Historical/Political Fiction
The Guernsey literary and potato peel pie society / Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
As England is recovering from WW II, Juliet Ashton discovers her next writing project in a book club on Guernsey Island – “a club born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi after its members are discovered breaking curfew.” (from WorldCat ; 8/24/10) Relayed in a series of letters are intrigue, romance, and stories of life and relationships in the shadow of Nazi occupation. [Good book! Don’t miss this one. – The Librarian]
Half of a yellow sun / Chimamanda Adichie
Nigerian novelist Adichie presents the fictional story of Olanna and Kinene, wealthy and well-connected sisters facing personal and professional crises in the midst of a bloody civil war. (Loosely based on events in 1960’s Nigeria.) “The characters and landscape are vividly painted, and details are often used to heartbreaking effect: soldiers, waiting to be armed, clutch sticks carved into the shape of rifles; an Igbo mother, in flight from a massacre, carries her daughter's severed head, the hair lovingly braided.” (from Amazon, 8/23/10)
Fantasy / Gothic Fiction
Phantom island / Krissi Dallas
“One fateful summer night ...when one rule is broken ... five teenagers will discover an unexpected adventure full of magic, romance, and true friendship." (from Amazon, 8/23/10)
The road / Cormac McCarthy
In this postapocalyptic novel, “a father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food--and each other.” (from WorldCat; 8/24/10)
Shadowed summer / Saundra Mitchell
Iris and her friends fill their empty, hot summer days by casting spells in the town cemetery. Then a male voice whispers in Iris’ ear, demanding that the disappearance of a teenage boy be solved.
A spell of winter / Helen Dunmore
In the years prior to WWI, siblings Cathy and Rob grow up on their grandfather’s crumbling estate sharing a world of dark secrets: their mother’s abandoning her family; their father’s mental illness and death in an asylum; and a bond so fierce it threatens to smother them. A novel in gothic style.
Mystery
Reality check / Peter Abrahams
Cody, a 16 year old football player, is benched by a knee injury and drops out of high school. When Clea, Cody’s well-to-do girlfriend disappears from her boarding school, he drives from Colorado to Vermont to find her. An exciting, page-turning mystery.
Romance
The book of Luke / Jenny O’Connell
“Nice girl” Emily Abbott is tired of finishing last! When her family moves from Chicago to Boston during her senior year and her boyfriend, Sean, dumps her, Emily and her friends write a guys’ guide to girls. The girls decide Emily should try out their theories on Luke, but the tables are turned when the experiment gets serious.
The last song / Nicolas Sparks
Ronnie and her younger brother have been sent to Wrightsville Beach, NC, to spend the summer with their father. Angry and resentful over her parents’ divorce, Ronnie doesn’t know that her father is dying. And she doesn’t plan on falling in love.
Plan b / Jenny O’Connell
Vanessa has her life planned : “coast through senior year; graduate; travel around Europe; join boyfriend out East for college. Then the phone rings.” A new half-brother wasn’t part of the plan. (from the book cover.)
Rules of Attraction / Simone Elkeles [romance]
In this sequel to Perfect Chemistry, Alex’s younger brother, Carlos, works to escape the clutches of a Mexican gang and a conniving drug lord while winning the heart of the lovely Kiara. [Some Spanish dialogue, clarified by context.]
Two-way street / Lauren Barnholdt
Jordan and Courtney are high school sweethearts. They’re attending the same college, even driving the long trip to orientation together. Then Jordan dumps Courtney for a girl he met on the Internet. Secrets are not good for a relationship.
Family Relationships
A blue so dark / Holly Schindler
Fifteen year old Aura is frightened as her artist - mother, Grace, sinks further and further in schizophrenia and refuses medication. Aura associates the disease with creativity, and fearing that she might be genetically predisposed, she stops exploring her own her own creative abilities. A sober but hopeful novel.
Girl in translation / Jean Kwok
Ah-Kim Chang (Kimberly) and her mother immigrate to Brooklyn from Hong Kong. Despite poverty and deplorable living conditions, Kimberly excels at school and paves the way for a better future for herself and her mother.
