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Relations (7)

Havana Motor Club Lesson Plan - U.S. Cuba Relations

Posted by Tom Adamich on April 6, 2016 at 1:53am

…Hope you will be willing to share with your teacher and student populations, particularly in light of President Obama’s recent visit to Cuba.

 

The groundbreaking documentary movie Havana Motor Club will be released by Samuel Goldwyn Films 8 April.

 

QR Code files for listed resources are also attachedHavana%20Motor%20Club%20Racing%20History%20Lesson%20Plan_20160405.docxHavana%20Motor%20Club%20Racing%20QR%20Codes_20160406.docx for classroom-based mobile device use.

 

Feel free to contact me with questions, etc.

 

Take care.

 

Tom

 

Tom Adamich, MLS

President

Visiting Librarian Service

224 Chauncey Ave. N.W.

P.O. Box 932

New Philadelphia, OH 44663

330-364-4410

vls@tusco.net

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If You Really Loved Me by Anne Schraff

Posted by bj neary on July 23, 2012 at 2:59pm

If You Really Loved Me (Urban Underground #4)If You Really Loved Me by Anne Schraff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Part of the Urban Underground series, I liked Destini, who was really hard on herself as not being as pretty, smart and having nice clothes as her friends at Harriet Tubman High. She dislikes school, her teachers and her classes. Until she meets Tyron who is her first boyfriend and gives her such good feelings of love that she overlooks his faults of anger. It is after Tyron hurts her two times that Destini realizes she can't change Tyron and has supportive friends and and a mother that Destini breaks free. Recommended.

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The Gravity of Birds by Tracy Guzeman

Posted by BJ Neary on November 27, 2013 at 12:03pm

The Gravity of BirdsThe Gravity of Birds by Tracy Guzeman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Many thanks to my GMA friend, Mimi for recommending this book! Tracy Guzeman's book about family, sisters and the art world was mesmorizing. Sisters Natalie and Alice Kessler are on a summer vacation when they first meet Thomas Bayber who is a young artist in his early thirties. This fateful meeting and vacation will irrevocably change their lives. Once close, Natalie, the oldest sister, is controlling, vindictive but compelling beautiful. Alice is also good looking also but she is kind, compassionate and saddled from a very young age with rheumatoid arthritis, prohibiting her from pursuing her caeer in ornithology. After their parents die, Natalie controls Alice with lies, subservience and away from the public eye once they move away from their home. Fast forward to Thomas Bayber, in his seventies, commissions two art experts to find his earliest never seen before painting, titled The Kessler Sisters. Only problem, it is nearly impossible to find the sisters. If you love lies, romance, family dysfunction, and the thoroughly evil sister against the backdrop of the beauty in and around the art world, you will not be disappointed with this sweeping novel.

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Something Like Fate by Susane Colasanti

Posted by bj neary on September 2, 2011 at 8:35am
Something Like FateSomething Like Fate by Susane Colasanti
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The characters in this romance novel are all really finely drawn by Colasanti and I found Lani very believable as a teen who doesn't follow the crowd and realizes she has angered friends by distancing herself (they think Lani thinks she is too good for them) and becoming very involved in her own club to save the earth. Her good friend, Blake is gay but hides it for fear of his father's anger. Lani and Blake are compulsive about checking their horoscopes and Lani truly believes in fate (hence the title). As the narrator, we find out from Lani about how her best friend, Erin, saved her when they were younger and they have been inseparable since. Lani has also become friends with Danielle in her ecology club. But Lani is insecure and also unaware of herself as being interesting to guys. She has never had a real boyfriend and when she meets Erin's latest flame, Jason, she has no reason to believe he might be interested in her. But it becomes obvious to Blake that Jason is interested in Lani and when they start hanging out together, Lani likes Jason but just sees him as a friend and nothing more. It is when Jason finally tells Lani he cares about Lani, that things get really interesting. Jason is a great guy;athletic, funny, a mentor to younger kids and a lifeguard during the summer. With only 2 months left before summer, Lani and Jason stay friendly; when Erin leaves for summer camp, Jason breaks up with her in an email and Lani and Jason begin seeing each other and it is a pretty perfect summer, what will happen when Erin returns? A great book for girls.


