February 17, 2013

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Pick of the Day: Jinx

By on January 7, 2013 1 Comment
letters in gold, figure to left beneath, lots of green

BLACKWOOD, Sage. Jinx. 360p. HarperCollins/Harper. Jan. 2013. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-06-212990-1; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-06-212992-5.
Gr 4-8–“In the Urwald you grow up fast or not at all,” readers learn in the opening of this rich and fecund fantasy. Jinx is that staple of children’s literature: the scorned, ill-used orphan who proves to be so much more gifted and important than he ever imagined possible. He occupies a world that is simultaneously original and familiar, influenced by centuries of folklore, but newly [...]

Filed Under: Books & Media, Featured, Grades 5 & Up, Pick of the Day, Reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Pictures of the Week: Students at the Van Meter Community School Libraries

By on January 4, 2013 Leave a Comment
Van Meter

Students read at the elementary and secondary libraries at the Van Meter Community School.

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Pick of the Day: Henry Clay and the Struggle for the Union (DVD)

By on January 4, 2013 Leave a Comment
Painting of Henry Clay before the Senate

Henry Clay and the Struggle for the Union (Series). 3 DVDs.  20 min. ea. with tchr’s. guides online. Prod. by Witnessing History. Dist. by TMW Media. 2011, 2012 release. ISBN unavail. $69.95 ea. Includes: The Formation of the Union and Its Early Challenges; The Missouri Compromise of 1820 to the Tariff Compromise of 1833; The Compromise of 1850 to the Civil War.
Gr 6 Up–Henry Clay served in the House of Representatives and the United States Senate and worked to preserve the Union against the destructive forces [...]

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One Librarian’s Success Story | On Common Core

By Melissa Jacobs-Israel on January 3, 2013 2 Comments
Christine Poser School Media Specialist

With one smart step at a time, Christine Poser, a middle-school librarian at Myra S. Barnes I.S. 24 on Staten Island, NY, is helping her school move on the new standards.

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Mischief Maker: National Book Award–winner William Alexander has created a world of fun, fury, and astonishing possibilities

By Gary D. Schmidt on January 3, 2013 2 Comments
William Alexander

Author Gary D. Schmidt interviews 2012 National Book Award–winner William Alexander.

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Pick of the Day: The Dustbowl (DVD)

By on January 3, 2013 Leave a Comment
Black and white photo of dust storm

The Dustbowl. 2 DVDs. 4 hrs. Prod. by The Dust Bowl Film Project. Dist. by PBS Dist. 2012. ISBN 978-1-608883-718-2. $24.99.
Gr 9 Up–Ken Burns, whose name is synonymous with the highest quality of documentary filmmaking, has turned his camera’s eye to the environmental and economic catastrophe that struck America’s heartland in the 1930s. After detailing the calamity’s prelude involving the easy credit available to farmers and the general lack of respect for the ecology of the land, the production methodically [...]

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Part 3 On Common Core – Making the Text Connection

By on January 2, 2013 Leave a Comment
CommonCore_header_011713_small

Thursday, January 17, 2013, 3:00 – 4:00 PM ET With nonfiction and informational text at the forefront of the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS), there are new demands and opportunities for reading, writing, speaking and listening for students.Hear directly from some of today’s leading children’s and young adult nonfiction authors as they speak about their work and the specific ways nonfiction and informational texts can be used by librarians and teachers to help their students become better readers. This panel will also explore the ways in which the following focus points connect to the Common Core State Standards for Reading and Writing. Register now!

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Pick of the Day: Peace

By on January 2, 2013 Leave a Comment
sphere with pink cloud above

HALPERIN, Wendy Anderson. Peace. illus. by author. 40p. S & S/Atheneum. Jan. 2013. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-689-82552-1; ebook $12.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-6787-3.
Gr 3 Up–A beautiful book with rich watercolor artwork. Most of the paintings are spreads in a nontraditional layout, with sections sometimes divided into shapes by the meandering text. The book is about peace and how it can be achieved: in the world, in the country, in the city, in one’s school, and within oneself. The layout makes it a [...]

