First Two Weeks of the Caldecott Challenge
We are on week 3 of our Caldecott Challenge with over 900 books having been read. I have been reading books to grades K – 2 and I have been more than amazed at the enjoyment the students have had in listening to these stories. I tried to pick books that they may not choose themselves. Here are the selections:
Week One
Kindergarten: The little ones loved this simple story of friendship with its expressive pictures.
Grade 1 & 1-2 & 2
The grades 1-2 LOVED this story and I chose to read it to kick off the Challenge due to the incredibly expressive art that really moves the story. I read parts without showing the pictures at first and then re-read it with the pictures. I will have to replace this book next year as it has been ‘loved’ to death and is hanging in by a spine-thread!
Week 2
Kindergarten:
This book had the little ones chanting along, remembering it from daycare and/or preschool. They loved the picture I had for them to colour at the end of the story and wanted to know when they could take out this book! They filled out their pink hearts with their names and I added on the title of the book – 42 times – over 2 classes of K’s. You’d think I would pick a book with a shorter title!
Grade 1 & 1-2
The Grade 1 & -12′s loved the repetition in this story and the art is just stellar which is in all Audrey & Don Woods books.
“Come in,” said the King, with a trout, trout, trout.
This was a favorite part of the story as the students thought it would be a great idea to go fishing in the bathtub!
Grade 2
This book is one of my all time favorite Caldecott books. When I read this to the Grade 2′s they were dead silent. They watched the pictures with such intensity. I had a wonderful owl picture for them to cut out and mount on black paper to go with this story. Some student’s decided to colour their owls like in the book. I think they were so quiet because you “…have to be quiet when you go owling…” This is an incredibly magical story of a father and son.
We are on our way to Week 3!
A Flexible Library Catalogue – LIBE 465
The degree to which a library catalogue can be consulted easily by teachers and students is of great significance if teacher-librarians wish to encourage user-dependence. A flexible catalogue will allow broader use of the school library.
Our District uses Sirsi-Dynix Symphony rather than Follett’s Destiny. We are also using Enterprise as our front page. What this has done for our users is provide a multi-media page where they can find the District’s databases that can be accessed from both school and home (by remote access logins) and search our library’s OPAC. But, there’s always a but…while the databases can be easily seen and accessed, searching for books in the library on the computer, especially for the younger students is not easy! For those students in Gr 1 and 2 it is almost impossible to use the computer. With Destiny, Follett provides a very image oriented, colourful front page that has great icons for the youngest students to click on to help them find books. Our system is a bit more unfriendly. I have to directly teach and let students practice with me around to assist when necessary, the searching of books. Once they get it, usually only 2 lessons of practice, they get it. The problem is, and I believe it is a fixable problem, the default setting in the search for the library you are searching in is our District Resource Centre. The students, or staff, have to change this to their school’s library from a drop-down box. They then have the option of searching by keywords, title, author, keywords in author headings, subject, keywords in subject headings. They then type the title etc…in the search bar. See the complications for the younger students? Not really accessible. Some might also comment that the entire search system is too complex for elementary age students. I beg to disagree. The students from grade 3 – 7 grasp this very quickly. They just need my assistance for the first 1 -3 times they go onto the system. They are having more difficulty transitioning from Windows XP to Windows 7 than they are figuring out how to use the Enterprise search features. Once they have had several practice runs in the lab or in the library itself, they are very independent users.
Another issue to consider here as well is, yes the students can find the books on the OPAC, but did you teach them how to find them on the shelves independent of you, the teacher-librarian? Nice to be needed, but it is the same as helping Kindergartens get dressed to go outside, some help is required but the ultimate goal is doing this independently. So is finding books on the OPAC and then on the shelf. It has taken me longer to get the students to look on the shelves independently than on the OPAC! Just sayin’.
One of the features I do like about our front page is that it has ‘fuzzy logic’. It has percentage settings that allow for the degree of fuzzy logic to be used. Fuzzy logic allows for the misspelling of words and the program’s ability to find what the user is looking for. It took some fiddling at the District level to find the right level of fuzzy logic to set the program to, but once that was done it worked.