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Response by Paul Volponi

Posted by bj neary on March 5, 2009 at 1:02pm
Paul Volponi's latest novel, Response, takes on the dilemma of a hate crime in a racially divided community. Three African American teens go into Hillsboro, mostly white and Italian, to steal a car and make quick money. The car theft never happens, but as the boys walk home, they are chased by three white teens in a black Land Rover. Asa and Bonds, run for their lives, never looking back. If they did, they would have seen that their friend, Noah, tripped, and fell flat on the sidewalk. With a metal bat, Nick Scat, one of the teens, beats Noah about the head while his friends, Tommy and Joey, steal his sneakers and rip his diamond stud from his ear. Laughing, they get into their Land Rover and race away. Noah calls his friends about the beating and they summon 911. In the hospital, surrounded by his family, Noah is questioned by the police, while his friends in a police car, finger the perpetrators, who claim they were protecting themselves from a robbery. The police investigate the crime to Noah as a hate crime. Volponi uses many different characters' voices to give their own viewpoint and the result is chilling as racial prejudice, stereotyping and bias abound. Noah is a young father and his love for his daughter, Destiny Love, is unquestioned. But Noah is not perfect; he has been arrested before, he is in his fifth year of high school, and is not sure how much he loves DeShawna, Destiny Loves' mother. The reader struggles along with Noah as the court's justice system promises results, his high school and teachers are divided over the hate crime, and life keeps throwing curve balls. It is only with his inner strength, goals for his future, and the love of his family, that Noah waits for the final court judgment. This book is a sure winner, young adult readers will devour it, talk about it, and pass it around. It is a hard fight from the first look at the dark silhouetted figures on the cover to the final bang of the judge's gavel. Also recommended for reluctant readers, grades 9 through 12.
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Dead Girls Don't Write Letters by Gail Giles

Posted by bj neary on January 18, 2009 at 8:13am
bookshelves: read, mystery, realistic-fiction, ya status: Read in January, 2009 review: Sunny is a tough teen who doesn't really miss her sister, Jazz who died in a fire at college. Jazz was a master manipulator who tortured Sunny,impressed and beguiled everyone, especially her parents. Now her mom is a zombie, crying and laying around all day. Her father is a drunk who has fled their home and Sunny is left to care for her, go to school and keep things together. All that changes on the day a yellow letter arrives from Jazz; has she risen from the dead, was she really out of town...more Sunny is a tough teen who doesn't really miss her sister, Jazz who died in a fire at college. Jazz was a master manipulator who tortured Sunny,impressed and beguiled everyone, especially her parents. Now her mom is a zombie, crying and laying around all day. Her father is a drunk who has fled their home and Sunny is left to care for her, go to school and keep things together. All that changes on the day a yellow letter arrives from Jazz; has she risen from the dead, was she really out of town during the fire? When Jazz comes home to her mother, her arms enfold her in a big hug, but Sunny and her dad are not convinced this is Jazz. Giles uses her suspenseful writing to spin a haunting tale that reluctant readers will love .
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Trouble by Gary Schmidt

Posted by bj neary on January 18, 2009 at 8:10am
bookshelves: read, multicultural-fiction, realistic-fiction, ya status: Read in January, 2009 review: Just finished this 3rd book by Schmidt and I was sooooo moved by this tense, funny, suspenseful story and you really get to know each character and will love them, hate them or decide you can just plain accept them. Henry, just like Holling in The Wednesday Wars, is unforgettable. I love the way they both look at the world, their families and how they make decisions, good, bad or indifferent. Schmidt really has a way with words----just love him. Keep the great books coming. This will be one...more Just finished this 3rd book by Schmidt and I was sooooo moved by this tense, funny, suspenseful story and you really get to know each character and will love them, hate them or decide you can just plain accept them. Henry, just like Holling in The Wednesday Wars, is unforgettable. I love the way they both look at the world, their families and how they make decisions, good, bad or indifferent. Schmidt really has a way with words----just love him. Keep the great books coming. This will be one of my favorites to booktalk, hope the students like it just as much. I learned you can't run from Trouble (just like Henry) but you have to learn how to live with it and learn to find happiness with life as it really is. Also, people need to accept immigrants and not judge them on what their race, origin, etc. is but to get to know them as people, just people, like you and me
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