LibWorm.com provides a librarian RSS filtering service. Over 1500 RSS librarian sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest headlines from journals and sites in the Young Adults interest group. http://www.libworm.com/rss/librarianqueries.php Fri, 05 Aug 2011 02:54:20 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://hhsmedia.blogspot.com/2010/12/chill-out-with-good-book.html 'Tis the season for holiday reading. Check out these titles if you're looking for a good read on a cold day! Stop by the media center to see our latest display, Teens' Choice Books: Top Ten of '10. (Source: Huntingtown High School Library Media Center) Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0100 891701 http://hhsmedia.blogspot.com/2010/02/read-all-about-it.html Loooking for something to read today? Teen Tribune features articles and stories written for teens, by teens. Be sure to check out this insightful article published by one of our Hurricane writers! (Source: Huntingtown High School Library Media Center) Thu, 17 Feb 2011 05:00:00 +0100 819508 http://epist.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/halfway-through-12-books-12-months/ Hurray! I have read 6 of my 12 Books 12 Months list.  And with this book I am fully appreciating the benefits of the 12 Books 12 Months idea because without it, I would most likely have gotten lost on reading tangents about sci-fi Jesuits, emotional food, and teenage demi-gods.  And I would completely forget about all these books that the Sara from 6 months ago wanted to read.  With the 12 Books list and the brilliant monthly summaries from E on latter day bohemian (I think those monthly round-ups really play an important role in motivation), I’ve managed to alternate between my whim readings and my planned readings – thus, moving ahead on some goals while also pursuing other spontaneous interests.  It’s a really good feeling. So even though I was very tempted to immediately jump into the sequel to the space traveling Jesuit story, I did myself a favor and picked up Haroun and the Sea of Stories.  I had heard about this book at the ALA Conference this past summer in D.C. when I had the great privilege of seeing Salman Rushdie at an author talk.  He was charming and intelligent, and his story about the beginnings of this book had me hooked. This is a children’s book with some obvious, but playful, political messages.  Rushdie wrote this just after the fatwa against his life was announced, wondering each day if he would see his son again, to whom the book is dedicated.  So we get greasy politicians, evil tyrants, and egotistical princes.  We also get some absolutely delightful bits — like the chapter headings: The Shah of Blah, An Iff and a Butt, and a wonderful nod to Beatles’ lyrics. My timing in reading this book was good and bad.  Bad – the pace and humor of a children’s book felt kind of jarring when I was in the middle of a stressful, high-stakes work week. ... Sun, 23 Jan 2011 20:57:09 +0100 895911 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/s4MPtBfNuIs/recommendation-here-lies-librarian.html Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck (Click here to find a library copy.) Recommendation by Saranjeet Should we keep it?  YES Why?  I definitely think we should keep this book because it keeps the reader interested.  Also, this book has a good story and will probably attract those who love cars. This book was part of the Last Call book display in the teen section during November and December. Thanks to everyone who participated! I took your opinions seriously and kept all the books that people recommended with a YES. I also deleted the one book that got a NO vote. Look for this display again next year! (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Fri, 31 Dec 2010 16:04:00 +0100 895795 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/dec/31/new-year-reading Whether you want to improve yourself or simply get your brain going again after Hogmanay excess, it pays to choose the year's first book carefullyIf you're like me and tend to use literature as a kind of How-to guide to navigate life, then the book one chooses to read at the start of a New Year requires some careful consideration. Perhaps this book will be something worthy to get the brain working again after the excesses of the night before … Or an old favourite to welcome in the new year on a friendly, comforting note … Or perhaps something inspiring to set the tone for the upcoming 12 months and strengthen one's resolve to change and do better … Here then are just a few of the titles you might consider opening up on the first of January.Prick Up Your Ears: The Biography of Joe Orton by John LahrOK, so it doesn't end happily, but Orton's journey from abject failure to dizzying success is utterly inspiring and compellingly told. Lahr's admiration and enthusiasm for his subject is contagious, and if his critical dissections of Orton's work occasionally have the air of the study-note about them, there's always the sparkling wit of the diaries to turn to – or even the plays themselves. A one-off talent triumphing against overwhelming odds.The Memory Chalet by Tony JudtPublished earlier this year (sadly posthumously), historian Tony Judt's memoir was written under the most arduous of conditions: paralysed from a neurodegenerative disorder, Judt composed these warm and intelligent essays in his head during what must have been near-unbearable hours of insomnia and dictated them back the next day. The result is a remarkably positive, life-affirming read, and about as far away from the realms of "misery memoir" as one can get.Lucky Jim by Kingsley AmisAnd so to fiction. ... Fri, 31 Dec 2010 09:00:03 +0100 895783 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/31/top-books-hits-of-2010 No surprise on such a literate site that everybody wanted to read some of the best living authors' advice on writing and worrying about literature in the age of Twitter. Elsewhere readers were compelled by children's books, accidental cookbook racism and allegedly unsuitable dictionariesThe wind howls, the snow swirls, the seagulls are picking their way across the frozen canal outside and it's time once more to look back at the stories you've actually been reading in the year of Freedom, aka the second coming of Franzen. Pausing only to mumble the usual invocations to the gods of number-crunching, in the traditional spirit of honesty and openness, let's wrap up warmly against the chill and investigate the dizzy heights of the year in books.Except, darn it, I've gone and wrecked it all, right there. If only I'd paid a little more attention to our top story of 2010, Ten rules for writing fiction. Take a look at line one. "Never open a book with weather," declares Elmore Leonard, and given the stern nature of his other nine rules ("Never use a verb other than 'said' to carry dialogue", "Never use the words 'suddenly' or 'all hell broke loose', "Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip"), I feel sure that the great man would be equally unforgiving of meteorological openings in journalism.With contributions from luminaries such as Anne Enright, Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman and, um, Jonthan Franzen, which run the gamut from wise to witty, spanning the territory from heartfelt to jaundiced along the way, it's not hard to see why these pithy recommendations have proved so popular. Not only do they contain more good sense than my family cookbook, but they also cast a fascinating light on the way the authors approach the task themselves. Consider Diana Athill, whose "only by having no inessential words can every essential word be made to count" seems only a whisker away from being a motto for life. ... Fri, 31 Dec 2010 09:00:01 +0100 895784 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/ExCAQu_9vjA/closed-for-new-years.html This is just a reminder that the library is closed on December 31, January 1, and January 2 for the New Year's holiday.  Have a great weekend! (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Fri, 31 Dec 2010 05:01:00 +0100 895796 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/Lq-l-pA6rD0/yes-there-is-gaming-club-on-monday.html There WILL BE gaming club on Monday, January 3, at the library from 3:30 to 5:00.  I have no information about dates beyond that, but at least I'll see you then! (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Fri, 31 Dec 2010 00:03:57 +0100 895797 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/4uVfTO4IGNo/gift-card-fundraiser-update.html The Teen Advisory Board is collecting your unwanted or partially used gift cards!  So far, we have collected $29.06 at stores ranging from Borders to Home Depot to Dunkin Donuts.  Do you have old cards filling up your wallet?  Donate them at the library...no amount is too small!  We are accepting cards until January 15.  All donations will buy prizes and supplies for upcoming teen programs!! (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 21:41:00 +0100 895730 http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?rssjobid=16352 Director of Adult Services (The Urbana Free Library, Illinois) The Director of Adult Services at The Urbana Free Library sets direction and oversees daily operations of Adult Services, a department that serves adults and teens from grade 6 and up. The director supervises departmental staff; provides reference, readers’ advisory, and technology assistance; coordinates and shares in collection management and programming; promotes the department and the library to the community; functions as part of the administrative staff; and participates in decision making for the library as a whole. Duties are performed under the supervision of the Executive Director. (Source: Latest ALA Job Listings) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 16:20:02 +0100 895650 http://hhsmedia.blogspot.com/2009/12/make-reading-resolution.html I’m posting this entry just in time for the New Year-- reflecting on my favorite books of 2009 while resolving to read many more in 2010.As the year draws to a close, top picks emerge in annual “best of” lists everywhere. The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) encourages teens to nominate and select their favorite books annually. In 2009, Paper Towns by John Green won the “teen’s choice” award with the most votes.Have you read it yet?Whether you're a fan of books that are romantic or realistic, fantasy-based or futuristic; be sure to check out YALSA's entire list of 2009 Teens’ Top Ten . You can also see Maryland's 2009 Black Eyed Susan nominees for great suggestions. Most of these titles are available to borrow in our HHS media center. Happy New Year! (Source: Huntingtown High School Library Media Center) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 804433 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/GchrF9YBBzE/recommendation-friend-at-midnight.html A Friend at Midnight by Caroline B. Cooney(Click here to find a library copy.) Recommendation by ElizaShould we keep it?  YESWhy?  This is a very insightful book; probably one of the best I've read, and I read a lot of books. This book was part of the Last Call display in the teen section.  Eliza checked it out, read it, and filled out the bookmark with her recommendation.  You can do the same...there are a lot more books that need a boost from readers like you!  Just make sure you get to the library before December 30 to participate. (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 03:27:05 +0100 895584 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/kRiAgQgavIM/board-game-day.html Today, 24 people showed up for our winter board game day! Groups played all kinds of games, including Life, Apples to Apples, chess, checkers, and Scattergories.  A group even tried out my new random game Quelf, with rave reviews.  The deal was that if a group played a game by the rules to the end, the winner would get a box of movie candy.  (For games like chess and checkers, you could only get candy once, even if you played multiple times.)  I gave away 26 boxes of candy, plus we ate our way through four bags of potato chips, several pounds of other candy, and a bunch of soda and lemonade!  The best moments of the day included Saranjeet needing two cars to carry her family in Life, Owen naming one of his Life children "Ke$ha," Kathy singing "Rawhide" while waving her scarf in the air like a lasso, and Janae thinking McCain was a U.S. President.  I also had fun teaching a group how to play Scattergories with the rules.  And, thanks to Jasmine for bringing in Tutti Frutti...dinging that bell was a lot of fun! If you like board games, we'll have them out at the Random-A-Thon in February.  Be sure to sign up! (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 01:55:27 +0100 895582 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~5/h5OhpWBoyBs/3EBCalendar111.pdf This is one papercraft that will last you all year!  