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Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon

Posted by BJ Neary on November 1, 2015 at 9:44am

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I want everyone I know to read this book! I am not going to share too much because I want YOU to read it but I will say a few things:) Nicola Yoon's debut novel is WOW! I loved the cover and the words at the top "The greatest risk is not taking one" and this defines Maddy, Olly & Carla. They took risks, and what happened??? Well, you have to read this 310 page book of awesomeness and you will fall in love with the story, characters, themes and ESPECIALLY her husband, David Yoon's spectacular illustrations- they are key to who Maddy is and this book is BETTER for David Yoons's participation. Join #yabookchat and @bookfin Sunday 11/1 at 9pm EST for a twitter chat, you will be hooked on books.

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Orbiting Jupiter

Posted by BJ Neary on September 13, 2015 at 6:44am

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Book Group and Clarion Books for the ARC, Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt. Gary D. Schmidt’s books never disappoint and this book will stay with the reader, tugging at heartstrings, probing the depths of love and loss, teaching that life matters above all. Even though this book is geared toward junior high (middle school); teen readers and adults (teachers, school nurses, guidance counselors) need to read this book too. Jack is a sixth grade student and Joseph is in eighth grade but the life lessons will speak to a very wide audience. As I read this book, I was reminded of Bobby and Feather’s story, First Part Last by Angela Johnson. Students love urban fiction because it is diverse and speaks to them about what really goes on in their world. Orbiting Jupiter is similar (even though the characters are white farmers) with ripped from today’s headlines gritty social problems kids will identify with and discuss. When Jack and his parents agree to foster Joseph, they have no idea how much he will need them, nor do they have any idea how critically their lives will be affected by Joseph’s life before and after he comes to live with them. This slim book (179 pages) has spare, taut, but effective vocabulary (and short powerful sentences) that will keep readers turning the pages as this gripping novel deals with thirteen year old, Joseph, who becomes a father and desperately wants to care for his adored baby daughter, Jupiter, against a system that conspires to thwart him at every turn. What will happen when Jack and his parents support Joseph’s love for Jupiter? A compelling, aching book EVERYONE MUST READ!!! Highly recommended.

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Torn Away by Jennifer Brown

Posted by BJ Neary on April 2, 2014 at 1:02pm

Torn Away by Jennifer Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and LittleBrown Books for Young Readers! What a riveting and engrossing book about family, finding yourself, and daring to believe after a tornado rips your life apart. Jennifer Brown’s description of the tornado as it affects Jersey Cameron’s life is so riveting. Jersey is a teen who unequivocally loves her mom, tolerates her stepfather, and finds her little sister very annoying. But all that changes when a tornado takes away her home, her mother, and little sister. As Jersey tries to understand why her mother is gone and her little sister, Marin, will never bug her to dance the East Coast Swing together ever again, her stepfather sends her to live with her father, Clay’s family, where she is unwelcome, taunted, and lives on the back porch. What crushes her even more is that Jersey is beginning to learn things about her mother; things she never told her, and things she kept from her. When she can no longer tolerate Clay’s family, she runs. Imagine her surprise when she learns her mother’s parents exist and bring Jersey to live with them. How will Jersey make this transition? Jennifer Brown does a great job building the tension, anger, and abandonment that Jersey constantly feels and while you root for Jersey building a lasting relationship with Grandpa Barry and Grandma Patty; it is the way Jersey hangs tough and does not give up on her hopes that will bring tears to your eyes and a warm place in your heart for her wonderful, simple, loving grandparents.

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Destroy All Cars by Blake Nelson

Posted by bj neary on November 15, 2009 at 12:41pm

James likes to rant and rave against society's ills---hence the title---he wants all cars gone because of the damage they do,his father doesn't understand him at all and wants to buy him a car for college. James is not even thinking of college. I liked the way the reader can see all of James' anger, angst,humor and wisecracks. We see his Sadie, sweet, concerned, active and passionate about her causes. James' writing is great, so many of the papers he submits to his teacher are hilarious and his teacher's comments show he knows how to get masterpeices from James time and time again. Where his exgrilfriend Sadie is concerned, James is still totally in love with her, it is James' anger, negativity and mean spirit that ended their relationship before, but time has passed, James sees an opening when Sadie and her current boyrfiend break up and even though he crashed and burned before, James knows he will ineveitably be with Sadie again. But how will Sadie & James be, how will James be when he is with Sadie? Totally different from Paranoid Park, but I enjoy Blake Nelson's books and he gets teens with all of their baggage.

Playing Traffic by Gail Giles

Posted by bj neary on January 18, 2009 at 8:01am

Love Gail Giles---Playing in Traffic is aptly titled, about a teen, Matt, who is pretty pathetic when it comes to girls, he has about 2 friends and mostly absentee parents. He is really close to his kid sister, Katy, because of his hands off parents and something he overheard when he was 10 years old. After that, Matt was Kayt's parents, best friend and confidant. Now Matt is being set up and seduced by bad girl, Skye. He knows "she plays in traffic"----and he doesn't, but it feels so exciting to be with her---AND no one knows about this relationship, either....The mind games these two play on each other is unnerving, a quick read that teens won't be able to put down and what an ending!!! I learned that if you can't trust yourself, you shouldn't trust someone else, especially if they are as unbalanced as SKYE!

