It's book trailer time

For the past (three?) years now Mrs. Balfour's classes have created book trailers (that are SO fun to watch) (I hope there's another awards show this year!).  At any rate, I visited with her classes and shared some great books with them.  If you want to know what those were, or need a reminder, here's a run down.

Oh that Libba Bray.
Going Bovine



One of Chris Crutcher's newer books, Deadline






An oldie but goodie! If you haven't read Speak, may I humbly suggest you must.



I love little Tyrell (well, to me he's little...)



A great use of music in this one. How can you resist reading it?

-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">After talking to the classes, it seems as if people have heard Stockholm Syndrome, but don't actually know what it is.  Patty Hearst, anyone?  It is pretty incomprehensible.  Held, by Ravel explores the subject as seventeen-year-old Chloe is kidnapped while visiting Greece and slowly falls in love (ahem) with her captor.


Alex falls hard for Cole, only to realize that she should have heeded her instincts. She finds his jealousy flattering, up to a point. Love is a two-way street, right? She compromises, too much. Cole asks Alex to give up a lot for him, but she refuses to give up her dignity.

More first love, unrequited love (or is it?). Margo Roth Spiegleman taps on Quentin's window late one night for a madcap adventure. He anxiously goes to school the next day to see his love - but she's gone. Never to be seen again. Where did she go? Can he find her?



We have all these books and more! Visit the library and we'll find a great book for you. Promise.

Walter Dean Myers has made the big time...and happy new year

Walter Dean Myers was recently named the national ambassador for young people's literature.  This means he will tour the country for two years visiting schools and library talking about the importance of reading!  I wonder if there's a way we can get him at MN.

Can you imagine?

If you don't know who Mr. Myers is, stop reading this blog (!) and pick up Monster, the story of a young boy justly? unjustly? accused of acting as a murder accomplice during a robbery.  Steve documents his  time awaiting trial through a journal written in movie script style. It's such a sad, genuine, hard story.  And it leaves you wondering...there is no nice & tidy ending.  Just like in real life.  Love it.


Of significance is WDM's message to people with a similar background.  He dropped out of high school and yet has managed to lead a successful life as an author.  He will tell you, reading saved his life. The following is taken from a New York Times article:

“I think that what we need to do is say reading is going to really affect your life,” he said in an interview at his book-cluttered house here in Jersey City, adding that he hoped to speak directly to low-income minority parents. “You take a black man who doesn’t have a job, but you say to him, ‘Look, you can make a difference in your child’s life, just by reading to him for 30 minutes a day.’ That’s what I would like to do.”


OK Mavs, go read a WDM book and let's brainstorm on how we can wrangle a visit from the country's newest young adult literature laureate!

And a big Happy New Year, btw.  The next entry will be all about how to make 2012 your year!

"There is no force on Earth more powerful than the will to live." A Ralston

We just launched our latest Read it Forward, Between a rock and a hard place (the book the movie 127 Hours was based upon, if you did not know that) and all the copies are gone!  I hope you're one of the lucky ones to get it; if not, ask a friend to pass it along after they've read it.

We have some really great activities paired up to go with Aron Ralston's story.  First, we'll have a guest speaker from REI come and talk to the outdoor adventure classes as well as Dr. Hauwert, a professor from Southwestern University in Georgetown, talk to us about the caves underneath McNeil.

That's right; there are caves under our school.  And drumroll.....this is the biggest coup OF ALL TIME.  Dr. Hauwert has agreed to take a small group through the caves.

We are so excited we can hardly stand ourselves.

Actually, Mrs. Bligh and I haven't stopped high-fiving ourselves since  Thanksgiving break.

Stay tuned for the details on the cave exploration/ pick-up project!

If you've been under a rock and have no clue what I'm talking about with all the rock/cave stuff, check out Aron's blog (who doesn't have a blog these days?) or watch the clip below in which he discusses being trapped between a rock and a hard place (lest you think the title was merely figurative) while on a hike, alone, in Utah's Canyonland National Park.

I'm so excited I can hardly stand it - Hunger Games official trailer!

Periodic Table fun!

The chemistry classes visited the library this week (it's about time!) and we had fun.  Well, I know I did.  We managed to get through the general trends of the Periodic Table and the classes presented their fascinating facts.

Many students dazzled their classmates with their knowledge.  Which was the goal, after all.

Some of my favorite facts:
1. Police officers are referred to as "cops" because back in the day, they wore copper buttons.
2. The Statue of Liberty has 62,000 pounds of copper.
3. Radon was found in 1 out of 5 classrooms in a study done up north.  That's 73,000 classrooms!

I'm looking forward to the next unit wrap up covering chemical bonds.  I need my own chemistry text book!

As for what I'm reading now...

It is SO funny!  Paul Feig's memoir of growing up in the 70's is hysterical.  One of my favorite lines: at Christmastime his father says, "Anyone over the age of 18 who expects a Christmas present needs to have their head examined."

Amen.

And poor Paul, he had to dress as an elf for a Christmas play in 1st grade.  Since his father ran an army surplus store, that's where his costume came from.  He was an olive green elf with oversized socks covering platoon-shaped boxes on his feet.

God love him.

If you don't know, Paul Fieg is the creator of Freaks and Geeks, one of best shows of all time.  And that's no exaggeration.  After reading this book, I know where his material comes from - his life!

Here's a clip of Sam preparing for his dramatic entrance into school with his new John Travolta leisure suit.  About 5 years too late.

I am so geeking out on this Periodic Table of Videos

The Periodic Table of Videos - University of Nottingham

Check it out - it links to videos on *every* element. It makes chemistry fun!

Which reminds me, for those elementally interested, and especially challenged, check out The Disappearing Spoon. I've picked up all kinds of interesting tidbits, like the fact that Lewis and Clark (and followers) were tracked 100 years after their expedition by the mercury left behind from their, ahem, deposits (after ingesting a "medicine" with mercury). It makes chemistry fun, too!

And we're back!

We love the beginning of the year.  We see all our Mavericks, ready - and dare I say eager?- to check out books. 

Shew! Orientations are done (snooze fest, even for us) and it’s on to the fun stuff!  We’ve worked with several students checking out books – modern classics, creative non-fiction, psych-nonfiction and more.  Our hottest books right now are Hunger Games  and Tweak – along with In Cold Blood.  Check out these book trailers on the above titles.

Nic Sheff on his decision to write Tweak: have you heard that he has a new book out?  We All Fall Down -  we have it!)

Ellen Hopkins discussing why she began writing for young adults.



Hunger Games is coming to a theater near you! (March 2012)  Is it possible that the trailer doesn't do the book justice?  Why yes, it is.  Here's hoping the movie lives up the book!