Enterprise also allows for social media use. It provides the District two extra webpages which our District Resource Administrator is offering to the elementary teacher-librarians and to the high school teacher-librarians to use as their District library webpages. The idea is that we could have one collective webpage each so that maintaining the one page might be easier than each of us maintaining our own webpages given that most of us teach outside the library – we are not full-time in the library position. There is also features that allow for liking on Facebook, sending tweets on Twitter and to blog as well, I believe – not sure about the blog but seem to remember this being said. These features have not yet been totally unpacked as the current labour dispute’s job action in British Columbia has had an impact on the library and having the Administrator of the District Resource Centre at our Teacher-Librarian Assoc meetings. We need her there to discuss these features and which we want to have students access etc…
For me, all these features add to the flexibility of the system and user independence. The older students where really impressed they could like a book on Facebook or Twitter though most only use Facebook. The idea that they could eventually post a book review to a school website also had great appeal as they are already posting book reviews to their blogs with me. Sirsi-Dynix also allows for multiple functions including digital resources without having to add upgrades, or additional modules so it is also cost effective for our dollar strapped District.
Finally, for me an additional bonus is that Sirsi-Dynix is also used at our local public library and community college. While I am teaching the students to use our system I am also constantly reinforcing that they can now use the public library OPAC as it is just the same, only the pictures on it are different. That they can access both our school library and public library catalogues from home and show them how that is done. Our local TL association has spent a good deal of time and effort collaborating with our local public library children’s and teen’s librarians to share information, programs and even some professional development, having the same OPAC is just another bonus in this on-going collaboration.
My ultimate goal in my library is to have my students as independent as possible and I feel that Symphony has the flexibility to allow that to happen. While stating that, I also must state that I have no experience with Destiny beyond having seen it as the front page of other school libraries and it looks very nice.
Link to our District Portal: http://prin.ent.sirsidynix.net/client/drc
How do you think your District or school’s library system fairs in encouraging your users to be independent?
Caldecott Challenge 2012
The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. ALSC
I have decided to have our school join the Caldecott Challenge 2012. I have pulled 3 tables full of books going back to the 1970′s. The students are encouraged to read as many different Caldecott Medal winners or honour books as they can. The Challenge is running from February 14th to March 14th. Each time a student reads a Caldecott book or I read one to a class or the classroom teacher reads one to the class the students fill out a pink heart with their name and the book title on it. To date we have read just over 900 books. The Library Leadership Team has been in to paste the hearts and blue bulletin board paper and I am now running out of walls to put it on! I am astounded at the number of students who come in before school and during lunch to read picture books. As well I have Grade 7′s flopped all over the library reading books they enjoyed when they were little!
Grade 6/7 favorite: Mo Willems – Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
Author Interview – Sigmund Brouwer “Rock ‘n’ Roll Literacy”
Back in the beginning of November a number of school library’s in our District hosted author extraordinare Sigmund Brouwer and his Rock ‘n’ Roll Literacy presentation. The previous year we had had author P.J. Bracegridle and our Grade 7′s just adored him. So about 10 minutes before Sigmund Brouwer’s presentation, one of our Grade 7 boys, a fierce reader, came whipping in the library to ask me, “So Mrs. M. is this guy going to be as good as P.J.?” My reply, “It will be a much different presentation and it will ROCK!” Then not more than 5 minutes later, Sigmund asks me about the cultural performance we had had that morning and does he have a hard act to follow? Good Grief! No pressure on this librarian! So my response was, “Going to throw you to the wolves like a pork chop!” Had to laugh at his expression, then I felt bad and told him it would be fine, the kids and staff would LOVE him, no wolves, no pork chops. Nothing like ‘messing with the author’! Hehehe…
If you haven’t had Sigmund’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Literacy presentation in your school, you have missed out on a truly magnificent literacy event. This guy, worried about both pork chops and previous authors greeted all our Grade 7′s personally as they came into the gym, had thundering rock music playing and held everyone, from K – 7, all 430 students and over 20 staff in the palm of his hand for just over 60 minutes. He told them stories that had them rolling with laughter and stories that had them dead silent, he had them rockin to music and doing anything for some free books. Now, I admit that we have a school of fierce readers…but this was nothing short of amazing.
