February 17, 2013

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Pick of the Day: Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy (CD)

By on November 15, 2012 Leave a Comment
Book cover girls working at factory

Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy. By Albert Marrin. 4 CDs. 4:21 hrs. Prod. by Listening Library. Dist. by Listening Library/Books on Tape. 2012. ISBN 978-0-449-01476-9. $30.
Gr 5 Up–Albert Marrin takes the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911 and uses it as a jumping-off point to discuss immigration and working conditions in the early 20th century in his powerful National Book Award nominee (Knopf, 2011). The fire, which was the most devastating disaster in New [...]

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Pick of the Day: The City of Ember: The Graphic Novel

By on November 14, 2012 Leave a Comment
The City of Ember: The Graphic Novel

DUPRAU, Jeanne. The City of Ember: The Graphic Novel. adapted by Dallas Middaugh. illus. by Niklas Asker. 144p. Random. 2012. Tr $18.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86821-4; PLB $21.99. ISBN 978-0-375-96821-1; pap. $9.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86793-4; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-307-97910-0. LC 2011051619.
Gr 5-8–Lina and Doon have spent their entire lives surrounded by darkness. Lina is an optimist and a dreamer who just knows there is something beyond the city of her birth. Doon is much more practical. He knows that if he can [...]

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Pick of the Day: The Americans on D-Day (DVD)

By on November 13, 2012 Leave a Comment
DVD cover of WWII American solider

The Americans on D-Day. DVD. 56 min. with tchr’s. guide on CD. Prod. by Labyrinth Media & Pub. Dist. by Livingbattlefield.org. 2012. ISBN 978-0-615-67814-6. $25.
Gr 7 Up–The June 1944 assault on Hitler’s Fortress Europe by Allied military forces is remembered as a pivotal point in 20th-century history. This well-crafted documentary takes an unusual approach to explaining the planning and execution phases of the invasion. In addition to the usual assemblage of vintage still images and film footage, the producers attempt [...]

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Pick of the Day: Dodger

By on November 12, 2012 Leave a Comment
Dodger

PRATCHETT, Terry. Dodger. 360p. HarperCollins/Harper. 2012. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-200949-4; PLB $18.89. ISBN 978-0-06-200950-0; ebook $11.99. ISBN 978-0-06-219015-4.
Gr 8 Up–The master of humorous fantasy has taken to historical fiction like a London guttersnipe to a large helping of bangers and mash, albeit with a touch of the fantastical. Dodger is an inhabitant of the worst stews of London, who makes a meager living as a tosher, a treasure hunter in the sewers under the city.  His fortune changes, literally [...]

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Pick of the Day: R. L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour, Vol. 1 & 2 (DVD)

By on November 9, 2012 Leave a Comment
Two teen boys fighing ghosts

R. L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour, Vol. 1 & 2. 2 DVDs. approx. 2 hrs. ea. Shout!Factory. 2012. ISBN 978-1-60399-841-3/ ISBN 978-1-60399-842-0. $14.97 ea.
Gr 4-9–Each volume in “R. L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour” series, currently airing on The Hub TV Network, features five 20-minute episodes from the first season that combine creepy, spine-thrilling adventures with problems children face. In the two-part episode, “Really You,” in the first volume, a spoiled child learns a valuable lesson about love when her doll [...]

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Pick of the Day: Gum in My Hair: How to Cope with Bullying Version 2.0 (DVD)

By on November 8, 2012 Leave a Comment
Teen chewing gum in front of lockers

Gum in My Hair: How to Cope with Bullying Version 2.0. DVD. 21:22 min. with tchr’s. guide. Twisted Scholar. 2012. ISBN 978-0-9837899-2-5. $69.95.
Gr 4-9–The host of this entertaining and effective program uses lighthearted humor to help kids learn about bullying—what it looks like, who are the perpetrators, and how it can be prevented. Approximately half of all kids have been bullied and the same amount of kids has bullied others. The video host, along with students who have been bullied [...]

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Pick of the Day: Fourmile

By on November 7, 2012 Leave a Comment
Book cover with Boy and dog

KEY, Watt. Fourmile. 228p. Farrar. 2012. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-374-35095-6; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-374-32441-4.
Gr 5-8–As punishment for throwing a brick into Dax’s truck windshield, 12-year-old Foster has to paint the fence that surrounds the Alabama farm where he lives with his mother. Dax, her boyfriend, is just plain mean and dangerous–even Joe, Foster’s dog, knows that the man is bad news. Foster is out painting when Gary, a traveler on his way to Texas, walks up the road carrying [...]