HELP Need a Book

Posted by Nancy Bosch on February 11, 2009 at 3:48pm

I need a book in the steampunk genre and I need it now. One of my students needs a book to read in lieu of library---on verge of getting kicked out!! He loves the Oppel series Airborn and was set to read the third in the series StarClimber but it doesn't come out til mid March. By then he may have completely irritated the librarian!!! Know of a great book in that genre?

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Posted by bj neary on September 23, 2007 at 1:49pm

I just finished A Thousand Splendid Suns and I found it achingly poignant, just as riveting as Kite Runner and I was so drawn to Mariam and Laila's lives in Afghanistan. This novel speaks volumes about the travesty of revolution in this country, the never ending travails of its people and they are still so resilient. I highly recommend this novel because of its cultural significance, the horrors that young girls must endure marrying when they 13 or 14 and strict adherence to ideas that place educated women as subservient and having no voice in society.

Hello teacher librarians!

Posted by Brian Ferguson on January 26, 2008 at 8:04pm

I just joined the Teacher Librarian Network here at Ning. Since I already have four blogs and a MySpace page I'm not sure just how much I will be using this, but hey, why not try something new? At least I'll have something in common with the folks here.

My other blog

Posted by Tom Nixon on January 26, 2008 at 4:31pm

For those who might be interested, I have another blog called Not Your Mothers Librarian. You may want to take a read. Or not. But, you know, all the cool kids are!

Footnote

Posted by C on July 10, 2007 at 4:31am

I found a great website called Footnote. It is created and run in conjunction with the National Archives and is all pirmary source documents. It is worth checking out. The website is Footnote.com

Behind the Mountains by Edwidge Danticat

Posted by bj neary on August 14, 2007 at 3:23am

What a wonderful, poignant story about a Haitian family whose father, Papa, now lives in New York, toiling for years to bring his family to live with him. Told in first person by Celiane in entries to her notebook, we meet her family who has remained in Haiti, Celiane's mother, Manman, her older, artistic brother, Moy and the many relatives who provide support as they wait for approval to make the move. There is government turmoil and Celiane and her mother are injured in a pipe bomb attack in Haiti. It is a wonderful Christmas present to move to New York to finally be with their father. Once there, Moy and Celiane go to school, which is difficult because of the language barrier, strange surroundings and no friends. We see through Celiane's eyes the joy, sorrow and harshness of being in a new land. We see the beauty of Celiane's house on a mountain and New York through a child's eyes. This is a great multicultural story of how families remain close during separation and make a new life in a new land.

My July 2007 Chicago Visit - The Sears Tower

Posted by Cathy Nelson on July 8, 2007 at 3:32pm

The CLA Conference in St. John's Newfoundland.

Posted by Richard Beaudry on May 21, 2007 at 2:16pm

Hello everyone, The Canadian Library Association's Annual Conference is in St. John's, Newfoundland. That is as far East as this Vancouverite can go in one day in Canada. It will require a 9 and a half hour plane trip to get there. It will be worth it since it is a great opportunity to meet fellow school librarians as well as librarians from the other 4 divisions within the CLA. As I go to meetings and sessions, I will keep you posted on interesting information and data that I pick up. Talk to you soon. Richard

Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid

Posted by BJ Neary on September 27, 2015 at 7:59am

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24338298-never-always-sometimes" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Never Always Sometimes" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1422630370m/24338298.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24338298-never-always-sometimes">Never Always Sometimes</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4505164.Adi_Alsaid">Adi Alsaid</a> 
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1400321666">4 of 5 stars</a> 
Teens will see a bit of themselves in Dave, Julia, Gretchen and Brett. In this book, Adi Alsaid really gets teens (their highs and lows, their quirks, their isms) and for the teens that pine for others and do not do anything about it, Dave and Julia's friendship throughout high school with their Nevers list is reading they will love. Dave is such a nice guy, nice, genuine, caring. I wanted to love Julia but Adi Alsaid did such a great job showing how much Julia said and did was predicated on her very absent mom. It was so sad (Dave sees this) every time Julia's mom disappoints her and yet Julia yearns for a mom but gets a lukewarm long distance relationship from a selfish mom. So this broken connection made Julia self-centered, snarky, out there and unrealistic about many things. I couldn't put this book down; the romance, the wanting, the ache, the yearning make for a novel teens with be reading and sharing with each other. Make sure you read this book and join our twitter discussion with #yabookchat 10/4 at 9pm EST!
 
