adventures of Huckleberry Finn : an authoritative text, contexts and sources, criticism (REF 813.4 TWA)

Bloom's guides : Mark Twain's The adventures of Huckleberry Finn (813.4 ADV)

New Books - 1/10/11

2011-01-10T11:58:00.000-08:00

Hinduism / ed. By Jeff Hay
Accurate and well-researched information about the Hindu religion.

Heroes
Zero regrets : be greater than yesterday / Apolo Ohno
“It’s a philosophy not just about sport but about life. . . . You have to figure out who it is you want to be. Not what you want to be – WHO.” Straight talk about life and sports from the most decorated Winter Olympic athlete.

Unbroken : a World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption / Laura Hillenbrand
The most unlikely of heroes, Louie Zamperini was a juvenile delinquent. As a teenager, he became a track superstar who ran in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he stole a German flag from the Reich Chancellory. Louis served in the Army Air Corp during WWII. In 1943, his bomber crashed during a search mission for a lost plane. He and two men survived 47 days at sea on a small raft, only to be captured and interred in a Japanese Prisoner of War Camp known for torture. Liberated in 1945, Zamperini struggled to forget, to rebuild his life, determined to be “unbroken.”

Read more in Newsweek.

A secret gift : how one man’s kindness – and a trove of letters – revealed the hidden history of the Great Depression / Ted Gup
On Dec. 17, 1933, an ad appeared in The Canton Repository newspaper offering $10 to 75 families in distress. A benefactor calling himself Mr. B. Virdot invited readers to submit a letter describing their struggles. He promised to keep the letter writers’ identities secret “until the very end.” In 2008, Ted Gup discovered the letters in a trunk and learned that Mr. Virdot was his grandfather, Sam Stone. He had kept the letters and the secret until the end.
To learn more, check out this article in The Smithsonian.

History
Diamonds, gold, and war : the British, the Boers, and the making of South Africa / Martin Meredith
The discovery of diamonds and gold in South Africa sparked a struggle between the British and the Boers for control of the land.” The result was the costliest, bloodiest, and most humiliating war that Britain had waged in nearly a century, and the devastation of the Boer republics.” (from Amazon.com; 1/7/11)

Thrills, Chills, and Romance
Hold tight / Harlan Coben (thriller)
Sixteen-year-old Adam has lost a friend to suicide. His parents are dealing with his grief and withdrawal on top of their everyday struggles. Meanwhile, a sadistic killer is at play in their suburban town.

Bright young things / Anna Godbersen
New York, 1929. Letty is searching for fame on the stage. Cordelia is searching for the father she has never known, a man famous for wild parties and shadowy schemes. They enter a glamorous and dangerous world, a life anyone would kill for . . . and someone will. From the writer of the Luxe series. (from Amazon.com ; 1/7/11)

Rucker Park setup / Paul Volponi
“Rucker Park—a place where basketball’s greatest pro players go up against street legends. Best friends Mackey and J.R. have waited their whole lives to win the basketball tournament here. But when the day of an important game arrives, J.R. is fatally stabbed. While Mackey didn’t wield the knife, he feels responsible. Now he has a score to settle, but the killer is watching his every move. Mackey is determined to finish the final game of the Rucker Park Tournament on his own terms. The question is, can he do it?” (from the back cover)

Three black swans / Caroline B. Cooney
Sixteen-year-old Missy’s science teacher challenges her class to research and design a scientific hoax. Missy decides to present Claire, her cousin and best friend, as her twin. People fall for the hoax; Missy and Claire’s pictures are posted on the Internet. Then a third girl sees their pictures on FaceBook and feels as if she’s looking in the mirror. Suddenly, the hoax is no laughing matter.

Annexed / Sharon Dogar
Careful to distinguish fact from fiction, Dogar presents a novel about Anne Franks’ secret annex narrated by Peter van Pels. He is nearly 16 in 1942 when he and his parents join the Franks in hiding in their Amsterdam attic. When Anne accuses him of deserting his people, Peter laments, "I want so many things, but what I need is to know who I am. Because if I don't know that, I can only ever be what they say I am. A Jew." (from Amazon.com ; 1/7/11)

The sweetness of salt / Cecilia Galante
“Julia just graduated as her high school valedictorian, has a full ride to college in the fall and a coveted summer internship. But when her older sister, Sophie, shows up at the graduation determined to reveal some long buried secrets, Julia's plans change. She follows Sophie back to Vermont, where Sophie is opening a bakery—and struggling with some secrets of her own. What follows is a summer of revelations—some heartwarming, some heartbreaking, and all slowly pointing Julia toward a new understanding of both herself and of the sister she never really knew. “(from Amazon.com ; 1/7/11)

Wake / Lisa McMann
Seventeen-year-old Janie has the ability to see other people’s dreams. When she sees a classmate’s nightmare, Janie must address her “gift” and how it might affect her future. (from Amazon.com ; 1/7/11)

