tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78117977621679655022024-02-19T11:53:12.229-05:00The Suburban BarnyardThis blog began with my librarian journey in 2008. It’s named for my disheveled barnyard in Radnor, PA -- but the majority of the content is dedicated to education, libraries, and YA literature. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.comBlogger161125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-21252532130047490292018-01-02T10:16:00.002-05:002018-01-02T10:16:55.147-05:00The Suburban Barnyard Interviews Debut Author Steve Schafer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Steve Schafer is the debut author of a YA novel called <i>The Border</i> published by Sourcebooks this past September. The novel has elements of a high pitched thriller but also gets into some serious issues for discussion about immigration, disparities in wealth, and borders between countries. Steve recently visited my high school to speak to some of our students. As a follow up, he agreed to do an interview for the Suburban Barnyard.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: purple;">SB:</span> You chose to create characters who are Mexican rather than American even though you are not a native Spanish speaker nor Mexican. They come across as quite authentic, nonetheless. Can you talk a little about the process behind your character and setting creation and how you were able to pull this off?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Steve Schafer:</span> I have spent the last 25 years living, working, studying, volunteering, or traveling throughout Latin America. In these experiences, I have always tried to immerse myself in the local culture. As with anything, the more you practice something, the more it becomes a skill. To write <i>The Border</i>, I leveraged personal relationships that I have had with immigrants from Mexico, plus study of books and online resources that speak to the specific area in which these teens crossed. It was a challenge, but one that I’m glad to hear ultimately came across as authentic to you! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: purple;">SB:</span> When you spoke to our students, you put up two slides of quotes about immigrants, one historic and one contemporary. We so often think of this whole debate as something new, but the reality is that it has been an issue as long as people have crossed borders. This is a perfect example of why teaching of history is so critical in education. How do you think novels like yours can help us to encourage younger generations to continue supporting the humanities as something critical to the future of modern societies and thinkers?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Steve Schafer:</span> I’m hopeful that it underscores the value and power of story. As I mentioned when speaking with your students, facts and figures only get you so far. By telling someone about what’s happening, you may reach their minds; but by immersing a reader into another person’s world and showing them the full impact of what’s happening, you can reach their hearts. This is true for every reader, but I feel it’s especially important and powerful within YA. This is such a formidable age, and it is a tremendous privilege to be able to write to this audience. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: purple;">SB:</span> I cannot agree more! In order to create a compelling story, it seems that tragedy really has to be an element at some point. In the Harry Potter books I can remember my oldest crying over her book as she found out that Severus died...and then still more characters as the series progressed. You start out your novel with tragedy right at the heart. What made you decide to jump right into that emotion as a writer?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Steve Schafer:</span> This story was unfortunately seeded by a real life tragedy of a friend of mine in Northern Mexico. As with the initial incident in The Border, my friend’s situation happened nearly out of the blue. There was no warning, and no explanation for why it occurred. My friend’s story begins with loss. Since this was the spark for the idea behind The Border, I wanted to begin on a similar note, then explore how someone copes with this horrific life event. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Further bolstering my interest in beginning with a strong emotional punch is fact that I like reading stories that grab me immediately and don’t let go. I knew early on that beginning with the quinceañera tragedy was the way that I would want to read this story, so that’s how I structured it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: purple;">SB:</span> I love the beginning for exactly that reason! It completely draws you into the story from the onset. A quinceañera is such an important coming of age celebration for any teen in Latin culture and I think that is an interesting stage to begin a story about these four teens. I can’t imagine what your friend’s family, or the undoubtable countless others, real life experiences must have been like. Marcus Sedgwick wrote about similar issues with gang related violence in <i>Saint Death</i>. Perhaps tragedy is just part of the human condition and writing about it a way for us to purge our grief. The only thing that may match tragedy is love, which is probably why we read Shakespeare’s tragedies and romances more than any of his other works.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So that leads to another component of your story, which is love. There are some interesting relationships between your four teens. What made you choose them? And why four teens?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Steve Schafer: </span>I initially envisioned this story like the movie <i>Stand By Me</i> (with the stakes dialed up much higher!), so I planned to have four boys fleeing across the desert. However, when I shared the idea with a few friends, one of them suggested making one of the characters a girl. I knew immediately it was a good call. As you suggest, it allowed me show many different sides of love--best friends, siblings, and romance. Conflict is story. By having all of these strong loving bonds in place, it gave plenty of opportunity to find conflict between the different relationships, especially when placed in a high stress situation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The personalities for each of the characters emerged from thinking about how four people could have differing reactions to the same, tragic event. While the novel is about a group of four teens, it tries to focus on the individual stories…what drives each person on their journey and how it shapes each of them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Pato’s voice is closest to my own, which is why I chose him as the narrator. Marcos’ is most distant—his reactions are often opposite of what I would do, which made him one of the most rewarding characters to write. Gladys has profound inner strength, which the others need. They also need to remain together—she is the glue. As for Arbo, this story needed a character who could bring levity to impossibly dark situations. His character is the only one who was also inspired by someone in <i>Stand By Me</i>--Vern, played by Jerry O’Connell. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">On a separate note, <i>Saint Death</i> is high on my TBR. I hope to get to it soon! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: purple;">SB:</span> It is a wonderful book by another wonderful author! I like the way you played each of the characters strengths in the situation, but I also like that you made them real by showing their weaknesses. I think perhaps that is what made me like the book the best. You didn’t divide everyone up into neat piles of “good” and “bad”. We are all a mixture of both and that is what makes life interesting but also challenging. From a writing standpoint, I think it is often difficult to create characters who are not flat and one dimensional. How were you able to keep from falling into that pit?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Steve Schafer: </span>They all start pretty flat. I have an idea of the general character arc, but it’s monotone. As I start writing them, that’s when the nuance surfaces. I think about them in a particular scene and wonder how they might react--exploring that range of possibilities is how their personalities are born. For me, the key to making someone more multidimensional is to imagine how that individual can surprise you...doing something that isn’t inconsistent with their character, but not the most predictable reaction. These little surprises add up to create complex personalities that are fun to work with. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: purple;">SB:</span> I suppose that is in many ways how we are as individuals, isn’t it? That’s why it’s hard to put us into little boxes when you actually bother to get to know us. You never know how we are going to react when the going gets tough until we are faced with reality. And in the same way that people are messy mixtures of character traits, the issues we grapple with in real life are also more difficult than the neat little piles of “for” and “against”. I think you make that point very clear in this book with the issue of immigration. Immigration is a challenging debate not just for Americans, but all over the world. We like to think that it is a new issue, but it isn’t. What do you hope for all of us moving forward with this debate over the course of the next ten years? What about the next twenty? Thirty?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Steve Schafer:</span> It is challenging and it has always been challenging. We need to continue to push empathy. We need to understand what these people endure. What would it take for you to leave everything and everyone behind to move to a place where you may not speak the language, where your professional skills and credentials may not be valued, where you may not have any family or friends to support you? When we truly get the magnitude of this decision, I believe we have the perspective to set the right tone for the conversation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What gives me hope for us (as a people) is the same thing that gives me hope for this issue--we have an evolving moral compass. Behaviors and attitudes that were acceptable in recent history are no longer condoned. This progress isn’t linear and our online world has become so noisy that it’s easy to overlook the evolution of majority views. But I do believe they evolve. As an example, an ABC News poll in September found that 86% of our nation supports DACA. I can’t think of much else that this many of us agree upon! This gives me great hope, and I’m also hopeful these attitudes will continue to win ground in the coming decades. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: purple;">SB:</span> What about the drug cartel issue? The violence has been written about in fiction and nonfiction and it has been at the center of a multitude of films for decades. Perhaps it’s media sensationalization, but the situation only seems to get worse. What do you see as the best steps the United States can begin to make toward helping to stop the violence?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Steve Schafer:</span> It’s easy to point fingers outward, but I believe we are to blame for this. We are the primary consumers of the products these cartels provide. As long as we consume their drugs, the cartels and related violence will exist. We have to impact demand. As to how we do this, I’m at a loss. I personally don’t believe that broad legalization of all substances is a good idea, nor is it easy to convince people not to do drugs. Maybe the first step is simply to get people to acknowledge the true cost of drugs goes beyond just harming their own bodies--it creates an industry that does massive harm to millions. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: purple;">SB:</span> I don’t have answers either, but I agree with you completely about hope. I became a high school teacher as a second career for exactly that reason. I see hope far more than I see doom for the future. Thank you for sharing your ideas through story, school visits, and this wonderful interview -- I look forward to reading your new book when it comes out!</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-26322102367986902962016-03-04T19:09:00.000-05:002016-03-04T19:10:56.643-05:00The Rampart Guards by debut author Wendy Terrien<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Are
you bemused by Bigfoot, nuts about Nessie, and fascinated with faeries?
Mystical and mysterious creatures have captured our imagination since humans
first began to swap stories over campfires. The world of unexplained and
unverified lifeforms now falls under its own fringe scientific category –
cryptozoology. Debut author Wendy Terrien has her own ideas about this secret
world and has turned them into an action-packed, magical mystery.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When
Jason Lex arrives home with his dad and siblings from his afterschool
basketball game to find his mom missing, he isn’t sure what to think. Has she
abandoned them or did something terrible happen to her? Night stretches into
the next morning and the police arrive on their doorstep with her bloodied
shirt in hand. While they never find a body, the conclusion based upon the
amount of blood on the shirt is that she was attacked by a mountain lion and
can’t possibly have survived. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
family mourns for several months before Jason’s dad finally decides it would be
better for all of them to pack up and move several hours away to be near his
mother’s family. As the moving van is pulling away from the house, Jason looks
back at it one last time and he is convinced he sees his mom walk past a
window. Everyone seems convinced Jason is simply consumed with grief. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
mystery continues to deepen when he meets his mom’s brother – an uncle he never
knew existed. His uncle is known around town as a quirky oddball who wanders about
gathering data for his research on mythical creatures as a self-proclaimed
cryptozoologist. As he begins to build a relationship with his uncle, he learns
about the secret role his mother’s family has played in maintaining balance between
cryptids and the human world; his mother was a Rampart Guard. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Terrien
has crafted a fun romp that is sure to please middle grade readers clamoring for
a new series after devouring Rick Riordan, JK Rowling, and the 000 section of
their elementary and middle school libraries. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>The Rampart Guards</i> was released February 25, 2016 by Camashea Press. </span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-51207973942917443702016-01-13T09:04:00.001-05:002016-01-13T09:07:38.797-05:00Would you like to go to National Library Legislation Day in DC May 2-3,
2016?<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Every Spring, librarians from all over the country swarm Washington, DC to speak out for libraries and our patrons. It is a sight to behold! In 2014, a group of librarians even coordinated a flash mob "Happy" dance on the steps of the Capitol! Many of us serve patrons who, for various reasons, can't advocate for the services we provide. Perhaps you work with homeless teens or students in high poverty school districts with no school libraries. Maybe you work with college students working multiple jobs just to afford their education. Perhaps you run a a maker space that provides opportunities for anyone to explore technology, art, and innovation simply because they are interested. Whether you are a school, public, or academic librarian - or any myriad of other specialty librarian - we all have stories to share that can help lawmakers understand the value Americans gain from strong libraries. And stories from the trenches speak volumes. </span><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If you are a member of YALSA who has never participated in this exciting event, you can apply for the chance to be selected for a $1000 stipend to attend this year's National Library Legislation Day (NLLD) in Washington, DC on </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0">May 2-3, 2016</a>. In order to be considered, </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">members must </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">have not previously attended NLLD </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">must apply via website application by </span><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://2" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">February 1</a>. <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">For more information and to access the application form, go to the advocacy section of the ALA website at </span><a title="Ctrl+Click or tap to follow the link" id="LPlnk23687" href="http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/nlld" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/nlld</a></div><div><font color="#000000"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.emailmeform.com/builder/form/l7nYO4U6bJb8">http://www.emailmeform.com/builder/form/l7nYO4U6bJb8</a>.</span></font><br style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-75360864141871791092016-01-02T13:46:00.000-05:002016-01-02T13:46:10.475-05:00Using the Library of Congress Archives to Teach Visual Literacy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My favorite part of travelling to national library conferences is meeting innovative professionals and hearing about the remarkable things they are doing in libraries with young people. At the AASL National Conference in Columbus during the first week of November, I got to meet librarian Tom Bober and hear a wonderful presentation about using Library of Congress digital resources -- with elementary school students! Tom is an elementary school librarian from Clayton, MO currently serving as teacher in residence at the Library of Congress (<a href="http://captainlibrary.blogspot.com/">http://captainlibrary.blogspot.com/</a>).<br />
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There is still such a huge misconception among the general public about just what the role of a school librarian is, what sort of training goes into becoming one, and what we teach. Yes, we do curate collections of books, in all of their formats. We are champions of literacy, although not just in the traditional sense. What sets school librarians aside from other types of librarians is our role in teaching students the skills for ethically using, critically evaluating, effectively searching for, and successfully synthesizing information in an increasingly diverse variety of formats. What I loved about Tom’s AASL presentation was the way he is taking these critical skills and scaffolding them down to our youngest learners so that even Kindergarten students are building a base in research skills.<br />
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Just before Thanksgiving break, I had an opportunity to experiment with one of his lesson ideas with my 3rd and 5th graders. The lesson used a series of photographs from the Library of Congress digital archives. The photos depict scenes from a family Thanksgiving dinner in 1940. Most of the photos are taken from various perspectives of a single room. Students were tasked with examining the photos and creating a room diagram showing placement of furniture, doors, windows, etc.<br />
It was fascinating to see students working through the thought process of trying to record only what they see and not what they think they are seeing. Many of them initially started drawing and labelling things as they saw them in relation to their own homes -- kitchen, dining room, family room, mud room, etc. It was a wonderful exercise in visual perception and point of view and quite different from what they are used to doing in school.<br />
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The biggest challenge I found was time. We only have a short 45 minute library class and that really wasn’t enough time to effectively complete the exercise. I would also have limited the photos to just the ones showing a single room. Overall, however, I count the lesson as a success and am excited to try more of the lesson ideas from the Library of Congress website in the future! Thanks Tom!<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-84784767754525074292015-09-28T10:29:00.002-04:002015-09-28T10:29:44.467-04:00Evolving Libraries With STEAM: An Interview With Sarah Kepple<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know many wonderful librarians throughout my journey to becoming a school librarian. Some of the most dynamic have been my colleagues in YALSA with whom I’ve had the honor of working with on committees. One of the most forward-thinking and passionate librarians is Sarah Kepple, a former <a href="http://cuyahogalibrary.org/Kids-Teens/Teens/Robotix-Blox.aspx">Cuyahoga County Public Library</a> youth services librarian who is now taking her talent and services on the road as an outsource programming specialist. Sarah has been at the forefront of the maker movement promoting robotics and STEAM programs in the library. In the year and a half that I’ve been working with her, we’ve had many discussions about the evolution of libraries and librarians and the potential for the library as a center for not only information and literacy skills, but creating and learning in a social setting. Sarah has just finished writing a book, <a href="http://www.abc-clio.com/LibrariesUnlimited/product.aspx?pc=A4677P"><i>Library Robotics: Technology and English Language Arts Activities for Ages 8-24</i></a>, set for release in October 2015, that talks about her experiences implementing tech programs in public libraries and gives practical advice and guidelines for starting and developing programs. I recently asked Sarah a few questions to learn more about this exciting new resource for library professionals developing maker environments in their libraries.<br />
<br />
<b>SB:</b> Can you tell us a little bit about your upcoming book?<br />
<br />
<b>Sarah:</b> Sure! I was inspired to write it because I started getting so many questions from library colleagues about what we had created at CCPL. Most of the folks who called were looking to justify for themselves or their stakeholders, why robots in libraries made sense. This is part of why I designed the activities in the book to align to not only the ISTE Standards for Students, but also the AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner and the Common Core ELA Standards. Librarians develop both traditional literacy and technology literacy, so this book is designed to help them do both. The activities are all rooted in books, so that students are, for instance, reading about Alice’s adventures with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare while programming a robot to make tea. One of the school media specialists I interviewed for the book talked about how librarians are cross-curricular by nature, and I agree. Librarians could use the activities in the book in collaboration with a science, math or English teacher, an engineer from the community, or all by themselves!<br />
<br />
<b>SB:</b> Why do you think libraries and schools have gone so crazy for the maker movement in the past few years?<br />
<br />
<b>Sarah:</b> There are so many reasons. We’re responding to the cry from government and industry that we need more entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers. We’re participating in the push for locally and responsibly made goods, and we’re engaging folks by providing equipment that they may not be able to afford individually. Apart from all of these very valid reasons, though, I think we make and help others make because we are inspired by the process. The first time I saw students working with robotics, I was blown away. They were working in teams to solve challenges, such as programming the robots to move materials from one space into another, and they were so incredibly engaged and excited. They were independently investigating programming options, taking measurements, collaborating with each other, and discussing multiple creative solutions. The atmosphere was electric. All these years later, after leading hundreds of robotics classes, I still get energized by the students and the process. This is how we grow lifelong and connected learners. Creating is such a natural human urge, and creating together brings out the best in humanity.<br />
<br />
<b>SB:</b> What do you see for the future of libraries 5, 10, and 15 years from now? What will they look like?<br />
<br />
<b>Sarah:</b> Almost exactly five years ago, I went to a ground-breaking virtual conference put on by Library Journal and School Library Journal called eBooks: Libraries at the Tipping Point. At that time eBook sales and circulation was rising exponentially and there was a very strong feeling that libraries might be in trouble without some major overhaul, and not just in their collection development strategies. Though we’ve seen eBook sales and circ level off, the experience and subsequent cultural dialog has left us asking, “What is the point of a library? Why are we here? How should we move forward?” I’m encouraged by these questions. Libraries have always had to adapt to changing technology, but never before have we really looked so hard at our fundamental purpose. The past five years have seen a lot of experimenting, with makerspaces, business centers, media labs, writing centers and more. In the next five years, I would like to see us get focused on the science part of library science, and structure our experiments so that we can evaluate their effectiveness. Within ten years I expect most library systems to have moved fully into outcome-based planning. We’ll identify community needs, map out strategies to address those needs through classes, collections and services, and have ways to track our progress towards those goals. As we do this, I think we will be working toward codifying new best practices, and within fifteen years we’ll consider ourselves community learning centers rather than book repositories.<br />
<br />
<b>SB:</b> There is still a huge stereotype out there of the shushing librarian and libraries as places of quiet solitude and stacks of dusty books. How can librarians squash the stereotype and create the image of libraries, and librarians, as leaders in emerging skills and technology?<br />
<br />
<b>Sarah:</b> It’s true. Libraries need to do some major rebranding. ALA’s new Libraries Transform campaign emphasizes that libraries today are more about what we do for and with people, rather than what they have. I think this is the essential element on which we need to focus. It takes us back to the question, “What is the library’s purpose today?” or “What should we be doing for and with people?” To me, the overarching answer is we need to be community learning centers, and we need to behave and market accordingly. In both school and public libraries we need to think and speak in terms of learning objectives, think of ourselves as educators, adjust our language to “classes” instead of “programs”, and embed ourselves in our communities. Librarians have always been great at referring folks to the right resource at the right time. We need to recognize and celebrate that the right resources might sometimes be us and be bold enough to say so.<br />
<br />
For the book I interviewed colleagues from school, public and academic libraries who are also using robotics with students, and all of them gave examples of how their experiences leading robotics has affected how they are perceived by others. After leading the school robotics team, one media specialist talked about how he is now in near constant communication with the physics teacher and practically co-teaches an English class. Fellow teachers see him as a vital resource, coming to him for tech help and to collaborate and his principal loves him. Another school librarian gave the phenomenal advice, “Don’t wait to be asked!” When it comes to emerging skills and technology, we need to just go ahead and lead. Recognition will follow.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.sarahkepple.com/">www.sarahkepple.com</a><br />
@MsKallDay</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-4635508741539232852015-09-04T12:35:00.000-04:002015-09-04T12:45:18.855-04:00Your Voice Matters in Advocating for Libraries<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
In our highly connected digital world, libraries are more
important than ever. I can hear you saying, “Of course you say that! You’re a
librarian and want to protect your job!” Yes, that’s true, but hear me out. Libraries
have been a part of civilizations since the birth of writing itself as places
to house, preserve, and disseminate information and as meeting grounds for
information seekers. They have evolved continually over time to meet the changing
needs of not just scholars, but all people seeking access to information. Libraries,
in conjunction with widespread public education, have created a far more level
playing field for modern societies. And as societies have grown and evolved, so
too have libraries. With exponential increases in information available and
developments in technology, they have continued to support access and
opportunity for all citizens, arguably better and more efficiently than any
other time period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Internet alone
cannot provide such support; it only creates the connectivity. Libraries with
space for collaboration, access to the most innovative technology, and yes,
information, in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all</i> of its various
formats, and staffed by people highly skilled in finding the right information
for individual needs and teaching skills for finding, evaluating, and using
information independently, are an essential need in today’s modern societies.
