Did you know that coconut oil, milk, and even the coconut "water" are big on the health food scene? We found So Delicious Cultured Conconut Milk in the health food area of Kroger and I had to try it as it has all the live cultures of regular yoghurt. It takes like sour coconut milk - no surprise there. Guess I shouldn't have tried the plain - I thought I was getting chocolate flavored but the brown "thing" pictured on the front was a coconut, not a cocoa bean. With a price over $2.50 for 6 ounces it won't be something I try again.

I am having email withdrawal but it has been good. I have stayed off of my work email for the last couple of days. I spent yesterday wallowing in my books! :-) So now I have the debut YA novels I want to read all in alpha order by author and the other "gotta reads" by favorites authors and ones that pique my fancy in order as well. In the process I boxed up three boxes of books to go to Mary and the kids and two more for a friend of Steve's little girl. :-) You can even see some of the floor in my office. If I took the empty boxes out you could even see more!

The debut YA authors are an educated group -most of them with Masters in Fine Arts and veterans of numerous well known writing retreats/workshops. Plan to do more research into this area as I find it quite fascinating. I haven't gone through the picture books to see what the trend is here but I am seeing professionals in areas such as graphic art joining the world of children's illustrator/authors. I am looking forward to going through those books in more detail.

Also have a pile about as high as my desk of picture books and NF that I want to go through as the illustrations/storyline/format piqued my interest. For example, I picked up Stormy Weather by Debi Gliori. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Stormy-Weather/Debi-Gliori/e/9780802794192/?itm=1&USRI=stormy+weather+debi+gliori What a lovely bedtime story. It honestly hadn't dawned on me that Gliori is also a very talented illustrator as well as author of children's books. Just scanning the 100 entries that come up on B&N make me realized I've been a bit dense as I know her books, it just wasn't clicking that this is the same author whose humorous spooky stories have me laughing aloud. But this delightful tale of a mother fox and her kit reading a book in bed under a multicolored quilt begin and end this rhyming story of mothers and little ones snuggling down to watch the storm go by. The kit has the bunny and owlet in his arms that are part of the mother/child pairs that watch the storm. The illustrations are bold yet soothing. A perfect book to read on a night the rain is coming down or even the snow (hopefully not anymore this spring!). Gliori lives in Scotland and writes/illustrates from a studio in her garden. No wonder she can let her imagination run as wild as she does. I'd see dragons too if I had that kind of place to write from. :-) I also have a copy of Trouble With Dragon http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?store=BOOK&WRD=trouble+with+dragons+gliori as it is so delightful. I've always had a thing for dragons. These self centered dragons are not aware of what they are doing to the ecological balance of the earth as they scorch trees and anything else they feel like - even the North Pole. Santa standing in a pool of water holding presents sure is a wake-up call little ones will respond to. Hmmm - maybe Al Gore should show this picture at the UN to get across how critical global warming really is - might work better!

I know Gliori more as an author of the hilarious Pure Dead series http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?store=book&SID=385065 for 4th-7th grade. I think older readers would enjoy this series too as Gliori has created a family, the Strega-Borgias - that is a delight to read about, from the mother who is no where near as gifted in the magical arts as her children are. Add the maternal spider and the dragon who is in love with Loch Ness Monster as the "household pets" and you can't help but at least chuckle aloud at their antics. This series would also be fun to listen to on a family car trip. For those had the least bit of problem with the Harry Potter books stay clear of these as Gliori add demons and other not so nice creatures to get the best of the Strega-Borgias but in their owns bumbling/fumbling way they always come out on top. Gliori uses such humor in her description of the demons, imps and other creatures that you can't help but laugh rather than be scared of them.

That's it for me today. We are watching an old B/W horror movie about zombies. I don't mind these old ones as they aren't the least bit gory. They had to use scare tactics with a bit more "finesse" than bloodbaths and chopped off heads like modern day horror movies. So I am going to sign off and spend some time with Hollywood's leading men. We watch the Turner Classic Movies (TMC) channel more than any other and when I saw Leading Men: The Most Unforgettable 50 Leading Actors of the Studio Era http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Leading-Men/Turner-Classic-Movies/e/9780811854672/?itm=1&USRI=50+most+unforgettable+actors+of+the+studio+era at Half Price Books I couldn't resist it. So now let's see how many of their movies I have seen. Well, first of all, if I have to browse through the book to see if I agree that they are 50 most unforgettable! I noticed there is one for Leading Ladies as well so I'll have to keep my eye out for it at Half Price. I spend too much money in that store! And yes, I know Cary Grant is in it - his picture is right in the center of the cover, book-ended by Bogart and Gable. I wasn't a big Jimmy Stewart fan but the more of his movies I see, the more I do. He's on the cover too. What a classy guy - we watched a documentary with him in it a while back and he was delightful. We also watched one on the Warner Brothers - they were not delightful! What a wicked web they wove for each other . With brothers like that who needs enemies! If Edison hadn't monopolized the early film industry on the East Coast the Warner Brothers may never have gone to California and we wouldn't have the Hollywood lore we do today.

Okay - now to see if I've seen all the Grant and Stewart "essential" films listed. Robert Osborne wrote the introduction - love his voice!

I decided to take some time off from grading - it is Spring break after all - and start going through my books and get them in order. Right now I am focusing on getting the debut titles in alphabetical order as well as the books that are intriguing me and the ones by favorite authors. There are a few I've read everything they ever wrote. :-) Alex Flinn is one and right now I am re-reading Beastly http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Beastly/Alex-Flinn/e/9780060874162/?pwb=2 as it is required reading in my YA literature course. I am still cracking up over the chatroom messages from Froggie - he is not at all happy about having to live in a pond - his stuff keeps floating away! The chatroom is the brain child of a psychologist who wants to help the ones who have been transformed. There is mermaid who decides to become human and lose her voice for the guy she saves from drowning, a frog prince, a bear, and Kyle, who goes by NYCBeast. This is a delightful modern version of Beauty and the Beast and I'm enjoying revisiting his transformation into a young man who actually cares about others.