Filed Under: Books & Media, Featured, Pick of the Day, Picture Books, Preschool to Grade 4 Tagged With: ,

Top Book Choices for Youth in Detention

By Amy Cheney, Alameda County (CA) Library, Write to Read/Juvenile Hall Literacy on January 2, 2013 Leave a Comment
Fitz

I guess we’re going make this an annual thing. Last January, SLJTeen ran my top choices for 2011, and here I am again with my 2012 picks. As you may remember, Coe Booth’s Bronxwood and Simone Elkeles’s Chain Reaction were on last year’s list. In a blog post, Booth wrote that she purposefully deleted the new novel she was working on. That takes courage and commitment. Her novels show her dedication to excellence, and teens respond. Elkeles is working on a new four-book series about football entitled Wild Cards. When I asked if there were also girls and guns in it, she replied, “There are always girls and romance and guys with lots of testosterone! No guns in the first book, but it gets gritty in the second when one of the boys gets caught up in gang activity.”

Filed Under: Best of, Books & Media, Teens & YA, YA reviews Tagged With:

Books to Build Connections to Latino Culture for K-10 | Libro por libro

By Tim Wadham on January 1, 2013 Leave a Comment
SLJ1301w_Libroimages_FT

As a librarian, I love it when I find books that relate to one another in terms of themes or content, which gets me thinking about potential program ideas. The titles selected for this first column of the new year are full of such connections. Starting with the idea of focusing on longer fiction, I found two semiautobiographical novels in verse, and both are historical fiction that deal with the protagonist coming of age.

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Partners in Success: When school and public librarians join forces, kids win

By Marta Murvosh on January 1, 2013 1 Comment
SLJ January 2013 Cover

School library and public library collaborations are making a huge difference in kids’ lives.

Filed Under: Featured, Librarians & Media Specialists, Programs & Programming, Public Libraries, Schools & Districts, Students, Teens & YA Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Adult Books 4 Teens: January 2013

By on January 1, 2013 Leave a Comment

 HAYES , Nick. The Rime of the Modern Mariner. illus. by author. Viking. 2012. Tr $32.. ISBN 978-0-670-02580-0.

Adult/High School–In cleverly constructed verse that echoes (without mimicking) Coleridge, Hayes presents the tale of a 21st-century explorer who has ridden the high seas in search of (illegally hunted) whale bone for scrimshaw. He has been sucked into the swirling mass of garbage in the north Pacific (see Rachel Hope Allison’s I Am Not a Plastic Bag by [Archaia 2012]) and eventually comes to a London park bench to [...]

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Book Review Preschool to Grade 4: January 2013

By on January 1, 2013 Leave a Comment
redstar

 AHLBERG, Allan. The Goldilocks Variations. illus. by Jessica Ahlberg. 40p. Candlewick. 2012. RTE $17.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-6268-4.
PreS-Gr 2–With whimsical illustrations and interactive features such as flaps, pop-ups, and pull tabs, the Ahlbergs showcase six silly variations on the classic tale. The standout of the bunch has the heroine wandering into the “trood (or spaceship) of The Three Bliim.” Full of silly alien words, the tale begs to be read aloud. In other adventures, Goldilocks takes on 33 bears, the furniture (chair, bowl, and [...]

Filed Under: Preschool to Grade 4, Reviews Tagged With:

Book Review Professional Reading: January 2013

By on January 1, 2013 Leave a Comment

BERNIER, Anthony, ed. VOYA’s YA Spaces of Your Dreams Collection. 224p. appendix. charts. diags. further reading. illus. index. photos. websites. VOYA. 2012. pap. $50. ISBN 978-1-61751-011-3. LC 2012935470.
Bernier has compiled every “YA Spaces of Your Dreams” column for VOYA since its inception in 1999 through 2010. The book is divided into three main parts by size of the teen space (less than 500 square feet, 501 to 1000 square feet, and more than 1001 square feet), and the sections are organized chronologically by publication date. It provides [...]