Sigmund talked about writing and told the students how story connected to human emotions. He explained to them how to ‘mess with their teacher’ by tugging at the teacher’s various emotions. Make the teacher laugh, gross the teacher out, make the teacher cry…mess with the teacher’s emotions. I loved this because author Maggie DeVries talked about the same thing, but to our staff in a professional development session on writing and writing with children.
Sigmund is also a great supporter of teacher-librarians and libraries. He called me a Story Diva and the name has stuck. The primary kids all call me Story Diva.
The result: Well, Sigmund writes sports stories for younger kids – Timberwolf series, he writes sports, mainly hockey stories, for the upper intermediate kids and he also writes stories for YA and adults. Just after the presentation one of the French Immersion Gr 6 teachers came flying into the library, grabbed my arm and towed me into the doorway of her room. What did I see? A boy reading from Rebel Glory to the entire class. Apparently the boys were taking turns reading aloud to a dead silent class who were listening while they were working on something else. The collection of Sigmund’s books, which he kindly autographed for us – all of the books – have not all been on the shelves since November. I am currently reading Rebel Glory to the Grade 7 French Immersion class. This class has yet to listen to anything I have read them, except this. It is the only story that settles them down and has them totally engrossed in ‘story’. As well, I am now officially the school’s “Story Diva”!
As always when I have an author into the school I always ask for an interview. Sigmund kindly agreed. Here is the that interview. (Please ignore the formatting issues – I’m having some problems with the site and need the Webmaster to fix them.)
Did you read as a child?
Reading was my joy, my fun, my escape! I remember hiding a book in my lap to read during math class, science class. I read by flashlight long after my bedtime. I spent my own money at the used bookstore and went to the public library twice a week in the summer.
Hunger Games Trailer
I saw it on TV yesterday. Today, Madam came to visit me in the library and she was sooo excited…’have you seen the trailer?’ she asked in her wonderful French Canadian accent. “YES!” “I cannot wait for it to come…” she says laughing.
It always amazes me when I get our staff reading off that darn Gr 7 shelf. Madam taught Gr 7 French Immersion at our school two years ago and her students devoured the Hunger Games series. So did she!
Good Morning America Review and Interview with Josh Hutcherson here
Official HD trailer here
From Apple here sneak peek here
Coming March 23rd….
Splat the Cat – Rob Scotton
Scotton offers a feline so fuzzy and appealing that kids will want to reach out and touch. It’s Splat’s first day at cat school, but instead of jumping joyously out of bed, he hides under the covers, tail and paws peeping out and round eyes just visible beneath the sheet (an extremely clever touch). Alas, Mom’s not buying the ruse, so Splat is soon on his way to school, mouse pal, Seymour, in his lunch box. He’s welcomed enthusiastically by his cat classmates, and lessons go smoothly—until he learns that cats are supposed to chase mice! Poor Seymour. A tidy twist at the end, notwithstanding, the story is fairly unremarkable. The artwork, on the other hand, is stellar and lots of fun. Cat-themed details are strategically placed throughout, and a scattering of clean-lined objects in bright colors provide great contrast to goofy-looking, spindly-legged, coal-black Splat and his toothy, shades-of-gray kitty classmates. Splat’s very visible, very childlike enthusiasms and concerns will resonate with kids, who will flip through the pictures more than once. Booklist
Oh, oh, oh, I’ve found me another Cat for Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel! My little kiddies LOVE Splat something fierce! The Kindergartens and Grade Ones ask me to read those books all the time and this Story Diva cannot say no! I love listening to them laugh at Splat! Their little faces light up with joy while watching the pictures for Seymour the mouse. They LOVE Splat’s bike. Today we read Splat the Cat: Back to School Splat and everyone had to draw Splat on his bike! I’m not sure the K’s thought bringing your little sister to school was a good idea, but they liked the fact that Splat did! I’m holding Merry Christmas Splat for the final week of school before Christmas holidays! How mean!