Indeed without libraries and information professionals who can curate,
cultivate, and make accessible quality information, the Internet and its
connectivity become useless.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I can hear the naysayers; “Public education? What a broken
mess! And my library has nothing for me!” While neither is perfect, they are
shifting in the right direction. And I would argue that they should never truly
be perfect. What we have now should be completely different 5, 10, 15, or 20
years from now. Both libraries and public education are in the business of
creating and supporting life-long learners and should continually seek to
evolve as society learns and grows. Neither profession should wake up one day
and say “Well, we’re perfect now. Time to stop evolving and keep doing what
we’re doing for the next 2 decades.” And I do believe that the vast majority of
schools and libraries are not only doing good things, but amazing things today.
But those darned naysayers are loud and squawky. They grab headlines – over and
over and over again. It is libraries and educators, however, who have been the
voice for open access to scholarly research and equal access to literature,
technology, and the Internet. They have spoken up on behalf of all of us in the
battle against censorship. They have been a voice arguing for privacy and
individual rights in balance with societal needs. They have been the protectors
and preservers of our cultural heritage and history – in all of its formats. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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So what can we do? Advocate to keep and expand libraries –
and for finding ways to properly fund them. Who should speak up for libraries?
Everyone, because that’s who they serve. There are few professions that truly
speak for each and every one of us, even among the variety of public services. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The mission of libraries has always been to
meet the needs of the communities they serve, whether school, public, academic,
or specialty. They are driven by a sense of equal access. In recent surveys of
public opinion, more than 80% of respondents place high value of the role of
libraries – and yet they have been voraciously cut back and eliminated in
schools and communities. In conversations with parents, teachers, and community
members over the last few years, I regularly hear the lament, “They just don’t
have the money for libraries anymore.” The blame is almost always on a nebulous
“they” who are cutting the funding. Ultimately, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i> are our public servants, whether elected or hired. Advocating for
improving and evolving public services, for finding and ensuring adequate
funding, falls on the shoulders of each and every citizen. It is not “us”
versus the nebulous “them” but rather a “we the people”. We all need to act to
preserve libraries. Not doing so will just send us reeling back to the dark
ages of vast inequity.</div>
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<br /></div>
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How and for what should we advocate? First, ask lawmakers
and leaders to stop trying to find magical solutions in the for profit world
for services that are public in nature. Keeping schools and libraries in the
public non-profit sector does several things; it reduces the likelihood of
individual gains taking precedence over public good and needs, it keeps
hierarchy to a minimum allowing more collective (and patron driven)
decision-making, it ensures that these institutions remain committed to equal
access for all rather than shifting to a pay-for-play model that increases
class inequity. If public services have to follow the mighty dollar, they
cannot serve everyone equally. Rather than serving the public, they become
servants to those that can pay the most. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be
fiscally responsible with the funding they receive, just that the funding
should not be tied to individual profit and gain.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Second, ask lawmakers and philanthropists to invest heavily
in both libraries and education. Each and every school in America should have a
school library with appropriately trained administrative assistance and a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">minimum</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>of one full-time certified teacher
librarian who collaboratively teaches information literacy with other teachers.
Less than that and the school library is ineffective. Well-funded libraries
deliver enormous value for each dollar spent. In schools, they not only prepare
students with the skills for self-motivated independent learning, but connect
each and every subject and discipline to encourage true interdisciplinary learning.
They foster school cultures and environments where serendipitous discovery can
happen naturally and in conjunction with the educative process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are a bridge between academic, archival,
and public libraries and a link between each grade through elementary, middle,
and high school. How do we know this? Solid data from two decades of more than
60 state studies show a definitive correlation between school libraries and
student achievement. That kind of data is unequivocal. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finally, vote. Vote in every election. And understand that
good politicians have to balance their decisions based upon not just your
voice, but the voices of thousands of constituents, some of whom are very vocal
and have substantial financial backing. Wealthy squeaky wheels, however, drown
in a sea of less-well-off masses. You will never agree with every choice that
elected official has to make, but if you are a passive grumbler who never votes
and never communicates with elected officials, then your voice is merely
static. Choose to be an educated, informed, part of “we the people.” And
support widespread educated and informed citizenship through well-funded,
accessible, professionally staffed, quality American libraries.<br />
<br />
</div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-77830033164421409482015-03-22T18:15:00.002-04:002015-03-22T18:15:57.454-04:00"While other things fade, stones and souls endure." <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8FetmVe78PUCL5SYxIsJKzFC7ZIK737Jy1IeKIbviTuMgSvHW3MmjClJVgbX6sd7P_s_why90JTrL3u455beNC_kv9cFc-0YO_dsf4dozxKU_EdyeZRVDiKyhDVvrPym7rF57wb8jAW-r/s1600/Stones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8FetmVe78PUCL5SYxIsJKzFC7ZIK737Jy1IeKIbviTuMgSvHW3MmjClJVgbX6sd7P_s_why90JTrL3u455beNC_kv9cFc-0YO_dsf4dozxKU_EdyeZRVDiKyhDVvrPym7rF57wb8jAW-r/s1600/Stones.jpg" height="94" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">This has been a sad year. After
having just lost my Mom to cancer 2 ½ short years ago, my Dad suddenly passed
away last month. I’ve found myself thinking profoundly over the past few weeks
about legacy, pondering deeply what my parents left me with, not so much
physically as metaphorically. I am grateful for the solid foundation they gave
me through encouragement, support, education, and sometimes a firm hand and
boundaries that enabled me to become who I am today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a child, my parents fostered a love of
reading, learning and books. They took our family to museums where we could
steep ourselves in history, science, and art. They encouraged us to try our own
hand at playing instruments and filled our house with music ranging from jazz
to classical to the occasional foray into folk and pop music. They took us on
vacations to beautiful national parks. They made sure we all learned to swim
during summer vacations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They gave me
and my siblings the gift of college educations. We had regular family dinners,
homemade and at the table together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
discussed what we learned at school, politics, and the world. We watched the
nightly news and the Muppet Show together in the evenings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We laughed a lot and sometimes cried. I
wonder often how children grow and prosper when they don’t have the luxury of
being raised by parents like mine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">In the 2 ½ years since we
lost my Mom, I began going to my Dad’s house to help with some chores and make
dinner. We had some wonderful conversations over those dinners and I became much
closer to my Dad. Frequently our conversations in that first year were on the
topic of stones. The headstone on their grave was not a quick decision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dad mulled over multiple designs and types of
stone for months, deliberating with all of us as to which one would best serve
as not only a marker, but a memorial. We decided that a piece of poetry or
writing would make it all the more special and Dad perused multiple possible
excerpts before finally settling on a portion of John Donne’s “Death Be Not
Proud.” Once the stone, design, and words were settled upon, drafts and
revisions circulated among family members until, finally, many months after Mom
was laid to rest, the perfect headstone was set in place at Lower
Brandywine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Throughout those months
and discussions about the headstone, Dad and I also talked about the
predominantly Jewish custom of leaving stones when visiting graves of loved
ones. There are multiple explanations for this custom in Jewish lore. The
oldest historical connection actually comes from ancient times when people
would mark graves with simple piles of stones. It was a practice that
ultimately evolved into grave markers with inscriptions and was not solely a
Jewish custom. Aside from the historical significance of piles of stones, there
are multiple stories that emerge explaining the custom. The associations Dad
and I talked about most were 1) the idea of stones symbolizing endurance 2) the
leaving of stones as a sign that “I was here” visiting this memorial and 3)
stones left as a tribute meaning “you were remembered”. Once the headstone was
in place, Dad and I both began leaving stones when we paid a visit to the
gravesite. Dad left a stone he collected at Trinity University in San Antonio
as well as stones from family vacations to Graves Mountain and Lake George. I
left stones from various places I visited as well as stones I just liked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Unfortunately, some
well-meaning soul has cleared away all of our stones. Maybe someone who
recalled Mom’s dislike of kitschy disorder left as memorials or maybe just
someone trying to keep the cemetery clean and orderly. I feel certain Mom would
be just fine with this custom of leaving stones, however, and I invite any and
all of you to leave your own stones if you happen to visit. Both Mom and Dad
were filled with fortitude and lived rich, full lives. The legacy they left is
solid as stone; it endures and lives on in the memory of everyone their lives
touched.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b>Holy Sonnets:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Death Be Not Proud<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b>By John Donne</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Death, be not proud,
though some have called thee<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Mighty and dreadful, for
thou art not so;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">For those whom thou
think’st thou dost overthrow<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Die not, poor Death, nor
yet canst thou kill me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">From rest and sleep, which
but thy pictures be,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Much pleasure; then from
thee much more must flow,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">And soonest our best men
with thee do go,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Rest of their bones, and
soul’s deliovery,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Thou art slave to fate,
chance, kings, and desperate men,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">And dost with poison, war,
and sickness dwell,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">And poppy or charms can
make us sleep as well<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">And better than thy
stroke; why swell’st thou then?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">One short sleep past, we
wake eternally<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">And death shall be no
more; Death, thou shallt die.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i>(Spellings in the original
Donne poems are slightly different and the inscription on my parents’
gravestone uses the original Donne spellings.)</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-87946192682274298252014-12-12T09:23:00.001-05:002014-12-12T09:23:46.759-05:00To 1to1, or not to 1to1? That is the question...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-53bb8008-3ed2-592f-35e0-5b209d28df3e" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Technology in Education” is definitely the hot buzz in K12 lately, but the challenge for districts trying to make solid decisions is ensuring that they are seeing a full picture and weighing all of the various factors affected by their choices. It’s easy to get trapped in the buzz word rut, but at the end of the day, everyone involved is really trying to make choices that support student learning and overall excellence in the education we provide our students. </span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Melvin Kranzberg, a former professor at Case Western Reserve and Georgia Tech is famous for coining what he called “The Six Laws of Technology”. The first of these was that “Technology is neither good, nor bad, nor neutral.” I like this quote because it expresses a big picture sentiment that I think is often missing from technology implementation discussions: that technology is just a tool and it is what we <i>do</i> with it and the consequences -- good, bad and neutral -- that occur are a result of our use and choices. Kranzberg’s 6th Law, that “technology is a very human activity - and so is the history of technology”, reaffirms the sentiment that it is about our involvement, our use, and sometimes, our misuse. It’s critical that any technology initiative maintain a perspective for both long and short term goals, a solid understanding of functionality needs of end users, and a critical eye toward both intended and unintended consequences. </span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My personal perspective on technology in our K12 schools stems from my experience as a librarian who has served as a substitute teacher in more than 10 districts throughout the Philadelphia region, accumulated more than 20 years of experience in desktop publishing and communications, parented my own children through the implementation of a school 1 to 1 device program, and a personal passion for technology and the power it has to interconnect our world. The EdTech discussion is a vibrant and exciting. As we continue pushing that discussion and it’s evolution, there are several recurring issues that I’d like to see technology committees exploring.</span></div>
<br /><ol style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Access to information isn’t guaranteed by access to technology.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> While there are definitely pluses to 1-to-1 device plans in ensuring that all students have access to devices of some sort and increased mobility during times of peak use, there are some issues. Many districts implement 1-to-1 programs and eliminate libraries and library resources under the mistaken belief that technology alone means “access” to information. The reality is that providing access to digital resources currently costs substantially more than equivalent paper resources. In addition, not everything desirable for meeting student and staff needs is available in a digital format. Information literacy skills as also tend to suffer substantially if libraries with adequate staffing are not boosted along with the technology implementation. Plagiarism outside of the K12 environment is rising exponentially and the research skills the college freshman are frequently not adequate for academic work prompting many universities to add a required research/information literacy course for incoming students (see the Rutgers study published in Spring of 2014).</span></div>
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</ol>
<br /><ol start="2" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Does one device really meet everyone’s needs?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> There is a significant difference in functionality and purpose for various devices which is often overlooked. iPads are awesome, and my preferred device, for digital textbooks, ebooks, and basic browsing/curation of sources. Heavy writing, however, is difficult on a tablet. Laptops are great for mobility and allow more comfortable writing than tablets, but they are terrible ereaders and don’t have enough power for heavy duty creative software like the Adobe Creative Suite. Labs configured for teacher instruction from a computer linked to a SMART Board or other large screen and which allow the teacher to control student computers via the teacher computer or an iPad are every bit as important in schools with 1to1 programs. Giving students more technology actually increases the need for instruction in information literacies. Students still need scaffolded instruction in researching, evaluating information, and behaving ethically and that instruction is best done as a collaborative effort between classroom teachers and teacher librarians while students are creating individual and group projects. There is a time for each device in instruction and a time for varying degrees of freedom in using those devices dependent upon instructional goals.</span></div>
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<br /><ol start="3" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Some subjects don’t seem to be ready to embrace technology for everything they do.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> For example, my son is doing algebra using iPads. They are great for instructional lecture review, but they are using adobe PDFs as digital problem sheets. Adobe just doesn’t have good functionality yet as a digital math worksheet. It’s quirky and awkward when writing and has visibility problems (zooms in and out so that only part of the problem shows). Inadvertent marks constantly occur and the writing feature is messy. As a result, technology can become a distraction to the problem solving process. We would be better meeting student needs if we would dig deeper into whether or not overuse -- or impractical use -- of technology is becoming a hindrance to learning. </span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<br /><ol start="4" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Are there better solutions than 1 to 1 programs?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> An alternative to 1 to 1 programs is to have laptop and iPad carts that are shared among students in each area of the school and increasing the number and quality of labs in both the library and other appropriate areas of the school. Designing labs specifically to meet collaborative teacher instructional needs and solid tech support staff to ensure that technology is always working, updated, and functional is also key. The number of needed per student software licenses is not as high with this route and allows more flexibility for additional high quality software in the lab environments (ex. Adobe Creative Suite, CAD, and other very pricy software). In addition, the most cost effective plan that allows districts to keep up with the inevitable and rapid aging of current technology within schools may be to lease a variety of devices -- laptops, iPads, and desktops -- from an outside provider who will keep all devices current and upgraded. </span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<br /><ol start="5" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Firewalls and restrictions…</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Schools have frequently been overly restrictive with access. In order to implement a top notch tech program, the mindset has to shift from being overly restrictive to teaching proper use and using those moments of improper use as teachable moments. Better for a student to mess up where the consequences are not as severe than to go out into the world after leaving our schools to make bigger mistakes with bigger consequences. There is definitely a certain amount of data that needs to be restricted and protected, but it isn’t necessary to go overboard. </span></div>