Bishop McNamara is a Catholic, college-prep high school in Kankakee, IL. The library blog introduces new books, book reviews, book trailers, fun and interesting articles, original writing, and school and community news.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
New Books - Research
Science and ethics -- 100
The ethics of biotechnology / Jonathan Morris
World Religions -- 200
African traditional religion / Aloysius Lugira
Daoism / Paula Hartz
Shinto / Paula Hartz
Economics - 300
The Oxford encyclopedia of economic history / Joel Mokyr, ed. (Reference ; for the ECON Class!!)
Crisis economics : a crash course in the future of finance / Nouriel Roubini and Stephen Mihm
Energy, Global Warming, and Politics - 300
Energy policy (Point, Counterpoint series) / Paul Ruschmann
Energy : powering the past, present, and future / Julie Casper
Environmental regulations and global warming (Point, Counterpoint series) / Paul Ruschmann
500
Bioinformatics, genomics, and proteomics : getting the big picture / Ann Batiza
Immigration - 300
Immigration policy / Alan Allport & John E. Ferguson
History and Politics - 300
Imperialism : a history in documents / Bonnie Smith, ed.
The progressive movement : advocating social change / Tim McNeese
500
The family values movement : promoting faith through action / Samuel Crompton
History and Literature (Where history and English projects intersect!) - 300
Medicine in society : historical essays / Andrew Wear, ed.
Women’s history : Britain, 1850-1945 : an introduction / June Purvis, ed.
900
Daily life in the 18th century / Kirstin Olsen
Dr. Johnson’s London : everyday life in London 1740-1770 / Liza Picard
Intellectual Property, or what is plagiarism? - 300
Protecting ideas (Point, Counterpoint series) / David Hudson
Science -- 600
Biotechnology and your health : pharmaceutical application / Bernice Schacter
Biotechnology on the farm and in the factory : agricultural and industrial application / Brian Shmaefsky
Literature -- 800
Holocaust literature (2 volume collection of writings about the holocaust) / John Roth, ed.
Magill’s survey of American literature / Stephen Kellman, ed.
The ethics of biotechnology / Jonathan Morris
World Religions -- 200
African traditional religion / Aloysius Lugira
Daoism / Paula Hartz
Shinto / Paula Hartz
Economics - 300
The Oxford encyclopedia of economic history / Joel Mokyr, ed. (Reference ; for the ECON Class!!)
Crisis economics : a crash course in the future of finance / Nouriel Roubini and Stephen Mihm
Energy, Global Warming, and Politics - 300
Energy policy (Point, Counterpoint series) / Paul Ruschmann
Energy : powering the past, present, and future / Julie Casper
Environmental regulations and global warming (Point, Counterpoint series) / Paul Ruschmann
500
Bioinformatics, genomics, and proteomics : getting the big picture / Ann Batiza
Immigration - 300
Immigration policy / Alan Allport & John E. Ferguson
History and Politics - 300
Imperialism : a history in documents / Bonnie Smith, ed.
The progressive movement : advocating social change / Tim McNeese
500
The family values movement : promoting faith through action / Samuel Crompton
History and Literature (Where history and English projects intersect!) - 300
Medicine in society : historical essays / Andrew Wear, ed.
Women’s history : Britain, 1850-1945 : an introduction / June Purvis, ed.
900
Daily life in the 18th century / Kirstin Olsen
Dr. Johnson’s London : everyday life in London 1740-1770 / Liza Picard
Intellectual Property, or what is plagiarism? - 300
Protecting ideas (Point, Counterpoint series) / David Hudson
Science -- 600
Biotechnology and your health : pharmaceutical application / Bernice Schacter
Biotechnology on the farm and in the factory : agricultural and industrial application / Brian Shmaefsky
Literature -- 800
Holocaust literature (2 volume collection of writings about the holocaust) / John Roth, ed.
Magill’s survey of American literature / Stephen Kellman, ed.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Life in the stacks : the librarian's column
Journey
(“The journey Life is composed of steps.of a thousand [Fourteen stairs trod each
day to the library. Do
the students
ever count them?]
miles must Tentative baby steps.
begin with Confident strides,
persistent plodding.
a single Skipping, running.
step.") Leaps
of faith.