As I was doing my stretches this morning while watching the Today Show I was delighted to see Mike Lupica as one of the guests. He was promoting his latest sports novel The Batboy http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Batboy/Mike-Lupica/e/9780399250002/?itm=2&USRI=mike+lupica about a 14 year old who gets to hang out with his idols who play for the home town major league team. This is more than just a boy and his favorite sport type of book - it is also about a man redeeming himself with his son for having used steroids in his baseball career. Lupica said he was at a Broadway show and a woman politely tapped him on the shoulder and told him she was a school librarian and said she couldn't keep his books on the shelves. She went on to say boys who were resistant readers were the ones reading his books. I had to smile as I hear him say that. We are the authors' biggest fans and supporters! :-) So, there I was this morning, going through my books and finally found the copy of Lupica's Miracle on 49th Street http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Miracle-on-49th-Street/Mike-Lupica/e/9780399244889/?itm=2&USRI=miracle+on+49th+street about a 12-year-old girl who confronts a Celtics MVP that he is her father. His college sweetheart, her mother, never told him and she has recently died from cancer. Caring for no one but himself, the thought of a daughter doesn't set well with him, but Molly doesn't give up easy. The hardback copy, which is is what is in front of me, has Molly sitting on a bench in what appears to be Central Park, with a basketball by her side. Looks like a book for girls who like sports. Don't know too many middle school boys who would pick it up. No surprise that the paperback edition has the same kind of miracle snowy look background, but it is of a basketball being spun on a finger. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Miracle-on-49th-Street/Mike-Lupica/e/9780142409428/?itm=1&USRI=miracle+on+49th+street I imagine the girl on the cover turned away too many of Lupica's MS male readers. Often the paperback covers are much more "generic" than the hardback one. Sales is the bottom line and tweens/teens are visual. If the cover doesn't get their attention they are not going to pick up the book.

I am also having a great time going through the Nonfiction books I've not had time to enjoy - I had to chuckle as I picked up a title in the Capstone series - Killers Animals. Hippos in the Wild by Jody Sullivan Rake. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Hippos/Jody-Sullivan-Rake/e/9781429640107/?itm=1&USRI=hippos+in+the+wild+rake I had not thought of hippos as deadly but the picture of a huge hippo - mouth open (can be as wide as 4 feet) with one tusk looking deadly sharp I have changed my mind before I've even opened the book! The book is full of hippo facts, including some that will have elementary age boys laughing aloud - male hippo will turn they butts to each other and poop on each other! That's taking it a bit father than the pi-- on you type comments of posturing males! Like most all of Capstone's books - a wealth of bold color photographs and high interest short bits of text on each page.

Never enough community helpers and career books in elementary schools - we start the career units early these days! I am sure there are lots of kids who wonder what the toilet looks like in a jail's holding cell. Well, they can find out in Beyond the Bars: Exploring the Secrets of a Police Station by Tammy Enz. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Beyond-the-Bars/Tammy-Enz/e/9781429633772/?itm=1&USRI=Beyond+the+bars+exploring+police+station. This is one of the Hidden Worlds series. Others covers hospitals, shopping malls, and sports stadiums. As always, Capstone goes for the high interest topics. That's why boys gravitate toward their books and why we hand them to the kid who sits in the library and refuses to look at anything!

Lots and lots of new bios on President Obama but Jennifer L. Marks' Presidente/President Barack Obama http://search.barnesandnoble.com/President-Barack-Obama/Jennifer-L-Marks/e/9781429637329/?itm=1&USRI=barack+obama+jennifer+l+marks is the first early picture book style bio I've seen that is bilingual. Wonderful full page photographs but the best part of this book is the Spanish/English time line that runs along the bottom of the pages that only goes up to the point in his life the information on the double page spread covers. It's one of the Pebble Plus Bilingual series.

Another title in this series is El Ejercito De EE.UU./The U.S. Army by Matt Doeden http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?store=BOOK&WRD=u%2Es%2E+army+matt+doeden I picked this one up because so many of my students are either married to men in the military or someone in their family is in the military. I wanted to see where the author got his information from. When I am asked about evaluating nonfiction titles I tell students the first thing to look for is the author's credentials and if it doesn't appear he/she has the credentials needed in the subject area, check to see who did he/she consult with. The consultant on this book is John Grady, the Director of Communications with the Association of the United States Army. This reassures me that someone who knows the facts and has the background to catch errors in either text or illustrations has gone over both before the book went to press. Pass up the books where there is no evidence that that author doesn't have a background in the subject area nor are they any acknowledgements to anyone who does.

Okay - now this is just plain cool! I found a craft book with a project in it that I used to do with the left over fabric from when I used to make the kids' clothes when they were little but I had never thought of doing it with old t-shirts, but it makes sense as this fabric is so stretchy! Anyway, you cut the old t-shirts into 2" strips and then braid three strips together, sewing on new pieces as you go until you have enough to roll into what you want - a glass coaster, a place mat, a rug, etc. You sew the braids together and its a durable, throw in the washing machine rug. This and other projects in Cool Crafts with Old T-shirts: Green Projects for Resourceful Kids by Carol Sirrine. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Cool-Crafts-from-Old-T-Shirts/Carol-Sirrine/e/9781429640091/?itm=1&USRI=cool+crafts+with+old+t-shirts. This is a gotta have title for public libraries with craft programming as well as middle and high schools with crafty girls. :-)

Back to my piles of books!

It is supposed to be Spring Break. Gee - and I spent the entire day grading! My students do a field based assignment where they evaluate the YA collection, services, and programming in their local public libraries. It is always a bit depressing to read their evaluations as they start out comparing the floor space to the children's area and it is always a shocker to them when they actually realize just how little space and attention is given to the YA area. And, when I ask them to then focus on materials, services, and programming for high school age teens things get even worse. Many of the YA collections quickly become tween collections and the programming is basically for MS. Collaboration between the YA librarian (if there is one) and the HS librarian - well, that's about non-existent. I keep hoping that with each semester we do this project my students will realize how important collaboration is and take the first step themselves, as school librarians, to develop a close relationship with their counterpart at the public library. They have the same patrons and their goals are the same - so why not work together?