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</ol>
<br /><ol start="6" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And most important, solid contingency plans are essential. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Contingency planning is often left out of K12 technology plans. We expend a lot of time and energy planning for medical emergencies, fires, and intruders, but not much for the failure of technological tools. A backup plan needs to be available for students to complete assignments if they forget their device at school or home, if their is a network or wifi failure, if there is a major power failure, or if a student (or teacher) device fails. Businesses have instituted contingency planning since they began relying upon technology. When businesses prepared for Y2K, most of them refined their plans with multiple redundancies in the event of a catastrophic technology failure. Schools need to be similarly prepared.</span></div>
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</ol>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Technology decisions are always challenging. Technology is expensive and changes rapidly, but it's a necessary component of any quality educational program that truly prepares students for life outside of our educational institutions. Finding the best way to use limited dollars is a huge task. But at the end of the day, we want to be certain that we are not just teaching students to play with cool techy gadgets, but that we are teaching them to use technology as a tool. Our primary goal is to teach them to think critically as they explore our interconnected world and seek balanced decisions and choices that have a positive impact on the future.</span><br /><br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-63567297703917375412014-12-04T10:06:00.001-05:002014-12-04T10:19:46.443-05:00Printz Marcus -- An Interview with YA Royalty<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Marcus Sedgwick at ALA Annual 2014</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Whenever I start
talking books with English teachers, I inevitably find myself raving about Marcus
Sedgwick. His books have huge potential for use in the classroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marcus writes with elements of classic
writers past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has a distinctive style
that contains echoes of Poe, Steinbeck, Dickens and Hemingway, but with a
relevancy for modern readers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He brings
to life old world monsters, haunting emotions, and characters caught in the
complexities of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While his work is
technically categorized as “YA” it could sit comfortably on the adult
shelf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though he tends to write
about dark subjects and characters, there is a stark beauty to his
writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It isn’t trendy or trite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
are books that won’t grow outdated upon the shelf, that I can envision handing
to my grandchildren one day and having them find just as much enjoyment in them
as I do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marcus writes the sort of books
that book lovers and collectors crave for their coveted hard copy
collection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know about that feeling
from personal experience -- my signed hardbound Marcus Sedgwick collection has
grown to fill a fairly extensive section of shelf in my home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">One of the
qualities I find admirable in many of the authors I meet is how humble most of
them remain even after they gain awards and recognition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marcus is a perfect example.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite having won a multitude of awards over
the past dozen or so years, he remains humble, kind, and very accessible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Between the year 200 and 2014, he has been
awarded the Branford Boase Award for <i>Floodland</i>, received an Independent Reading
Association Award nomination and Portsmouth Book Award nomination for <i>Witch
Hill</i>, been shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and the Blue
Peter Book Award for <i>The Dark Horse</i>, received a Guardian Prize nomination and
been shortlisted for both the Sheffield Book Award and the Edgar Allan Poe
Award for <i>The Book of Dead Days</i>, made the Booktrust Teenage Prize shortlist for
<i>The Foreshadowing</i>, awarded the Booktrust Teenage Prize and nominated for the Calderdale
Book of the Year Award for <i>My Swordhand Is Singing</i>, made the Costa Children's
Book Award shortlist for <i>Blood Red, Snow White</i>, made the Carnegie Shorlist for
<i>The Dark Horse, My Swordhand Is Singing, Revolver, White Crow, </i>and
<i>Midwinterblood</i>,</span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"> received a Michael
L. Printz Honor for <i>Revolver</i> and Michael L. Printz Award for <i>Midwinterblood</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Impressive by any account!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But despite the accolades, Marcus was more
than willing to spend time talking with me about his work at conferences and to
do not just one interview with me in 2011, but a second one a few weeks ago. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is what we talked about…</span>
</div>
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Every author
dreams of becoming the award-winning international superstar that you have
become, but I’m sure fame has its downside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How crazy has life become since winning not only repeated Printz
recognition but multiple British book awards?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And how is it that you still seem to remain so humble and approachable
with all of that attention being thrown at you?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Marcus Sedgwick:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Well at the risk
of saying ‘yes, I’m so modest, aren’t I?’ I would just say that you do meet
authors who have become too big for their boots (not often, but it happens) and
I tend to think that they were probably already like that (or potentially like
that) before people started telling them how great their books are. And to be
honest, the thing that I care about more than anything else is the writing
itself. By the time a book has come out and is being criticised, my imagination
has (usually) moved on to something else - and that’s the thing I care about.
Lot of my writer friends agree with this - it’s nice to hear nice things, but
you must never let yourself forget that the most important thing is to stay
connected to the writing itself. That really is all that matters.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">We talk a lot in
the library world about YA as a genre -- and one that really seems to foster
strong camps of "love" and "hate" -- but so many of your
stories, while marketed as YA, feel like they could be just as comfortable on
other shelves to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess my question
is, why YA?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Marcus Sedgwick:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">It’s a big topic
and a somewhat mystifying one too. The blunt answer is that it depends on who’s
published the book. I started out as clearly a children’s author, but as my
books slowly slid older and became more complex there have been times (as with
<i>Midwinterblood</i>, Revolver and now <i>The Ghosts of Heaven</i>) where people have felt
the books could just as well be on the adult shelves. And for me, they could
be. I don’t mind WHO is reading my books, and I don’t mind that much about
where they sit on the shelves. The only thing I hope is that someone
understands what I’m trying to do. The film world has less trouble with these
things - it’s a product of the unavoidable way we classify books, in order that
people can find them, but it can feel a little limiting at times.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">I recently read a
reprint of a speech by John Green in the <i>Horn Book Review</i> where he said he and
the staff at Booklist “used to joke about that old cliché that novels only have
two plots: a stranger comes to town, and our hero goes on a journey.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He went on to talk about novels begetting
novels begetting novels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On your blog,
you write about old stories begetting new stories and the search for the
original story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was able to read an
ARC of <i>The Ghosts of Heaven</i> and loved the central theme of spirals and “the
first story” evolving over time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do
you think about the idea that there really are no new stories, just new ways of
telling them?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;">
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Marcus Sedgwick:</span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Well I have
sympathy with the idea that there are no new stories, that they are finite. But
because there are always new ways of telling them, they are effectively
infinite too. And that’s enormously exciting. I often look at the keyboard of
26 letters and a few dashes of punctuation and think ‘wow, I could do ANYTHING
with that little lot. Anything at all, it’s just down to me to find it.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are, after all, only 8 whole notes in
the musical scale, plus the semitones, and yet with that, you can create any
music ever devised (within the Western canon at least). I’m sure composers
sometimes think, well, what now? And yet, we keep trying and both writers and
musicians keep coming up with new stuff. In <i>The Ghosts of Heaven</i> I very
deliberately wanted to have an ‘old story’, and here I’m therefore riffing on
the kind of tales that must have been the very first things that we told each
other by the fireside. A cave has been found - it could represent shelter, but
there may be a wild beast inside, a wolf, lion or bear. Someone must go inside,
into the underworld, to find out what lies inside. They may die, or they may
return a hero. This is my candidate for one of the oldest stories of all time -
and we have seen variants of it told over the millennia - Orpheus in the
Underworld, Theseus in the Labyrinth, etc. It’s wonderful to feel the weight of
these kinds of tales under your fingertips as you type.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">You tend toward
the macabre in your writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of
your characters are deeply disturbed and disturbing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why do you think human beings are so
fascinated with dark, haunting stories? </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">That leads on from
the above, I think. Who hasn’t felt the sense of threat that entering a dark
space evokes in us? It’s a truly primal response and one that I guess we are a
long way from evolving away from as yet. It’s inevitable that since life is
rounded off by death that we view the two things as inextricable. We both fear,
and are fascinated by, the darker side of life, and fiction is a safe and even
entertaining way for your mind to consider such things without facing them for
real. We cannot help but look into the dark, just as Orpheus couldn’t help
looking back into the dark for Eurydice, even though it sealed her doom.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"><span style="color: #660000;">Despite the
general trend toward dark stories, your stories themselves are really all over
the place in regard to setting and character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You’ve developed stories that are set in just about every time period
from prehistory to the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do
you come up with your ideas for your stories?</span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Ideas evolve from
anywhere, and I do mean anywhere: objects, dreams, conversations, and so on,
but very often, as a novel is starting to form in my head, it will be a place
that will bring it alive. I might have deliberately visited somewhere, or it
might be by accident, or even just by reading about it (because sometimes these
places do not actually exist anymore, they are from the past) but however it
happens, I find place is a very strong catalyst for ideas to appear. I don’t
exactly know why, but it works, time and again - I start seeing actions,
hearing characters (not literally, you get locked away somewhere nice and safe
for that) and I jot these things down into my notebook. Lots never gets used,
some I keep, much of it is transformed by other ideas in my head, almost to
have changed from what I originally saw, but place is very important to me and
a resource I often turn to if I’m feeling stuck.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"><i>She Is Not
Invisible</i> doesn't have the same dark overtones found in many your novels, and
yet I loved it all the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
absolutely fell in love with Laureth and her brother Benjamin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You really captured the idea of
blindness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I particularly loved the
interaction between Michael and Laureth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How were you able to wrap your head around creating Laureth’s world so
well?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Marcus Sedgwick:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">This book is a
little different from most of my others. It’s my ‘happy book’ though I use the
term loosely. I couldn’t have created Laureth myself - to truly represent someone
who’s blind, to even begin to do that subject justice, to do it authentically,
I knew from the start that I would need the help of blind people themselves. So
I spent a year or so going in and out of a blind school here in the UK - it’s a
very special place - the only place of its exact kind in the country in fact. I
made lots of friends there, I asked lots of stupid questions, the sort you
think you should never ask (but I needed to know) and they students there, who
ranged from 11-18 were all, and without exception, absolutely amazing. They
were articulate and honest and so very generous. And I really could not have begun
to write the book without them. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">One of the
greatest challenges I personally find when I write is parting with ideas,
facts, and thoughts that I love, but that end up sounding contrived or awkward
in whatever I’m writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My dad often
laments over being “stuck in running down rabbit holes.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While it’s great fun to explore ideas and
information, sometimes those rabbit holes can really muck up a writing project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can become a distracting haze that
clouds the point of a story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do you
force yourself to cut extraneous juicy tidbits and do you ever save them for a
different project?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Marcus Sedgwick:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">You just have to
be brutal. Do you want to show off your knowledge of 19th century French
typewriters, or do you want to write a good book? You might be able to do both
of course, but any ‘fact’ should only appear in your story if it deserves to be
there, by which I mean it must serve the story, move it forward, have a
concrete position and purpose. Readers are really good at spotting when a
writer has decided to open the encyclopedia of their mind, and the result is
usually off putting and dull. The frustration is of course that you might have
found out all sorts of cool things in your research, but until you come to
write the book you don’t actually know which bits you will need. As for the
stuff left over (around 90% I usually think) you can’t use it unless you find a
way to make it belong. And if not, cut it. You never know, you might find a way
to use it another day.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">When you set out
to write, do you create an outline and notecards, or do you just write freely
and let the story develop on the page?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Marcus Sedgwick:</span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">If a book takes me
two years to write, I will have spent one year and eleven months thinking about
it. This is not to say that I plan what’s going to happen on every page, but I
do have an outline in my mind, and an ending. I fill notebooks with thoughts and
with research, I hate notecards but I do use large sheets of paper on which to
scribble plans and maps and diagrams of the book’s structure and shape. This
process varies with each book, you have to be flexible and work with the
demands of the book in front of you. Only when I am desperate to start writing
do I start, and then I write very fast indeed. If I’m working slowly, I know I
didn’t do my preparation well enough, and the results are almost always bad,
whereas, up to a point, the faster I am writing the better the quality is. That
might sound contradictory but I promise it’s true. <i>Midwinterblood,</i> for example,
I wrote in seven days. I’ve never had the intense experience of that book with
any other. Although I’d seen the painting on which it’s based 5 years
previously, the specific idea came to me after all that time never having
thought about the painting again (consciously at least) once. Once I had that
specific concept of seven interconnected stories, I spent the next 30 days
thinking about it, and then 7 writing it. Then it was all over, much too soon
actually, and I missed it. Because the very best bit of writing is when you are
actually writing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">So much of the
time, I find people are trying to pit film against book in a contest to see
which is better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Personally, I love both
mediums and don’t see them at odds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
are simply different ways of telling a story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You have mentioned an interest in film multiple times in your blog,
conversations, and speeches, so I am assuming you have a similar love of both
mediums.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I recently read your review of
a Kubrick exhibit – well done, by the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m ready to chase out to its next venue to check it out after reading
your review.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aside from the obvious
brilliance of Kubrick as a filmmaker, what is it that you admire most about his
films, and film in general?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Marcus Sedgwick:</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #20124d;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Oh, nice question.