Trouble / Gary D. Schmidt
Henry’s older brother is killed in a car accident; the other driver is a Cambodian refugee named Chay. After the accident, Henry, his family, and the community wrestle with grief, anger, and racial tensions. Finally, Henry, his best friend, Chay, decide to climb Mt. Katahdin, in Maine, a trip Henry and his brother had planned. Prejudice takes on a different face entirely as Chay's personal story develops, entwined with all three boys' growing understanding of their families, their town, and what really happened the night of the wreck. (from Amazon.com ; 1/7/11)

Safe haven / Nicholas Sparks
Katie Feldman is new in town. She’s quiet, private, and careful to avoid personal ties. She came to Southport seeking safety from the dark past that terrifies and stalks her.

Linger / Maggie Stiefvater
In this sequel to Shiver, the romance between Sam and Grace continues and old characters mingle with new recruits to the Minnesota werewolf pack. A cliff-hanger ending points to a third book.

Boot camp / Todd Strasser
In this realistic novel, fifteen-year-old Garrett is sent to a disciplinary boot camp for teens. “Behavior modification” includes mental and physical abuse. Garrett and two other teens finally become desperate enough to attempt an escape.

The mockingbirds / Daisy Whitney
Alex, a junior at a New England boarding school, indulges in a crazy night of drinking. She is date raped. She submits her case to the Mockingbirds, her school’s underground justice system in which students investigate and try crimes committed by other students. A story of confusion, shame, empowerment, and healing.

Elsewhere / Gabrielle Zevin
Fifteen-year-old Liz was killed in a hit-and-run accident. She now lives in “Elsewhere,” an afterlife in which the residents get younger until they become babies and are reborn on Earth.

New Books - 1/5/2011

2011-01-05T11:02:00.000-08:00

Fiction
Artichoke’s heart / Suzanne Supplee
Rosemary Goode faces some challenges: her mother’s cancer; her binge eating and resulting weight problem; her “un-cool” social status and awful nickname, “Artichoke.” Her mother’s frank, positive outlook, a new girlfriend who enjoys exercise, and a new boyfriend give Rosemary a new perspective.

Jerk, California / Jonathan Friesen
“In rural Wisconsin, Sam, a high-school student with Tourette’s Syndrome, is alienated from his peers and rejected by his stepfather, and he has trouble getting close to lovely, kind Naomi. After graduation, his stepfather kicks him out of the house, and he accepts a job and lodging from [George], who knew Sam’s late father and dispels some of Sam’s misconceptions about his dad. . . . Sam embarks on a road trip with Naomi to California, [searching for] answers left by Sam’s dad along the way.” (from Amazon.com; 1/4/10]

The sky is everywhere / Jandy Nelson
Seventeen-year-old Lennie’s older sister died suddenly from an arrhythmia. Now Lennie must deal with conflicted feelings about grief, joy, and moving on with her own life.

The ugly tree / Tamara Lyon
When a tornado destroys Cane Kallevik’s home and leaves her Grandma Betty in a coma, Cane goes to live with her employer’s family. She spends her summer keeping vigil at her grandmother’s bedside, fighting with her boss, falling in love with her boss’s nephew, and continuing her love/hate relationship with her former best friend, Mikayla. When Cane’s world “literally goes up in flames, instead of losing everything, she finds exactly what she’s looking for in the most unexpected way.” Set in a rural farm town in Illinois by an author who lives in Wisconsin. (from the back cover)

Biography
Autobiography of Mark Twain, vol. 1
Presenting Mark Twain as himself. He insisted that his autobiographical writings and dictations not be published until 100 years after his death. Time’s up!

House rules : a memoir / Rachel Sontag
Rachel Sontag was a smart, accomplished teenager from a nice family; her father was a doctor, her mother, a social worker. Behind the pretty picture was the grim truth of her father’s psychological abuse, control, and manipulation. Sontag tells the story of the courage to endure and finally, to break away.

History
The Boer Wars (1) 1836-98 / Ian Knight
European settlers of South Africa – Dutch, French, and German – came to consider themselves white Africans; they were also known as “Boers”, meaning famers. This book tells of their many conflicts with native African peoples. (Think Conrad, people!)

The Boer War 1899-1902 / Gregory Fremont-Barnes
While the British had easily defeated the native Africans, they had a much more difficult task in fighting the white Africans. Book covers 19th century history of South Africa, including the discovery of diamonds and gold; background on the British Empire and the Boers; and a narrative of the conflicts which includes maps. (Again, think Heart of Darkness!)

Ratification : the people debate the Constitution, 1787-1788 / Pauline Maier
Across the country, the work of the Constitutional Convention was carefully read and widely debated in pubs, in private homes, and in the press. Ratifying conventions debated the document clause by clause. Maier, a professor of American History at MIT, presents the first history of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

Hallelujah!