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/62411-bjneary">View all my reviews</a>

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Posted by BJ Neary on December 23, 2014 at 1:24pm

Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky, #1)

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I saw Marissa Meyer's One Hundred Book Challenge, she had read all three of Veronica Rossi's books in the first quarter of the year, one right after the other. Now I know why!!! I finished the first book, Under the Never Sky, last night and jumped right into the 2nd book, Through the Ever Night. To say I am in love with this story, the main characters Aria and Perry and their "relationship", their quests, and everything and everyone in this fascinating dystopian world is an understatement. Rossi has spun a mesmerizing world of Scires, Seers, life as a Savage and life as a Dweller with fear, love, and passion driving the lives of Aria and Perry. I am so looking forward to reading all three of these books, one right after the other!!!

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City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Posted by bj neary on July 6, 2012 at 1:30pm

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book! Clary and Jace are still my favorites, even though I loved Jem and Will from
but Cassandra Clare is the author of this wonderful Infernal Devices so she won't mind me paying homage to her protagonists in both books.
There was so much adventure, drama, secrets, lies and I just wanted to keep reading the book and not work!!!
I really detested Sebastian and I hated when he tried to reach Clary by working on the "sister" angle. It really irked me to see Sebastian and Jace getting along, ew! It was so good to see more of Simon and Isabella, Alec and Magnus, Jordan and Maya. Clare does such a superb job with her characters, their worlds and all of the action going on, I really hated to see it end, but I am so happy to just wait for another one of Cassandra Clare's books. Love, love, love this book.

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Final Presentations and Rubric

Posted by Marianne Hunter on June 8, 2009 at 7:50am

LIBM 602 School Library Management and LIBM 610 Research Skills: Working in CollaborationSpring 2009Culminating ProjectScoring GuideALL 6 CATEGORIES EVALUATED AS: Exceeds Standard, Meets Standard, or Does Not Meet Standard1. Prepared – Presenter is well-prepared, articulate, and detailed.2. Organized – Presenter’s portfolio is well organized and easy to navigate3. Portfolio Completed – All items included*4. Reflective – Presenter discusses major elements of portfolio and reflects on their significance/impact5. Timely – Presentation is 25-30 minutes in length6. Thoughtful – Presenter is able to respond to elaborating and clarifying questions* Required items for PortfolioLIBM 602 School Library Management – Hunter Review of Literature (5 [including the Eisenberg] articles read/summarized). 1st Steps Narrative Testimony, Forms and Summary of Book Challenge project Lesson Plan, materials, and written summary of In-Service project Summary of blog postings and ning participation (OK to print blog posts or include links) Other written work from class as appropriateLIBM 610 Research Skills: Working in Collaboration – Applegate CBA PPT Research Model Letter to Administration Portrait of an Information Literate Student Collaboration Project (journal, teaching tools, student handouts, student work) and final narrative reflection Articles read for this class (include any note taking you did)

AASL Longitudinal Study, "School Libraries Count!" Deadline, March 12th

Posted by Michelle on March 2, 2009 at 8:00am

Dear Colleagues,You may be aware of the AASL longitudinal study, "School Libraries Count!" Just doing my part to support school libraries by posting a reminder that the deadline to participate is March 12th! Please pass along.For more information visit: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/researchandstatistics/slcsurvey/slcsurvey.cfmTo participate in the survey, visit: http://www.aaslsurvey.org/

Beyond the LMC

Posted by Mary Ann Harlan on May 23, 2007 at 7:40am

The past two school days I have spent "in the field" with science students gathering photos and video for a class project to post podcasts, and vlogs on the PORTS web site, which is hosted by Ca. State Parks. It was an interesting exercise in gathering visual information - what was important, and who was the audience. It was fun to get out of the library, we had beautiful weather (which is significant up here) and it was refreshing. But it also got me thinking about guiding students in gathering, evaluating, and using information beyond traditional sources, in a visual medium, and how that is the same and different than traditional "library research". I would love more opportunities like this one, to move beyond my walls, the school, and into the field.
Here are my flickr photos from the first day.

Greenville Zoo

Posted by Susan Myers on May 28, 2007 at 12:48am

Here is a personal blog post. I am taking my son to the Greenville Zoo today. I could have gone out of town since I have family in Charleston, and my husband's family lives in Charlotte. However, I did not feel like dealing with the traffic on this Memorial Day weekend.

Anyway, we are going to the zoo. It is a nice zoo because it is small. It only takes an hour to an hour and a half to see all of the animals. There is a great playground right beside the zoo, too. Probably later this summer, I will take him to Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia. If you have gathered by now that I love zoos, you are correct! I have visited the Jacksonville Zoo, Charleston Landing, Charleston Aquarium, Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, Greenville Zoo, Ripley's Aquarium in Myrtle Beach, North Carolina Zoo, Atlanta Zoo, Minneapolis Zoo, Houston Zoo, Vienna Zoo (yes as in Austria), and the Salzburg Zoo (again in Austria).

To see the Greenville Zoo, go to Greenville Zoo

Note: this page contains paid content.

Note: this page contains paid content.

Note: this page contains paid content.