Make this cute cube calendar girl, and give her a new face every month in 2011. (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 23:56:00 +0100 895583 http://www.lisnews.org/florida_prison_library_awarded_grant GAINESVILLE, FL: The Alachua County Public Library branch operated at the county jail has been selected to receive a Great Stories Club grant from the American Library Association. As a result of the grant, the county jail will receive free books that are geared toward the young adult inmate population. Major funding for the Great Stories Club has been provided by Oprah Winfrey’s Angel Network. The jail library, an actual branch of the Alachua County Library District, has more than 5,000 books and is very popular among the inmate population. Earlier this month, two juvenile inmates who had conducted their research at the jail library, were recognized by the Gainesville Chapter of the Links Incorporated, for essays they had submitted for a community-wide essay contest. Oprah, show us some of that library love too! OPRAH, LIBRARIES NEED YOU! (Source: LISNews - Librarian And Information Science News) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:30:38 +0100 895865 http://lisnews.org/florida_prison_library_awarded_grant GAINESVILLE, FL: The Alachua County Public Library branch operated at the county jail has been selected to receive a Great Stories Club grant from the American Library Association. As a result of the grant, the county jail will receive free books that are geared toward the young adult inmate population. Major funding for the Great Stories Club has been provided by Oprah Winfrey’s Angel Network. The jail library, an actual branch of the Alachua County Library District, has more than 5,000 books and is very popular among the inmate population. Earlier this month, two juvenile inmates who had conducted their research at the jail library, were recognized by the Gainesville Chapter of the Links Incorporated, for essays they had submitted for a community-wide essay contest. Oprah, show us some of that library love too! OPRAH, LIBRARIES NEED YOU! (Source: LISNews.org) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:30:38 +0100 895565 http://bhplnjbookgroup.blogspot.com/2010/12/questions-today-at-reference-desk.html Do you have any Theodore Dreiser books on tape or CD? No, but we do have Sister Carrie as a downloadable audiobook from Listen NJ. It comes bundled with a self-help tape for depression. No, just kidding.Can you find information about my doctor? Yes, usually we can. We use AMA's Doctor Finder, The American Board of Medical Specialties website and/or the reference books to find educational information, address and phone number of offices and the NJ Office of the Attorney General to find the doctor's NJ license number and status. No, I can't tell you if I like your doctor or not.Can you write this address (patron shows piece of paper with address on it) on this envelope for me? Um, yes, but why? Is it a ransom note? No, I just don't want the addressee to recognize my handwriting.I can't read my handwriting with the information you gave me over the phone yesterday, can you give me the answer again? Yes. What is it with the handwriting problems today?Can you look up 5 people's phone numbers for me? Yes. We use Reference USA, a database of phone and city directories available online to all NJ library card holders from any internet connected computer.Patron calls back later to say several phone numbers did not work. Maybe he couldn't read his handwriting?Why does the copier say it doesn't have any matching paper? I don't know. It often says that, but it's lying.Does the library only have one copier now? Yes. The old copier location became a teen lounge. Alternatively, we could have middle schoolers lounging on the copier.Can you look up this phone number which I don't recognize that was on my caller ID? Patron hands over scrap of paper with scribbled numbers. Yes. It's usually telemarketers calling from a cell phone or unlisted phone, but I can't find this one. Handwriting, people! Do you have a fine tip marker I can use? No. ... Wed, 29 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895738 http://www.readersclub.org/reviews/tresults.asp?id=7791 by Ohno, Apolo“Zero regrets. It’s a philosophy not just about sport but also about life” that fuels Apolo Anton Ohno, the most decorated American Winter Olympic athlete of all time. Both sport and life are intertwined in this autobiography as Ohno traces the path that led from a single parent childhood through difficult teen years to the Olympic podium in three consecutive Winter Olympic Games. He also discusses the rigors of his Dancing with the Stars season and victory. Even though deeply personal, this book offers an informative and entertaining insider view of short-track speed skating, competitive sports training, sports psychology, and instant Olympic fame. Ohno’s story is sure to motivate rising young athletes as well as inspire anyone to live a life of purpose with zero regrets. - reviewed by Kim, University City Regional, PLCMC (Source: Reader's Club's Latest) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 20:10:05 +0100 895384 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/qgLbnTNLN_E/board-game-day-is-tomorrow.html Need to get out of the house?  Come to our board game party at the library on Wednesday, 12/29 from 1 to 4.  Bring your own board or card game, or use ours.  Get candy for every game you win!  Everyone in grades 6 to 12 is welcome, even if you didn't register.  Bring your friends, cousins, neighbors...whoever!  PS--You may have heard/read that I am having some health problems. Don't worry, though! I am pretty much fine, but I have to schedule a surgery next week. Until I know more, all events will continue as planned. (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 19:40:06 +0100 895463 http://engagedpatrons.org/Blogs.cfm?SiteID=4725&BlogID=41&BlogPostID=8187 14-year-old baseball die-hard Kevin Boland is stuck at home with mono. To pass the time, his father, a writer, thinks Kevin might also want to write some things down. Readers learn a lot about Kevin in the passing months as he experiments with poetry using a book "smuggled" from his father's den. His mother has recently died, for one thing. Also, that he's a pretty good athlete and he's made out with girls in the bamboo. Details about life in middle school are slipped effortlessly in lines of haiku, free verse, sonnets, and sestinas. Kevin eventually meets a pretty girl named Mira with whom he is not embarrassed to admit that he enjoys writing poetry, although he would still like to keep it from his baseball team. When they do find out, he earns the nickname "Shakespeare". Recommended for grades 6-10 for fans of baseball and/or poetry. The book might even encourage a few readers to try writing poetry for themselves. Koertge is so clever in explaining how each style of poetry works that readers won't even realize they are learning something, and he makes makes it seem so effortless that you feel like you can do it too. That it is also humorous is an added bonus. This is short and easy-to-read, and would be a good choice for reluctant readers. Teachers might also find this useful in teaching poetry. (Source: Teen Scene from Wright Memorial Public Library) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 14:00:02 +0100 895331 http://engagedpatrons.org/Blogs.cfm?SiteID=4725&BlogID=41&BlogPostID=8189 This is the sequel to Shakespeare Bats Cleanup and picks up where it left off. Kevin is still in denial about his poetry writing and still considers himself an athlete. He's been dating Mira and not sure that he likes it, even though she's cute and his friends think she's cute. She isn't into his poetry and he isn't into her dance class or her new found love for all things green. He begins to go to poetry readings with his father, who has recently begun dating. This books follows the same format as the first, exploring various styles of poetry as Kevin safely explores his feelings. He meets Amy at an open mike night at the bookstore and they quickly become "poetry buddies", talking about poetry and critiquing each other's work. Things become strained as Mira expresses her jealousy, and Kevin meets Amy's "perfect" boyfriend Trevor. Like the first book, a lot of middle school ground is covered. The poems show that Kevin is not thinking exclusively about baseball, even as his team heads for the playoffs. He's not just a jock and he's okay with that. Recommended for grades 6-10. This is short, fun, easy-to-read and humorous. Good for reluctant readers and teachers of poetry. (Source: Teen Scene from Wright Memorial Public Library) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 14:00:02 +0100 895329 http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/026101.html News release: "The birth rate for U.S. teens aged 15-19 years fell to a record low, according to a report... (Source: beSpacific) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895421 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/1zoMAFvnRvA/craft-closet-cleanout.html Last Wednesday, 16 people dropped by for our end-of-the-year Craft Closet Cleanout. We made tons of stuff at the program, and I even let people take things home.  I have a lot of old projects hanging around, so it's good to move them on!  Crafts people made: An adorable (and easy) Christmas papercraft Painted bottle vases Robot keychains Beaded candy cane ornaments Safety pin bracelets Crafts people took home: Necktie belt Dog chew toy Washer zipper pull Beaded flower hairpins Sorry you missed it? Look for Craft Closet Cleanout at the Random-A-Thon in February, as well as on the spring schedule.  Painted bottle vases are still around from this summer, and still popular!  Making safety pin bracelets took FOREVER. Judy's awesome robot keychain--I love the heart! (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 03:31:16 +0100 895320 http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/dec/27/matthew-warchus-matilda Matthew Warchus spent two years turning Matilda into a musical. So was it hard work? Not compared to Lord of the Rings, the director tells Maddy CostaFor many theatre directors, transforming Roald Dahl's 1988 novel Matilda into a musical might feel daunting. But Matthew Warchus appears to be taking it in his stride. There's no arrogance in his composure: it's simply the unexpected benefit of having spent four years heaving the behemoth that was the Lord of the Rings musical on to the stage. "It's made everything else feel straightforward – in a good way." Now that confidence has been justified with huge ticket sales and rave reviews. The production looks likely to transfer from Stratford to the West End next autumn.Warchus doesn't play down the challenges Matilda posed: how to convey the child's magic powers, for instance. He spent a large chunk of the show's two-year development period searching for a composer who could be "clever, scurrilous, a bit anarchic, funny, and make you cry" before settling on comedian Tim Minchin, and another chunk working with playwright Dennis Kelly to smooth Dahl's episodic story – portioned for bedtime reading – so that it doesn't end up "like a cabaret". But, compared with the "extreme" problems of The Lord of the Rings, Matilda was "quite manageable".The Lord of the Rings was no hit, despite a handful of positive reviews from critics who admired its "jaw-dropping theatrical brio". Audience numbers were so low that the Toronto and London productions closed before recouping their multimillion pound costs. Looking back, Warchus has no regrets. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as a director to work on that scale with those resources. ... Mon, 27 Dec 2010 22:00:00 +0100 895220 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pandia/vfbc/~3/3qpfEe2LYmc/3358-7-sites-for-information-on-busnisses-and-organisations.html Whether you are a business owner looking for information on your competition, a consumer wanting to make informed purchases or an information professional or journalist doing research, the call for transparency that has resulted from social media has led to a number of web sites where businesses share their info for free or where customers share their opinions. Here are 10 places to go to find info on all kinds of businesses and organisations. LinkedIn LinkedIn used to be a place to display your business card on-line with the option to add information about your education and past and present jobs. Today, LinkedIn hosts profiles for both businesses and people in addition to groups for discussing all kinds of professional themes. The profiles might also contain information from blogs, presentations from Slideshare and more. Examples: Search Engine Land business profile SEO SEM group Facebook Facebook started out as a web site for freshmen at Harvard to get to know each other. It soon opened to students at other schools and is now open for anyone to join. It is no longer just a place where teenagers share photos from parties. Here in Norway, 50 % of the population has a Facebook profile. This makes the site a great place for businesses to market themselves and for consumers to pool their knowledge. Examples: WikiLeaks’ page Google’s page Wikipedia On LinkedIn and Facebook, the companies themselves write their profiles and can, to a certain extent, control the content. Wikipedia has guidelines that prevent people with close ties to a business from editing the article about that particular company. Examples: British Petroleum Nestlé Youtube Every minute 24 hours of video content is uploaded to YouTube. ... Mon, 27 Dec 2010 15:36:51 +0100 895392 http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/dec/27/what-happened-next-feminism-women A great year for women? Twelve months ago we predicted that it would be. Were we right?This time 12 months ago we promised it was going to be the biggest year in feminism ever. So was it? Er, sort of. We weren't wrong about it being a celebratory year. But our predictions of the feminist events to watch in 2010 were a bit hit and miss. Where did we strike gold? The significance of the movie Precious, the story of an overweight, illiterate teenager in 80s Harlem, pregnant by her abusive father ("primarily female cast", "a must-see", we said). Come the Oscars, the film won six nominations and two awards. What did we overestimate? The impact of Drew Barrymore's directorial debut Whip It! ("a great film"). That turned out to be a bit of a howler. The film went right under the radar, more's the pity.So what else did we get right? Well, it was always going to be a bumper year and maybe we could have even got a bit more excited about it. 2010 marked the 40th anniversary both of the publication of Germaine Greer's still controversial The Female Eunuch and of Kate Millett's landmark Sexual Politics. It was also four decades since the agenda-changing first ever National Women's Liberation conference. This killer combination of events galvanised campaigning groups everywhere and if anything our predictions of a feminist bonanza in 2010 underestimated the resurgence of grassroots activism.The first ever Feminism Summer School, hosted by UK Feminista in July, was a major success, picking up international coverage. And the Reclaim the Night movement was invigorated in force, with more than 2,000 women attending candlelit vigils in central London in November, where DJs kept the crowds going until 2am. Meanwhile more than 1,000 people attended London Feminism Network's October conference. ... Mon, 27 Dec 2010 08:00:17 +0100 895143 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/WOPjM9F9oX8/library-closed-monday-1227.html There's already no school, but the Upper Darby Libraries are getting a snow day!  All three branches (Sellers, Municipal, Primos) are closed on 12/27.  So, I hope you have plenty to read!!!  (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Mon, 27 Dec 2010 04:41:06 +0100 895217 http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/dec/26/elisabeth-beresford-obituary Prolific writer who enjoyed her greatest success with the recycling WomblesElisabeth Beresford, who has died aged 84, enjoyed her greatest success with the creation of the Wombles. The family motto of the colourful underground creatures – "making good use of bad rubbish" – sprang from a concern of the writer's that chimed with the growing ecological awareness of the next four decades. Famously, the inspiration for the figures came on a Boxing Day walk on Wimbledon Common, south-west London, during which her daughter, Kate, misnamed it Wombledon Common.As elsewhere with Beresford's work, the point of departure was real – here, the place and the characters, largely drawn from uncles, grandparents, siblings and her children: Marcus, her son, genial and interested in food, inspired Orinoco; Kate inspired Bungo, a strong character in the books, though not in the films.Their underground and above-ground adventures begin simply; in The Wombles (1968) the characters do little more than potter about tidying up, braving humans and dogs when necessary. Gradually, over the next 10 years, the adventures become more ambitious and more far-flung in titles such as The MacWomble's Pipe Band and The Wombles Go Round the World (both 1976).As often happens, the early home-based books worked best, since their clear message – the importance of litter collection and recycling that Beresford believed in passionately – was at their heart. Then in its infancy and largely confined to an alternative lifestyle, the theme transformed what was essentially the story of a spirited and likable but conventional family with old-fashioned values into one with an original and contemporary edge to it. It spread the message of recycling to a wide market and touched a chord with many readers, who went on to set up Womble Cleaning Up Groups on Wimbledon Common and elsewhere. ... Sun, 26 Dec 2010 18:18:00 +0100 895075 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/psazeThDrQ0/review-thirteen-reasons-why.html Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (Click here to find a library copy.) SUMMARY:  Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch.  Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker--his classmate and crush--who committed suicide two weeks earlier.  Hannah's voice explains that there are thirteen reasons she decided to end her life.  Clay is one of them.  If he listens, he'll find out why.  Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide.  He becomes a first-hand witness to Hannah's pain, and learns the truth about himself--a truth he never wanted to face.  (from the inside flap) OPINION:  This book has been on my to-read list for several years and I finally checked it out of the library. I like to read realistic fiction with a psychological edge and this book definitely fit the bill.  As secret after secret is revealed on the tapes in the book, the reader experiences it from the points of view of both Hannah and Clay.  The layers of tension kept me reading, even though I had much more sympathy for Clay than Hannah.  I thought the structure of the book was a bit false, the audio tapes acting a bit too overtly as a device to tell Hannah's side of the story after her death.  However, that same weakness is what gives the reader insight into some of life's big questions, like why people commit suicide and what responsibility we bear for our own actions.  Ultimately, I think this is a good read for those interested in puzzling out the "whys" behind people's personalities and actions.   SIMILAR READS: Deadline by Chris Crutcher If I Stay by Gayle Forman Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Sun, 26 Dec 2010 18:17:00 +0100 895072 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/26/literacy-booksforchildrenandteenagers Politicians say they are saddened by children's lack of literacy, and yet they are cutting the book gifting schemeGiven we have cuts in the educational maintenance allowance, housing benefit and myriad other areas of public life, cutting the book gifting scheme may seem irrelevant to many. However, given our politicians' sadness at the poor reading skills of our children, these cuts are very short-sighted.Booktrust, the charity that oversees these schemes (Booked Up, Booktime, Letterbox Club and Bookstart) has a wealth of knowledge and research about how they work and the good they do. The schemes encourage a love of reading from babyhood onwards. That's why so many countries around the world – including Colombia and Uganda – have copied them. We are so used to hearing governments tell us literacy rates are falling, so why, in heaven's name, cut something that is proven to help?The schemes cater for children at every stage – from Bookstart, which offers the very best picture books to babies via health centres, Booktime for four- to five-year-old children when they start school, Letterbox Club, which offers regular parcels of books to looked-after children of all ages, to Booked Up for 11-year-olds.I am an author who has had her work selected for Booked Up, and has taken part in the selection process (in a different year, naturally). To those of us fortunate enough to have children with heaving bookshelves and well-used library tickets, book gifting might seem like a luxury. I expect most Tory – and Liberal Democrat – politicians have never been in a house without books, have never come across children who have not been able to choose books to own rather than just borrow.Booked Up has done amazingly good things for children all over England. It offers 11-year-olds the choice of one of 12 top-quality books to own for free. ... Sun, 26 Dec 2010 00:06:08 +0100 894992 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/dec/24/government-against-reading The withdrawal of funding from Booktrust's free books programmes recklessly ignores the all-round educational benefits of booksThe government has just cut all funding of the free book projects administered by Booktrust – the independent charity that provided millions of children with free books.People will remember Michael Gove speaking at the most recent Conservative Party conference calling on schools to be places where children read great authors, such as Dryden and Pope. Though some of us were a little mystified as to why he had plucked those two particular authors from the pile, I for one thought for half a moment that perhaps this government was going to set out its stall as a champion of the reading of literature. As the Guardian recorded, I tried on several occasions to interest first Ed Balls and Jim Knight, then Vernon Coaker in the idea of the Education department asking schools to develop their own policies on reading for pleasure.Reading for pleasure can easily sound like some kind of wishy-washy, soft option, while instructional stuff like learning-to-read through "synthetic phonics" and endless worksheets requiring children to answer questions about the facts in short passages, sounds tough and purposeful. In actual fact, as the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) research of 2006 showed, children who read for pleasure achieve better school performance than those that don't.How come? Because literature takes children into abstract thought in two key ways. Firstly, it marries ideas with feelings: while the reader is caring about what happens, the scenes and the flow of the book deal with ideas of, say, anger, fear, jealousy, justice, compassion and much, much more. Secondly, it gives rise to what we can call "acts of comparison". Any child who reads widely, often and for pleasure will inevitably make comparisons between what they're reading, why they're reading and how they're reading. ... Fri, 24 Dec 2010 12:23:59 +0100 894798 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/audio/2010/dec/09/callow-jacobson-self-armitage-mieville As we come to the end of the first full year of the Guardian books podcast we take a look back at some of the highlights.We talk comic writing with Booker winner Howard Jacobson, put the novelist and essayist Will Self on the psychiatrist's couch, and hear from the poet Simon Armitage, who tells us what what the elf said to Kevin in his latest collection.As part of an occasional series, The Books that Made Me, we also find out about the surrealist artist who made an indelible impression on the teenage China Miéville, now one of the UK's leading science fiction writers. We also delve into theatre anecdote with Simon Callow, and venture out to South London to find out what the potter Edmund de Waal has to say about his "hidden inheritance" of Japanese netsuke.Reading listThe Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance, by Edmund de Waal (Chatto & Windus)The Finkler Question, by Howard Jacobson (Bloomsbury)My Life in Pieces, by Simon Callow (Nick Hern)Walking to Hollywood, by Will Self (Bloomsbury)Seeing Stars, by Simon Armitage (Faber)China MiévilleClaire ArmitsteadSarah CrownTim Maby (Source: Guardian Unlimited Books) Fri, 24 Dec 2010 11:00:42 +0100 894796 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/9s8BIE1ugiM/no-gaming-club-on-monday.html Due to some unforseen medical issues, I will not be at the library on Monday, December 27.  There will be NO Gaming Club that day.  Check back next week for details about Mondays January 3 and 10.  Sorry!  (You know I hate to do this.) (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 23:39:59 +0100 894775 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/iRcS/~3/JJ-M_UFuMcQ/teen-librarian-monthly-december-2010.html Teen Librarian Monthly: December 2010 is now available for download (Source: Peter Scott's Library Blog) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 21:38:52 +0100 894740 http://www.teleread.com/drm/looking-back-at-a-look-ahead-my-e-book-piracy-prognostications-from-2006/ I was just looking back at a post I made in August of 2006—my first post here as a regular contributor, in fact. This came well before the advent of the Kindle, and was sparked off by a discussion of e-book piracy on the eBook Community email list. It’s interesting to look back on it in light of the sea change in e-book demand brought about largely by the Kindle, Nook, and (more recently) iPad. The article was a discussion of the relative e-piracy situations between music, movies, and e-books. My thesis was that, at the time the article was written, the music and movie industries were worrying a lot more about e-piracy than the publishing industry, largely because there was relatively little demand for e-books at the time. I looked at the philosophy of the Pirate Party, who admitted that file sharing could harm rights holders—but so could progress in general. They felt it was not their job to come up with a new business model for rights holders, but rather to make the flawed current system untenable so the rights holders would have to innovate. I also brought in some interesting survey results that showed significantly more teenagers believed it was legal to copy CDs or movies their friends paid for than ones their friends got for free. And I compared the birth of piracy of music and movies to the state of e-book piracy. Whereas the music and movie industries immediately felt threatened by Napster and Gnutella, mp3 and DeCSS/DivX, book scans had been circulating on the Internet since well before Sean Fanning’s last haircut but—apart from certain irascible types—no one in the publishing industry seemed to feel threatened enough to take action. Why? Because unlike e-music and e-movies, e-books currently fail to offer a compelling experience in comparison to their original format. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 18:57:49 +0100 894759 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/3jo9cBczYsM/new-books-continued.html Another pile of books just turned up in my office, so look for these on the teen shelves: FICTION Jason and Kyra by Dana Davidson (replacement copy) Played by Dana Davidson (replacement copy) Hustlin' by L. Diving (Drama High series; replacement copy) Second Chance by L. Diving (Drama High series; replacement copy) Seven Paths to Death by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler Promise Kept by Stephanie Perry Moore (Perry Skky Jr. series) Staying Pure by Stephanie Perry Moore (Peyton Skky series; replacement copy) Sweetest Gift by Stephanie Perry Moore (Peyton Skky series; replacement copy) Fast Forward by Celeste O. Norfleet (Kimani Tru) Homeboyz by Alan Lawrence Sitomer (replacement copy) Crashed by Robin Wasserman GRAPHIC NOVELS Vampire Knight, volume 11, by Matsuri Hino Bleach, volume 33, by Tite Kubo NONFICTION No Choirboy:  Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row by Susan Kuklin (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:04:00 +0100 894776 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/dTJJL/~3/JJ-M_UFuMcQ/teen-librarian-monthly-december-2010.html Teen Librarian Monthly: December 2010 is now available for download (Source: Peter Scott's Library Blog) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895672 http://ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/12/virtual-worlds-for-kids-research.html Bernadette, aka hvxsilverstar, alerted the Librarians-In-Singapore list members to a special "Virtual Worlds for Kids" issue of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research on "Virtual Worlds for Kids". The accompanying note from the Editor-In-Chief: "... We hope this volume of scholarship will provide much needed insight into the ever increasing use of virtual worlds by kids (3-14 years old), which represents a significantly larger market share than virtual worlds use by adults."Incidentally, the journal is licensed under a CC-BY-NC-ND license.The issue's guest editors were Dr. Sun Sun Lim (National University of Singapore) and Dr. Lynn Schofield Clark (University of Denver).THINK-ALOUDI thought the journal articles was timely, in light of recent articles I read about kids and teens not taking to twitter and blogs. The peer-reviewed articles contains lots of thinking points in the context of libraries.For instance, in Diana Burley's "Penguin Life: A Case Study of One Tween’s Experiences inside Club Penguin", this para on page 12 caught my eye:"Penguin life has been interesting. It has presented a dynamic backdrop for the exploration of how personal, behavioral and environmental factors have influenced the development of my tween daughter’s social identity, and of how the platform of Club Penguin makes it easy to experiment with identification, and more challenging to read social cues that relate to those identifications."And also, page 11:"Racial identification similarly changes, so that young people are challenged to see that race may not be solely related to appearance but may also be related to one’s choices and particularly to the affiliations one chooses. In Club Penguin, race as manifested through the penguin body color is a seen as a legitimate reason for gathering and for exclusion. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894975 http://blog.njla.org/archives/2010/12/#001037 http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org By Leonard Kniffel A gift from American Libraries magazine of one dozen ideals toward which libraries strive. 12/21/2010 Americans love their libraries, and advances in technology have multiplied the ways in which libraries enrich the quality of life in their communities. Whether they are in an elementary school or a university, a museum or a corporation, public or private, our nation’s libraries offer a lifetime of learning. To library supporters everywhere—Friends, trustees, board members, patrons, and volunteers—American Libraries magazine offers this gift of 12 ideals toward which librarians strive as they provide comprehensive access to the record of human existence. It will take all of us, in a spirit of pride and freedom, to maintain libraries as a living reality in a free nation through the 21st century. 1. Libraries sustain democracy. Libraries provide access to information and multiple points of view so that people can make knowledgeable decisions on public policy throughout their lives. With their collections, programs, and professional expertise, librarians help their patrons identify accurate and authoritative data and use information resources wisely to stay informed. The public library is the only institution in American society whose purpose is to guard against the tyrannies of ignorance and conformity. 