2010-12-14T08:22:00.000-08:00

A video to lift the spirits and remind us of the reason for the season.

View the video.

Committing a random act of culture, the Opera Company of Philadelphia rallied 650 singers to surprise shoppers at Macy's Department Store in Philadelphia. At noon, the Wannamaker Grand Court Organ, the world's largest functional pipe organ, struck up the "Hallelujah Chorus."

The "Hallelujah Chorus" closes the Easter portion of The Messiah. Composed in 1741 in just 24 days, the The Messiah is George F. Handel's most famous oratorio.

A Piece of History : a Message of Peace

2010-12-10T07:03:00.000-08:00

During World War II, ten thousand German soldiers were housed in a Prisoner of War Camp in Algona, Iowa. In 1944, Eduard Kaib and five friends created a nativity scene to celebrate Christmas. The scene consisted of sixty figures, half life-size and constructed of concrete and plaster. When the camp was disbanded at the end of the war, the crèche was left as a gift for the town of Algona. The local United Methodist Men’s group has created a permanent display featuring the nativity scene and its history.

Click here to view the video.

Figment.com - Literary website for Teens

2010-12-06T07:19:00.000-08:00

Figment.com, a literary website for young people, will be launched on Monday, December 6. The site is a free platform for teens to read and write fiction--novels, short stories, poems; to write solo or collaboratively; and to give and receive feedback.

The site will also provide a forum for publishers to scout new talent and to release previews of books. Running Press Kids has contracted to release an excerpt of "Purple Daze," an historical novel by Sherry Shahan.

Holiday Gift Guide : Best Books of 2010 - from the New York Times

2010-12-02T08:54:00.000-08:00

Freedom / Jonathan Franzen

The New Yorker Stories / Anne Beattie

The Room / Emma Donoghue

Selected Stories / William Trevor

A visit from the goon squad / Jennifer Egan

Apollo's angels : a history of ballet / Jennifer Homans

Cleopatra : a life / Stacy Schiff

The emperor of all maladies : a biography of cancer / Siddhartha Mukherjee

Finishing the hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) With Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes / Stephen Sondheim

The warmth of other suns : The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration / Isabel Wilkerson.

Read more at The New York Times

See also "100 Notable Books of 2010."

The Brain as Art

2010-12-02T08:42:00.000-08:00

A new art book literally presents the beauty of the mind. The NYT reviewer comments that "scientists are routinely seduced by beauty." An appreciation for beauty extends far beyond the scientific community. Carl Schoonover, a doctoral candidate in neuroscience at Columbia, has taken up the challenge of presenting the beauty and mystery of the brain as art. The work "includes short essays by prominent neuroscientists and long captions by Mr. Schoonover — but its words take second place to the gorgeous imagery, from the first delicate depictions of neurons sketched in prim Victorian black and white to the giant Technicolor splashes the same structures make across 21st-century LED screens." (from NYT; 12/2/10)

“Portraits of the Mind: Visualizing the Brain From Antiquity to the 21st Century" by Carl Schoonover.

Read more at The New York Times.

Jackie Kennedy : a life of her own

2010-12-02T08:14:00.000-08:00

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis--the beautiful fashion plate, the linguist, the avid reader, the book editor. Two new books discuss Onassis's career in publishing.

“Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books,” by William Kuhn, a biographer and historian, will be released on Dec. 7.

"Jackie as Editor: The Literary Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis” by Greg Lawrence and will be released Jan. 4.

Read more at The New York Times.

A Christmas Story for Thanksgiving

2010-11-22T09:34:00.000-08:00

A Secret Gift: How One Man's Kindness--and a Trove of Letters--Revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression / Ted Gup

Ted Gup's story of his grandfather, family secrets, and random acts of kindness.

On Dec. 17, 1933, an ad appeared in The Canton Repository newspaper offering $10 to 75 families in distress. A benefactor calling himself Mr. B. Virdot invited readers to submit a letter describing their struggles. He promised to keep the letter writers’ identities secret “until the very end.” In 2008, Ted Gup discovered the letters in a trunk and learned that Mr. Virdot was his grandfather, Sam Stone. He had kept the letters and the secret until the end.

Many families wrote of their need for food or fuel; others wanted to buy a toy for their child or a set of encyclopedias. Gup tracked down the writers or their descendants, discovering that his grandfather’s gifts had an enormous impact on the recipients. Gup eventually hosted a gathering for his grandfather's beneciaries; ninety-year-old Helen Palm was the last living recipient of Mr. Stone's gift. (Read about the event at The New York Times).

Gup also learned more of his grandfather’s secrets. Stone was a Romanian Jewish immigrant who had survived a terrible childhood of poverty and abuse. He made every effort, legal and illegal, to assimilate into American society and eventually became a successful businessman.

As we gather for Thanksgiving, may we be truly grateful to God for our blessings and ever mindful of the needs of others.

Bishop McNamara Library

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