The darn new headache medication is playing havoc with my body and isn't helping with the headaches but I promised I'd give it a chance. I haven't even gotten up to the full dose yet and I'm having weird side effects. The worst is the insomnia but I wasn't too upset about zero hours of sleep Sunday night as I was able to immerse myself in Lauren Oliver's debut delight - Before I Fall http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Before-I-Fall/Lauren-Oliver/e/9780061726804/?itm=1&USRI=before+I+fall I picked it up because of the arresting green eyes in the sideways close up of a girl's face - she appears to be laying in the grass pondering "heady" things. And indeed she is. What would my teenage self do if I had the chance to relive the day I was to die and change some of the not so nice things I had done in my life? Seven chances to get it right, but no chance that I'm not going to die so why would I care? Would I have been as humane and mature as Sam as a teen? I'm glad I never had to find out. This is a stunning, heartbreaking, beautifully written tale of redemption. Sometimes our knight in shining armor is the geek we left behind when we got cool. It is a love story that never had a chance to form and grow, but how it glowed for the short time Sam and Kent had. Sam really is a good girl but she has done some things she isn't very proud of to become popular, including turning her back on Kent for many years. She has been attached at the hip to Lindsay, Elody, and Ally. She even laughs when Lindsay heckles and harasses Juliet, the girl Lindsay had been best friends with until 5th grade but has since gone after with a vengeance. Each time Sam wakes up, still alive, her rose colored lenses become clearer and she changes the outcome of the day just a bit more and in doing so changes the outcomes of other people's lives, including that of Juliet. The sun came up as I read of Sam's last day on earth. I read the last page, tears streaming down my face. Then I read it again, aloud, still crying but with a smile on my face seeing Sam's bliss in my mind as she just let go. Those who know me well, know I am usually a woman of many words - I love to chatter on about books, my kids, my grandkids, about anything and everything. But, when I am profoundly moved I say little. And, all my heart and mind could softly say when I closed this book was, "Oh my." And that coming from me is very high praise indeed. I predict that Oliver is going to be a YA author to keep our eye on and she may indeed be a contender for the Morris award. Before I Fall may be her first novel but it certainly does not read like one written by a novice author. I cannot imagine a reader meeting Sam by opening the pages of Oliver's novel and not experiencing every emotion possible before closing it - yes, with tears, but also with a sign of satisfaction. Yes, Ms. Oliver - Oh my!



I remember the days of students writing letters to authors and sending them off the publishers and waiting months to get an answer and often the answer was a form letter from the publisher. There was not the personal connection with authors that children and teens have today due to email and author websites, Facebook, MySpace, etc. But, we also have print resources with a more informal, personal approach such as Richard C. Owen Publishers Author at Work titles. These are unique little paperbacks in that the authors introduce themselves to young readers through text and photographs. I love the photograph on the cover of Nikki Grimes Out of the Dark http://www.rcowen.com/AuthorAtWork.htm#Out_of_the_Dark And, the other photographs of her in her home and of her family. Ms. Grimes becomes more than a poet to the reader - she becomes a daughter, a sister, and yes, a magic maker. Check out the last picture in the book - you'll under stand the "magic maker" comment. :-)

I also have a copy of Jane Yolen's On the Slant http://www.rcowen.com/AuthorAtWork.htm#On_The_Slant in front of me - another new title in Owen's Authors at Work series. I love the photo of her re-reading her manuscripts. Of course I do - you should see my messy office. It is a maze for poor Sophie to find her way through! So the picture of Yolen's desk is a delight to me. There are post-it notes all around her monitor and piles of papers stacked on her desk. Her reading glasses are perched on her nose. :-) These books bring the young readers into the author's writing space and into their family and lives so the authors become more than names on books, they become real.


That's it for today.

I know I am prejudiced but I think McKinley is the the most gorgeous princess around. :-) It helps that I am the Queen Gramma who bought her the dress and that her Queen Mamma has the ECU pirate sweatshirt on. Hmm - a Princess Bride theme going with the Dread Pirate Roberts as a girl! McKinley turned two on the 24th and her princess outfit was part of her gift from us.


Speaking of birthdays and pirates. Steve's birthday was yesterday and I found a card game for him Princess Bride: Storming the Castle Game
http://www.amazon.com/Princess-Bride-Storming-Castle-Game/dp/B001AZF52W He knows I truly love him as I said I'd even play with him and I do not like The Princess Bride at all. I spent a very, very long ride over to Louisville with Steve and his friend Chet reciting lines from the movie awhile ago - I still haven't gotten over it!


Last weekend was an all Oscars day on the oldies channel so I wallowed in old movies while my poor body adjusted to yet another medication to deal with the knee pain and swelling as the orthopedic surgeon won't do the next surgery until we know what is causing the bone lesions are on my skull and why I keep having these weird episodes that feel like mini-strokes. Rather than feeling sorry for myself I decided laughter was a good antidote as the medication was making me too sick to do much of anything else but lay in bed. I had forgotten how wonderfully funny The Philadelphia Story http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/The-Philadelphia-Story/Cary-Grant/e/12569675322/?itm=1&USRI=philadelphia+story is, especially the scene where Jimmy Stewart wakes Cary Grant while quite tipsy on champagne. We watched a documentary with Jimmy Stewart awhile ago and he mentioned he had added the hiccups without telling Grant and Grant had just gone right along with it so when I watched it last Sunday it was even funnier. I am a big Katherine Hepburn fan too so both she and Cary Grant in the same movie means double the viewing pleasure for me. I guess I was born in the wrong era. I found a first edition of Cary Grant: The Lonely Heart by Charles Higham which was published back in 1989. It had barely been cracked. I devoured every page of it but the rosy hue I had around the movie legend certainly ended up tarnished like copper does when it isn't polished regularly. And clearly back then his image was polished. He may have appeared to be a very genteel man in his movies and when he did his visits to small venues to answer questions from his fans later in life but he had a bit of a split personality from what his several ex wives had to say about him. He was not quite as eccentric as one of his best friends, Howard Hughes, but he wasn't a whole lot far behind. But, learning he was far from perfect did not kill my fascination with him or his movies so I'll keep my eye open in used book stores for there are many of book on him out there. I think it best I do this is small doses though! Learning one of your "idols" was a real cad takes some getting used to!