This collection of Splat books has hit the hallowed shelves along with Froggy books by Jonathan London, Hairy Mclary by Lynley Dodd and all books by Robert Munsch. A must have for the picture book collection.
Rating: 5.5 stars!
Rob Scotton’s website
YouTube Splat video and another
OK, don’t you just adore him??? Look at that face!
The Lost Hero – Rick Riordan
Jason has a problem. Piper has a secret. Leo has a way with tools. Rick Riordan has a hit novel! A problem – waking up on a bus full of of kids and not remembering anything. A secret – a famous father has been missing for three days, ever since that terrifying nightmare that he was in trouble. Power tools, machine parts, hoo-yeah! And this makes a hit novel!
Oh hell yeah it does! That Book Store Daughter of mine kept bugging me to read the Percy Jackson books, but it wasn’t until I decided we should have an Olympian Day at school as a literary event to celebrate the release of The Son of Neptune, the second book in The Heros of Olympus series that I decided I’d better actually read one of his books. And I got the standard ‘look’ from the Book Store Daughter – ‘really, really, didn’t I tell you a million times!” Yeah, OK I LOVED this book and the Olympian Day will be held in January!
I liked the fast paced plot, the intertwining of Roman and Greek mythology, the quest….like a fairytale and I LOVE fairytales. A DRAGON! Who doesn’t love a dragon! Battles of good vs evil. Hera locked in a cage and Gaea being a grouchy lady! I even had to love the spin on Midas! The humour was very older kid…it was perfect…a perfect fit of mythology, quest and action.
They’re back at Camp Half-Blood. They’re demi-gods. Percy Jackson is missing. Rachel’s prophecy is unfolding….
Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
To storm or fire the world must fall.
An oath to keep with a final breath,
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.
If you haven’t read it, read it.
Rating: 5 whole stars!
Book 2: Son of Neptune
Disney’s Hero’s of Olympus site
Ship of Lost Souls – Rachelle Delaney
Legend has it that the Margaret’s Hope was lost in a terrible storm. The Islanders say the Hope is now a ghost ship haunting the seas with a cew of lost souls, raiding any pirate ship unlucky enough to cross her path. But Jem Fitzgerald, separated from his explorer uncle and held captive by priates, is about to discover the truth behind the ghostly crew: that they are actually children!
Led by the daring young captain Scarlett McCray, the ‘ship of lost souls’ sails the Island waters, offering haven and adventure to children who swear to keep the crew’s identity a secret. But Jem has a secret of his own: a map showing the location of a fantastic treasure sought by pirates and King’s Men alike. Soon Scarlet and Jem find themselves in a race for treasure they can’t afford to lose.
This is the book I chose to read to create the questions for our Red Cedar Battle of the Books competition. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and think that grade 5 students would also readily enjoy this book for a literature circle or class novel study. I found the story humorous, almost cartoon-like in places. I enjoyed the humor and think the children will as well. It has pirates, a treasure hunt, and a ship run by kids and a possible mutiny, so how could it not grab your younger readers!
It has great descriptions “Ferns of all shapes and sizes, from spiky ground-cover ferns to tall, leafy tree ferns, leaned in from all sides. A thick green canopy closed in overhead. All this green shut like a door behind them and made a near-impenetrable curtain in front of them (114).”
It also has a fairly fast-paced plot starting with Scarlett releasing some endangered birds, aras…to a kidnapping…to an attack by ghosts on the pirates of the Dark Ranger…to the stealing of a knife off a notorious pirate in an inn …to…..it just keeps on going as any good rollicking pirate-treasure story should.
I like this quote from the Quill & Quire review about the characters in Delaney’s book.
“This comic tone reigns, from the colourful language the pirates – both young and old – toss off in conversation, to scenes of pure physical slapstick. Sometimes the comedy goes over the top, particularly where the cartoon-like and inept pirate marauders are concerned. Bloodthirsty and threatening one minute, they unexpectedly, and a bit disconcertingly, turn into babbling idiots when the “lost souls” take over their ship. Still, Delaney ensures there is room for drama among the laughs.” Jean Mills, Quill & Quire, January 2009. Delaney’s ability to mix the comic and the drama is what I enjoyed in this novel. It makes it a very good addition to a literature circle for anyone using Adrienne Gear’s Reading Power program as it offers much in the way of visualization and some very good spots for inferring.
