James Patterson's Maximum Ride Series

James Patterson has sold many, many books and is constantly on the NY Times Bestsellers lists. If you don't recognize the name it's because none of those books have been Young Adult books. Well the Maximum Ride series is one that you will want to check out. Especially if you like adventure. Or if you followed the Twilight series. Basically I would call it a Twilight without the romance. In the first book, The Angel Experiment, a group of young adults headed by Max, the oldest girl, is trying to keep the group hidden from the lab that did experiments on them when they were small. You see they are 98% human, 2% bird. So they are kinda like angels. And they are being chased by the other creatures from that same lab. I loved this book and can't wait to read the second in the series. Let me know what you think!

It's Election Time!

Because this is a topic of personal interest, I would like to encourage you to get involved in the political process. If you will be 18 on or before November 4, 2008, register and vote in the upcoming elections. In Lancaster County, you have until Friday October 24, 2008 at 6:00 pm to register in person. If you will not be 18 in time, there are opportunities to volunteer at polling sites and see it in action. It matters not your view of any politician or political party.

I ran across a great website that links with a book about the topic of voting and getting active with the election process. www.declareyourself.com focuses on the importance of the privilege as an American to vote in any and all elections.

Along that same line is a website that encourages you, the voter, to vote smart. In other words, know the issues before casting a ballot. www.votesmart.org has factual information about national, state and local elections.

BANNED BOOKS WEEK

We just finished celebrating Banned Books Week here in the media center. I hope you got a change to check out and read one of the many books that have been challenged and banned in some locations around the nation and world. One of my favorite quotes on book banning is by Joseph Alexandrovitch Brodsky "There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them. " What do you think?

On another note, I hope you were able to get signed up for one of the 2 book related clubs being offered this year. On Club A day you can join A Little kNight Reading which is a traditional book club where everyone reads one book during the month and then we get back together and discuss it. On Club B day you can join A Taste of the Media Center which lets you read 5 minutes worth of 6-8 books during club time. I will pick some of our new books, some student favorites, and some hidden gems that just don't seem to get the attention they deserve. This is a great way to find your next book. See Mrs. Olson in the counseling center to add one of these to your schedule.

Summer's Comin'

So what's on your summer to-read list? Mine is filled with books that I have seen come through the media center but students were too quick for me. 2 authors that have shown up on lists of adult books that young adults love are Nevada Barr and Laurie R. King. So I am giving them a try. Also I had a student recommend a classic by Upton Sinclair titled The Jungle. It supposedly turned the Meat processing industry on its head. Then because I am always intrigued by young people caught in country's in crisis, I am trying I Want To Live: The diary of a young girl in Stalin's Russia.

I have never been a real fan of science fiction or fantasy but Wicked Lovely and Revenge of the Witch (The Last Apprentice: Book One) have made best books lists. Lately the reworking of Fairy Tales has been popular and I have read the Dread Locks by Shusterman (Dark Fusion series) and Snow by Lynn (Once Upon a Time series), which I really enjoyed. So I plan to read The Looking Glass by Beddor about Alyss in Wonderland.

I'll let you know what I thought of them next year! In the mean time, update me with what you are planning.

WOW!! Where did the year go???

It has been a very busy year!! I wanted to take a minute to post about a great book I finished not that long ago. S is for Silence by Sue Grafton. Kinsey Milhone is a private investigator who finds her cases a little larger than what she originally expected. The fast moving chapters paired with ease of reading made it a great book. In this book, Kinsey finds herself helping a daughter solve the mystery of what happened to her mother the night she disappeared when the daughter was 7. Once Kinsey gets involved and ruffles a few local feathers, the story gets interesting.

Have you read any books from our New Book Collection?? What did you think? Let me know by posting a comment!

Happy Birthday to the emoticon!

Today the :-) is 25! Read about how this familiar and now ever expanding symbol came to be just 25 years ago.

Almost that time of year again!!

Well, I can't believe that school is starting again. It seems like we just got out. But we have an exciting year planned in the media center. Lots of new books. Some new activities. And 2 different literary clubs. See the media center's home page for more details.

Did you do any reading over the summer? I did. My favorite from this summer was A Thousand Splendid Suns. Great follow up to The Kite Runner. I will never think of the women of Afghanistan the same again. We don't have this book in our collection yet, but be looking for it sometime in September. I also loved Razzle by Wittlinger. An awkward wanna-be-popular kid meets an awkward wanna-be-awkward girl. Boys struggles with how others view him. Lots of messed up families. Realistic Fiction!

Add a comment about any good or not so good books you read this summer. Also we are always looking for ideas of new books to purchase. Please comment on what it is you like about the book.

Don't forget to stop in and say hello after the summer!

Help Wanted: Student Assistants

The Media Center is in need of some willing and able students to help us and earn 2.5 credits. If you find yourself bored in Academic Center, and would be willing to reshelve books, help build bulletin boards, clean and tidy up, and just have some fun sometimes, we would love to have you as our assistant.
Come see me (Mrs. VandeHoef) in the Media center ASAP.
We could use 2nd semester, 3rd quarter, and/or 4th quarter SAs during periods 1-7.

It's official...

We have the Round Robin Reading club up and running. Okay, we have one student but still that's enough. She came, she read, and she checked out 2 books that she liked from the experience. That's what my goal was to begin with. So if you would like to read some of the new and old books we have in the media center come see me (Mrs. V). The more the merrier!

Just read...

I just finished reading the first book in a series about drifting. For those of you who don't know what that is it's a type of car racing that takes place in the mountains and the drivers oversteer around curves to cause the tires to lose traction. The good drivers will stay in control the whole time. Quite a thrill for the main characters of Slide or Die. The first book in the DriftX series by Todd Strasser. Kennin, his sister Shinchou, and their cousins Tito and Angelito live in Las Vegas where this is a common, but illegal racing practice. Kennin must find a way to prove himself in a new city while dealing with a bad memory from the past. Check it out!

New Club to join!

There is a new club that was left off the list from club sign up day last week. Here is information about it. You need to act quickly if you would like to join.

Do you like to Read? Do you want to know what is available, both old and new, for check out from the media center? Well, I have the club for you! The ROUND ROBIN READING club is being offered Club B Day. I will pull some of our best books for you to sample. You will spend 5-10 minutes reading each book during club time. This will give you some great ideas for books you will want to checkout.

If this sound like a club you would be interested in joining, stop by the Media Center THIS WEEK and let me (Mrs. V) know. Your club schedule will need to be changed by Monday.

YES, we are still open!

Due to all of the new construction in C and E halls, you may be thinking the Media Center must be closed. Well you are wrong, we are still open! For the remainder of the year it will be trickier to get here. Be looking for special events occurring this semester! It will be fun!

Now on to the book stuff--
Some of you might be interested in the new book we have, Search and Destroy by Dean Hughes. It is the story of a young man in the 1960's fresh out of high school who wants to go to war to experience life so he can write about it. He enlists and is shipped out to Vietnam. He is selected as a member of a special forces unit. What ensues is his experiences in the jungles and the friendships he makes with his fellow soldiers. Are his experiences what he was searching for? This book is packed with war action!

Look for it in our New Book Collection under FIC HUG. And then let me know what you thought.