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Book/Multimedia Review Stars List: January 2013

By on January 1, 2013 1 Comment
Henry and the Cannons (Brown), ©2013 illustration by Don Brown

Henry and the Cannons (Brown), ©2013 illustration by Don Brown

Preschool to Grade 4

AHLBERG , Allan. The Goldilocks Variations . illus. by Jessica Ahlberg. Candlewick. p. 74.

BROWN , Don. Henry and the Cannons . illus. by author. Roaring Brook. Jan. 2013. p. 89.

BRYANT , Jen. A Splash of Red . illus. by Melissa Sweet. Knopf. Jan. 2013. p. 89.

HALPERIN , Wendy Anderson. Peace. illus. by author. S & S/Atheneum. Jan. 2013. p. 92.

HELQUIST , Brett. Grumpy Goat. illus. by author. HarperCollins/Harper. Jan. 2013. p. 78.

JEFFERS , Oliver. This Moose Belongs [...]

Filed Under: Adult Books 4 Teens, Grades 5 & Up, Multimedia Reviews, Preschool to Grade 4, Reviews Tagged With: ,

Multimedia Reviews: January 2013

By on January 1, 2013 3 Comments

 Planet Dinosaur. DVD. approx. 3 hrs. Prod. by BBC Worldwide. Dist. by Warner Home Video. 2012. ISBN 0-7806-8447-8. $19.96.
Gr 5 Up–In the last two decades, paleontologists have made great discoveries about dinosaurs thanks to new computer-generated imaging (CGI) technology and cutting-edge research. The film, narrated by John Hurt and featuring computer-generated images, brings these prehistoric creatures to life. A whole new cast of dinosaurs are introduced, such as the Predator X, a sea creature that liked to tear the Plesiosaurs to [...]

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Book Review Grades 5 & Up: January 2013

By on January 1, 2013 2 Comments

 BLACKWOOD, Sage. Jinx. 360p. HarperCollins/Harper. Jan. 2013. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-06-212990-1; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-06-212992-5.
Gr 4-8–“In the Urwald you grow up fast or not at all,” readers learn in the opening of this rich and fecund fantasy. Jinx is that staple of children’s literature: the scorned, ill-used orphan who proves to be so much more gifted and important than he ever imagined possible. He occupies a world that is simultaneously original and familiar, influenced by centuries of folklore, but newly envisioned and [...]

Filed Under: Grades 5 & Up Tagged With:

Book Review Graphic Novels: January 2013

By on January 1, 2013 Leave a Comment
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 HALLIDAY , Ayun. Peanut. illus. by Paul Hoppe. 216p. Random/Schwartz and Wade. Jan. 2013. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86590-9; PLB $18.99. ISBN 978-0-375-96590-6.

Gr 7 Up–Worried about transferring to a new school, Sadie comes up with the idea of faking a peanut allergy. She thinks that pretending to have a life-threatening condition will draw attention to her and generate sympathy. Her predictions come true, and she makes several new friends and even attracts a boyfriend. But as time passes, Sadie finds it harder [...]

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SLJ Reviews Rosen’s ‘Financial Literacy’ Database | Digital Resources January 2013

By Stephanie Farnlacher on January 1, 2013 1 Comment
Rosen Home pahe image

“ How long will it take me to pay off my credit card?” “How do I create a budget?” “What is a trade deficit?” Students can find the answers to these and many other financial questions using Rosen’s most recent entry into the digital realm.

Filed Under: Digital Resources, Literacy, Resources Tagged With: ,

Books to Celebrate the Everyday Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement

By Rhona Campbell on January 1, 2013 4 Comments
Illustration by James Ransome from This Is the Dream (HarperCollins, 2006).

Fifty years ago this May, people around our country turned on their televisions to the sight of children being viciously assaulted with fire hoses and snarling dogs by uniformed grown men, their faces twisted with hatred. The violence in Birmingham, Alabama, stirred a swelling of national conscience and raised questions demanding an answer: Do we really believe that “all men are created equal”? What would our country look like if we really did? What has to change to make that dream a reality?

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