A limestone stoop
concaved by
countless feet.
The slow polishing of stone
by shoes and so(u)l(e)s,
with dreams and
burdens carried
and left behind.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Life in the stacks: the librarian's column
Bessie and The Orange
The Orange Prize for fiction is awarded annually to a novel written in English by a woman by an all-female panel of judges. The winner, to be announced in June, will receive £30,000 and a statue known as “Bessie.”
“Bessie.” It was the name of the statue that snapped my attention while reading the New York Times article announcing the Orange shortlist. I immediately searched the internet for more information and soon learned that “Bessie” is a small bronze bust of a woman, created and donated by the artist Grizel Niven. She is lovely. But I was a trifle disappointed. In my experience, Bessie is not only inextricably linked to writing, she is, most definitely, a cow. Let me explain.
My professor-husband is a writer; in my humble opinion, he is an extraordinary writer, but that’s another story. He advises his students to use “Bessies” in their writing, meaning use specific examples and descriptions. One can refer to the cow or even the cow in the back pasture. But it would be better to describe Bessie, a docile, brown eyed Holstein, white with black patches, who grazes in Uncle Joe’s pasture. The details – Bessies – breathe life into one’s writing.
Bessie has become a fixture in my husband’s classes. When exams include essays, she accompanies him to class. Bessie originally appeared as a small, brown plastic figurine that dispenses jelly beans. She now appears as a graceful, tan nativity-scene figure with ribbons around her neck, a gift from students.
Now, gentle readers, perhaps you can understand my twinge of disappointment on discovering that “Bessie” was a woman. I suppose that a cow-shaped award might be considered an insult, especially when given to a woman by a group of women. But I mean no disrespect. Bessies are a good thing. So cow or no, best wishes to the authors shortlisted for the Orange Prize. They are Rosie Alison for The very thought of you; Barbara Kingsolver for The lacuna; Attica Locke for Black water rising; Hilary Mantel for Wolf hall; Lorrie Moore for A gate at the stairs; and Monique Roffey for The white woman on the green bicycle. And to women writers everywhere, “Moo!!”
The Orange Prize for fiction is awarded annually to a novel written in English by a woman by an all-female panel of judges. The winner, to be announced in June, will receive £30,000 and a statue known as “Bessie.”
“Bessie.” It was the name of the statue that snapped my attention while reading the New York Times article announcing the Orange shortlist. I immediately searched the internet for more information and soon learned that “Bessie” is a small bronze bust of a woman, created and donated by the artist Grizel Niven. She is lovely. But I was a trifle disappointed. In my experience, Bessie is not only inextricably linked to writing, she is, most definitely, a cow. Let me explain.
My professor-husband is a writer; in my humble opinion, he is an extraordinary writer, but that’s another story. He advises his students to use “Bessies” in their writing, meaning use specific examples and descriptions. One can refer to the cow or even the cow in the back pasture. But it would be better to describe Bessie, a docile, brown eyed Holstein, white with black patches, who grazes in Uncle Joe’s pasture. The details – Bessies – breathe life into one’s writing.
Bessie has become a fixture in my husband’s classes. When exams include essays, she accompanies him to class. Bessie originally appeared as a small, brown plastic figurine that dispenses jelly beans. She now appears as a graceful, tan nativity-scene figure with ribbons around her neck, a gift from students.
Now, gentle readers, perhaps you can understand my twinge of disappointment on discovering that “Bessie” was a woman. I suppose that a cow-shaped award might be considered an insult, especially when given to a woman by a group of women. But I mean no disrespect. Bessies are a good thing. So cow or no, best wishes to the authors shortlisted for the Orange Prize. They are Rosie Alison for The very thought of you; Barbara Kingsolver for The lacuna; Attica Locke for Black water rising; Hilary Mantel for Wolf hall; Lorrie Moore for A gate at the stairs; and Monique Roffey for The white woman on the green bicycle. And to women writers everywhere, “Moo!!”