Those of you who follow this blog know I am huge Mary E. Pearson fan so I treated myself to The Miles Between http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Miles-Between/Mary-E-Pearson/e/9780805088281/?itm=1&USRI=the+miles+between once I finished up a couple of reviews for VOYA. And what a treat it was. What else is a girl named Destiny to do but follow her own destiny? Fate has taken much of the control out of her hands so Des has rebelled in the one way she knows how - by getting herself thrown out of one private school after another. And, as fate often does, it (or in this case perhaps Fate is a he) forces Des to travel the path she's been avoiding. Now is the time for Des to stop resisting - jump into the pink convertible just sitting there beckoning to her. Who cares if she doesn't know how to drive? That cute boy Aidan she keeps pretending she doesn't see does and she knows where he may be hiding. And then there's Mira, who insists on being Des's friend no matter how hard Des tries to push her away. Add geeky Seth to the mix and you have all the right ingredients for a road trip on the anniversary of the day Destiny was left behind, abandoned by her family. But, as all deftly woven stories do, this one has a heart-breaking undercurrent and when the tidal wave finally rises out of the depths of Destiny's repressed grief she needs all three of her friends to hang onto so the undertow doesn't wash her away. I closed the book with a satisfied sigh, with tears in my eyes. Pearson does it again - she has written a tale so unique unto itself I won't try to "pigeon hole it" into a genre or sub-genre. All I can is - it is a Pearson. For YA folks who have read all of her books, you'll know what I mean.

On to my second love- debut titles. I am loyal to my favorite authors, such as Pearson, but I am always looking for debut authors to fall in love with as well and I have found a few one. Betsy Howie has me laughing aloud. I think she helped me raise Mary! I also think she may be watching my Mary try to raise McKinley. And perhaps she told C.B. Decker, the illustrator about the attitude both my daughter and granddaughter can pull, along with those facial expressions. Oh my! Oh yeah - name of the book would be good! That is a delight too - it is called The Block Mess Monster http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Block-Mess-Monster/Betsy-Howie/e/9780805079401/?itm=1&USRI=the+block+mess+monster Calpurnia's room has been taken over by the block mess monster and he isn't about to allow her to pick up her room but Mom doesn't know that and she is getting quite frustrated with her daughter and tells her to use "POOF!" to make the monster go away. Calpurnia tries it - in a wizard costume. No go. Mom says to try a double POOF. So she tries a double in her karate outfit, a triple as a pirate, 4 poofs as a determined baseball batter, and a scary pooooof pooooooooof as a magician. No luck and Calpurnia lets out a wail - "Mommy!" "Goodness gracious, Calpurnia!" (Mom always says that.) "There is no monster...." Mom goes to pick up a piece of the pile of blocks and Calpurnia scream NO as loud as she can - she's had to save her mother more than a few times from the monster but her mother does not appreciate it much at all. Matter of fact - "Oh, great. Now there are two monsters." The look on Mom's face is one every mother can relate to - I am just glad I had set my cup of coffee down before I turned the page or I would have made a mess with my snort laugh. As in all good picture books, little girls and moms win over block monsters, at least for now. I cannot wait to read this one to my granddaughter but I'll have to buy her a copy as this one stays in my debut author collection. It is too cute to part with. Ms. Howie, glad you found your way to children's books. :)

That's it for today.

The below was written last Saturday a.m. before it got cold again and snowy. We have gotten about 3 more inches and should get more this weekend. I am sick of winter!

It is a balmy 45 degrees out today. :-) After the single digits at night and all the snow this seems like spring. The local weather guy said we have had the worst winter stats since the mid 70s. I hope it stays as we have an unheated crawl space so our hardwood and tiles floors are really cold. Sophie has the sneezes and my feet freeze even with my L.L. Bean lined slippers. They are the most wonderful slippers ever and I am on my third pair now - been wearing them since the 1970s when we moved to Alaska. Only thing that really keeps my feet warm. http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/23777?from=SR&feat=sr

It has been a really weird couple of weeks with what I think was a stomach bug. I think I picked it up at the new orthopedic surgeon's office. Took all day for the appointment. First I met with the Worker's Comp. rep. who has had 21 years of experience with Lexington area docs so I feel I am good hands as far as she and the new knee doc as this guy works with the UK athletes. Then we met with the nurse, then the physician's assistant, and then finally the actual doctor. After moving my knee around and looking at films of my knee before and after the the first surgery he thinks a second surgery may not be necessary. :-) He gave me a shot in the knee that hurt like Hades going in but it was worth it. My knee was numb for days! :-) Then we met with the tech who fitted my knee brace - not much fun to wear as it pushes against my kneecap, pulls on muscles and tendons that are not happy about it as well as makes everything ache as it changes the way I walk. I see him again next Tuesday to determine if there has been any improvement. I have all my digits crossed as the last surgery really made the fibro symptoms go into over drive.

Sadly - the Tuesday appointment indicates one, and possibly two, more surgeries on my knee to fix it so I can start using it again. I hope so - I'm tired of not being able to go for a walk in the neighborhood even. But, he won't schedule it until we get an okay from the neurologist I see later today. A trip to the ER on Monday when we thought I was having a stroke resulted in a CT Scan. No indication of a major stroke but there is some nerve damage to my right side. The CT Scan also showed what appear to be lesions on my skull. I think it is scar tissue from my brothers dropping me on my head as a baby! Easier to joke about it than think of what it could mean.