I do love both mediums, very much, but they have differences and work in
different ways. I love the things that film can do that the printed word can’t,
and I love the things that the word can do that movies struggle with. I love
and celebrate those differences. As for Kubrick, I’ll try and keep it short or
I’ll end up writing a dissertation. Here’s one thing about Kubrick; he worked
in so many different ways. He didn’t want to keep making the same kind of film,
he wanted to explore and push and create new types of things every time. I
respect that and respond to that very strongly. In doing so, he made some of
the greatest examples of many different genre of film, not just one. <i>Full Metal
Jacket</i> is one of the best war films ever made (though so is his earlier <i>Paths
of Glory</i>). <i>Spartacus</i>, though not his project initially, is one of the best of
the sixties historical epics. <i>Dr. Strangelove</i> is a great black comedy, <i>The
Shining</i> a seriously symbol-laden piece of unsettling horror. <i>2001</i> is without
question the greatest Sci-fi movie ever made (possibly the greatest film of any
kind ever made - I know that some people will be screaming ‘Tarkovsky!' at me now,
but I think <i>2001</i> shades it). Kubrick once said he felt limited by the form; he
wanted to make films anew in some way. This was shortly before <i>2001</i> and many
people agree that he broke new ground with that movie. To call it a movie
sounds so light. It’s a work of art. But I understand what he meant by feeling
limited. As I said above, we only have 26 letters to work with, and ink on
paper, albeit virtual ink sometimes now. And yes, still, despite those
limitations, the possibilities are endless… </span></span></div>
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Barnyard:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Last time we
talked, you mentioned a film project you and your brother were working on that
digs into our attitudes toward death and the dangers of fundamentalism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m suddenly having images from <i>Six Feet
Under </i>pop into my head…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So what has
happened with the project?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Marcus Sedgwick:</span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Still rolling
along! It’s moved to Rome now, and we are hopeful of getting it filmed in 2015.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">What do you think
are the greatest differences between your British audiences and American audiences?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Marcus Sedgwick:</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #20124d;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">That’s a good
question but I really don’t have the information to answer it fully. I’m
guessing that there aren’t many differences between readers in the UK and the
US. Publishers either side of the pond very much act as if there are, but I do
question how they know these things. My experiences of speaking to readers on
both sides of the Atlantic has led me to think we are much more similar than we
are different. Everyone likes a good story, well told and original, right? I hope
so. I very much value my American readers and am delighted to be published in
the US. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">More information
about Marcus and his wonderful books can be found at:</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.marcussedgwick.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">www.marcussedgwick.com</span></a><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZRtLEfX-PIfkKGktGGWx21Ptk7QQ1cHzjIWqeiPUo70Nv5TgITDG4JyKgeQX-DU7AyJDRCK6RVnameFr67DYqSA8n0c3vTgJ5CZujEsInzFP70eq7nYimmfCwBdPUZs6NCuRIWMbBE6-f/s1600/Ghosts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZRtLEfX-PIfkKGktGGWx21Ptk7QQ1cHzjIWqeiPUo70Nv5TgITDG4JyKgeQX-DU7AyJDRCK6RVnameFr67DYqSA8n0c3vTgJ5CZujEsInzFP70eq7nYimmfCwBdPUZs6NCuRIWMbBE6-f/s1600/Ghosts.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Recently published in the UK and coming to the US in Winter 2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-56377571786628527862014-10-04T11:23:00.000-04:002014-12-04T09:36:52.707-05:00It's About Access to Content<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">We are living in a revolutionary time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our country has been struggling with a
turbulent economy, financing a decade-long war, increasingly polarized
politics, and changes flying at us from every direction as the result of
rapidly developing technology and increasingly interconnected flows of
information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is exciting and daunting
at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Education has been
caught in the crossfires of all of this while undergoing its own attempts at
evolving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Libraries have been keeping up
with changes in technology and have evolved right along with all of the rapid
changes surrounding them, but those outside of library circles seem to be
mystified by what the library brings to the table amidst all of the changes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although format and delivery of information
are shifting somewhat, libraries remain integral in the same way as when they
were initially created; libraries are about access to content.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">In the school environment, this role is particularly
critical. There is a mountain of data showing that schools with library
programs led by MLIS certified school librarians with full time staff and
substantial collection development budgets have higher test scores, in all
subject areas, than schools without libraries or libraries that are improperly
staffed with inadequate collection development budgets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite decades of data demonstrating the
clear correlation, libraries continue to disappear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The more I try to understand why, the more
confused I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the academic level, we
have maintained strong libraries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Budgets may be cut, but the idea of eliminating academic libraries isn't
generally broached.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'd imagine anyone
who might raise such an idea in the academic environment would be swiftly
castigated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Research requires access to
high quality information and scholars demand access.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They understand that access to content carries
a price and that, even from a financial standpoint, having a library as their
link to that access makes sense. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the public and school environment, however, decries against the need for
libraries isn't uncommon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm coming to
the conclusion that there is a vast misunderstanding of what a library is and
does in these circles that simply isn't as prevalent in higher education.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Libraries and librarians collect and archive work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is irrelevant what format.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Digital or print, it is still about curating
content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The library provides access to curated
content for its users.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Public libraries
are tasked with curating content specific to the interests and needs of a given
community and making it available for access by community members of all
different ages. They provide content to retirees and preschoolers, homeless
citizens and bank presidents, parents and children outside of regular school
hours. It is not free; it is paid for with a share of that community’s public
funds. If a community library does not have content that it’s community wants
to access, the community can appeal to the library for content changes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Public libraries were originally founded upon
liberal political views about free and equal access to information, but they
are not political in how they operate. They are organized with a mindset toward
access of information to all people within a community, not a particular
contingent or set of ideals. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Museums and
archives are also creating access to their curated content with public
funding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They provide specific content
related to the collections they house, like the Smithsonian Institution or the
Monterey Bay Aquarium. Museums and archives pay to digitize content, organize
it, host it on servers, and ensure that users are able to access it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is paid for through membership fees,
donations and public (tax) funding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
some cases, you must pay a membership fee for access to digital content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It carries all the same rights of ownership
that the non-digital versions carries and requires attribution regardless of
whether the individual user pays for access. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">As a nation, we should all be concerned about
a growing trend toward destruction of public access through non-partisan,
non-profit entities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Power, control, and
influence of information determined by those who select and organize content, and
who restrict its access to content based upon ability to pay or other selective
criteria is not in the interests of a diverse democratic society. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we move toward a system where all content
is driven directly through publishers, booksellers, or companies that curate
content for a fee, individual citizens will lose out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Libraries are not free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It costs money to curate, organize, and make
content searchable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Libraries do these
things without gaining profit on the items they curate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Collection development is driven by user
needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We already have a growing digital
divide based upon ability to pay and continuing to move toward this pay to view
model of information access will create a vast information and literacy divide.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">There is great power in what the Internet has brought to
society. We now have the ability to use linked computers to connect curators of
content and to make curated digital content accessible outside of the physical
confines of an actual space. In addition, physical curated content, like books,
is searchable outside of the confines of a physical repository.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the Internet and search engines are about
connection, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> ubiquitous access to
content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As an example, type “history of
libraries” into Google.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You will get a
list of potential resources on the topic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The first thing on the list will likely be a Wikipedia entry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have nothing against Wikipedia, but it’s an
encyclopedia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Entries are written by
people who provide a basic overview and are not necessarily experts in the
topic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even prior to the digital age,
encyclopedia research was never meant to be more than a basic overview,
primarily used with elementary students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The greatest value of a good Wikipedia entry is its potential for
leading students toward further resources through a list of cited resources at
the end of the page, many of which can only be accessed for a fee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just about all of the other resources that
will come up in this query on the “history of libraries” are also only
available for a fee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This includes
Google book references. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only are
online digital books still unwieldy, but the viewing access for many digitized
books is quite limited in Google books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In a search for “history of libraries”, Google will send you to an eBook
for Michael Harris’s 1999 book History of Libraries of the Western World.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can read a limited number of preview
pages in Google Books, but then are given a link leading you to the full text
for purchase at the bargain price of $37.12.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Imagine a full research paper with multiple resources at this cost?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It becomes cost prohibitive for individuals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Libraries have the ability to provide resources
to patrons within a school or community through collective purchasing power and
sharing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even documents published under
Open Access platforms have a cost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Someone has to edit, digitize, organize, format, store (yes, even
electronically, documents need to be stored), and create a portal to that information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is always a cost.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Unlike all other libraries, school libraries and
librarians are geared toward specific teaching skills for finding and ethically
using information, collection development skills linked to curriculum and
pedagogy, strong relationships bridge between publishers and content creators,
K12 focused content, understanding of copyright/fair use rules (and how they
are evolving), access to diverse variety of pleasure reading with the goal of
cultivating widespread literacy and independent learning, and an ability to
provide scaffolded instruction of skills for students so that when they
ultimately leave the K12 environment they can effectively use both the
resources available via the connection of the Internet and academic, business
and public libraries to research information.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">So what about the role of the Internet?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can't teachers just use the Internet to
create all of this rich content?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
implies a misunderstanding of what the Internet is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Internet isn't really a thing, but the
interconnection of servers, devices, and individual computers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Internet search engines troll content
according to tagging and popularity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Internet does not provide ubiquitous access.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It has the ability to point searchers to places where they can access,
but does not give them the keys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keys
cost money even if the resource is digital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact, digital access costs more than print access and does not
currently carrying the same rights of ownership. </span>But don't we have content experts in our school
districts? Isn't that what curriculum
specialists do? The role of curriculum specialists is centered on finding a
“package” that meets the needs of each grade within a school district. School librarians are about finding and curating
resources from a diverse array of publishers and providers to teach content
that teachers and students can tailor toward individual needs, styles, and
abilities. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As a comparative example of
the potential for these different functions, let's look at two different
schools. School A has a packaged
curriculum for each grade in math, language arts, social studies, and
science. They have no school library and
supplement the language arts program with individual classroom libraries for
silent reading. During the month of
March, students study fractions in math through math worksheets and drills,
follow set reading, writing, and grammar lessons through the packaged LA
curriculum, read about Japan in their social studies books, and read about the
earth in their science books. School B
has a strong library program with rich resources centrally located within their
school. The library has two separate
technology-rich classrooms capable of using Skype with a teacher and
interviewee, sophisticated software programs and learning programs that use
interactive gaming headphones. The
collection of resources is created with collaborative input from all of the
teachers. During March, the 3<sup>rd</sup>
graders study Japan. Teachers create a
rich curriculum with the librarian that includes versions of the Sadako story,
a strong varied collection of books about Japan, and biographies of famous
Japanese and Japanese-American people.
Students have Skype conversations with Japanese school children in the
technology classrooms, letting them experience the connection of learning with
real children their age in Japan. Math
lessons on fractions include measurements in recipes for Japanese foods from a
collection of age appropriate cookbooks for children and examples of origami paper
folding. The library has age appropriate
resources on the effects of nuclear bombs and radiation on health and the
environment that are used in science lessons. Art classes explore Japanese brush and ink
work ( shodo) and the creation of maneki neko (lucky cat) paintings. Examples of Japanese art are in the library
collection. Music classes teach
Classical Japanese music and children explore Japanese instruments through
videos in the library collection. They
also learn some basic Japanese language skills using the gaming headphones and
a language learning program in the library technology classrooms. Which style of school do you think will have
the most engaged students – and which students are most likely going to retain
what they learn? The skills being taught
are the same, but the content of School B is far richer leading to deeper
inquiry and understanding.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Technology does mean exciting things for education, but technology
is about the tools for access and content creation, not the content itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And technology without content is like having
a car, but no fuel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Technology is
certainly opening up amazing possibilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We can search greater volumes, access content from a distance, communicate
over long distances at a lower cost than ever before, and tailor learning in
remarkable ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But all content has a
cost; somewhere it still needs to be paid for. Booksellers, like Amazon, have
an interest in selling books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each item
accessed, by each individual, carries a specific fee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They do not provide access to everything
published.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They operate under a model
according to popularity of sale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Newspapers and magazines charge for access.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look at what your cable bill costs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You pay, either through advertisements or
premium access, for content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Internet
access works the same way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Unfortunately,
cuts to school libraries mean a huge number of school librarians and support
staff have to rely upon single vendor solutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This means that the bulk of collection
development relies heavily upon the vendor selecting content and offering it to
the library “shelf ready” at a premium price.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fewer and fewer school librarians are able to voraciously peruse review
copies prior to selection and the budgets for collection development are
continually shrinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is bad for
education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are rapidly losing rich
and diverse content in K12 education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The technological tools we all seem so enamored with are worthless
without content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A student may learn how
to use this year’s version of Excel or PowerPoint, but doesn't have a clue that
cutting and pasting things from Internet sites without attribution is
plagiarism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tools will change and
students will have to learn how to use new tools on their own, just like the
rest of us have been doing as new technology has evolved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we haven't taught them how to write, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-themecolor: text1;">research, cite, edit, organize and evaluate information,
and think independently, they won't have the skills to navigate in the world on
their own. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we are to truly embrace
this revolutionary time in education, we should be moving toward centralized
school libraries that are the hub of learning with more, not fewer, highly
skilled staff members who can, and have the time to, cost-effectively curate
collections, find new funding sources, collaboratively teach with other staff
members, and provide access to rich content for students and staff.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; mso-spacerun: yes;">Works consulted:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-family: "\.HelveticaNeueInterface-Regular"; mso-themecolor: text1;">American
Association of School Librarians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Standards for the 21<sup>st</sup> Century Learner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chicago:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>American Library Association, 2007.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>www.ala.org/alsc/</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-family: "\.HelveticaNeueInterface-Regular"; mso-themecolor: text1;">Boelens, Helen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What is a school library?: International
Guidelines.”</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino; mso-themecolor: text1;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-family: "\.HelveticaNeueInterface-Regular"; mso-themecolor: text1;">International Association of School
Librarianship (IASL).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Web. 28 Sept.
2014.<a href="http://www.iasl-online.org/">www.iasl-online.org</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "\.HelveticaNeueInterface-Regular"; mso-themecolor: text1;">Curry
Lance, Keith. "School Library Impact Studies." Web. 28 Sept. 2014.
<http: keithcurrylance.com="" school-library-impact-studies="">.<o:p></o:p></http:></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-family: "\.HelveticaNeueInterface-Regular"; mso-themecolor: text1;">Harris,
