We've Moved!

CA Library Blogspot has moved! In an effort to make my postings more student-friendly (I hope!), I have transferred the CA Library blog to Edublogs. Here's the link to the new site...

http://calibrary.edublogs.org

Long time, no see!

Well, as I approach the first anniversary of my last post on CALibrary Blogspot, I should take a moment to post an update to keep it from falling into obscurity. So, what's new in the world of CA Library?

Let's see what's happening at the American Library Association Mid-Winter Meeting, going on right now in Philadelphia.

The 2008 Alex Awards were announced -- these are ten adult books selected each year that have specific teen appeal. Rather than try to summarize them for you, I'll let Amazon.com do the work. They are:

• American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China, by Matthew Polly, published by Penguin/Gotham Books (ISBN13:978-1592402625)
• Bad Monkeys, by Matt Ruff, published by HarperCollins (ISBN13: 978-0061240416)
• Essex County Volume 1: Tales from the Farm, by Jeff Lemire, published by Top Shelf Publications (ISBN13: 978-1891830884)
• Genghis: Birth of an Empire, by Conn Iggulden, published by Delacorte (ISBN13: 978-0385339513)
• The God of Animals, by Aryn Kyle, published by Scribner (ISBN13: 978-1416533245)
• A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux/Sarah Crichton Books (ISBN13: 978-0374105235)
• Mister Pip, by Lloyd Jones, published by Random/Dial Press (ISBN13: 978-0385341066)
• The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss, published by DAW (ISBN13: 978-0756404079)
• The Night Birds, by Thomas Maltman, published by Soho (ISBN13: 978-1569474624)
• The Spellman Files, by Lisa Lutz, published by Simon & Schuster (ISBN13: 978-1416532392)

Most of these will be made available in the Academy Library by the end of the month. We also have most of the 2007 Alex Award winners for your reading enjoyment.

The Best Books for Young Adults and Quick Picks 2008 lists should be announced soon. Most of those titles are available in the Academy Library as well...I'll post some highlights when I see the complete list.

Also, congratulations to Geraldine McCaughrean, author of the 2008 Michael L. Printz Award book The White Darkness. Do I have to say it's available at the Academy Library? It is!!!

That took longer than I thought...I'll post again later.

ECB

Best Books...EVER!

Okay, maybe not the best books ever...but some great books published in 2006! The editors of Teenreads.com has come up with a list of what think are the Best Books of 2006. Most of them are available at CA Library...if not, see Mr. Bateman to see what's up; I'll put any missing titles you are interested in on the next book order.

Here are some highlights (the titles link to Amazon.com book descriptions):

A BRIEF CHAPTER IN MY IMPOSSIBLE LIFE by Dana Reinhardt -- Sixteen-year-old atheist Simone Turner-Bloom's life changes in unexpected ways when her parents convince her to make contact with her biological mother, an agnostic from a Jewish family who is losing her battle with cancer.

HOW TO BE POPULAR by Meg Cabot -- Sixteen-year-old Steph Landry finds an old book on how to be popular and decides to change her social status by following its advice, much to the bafflement of her two best friends.

JUST IN CASE by Meg Rosoff -- Convinced that fate is out to get him, fifteen-year-old David Case assumes a new identity in the hope of avoiding what he believes is certain doom.

MAXIMUM RIDE #2: SCHOOL'S OUT - FOREVER by James Patterson -- After a short stay with an FBI agent who gives them a chance to attend school and live a normal life, the six genetically-altered, winged youths head toward Florida and Max's ultimate destiny--to save the world, whether she wants to or not.

KING DORK by Frank Portman -- High school loser Tom Henderson discovers that "The Catcher in the Rye" may hold the clues to the many mysteries in his life.

More best books are on the way!!!

Mr. B.

Award-winning graphic novelist in Canandaigua

Cartoonist and author Phil Yeh will be at Wood Library in Canandaigua on Monday, November 6th to share his experiences in art and writing. During the 1970’s, Yeh was one of the first cartoonists to write, draw and publish a graphic novel based on original material, and is the creator of more than 80 comics and graphic novels.

In a 2002 issue of the journal Reading Today, Yeh said "a person can express his or her feelings with a pen, pencil, paintbrush, with a piano, guitar, or any instrument, in poetry, in song lyrics, in dance, in film, on stage--there are a million ways to express these feelings via the arts."

The Graphic Novel Workshop at Wood Library is designed to inspire budding artists and writers to create their own works. Participants will have chance to work with Yeh and participate in the cartooning process.

For more information on the November 6th workshop, visit the Teen Lounge at Wood Library. Or contact Jenny Goodemote at 394-1381 or jkoch@pls-net.org.

Scariest books...of all time!

In preparing for Halloween, I'll revisit a CNN poll on scary books. A few years back, CNN Interactive conducted an informal survey to determine what respondents felt were the scariest books of all time. In no particular order, the results were:

• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• The Shining by Stephen King
• The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
• The short stories of Edgar Allan Poe
• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Special mention should go to The Exorcist, the inspiration for the American Film Institute's 3rd most thrilling American film.

My personal favorite for most creepy book is Neil Gaiman's Coraline, about a girl who ventures through a mysterious door into a world that is similar, yet disturbingly different from her own, where she must challenge a gruesome entity in order to save herself, her parents, and the souls of three others. Not exactly the feel-good read of the season.

Happy Halloween!

New books in the library

I just finished unpacking some boxes of new books for the library. Among the new arrivals:

- New Moon by Stephenie Meyer, the long-awaited sequel to Twilight. (For more about the author, read the 10 Second Interview: A Few Words with Stephenie Meyer at Amazon.com. You can also visit her website at StephenieMeyer.com).

- Specials by Scott Westerfeld. Book 3 in the trilogy which starts with Uglies and Pretties. For more on the series, visit Scott Westerfeld's website.

- Ark Angel, the latest Alex Rider book from Anthony Horowitz. For more on the series, visit the Alex Rider website.

That's just a few...there's plenty more in the new book section at the Academy Library!

CA Accepts Rachel's Challenge

Canandaigua Academy students and faculty recently hosted the Rachel's Challenge presentation. Rachel Scott was the first person killed at Columbine High School in 1999. Her compassion and acts of kindness are remembered and are the basis for the program that seeks to eliminate prejudice, encourage kindness and develop a community of caring. If you would like to learn more about the program, visit the Rachel's Challenge website. We also have many other resources about Rachel in the Academy Library, including her diaries, The Journals of Rachel Scott.