I finished up David Klass's The Caretaker Trilogy, Book 3, Timelock. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Timelock/David-Klass/e/9780374323097/?itm=1&USRI=timelock+klass which has very cool cover art. Those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile know I do not put cover art up as I haven't requested copyright permission to do so. I know a lot of blogs and other sites so do but I feel I should set an example for my LS students as I don't allow them to add cover shots on their assignments either, unless they have actual publisher permission and that takes times. Anyway - the cover of Timelock shows Jack, the "beacon of hope" for the future of the earth, with his futuristic scimitar that glows blue in front of a huge polar bear. The setting for the final showdown with the Dark Lord is the Arctic. Again, Klass weaves ecological information into this adventure tale. The Caretaker Trilogy addresses what generations of humans have done to the Earth, from the oceans in Book 1, Firestorm http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Firestorm/David-Klass/e/9780374323073/?itm=6 which introduces Jack, a senior in high school whose focus is sports and his girl P.J. That is until he discovers that his parents are not his own and that he was sent back in time from the future to help save the earth. Jack escapes the Dark Lord's soldiers sent to kill him. And now it is time to become a warrior himself. A wisecracking dog, Gismo, who talks to Jack telepathically, along with a "Ninja Babe" from the future, Eko, who is also destined to be his mate, help Jack stop the destruction of the oceans from accelerated global warming. The ecological focus is on the impact of trawler fishing on the ocean's reefs. The second book, Whirlwind http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Whirlwind/David-Klass/e/9780312384296/?itm=4&USRI=david+klass is set in the Amazon. Klass clearly has a message about what we are doing to to the rainforest and the Earth's ability to breathe when the trees are cut down but it is weaved into Jack's race to find P.J. as the Dark Lord has kidnapped her. Of course, Gismo and Eko are there to help him, along with a shaman. Klass uses short sentences and phrases, which may irritate some readers, but it adds to the frantic pace of this time sensitive quest to save Earth from becoming a barren planet. This series is not going to win literary awards, but I still love these books. And, the fact that this is the only set of YA novels Greenpeace has ever sanctioned on its web site supports the accuracy of the ecological information weaves into the story.

That's it for now - need to get some grading done before going to the doc's.

Somehow I forgot to send this one:

I'm sitting here watching the Grammys and Pink was absolutely incredible!! I would have been tossing my cookies rather than belting out a ballad like she did. Lady Gaga and Sir Elton John was pretty cool too. Have a bit of a headache from trying to watch Michael Jackson's 3D video but what a beautiful song. Lots of music I don't care for at all but seeing Taylor Swift's delight and awe to be singing with Stevie Nix was very touching.



Before I forget about it - YA lit is now making its way into our TV series! On Bones last week Booth distracted a "bad guy" on a plane by talking about Twilight and said he is in Team Edward. I'm not a big fan of the vampire series but I am delighted to see references to youth literature in venues that adults watch and the reference may pique their interest in checking out the other cool YA titles.



Read an interesting cover story in The New York Times Magazine last Sunday about James Patterson. He markets himself better than his publisher does! He told Little Brown he wanted to advertise on TV. They balked so he wrote and paid for the ad himself for Along Came A Spider. Of course, he had to add young adult author to his list and immediately Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Maximum-Ride/James-Patterson/e/9780316067959/?itm=1&USRI=maximum+ride+angel, published in 2005. There are at least 4 books in the series. Fun reading that should interest resistant readers - bird kids being chased by other DNA adapted youth and hiding from the scientist who wants to keep experimenting on them. The young teens and children have bird DNA and can fly away from most of the danger. His newest tween series, Witch and Wizard http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Witch-and-Wizard/James-Patterson/e/9780316072205/?itm=1 is Patterson's newest serries that will help the tweens who are having Harry Potter withdrawal



Reading about how he writes the outlines and gives it to other authors to flesh out reminds me of the Stratemeyer Syndicate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratemeyer_Syndicate Edward Stratemeyer would be considered the first book series packager. I was devastated as a child to realize my beloved Laura Lee Hope - author of the Bobbysey Twins series - did not exist. Don't go to the wikipedia site if you are worried about having childhood delight in Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series. At least Patterson is giving his co-authors credit, even putting their names on the books. That was/is not the way many packagers do things. There are ghost writers who don't get the credit they should such as the authors who fleshed out Ann Martin's Babysitter Club titles.

The Great White Hunter out front with his leaf blower! There was too much snow for this technique - he had to actually go buy a snow shovel. :-) My Santa Fe did fine in the snow and he's back home, drive shoveled.

I haven't seen but one car go by today - not too many crazies out there like Steve. We were only supposed to get an inch of snow. Clearly that isn't what happened. We got a lot more than that.

And, our fireplace still isn't working! GRRRR!!

Well, I didn’t get the below posted yesterday. Steve came home and hurried me out the door so we could get to the fireplace store before they closed. No such luck! But, we did have a wonderful Italian dinner at Bella Notte – our new favorite restaurant. Great prices and food and the Chianti comes in a tumbler! We were all ready to be seated next to the fireplace by the manager when the waitress said she had just promised the table to another couple. We ended up with a free chocolate soufflé for dessert so no complaints from me. I could see the flickering fireplace so I was happy. It is so nice to get out of the house once in awhile!

We received more snow today so I hope Steve stops at the fireplace store on his way home as ours is not working. The plumber I called didn’t find any leaks in the gas line and said he thinks we need a new set of logs but it was not exactly his specialty.