Michael.<i> </i></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-family: "\.HelveticaNeueInterface-Italic"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><i>History of Libraries of the Western World</i></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-family: "\.HelveticaNeueInterface-Regular"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><i>. </i>Google EBook ed. (full Book Access Costs
$37.12) Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1999.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-family: "\.HelveticaNeueInterface-Regular"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-family: "\.HelveticaNeueInterface-Regular"; mso-themecolor: text1;">National Library of New Zealand. "School Library: Purpose." Web. 29 Sept. 2014. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">Links to resources related to the impact of school libraries:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">School Libraries Impact Studies</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.lrs.org/data-tools/school-libraries/impact-studies/"><span style="color: #386eff; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://www.lrs.org/data-tools/school-libraries/impact-studies/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">Latest Study: A full-time school
librarian makes a critical difference in boosting student achievement</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.slj.com/2013/03/research/librarian-required-a-new-study-shows-that-a-full-time-school-librarian-makes-a-critical-difference-in-boosting-student-achievement/"><span style="color: #386eff; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://www.slj.com/2013/03/research/librarian-required-a-new-study-shows-that-a-full-time-school-librarian-makes-a-critical-difference-in-boosting-student-achievement/</span></a><span style="font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">#_</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">The Importance of School Libraries</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.laurabushfoundation.com/Lance.pdf"><span style="color: #386eff; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">http://www.laurabushfoundation.com/Lance.pdf</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">Checking Out: Budget hawks see library
programs as an easy out, but what's the cost to student achievement?</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.nea.org/home/43952.htm"><span style="color: #386eff; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">http://www.nea.org/home/43952.htm</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">School Libraries Work! (Research
Foundation Paper)</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/s/slw3_2008.pdf"><span style="color: #386eff; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">http://www.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/s/slw3_2008.pdf</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">What You Can Do To Support School
Libraries In Crisis</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-harvey-ii/post_2725_b_1136618.html"><span style="color: #386eff; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-harvey-ii/post_2725_b_1136618.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">School Libraries Make The Difference</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.ilovelibraries.org/school-libraries-make-difference"><span style="color: #386eff; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://www.ilovelibraries.org/school-libraries-make-difference</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">A Librarian's Tricks For Finding Those
'Complex Texts' Cited In the Common Core</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/07/k-12/a-librarians-tricks-for-finding-those-complex-texts-cited-in-the-common-core/"><span style="color: #386eff; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/07/k-12/a-librarians-tricks-for-finding-those-complex-texts-cited-in-the-common-core/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">Starting A Local School Libraries
Friends Group</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.ala.org/united/sites/ala.org.united/files/content/friends/orgtools/school-friends.pdf"><span style="color: #386eff; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://www.ala.org/united/sites/ala.org.united/files/content/friends/orgtools/school-friends.pdf</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">International Association of School
Librarianship -- list of studies on school libraries worldwide</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.iasl-online.org/advocacy/make-a-difference.html"><span style="color: #386eff; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://www.iasl-online.org/advocacy/make-a-difference.html</span></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-16563274262808976902014-08-09T12:14:00.001-04:002014-08-09T12:14:11.703-04:00Interdisciplinary Teaching With A Knitting Book<div>Yesterday I read through a lovely review copy of<i> Knitting in the Nordic Tradition</i> by Vibeke Lind. It is a fairly basic knitting book that explains basic stitches and wools, but what I love about her book is the interwoven history of Scandinavia. She writes about why people began knitting in Scandinavia and the utility of particular textiles and garments. The book opens up with an intro explaining that the book is not meant to be a straight pattern book, but an introduction to design and technique that will hopefully inspire the reader to create their own designs. As I was reading, I kept thinking that this would be a perfect book to combine with other books and web resources for a collaborative interdisciplinary teaching unit that marries art, science, math, history, and writing. The Library of Congress has a wealth of resources including a page specifically for teachers related to immigration and Scandinavia. Most students study <i>Beowulf</i> in high school and the experience could be far more rich and memorable by integrating lessons on the history of Scandinavia and the Vikings, traditional Scandinavian music, and Scandinavian knitting. The knitting projects could incorporate math and design skills as well as science by having students create patterns, measure, count and add stitches, and learn textile dye techniques. Imagine the power of learning like this!</div><div><br></div><div>Lind, Vibeke. <i>Knitting in the Nordic Tradition</i>. Mineola, New York : Dover Publications, Inc., 2014. (First published in 1984 by Lark Books).</div><div><br></div><div>Library of Congress website:</div><div>http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/immigration/scandinavian.html</div><div><br></div><div>Beowulf</div><div>http://beowulfresources.com/</div><div><br></div><div>A Brief History of Dyestuffs and Dyeing</div><div>http://kws.atlantia.sca.org/dyeing.html</div><div><br></div><div>A Lesson To Dye For</div><div>http://www1.umn.edu/ships/modules/scimath/dyes1.htm</div><div><br></div><div>Sheep Shearing Made Simple</div><div>http://youtu.be/53KoRxxr1jc</div><div><br></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-49720696427145288382014-08-07T12:22:00.001-04:002014-08-07T12:24:39.416-04:00Gayle Forman Deftly Digs Into The Aftermath of Tragedy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A few years ago, on one of my wanderings into Children's Book World in Haverford, I walked up to the register with a signed copy of Gayle Forman's <i>If I Stay</i>. It had been on my "to read" list since it's debut and I'd decided it was high time I moved it up on my list. I never leave CBW with only one book, but conversation at the register made me throw a copy of <i>Where She Went</i> onto my pile (you do serious damage to my bank account Heather!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Time, as usual, got away from me. I kept moving it aside as my pile of review copies continued to spiral beyond control. With the movie coming out, and a week of vacation in Vermont ahead of me, I decided I really couldn't keep it on the shelf any longer; both books all but jumped into my travel read bag.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Within two nights, both books were devoured. They were not challenging reads, but the pleasure was in the cathartic emotion of beautiful, heart-breaking characters. I have already warned my daughter that we may as well pack the whole darn box of Kleenex when we head out to see the film. Fifteen pages into <i>If I Stay</i>, my eyes began tearing and it was a fairly constant feeling for the 222 pages that followed. No one reads the same book, and my own personal narrative certainly amplified the emotion of this beautiful tale. There is a section where Mia, the main character, is with friends and family after the funeral of a close family friend who died suddenly and her father says "'I just think that funerals are a lot like death itself. You can have your wishes, your plans, but at the end of the day, it's out of your control.'" They continue to take turns throwing in each of their ideal music selections for their own funerals. Many years ago, I had a similar conversation with my father about funerals and I will never forget him telling me he'd like a live quartet playing Pachelbel's Cannon. <i> If I Stay</i> isn't just a story about death and tragedy, however. Far from it. It is a story about life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Where She Went</i> is a completely different story. It is the aftermath of tragedy and heartbreak told from Mia's boyfriend Adam's voice and perspective. Many sequels do not live up to their predecessor, but this one is every bit as good. It's about the collateral damage and long hard road toward becoming whole again. The opening line is one I've uttered myself multiple times throughout my life: "Every morning I wake up and tell myself this:<i> It's just one day, one twenty-four-hour period to get yourself through</i>." That daily personal pep talk to get yourself through seemingly insurmountable darkness. But more than anything what I love about both of these lovely stories is that life is filled with a rainbow of emotions and despite the lows, it is also filled with love, beauty, passion...and hope.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Courtesy of Penguin Group</td></tr>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-53837864470758062922014-07-25T09:17:00.001-04:002014-07-25T09:21:17.539-04:00E. Lockhart's New Novel<div>I am very tired this morning. I was up until 3:30am finishing E. Lockhart's latest book <i>We Were Liars</i>. It is one of those books that, once you get into it, keeps you up until you get to the final word. It is sad, funny, heart-breaking, suspenseful...and wonderful. It's one of those books that sticks with you.</div><div><br></div><div><i>We Were Liars</i> is not about the life that I am living, but I could feel the characters none-the-less. It is about the wealthy Sinclair family. There are trust funds, a private island, and privilege. Living on the Main Line near Philadelphia, I'm sure some of my neighbors, some of the many students I've encountered, are living life as Sinclairs. But these wealthy, privileged teens struggle with their own pain just like any other class in society. They face divorce, the conflicts and power struggles of the adults in their lives, substance abuse, and overwhelming expectations about how they should act and who they should be. </div><div><br></div><div>E. Lockhart is best known for her award-winning book <i>The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks</i>. Her Ruby Oliver books are also popular teen reads. Do not be surprised if <i>We Were Liars</i> sweeps up awards in the coming months; it is well worthy of multiple honors. And while this is a YA novel, it is really a novel written for all ages. It is simply a delicious read.</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1lyUbjPoU0TFh_5wG4ccYqNQaRSpF_vUyKB2ax4v6A1X0CAax1QucHWbMyhLkqQuee83x4nrSKPZa7dBUHxwVXSa-dYKvc8kj8QbqwJcAjsZH8NUVYaRgqety3U2KKYigdX43tOyJnuPp/s640/blogger-image--1174369382.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1lyUbjPoU0TFh_5wG4ccYqNQaRSpF_vUyKB2ax4v6A1X0CAax1QucHWbMyhLkqQuee83x4nrSKPZa7dBUHxwVXSa-dYKvc8kj8QbqwJcAjsZH8NUVYaRgqety3U2KKYigdX43tOyJnuPp/s640/blogger-image--1174369382.jpg"></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-77546878142728360092014-07-11T10:54:00.000-04:002014-07-23T11:23:14.782-04:00Highlights from the 2014 ALA Annual Conference <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Now that I'm recovered from a crazy busy school year and the whirlwind of Las Vegas/ALA Annual, I decided it was high time to pay some overdue attention to my blog. To start off my summer blogging ventures, I thought an overview of some of the highlights from this year's ALA Annual Conference would be the perfect kick-off. </div>
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This year's award winners were an obvious highlight and I got to meet, and re-meet, most of them. Brian Floca, Kevin Henkes, Holly Black, Kate DiCamillo, Marcus Sedgwick, Markus Zuzak... It's as exciting as the Academy Awards! I was particularly excited to see Marcus Sedgwick again and have my wonderful copies of <i>Midwinter Blood</i> signed, meet Markus Zuzak and have him finally sign my coveted British copy of <i>The Book Thief</i>, and meet the legendary Judy Blume whose books led me through childhood and adolescence.</div>
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I also met the wonderful and inspirational Ilyasah Shabazz, daughter of fallen civil rights icon Malcolm X. Her presentation was remarkable, although I was disappointed in the low turnout to see her. The audience was clear evidence to me that racial division is still rampant in our country, even in a profession that professes equality and freedom at it's very core. Ilyasah has published a wonderful new picture book called <i>Malcolm Little</i> that tells the story of her famous father as a child. It is beautiful and should become a part of school library core collections.<br />
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There was a wide selection of wonderful new books among popular book vendors like Candlewick, Macmillan, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster. Lee & Low's emphasis on diverse books like <i>Parrots Over Puerto Rico</i> has made them a particular favorite for me. I also fell in love with a wide array of books about art. <i>Emily's Blue Period </i>by Cathleen Daly tells the story of Picasso's Blue Period for a young audience. <i>The Iridescence of Birds </i>by Patricia MacLaughlan is a beautiful story about Henri Matisse as a young child. Yuyi Morales has a beautiful book called Frida. And a lovely book called <i>Edward Hopper Paints His World </i>has a stunning painting featuring a sign for "Phillies" created by illustrator Wendell Minor right on its cover...sure to appeal to our local Philadelphia crowd. Hip hop lovers will be excited by Laban Garrick Hill's new book <i>When the Beat Was Born</i>. For discussion about the Caldecott Medal there is a wonderful book about Randolph Caldecott that explains who he was and why the famous award for picture books bears his name called <i>Randolph Caldecott, The Man Who Could Not Stop Drawing</i> by Leonard S. Marcus. Melissa Sweet, who has had numerous award-winning books including this year's wonderful picture book about Horace Pippin, has a lovely new book forthcoming about Roget and his famous thesaurus that is perfect for integrating into elementary writing lessons. Famous authors and illustrators like Mac Barnett, Jon Klassen, and Jon Scieska all have wonderful new books out as well that should not be missed. Finally, one of my favorite books about math is a book called <i>Lifetime: The Amazing Numbers in Animals Lives </i>by Lola M. Schaefer.<br />
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Among YA authors, there are several exciting books coming out or newly released. Ally Condie has a book called <i>Atlantia</i> that is very different from her <i>Matched </i>series. Scott Westerfeld, author of the <i>Uglies </i>and <i>Leviathan </i>series, has a new novel entitled <i>Afterworld.</i> Meg Wolitzer has a new novel entitled <i>Belzhar </i>(pronounced Bell Jar) that involves two teens, a classroom, journal writing, and the works of Sylvia Plath. PJ Hoover has a new middle grade novel called <i>Tut </i>that will also have associated media components including a Minecraft world. Jandy Nelson, Marie Lu, and Cat Winters also have promising new books soon to be released.<br />
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Technology is always a highlight of library conferences and the standout new tool for me was in the area of assessment. One of the challenges with assessing new publications in science is the lag in citation appearances. The University of Pittsburgh (yay Pitt!) has developed technology that tracks initial mentions via social media from publication date eliminating the lag of waiting for future publications with citations of a given publication. It's also interesting to note that while the statistics show a huge increase in ebook purchase as well as an increase in ebook lending by libraries, the demand for hardcover books has reached an all-time high and continues to increase with the digital age. For all of the soothsayers who thought paper would disappear, it doesn't look like it will be happening any time soon. It only takes one massive ice storm that knocks out power for a week to see the virtues of the non-digital world, even for the most tech-oriented among us.<br />
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I could rattle on for pages about the amazing experiences from ALA, but I would only be entertaining myself. Suffice it to say that the world of libraries, information, and stories in all of their various formats is thriving and growing in wonderful ways.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brian Floca</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jen Bryant & Melissa Sweet</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ilyasah Shabazz</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Holly Black</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfj0TkklSKPtCTWySnrl50dctNKBSicfuq2QzGDNS0f6s7HGh2jjx0Efx_t4MhiDj-AihnKh9qfBTKUl7jETcMYLGVRF4Ikgx4hZXhLxus8ZNWyyBA4LYQ4UeMgsnXMfXr2XAKgbCR1iGb/s1600/JudyBlume.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfj0TkklSKPtCTWySnrl50dctNKBSicfuq2QzGDNS0f6s7HGh2jjx0Efx_t4MhiDj-AihnKh9qfBTKUl7jETcMYLGVRF4Ikgx4hZXhLxus8ZNWyyBA4LYQ4UeMgsnXMfXr2XAKgbCR1iGb/s1600/JudyBlume.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Judy Blume</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGLpkqrXU9gWus-bGoAOFOtIBwBLjWiSPrev3c-nlf2DtpphPWSVrnyXddMA_SsY6Jjf081nV8MbW2T54WTjqhqRncBmMecGXcVKxVUyJplulp1xU6FXGaoJBBXWr6FtJ6upfcXi0y_sL/s1600/BrianCollier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGLpkqrXU9gWus-bGoAOFOtIBwBLjWiSPrev3c-nlf2DtpphPWSVrnyXddMA_SsY6Jjf081nV8MbW2T54WTjqhqRncBmMecGXcVKxVUyJplulp1xU6FXGaoJBBXWr6FtJ6upfcXi0y_sL/s1600/BrianCollier.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Claire Rudolph Murphy & Brian Collier</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOI3lbknlyNxI5kqTiz1GLn1EUXEXg2_xRDHPkssWHvKR3YmasRaECmNq6TC9Nbf6zoRzsFe73sdDRvBMoJQxggo-bwTVqmMwTbULvuEMqWOTWqri4KUAfRLQg0q6H-_SkmlLwH7GwGIqP/s1600/MegWolitzer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOI3lbknlyNxI5kqTiz1GLn1EUXEXg2_xRDHPkssWHvKR3YmasRaECmNq6TC9Nbf6zoRzsFe73sdDRvBMoJQxggo-bwTVqmMwTbULvuEMqWOTWqri4KUAfRLQg0q6H-_SkmlLwH7GwGIqP/s1600/MegWolitzer.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meg Wolitzer - <i>Belzhar</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqPGtA4nGwgC3ioNhex-psSfvT8ucDOvx8BQJh72SQr1juGtKHSk-BmPqCvReM0q8EJfQNtj8peSPcQxBxKyecbmgwsS2-mocfLmg54AJ5XKle93P6LxtLl5WxC-Zvs3gtTK5Gd4vdI_Lu/s1600/PJHoover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqPGtA4nGwgC3ioNhex-psSfvT8ucDOvx8BQJh72SQr1juGtKHSk-BmPqCvReM0q8EJfQNtj8peSPcQxBxKyecbmgwsS2-mocfLmg54AJ5XKle93P6LxtLl5WxC-Zvs3gtTK5Gd4vdI_Lu/s1600/PJHoover.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PJ Hoover - <i>Tut</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzQLcJqlYH31uahPDv9TpmfAOnSku8malCdL7tTyLVpnTy5vlXnuHRrNdbqSZlixoxXT0n4VMMcCI-aAHWgYtHBxJOWIlFp3SPgcKyYZ0SSnY59nYE-48NyhlEIzQ7qD5S1Mfp6IFX0-z/s1600/NewMarieLu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzQLcJqlYH31uahPDv9TpmfAOnSku8malCdL7tTyLVpnTy5vlXnuHRrNdbqSZlixoxXT0n4VMMcCI-aAHWgYtHBxJOWIlFp3SPgcKyYZ0SSnY59nYE-48NyhlEIzQ7qD5S1Mfp6IFX0-z/s1600/NewMarieLu.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marie Lu - <i>The Young Elites</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKY_2RglVEbf7sulFKGXLM3rO6ffDINer01Xo4XrnTbLM19LehBYqCfGAQ7TIJs0zJRM5zq3CUQDzzXwkf_UVBArQ9nDzVRC81XdpjwhEokBqG9zhsdH4cz7P7biaOM2acF4YYoZ1UdCe4/s1600/NewCat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKY_2RglVEbf7sulFKGXLM3rO6ffDINer01Xo4XrnTbLM19LehBYqCfGAQ7TIJs0zJRM5zq3CUQDzzXwkf_UVBArQ9nDzVRC81XdpjwhEokBqG9zhsdH4cz7P7biaOM2acF4YYoZ1UdCe4/s1600/NewCat.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cat Winters - <i>The Cure for Dreaming</i></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMW-Oy_YjYNvj1XDUbGX2QPnTrHdH839KkwGFezkqQB2M5AG9mVOeAUX6mkNIsVPcxpyGjNzdC7Qx6_VN4XVBxy5FIXVPEatf9Uvi-SQMMx6NyYe1Fn6_0HB3-WVVnPn2YPiHf5yhF_U3Y/s1600/NewAllyCondie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMW-Oy_YjYNvj1XDUbGX2QPnTrHdH839KkwGFezkqQB2M5AG9mVOeAUX6mkNIsVPcxpyGjNzdC7Qx6_VN4XVBxy5FIXVPEatf9Uvi-SQMMx6NyYe1Fn6_0HB3-WVVnPn2YPiHf5yhF_U3Y/s1600/NewAllyCondie.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ally Condie - <i>Atlantia</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw0Z8BThM2nBzA9MmQkh92i5MJ8OkVhUx87w1I1T5vBOk10rOy31C3-7mCuic3c4uFgfmiqCGDXobW60NpW3QUMQaCPyN9tSOeZuDo7Py66fOU_Pt61WpUHnAkaD5gsmVKLoJ5fxT3lBrG/s1600/NewJandyNelson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw0Z8BThM2nBzA9MmQkh92i5MJ8OkVhUx87w1I1T5vBOk10rOy31C3-7mCuic3c4uFgfmiqCGDXobW60NpW3QUMQaCPyN9tSOeZuDo7Py66fOU_Pt61WpUHnAkaD5gsmVKLoJ5fxT3lBrG/s1600/NewJandyNelson.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jandy Nelson- <i>I'll Give You the Sun</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJeasDLBA43WKS3XsfoAA2CE0X70NM65fqKIyPLzb5NVrUlANLgg8qHRQB2-kDt3sHZ_aScAXH-4vRBg2IB_HV1ZhpCL-P0pAiBJL6TBX4HUCDCXHjnLG0rUBwbjTwOaxWj3vdoXiZdZLy/s1600/MoWillems.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJeasDLBA43WKS3XsfoAA2CE0X70NM65fqKIyPLzb5NVrUlANLgg8qHRQB2-kDt3sHZ_aScAXH-4vRBg2IB_HV1ZhpCL-P0pAiBJL6TBX4HUCDCXHjnLG0rUBwbjTwOaxWj3vdoXiZdZLy/s1600/MoWillems.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mo Willems</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5ZAA3BOUKG3lJqUjiG6iwoLFykVfh9YVqONutDL9LNwb3QvnXLQXnpYqYNekqhGcth5ClFOaJYh_-F1GrgcGGczd0ZyAkQGKG6zvFVUJ2UJ5N9kO9GKNqVQ9DteovgMNQ45mHSr6LsxZ/s1600/Scieszka.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5ZAA3BOUKG3lJqUjiG6iwoLFykVfh9YVqONutDL9LNwb3QvnXLQXnpYqYNekqhGcth5ClFOaJYh_-F1GrgcGGczd0ZyAkQGKG6zvFVUJ2UJ5N9kO9GKNqVQ9DteovgMNQ45mHSr6LsxZ/s1600/Scieszka.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jon Scieszka</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCmr_f1q7I4wQImTlLvj9P_xwXnVL_P8Gj6nLy9NvtuU3d6TxMENSLi3foPeozRvy5z5iadtxMenopbn4ZAMMYWrTzvNyXnJEAUeOlZ11xExtfZ77IAfiXf_6_UU8f8BwEIBYMVNwl1SF/s1600/KateDiCamillo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCmr_f1q7I4wQImTlLvj9P_xwXnVL_P8Gj6nLy9NvtuU3d6TxMENSLi3foPeozRvy5z5iadtxMenopbn4ZAMMYWrTzvNyXnJEAUeOlZ11xExtfZ77IAfiXf_6_UU8f8BwEIBYMVNwl1SF/s1600/KateDiCamillo.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">KG Campbell and Kate DiCamillo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_atwVMRz94hVfZJB9eNvHGNHmvNELSFHbzVKrs9Y7_DupnYt3HmDjZzx7HAZ5BTb0tNF5mFJfIsKjFQ6RQAv-TN2fdnNFkUqo_QzsJfeZLxJLSPVMCCStPPm1Uky6xzfZ7ziWmjWsnOD/s1600/MidWinterBlood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_atwVMRz94hVfZJB9eNvHGNHmvNELSFHbzVKrs9Y7_DupnYt3HmDjZzx7HAZ5BTb0tNF5mFJfIsKjFQ6RQAv-TN2fdnNFkUqo_QzsJfeZLxJLSPVMCCStPPm1Uky6xzfZ7ziWmjWsnOD/s1600/MidWinterBlood.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marcus Sedgwick</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtOU-H427P-a7CxJcFTZsC8iSRzute7v_CCJnjlJENNiUnnb6AmfEn2PtJN6L8cd7xX8dItxs4MQXYtR6xVWmJF-djFE-d3EU9Bvy-M0J5OmDBAtpt-8gT3aETDI-uBEtNWfiBc5DaD9j/s1600/MarkusZuzak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtOU-H427P-a7CxJcFTZsC8iSRzute7v_CCJnjlJENNiUnnb6AmfEn2PtJN6L8cd7xX8dItxs4MQXYtR6xVWmJF-djFE-d3EU9Bvy-M0J5OmDBAtpt-8gT3aETDI-uBEtNWfiBc5DaD9j/s1600/MarkusZuzak.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Markus Zuzak</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQj_rUOYmyG71LbtamRBDJKev7e5ERZLgA9OxLjO8aNcgzuiRhPkxvvwximnsyRKvrzHeJt1ZEY70Yi_qFXRsoSBLw4IFKdSHEm2b6PjYezr2huzcmtSYUbY_WrRZRrUppiNqgS2zocXWn/s1600/SignedBookThief.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQj_rUOYmyG71LbtamRBDJKev7e5ERZLgA9OxLjO8aNcgzuiRhPkxvvwximnsyRKvrzHeJt1ZEY70Yi_qFXRsoSBLw4IFKdSHEm2b6PjYezr2huzcmtSYUbY_WrRZRrUppiNqgS2zocXWn/s1600/SignedBookThief.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My awesome UK edition of <i>The Book Thief</i>!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHz9jH2KZD_E85GnACkjV8hUkfOXUcCyXlsqTp3Mz-Q-jMhfs83-YWIAhLNjeuVet7mfQ8JYBgh1Vfj2Jhx7Lxjwsk03KdK7XHZBsexZ3Annm9dfov1OcqYq4kiVxml7W17C5Bbbns5l5_/s1600/SusannCokol.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHz9jH2KZD_E85GnACkjV8hUkfOXUcCyXlsqTp3Mz-Q-jMhfs83-YWIAhLNjeuVet7mfQ8JYBgh1Vfj2Jhx7Lxjwsk03KdK7XHZBsexZ3Annm9dfov1OcqYq4kiVxml7W17C5Bbbns5l5_/s1600/SusannCokol.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Susann Cokol</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibbwDgu2g0p-8y-f2wEhVIEEqzz68Nu7-sW1_hAsDD_mKlRE7Gypl9bUs4QGxms5tCuz0vsKLYegFhFQF90KvDfTiaqR4ObDOiJxZvwvUcwkUplrDWLzjR0WdYykPH26DoaGlm2d4yZ7oy/s1600/Mac%2526Jon.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibbwDgu2g0p-8y-f2wEhVIEEqzz68Nu7-sW1_hAsDD_mKlRE7Gypl9bUs4QGxms5tCuz0vsKLYegFhFQF90KvDfTiaqR4ObDOiJxZvwvUcwkUplrDWLzjR0WdYykPH26DoaGlm2d4yZ7oy/s1600/Mac%2526Jon.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-5527241873618803182014-06-26T23:47:00.001-04:002015-07-30T14:47:52.016-04:00Top 50 Reasons To Hire Me<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">understand how difficult hiring can be. How do you know for certain that you will choose the right person with the right skills, experience, and personality to get the job you need done, and done well? With that thought in mind, I spent some time this evening challenging myself to create a list of 50 reasons why I would be a great choice for a school librarian opening. I suppose I could have set that number higher - or lower - but 50 seemed like a good target number. Obviously these are all biased since I am the one who created the list, but you can always check out my LinkedIn profile for things my friends and colleagues say about me. My friends tend to be brutally honest. Sometimes that's good, sometimes that's painful; but it has always led to personal growth. </span></div>