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

Pick of the Day: The First Ladies (DVD)

By on November 6, 2012 Leave a Comment
DVD cover of First Ladies portraits

The First Ladies. 2 DVDs. 7 hrs. PBS Dist. 2012. ISBN 978-1-60883-724-3. $34.99.
Gr 7 Up–Five of the most influential and controversial First Ladies are profiled in this production. The segments on Dolley Madison and Eleanor Roosevelt feature narration accompanied by photographs and re-enactments of historic events. The biographies of Lady Bird Johnson, Betty Ford, and Nancy Reagan are principally first person narratives that also incorporate commentary by historians, relatives, and friends with video footage of the time. Dolley Madison is considered our nation’s [...]

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Pick of the Day: Don’t Turn Around

By on November 5, 2012 Leave a Comment
Orange Book cover with handprint

GAGNON, Michelle. Don’t Turn Around. 310p. CIP. HarperCollins/Harper. 2012. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-210290-4; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-06-210292-8. LC 2012009691.
Gr 8 Up–Teen runaway Noa has managed to make a tolerable life for herself. She has an apartment, a job as a freelance computer security specialist (she’s a hacker), and a fake foster family to make it all legal. Most importantly, she is off the grid and all but invisible–until she wakes up on an operating table with no memory of [...]

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Pick of the Day: My Book of Life by Angel

By on October 31, 2012 1 Comment
young girl with angel wings

LEAVITT , Martine. My Book of Life by Angel. 244p. Farrar/Margaret Ferguson. 2012. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-374-35123-6; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-374-35124-3.
Gr 9 Up–A 16-year-old caught up in a life of drugs and prostitution finds the strength to protect a younger girl in this lyrical novel in verse. Angel describes how her pimp, Call, lured her from her family with promises and “candy,” the drug her body craves even as she tries to resist it, and onto street corners in Vancouver, [...]

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Pick of the Day: Fifty Cents and a Dream: Young Booker T. Washington

By on October 29, 2012 Leave a Comment
portrait of booker T.

ASIM, Jabari. Fifty Cents and a Dream: Young Booker T. Washington. illus. by Bryan Collier. 48p. bibliog. chron. Little, Brown. Dec. 2012. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-316-08657-8.
Gr 2-4–Here sits a barefooted boy leaning against a tree trunk, eyes closed, dreaming about reading. Here he is following his master’s daughter to school, carrying her books, feeling their “magic seeping into his hands.” Booker was born a slave, and slaves were forbidden to read. Emancipation came while he was still young. He worked [...]

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

Pick of the Day: Little Pig Joins the Band (CD)

By on October 26, 2012 Leave a Comment
Cartoon pig playing trombone

Little Pig Joins the Band. By David Hyde Costello. CD. 6:37 min. with hardcover book. Live Oak Media. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4301-1139-9. $29.95.
Pre-S-Gr 2–David Hyde Costello’s humorous story (Charlesbridge, 2011) about Little Pig who is too small to play any of the marching band instruments stored in a box at Grandpa’s house. Whenever Little Pig asks his siblings a question, it is comically misheard. For example, when he asks if there are any piccolos, the response is “There’s a jar in [...]

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Pick of the Day: Seraphina (CD)

By on October 25, 2012 Leave a Comment
Audiobook cover of dragon flying on red background

Seraphina. By Rachel Hartman. 11 CDs. 13:30 hrs. Prod. by Listening Library. Dist. by Listening Library/Books on Tape. 2012. ISBN 978-0-307-96894-4. $50
Gr 7 Up–In the decades since the peace treaty was signed, a fragile amity has existed between humans and dragons. Or so it is believed. As the treaty’s 40th anniversary nears, a rogue dragon masterminds a dangerous scheme to reignite the ancient war between the two species. Caught unwillingly in the crossfire is Seraphina Dombegh, assistant music mistress of [...]

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Pick of the Day: Nic Bishop Snakes

By on October 24, 2012 Leave a Comment
Book cover with green snake

BISHOP, Nic. Nic Bishop Snakes. photos by author. 48p. CIP. further reading. glossary. index. Scholastic. Oct. 2012. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-545-20638-9. LC 2011039316.
Gr 3-5–Nearly two dozen close-ups of photogenic snakes are highlighted in this introduction. A lucid text, set either on different colored pages or overlaid on photo backgrounds, briefly describes basic anatomy; major physical characteristics common to all snakes; distinctive characteristics of more than a dozen world species; locomotion; diet; hunting and feeding methods; defense mechanisms; and egg-laying and [...]