Written Monday 1/25:

What a day it has been weather wise. While I have sat here at my desk looking out the window I have seen sleet, hail, big fluffy snowflakes, a few minutes of sunshine, and now dusk with snow in the grass but not on the streets. The UPS guy, who stops here almost on a daily basis to drop of review books, etc., said we may get ½ inch of snow tonight. If it freezes the roads are going to be skating rinks in the morning. Most of the school districts in KY were out the week after the Holidays due to the cold and snow so here we go again. The poor kids will be in school until July at this rate with all the make-up days. In days gone by, when I was a kid, we didn’t have to make up the days as they were considered “an act of God” so no required extra days. That has long since changed in Michigan but I remember burrowing down under the heavy quilt Gramma made while listening to the Finnish accented WMPL radio announcer’s voice float up the steps as he listed all the schools that were closed and when he would say Dollar Bay I’d smile and go back to sleep. Just watching the school district closings across the bottom of the TV screen when we watch the evening local news makes me smile. I loved snow days. Mom would have the wood stove cranked up high and the kitchen would be toasty warm and soon the deck of cards for Rummy or the Scrabble board would come out. Or, I’d curl up in the scratchy old maroon chair transplanted from Gramma’s house and read all day. No computers, no email, no online games, no iPods, - just books and family. Not sure much of that happens today as I learn the statistics of tweens and teens spending up to 7 hours a day on some type of device. It does my heart good, however, to know that 46% of teens still consider themselves book readers. That is wonderful, but I wish it were 96%. There is nothing like knowing the plows haven’t come through yet and it is below freezing outside but you are toasty warm and far away in a fantasy realm, where you can feel the soft flutter of wings and the whispers on the wind – imagination in full throttle. Now the thumbs are in overdrive while text messaging, hands clicking on mice (or is that mouses) and the fantasy world is already created for you in the games. I don’t want someone to show me what the fantasy realm looks like – I want to create it myself. I still want to create the book worlds and characters in my mind.

Sure, I use technology – after all, I’m typing this on a computer with two screens so I can have a web site open while responding to a student’s email. However, technology is a tool for me, not an end in itself. The technology doesn’t control what I do (yeah – right!) – I use it to do what I have always done, write about books and communicate with others, but in a different format. Even my office voice messages are sent to my email as wav files so I can listen to them on my computer. Would I like to go back to the days of snail mail and phone calls? In a minute, or at least on most days! I love talking to Mary on the phone, but note I am so multi-task oriented now that I am also clearing off my desk, sorting through review book, unloading the dishwasher, etc. So, I am not truly absorbing the delight of hearing my daughter talk about my wonderful grandchildren and her life. I’m not like my mom who I knew was sitting with a cup of coffee, (and sadly, a cigarette) as we talked on the phone. She gave me her undivided attention. Why can’t we seem to do that anymore? We aren’t even upset by the sound of the keyboard or mouse clicks as we talk to colleagues and friends on the phone. We know they are multitasking just like we are but in reality we don’t seem to be giving any one thing/person our undivided attention any more. It is well past the time of making New Year’s resolutions, and perhaps I am saying this because I can no longer multi-task with the finesse I used to, but to Hades with multi-tasking!! It fries the brain and in many cases it is just downright rude. For Pete’s sake - I don’t want to hear about someone else’s life as she talks on her cell phone while using a public restroom! Yup – I’ve turned into a curmudgeon!!

I am sure many of you watched the movies – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (loved the scenes in Greece), You’ve Got Mail (loved the kids’ section of the bookstore), and Michael (I see Travolta dancing every time I smell gingerbread – that’s what I smelled when I watched that scene). Anyway, Delia Ephron wrote the screenplays for these movies so I was intrigued when I received the ARC for The Girl with the Mermaid Hair. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Girl-with-the-Mermaid-Hair/Delia-Ephron/e/9780061990588/?itm=1&USRI=girl+with+the+mermaid+hair I picked it up and started reading the back and for some reason my brain changed “Sukie Jamieson takes a ‘selfie’” to Sukie was a Selkie and I thought I’d be reading about a girl who changes from a seal into a girl. I was very wrong – I should have been thinking more in the lines of The Picture of Dorian Gray as Sukie is so obsessed with her looks she takes pictures of herself with her cell phone (selfies) to check out how good she looks. It is no darn wonder as her mother is worse than she is – she has just returned from having a number of plastic surgeries. I felt bad (not really) for laughing that she almost pulled her earlobe off while putting on her sunglasses to hide the surgery induced black eyes, but it is so pathetic you have to laugh. Sukie think the sun rises and falls on her ever-smiling father until he gets punched out at the tennis club and she starts seeing another, sleazier side, to her father. Sukie’s world is falling apart around her while at the same time her Grandmother’s antique full-length mirror (which her mother doesn’t want hung where she can see it) is developing cracks. Cracks so that Sukie doesn’t appear “whole” when she looks in that mirror – perhaps it is accurately reflecting just how fractured Sukie's life really is. Although Sukie’s shallowness can be a bit irritating, as Ephron takes her own sweet time in helping Sukie see past herself, develop friendships, and realize just how dysfunctional her family is, it is fulfilling to see Sukie accepting herself as she is, flaws (cracks) and all. The satisfying conclusion is worth the wait. A to pique a potential reader's interest - her family takes advice from the dog, but rarely each other! A true chic lit book by a screenwriter who knows this genre well.

I am so excited I can't stand it! The American Association of School Librairans has finally adopted "School Librarian" as the official term for the profession. If I could I would be doing cartwheels in the street! Here is the link to the short article in SLJ: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6715763.html?desc=topstory&

I am sure there are many school librarians who would prefer to, and do, call themselves by other titles. Teacher Librarian was popular in Canada and moved south of border, but it is truly one of my least favorite titles as to me a librarian, whether in a school, public or academic library, teaches. We all help people locate and use information and select leisure reading materials. In other words - we are all about teaching patrons every time we interact with one. Academic librarians are certainly involved in teaching information access skills as much as school librarians are. And, librarians in public libraries are often the ones children and teens turn to for homework help. School librarians got mixed up with educational media folks back in the 70s and, in my humble opinion, we have continued to lose professional credibility every since.

Below is my response to a colleague (who is not a school librarian) who thought the adoption of School Librarian was a step backward. It will become abundantly clear as you read this that Media Specialist is even further down my list of favorite titles than Teacher Librarian. And, for those of you who read this blog - you know I don't hold my punches when it comes to stating my opinion about things I am passionate about.

I am ecstatic that AASL has finally adopted a title that reflects our involvement/role in the library profession. The Association is, after all, the American Association of School Librarians. If we want to be on an equal footing with the other Divisions in ALA we School Librarians (I will always consider myself one) need to be as proud of being called Librarians as our Academic and Public Library colleagues. There will always be "sub-titles" for those who are specialized librarians, but the general title, Librarian, is timeless.