2. Libraries break down boundaries. Libraries of various kinds offer services and programs for people at all literacy levels, readers with little or no English skills, preschoolers, students, homebound senior citizens, prisoners, homeless or impoverished individuals, and persons with physical or learning disabilities. Libraries rid us of fences that obstruct our vision and our ability to communicate and to educate ourselves. 3. Libraries level the playing field. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894703 http://santafelibrary.blogspot.com/2010/12/i-comics.html Yes, I admit it, I love comic books! Like many kids, I grew up on Archie comics, simple stories with bright colors, and in conjunction with picture books that's how I learned how to read. When I grew out of the Archies, all that was available were superhero comics. Now, while I loved the Wonder Woman TV show and the Super Friends cartoons, the comic books weren't quite to my taste. So, alas, I put the comic books aside in favor of "real books" such as novels, non-fiction, poetry, and of course, schoolwork.Thankfully, a college friend introduced me to Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. With stories that dovetailed nicely with the mythology and literature classes I was taking, and breathtaking art that made the Archie comics look like doodles, I was immediately hooked. I was soon seeking out interesting, intelligent, and beautifully-styled comic books on a weekly basis. When I'd travel to another city, I'd load up on "graphic novels", an emerging literary form that was giving those flimsy funny books a more substantial binding and cover.Many years later, comics and graphic novels that were once hard to find have now hit the mainstream. Hollywood regularly adapts some of my favorite tomes for the big screen with mixed results. K-12 teachers are using graphic novels in the classroom, both to assist struggling readers and to teach these beautifully crafted stories as literature. Advances in printing and publishing technology have surely helped, but I think we've also gone full circle: back to a golden age of books, when illuminated manuscripts demonstrated that information and tales can be presented beautifully.While we may not be as knowledgeable as some of the folks at True Believers and other comics shops, we do have quite a collection of graphic novels for all ages and tastes. Many of our books, including manga and superhero series, are in an easy-to-browse section of the Young Adult collection. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894680 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/23/in-praise-of-booktrust Through its gift programmes for children the charity distributed around 6m books last year to toddlers and teenagersThe best work done by Booktrust does not sound like much: it gives new books to young children. But it amounts to a lot: toddlers gain their first exposure to the published word, primary-school pupils get shiny new novels to cart around – and families who otherwise would have little in the way of shared entertainment gain a new means of communication. Through its gift programmes for children – Bookstart, Booktime and Booked Up – the charity distributed around 6m books last year to toddlers and teenagers. Since the initiative began in 1992 it has also been copied in 24 other countries – from Australia to Qatar. A success story, then; except that the government has just announced it will axe all of its £13m funding for the English schemes from next April. It is hard to know which aspect of this decision is more perplexing: the fact that the announcement was made without warning last Friday, leaving Booktrust just over three months to cobble together alternative funding; or that government ministers have previously made such warm noises about the schemes' encouragement of reading (Nick Clegg was snapped chatting away at the Booktrust stall at the last Lib Dem party conference). Or, perhaps, that a programme where a small amount of public money helps bring in tens of millions more in private-sector cash now faces a very uncertain future. Public and private sectors combining to provide a public good: wasn't that meant to be what the "big society" was all about?Charitiesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (Source: Guardian Unlimited Books) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 00:23:00 +0100 894466 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/FV8FWb_dBHQ/new-books-are-still-arriving.html Another giant pile of new books is coming through processing, so check out the latest: Blessings in Disguise by ReShonda Tate Billingsley (Good Girlz series) Fair-Weather Friends by ReShonda Tate Billingsley (Good Girlz series) Nothing but Drama by ReShonda Tate Billingsley  (Good Girlz series) With Friends Like These by ReShonda Tate Billingsley (Good Girlz series) Holidaze by L. Divine (Drama High series; replacement copy) The Pact by Monica McKayhan (Kimani Tru) Hotlanta by Denene Millner and Mitzi Miller (replacement copy) Prayed Up by Stephanie Perry Moore (Perry Skky, Jr. series) She Said, She Said by Celeste O. Norfleet and Jennifer Norfleet (Kimani Tru) I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett (Tiffany Aching series) A Boy Called Twister by Anne Schraff (Urban Underground series) To Be a Man by Anne Schraff (Urban Underground series) If I Were Your Boyfriend by Earl Sewell (Kimani Tru) The Pledge by Chandra Sparks Taylor (Kimani Tru) (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:20:00 +0100 894430 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BabyBoomerLibrarian/~3/dyBYawTF2qs/position-opening-jobs-librariantrainer.html MID YORK LIBRARY SYSTEM LOCATED IN UTICA, NEW YORK IS SEEKING CANDIDATES FOR THE FOLLOWING POSITION:Job Title:         Public Computing Center (PCC)/Mobile Public Computing Center (mPCC) Outreach and Digital Literacy Librarian/Trainer. For information about the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP) through which this position is funded see: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/nybbexpress/index.html  Classification:  Full Time, ExemptReports To:  DirectorPrincipal Purpose:  To support the mission and vision of the Mid York Library System. This position champions communications, customer service, and responsiveness in daily interactions between and among staff, the public, and member libraries.  General Description of Expectations: The person in this position independently and efficiently creates and implements training programs for the Mid York Library System’s Public Computing Center (PCC) and for the mobile library-based Public Computer Center (mPCC) targeted vulnerable populations. Areas of instruction will include, but not be limited to:  Basic computer use; innovative online technologies; effective use of the Internet to perform critical online functions such as e-mail, online job applications, e-government services; use of online and print training and employment resources; online library services, English as a second language, etc.The successful candidate will have the ability to think critically regarding the needs of the targeted audiences and develop instructional materials and information accordingly. ... Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:27:00 +0100 894503 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/dec/22/little-women-louisa-may-alcott Its self-improving message may sound irritatingly pious, but in Jo there's also a pioneering spirit to love"'Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents,' grumbled Jo, lying on the rug."And so begins Little Women and the tale of the March sisters: pretty, vain Meg, tomboy Jo, self-centred Amy and saintly little Beth. We meet them on Christmas Eve 1861, as they bemoan their genteel poverty, the lack of pretty things in their lives and the absence of their father, who is serving as a chaplain in the Union army.Nonetheless, this being an improving book, the girls quickly pull themselves out of the doldrums and decide to spend their hard-earned dollar apiece on presents for their beloved Marmee. Christmas ends up being a perfectly jolly time with "a great deal of laughing and kissing and explaining, in the simple, loving fashion which makes these home-festivals so pleasant" – even if Marmee has given away the Christmas breakfast to a poverty-stricken family who will later infect and nearly kill Beth with scarlet fever.We follow the Marches through the year as they become friends with their next-door-neighbour, the Laurence boy, get into scrapes, are shocked when some visiting "Englishers" cheat at croquet, and generally learn how to be better "little women". Loosely structured on John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, the girls also learn about their own character flaws and how to overcome them, from Meg's discovery that money does not bring happiness to Jo's struggle to keep her temper in check.It may sound too sickeningly pious for words, and it's true that, rereading it as an adult, Marmee's little homilies can be hard to swallow, but there is something wonderful that saves the story from drowning in a sea of sentimentality: Jo.Alcott herself was the second of four daughters, a feminist and abolitionist, and it's said that the character of the headstrong bookworm is semi-autobiographical. ... Wed, 22 Dec 2010 12:40:55 +0100 894376 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/22/nikesh-shukla-top-10-anglo-asian-books From Hanif Kureishi to Helen Walsh, the novelist celebrates books that find room for naked raves and Bruce Springsteen as well as wrangles over arranged marriagesNikesh Shukla is a writer, performance poet and filmmaker. His writing has appeared on radio and television and his film The Great Identity Swindle, co-directed with Videowallah, won best short film at the Satyajit Ray Foundation awards in 2009. He lives in north London. His first novel, Coconut Unlimited, is shortlisted for this year's Costa first novel award."If we've been told anything ever in our lives ever, it's that Anglo-Asian books will cross swords with themes of cultural identity and dual heritage, repressed marriages and there will be at least one mystical encounter in a mangrove swamp. Probably with mist. Anglo-Asian books are more than these stereotypes."Writing my own debut meant doing the entire opposite of all those things, throwing them out and doing a Hornby, or a Coe, filling the soundtrack with Public Enemy and steeping the drama in suburban nausea. These books deal with the diversity of Anglo-Asian themes and take us to communes, squats, concerts, Mumbai, even Tunbridge Wells. Not a banyan tree in sight. And it's not just the brown boys and girls getting involved. Multiculturalism is so embedded in our culture that writers like William Sutcliffe are considering themes of racism and spiritualism. Anglo-Asian books are beyond being about Asians in England. They're about the marrying of cultures, about understanding of the world we live in and its changing boundaries.1. Hanif Kureishi - The Black Album (Faber)While The Buddha of Suburbia is a masterfully comic tale of rise and fall that loves its characters, there's something a lot more sinister about The Black Album, making it the oddball in his output. ... Wed, 22 Dec 2010 11:17:38 +0100 894377 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/dec/22/jesus-buddha-japan-manga-novel A new manga novel lightheartedly depicting the two as everyday young men may inadvertently raise interest in religion in JapanWhat would Jesus and Buddha do if they were suddenly thrust into contemporary society, and how would they react to what they found?Japanese author-illustrator Nakamura Hikaru has sketched an answer to this provocative question in a very popular manga, or illustrated serial novel, entitled Saint Young Men (Seinto oniisan).Nakamura (her surname) depicts the adventures of the two religious founders as they room together in Tachikawa (a suburb west of Tokyo) while vacationing in Japan.Humour, rather than veneration, sets the tone for the series, which is replete with visual gags and puns. For example, when the roommates discover that the prizes they have won at a shrine festival are cheap imitations of coveted handheld videogames, Nakamura quips: "The two were enlightened as to the true flavour of Japanese festivals," playing on a double sense of the word daigomi, which can either mean sublime Buddhist teaching or – more colloquially – the "true charm" of something.Similarly, quirky interactions that juxtapose episodes from Jesus' ministry with hilarious social faux pas provide opportunities to chuckle. When Jesus says that he "just wants to wash his [disciples'] feet," a local gangster who overhears him misinterprets this phrase in its figurative sense as an indication of one's desire to start afresh after a life of crime. Jesus, oblivious to this misunderstanding, unwittingly gains notoriety among the mob as a particularly tough villain.Nakamura's protagonists, though saintly, are hardly infallible. Jesus' all-encompassing love makes him excessively enthusiastic (Nakamura portrays him as a compulsive shopaholic), while Buddha's ascetic tendencies make him seem – as the back of one volume states – like "the parsimonious lady next door". ... Wed, 22 Dec 2010 10:00:00 +0100 894378 http://web.docuticker.com/go/docubase/62799 U.S. Teen Birth Rate Hits Record Low in 2009, CDC Report Finds Source:  National Center for Health Statistics The birth rate for U.S. teens aged 15-19 years fell to a record low, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 2009 birth rate of 39.1 births [...] (Source: Docuticker) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:23:00 +0100 894407 http://librarywriting.blogspot.com/2010/12/call-for-papers-childrens-and-young.html Call for Papers Children’s and Young Adult Literature and Culture for the PCA/ACA & Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture AssociationsJoint ConferenceApril 20-23, 2011San Antonio, TXhttp://www.swtxpca.org/You may submit your proposals online by going to the conference event management database, here: http://ncp.pcaaca.org/Once in the database, create an account, and then submit a proposal. For submitting to this area, please use the pull down menu for the Topic Area: choose the one that reads: Children's/Young Adult Literature and Culture (Dominguez). This will make sure your presentation is submitted to my area for programming purposes (the national PCA/ACA also has a children's literature and culture area).You may also submit proposals to me directly:Dr. Diana Dominguez, Area ChairE-mail submissions preferred:gypsyscholar@rgv.rr.comPlease put SWPCA Submission in e-mail subject line.Proposal submission deadline extended to: December 31, 2010Conference hotel: Marriott Rivercenter San Antonio101 Bowie StreetSan Antonio, Texas 78205 USAPhone: 1-210-223-1000Now accepting proposals for the Children's and Young Adult Literature and Culture area of the Southwest/Texas Popular Culture/American Culture Associations Conference. This area is not limited to proposals/papers about traditional literature; children's and young adult culture can encompass a myriad of media: books, television, film, computer/internet culture, fan fiction, toys, marketing issues, music, comics and graphic novels, and non-fiction mediums like documentaries, non-fiction books or magazines, textbooks, television non-fiction shows. Theoretically-based papers about the very nature of "children's" and "young adult" categories/genres also encouraged. ... Wed, 22 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894986 http://rabid-librarian.blogspot.com/2010/12/every-wonder-how-to-determine-correct.html This picture does it: An Illustrated Guide To ESRB E=Everyone-A woman's face T=Teens-A woman's partially covered cleavage M=Mature-A pixelated look at a woman's nether regions A=Adult-Tentacles and legs (Source: The Rabid Librarian's Ravings in the Wind) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894553 http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?rssjobid=16291 Librarian/Branch Manager I (Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Maryland) PGCMLS seeks a dynamic, innovative and enthusiastic branch manager with demonstrated interest in working with technology and the ability to develop and maintain effective relationships with diverse groups. The successful candidate will develop and oversee new, innovative and community-responsive programs for the customers of the Hillcrest Heights Branch in Temple Hills, Maryland. The Library System will pilot an exciting service model at the Hillcrest Heights Branch to bridge the information needs of the community with technology. ... Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:05:02 +0100 894262 http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?rssjobid=16284 Librarian, Adult and Teen Services (Oak Park Public Library, Illinois) The Oak Park Public Library seeks a dynamic, service-oriented librarian to join our busy Adult and Teen Services (ATS) department.  All ATS librarians perform collection development, reference, readers/viewers/listeners advisory, programming and outreach.  Due to retirement, we are seeking a self-starter with nonfiction/reference expertise.  Visit http://www.oppl.org/about/jobs.htm for complete posting. Full-time position including weekends and evenings. Salary begins at $40,622 with excellent benefits. Requirements: ALA-accredited MLS.  Excellent communication, team work, and technology skills.  Knowledge of nonfiction literature and reference sources.  Strong customer service, reference and collection development skills. ... Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:05:02 +0100 894261 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kraftylibrarian/OLay/~3/g8ukLCvVfxo/ So if you had any questions as to who is on Facebook and Twitter, this graphic  from DigitalSurgeons.com (technology company, not actual surgeons) shows some interesting information about Facebook and Twitter users.  Of the 500 million Facebook users 41% login every day and almost a third of them log in through a mobile device.  Women use it a little bit more than men, and the 18-34 year olds are the biggest users representing 52% of the usage combined.  This interesting and I am starting to notice real world examples supporting the average usage age.  In my personal life I am starting to notice that some in this age group will answer Facebook messages more often than regular email.  Twitter is a fifth of the size of Facebook with only 106 million users.  A slightlyolder crowd uses Twitter, the 26-44 year olds are the largest group at 57% combined.  Only 27% of the users login every day but of those that login over half (57% update their status).  While only 25% of the users follow a brand on Twitter, that group is extremely loyal, 67% of the followers will purchase that specific brand.  Compare that with the higher number of brand followers on Facebook (40%) who are less loyal and purchasing that specific brand (51%).  So what does this mean for libraries, medicine, and hospitals?  One look at the age tells you that Facebook and Twitter are not solely the realm of teenagers.  Adults are using it and make up the largest group of users.  So it stands to reason that our library users are on Facebook and Twitter.  Reaching out to them with the right message in the right way is the next step.  This may sound like a far fetched idea, but if users continue to use Facebook more than email, do we need to look at ways to send them overdue notices?  Just one thought.  Medical schools and residency programs already are recruiting people through Facebook. ... Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:30:17 +0100 894349 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/dec/21/season-s-readings-i-sing-of-a-maiden Set to unforgettable music by Benjamin Britten, this strangely erotic Nativity is even better on the pageAt school, the only subject I was any good at was music, and for the usual reason: an inspiring teacher. Phyllis Robinson, neé Chatfield, had been a famous concert pianist – and so I begged piano lessons. I practised assiduously, and finally got promotion to school pianist, with free tuition from the star herself. I particularly loved being accompanist to the many choirs she organised (I missed swathes of lessons as a result, of course, and "forgot to do" a lot of homework). We entered local choral contests and won prizes and commendations. But my happiest memory is of accompanying the junior choir's rehearsals for a Christmas performance of Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols.The piano-arrangement is tricky: I certainly couldn't play it now. But I can still sing the songs, suitably transposed. It was not only the spiky, sparkly freshness of the melodies and the clear, high voices of the junior choristers I found exciting. It was that English itself seemed reborn as a new language.I'd experienced this before, but only in negative ways. We'd plodded grimly through Scott's Ivanhoe in the first form. We'd read the Iliad, in translation, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. I'm afraid I didn't feel any sense of revelation from either. It's a shameful admission. But then, nothing was explained properly (well, perhaps I wasn't listening) and we certainly didn't see any live performances. We took it in turns to read aloud, droning or stumbling and barely understanding a word of what we were reading. The verbal magic was assassinated. I hated "English".I don't believe anyone told us that the carols in Britten's Ceremony were in Middle English. The odd diction didn't seem bookish: it was rough, at times, and full of vernacular energy. ... Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:11:01 +0100 894241 http://mcpldteens.blogspot.com/2010/12/reviews.html Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (DVD, 2010)Two words...crazy awesome! This movie is based on the graphic novel series by Bryan O'Malley, and from what I hear, the movie follows the GN really well, so fans of the series won't be disappointed. The story (both movie and GN) is about an aimless 22 year old, Scott Pilgrim, who plays the bass in a band, dates a high schooler (which I believe is illegal), and is currently unemployed. Everything changes for Scott when he meets the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers (although, not the jobless part). There is a catch to this relationship, he must defeat her seven evil exes before they can be together. This movie has action, comedy, and romance. Definitely look Scott Pilgrim on the teen shelves.Gothic Beauty (Magazine)Recently this magazine came to my attention, being new to the shelf, and it is wicked cool. I don't even think you need to be gothic to enjoy it. Some of the articles found in the most recent issue deal with steam-punk fashion, insane assylms, timeless trends, DYI (do-it-yourself) coffin purses, and heritage museums. I really like how it mixes history with fashion. Of course, Gothic Beauty also contains music, book, and product reviews that are related to gothic culture. Look for issues of this magazine in the teen section at the Central Branch.Shanna~Teen Librarian (Source: Teen Stuff @ Mesa County Libraries) Tue, 21 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894761 http://rabid-librarian.blogspot.com/2010/12/its-amazing-what-they-can-do.html Hollywood-style special effects give girl new ear: 14-year-old North Carolina girl suffered severe burn as a toddler Elise Lutz never let her friends see what was left of her ear. She'd carefully style her long hair into a one-sided ponytail, or swelter under a swim cap for hours at meets, to cover the molten lump from a severe burn as a toddler in her native China. But as a teenager, the North Carolina girl expressed her desire to be whole again with a simple request: She really wanted pierced earrings. Thus began a months-long quest for a new right ear, one made of silicone but so lifelike that it even glows a bit in the sun like real skin. Elise benefited from a little known field called anaplastology, where medical artists make Hollywood-like special effects come alive to fix disfigurements that standard plastic surgery cannot. (Source: The Rabid Librarian's Ravings in the Wind) Tue, 21 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894569 http://marincountyfreelibrary.blogspot.com/2010_12_01_archive.html#7125736575818564766 NEW teen book clubs! For middle- and high-school teens. There are 3 book choices for this month ...Thu Jan 13 5-6pm: Pretty Little Liars by Sara ShephardThu Jan 13 5-6pm: Alice in the Country of Hearts by Quinrose & Hoshino Soumei (manga) Sat Jan 15 10-11am: A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba BrayAll meetings will be held in the Novato Library Community Room. Place your own online hold or ask for help at the reference desk.For more information, call the Novato Library Reference Desk at 415-897-1142. (Source: Marin County Free Library Blog) Tue, 21 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894371 http://www.cla-net.org/weblog/2010/12/cla_joins_ala_t.php Press Release Money Smart Week® @ your library is a new national initiative that CLA is co-sponsoring with ALA and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. It expands a successful regional program, encouraging all types of libraries to create programming and partnerships (with community groups, financial institutions, government agencies, and others) to promote financial literacy and to help consumers better manage their personal finances. Celebrating its tenth year in 2011, Money Smart Week's mission is to promote personal financial literary. Libraries of all types in the Midwest have already participated in Money Smart Week, creating successful programming while partnering with community groups, financial institutions, government agencies, educational organizations and other financial experts to help consumers learn to better manage their personal finances. "Our participation in Money Smart Week Wisconsin over the last three years has brought hundreds of new patrons into the library and has helped us forge new community partnerships," reports Lori Burgess, Support Services Coordinator, Fond du Lac Public Library. Why Libraries? Libraries have attracted large audiences for financial seminars and classes. Libraries have been instrumental in the success of Money Smart Week in designing, facilitating, and hosting quality events. The expansion of this national initiative comes at a critical time in our country's economic history. Participation in Money Smart Week @ your library gives libraries an opportunity to get involved in financial education at a grass-roots level, while demonstrating their commitment to promoting responsible money management and improved quality of life. Libraries are excellent venues for Money Smart Week events. For decades, patrons have used libraries for unbiased business resources and financial information. ... Tue, 21 Dec 2010 00:45:49 +0100 894333 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/ztprkQ79_Pw/recommendation-kiki-strike.html Kiki Strike:  Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller (Click here to find a library copy.) Recommendation by Kathy Should we keep it?  YES Why?  It's a very thrilling read, full of twists and turns, with tips on how to be resourceful in different ways. This book was part of the Last Call display in the teen section.  Kathy checked it out, read it, and filled out the bookmark with her recommendation.  You can do the same...there are a lot more books that need a boost from readers like you!  Just make sure you get to the library before December 29 to participate. (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:15:05 +0100 894096 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/dec/20/john-wyndham-unread-bestseller Perennially popular, his science fiction is a great deal more nuanced than generally recognisedOne of the drawbacks of being a bestselling author is that no one reads you properly. Sure they read you, but do they really read you? I've been thinking about this because Nicola Swords and I have just made a documentary for Radio 4 about John Wyndham. Wyndham is probably the most successful British science fiction writer after HG Wells, and his books have never been out of print. He continues to haunt the public imagination – either through adaptations of his own work (last Christmas gave us a new Day of the Triffids on the BBC) or through thinly disguised homages (witness the opening of Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, which almost exactly resembles the first chapters of The Day of the Triffids, and is in its turn parodied in the opening of Shaun of the Dead). But because his books are so familiar, maybe we don't look too closely at them.I read a lot of Wyndham when I was a teenager. Then, a few years ago, when I was looking around for books to adapt as a Radio 4 "classic serial", I thought of The Midwich Cuckoos. Rereading it, I was startled to find a searching novel of moral ambiguities where once I'd seen only an inventive but simple SF thriller. If you don't know the story, the village of Midwich is visited by aliens who put the whole place to sleep for 24 hours and depart; some weeks later all the women of childbearing age find they are pregnant, and give birth to golden-eyed telepathic children whose powers are soon turned against the village and the world.What I didn't see first time around are the awkward questions the book poses about its own story. While the narrator, Richard Gayford, is very clear that the children are a simple threat and must be destroyed, the novel isn't so sure. Put another way, I think Wyndham has deliberately created a fallible narrator, who often doesn't understand the story he's telling. ... Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:12:31 +0100 894014 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/U_EbbYbumOY/recommendation-samurai-shortstop.html Samurai Shortstop by Alan Gratz (Click here to find a library copy.) Recommendation by Kathy Should we keep it?  YES Why?  It's an interesting part of history, and I like how it teaches about samurai seniority. This book was part of the Last Call display in the teen section.  Kathy checked it out, read it, and filled out the bookmark with her recommendation.  You can do the same...there are a lot more books that need a boost from readers like you!  Just make sure you get to the library before December 29 to participate. (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:09:51 +0100 894095 http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2010/12/20/my-guilty-pleasures-a-la-npr/ A recent NPR news special features writers talking about the books they love but are embarrassed to be seen reading.  One of the titles is an erotic historical novel, another, Haunted Wisconsin (yay!) and other ghostly guides, and yet another, The World According to Garp (OK, why is that embarrassing?).  There’s a certain voyeuristic pleasure hearing about what embarrasses folks, but at the same time, I work at a public library, so really, what’s the big deal? Folks are encouraged to read and check-out whatever their hearts desire.  Public libraries are wonderful for that.  What’s even better is that you can test out books, DVDs, magazines, etc. for free and if you really love them, you can then decide whether or not you want to shell out your hard earned dollars at the bookstore and buy them.  It’s wonderful! But in the spirit of sharing, I will disclose some of my own somewhat embarrassing reading interests.  I love US Weekly.  And not just when I am waiting for the dentist.  I love it weekly.  I especially love “Who Wore It Best” and “Fashion Police” (formerly “When Bad Clothes Happen to Good People” - I don’t know why they changed that). As for books, I not so secretly enjoy paranormal teen romances.  I don’t keep it totally hush, but it is still a little embarrassing.  One of my favorite newer series (yes, I am waaayyy over Twilight) is by Lisa McMann.  The first book, Wake, introduces the reader to high school student Janie Hannagan.  Janie finds herself drawn into other people’s dreams.  She discovers that she can use this special dream-catcher skill to help solve crimes. Warning: these books read fast and as soon as you figure out what’s going on in book one, it will be over and you will be on to book two, Fade. ... Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:38:04 +0100 894076 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechsourceBlog/~3/KZbumiEGekc/you-can-do-magic.html “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” --Arthur C. Clarke I want to write about magic today. I’ve written in this space over the years about AV department crystal visions in a crystal ball  and about Xanadu and Libraries -  seriously. I’ve also written many posts about how libraries can utilize space and technology to enhances people lives and how we can hopefully encourage the heart. I also want to tell you a story about ten year old Michael. He really enjoyed afternoon reruns of shows like Gilligan’s Island, I Love Lucy and the like. A particular favorite, however, was I Dream of Jeannie. It was silly fun: a genie, a master and a Bottle. Do you remember the bottle? I do. I always wanted one. I daydreamed that the studio might someday mail one out to the biggest fans of the show or make them available in the stores. Never happened.Fast forward twenty some years to the launch of eBay. I taught “How to eBay” classes at the public library for several years and one of the examples I used was searching for the 1964 Jim Beam decanter that was used for five seasons as Jeannie’s bottle. There was a big market for the bottles back then - and still is. Fast forward another 15 years or so to 2010. I visited some good friends in Michigan a few days before Thanksgiving and discovered they owned one of the decanters! I had never held one in my hand until that day. Later that night, back home, I pulled up eBay and commenced bidding. 7 days later , delivered to my door just as young Michael had often wished, was a pristine 46 year old bottle. It lives on my sideboard now in a place of honor. It’s hard to describe how happy owning this silly piece of history makes me. Call me silly but the first day I had it, I’d stop and just look at it or pick it up. It made me feel good. Why did I wait so long? Arthur C. ... Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:24:17 +0100 894310 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/20/andy-mulligan-trash-blue-peter The children's author Andy Mulligan talks about his thriller, Trash, and how Blue Peter ducked a chance to take their viewers beyond the 'cotton-wool world' when they removed it from their book prize shortlistAndy Mulligan doesn't look like the kind of author you'd expect to find at the heart of a controversy around the "suitability" of his work for children. A mild-mannered, scholarly-looking English teacher in his mid-40s, Mulligan's first novel was a comic tale for 10-year-olds about an absurd school, Ribblestrop. But it's his second, Trash, which has sparked a debate over children's reading. A thriller about streetkids living on a dumpsite in the developing world, it was shortlisted for the Blue Peter award by the prize's judges, only to be dropped when they were overruled by one of the programme's editors. Not that there's any of the heroin abuse or underage sex which usually gets adult readers of children's books hot under the collar. The book was allegedly removed from the shortlist over a scene of violence, and one use of the word "shit".Mulligan describes himself as "disappointed" by a decision that came a week after he had been told he was a contender in the Favourite Stories category of the prize. The award is aimed at the TV programme's audience of, roughly, six to 12-year-olds – does he think his book should have been nominated for that age group?"There are some books that are unsuitable for children. I'd be surprised to see Burroughs' Naked Lunch on the equivalent shortlist," he says. "But a good book will upset someone, because the moment you engage with someone's imagination, you take them into both light and dark. Ask Philip Pullman. Ask Michael Morpurgo. Ask even Beatrix Potter, whose cosy animals were hunted, shot at and traumatised. What's 'suitable' is the journey we ask our readers to make. ... Mon, 20 Dec 2010 14:00:00 +0100 894011 http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/dec/20/stephen-sondheim-life-music-profile 'I'm a great audience. I cry very easily. I suspend disbelief in two seconds'When Stephen Sondheim was in his 30s, he would get approached, occasionally, by out-of-town theatre companies, struggling with a production. He was the hot new thing, the lyricist of West Side Story and Gypsy and in demand as a play doctor, so off he went. He laughs at the memory. "Every single one of them was a failure. I didn't help them at all!" In the coming years, he found his voice writing "musicals that startled people", and his appeal changed. "I have not," he says drily, "been asked out of town, or for advice, for 40 years."Sondheim turned 80 this year, an age when "a certain amount of venerability is available", and he has spent much of the year attending galas and tribute evenings. He is glad to return to his Manhattan townhouse of 50 years – Katharine Hepburn used to live next door – where, on a freezing New York night, he sits on the sofa in a warm pool of light, fussed at by two black poodles. When he speaks, he rubs his eyes furiously as if to aid concentration.His new book, Finishing the Hat: The Collected Lyrics of Stephen Sondheim, with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes, sounds like a nerdy exercise only Sondheim fanatics might go for, an exposition of his work from 1954 (Saturday Night) to '81 (Merrily We Roll Along). A second volume, going from Sunday in the Park with George to the present, is due at the end of 2011. The success of the book has surprised him; it is in its fifth imprint and has been widely praised, not just by the specialists. It works along the same lines as his songwriting, which he boils down in the opening pages to three principles: less is more, content dictates form, and god is in the details. "It's always fun," he says, "to read anybody who is expounding a craft, as long as they do it in detail and they're passionate about it. ... Mon, 20 Dec 2010 08:00:00 +0100 893897 http://rochellejustrochelle.typepad.com/copilot/2010/12/ereaders-overdrive-compatibility-libraries-as-digital-content-ghost-towns.html This past Saturday, I stopped by the nook kiosk at Barnes & Noble so that I could chat with the sales rep and better explain exactly what the library had to offer from Overdrive. We’ve had a few patrons who’ve said they were told by BN sales staff that they could find TONS of free books at the library. While, technically, this is true, if you count the public domain content, most people were already force-fed the classics at some point during their formal education and want something a little more current.Pro tip: It’s not a good idea to engage retail employees on the Saturday before Christmas. Especially one who is hawking THE HOT ITEM ON EVERYONE’S CHRISTMAS LIST at a kiosk in the entry of a mall anchor store. What I mean to say is, Holy cow, that joint was jumpin’!  I waited at least ten minutes to get the guy’s attention. In that ten minutes, he sold at least two nooks, and lost another customer who decided to come back later. Other people stood and listened--there was kind of a county fair/veg-o-matic vibe to the scene. Finally, I saw a break, jumped in and introduced myself as someone from the library who wanted to make sure BN staff understood exactly what we had to offer, since I wasn’t sure the right message was getting out. We barely got started when more customers came up to the kiosk. I stepped back and let him work. After about five minutes, I gave up and went browsing. I came back about 20 minutes later and managed to catch him in between customers and we ended up having a great chat.  He’s already a library user, but wasn’t really familiar with Overdrive except on a basic level. So, I gave him the talk that I’ve been giving all the patrons who are smart enough to come to us before buying an e-reader.Are You Really Ready to Buy an Ereader?: Overdrive-Compatible VersionFirst off, Kindle does not work with Overdrive. ... Mon, 20 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894124 http://philbradley.typepad.com/phil_bradleys_weblog/2010/12/british-government-wants-to-block-porn.html I will do my best to ensure that my sarcasm doesn't entirely take over this post, but I can't promise it. The insanity, fear and hatred of the internet as shown by this shower of imbeciles continues unabated. Claire Perry, a Tory (it would have to be really wouldn't it) wants to block all UK access to pornography. Now, I'm not going to get into a debate about the merits or otherwise of pornography itself - it's a worthy debate to have, but I'm coming at this from a different tack. Perry is reported to have said to the Sunday Times “We are not coming at this from an anti-porn perspective. We just want to make sure our children aren’t stumbling across things we don’t want them to see.” So once again, we're back to the 'we must protect children' approach. Shouldn't the government rather be encouraging parents to take responsibility for their own offspring? She has also proposed that all internet service providers (ISPs) should block porn universally - and adults should ask for blocks to be lifted if they want to look at it. Now, the first issue here is 'what exactly is pornography?' We don't have a definition in the UK other than 'material likely to deprave or corrupt' which puts the onus on the ISP to decide for themselves, moving the job off the Government and putting the responsibility into the hands of ISPs who no doubt will be dragged before a court if they get it wrong. If the Government can define pornography on the net, they'll end up defining it for print material as well, unless they take the view that it's what children can see. To be honest, I'd rather block access to violent and racist material first, or actually, I'd rather not block access to anything based on what may or may not affect a child. ... Mon, 20 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894048 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/WT3c_oGhvVo/further-new-books.html More fiction came through processing, so the shelves are packed with shiny new things for you to read! Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson (sequel to Chains) The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor (replacement copy) Friends 'Til the End by ReShonda Tate Billingsley (Good Girlz series) Darkest Hour by Meg Cabot (Mediator series; replacement copy) Haunted by Meg Cabot (Mediator series; replacement copy) Shadowland by Meg Cabot (Mediator series; replacement copy) Hunted by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast (House of Night series; replacement copy) First Semester by Cecil R. Cross II (Kimani Tru) Next Semester by Cecil R. Cross II (Kimani Tru) Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz (replacement copy) Culture Clash by L. Divine (Drama High series) Frenemies by L. Divine (Drama High series; replacement copy) My Little Phony by Lisi Harrison (Clique series; replacement copy) If You Really Loved Me by Anne Schraff (Urban Underground series) One of Us by Anne Schraff (Urban Underground series) Outrunning the Darkness by Anne Schraff (Urban Underground series) Shadows of Guilt by Anne Schraff (Urban Underground series) Teenage Love Affair by Ni-Ni Simone Blue Is for Nightmares by Laurie Faria Stolarz (replacement copy) (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Sun, 19 Dec 2010 15:23:00 +0100 893893 http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/dec/19/swallows-and-amazons-bristol-review Bristol Old Vic; Royal Court, London SW1; Battersea Arts Centre, London SW11; Old Vic, London SE1The Christmas show grew up this year. Not into innuendo and violence – panto can take care of all that – but into stylishness, subversion and invention.It seemed unlikely that Arthur Ransome's square-jawed children's sailing stories, set before the second world war, and teeming with halyards and centreboards, could be dramatised without seeming a load of old rowlocks. Yet Tom Morris's production of Swallows and Amazons, exact and imaginative, is a triumph.Helen Edmundson's script floats on a buoyant tide of music by Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy, whose recorder and fiddles carry a whiff of the marine that is both plaintive and yo-ho-ho. It retains Ransome's beastly rotters and duffers vocabulary, but not with a po face. The children are played by adults, and the youngest is enormous: he towers above his brothers and sisters, looking like Terry Waite in a romper suit. It captures something of what made Ransome adventurous as