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

Pick of the Day: Make Believers (CD)

By on October 23, 2012 Leave a Comment
Purple elephant riding a bike

Make Believers. CD. 41 min. 2012. ISBN unavail. $15.
Pres-Gr 5–Secret Agent 23 Skidoo is a children’s performer unlike any you’ve heard before. Filled with great beats and fresh rhymes, his newest album brings to mind Will Smith in his musical prime. Skidoo infuses hip-hop into children’s music using fantastic guest vocalists to keep the songs light while addressing such kid familiar topics as nightmares, being a friend to oneself, swimming, and even putting a truly fresh spin on Jack and the Beanstalk

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Pick of the Day: Shadow on the Mountain

By on October 22, 2012 Leave a Comment
Shadow on the Mountain

PREUS, Margi. Shadow on the Mountain. 386p. bibliog. chron. maps. photos. CIP. Abrams/Amulet. 2012. Tr $16.95. ISBN 978-1-4197-0424-6. LC 2012015623.
Gr 6-9–This engrossing offering sheds light on the Norwegians’ courage during World War II. Preus masterfully weds a story of friendship with the complications faced by 14-year-old Espen and his friends as Nazi restrictions and atrocities become part of their everyday lives. Espen not only has to deal with the political turmoil, but also with discovering that his best friend has [...]

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Pick of the Day: Dreamland Lullabies (CD)

By on October 19, 2012 Leave a Comment
Illustrated album cover of girl and night sky

Dreamland Lullabies. CD. 47:23 min. lullaballads.com. 2011. ISBN unavail. $9.99.
PreS-Gr 2–Classically trained Dina Layzis and Theresa San Luis co-wrote these 11 pop ballad lullabies, accompanied by full strings, piano, chimes, and xylophone. Born in the Ukraine, raised in New York, and trained in opera, Layzis’s voice has a breathy and ethereal quality. Perfect for bedtime and with a sound somewhere between easy listening and classical, the compositions are tranquil, peaceful, and restful. Songs include “Magic Unfolding,” “Caretaker’s Song,” “You Were [...]

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Pick of the Day: About Average (CD)

By on October 18, 2012 Leave a Comment
Illustrated audiobook cover with little girl in pink shirt

About Average. By Andrew Clements. 2 cassettes or 2 CDs. 2 hrs. Recorded Books. 2012. cassette: ISBN 978-1-4703-0081-4, CD: ISBN 978-1-4703-0082-1. $25.75.
Gr 3-6–Jordan understands that it’s hard being average. Everyone around her seems to have a shining talent, or even two or three—but not Jordan. She realistically examines herself and recognizes her ordinariness. She is a C student and has average looks, but she hopes that her enthusiasm will make up for a lack of talent in sports and music. [...]

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Pick of the Day: The Fire Chronicle

By on October 17, 2012 Leave a Comment
Illustrated fantasy novel book cover with 3 children

STEPHENS, John. The Fire Chronicle. Bk. 2. 436p. (The Books of Beginning Series). Knopf. Oct. 2012. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86871-9; PLB $20.99. ISBN 978-0-375-96871-6; ebook $10.99. ISBN 978-0-375-89956-0.
Gr 4-7–Fifteen-year-old Kate, almost 13-year-old Michael, and 12-year-old Emma don’t know why Dr. Pym sent them back to the dreadful orphanage at the end of The Emerald Atlas (Knopf, 2011), but Kate, who learned to control the power of the Atlas to travel through time, knows they need to leave as soon as [...]

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Pick of the Day: Recovering: Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa (DVD)

By on October 16, 2012 Leave a Comment
DVD cover for Anorexia Nervosa

Recovering: Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. DVD. 27 min. with worksheets online. Learning ZoneXpress. 2012. ISBN unavail. $79.95.
Gr 7 Up–Two serious and potentially deadly eating disorders that affect a rising number of teens and young adults—anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa—are frankly explored. Stories of recovering young adults are interwoven with facts and statistics presented by psychiatrists and nutritionists. Five main topics are covered: risk factors for eating disorders, what triggers them, why eating disorders are dangerous, treatment, and things to [...]

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