My students, while comparing school and public library services to youth, have frequently commented on the lack of accessible media in the so-called school media center in comparison to the public and academic libraries where non-print circulating materials have long been available to patrons. Students have limited or no access to the DVDs, CDs, and other non-print materials in a school library - they are for teachers only. So the term media specialist and media center never worked for me. And, it certainly didn't for the general public. Media specialist - someone who works for a TV station; someone who fixes media (filmstrips!) - but rarely thought of as a professional. The general public has great respect for librarians and it really doesn't matter what format materials are in for which we are the gatekeepers to or what we call the facility. Librarians can, and do, adapt to the changes in formats and modes of delivery of information. So, yes - as Evelyn says in this memorable quote from The Mummy (1999)

Evelyn: Look, I... I may not be an explorer, or an adventurer, or a treasure-seeker, or a gunfighter, Mr. O'Connell, but I am proud of what I am.
Rick: And what is that?
Evelyn: I... am a librarian.

Yup - I agree with this feisty film version of us - I AM A LIBRARIAN - said with head high and a big smile on my face!

Way to go AASL!!!!! And, I just added the above quote below my signature line on my clarkr@ecu.edu email account. Will do so on my Yahoo one too but I don't have much time to check that one these days.

No book discussion in this posting as I need to get started on writing a quiz but I just had to share this with y'all! :-)

One of the profs. I work with emailed to ask me about the Babysitter Club being reissued. He certainly got me thinking and got my "dander" up again about how important it is that there be a wide range of materials available for self selection. Including the less than literary series! I agree with the Publishers Weekly review that states the new graphic novel format based on the original series "will likely hook reluctant readers on this affable group of girls and may well spur a new generation of youngsters to move on to the original series. Ann Martin sure had/has a money maker with this series about MS age girls. The first title in the graphic novel series literally starts at the beginning with Kristy's Great Big Idea http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Kristys-Great-Idea/Raina-Telgemeier/e/9780439739337/?itm=3&USRI=babysitters+club#TABS . This truly is the first book in the series - when the girls decided to form the babysitters' club.

Nostalgia is a big deal in publishing right now. So many of the titles the parents of today's children and tween read themselves are being reissued for this next generation. Publishers aren't dumb - they know we'll buy books for our kids that we loved. Anyway, below is pretty much my response to him:

I have blogged the BSC Graphix versions and other older series, which are being published to kindle interest in the current generation of series readers. They are junk, just like many of the other series out there for kids, but we all read some junk, no matter our age. Series books fulfill the stage of literary appreciation often called unconscious delight – in other words, reading these books does not require a whole lot of effort as basically we are reading the same book with a slight plot change. I haven’t looked at any of the recent research on this but Nielsen and Donelson went so far as to say this type of reading is essential for a person to become a lifelong reader.

Basic Stages of Literary Appreciation:
1. Learning to read. 2. Losing oneself in a story (the unconscious delight stage). 3. Finding oneself in a story. 4. Venturing beyond themselves. 5. Reading widely. 6. Aesthetic Appreciation.

Based on my Children's Lit student responses to their first book and discussion of their childhood reading I would have to agree that series/genre/favorite author focused reading is important. Unconscious delight readers understand that this type of reading is pleasurable in itself. Adults do this type of reading with Daniel Steele, Steven King, James Patterson, Nicholas Sparks, etc. It doesn’t mean that we can’t read at other levels, such as aesthetic appreciation, but we have gotten to that pinnacle because we were given the time and space to read our way out of the unconscious delight stage and on to books about kids like us – happens with the tweens - and when teens are ready, begin venturing into the world through books to find out about others who are not like them. Most teens can read critically and do so for their English classes, but reach for the Twilight series or other leisure reading titles when reading “on their own time”.

When I first started teaching children’s lit back in the early 90s I would say the unconscious delight stage occurs around 3rd to 4th grade. Now we are seeing it at all ages, often older than expected, as electronic reading programs such as AR and the push to cover the complete curriculum in preparation for testing allows for less time to introduce books and read aloud to students. Even when they go to the library they are rarely allowed time to serendipitously find a book while browsing or to read every book by their favorite author or in on a topic. My son did that with Walter Farley’s Black Stallion series. Instead, they are told what their reading level is and to choose only from books with that color dot on it, or they are limited to those approved by the teacher.

The luxury of self selecting books has been destroyed in most elementary schools. We don’t often see the 2nd grade boy staggering up to the circulation desk with an armload of dinosaur books, with a Cheshire Cat smile on his face. We know he is “wallowing” in this stage – he isn’t reading about dinosaurs for an assignment – he is reading and re-reading the same information because he wants to - because each time he reads about his favorite dinosaur the book confirms how smart he is as he is reading what he already knows. No one is teaching him to compare accuracy in sources, but he certainly is learning it on his own. Just ask these boys how to pronounce those dinosaur names – they have it down pat and can spell most of them even though they may do poorly on the mandated spelling test. They are quite indignant about a book that has an incorrect pronunciation key or a fact not quite right.

Girls often do their unconscious delight reading with the babysitter’s club and other series like it. They are also more likely to go through this stage with a favorite author or genre. Mary Pope Osborne’s Magic Tree House series was really popular when I was in the USVI. The 43rd title in the series Leprechaun in Late Winter http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?AUD=JUV&kids=y&WRD=magic+tree+house&box=magic%20t&pos=4 comes out this month. This is not a series we need to read aloud to kids or booktalk with them - they find this on their own or from watching the other kids checking them out and talking about them. I hate to see teachers reading aloud titles in these popular series. These books don't need the PR. Introduce them to the many wonderful "mid-list" authors whose books don't get the hype these series do, or the books with movie tie-ins everyone seems to know about.