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1. I keep up with all new and upcoming literature written for K-12.</div>
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2. I am an active galley reviewer for more almost a dozen publishers.</div>
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3. I am actively involved in the American Library Association - I've served on multiple virtual committees for YALSA, the young adult division, since graduating from Pitt with my MLIS.</div>
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4. I am tech savvy - in addition to blogging, I use all Google apps for education, am active on Twitter, and love to tinker with tech tools.</div>
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5. I have a degree in English in addition to an MLIS and am therefore adept at both "the cannon" and new literature.</div>
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6. I have experience working with children in an educational setting from Pre-K through grade 12.</div>
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7. I am infinitely patient with decades of training from my own children, volunteer work in schools, substitute teaching, and babysitting.</div>
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8. I have spent a considerable amount of time working in a wide range of special education settings.</div>
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9. I have decades of experience in collaborative work settings both business and educational.</div>
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10. In addition to my education experience, I have experience in other work settings.</div>
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11. I am comfortable with both the tried and true and constant change.</div>
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12. I am mature. Not old, mature.</div>
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13. I am able to forward think.</div>
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14. I respond well to criticism. (Understanding that no one is perfect, I am able to make adjustments when necessary.)</div>
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15. I have a sense of humor. Ask my kids. </div>
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16. I am always professional. Always.</div>
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17. If I don't have the answer you need, I will figure out how to get it for you.</div>
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18. I am loyal.</div>
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19. I am honest.</div>
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20. I am always concerned with student impact - they are the reason we teach.</div>
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21. I am a team player.</div>
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22. I consider other perspectives.</div>
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23. I am always looking for new things to learn. Since completing my MLIS, I've taken multiple courses and attended both state and national library conferences. At my expense.</div>
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24. I always look for ways to improve how I am doing things. Even the best lessons and programs can become even better.</div>
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25. I speak multiple languages and understand what it is like to struggle with learning a new language.</div>
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26. I have lived in other cultures and have an experience-based understanding of the words "diversity" and "multiculturalism".</div>
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27. I have a solid understanding of the Common Core and how it relates to both curriculum and the school library. My lesson plans have always been linked to existing and evolving cross-curriculum standards.</div>
<div>
28. I have had extensive training in collection assessment and evaluation.</div>
<div>
29. I am equally comfortable with digital collection development as the development of collections using more traditional media.</div>
<div>
30. I am familiar with a multitude of high-quality vendors who serve school libraries.</div>
<div>
31. I have experience managing staff.</div>
<div>
32. I have experience coordinating volunteers.</div>
<div>
33. I have experience creating budgets.</div>
<div>
34. I have experience managing budgets.</div>
<div>
35. I am familiar with outside funding sources for school libraries.</div>
<div>
36. I am comfortable and experienced with fundraising.</div>
<div>
37. I have my own personal, and very extensive, library of books appropriate for K12 and teacher development.</div>
<div>
38. I am well-versed in a wide array of subjects including science, art, literature, business, music, history, politics, and geography.</div>
<div>
39. I have experience working for high tech companies filled with engineers.</div>
<div>
40. I have experience answering a wide variety of reference questions.</div>
<div>
41. I am always willing to learn something new.</div>
<div>
42. I have experience in multiple assessment techniques from usage statistics to developing and conducting surveys.</div>
<div>
43. I am experienced in using a multitude of communication tools from newsletters to wikis to blogs.</div>
<div>
44. I am comfortable with social media...and use it responsibly.</div>
<div>
45. I can effectively manage almost any classroom situation without resorting to yelling.</div>
<div>
46. I am polite.</div>
<div>
47. I have exemplary customer service skills.</div>
<div>
48. I am dedicated. </div>
<div>
49. I am enthusiastic.</div>
<div>
50. I am passionate.</div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-16243986521791525862014-02-14T19:18:00.002-05:002014-11-01T12:57:37.774-04:00A Fabulous New Book From This Year's Printz Recipient - Due To Arrive at Libraries and Bookstores Near You in April<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am a huge Marcus Sedgwick fan. I first encountered his work prior to him receiving a Printz Honor award in 2011 when his book <i>Revolver </i>was being talked about as a contender. After meeting him at ALA Annual that year, he kindly granted me an interview for my blog and I read several more of his books, including this year's Printz winner, <i>Midwinterblood</i>. I have yet to read anything by this creative author that I have not enjoyed. His writing is consistently not contrived or formulaic. He is a master storyteller who weaves together rich characters, settings, and dialogue. He writes stories that are are lasting, the sort of stories that I anticipate becoming inducted into the canon of quality literature we use for instruction. I expect we will continue to see a plethora of wonderful things from this talented author.<br />
<br />
His latest novel,<i> She Is Not Invisible,</i> has reinforced all of my previous positive sentiments about Marcus Sedgwick. It is yet another fascinating literary work that is like nothing else I have ever read. He delves into a thoughtful contemplation about the existence of coincidences through the intrepid adventure of teenage Laureth and her 7-year-old brother Benjamin. Weaving historical facts about famous explorers of coincidence into a fictional mystery, this read is simultaneously thought-provoking and seat-of-your-pants entertaining. Adding an additional layer to the story, it is told through the voice of Laureth, who has been blind since birth. I found myself pausing multiple times as I read through passages that stuck out as quotable reflections on the world. Perhaps my favorite is the following:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">"You're black?" I said, stupidly.</span></i></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">"Yes," he said. "Does that matter to you?"</span></i></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">"I couldn't care less if you were green with pink spots. Why would it matter to me? I don't even know what color is."</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">He thought about that.</span></i></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">"Listen, this gentleman surely won't wait forever," he said. "But I wonder... Did you assume I</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">was white?"</span></i></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">"Michael, I didn't assume you were anything. Try to understand, I don't see the world. I don't</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">see colors, so I don't think about it that way at all."</span></i></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Laureth will be held dear in many a readers heart, but this beautiful passage in particular will seal her into mine forever. Thank you Marcus for giving me get another favorite for my shelf. I can't wait to have a hard copy with your autograph!<br />
<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-73045269441071234392014-02-01T16:56:00.001-05:002014-02-13T13:33:13.179-05:00Wither Thou Advocateth<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am fascinated by the number of conversations I have with parents, teachers, and administrators who respond to the continual slashing of public education with an apathetic, "What can <i>I </i>do about it? <i>They</i> don't have any money." Replies like this are disempowering and allow the speaker to fall into a role of either victim or non-participant in the problem. It places the burden of blame on someone else. I've even encountered this attitude among teachers whose jobs could easily fall victim to the next round of cuts. Quite honestly, all teacher jobs are at risk, but teachers who are outside of the regular classroom, which includes school librarians, PE, tech ed, family and consumer science, art, music, and foreign languages, are at the top of the list. <br />
<br />
There never has been the elusive mythical "fat" in education. We have cut things in many districts beyond the point of our ability to teach kids the skills they need to be successful in life. We've moved from teaching kids to think and learn to teaching them to take and pass multiple choice exams. It isn't unusual for me to be in a classroom and find kids unable to answer questions without a choice of "A through E". Likewise, it isn't uncommon for students to turn to calculators for the answers to simple calculations and they don't often question the answer the calculator spews out. There is a huge disconnect in understanding that technology is just a tool and it doesn't think for you. <br />
<br />
If we continually buy into the attitude that there is nothing we can do and that we are mere victims in the situation, we are agreeing to be quiet advocates of continued destruction of public education. There is a phenomenal amount of money in this country. The key is finding a way to connect more of that money to areas that desperately need it. We cannot afford to continue approaching funding for public education the same way we do today. It isn't a viable model for rising costs. We also can't afford to continue addressing those rising costs with further cuts to staff and resources. We need to begin the conversation about public education with the statement "this is what is required to educate a child." And then we need to find a way to fund it. If you are not a part of the conversation, part of the solution, you are part of the problem. </div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-72365944875938506412014-01-24T03:27:00.001-05:002014-01-24T03:27:26.476-05:00ALA Mid Winter Conference is in Philadelphia through the weekend!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hooray! ALA is here in Philly through next Tuesday! It may not really be "always sunny" but it will be productive and fun as librarians from across the nation convene to wrap up a year's worth of committee work. The Caldecott, Newbery, Printz, Coretta Scott King, and a multitude of other awards will be finalized behind closed doors in the City of Brotherly Love. Get ready for the big book award announcements on Monday...I have my secret predictions and will post the winners after they are announced. If you can't wait and want to hear it "live from Philadelphia" check out the ALA website at www.ala.org and you can link to the webcast.</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-74450203761001635452013-11-24T11:22:00.000-05:002013-12-21T12:03:01.144-05:00Becoming A Better Teacher<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
While I still haven't found a permanent school librarian position, since the beginning of the year I've expanded my teaching experience and knowledge in ways I never could have imagined. I began substitute teaching for a multi-district sub service. I substitute teach in districts from Avon Grove to the edge of the city limits of Philadelphia and up to Bristol Township. Some days my commute is over an hour and some days it is only 20 minutes. In the 3 months I have been teaching in these districts, I have been able to observe the huge disparity among Pennsylvania schools. We may read or hear about this disparity, but nothing compares to witnessing it "up close and personal."<br>
<br>
The most shocking realization that I have had over the past months is how truly devastating educational cuts have hit those districts in the middle and lower economic sectors. Schools in areas where it is predominantly upper middle class have survived cuts to funding. While they still need more staffing and resources just like other schools, they seem to be able to compensate for some of the loss with volunteers and donations. The rest do not fare so well. Some of the school buildings are so in need of updating and repairs that they inhibit learning. Imagine teaching a class of 30 in a classroom that is almost 100 degrees? The level of technology available is limited in many schools. Many schools no longer have libraries or only have a librarian once per week. The books in those libraries are often worn and outdated. Art and gym have also been cut drastically, particularly at the elementary level. The one "special" that seems to survive is music, especially band programs. In addition, class size is often pushing 30 children - I've even had days with as many as 36 elementary school students filling my classroom. Behavior issues abound and tend to become greatest in those schools with the least.<br>
<br>
You might think that the best teachers are at those schools with the most. However, the teachers I<br>
meet who are exemplary at the art of teaching are in all of these schools. As a substitute, the schools I enjoy teaching at the most have teaching staffs and principals that are warm and welcoming and emanate a passion for what they do every day. As an example, one of my favorite schools is an elementary school in a district that is truly suffering from educational cuts. Highland Park Elementary exudes a feeling of warmth the moment you walk through its doors. The lobby has a large fish tank filled with African Cichlids and adjacent is a fountain emitting the soft gurgling sound of flowing water. The office staff smiles the moment you walk into the office. The Principal is all over the building and oozes with an amiable authority. Likewise all of the teachers smile, offer help, and <i>always</i> invite me to join them for lunch. The walls of the school are filled with colorful artwork and posters. An "art wall" outside the cafeteria has colorful post-its with drawings by students. As you walk up the staircase to the top floor of the school, there is an array of potted plants sitting on a shelf at the landing. The school just "feels" good! The students reflect that feeling.<br>
<br>
I am becoming increasingly dismayed by the idea of evaluating students and teachers based on standardized testing. By comparing students across the state with a test that by its nature assumes equivalent learning environments, we are not only doing students a disservice but creating incentive for teachers to opt not to teach in those environments where they are not as likely to have high-scoring students. I am particularly concerned by the effect that cuts to education have had on elementary schools. Learning is cumulative. If we do not ensure that students get a solid, quality education rich in resources from the very first years of their learning, we are setting them up for future failure by giving them a weak foundation upon which to scaffold all future learning. We have to do better.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">How can we begin to change? The first step we can all take is to open our eyes, voices, hearts, and wallets and become true advocates for the quality education of all children. Vote for people who place education as a top priority, volunteer in your local schools, lift up best practices at schools where teachers and administrators are going above and beyond, educate yourself about education in general, speak out against the barrage of testing that is now impeding true learning, stop calling art/gym/music/library specials and insist on their essential role in schools, push for education that steers away from packaged curriculum with scripts and worksheets and allows professional teachers to use a diverse array of teaching techniques and resources that adapt for the incredible range of abilities within the modern classroom, and insist on true literacy skills across the curriculum. We have the ability to change our world for the better. The answer lies in ensuring that future generations are given the solid foundation they need.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br></div>
<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-9Xgx14ynfYDauRLWxYLZc0gatZntfZFL7NN8K4TsT9BUn4Co6fkjOo7SMzcY2RIQWvQB0vIsmFUm2JopiDZr0g79I6DtUZRiwEPh9Z-fipUvGKWpHZGmD5BMWRmIjANoS6oCKp2Idf13/s640/blogger-image--1060734559.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-9Xgx14ynfYDauRLWxYLZc0gatZntfZFL7NN8K4TsT9BUn4Co6fkjOo7SMzcY2RIQWvQB0vIsmFUm2JopiDZr0g79I6DtUZRiwEPh9Z-fipUvGKWpHZGmD5BMWRmIjANoS6oCKp2Idf13/s640/blogger-image--1060734559.jpg"></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-16399990796677632992013-04-02T18:16:00.001-04:002013-04-02T18:16:39.123-04:00The Arts in Education<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
I'm finding myself increasingly frustrated by the lack of big picture vision by administrators and planners when it comes to education. I understand that funding is tight. However, it seems as if decisions are continually swayed in favor of testing and numbers rather than looking at balance and the well-being of the whole child. I live in a district that is relatively well-off. We are still maintaining a balanced budget and yet we have cut art education to the core, are looking to strip music education, have a bare bones elementary PE program, and library program and are looking to do further damage. Statistics show overwhelmingly that these subjects are not "specials" as we like to call them in the formative years, but truly developmental in nature. The following mini-documentary on PBS is wonderful and spells that message out loud and clear.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.pbs.org/filmfestival/all-films/live-art/">http://www.pbs.org/filmfestival/all-films/live-art/</a><br />
<br />
<img height="242" src="webkit-fake-url://205D5238-E519-4E77-8E4B-9E14E38CF942/image.tiff" width="400" /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-91429429982379840092013-01-21T10:49:00.001-05:002013-01-21T10:52:25.907-05:00Fitting Into Racial Checkboxes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: x-large;"><i><br /></i></span></b></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJaLitnYCt1D1Jzdb-cFtJ8vQs7JGertHNF0WwWWBW1iS_IvVhW5_Pzrq5VOc0k5MCCX1alBEeMyw8M-B-9Tcmfksh4-to3PLLLYx_H1hvZKp4RuqrH_HmTEACJM0D_o6cdd3VG9mouBLj/s1600/9781554513802.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJaLitnYCt1D1Jzdb-cFtJ8vQs7JGertHNF0WwWWBW1iS_IvVhW5_Pzrq5VOc0k5MCCX1alBEeMyw8M-B-9Tcmfksh4-to3PLLLYx_H1hvZKp4RuqrH_HmTEACJM0D_o6cdd3VG9mouBLj/s320/9781554513802.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: x-large;"><i><br /></i></span></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b><span style="color: purple; font-size: x-large;"><i>It’s Not All Black and White:
Multiracial Youth Speak Out</i><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Georgia;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-large;">By St. Stephen’s Community
House</span></b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://site.annickpress.com/catalog/catalog.aspx?title=It%27s%20Not%20All%20Black%20and%20White">http://site.annickpress.com/catalog/catalog.aspx?title=It%27s%20Not%20All%20Black%20and%20White</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: orange;">Publication date: Sept 1,
2012</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I’ve often felt that we
don’t talk about race enough in our society. Despite the progress we’ve made since the civil rights era
of the last century, we still have little check boxes on all of our job
applications and standardized tests that attempt to classify us by the color of
our skin. The challenge is that so
many of us don’t fit neatly into little check boxes. We are a little of this and a little of that combined to
make up a unique individual. That
is what I loved about this wonderful little book published by Annick
Press. It’s a collection of essays
and poems by multiracial young people written during an ongoing project at the
St. Stephen’s Community House in Toronto.