It is also wonderful to see that there is a sequel to this novel, The Lost Souls of Island X.
Rachelle Delaney’s website and blog
Good luck, Rachelle, with the Red Cedar Award. I am looking forward to book talking your novel to my students.
Red Cedar Awards 2011-2012
My students are anxiously and impatiently waiting for the Red Cedar Book Club to commence. This book club is open to students from grades 4-7 and we begin in January of each year. The students sign up in teams of three for this book club. Each member of the team reads 4 of the 12 nominated books which means the entire teams has read all twelve books. In March we begin having school ‘practice’ battles where the teams gather to answer questions related to each of the nominated books. At the end of March we have a school ‘Battle of the Books’ which is held in our gym and open to the rest of the school to watch. The teams compete to win one of 4 spots for the school district ‘Battle of the Books’ which happens in April. The top two teams win a place in the school district event and the third and fourth place winners win a spot as the cheerleading section – they get to come as audience participants to cheer on their school teams. Then around the end of April or beginning of May the teams return to the library to vote for their favorite nominated fiction and non-fiction book. These votes are sent to the official Red Cedar Headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia and are tallied up and the winning book’s author is awarded The Red Cedar Book Award from the children of British Columbia. In May the winner is then announced and our Red Cedar Book Club students have a celebration party at lunch. This event is extremely popular in my school. Last year we have 75 students sign up – approximately 65 continue to the end with around 21 teams competing in the school battle.
The nominees this year for Fiction are:
Rex Zero: The Great Pretender – Tim Wynn-Jones 
It is 1963, and Rex is poised to start Grade 7 at Hopewell School when he finds out his large family will be moving all the way to the other side of the city and he must attend a new school.
Frustrated by the constant relocation and the loss of friends that always occurs in such a shuffle, Rex and his friends come up with a clever plan for him to get up super-early and take public transit to attend his old school, unbeknownst to his parents.
But while Rex is clever, it’s not long before he runs out of money and his sister becomes suspicious. Not only that, but Rex manages to get on the bad side of Spew, a hockey thug bully from his old school, along with his sidekicks, Puke and Dribble. They are out to get Rex and they know where he lives.
Rex ends up using his wits and lively imagination to get himself out of this predicament, with some sobering and surprising consequences.
The Dread Crew – Kate Inglis 
The pirates of the Dread Crew, ruthless junk hunters, are on the rampage through the Maritime woods. On their trail is the boy pirate tracker Eric Stewart, who gathers mounting evidence of their hooliganism until one day their clue-laden path of destruction completely disappears. Little does Eric know that the rumbling, stinking pirates are much, much closer than he thinks.
The Giant Slayer- Iain Lawrence 
The spring of 1955 tests Laurie Valentine’s gifts as a storyteller. After her friend Dickie contracts polio and finds himself confined to an iron lung, Laurie visits him in the hospital. There she meets Carolyn and Chip, two other kids trapped inside the breathing machines. Laurie’s first impulse is to flee, but Dickie begs her to tell them a story. And so Laurie begins her tale of Collosso, a rampaging giant, and Jimmy, a tiny boy whose destiny is to become a slayer of giants.
As Laurie embellishes her tale with gnomes, unicorns, gryphons, and other fanciful creatures, Dickie comes to believe that he is a character in her story. Little by little Carolyn, Chip, and other kids who come to listen, recognize counterparts as well. Laurie’s tale is so powerful that when she’s prevented from continuing it, Dickie, Carolyn, and Chip take turns as narrators. Each helps bring the story of Collosso and Jimmy to an end—changing the lives of those in the polio ward in startling ways.
The Prince of Neither Here Nor There- Sean Cullen 
With a pimply face and braces on his teeth, the perpetually clumsy Brendan is having a hard time at school. He’s got a few geeky friends and one really cool friend, Kim, who stands up for him when he starts to get pummeled in the ever-popular game of Murderball. When Brendan starts hearing voices and conversing with chipmunks, he figures he can add losing his mind to his growing list of problems. But he soon discovers the reason behind all the strange voices and weird dreams he’s been having: he’s a Faerie who was lost in the human world.