That's it for today - I am watching football and can't concentrate enough to blog about what else I am reading - will do that next time but I have to tell you how excited I am to see Arnold of the Ducks by Mordicai Gerstein is being reissued by Roaring Brook Press next month. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Arnold-of-the-Ducks/Mordicai-Gerstein/e/9781596430778/?itm=1&usri=arnold+of+the+ducks#TABS You may recognize Gerstein because of his Caldecott award winning The Man Who Walked Between the Towers http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Man-Who-Walked-Between-the-Towers/Mordicai-Gerstein/e/9780761317913/? itm=1&usri=man+who+walked+between+the+towers but he has other thought provoking picture book titles as well. I love the illustrations in his 1983 debut (self written and illustrated) about a boy who is raised by ducks. It is a beautifully touching story.

How about starting to expand the focus from AR or RL and introducing and reading aloud the debut titles by favorite authors in your school that the students may not know about? Or bring out those delightful "sleepers" on the shelves that will circulate if you introduce them but now sit there gathering dust because they aren't popular or they don't have a quiz written for them.

Sorry - but I say - To heck with points! How about introducing children/tweens/teens to new friends in books so they can wallow in some extended unconscious delight reading. A whole lot better then seeing them basically unconscious with the title they were told they HAD to read. Not a way to help create lifelong readers. Let's all spend some time "wallowing in unconscious delight reading" - it helps relief stress and is just down right fun!!

The sun has finally come out and it is warming up so, of course, I remembered to call the repair guys to come figure out why our gas fireplace isn't working. Now that we won't need it anymore! The driveway is bare of snow and the dried grass is already peeking through on the lawn. We could have rain by the end of the week so our snow will be totally gone soon.

I can't multitask worth a darn these days and with two repair guys in and out of the house as they try to figure out where the leak is in the gas line I may as well blog for a bit. Or, I may just be procrastinating from starting the grant report I have to write. I love writing about literature but when it comes to budgets and agency reports - blech!!

The spring 2010 publisher catalogs are arriving and I am in second heaven. It is like being a kid again when the Sears Christmas Wish Book arrived and we circled things we wanted. But, the cool thing is I will get copies of the books to share with y'all on this blog, in reviews, and with my students. I rarely ever got anything I circled in the old Wish Books! I was busy dog-earing pages in the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt catalog – it is like visiting with "old friends" - authors I have met personally, like Jackie Ogburn – as I read the book blurbs and author information. Jackie spoke at a workshop I set up last summer and the attendees and I have been waiting for her latest - A Dignity of Dragons: Collective Nouns for Magical Beasts. www.barnesandnoble.com/A-Dignity-of-Dragons/Jacqueline-K-Ogburn/e/9780618862542/?itm=1&USRI=dignity+of+dragons No cover art yet on B&N and Nicolett Ceccoli’s gorgeous art helps make the illustrations as intriguing as intriguing and mystical as the content. The book addresses different creatures and what a group of them is referred to as, such as flurry of yeti. Fantasy readers will love this book. B&N has ages 5-8 on this – no way! I know teens who will love this book. More like - all ages as far, at least as I’m concerned. It will be interesting to see what the reviewers suggest for age range. I also have debut novels and picture books marked in the catalog as I hope to do a follow up article on the multitalented new authors joining youth literature.

The Abrams/Amulet catalog arrived too and I am so excited to see a new title, Anxious Hearts by Tucker Shaw. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Anxious-Hearts/Tucker-Shaw/e/9780810987180/?itm=1&usri=anxious+hearts+tucker+shaw The cover art on this retelling of Longfellow’s “Evangeline” will pique teenage girls’ attention for sure. Let’s see if Anxious Hearts knocks Flavor of the Week http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?ATH=Tucker+Shaw out of first place as my favorite Shaw YA novel.

Most elementary school librarians recognize Capstone Press as a leader in brightly illustrated (mostly beautiful color photographs) nonfiction titles. The controlled vocabulary of many of their series make these fly off the shelves with even the most resistant young reader. I have one of their A+ books in front of me – A is for Arrr!: A Pirate Alphabet by Laura Purdie Salas http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Is-for-Arrr/Laura-Purdie-Salas/e/9781429632911/?itm=1&USRI=a+is+for+arrr+salas . Great cover art, bringing to life a wide range of multicultural pirates. A pirate ship crew was a mix of cultures and then some! If you don’t chuckle over “E is for eye patch. Did pirates really have eye patches? Well, they did lead dangerous lives. Remember those sharp daggers?” then you aren’t a vicarious pirate lover! And, I am delighted to read that “Many ships kept cats aboard to hunt the rats.” J Boys will love the Fun Facts about Pirates including that Blackbeard would place slow-burin matches in his beard during battles so it looked like smoke was coming out of his head while the matches glowed red. Now I have some trivia to share with my pirate loving husband who often wears the T-shirt I gave him that says “To err is human, but to ARRRR is pirate!”

Staying with the nonfiction focus, I love Scholastic’s annual almanacs. I have the Scholastic 2010 Almanac for Kids: Facts, Figures, & Stats http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Scholastic-Almanac-For-Kids-2010-Edition/Scholastic/e/9780545160636/?itm=3&usri=2010+almanac+for+kids in front of me. It is an almanac that should be in the regular circulating collection as kids, teens, and adults will love browsing the cool facts accompanied by graphics, charts and color photographs. A great source to keep in ready reference. It includes color illustrations of the maps of the world along with a list of the capital, population, area, language(s), money, and government as well as a short fact. Those who don’t know the Caribbean well often mix up Dominica and the Dominican Republic. But if you ever visit the beautiful mountainous island of Dominica with only 72,514 people on only 291 square miles you won’t forget it – the most unspoiled island we have visited. We stayed at an eco-lodge and Steve is still talking about the fresh fruit we had. YUM!! The almanac has lots of just silly facts too – did you know that September 19^th is National Butterscotch Pudding Day, or that October 9^th is Moldy Cheese Day? Buy two copies of all the Scholastic almanacs, especially Scholastic Year in Sports 2010 http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Scholastic-Year-In-Sports-2010/Scholastic/e/9780545160612/?itm=1&usri=scholastic+almanac+of+sports Not sure a kid bringing this one home from school will get it out of his older brother or Dad’s hands. J

Well, almost $200 later and still a non-working fireplace. Looks like we need to replace the gas logs. Well, at least it should be cheaper this time of year to buy those. Growl!!