It is definitely a book for older teens due to the language, but it is a
wonderful, raw, real, emotional, and insightful view of growing up with
multiple racial identities. For
parents raising multiracial teens or school libraries, this is a terrific
resource.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-39440299337819234452012-12-29T11:22:00.000-05:002012-12-29T11:22:06.870-05:00Goodbye 2012<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">2012 – Confronting Monsters and Filling in Holes</span><br />
<br />
Cancer. It is a word that has become all too familiar to most of us. There seems<br />
to be a new fundraising walk or colored rubber bracelet every time I turn around. <br />
It started with pink breast cancer ribbons and yellow Livestrong bracelets. Years<br />
ago, I felt like I was helping out a good cause. It was someone else’s aunt or a<br />
friend of a friend. Then suddenly cancer started striking closer to home. It was<br />
my friend, my aunt, my friend’s dad. Then last December it was my mom.<br />
<br />
Mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The tumor was inoperable. Due to<br />
the proximity of the holidays, they were unable to start her on a chemo routine<br />
until after the first of the year. She finally started the second week of January. <br />
She worked through that first round and through the second round that was<br />
combined with radiation, steadily losing weight. The second round really<br />
knocked the wind out of her and the oncologist suggested she needed a break<br />
before going any further. A few weeks later, as Mom was getting ready to leave to<br />
go to Chicago with my Dad to give a speech before a national group of chaplains,<br />
she fell at the hospital. They still went on the trip and she still gave the speech,<br />
but when they returned, she went on hospice care.<br />
<br />
Mom only lived less than eight months after that diagnosis. Four weeks of that<br />
time she was on hospice care. The rest of the time she was working for the most<br />
part. We had very little real time with her. I think we all have frustrations about<br />
that. My Mom loved being a chaplain. I have no doubt it was the job she was<br />
meant to do. But she was also an amazing Mom. I could talk to her for hours. <br />
My Dad would make fun of us. Likewise she valued my brothers for being the<br />
wonderful special people they are. She was a terrific Grandmother – different for<br />
each individual grandchild. She was proud of each of them for their individual<br />
talents. And she used to tell me that she married “the sweetest man in the<br />
world”, so I can’t imagine she didn’t want to spend time with the man she’d been<br />
married to for 48 years. <br />
<br />
In talking to my sister-in-law over Christmas, she posited that perhaps Mom just<br />
didn’t want to face the truth that she was in fact dying quite so soon. That if she<br />
could just keep going, maybe it would all be OK. And you know, I think she may<br />
be right. My Mom had said to me 2 months before she died that she thought<br />
things were going well and that she’d be around for another Christmas. She was<br />
feeling positive despite the tough bout in radiation. But then the fall at work<br />
came and things began to turn for the worse. Mom had to begin to accept the<br />
inevitable.<br />
<br />
Up until that point, the cancer had been a fairly well kept secret. Only a few very<br />
close friends and family members knew. As Mom went into hospice care, the<br />
news became public and we had to learn how to manage the great inflow of well-<br />
wishers. My younger brother moved into my parents’ home and became a<br />
detailed organizer and my older brother and his family and I juggled time back<br />
and forth. Mom eventually allowed us the honor of caring for her, a task that<br />
sometimes permitted the only alone time during the day with her. I will always<br />
treasure those small conversations snatched during those moments of care<br />
giving. It is still remarkable to me that she was able to make me laugh in some of<br />
those moments, even in discomfort sharing her ineffable sense of humor. <br />
<br />
The day Mom was buried, I walked up to one of my brother’s best friend's from<br />
high school. <br />
As we hugged I said, "When does the hole begin to fill up?" Wiping away the flood<br />
of tears from my face, I added, "I mean, you've lost not one, but two parents to<br />
this crappy disease..." <br />
"I wasn't going to say," he said, "but since you asked...it gets worse; that'll be the<br />
day he goes." And he shrugged toward my Dad. <br />
"Yup," I said, "that will be a worse day." <br />
"Right," he said,"because all of this will come right back at you and you won't<br />
have her to talk to." <br />
"Well," I said, "You better damn well be there." <br />
"God willing I'm still kicking around I wouldn't miss it," he said.<br />
<br />
During the first few months after Mom died, that hole was so huge I thought it<br />
would swallow me up. Perhaps it would have been easier if I’d had a routine that<br />
forced me to march on the way everyone else did. It is getting easier to move<br />
through a world without her, but she is still on my speed dial. I still have voice<br />
mail messages saved. I went out and got another puppy and a few kittens. I<br />
gained a few pounds. I’m starting to burst into spontaneous tears far less<br />
frequently.<br />
<br />
In so many ways, I know I am lucky. I got my mom for 44 years. Some people<br />
lose their mothers when they are children. Some people lose their children. I<br />
was at a bereavement workshop and two women present had lost teenage<br />
children. One died of cancer and the other was hit by a truck. I felt like their loss<br />
must be so much deeper than mine. But perhaps we can’t compare. Loss is loss.<br />
<br />
I knew that this Christmas would be difficult and it was. I missed talking to Mom<br />
in the kitchen most on Christmas Day. Our last conversation was 12 hours before<br />
she died. I was holding her hand and I told her that it was OK to go. I told her<br />
that we would all take care of Dad and that he would be fine. She responded with<br />
a quiet, “OK.” I am so proud of how Dad has taken on living. He shopped for<br />
gifts for everyone and they were all special. He really is doing well, all things<br />
considered. I know that this is the toughest thing he has ever had to go through<br />
and I think Mom would really be smiling to see him living the way he is.<br />
<br />
One of the things Mom and I kept talking about over her last few weeks together<br />
was how life is messy and imperfect. You just never really know what it's going to<br />
dole out. I think that's why life is so tough for the control freaks of the world. <br />
They just can't face the fact that life is never going to be perfect and predictable.<br />
That would be boring anyway. One thing is for certain, Mom made sure life<br />
wasn't boring even when she was dying and uncomfortable at times. She was still<br />
cracking jokes and singing songs 48 hours before she died. Hope I go out the<br />
same way.<br />
<br />
As a librarian, I feel compelled to offer a list of excellent resources for anyone<br />
who may be confronting cancer. These books are all excellent. Patrick Ness’s "A<br />
Monster Calls" has been receiving quite a bit of attention as a book for not only<br />
young adults to read but for adults. The “monster” is a yew tree in the teen’s<br />
backyard that confronts him with life stories as he grapples with his mother’s<br />
advanced battle with cancer. It was originally begun by Siobhan Dowd who died<br />
of cancer. Patrick Ness took her characters and ideas and wrote the book<br />
dedicating it to Siobhan. <br />
<br />
As 2012 closes, may you all have a blessed and wonderful year ahead filled with<br />
all the dreams, hopes, health, and prosperity you can possibly wish for in 2013. <br />
For those of you who’ve had loss, may you begin to fill in those holes just a little<br />
bit more in 2013 and continue to heal your hearts. Happy New Year! Read on!<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj19QP_r-X43sfkPYgDH0ObCSv6X0dXszgjc3ymxOagFShub-k8xuKihWdGq3l4A35WJV_gtYsXrfRbxYjKejgCHmBOFsDP_EyT1lVIUsCppCf3GR3sswuyTZYmjsnHI8JS-zY7n-OxdQno/s1600/Mom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj19QP_r-X43sfkPYgDH0ObCSv6X0dXszgjc3ymxOagFShub-k8xuKihWdGq3l4A35WJV_gtYsXrfRbxYjKejgCHmBOFsDP_EyT1lVIUsCppCf3GR3sswuyTZYmjsnHI8JS-zY7n-OxdQno/s320/Mom.jpg" width="204" /></a></div>
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A Monster Calls<br />
by Patrick Ness<br />
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2200270/A-Monster-Calls-The-<br />
heartbreaking-childrens-book-cancer-adult-read.html<br />
<br />
The Girl Next Door<br />
by Selene Castrovilla<br />
<br />
The Fault in Our Stars<br />
by John Green<br />
<br />
The Probability of Miracles<br />
by Wendy Wunder<br />
<br />
Just One Wish<br />
by Janette Rallison<br />
<br />
Before I Die<br />
by Jenny Downham<br />
<br />
My Sister's Keeper<br />
by Jodi Picoult<br />
<br />
Deadline<br />
by Chris Crutcher<br />
<br />
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl<br />
by Jesse Andrews<br />
<br />
Wake<br />
by Abria Mattina<br />
<br />
I'm Not Her<br />
by Janet Gurtler<br />
<br />
Before I Go<br />
by Riley Weston<br />
<br />
Cancer Slam<br />
by Ansley Dauenhauer<br />
<br />
Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie (Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie #1)<br />
by Jordan Sonnenblick<br />
<br />
After Ever After (Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie #2)<br />
by Jordan Sonnenblick<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-10360201704648189502012-12-28T19:28:00.000-05:002012-12-28T19:28:09.649-05:00 Graphics As a Way to Increase Literacy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: x-large;">Groovy Graphics on the Rise</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I am a huge supporter of
graphic novels in the classroom.
In my opinion, a comic book, graphic novel, or picture book is no less
of a book than a book without pictures.
They are all valid forms of literacy and beautiful art forms in and of
themselves. As we are growing to
appreciate graphics, they continue to grow and diversify from those early
comics. I love the wonderful array
that is beginning to appear. Once
comics were primarily about superheroes but now there are graphic stories in
almost every genre and age group. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I decided to go to ComicCon
NY2012 to do a little browsing a see what I could find about the current
graphic market. Aside from the
overpriced photo/autograph ops with film stars, there were some wonderful talks
by authors at the event. The
authors didn’t charge for their autographs. It was fun to see all of the costumed attendees. I’m not sure I could stand an entire
day of walking around dressed as Wonder Woman, although I do love dressing up
for Halloween. When Chuck Palahniuk
spoke, he tossed out body parts into the audience. Nothing like going home and saying, “Look! I got one of Chuck’s legs!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">What was I most impressed
with at ComicCon from a librarian’s standpoint? The diversity of the current graphic market represented– it has
exploded over the past few years to include so many different types of stories
and reading levels from pre-schoolers to adult. There were an incredible number of up and coming young
artists flooding the market who were exhibiting their work. I am excited because new artists mean
new books. While graphic books can
be digital, they are better when they are not digital. They are part of my argument for the
book not going away any time soon.