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Life in the Stacks : the Librarian's column
Libraries are repositories of knowledge. Collections of wisdom and folly, rigorously tested facts and flights of fancy. In other words, libraries have lots and lots of… stuff. And Librarians, like professional packrats, gather and keep watch over the stuff. Not that we don’t have rigorous criteria for selecting the” best” stuff. We do. And we do maintain the stuff . . . er, collection, in a neat, tightly organized fashion; organization is one of our specialties. But once we acquire the stuff, we have to resist the urge – and sometimes our patrons’ urging - to save it forever.
Librarians have dubbed the cleaning-out process de-selection and weeding. There are complicated definitions that distinguish between these two terms, which, despite my best efforts, I never fully understood. Frankly, they both involve discarding old, under-used items, tattered items, outdated pieces, and extra copies to make room for new items that might fare better with the patrons.
My predecessor could not bear to break up a fifty-year collection of National Geographic magazines. I have no such qualms. We simply need the space.
A student saw me sorting a pile of journals.
“You can’t throw that away. It’s knowledge. And knowledge is valuable.” He told me that his own collection of National Geographic is ten years old; he has saved every issue since his grandfather gave him a subscription for his 7th birthday. The kid’s a collector. I pity his mother. And his future wife.
I assured the student that I wasn’t throwing out EVERYTHING and that the journals would be replaced with a CD-ROM. He seemed satisfied. I wish I were.
I said I had no qualms about this much-needed weeding. I lied. It makes me sad. Beautiful covers, interesting topics, a collection of brilliant authors: these journals contain knowledge and are much too valuable to be casually pitched into the recycling bin. Standard practice for school libraries is to keep the most-recent five years of a journal, but I played fast and loose with those guidelines; this was no casual cleaning exercise. Each issue was carefully considered. Unfortunately, issue after issue piqued my interest; I put aside a stash for my own reading. Articles about Monarchs and hummingbirds were set aside for my mother, the Dead Sea scrolls for my husband.
“Be picky,” said my inner librarian voice. And so I was – or tried to be. Issues recording landmarks in history, such as the first moon landing, were kept. As were articles by noteworthy authors-- Dr. Jane Goodall, former President Nixon. And, of course, I saved the issues considered collectors’ items. Other issues were given to various faculty members and students: Da Vinci and folk art to the art teacher; Old Iron Sides to the history teacher; James Madison to the student who loves American history and politics.
And on and on it went. Dusty pile after dusty pile. Several boxes of National Geographic have headed off for recycling; several more await their turn. The storage room looks cleaner, less crowded.
And then a student came to the library to search for pictures documenting Hurricane Katrina.
“When did Katrina hit?”
“I am not sure.”
“Run a quick Google search to find the date.”
“August, 2005.”
“Good job. Now let’s look through Time and Newsweek issues from August and September, 2005.”
Bingo! He headed off to art class a happy student. And I stopped to do the math. Following the generally accepted practice of saving the most recent five years of journals, those 2005 issues should have been tossed. Hm….
There’s a lesson there. There are good reasons for rules and guidelines. And I have formulated a new rule for myself. I will not toss out an entire year’s run of a journal without careful consideration. Articles documenting landmark moments in history are available online, but sometimes a patron needs to hold the journal in his hands, look at the photographs, and read and remember. Packrat tendencies, very carefully indulged, might be a good thing. After all, someone might need that journal someday.
Librarians have dubbed the cleaning-out process de-selection and weeding. There are complicated definitions that distinguish between these two terms, which, despite my best efforts, I never fully understood. Frankly, they both involve discarding old, under-used items, tattered items, outdated pieces, and extra copies to make room for new items that might fare better with the patrons.
My predecessor could not bear to break up a fifty-year collection of National Geographic magazines. I have no such qualms. We simply need the space.
A student saw me sorting a pile of journals.
“You can’t throw that away. It’s knowledge. And knowledge is valuable.” He told me that his own collection of National Geographic is ten years old; he has saved every issue since his grandfather gave him a subscription for his 7th birthday. The kid’s a collector. I pity his mother. And his future wife.
I assured the student that I wasn’t throwing out EVERYTHING and that the journals would be replaced with a CD-ROM. He seemed satisfied. I wish I were.