Will Brendan be forced to turn his back on his human parents and embrace his Faerie roots? Can he live in two worlds at once? These questions are just the tip of the iceberg; in fact, on several occasions, the book’s narrator encourages readers to “freak out and run.”
Dear Canada: The Desperate Road to Freedom – Karleen Bradford 
Julia May and her family have done the unthinkable. They have fled from their life of slavery on a tobacco plantation in Virginia and are making their way north, on foot, where they have heard that slaves can be free. The journey takes them through swamps, travelling by night and hiding by day. The diary that Julia May keeps is another act of bravery. Learning to read and write alongside her mistress at the plantation was her own secret and forbidden as a slave. Julia May’s diary records her fears and the extraordinary things she sees during her voyage and keeps her going through the hard times until they are finally free.
Faerie Rebels: Spell Hunter- R.J. Anderson 
Deep inside a large oak tree at the edge of an unsuspecting family’s yard lies a dying faery realm, fairly bursting with secrets instead of magic. The faeries’ magic was mysteriously lost long ago, and now, robbed of their powers, they have become selfish and dull-witted. They can no longer create art or music or anything else requiring imagination. Their numbers are diminishing and their very survival is now threatened.
Only one young faery – Knife – is determined to find out where the faery magic has gone and try to get it back. Unlike her sisters, Knife is fierce and independent. She’s not afraid of anything – not the vicious crows, the strict Faery Queen, or the fascinating humans living nearby.
But when Knife disobeys the Faery Queen and befriends a human named Paul, on whose property the oak stands, her quest becomes more dangerous than she first realizes. Can Knife trust Paul to help, or will she bring the faeries even closer to the brink of destruction?
After the Fire- Becky Citra 
Melissa is waiting for the “new life” that her mother Sharlene has promised her since a fire devastated their family. But nothing ever seems to change. Melissa has difficulty making friends at school, they never have enough money, and her little brother Cody is demanding. When Sharlene announces that they will be spending the month of August at a remote cabin on a wilderness lake, Melissa is horrified.
Desperate to escape her mother and little brother, Melissa canoes to an island in the middle of the lake where she meets Alice, a strange girl with stories of her “perfect family”. Melissa is envious at first and then frightened as Alice draws her deeper into a dangerous fantasy world where nothing is as it seems
The Ship of Lost Souls- Rachelle Delaney 
The legend states that there is treasure somewhere in the Islands. Everyone is after it, including Jem Fitzgerald and his explorer uncle, Finn, the Islanders, and pirates. Even the infamous crew known as the Lost Souls – who are rumoured to be ghosts – has set their sights on it.
But only Uncle Finn holds the map to the treasure – that is, until he’s kidnapped by pirates and made to walk the plank, but not before quickly handing off the precious map to Jem. Just before the pirates can toss Jem overboard, he is rescued by the Lost Souls. He is frightened to his core – until he discovers that the so-called ghosts are actually children!
Sailing the Island waters, the Lost Souls, commanded by the daring young captain, Scarlet McCray, offer a home and adventure to children in need. But will Scarlet convince Jem to give up the map? Can she quiet the mutinous rumblings of her crew? Or will the reign of the Lost Souls end with her?
This is an exciting story of pirates and treasure, friendship and fun, and a crew of swashbuckling children you won’t soon forget!
Timothy and the Dragon’s Gate – Adrienne Kress 
Timothy Freshwater has been expelled from the last school in the city. His father takes him to his office where he meets the mailroom clerk, Mr. Shen, who turns out to be a dragon. Forced to take human shape for hundreds of years, he must return to China to resume his true form. Timothy soon finds himself Mr. Shen’s keeper, stalked by a ninja and chased by a trio of black taxicabs. And then Mr. Shen falls into the wrong hands. Can Timothy help his new friend?
Walking Backward- Catherine Austin 
When Josh’s mother dies in a phobia-induced car crash, she leaves 2 questions for her grieving family: how did a snake get into her car and how do you mourn with no faith to guide you?