It is an art form. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I loved Oni Press. Oni Press has the pulse on new and
fresh graphics that interest me as a school librarian. I took several titles home and like all
of them. <i>XOC</i> by Matt Dembecki is a
terrific book about a great white shark and a sea turtle cruising the
ocean. It is essentially a nature
documentary in graphic novel form and is perfect for the biology classroom and
any age library as a resource on sharks and the ocean. It has a message about the environment
from the animal perspective without over moralizing. It also refers the reader to other resources.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXaBejdqHl5QgLgQ9M7dGGhJJx9Jkax2JdRVMo_92fi-sR3oOX0ixasx2Zsh3clgd06efCCW57PLtOS2VgsEQQrp9i4YTw-oJ6z1qFhvZZyTmR1LAcOq34gnXT126jdXqGp72NPG6bf4M3/s1600/xoc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXaBejdqHl5QgLgQ9M7dGGhJJx9Jkax2JdRVMo_92fi-sR3oOX0ixasx2Zsh3clgd06efCCW57PLtOS2VgsEQQrp9i4YTw-oJ6z1qFhvZZyTmR1LAcOq34gnXT126jdXqGp72NPG6bf4M3/s200/xoc.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Ivy</i><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> by Sarah Oleksyk is a
story about a teen in a small town who is an artist.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">She doesn’t get along with anyone and is dying to get away
to someplace new.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">She develops a
long distance relationship with someone who seems to be her perfect match and
gets a chance to find freedom.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ekbvlrlGrCfape6-wb93jZ7MXaj4dGjY-gI4jxoSZZapOE4jUnq8sn2AAWM5G2JU9AqZSmUq3Cc_i0WaINf-4juHlO9j2DyRYOU77icuCpV604i9_Lw8bntwZm77utnzjGnHKag_dY_j/s1600/IVY-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ekbvlrlGrCfape6-wb93jZ7MXaj4dGjY-gI4jxoSZZapOE4jUnq8sn2AAWM5G2JU9AqZSmUq3Cc_i0WaINf-4juHlO9j2DyRYOU77icuCpV604i9_Lw8bntwZm77utnzjGnHKag_dY_j/s200/IVY-cover.jpg" width="151" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Play Ball </i><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">by Nunzio Defilippis
& Christina Weir, illustrated by Jackie Lewis, is an excellent story about
a girl who wants to play baseball, not softball. With encouragement from her parents, she tries out for the
team and makes it. Although she
faces challenges, she sticks with it and gains support from friends and team
members. It is an inspiring story
that will resonate with many young athletes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdZ56VObcHZv_P_8ICYNKYEri3KWkTxkNkRWl29-DOD7EFRRKXEck04_Aiewnsc-i_Mi9LSpI1Hn1CAkjv2RaDPd_7cutyR9bkfeysF6wRXqxwHgVQTqa5d0PCgGVB4XoytKWGgAVKV_5k/s1600/sidescrollers.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdZ56VObcHZv_P_8ICYNKYEri3KWkTxkNkRWl29-DOD7EFRRKXEck04_Aiewnsc-i_Mi9LSpI1Hn1CAkjv2RaDPd_7cutyR9bkfeysF6wRXqxwHgVQTqa5d0PCgGVB4XoytKWGgAVKV_5k/s200/sidescrollers.jpeg" width="132" /></a><i style="font-style: italic; text-indent: 0in;"></i></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="display: inline !important; margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="text-indent: 0in;"><span style="text-indent: 0in;"><span style="text-indent: 0in;"><span style="text-indent: 0in;"><span style="text-indent: 0in;"><span style="text-indent: 0in;"><span style="text-indent: 0in;"><span style="text-indent: 0in;"><span style="text-indent: 0in;"><i style="font-style: italic; text-indent: 0in;">Sidescrollers</i><span style="font-style: italic; text-indent: 0in;"> <span style="font-style: normal;">by Matt Loux
was on the 2008 YALSA Top Ten Graphic Novel List.</span></span><span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0in;">It is a wonderful story, but it must be read in context and
it is meant for older teens.</span><span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0in;">It
has language and a potential date rape situation.</span><span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0in;">The story is about three boys who hang out together and play
video games who find out that their friend is going to be a victim of date rape
and decide to stand up to the school bully.</span><span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0in;">It is hilarious and the hijinks re not unlike real high
school boys.</span><span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">The book has been subject to
controversy because of its language and sexual content.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">School libraries often face
questions about appropriateness of material.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Librarians rate material for young adults on a scale.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">This particular book does have language
and sexual content, but it is within context.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Having taught in a high school, the language is no
different than the language I hear in the hallways.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">The sexual content is a situation which, unfortunately, is
all too real.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">What is great about
the book is the reaction of these wonderful boys who stand up to a bully in
defense of their friend.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">That is
model behavior and should be lauded.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Finally, from Oni, I love the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Crogan</i><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">
series by Chris Schweizer.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">I
read </span><i style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Crogan’s Loyalty</i><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> & </span><i style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Crogan’s Vengeance</i><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">These terrific books take a fresh look at history for middle
readers.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">They pose questions about
perspective.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Crogan’s Loyalty
places two brothers on opposite sides of the revolutionary war at the same
table in a conversation.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">In
Crogan’s Vengeance Crogan has a to decide whether to stay with a captain with a
grudge or take to the high seas as a pirate.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Middle school readers would benefit greatly from this
series.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPd0-8xRXVOnZV90-FdIYTweTcHBqCm9qCxKVtS_apTb7ELjBJoqVRtBbzWKp-OIQuUCJwBzNDkPFBcM57ELVj-VvPRVeenOvrsiYGGHpQRdTMjR_WRMXiILMc2C2PhPdfVfEQIprsZfDg/s1600/Crogan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPd0-8xRXVOnZV90-FdIYTweTcHBqCm9qCxKVtS_apTb7ELjBJoqVRtBbzWKp-OIQuUCJwBzNDkPFBcM57ELVj-VvPRVeenOvrsiYGGHpQRdTMjR_WRMXiILMc2C2PhPdfVfEQIprsZfDg/s200/Crogan.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Scholastic has the
award-winning talent of Raina Telgemeier.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Her book </span><i style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Smile </i><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">was highly lauded and is the true story of her own trials
and tribulations through dental drama from middle school through high
school.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">She injures her front
teeth in an accident after a fall and has to undergo surgery, braces, and other
dental procedures to fix her teeth over the years.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">What she discovers in the meantime is that looks aren’t
everything and that she has outgrown her friends.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Drama</i><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> is the story of Callie, a middle school student who
loves the theater but can’t sing.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">She decides to join the stage crew as a set designer and makes some
surprising friendships.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVcJGZYtslNuSIdrFDLGlZIvf9HbDuSMmPNGwGGAAGFnntQHDLue0U8MQCfq-sgxILmj75eygtcCvmlhvgsB0maF6QjAnebZQ4iiiOcj1f_jJUstBBI1WMoEkL7fFdQo9itx19qc_IA7v_/s1600/drama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVcJGZYtslNuSIdrFDLGlZIvf9HbDuSMmPNGwGGAAGFnntQHDLue0U8MQCfq-sgxILmj75eygtcCvmlhvgsB0maF6QjAnebZQ4iiiOcj1f_jJUstBBI1WMoEkL7fFdQo9itx19qc_IA7v_/s200/drama.jpg" width="137" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Another beautiful book I
found at ComicCon was </span><i style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">The Stuff of Legend</i><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> by Mike Raicht & Brian Smith,
illustrated by Charles Wilson.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">The
story is set in 1944 as WWII is breaking out in Europe.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">In a little boy’s room in Brooklyn, the
Boogeyman snatches him away</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">and
takes him to the realm of The Dark.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">His toys assemble and stage a rescue led by a toy soldier known as the
Colonel.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">The book was originally
published as separate volumes but can now be purchased as one hardbound
book.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">It is beautifully
illustrated and the story is appropriate for upper middle school through adult.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz1dkYi_qskO1f4st4ayhSfGCstAXjSg19Un1dCS5rawbzbxZBr68pnZJeWq3eCCeuUCINRZf1p7LOXIPQg2O5cg2Lh6a2mIcAQbZOBci-eaeSD5k9U_9fKl2NFqCeOqb-HsMlZUwm7sZf/s1600/stuff-of-legend.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz1dkYi_qskO1f4st4ayhSfGCstAXjSg19Un1dCS5rawbzbxZBr68pnZJeWq3eCCeuUCINRZf1p7LOXIPQg2O5cg2Lh6a2mIcAQbZOBci-eaeSD5k9U_9fKl2NFqCeOqb-HsMlZUwm7sZf/s320/stuff-of-legend.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I’ve also found some fresh
graphics on NetGalley. My two
favorites recently were Diana Thung’s <i>August Moon</i> and Jane Yolen’s new book in
the <i>Foiled</i> series. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Diana Thung’s <i>August Moon</i>
conjures up images of totaro stories from Japan in her classic good versus evil
story where the children save the day against the evil Mr. Monkey.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">The art is fun and whimsical with mostly
black & white drawings.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Those
who enjoy less traditional stories like <i>The Cat Returns</i>, <i>Totaro</i>, and <i>Castle in
the Sky</i> will probably like this story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Curses! Foiled Again</i><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> by Jane
Yolen & Mike Cavallaro is the second book in the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Foiled</i><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> series.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">It continues the adventures of the
young fencer Aliera who finds herself tied to the faerie realm and under the
protection of the high school’s heart throb.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Like </span><i style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Foiled, Curses!</i><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> Is beautifully illustrated with a nail
biting storyline that will keep teens interested from the first page to the
last.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Yolen has written a story
that combines fantasy, non-stop action, romance without making you want to
vomit, and a sense of humor all written in an intelligent and fun graphic
format.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">It’s perfect for teens
looking for a relaxing break from the academic grind.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOpcpRkxKASkBIgqjz6WiEtOn8b7g1smM_phP2Kx_TZbXRYzDc9jZ9jzNlWYU6_0aC_iim05noZGOZkdt8dkQrAyC6Jm5acEKGxFhnkzi_zUXBpUubG5yrXaAahKC9dPxdO8PEx2RF-o6Y/s1600/curses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOpcpRkxKASkBIgqjz6WiEtOn8b7g1smM_phP2Kx_TZbXRYzDc9jZ9jzNlWYU6_0aC_iim05noZGOZkdt8dkQrAyC6Jm5acEKGxFhnkzi_zUXBpUubG5yrXaAahKC9dPxdO8PEx2RF-o6Y/s200/curses.jpg" width="140" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I previously reviewed <i>Picture
the Dead</i> by Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown and still think it is one of the most
beautiful and creative graphics done in recent years, although they didn’t get
nearly the attention I think they deserved. The story is about a young woman who marries a soldier and
he goes off to war. His ghost is
seen in a portrait of the family taken at local photo studio. Is it real?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivzbSsOF7F2zvmz2EfnRlaJdqTskXz9TYy-1G44Pn_0bOT2Eu6-Em2JMYZR3qLK342zCfMby27N7C43cqnefCYwD7cL1sTX1UZzXYMnonnWJfz2GmHJ3fAr2x65P86z6txWK3_U_cK63Pr/s1600/Picture+the+Dead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivzbSsOF7F2zvmz2EfnRlaJdqTskXz9TYy-1G44Pn_0bOT2Eu6-Em2JMYZR3qLK342zCfMby27N7C43cqnefCYwD7cL1sTX1UZzXYMnonnWJfz2GmHJ3fAr2x65P86z6txWK3_U_cK63Pr/s200/Picture+the+Dead.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYR1Y6reYEDr8Esp7FNEjzMxiaqVK58f5eWSPILHwuJ8ZVMKLiZawjyxjtqWCk52paPH4ssRtmMblJN-60iu7ubgae4OoB5-5xy7Rrnt3Y66UINYA5J3mxkQoavwXZFcG06Gk0rxmiqY4p/s1600/ichiro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYR1Y6reYEDr8Esp7FNEjzMxiaqVK58f5eWSPILHwuJ8ZVMKLiZawjyxjtqWCk52paPH4ssRtmMblJN-60iu7ubgae4OoB5-5xy7Rrnt3Y66UINYA5J3mxkQoavwXZFcG06Gk0rxmiqY4p/s200/ichiro.jpg" width="148" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Graphics
have become so popular that YALSA and ALA actually have separate reading lists
for recommended graphics. Two that
I like for middle and high school readers that came out recently are <i>Ichiro</i> by
Ryan Inazana and <i>Chopsticks</i> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">by
Jessica Anthony & Rodrigo Corral.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"><i>Ichiro</i> is the story of a teen living in New York with his Japanese
mother after losing his American father to a war.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">He goes to Japan to visit his grandfather and is out walking
the streets where he finds himself abducted by a monster.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">In a twist on the fall down the rabbit
hole into Wonderland, he wakes up in the realm of gods and immortality.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">The artwork is incredible and the
storyline is thoughtful and original.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Completely different and yet equally compelling, <i>Chopsticks</i> is a story
told through photos, memorabilia, artwork, text messages, YouTube links, notes,
postcards, and brief written passages.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">It tells the story of a young piano prodigy pushed to her limits and a
troubled young boy her age who moves in next door.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">It’s a mystery and an adventure with a surprise ending.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzE_JaryHAiMMHjiqRFCi9lLjm7yMHNFjJ_8kaylkUf3IEGMo0GlxHLdoRfC6m07Oe3OxYJat0jC5h8hsZk_Yk9nN-EhaPULfn8cf9Oebto3V0oeEa_OfNf3qhmHRlUQZWfwal1RIOs0p4/s1600/chopsticks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzE_JaryHAiMMHjiqRFCi9lLjm7yMHNFjJ_8kaylkUf3IEGMo0GlxHLdoRfC6m07Oe3OxYJat0jC5h8hsZk_Yk9nN-EhaPULfn8cf9Oebto3V0oeEa_OfNf3qhmHRlUQZWfwal1RIOs0p4/s320/chopsticks.jpg" width="272" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Elementary readers fell in
love with graphics because of the comedic talents of Mr. Jeff Kinney and his
wonderful cast of characters with whom so many kids can identify.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">He has just released a 4</span><sup style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">
book in the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Diary of a Wimpy Kid </i><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">series - </span><i style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">The Third Wheel</i><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">!</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">So far, Jeff’s books show no sign of
losing popularity, so keep on writing them Jeff!</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">They are flying off the elementary school shelves!</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Readers of Jeff Kinney also tend to
like </span><i style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Big Nate</i><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> by Lincoln Pierce.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxyHOQwY4IQ-ECXzGLeSnHn_IdhmMQc6KKfAclBnaDo4yqs2tHBk-_FQILVuxjO0KI6DwLKQS3Hg_TPSeBl-hzG3xaI_mCMsm-0DHsBBSWmFo0A0VUlxgFhIDnOFYZ62zV7ddCg7vUtqPc/s1600/Nate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxyHOQwY4IQ-ECXzGLeSnHn_IdhmMQc6KKfAclBnaDo4yqs2tHBk-_FQILVuxjO0KI6DwLKQS3Hg_TPSeBl-hzG3xaI_mCMsm-0DHsBBSWmFo0A0VUlxgFhIDnOFYZ62zV7ddCg7vUtqPc/s200/Nate.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-outline-level: 1; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">A new book I found on
NetGalley, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Snorkeling With Sea-Bots</i><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> is a graphic for the pre-school
reader.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">It is simple, cute, and
funny.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Right on target for the
audience!</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Jess Bradley’s
illustrations are adorable.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">What
little one wouldn’t love to find a magic button on the bottom of the ocean
floor one day while snorkeling?</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">There is even a little inside joke for mom and dad with names like Rip
and Eddy for the robots.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">A trip at
the beach may never be the same again.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP4IWYuoKgAObAcZkhlwd8ShsEqHqhAkwfjOgS_akZ90KxRWdp2HhAtKqSFw_LpegAQFluoMbrn8uUqw2unj3J8hckDRlsDpZjHrtEdKgxxkcmqTfCFFgkCTjYSw9QQsMtC-4q_nmyR4oV/s1600/Seabots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP4IWYuoKgAObAcZkhlwd8ShsEqHqhAkwfjOgS_akZ90KxRWdp2HhAtKqSFw_LpegAQFluoMbrn8uUqw2unj3J8hckDRlsDpZjHrtEdKgxxkcmqTfCFFgkCTjYSw9QQsMtC-4q_nmyR4oV/s1600/Seabots.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">These are all just a
sampling of what is available in the growing graphic arena. I hope it inspires you to explore
graphics if you haven’t yet or if you are already a fan, to try some of the new
titles coming out. Encourage your
teachers and libraries to stock up on graphics as a way to keep as many kids
reading for pleasure </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">as poss</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">ible.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">Pleasure
reading is directly correlated to literacy.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">The more kids reading for pleasure, the higher the literacy
rate!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Oni Press<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://www.onipress.com/">http://www.onipress.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i>Ivy</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">By Sarah Oleksyk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.saraholeksyk.com/ivy.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">http://</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;">www.saraholeksyk.com/ivy.html</span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i>Play Ball</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">By Nunzio Defilippis &
Christina Weir illus. by Jackie Lewis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13244793-play-ball">http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13244793-play-ball</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i>Sidescrollers</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">By Matt Loux<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://blogs.slj.com/goodcomicsforkids/2012/09/05/discussion-the-sidescrollers-controversy/">http://blogs.slj.com/goodcomicsforkids/2012/09/05/discussion-the-sidescrollers-controversy/<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i>Crogan’s Loyalty, Crogan’s
Vengeance</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">By Chris Schweizer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://croganadventures.blogspot.com/p/about-books.html">http://croganadventures.blogspot.com/p/about-books.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i>XOC<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">By Matt Dembecki<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://www.panelpatter.com/2012/07/xoc-journey-of-great-white.html">http://www.panelpatter.com/2012/07/xoc-journey-of-great-white.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i>Smile<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i>Drama</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">By Raina Telgemeimer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://goraina.com/">http://goraina.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i>The Stuff of Legend<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">By Mike Raicht & Brian
Smith illus. by Charles Wilson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://www.th3rdworld.com/book/The-Stuff-of-Legend">http://www.th3rdworld.com/book/The-Stuff-of-Legend</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i>August Moon</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">By Diana Thung<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://www.dianathung.com/augustmoon/">http://www.dianathung.com/augustmoon/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i>Curses! Foiled Again</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">By Jane Yolen & Mike
Cavallaro<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://janeyolen.com/works/book-trailer-for-foiled/">http://janeyolen.com/works/book-trailer-for-foiled/<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i>Picture the Dead</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">By Adele Griffin and Lisa
Brown<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-outline-level: 1; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://picturethedead.com/">http://picturethedead.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-outline-level: 1; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-outline-level: 1; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i>Ichiro</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-outline-level: 1; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">By Ryan
Inazana<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-outline-level: 1; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://www.ryaninzana.com/books.html">http://www.ryaninzana.com/books.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-outline-level: 1; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-outline-level: 1; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i>Chopsticks</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-outline-level: 1; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">By
Jessica Anthony & Rodrigo Corral<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/T4j55yz_iZg/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/T4j55yz_iZg&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/T4j55yz_iZg&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-outline-level: 1; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-outline-level: 1; text-indent: 0in;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i>Diary of a Wimpy Kid</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">By Jeff Kinney<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://www.wimpykid.com/">http://www.wimpykid.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i>Big Nate</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">By Lincoln Pierce<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://www.bignatebooks.com/">http://www.bignatebooks.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><i>Snorkeling With Sea-Bots</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">By Amy J. Lemke Illus. By Jess Bradley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-outline-level: 1; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-64620013929809545152012-12-26T16:34:00.000-05:002012-12-26T16:34:52.234-05:00Another Historical Fiction on Fever -- Is It Epidemic?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b><span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-large;"><i>Fever</i><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b><span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-large;">By Mary Beth Keene</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://books.simonandschuster.com/Fever/Mary-Beth-Keane/9781451693416">http://books.simonandschuster.com/Fever/Mary-Beth-Keane/9781451693416</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">In
writing this review let me begin by saying that I love historical fiction
because I believe it allows us to learn about history while at the same time
adding our own ideas about what may or may not have gone through people’s minds
during a certain time period. It allows
an author to bring history to life with his or her own imagination. At the same time, the author is
challenged to do thorough research of events known. It isn’t easy writing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">With the
story of Mary Mallon we have quite a few facts. Her factual story is well-documented and has been studied in
scientific circles for a long time.
The term Typhoid Mary is known even outside scientific circles. Right away I liked the premise of Mary
Beth Keane’s book <i>Fever</i>. She has
sought to create a story about a woman from history who was in a sense
demonized for her behavior and has sought to create a story that humanizes her
actions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Some
readers will walk away after reading <i>Fever</i> and still despise Mary Mallon, but I
think the majority will feel the sympathy that Keane is attempting to
inspire. She is a woman who makes
poor choices, who is blind to the evidence in front of her, but who is also
just trying to make ends meet and survive. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I would
give <i>Fever</i> 5 stars, but it seems to be faulty on some of the factual
information in regard to Soper and how Mary was arrested. Apparently Mary was also pretty clear
that she didn’t wash her hands.
The data about her gallbladder was also inaccurate. In fact, her gallbladder was the source
of typhoid and it was proven by autopsy after she died.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811797762167965502.post-88085757248662746442012-12-26T16:12:00.001-05:002012-12-26T16:12:14.576-05:00A Picture Book About Disasters for the Youngest Set<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="font-family: Georgia; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>Flood</i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">By Alvaro F. Villa</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">With families losing
everything to major disasters around the globe, we are all struggling with how
to talk to our children about them.
There are great books for older children, but what about our youngest
set? <i>Flood</i> is a wonderful new
resource. It is a wordless picture
book beautifully depicting the progression from calm to storm to flood to
rebuilding of a family’s home. It
shows the family leaving their home during the storm and flood and returning to
a home torn apart. The most
important part is that they are together in the picture after the storm and
that they are able to rebuild. The
final picture shows their home rebuilt and happy again. It is a lovely book and will speak
volumes to young children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Melissa Singleton Josef
suburbanbarnyard@verizon.net</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04570857979730838017noreply@blogger.com0