I said I had no qualms about this much-needed weeding. I lied. It makes me sad. Beautiful covers, interesting topics, a collection of brilliant authors: these journals contain knowledge and are much too valuable to be casually pitched into the recycling bin. Standard practice for school libraries is to keep the most-recent five years of a journal, but I played fast and loose with those guidelines; this was no casual cleaning exercise. Each issue was carefully considered. Unfortunately, issue after issue piqued my interest; I put aside a stash for my own reading. Articles about Monarchs and hummingbirds were set aside for my mother, the Dead Sea scrolls for my husband.
“Be picky,” said my inner librarian voice. And so I was – or tried to be. Issues recording landmarks in history, such as the first moon landing, were kept. As were articles by noteworthy authors-- Dr. Jane Goodall, former President Nixon. And, of course, I saved the issues considered collectors’ items. Other issues were given to various faculty members and students: Da Vinci and folk art to the art teacher; Old Iron Sides to the history teacher; James Madison to the student who loves American history and politics.
And on and on it went. Dusty pile after dusty pile. Several boxes of National Geographic have headed off for recycling; several more await their turn. The storage room looks cleaner, less crowded.
And then a student came to the library to search for pictures documenting Hurricane Katrina.
“When did Katrina hit?”
“I am not sure.”
“Run a quick Google search to find the date.”
“August, 2005.”
“Good job. Now let’s look through Time and Newsweek issues from August and September, 2005.”
Bingo! He headed off to art class a happy student. And I stopped to do the math. Following the generally accepted practice of saving the most recent five years of journals, those 2005 issues should have been tossed. Hm….
There’s a lesson there. There are good reasons for rules and guidelines. And I have formulated a new rule for myself. I will not toss out an entire year’s run of a journal without careful consideration. Articles documenting landmark moments in history are available online, but sometimes a patron needs to hold the journal in his hands, look at the photographs, and read and remember. Packrat tendencies, very carefully indulged, might be a good thing. After all, someone might need that journal someday.
Monday, May 3, 2010
The Edgar Awards
The Mystery Writers of America has announced the 2010 Edgar Awards.
Fiction:
The Last Child / John Hart
in the Shadow of Gotham / Stefanie Pintoff
Nonfiction:
The Lineup: the world's greatest crime writes tell the inside of their greatest detectives / edited by Otto Penzler
Columbine / Dave Callen
The title of 2010 Grand Master was awarded to Dorothy Gilman.
Fiction:
The Last Child / John Hart
in the Shadow of Gotham / Stefanie Pintoff
Nonfiction:
The Lineup: the world's greatest crime writes tell the inside of their greatest detectives / edited by Otto Penzler
Columbine / Dave Callen
The title of 2010 Grand Master was awarded to Dorothy Gilman.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Studio Class Students place in Book Video Contest
Gina LaMore's Studio class entered five videos in the School Library Journal 2010 Story Tube Contest. Contestants created a two minute video advertising a book. All five videos were selected for honors.
Judge's Choice: Honorable Mention was awarded to Josh Clothier, Mark Austin, Ashlee Addison, and Jessica Clodi for their video of "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher. The students will receive $200 worth of books.
Chosen as runners-up were: Junior Scott Korthals with "Around The World in 80 Days;" Juniors Sam Memenga and Zack Triveline with "Of Mice and Men;" Senior Sam Eckhoff and Junior Reid Olszewski with "The Boxer and The Spy;" and Juniors Amanda Krawiec and Tatiana Kuykendall with "Paper Towns". The top video in this category will be selected by online voting. To cast your vote, visit storytubes.info/drupal on April 13-17 and on April 27-May 1.
Judge's Choice: Honorable Mention was awarded to Josh Clothier, Mark Austin, Ashlee Addison, and Jessica Clodi for their video of "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher. The students will receive $200 worth of books.
Chosen as runners-up were: Junior Scott Korthals with "Around The World in 80 Days;" Juniors Sam Memenga and Zack Triveline with "Of Mice and Men;" Senior Sam Eckhoff and Junior Reid Olszewski with "The Boxer and The Spy;" and Juniors Amanda Krawiec and Tatiana Kuykendall with "Paper Towns". The top video in this category will be selected by online voting. To cast your vote, visit storytubes.info/drupal on April 13-17 and on April 27-May 1.
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