Twelve-year-old Josh is left alone to find the answers. His father is building a time machine. His four-year-old brother’s closest friend is a plastic Power Ranger. His psychiatrist offers nothing more than a blank journal and platitudes.
Isolated by grief in a home where every day is pajama day, Josh makes death his research project. He tests the mourning practices of religions he doesn’t believe in. He tries to mend his little brother’s shattered heart. He observes, records and waits – for his life to feel normal, for his mother’s death to make sense, and for his father to come out of the basement.
Wanting Mor – Rukhsana Khan 
This is the story of Jameela, who lives in post-Taliban Afghanistan. Her mother dies during the war, and when her father quickly gets remarried, her stepmother makes it clear she doesn’t want her. To please his new wife, Jameela’s father takes her to the marketplace and leaves her there. Based on a true story about a girl who ended up in one of the orphanages that the author, Rukhsana Khan, sponsors in Afghanistan through the royalties of her book The Roses in My Carpets.
Zoobreak- Gordon Korman 
When Savannah’s pet monkey is kidnapped, and found trapped on a floating zoo, Griffin Bing brings back together the team which last managed to steal back the Babe Ruth baseball card in Swindle.
This time their goal is to recover Savannah’s monkey, and strike a blow against the cruel person who kidnapped her. But though Griffin has a plan, and has worked out many of the details, he’ll learn the truth of the old saying about the best laid plans… this one will involve more than any of the young freedom fighters might expect. Will the kids manage to free Cleopatra, or will they face the legal consequences they managed to avoid in the last book?
Zoobreak is the sequel to Swindle, and the second book in what is currently a trilogy.
Sean Cullen, Adrienne Kress, and Iain Lawrence also had books nominated last year. Good luck to all the nominees!
Peeps – Scott Westerfeld
Two days after arriving in New York for college, Cal loses his virginity to a girl who picks him up. From this encounter Cal picks up an STD, but this is an unusual one: it turns its victims into “peeps” — parasite positives—raving cannibalistic monsters with unusual strength, night vision, heightened senses, and an affinity with rats. Cal himself turns out to be immune, but he’s a carrier—he gets the strength and senses without the nasty side effects. But before he knows it he has infected others.
Cal is recruited by the Night Watch, a secret government organization that has existed for centuries to contain the disease and its victims. His first assignment is to capture all the girls he’s infected. But soon Cal realizes that there is more going on than he has been told: the disease is changing in response to mysterious forces from under the earth that are waking up after centuries of slumber.
(Wikipedia – note: this page in Wikipedia is unreliable and requires editing but this quote for the plot summary is good.)
I have been playing around on our provincial ebook library through my local library and this is one of the books I borrowed to read on my e-reader. Now I have Scott Westerfeld’s books in my school library – on the Grade 7 Only Shelf. This is not one of them and I have to admit that the only reason I borrowed it was because I was familiar with the author and it was one of the few books available to borrow without having to go on a wait list. What a stroke of good luck that choice was! I loved this book.
OK, I’m a known vampire book lover. I’ve read Twilight, I watch True Blood faithfully! But this story, well it was different. I really hooked into the entire parasite idea. I thought it was a logical and really novel take on the usually vampire story. I liked how Westerfeld had two strains of the parasite in the novel – it mutates from an original strain – like a flu virus. I also enjoyed his research on parasites and how he integrates it into his novel with a great deal of wit.
While the quote above sounds very sexual and you may wonder if it should be in your collection, it is not at all sexually explicit. There are no sexual descriptions or graphic details. It is no more graphic than Twilight. It is a better story and better written. It felt like some of the author’s personality flowed through the humour in this book. At the end of the novel Westerfeld discusses some of his research and his thoughts on parasites. Well, this I have to say…those escargot it took my late father-in-law three years to get me to try …. yep, a six-pack of slugs to go … not a hope in hell will those be back on the menu anytime soon! YUCK!
Rating: 4.5 stars
Scott Westerfeld’s official website http://scottwesterfeld.com/ It’s worth the mouse click
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