well as an adventure-story writer. The man who married Trotsky's secretary made his most interesting and rebellious characters girls: the piratical sisters, the Amazons, who "rattle our sabres to frighten the neighbours", ululate ferociously beneath their bonnets rouges.This is also a thing of beauty: it hints rather than doggedly, sea-doggedly, copies. A parrot made out of a feather duster has a pair of pliers for a beak; cormorants are rustled out of black bin bags. A boat is conjured up by a rim and a sail; vessels and creatures seen through a telescope are held up as tiny models. Dipping, as do Ransome's children, between fantastic flights and sturdiness, the vibrant Akiya Henry dives through the air into a lake suggested by a ring of blue ribbons, and comes up spluttering out drops of real water. ... Sun, 19 Dec 2010 00:06:17 +0100 893716 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/19/armistead-maupin-interview As Armistead Maupin revisits the world of Tales of the City, he tells Eva Wiseman why the pope is the enemy of all he holds dearArmistead Maupin speaks like he writes, in slow short sentences that trickle from beneath his white moustache like honey on the turn: sweet but sharp. When he talks about the things that anger him – the pope, for instance, or Republicanism – his pitch doesn't rise, his voice doesn't quicken. In fact, it's when discussing what he perceives as the wrongs of the world that Maupin, chronicler of gay life and the first novelist to tackle Aids, seems most at ease.Maupin's 10 novels all linger on themes of identity, sexuality, loss and the logical ("as opposed to biological") family. He is, of course, most famous for his Tales of the City, which were first serialised in a San Francisco newspaper in the 1970s, growing into six volumes over the next 10 years. A mini-series (starring Laura Linney as token straight Mary Ann) was made in 1993, and a seventh book appeared 18 years later, in 2007. This month an eighth volume – Mary Ann in Autumn – is published. It's a return to the heartbreaking and rickety world of Barbary Lane (or thereabouts) and a return, the critics are saying, to his 1970s best.While Maupin's books have always featured soapy storylines – secret identities, strange religious sects, amnesia – these bubble in a basin of such delicate writing and beautifully flawed characters that for his many readers (one of whom, upon discovering his name was an anagram for "Is a man I dreamt up", wrote to him questioning his very existence) his novels are more like bibles. At a reading recently, a fan told him that when her best friend died, he'd been buried with Maupin's books.Despite its ties to the 1970s and 1980s, the legacy of Tales of the City continues to grow. The day we meet, the pope has condoned condom use for the prevention of sexually transmitted disease. ... Sun, 19 Dec 2010 00:05:11 +0100 893722 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/audio/2010/dec/19/tessa-hadley-elizabeth-bowen-jungle Hadley on BowenThere are writers you love and admire – quite a lot of those – and then there are a few writers who are (unbeknown to them) your intimates, your writing family. For me, Elizabeth Bowen has been one of those intimates ever since she first claimed me when I was 14 or 15: I picked her books up in the library because I liked the woodcuts on the covers. I only half understood what I was reading, first time round – but I responded to the promise her writing gave: that lived experience could be as subtle, complex, richly substantial as her sentences. That promise is mostly what you read for, at that age.Her novels are marvellous too, but the short story suits her concision, her shapely plotting, and the polished surface of her style, with its oddly made, deliberate sentences. The style channels the electricity of experience on to the page, doesn't allow it to be deflected by language's lazy habits, its proneness to fall back on the clichés of perception. In "The Jungle", about a passionate friendship between teenage girls, how wonderfully freshly she makes us feel the mystery of Elise's personality and her body: like a "compact, thick boy in her black tights", her "wide-open pale grey eyes" with "something alert behind them that wasn't her brain", and her direct look "like a guard". Slipped out from the bland, reasonable routines of school, in the waste ground they call the jungle, the girls reconnect with the power of death and sex. (Source: Guardian Unlimited Books) Sun, 19 Dec 2010 00:01:00 +0100 893712 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ouseful/~3/m2KrZS8kXyc/ Over the last three or four weeks, I’ve been finding myself on all manner of foreign language (i.e. non-English) web pages, and increasingly accepting Google Chrome’s offer to translate the page to English when it recognises the page isn’t in English… It’s still a bit ropey (as a close inspection of the above might suggest (‘select your drive‘???!) but as the algorithm used is powered by a Google training algorithm, the quality is likely to improve as the Goog indexes more and better translations of documents: Anyway – a couple of things came to mind: - translations aren’t into native speaker English, or German, or French, they’re into Google Statistical English, Google Statistical French etc etc - I hope that the Goog doesn’t treat it’s own translations as training documents (though it could end up with some intriguing mistranslations…) - Mandelbrot comes to mind, and the question whether anyone has done a limit cycle translator that takes a foreign language document, translates it into English, back to French, back to English and so on unti the English translation is stable? If the translation at each (English) step was fed into a wiki, could the wiki history be used to compare versions of the document and ‘colour’ different parts of it depending on how quickly those areas of the document converge to a stable translation? Does convergence happen at a different rate if you translate through different routes that appear to be more stable (for example, Austrian-German-English rather than Austrian English?!) - Google has started doing “reading levels” as an advanced search switch, so will we start seeing “translate this “advanced” English page into “basic” English? Or maybe Google will offer the ability to translate all pages, including those ... Sat, 18 Dec 2010 19:10:11 +0100 893804 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/18/carols-christmas-poetry Carol Ann Duffy introduces sparkling new poems for carols, from, among others, Fleur Adcock, John Agard, Gillian Clarke, Maura Dooley, Ian Duhig, Ruth Fainlight, James Harpur, Frieda Hughes, Jackie Kay, Michael Longley, Grace Nichols, Sean O'Brien, Alice Oswald, Brian Patten, Michael Symmons Roberts and Kit WrightThat beautiful carol 'In the Bleak Midwinter' is based on a poem written by Christina Rossetti in response to a commission from the magazine Scribner's Monthly for a Christmas poem in 1872. One hopes they paid well. The lines of one of my predecessors as poet laureate, the Irish poet Nahum Tate, are on our lips still when we sing the lyrics of 'While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night', written by him in 1703 – though usually changed to 'washed their socks' by most school-children. Carols, according to the 1928 edition of The Oxford Book of Carols, are 'simple, hilarious, popular and modern'. They are a kind of folk song where direct poetry and accessible music eagerly meet. The oldest of our carols date from the 15th century and 'give voice to the common emotions of healthy people in language that can be understood'. I hope that by this time next year some of these sparkling new poems for carols will have been set to music. On behalf of all the poets here to you, their readers, I wish you a very happy Christmas. Carol Ann DuffyThe Bee CarolCarol Ann DuffySilently on Christmas Eve,the turn of midnight's key;all the garden locked in ice –a silver frieze –except the winter cluster of the bees.Flightless now and shivering,around their Queen they cling;every bee a gift of heat;she will not freezewithin the winter cluster of the bees.Bring me for my Christmas gifta single golden jar;let me taste the sweetness there,but honey leaveto feed the winter cluster of the bees.Come with me on Christmas Eveto see the silent hive –trembling stars cloistered above –and then believe,bless the winter cluster of the bees. ... Sat, 18 Dec 2010 00:07:31 +0100 893548 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/18/first-novels-reviews Coconut Unlimited by Nikesh Shukla, The Spider Truces by Tom Connolly, Down to the Dirt by Joel Thomas Hynes and Sleepwalker by John ToomeyCoconut Unlimited, by Nikesh Shukla (Quartet, £10)Harrow, London, early 1990s. In this Costa-shortlisted debut, Amit, Anand and Nishant belong to neither the world of their white private school, where they are mocked as the only Asian pupils, nor that of their traditional Gujarati families, where their lack of interest in science infuriates their parents. So they decide to embrace a new identity – as black rappers. That none of them has even spoken to a black person, and they have only the faintest idea of Public Enemy etc, is, apparently, not a problem. Their hip-hop band, Coconut Unlimited, will transcend the taunt levelled at them: "Brown on the outside, white on the inside." Yet Anand becomes sidetracked by girls, and it is left to Amit to galvanise the group. What the writing lacks in depth and maturity, Shukla makes up for with irreverence and humour.The Spider Truces, by Tom Connolly (Myriad, £7.99)A remote corner of Kent is the background to Connolly's magical coming-of-age novel, set between 1976 and 1989. Denny O'Rourke, struggling to come to terms with the death of his wife, moves his daughter Chrissie and her younger brother Ellis to a run-down woodland cottage, which he aims to restore as they rebuild their lives. Denny's eccentric Aunt Mafi completes the picture. Ellis is an awkward, unusual boy, given to outrageous utterances, dominated by a fear of the spiders dwelling in every corner of the house; the negotiation with Ellis's ongoing terror and his challenging singularity is one of many family battles focused on personal boundaries and freedom. Growing up, Ellis prefers to spend time on the local farm; later he will develop a talent for photography, but relationships remain a mystery to him in this fierce, humane and hazily poetic work.Down to the Dirt, by Joel Thomas Hynes (Brandon, £9. ... Sat, 18 Dec 2010 00:07:15 +0100 893558 http://blog.ocls.info/Teens/2010/12/last_techno_teens_blog_entry.html The Orange County Library System is headed in a new direction. We will be discontinuing the Techno Teens blog, but be sure to find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for the latest teen happenings! Thank you for reading and posting to Techno Teens over the years. Later days, bloggers. Later days. (Source: Techno Teens LIVE) Fri, 17 Dec 2010 22:21:46 +0100 893997 http://blog.ocls.info/Teens/2010/12/book_review_voss_1.html Voss: How I Came to America and am Hero, Mostly By: David Ives Reviewed by Teen Volunteer: Taj Johnson, 16 years old Vospop is an average 15-year-old, Sloblovian lad, Voss for short. Then on one day, Voss's crazy uncle Shpoont convinces him and his father to go live in America. Being how Slolovia is a small, poor country, the trio sneak on a boat importing black-market cheese-puffs. Unfortunately, the cheese puffs are owned by the Sloblovian crime lord, Bilias Upchuck. When the trio, get to America after the long voyage living on cheese puffs, they realize that illegal Sloblovians are looked down upon. Voss is in need of a job. After he opens a door for teen business heiress Tiffany McBloomingdale (a rare act of chivalry), Voss becomes a butler for her. But soon Voss' Father gets sick and is checked into Pilgrims Paradise, a hotel that doesn't ask questions or has fees. Pilgrims Paradise was too good to be true and soon, Bogdown goes missing! Will Voss ever see his father again? Or find a way not to get "cored like apple" by Bilias Upchuck? Find out in Voss. Voss was one of the best books I've ever read. The characters were unforgettable and creative. I would love to see it become a movie. Voss's broken English ( i.e. when he says ladders he means letters, dipp is deep, etc.) is something I've never seen before. The story is written by Voss to his Sloblovian friend, Meero. Voss is a terrific novel, I give it a 10/10 and recommend it to kids 12+. (Source: Techno Teens LIVE) Fri, 17 Dec 2010 21:43:46 +0100 893998 http://gypsylibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/12/article-note-on-graphic-novels-for.html Citation for the article: Downey, Elizabeth M. "Graphic Novels in Curriculum and Instruction Collections." Reference & User Services Quarterly 49.2 (Winter 2009): 181-188.Read online. Downey starts by stating that most of the LIS literature related to graphic novels looks at the form as either one for recreational reading, often for college students, or as historical and pop culture artifacts, in other words, stuff for academic courses. Personally, I wonder if the focus on college recreational reading reflects the fact that most of the LIS literature is written by librarians on college tenure lines and/or LIS professors. This is what comes natural in terms of writing topics. While there may be some who are not as familiar with the format, and as a result we often get objections and complaints about the form in terms of violence, sex, etc. (with many of the complaints unfounded and/or just reflective of certain less than enlightened interests), more educators are choosing to use graphic novels in the classroom as part of the curriculum.Downey argues that "part of the academic library's mission is to provide materials and resources for future educators" (182). Academic libraries should carry graphic novels not only for pleasure reading or for art or for pop culture but also to meet the needs of educators who are likely to use graphic novels in their curriculum. In other words, future teachers and school librarians, if they are going to use them in their classrooms, should have access to them during their teacher training period so they can read them and become familiar with them. Yet some academic institutions, according to a study the author cites from Library Resources and Technical Services, are still found to be lacking. The study revealed "that a considerable number of institutions supporting library science or education programs aren't actually collecting graphic novels for teens" (qtd. in 182). ... Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:22:00 +0100 893799 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/dec/17/season-s-readings-stick-man-scheffler The team whose mesmeric storytelling powers leave children begging for endless rehearsals finds room for Santa. Read and repeat. And repeatThe 19th-century historian Thomas Babington Macaulay knew Paradise Lost by heart; I know Room on the Broom. Whether or not this says something about the decline of civilisation, it's certainly a tribute to the modern literary phenomenon that is Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Like countless parents all over the country, I've read their books – The Gruffalo, Monkey Puzzle, A Squash and a Squeeze and the others – so many times the words have taken on the quality of a mantra. The definition of "incantation" is a "ritual recitation of verbal charms or spells to produce a magic effect" and that just about sums it up. This has, I guess, always been the case with good books for young children, but Donaldson's light-on-their-feet fables, with their rhythms and repetitions, especially fit the bill, and encourage the eerie idea that at, say, 7.15pm on any given night, tens of thousands of glazed-eyed mums and dads are, in unison, chanting the immortal words: "My tie is a scarf for a cold giraffe". This is almost a religion.Which is the best of the books? People have come to blows over less intractable questions. I have a particular fondness for The Smartest Giant in Town, partly because, with typical wit, Axel Scheffler quietly embeds references to nursery rhymes in the illustrations (a pig with a pile of bricks in a wheelbarrow, a black sheep with three bags of wool, and so on). And I very much like looking at, and learning about, the different types of fish in Tiddler. The newest book, Zog, impressively manages to dovetail the goings-on in a school for dragons with what amounts to a plug for Médecins Sans Frontières. ... Fri, 17 Dec 2010 10:27:25 +0100 893348 http://mcpldteens.blogspot.com/2010/12/graphic-novel-review.html Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse Vol. 1Birds, Bees, Beer & Bloodby Ben TemplesmithSmart-aleck jokes, grotesque dismemberment, a sentient worm living inside a corpse's eye socket, male alien pregnancy, strippers, and beer - these are just a few of the wonderful things you will find in this beautifully illustrated graphic novel. Some readers will be very attracted to it, and some will be utterly disgusted. Created, written, drawn, and designed by Ben Templesmith, who is best-known for 30 Days of Night, this is the best graphic novel I have read in months. It is very funny, almost silly at times, yet it is about saving the world from a demon. The humor is really just a bonus to the great characters, fascinating story, and incredibly visceral drawings. I was really bummed when it ended. I hope Volume 2 comes out soon!Trevor~Youth Services (Source: Teen Stuff @ Mesa County Libraries) Fri, 17 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894762 http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/dec/17/tv-review-house-made-me Watching Michael Barrymore dragging up old ghosts is difficult, painful, fascinating – and that wallpaper is still giving me nightmaresJames Donaghy: Dirk Gently should get a full seriesGod, what happened to Michael Barrymore? He's looking decidedly lived-in: bloated, blotchy, edgy and a bit slurred. I guess that's what happens – with age, all the living, the troubles, alcoholism and everything else, the limelight, then the limelight being switched off so suddenly and dramatically. It all takes its toll. He's in The House That Made Me (Channel 4).The house that made Barrymore was knocked down, but they've done up another flat on the same Dickens estate in south London to look exactly like the one he grew up in – with all the same things in it, and the same wallpaper. Actually, that wallpaper – orange, geometric and hellish – may account for a lot; I'm having nightmares just thinking about it.Going back to a childhood home is always going to drag up old ghosts, but Barrymore takes that to a whole new level. That's the chair Dad used to hit Mum with, there's all Dad's booze, this is the staircase young Michael used to run to with his hands over his ears, these are the neighbours they used to take refuge with. It wasn't much of a childhood, and he speaks about it with the frankness of someone who is used to speaking about it.That's not to say it's easy. A lot of it is awkward and uncomfortable – like the meetings with old school friends he clearly hasn't kept up with (to be honest, I'm not sure he knows which one is Kevin and which is Micky). And everything to do with his sexuality is awkward. He got married, he says, to "put the kibosh on it", meaning his gayness. Even now he doesn't seem to have fully come to terms with it.And of course, most uncomfortable of all, there's the big dark cloud of that night in 2001 and the death of a young man in Barrymore's swimming pool hanging over everything. ... Thu, 16 Dec 2010 22:00:02 +0100 893219 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/C6HGi09n4JE/2011-books-to-movies-for-teens.html A new year means lots of books are coming to a theater near you! I included all books with teen interest, not just those that were published for young adults, so there is something for everyone. I can't vouch for their quality, but look for these movies through the year and make your own judgments: March 11--Jane Eyre (book by Charlotte Bronte) March 18--Beastly (book by Alex Flinn) March 25--Roderick Rules (book by Jeff Kinney) July 15--Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II (book by J. K. Rowling) October 14--The Three Musketeers (book by Alexander Dumas) November 18--Breaking Dawn, Part I (book by Stephenie Meyer) December 9--The Invention of Hugo Cabret (book by Brian Selznick) December 21--The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (book by Steig Larsson) December 28--The Adventures of Tintin:  Secrets of the Unicorn (book by Herge) No specific dates: The Giver (book by Lois Lowry) The Witches (book by Roald Dahl) Uglies (book by Scott Westerfeld) (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Thu, 16 Dec 2010 20:02:00 +0100 893197 http://engagedpatrons.org/Blogs.cfm?SiteID=4725&BlogID=41&BlogPostID=8111 This magical story is told through the eyes of high schooler Ethan Waite, who keeps running into new girl in Gatlin, Lena Duchannes. He recognizes her immediately as the girl who literally falls through his fingers in a recent series of disturbing dreams. There is also a mysterious song about 16 moons that inexplicably shows up on his iPod play list, drawing the reader into this suspenseful story. The community instantly hates Lena due to her connection to the reclusive Macon Ravenwood and his "haunted house", a plantation that has been around longer than Gatlin. Despite all their warnings, and his grandmother Amma's protective charms, Ethan befriends Lena and the two become inseparable as they begin to piece together the strange circumstances connecting them. A Southern backdrop (with a dialect that is sometimes confusing to read) provides the necessary narrow-minded mentality and a memorable cast of interesting and distinct characters, including Lena's dangerous cousin Ridley and Ethan's loyal best friend Link. Magical elements are explained gradually as Lena and Ethan begin to discover their link to Gatlin's history. Can they prevent it from repeating itself? The story's climax occurs during the town's annual reenactment of the Civil War Battle of Honey Hill, which coincides with Lena's 16th birthday, where she is left with limited options on what her fate will be in a traditional claiming ceremony in which she has no power. Rivaling Harry Potter in length, this tome will intimidate many readers, however, it was chosen by teens as a Top 10 Pick for 2010. It will appeal to fantasy readers in grades 8-12. Some kissing occurs, but there is no sex or foul language. A sequel is sure to follow. ... Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:20:02 +0100 893181 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/16/jane-austen-google-doodle-tribute Search giant celebrates much beloved author's 235th birthdayGoogle's home page is festooned today with a doodle to celebrate the 235th birthday of novelist Jane Austen. A Regency couple – most likely the novelist's most celebrated characters, Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice – are pictured taking a stroll through the English countryside, eyeing each other rather coyly, in the illustration on the search engine's site.Google makes a habit of marking literary anniversaries, among others, and has already featured Robert Louis Stevenson's 160th (13 November) and Agatha Christie's 120th (15 September) this autumn.Austen is another writer who hardly needs further publicity, with novels – including Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Persuasion and Mansfield Park – that remain widely read, and so frequently adapted on film and TV that they have almost become a costume drama cliché.Often represented as a "romantic" writer, Austen's books in fact contain much comic but biting social satire, and reflections on the chances and choices of women whose options in life are severely limited. Accusations by Oxford professor Kathryn Sutherland earlier this autumn that her famously crisp prose style owed as much to her editor William Gifford as to her own talents have been rebuffed by other Janeites, leaving her reputation as the queen of elegant prose unsullied.The author herself was born in 1775, one of eight children born to a clergyman, growing up in a close-knit family. She began to write as a teenager and, despite attachments, never married, living instead with her mother and sister Cassandra.Austen's first book, Sense and Sensibility, about two sisters with contrasting temperaments, appeared in 1811. It was published anonymously, with Austen's brother Henry helping her negotiate with the publisher. ... Thu, 16 Dec 2010 12:06:51 +0100 893103 http://blog.booklistonline.com/2010/12/15/2010-inspy-winners/ The 2010 INSPYs, the blogger-created awards for inspirational Christian fiction, has announced some winners: General & Literary Fiction Crossing Oceans, by Gina Holmes Creative Nonfiction Evolving in Monkey Town, by Rachel Held Evans Historical Fiction She Walks in Beauty, by Siri Mitchell Thriller/Suspense/Crime Fiction The Knight, by Steven James Speculative Fiction Green, by Ted Dekker Amish Fiction Plain Paradise, by Beth Wiseman Romance/Romantic Suspense Sons of Thunder, by Susan May Warren Young Adult Fiction Once Was Lost, by Sara Zarr (Source: Likely Stories) Thu, 16 Dec 2010 00:00:26 +0100 893251 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/kzTZis0g8EM/whats-new.html This week's new books are an eclectic mix that includes African-American fiction, supernatural romance, gaming manuals, and books about ninjas.  Proof that we try to buy something to suit everyone!  Come in and be the first to check them out! FICTION Drama Queens by ReShonda Tate Billingsley (Good Girlz series) Getting Even by ReShonda Tate Billingsley (Good Girlz series) The Frenzy by Francesca Lia Block The Selected by Patrick Cave Dirty Jersey by Phillip Thomas Duck (Kimani Tru) Dirty South by Phillip Thomas Duck (Kimani Tru) Blood Ninja by Nick Lake Blood Ninja II by Nick Lake Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev Step Up by Monica McKayhan (Kimani Tru) Trouble Follows by Monica McKayhan (Kimani Tru) Prime Choice by Stephaine Perry Moore (Perry Skyy series) Mostly Good Girls by Leila Sales Flawless by Sara Shepard (Pretty Little Liars series) Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard Perfect by Sara Shepard (Pretty Little Liars series) Unbelievable by Sara Shepard (Pretty Little Liars series) Wildwing by Emily Whitman NONFICTON Quick Cash for Teens:  Be Your Own Boss and Make Big Bucks by Peter G. Bielagus When Ninjas Attack:  A Survival Guide for Defending Yourself Against the Silent Assassains by Sam Kaplan Ask a Ninja Presents The Ninja Handbook:  This Book Looks Forward to Killing You Soon by Douglas Sarine How to Build a Robot Army:  Tips on Defending Planet Earth Against Alien Invaders, Ninjas, and Zombies by Daniel H. Wilson Call of Duty: Black Ops (BradyGames Signature Series Guide) Dungeons and Dragons Essentials: Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms Halo: Reach (BradyGames Signature Series Guide) Pokedex: All 493 Pokemon and Post-Story Guide for Nintendo DS (Includes HeartGold and SoulSilver) Red Dead Redemption (BradyGames Signature Series Guide) (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Wed, 15 Dec 2010 20:13:00 +0100 892993 http://www.lisnews.org/fighting_censorship_school_libraries From SLJ: The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) recently recognized author Lauren Myracle, school librarian Dee Ann Venuto, and 19-year-old college student Jordan Allen for fighting against censorship in schools. NCAC's annual "Celebration of Free Speech and Its Defenders" ceremony in New York City brought together more than 150 authors, publishers, and First Amendment advocates to celebrate the work of the 36-year-old organization. Venuto, a media specialist at the Rancocoas Valley High School in Mount Holly, NJ, was honored for her efforts to keep a list of gay-themed books on her library shelves. The titles Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology (Alyson, 2000) edited by Amy Sonnie. Venuto followed her district's materials review policy, which outlines the steps that must be taken when library materials or other instructional material are questioned, when a local grassroots organization called the 9/12 Group challenged the books, drawing media attention. Venuto says she's grateful to NCAC for spreading the word about the challenge and for the professional and personal support they gave her. (Source: LISNews - Librarian And Information Science News) Wed, 15 Dec 2010 19:18:07 +0100 893517 http://lisnews.org/fighting_censorship_school_libraries From SLJ: The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) recently recognized author Lauren Myracle, school librarian Dee Ann Venuto, and 19-year-old college student Jordan Allen for fighting against censorship in schools. NCAC's annual "Celebration of Free Speech and Its Defenders" ceremony in New York City brought together more than 150 authors, publishers, and First Amendment advocates to celebrate the work of the 36-year-old organization. Venuto, a media specialist at the Rancocoas Valley High School in Mount Holly, NJ, was honored for her efforts to keep a list of gay-themed books on her library shelves. The titles Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology (Alyson, 2000) edited by Amy Sonnie. Venuto followed her district's materials review policy, which outlines the steps that must be taken when library materials or other instructional material are questioned, when a local grassroots organization called the 9/12 Group challenged the books, drawing media attention. Venuto says she's grateful to NCAC for spreading the word about the challenge and for the professional and personal support they gave her. (Source: LISNews.org) Wed, 15 Dec 2010 19:18:07 +0100 892954 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/competition/2010/dec/15/competition-ology-books Your chance to become a master Ologist with a complete set of the bestselling series (Source: Guardian Unlimited Books) Wed, 15 Dec 2010 18:09:18 +0100 892963 http://blog.ocls.info/SouthWest/2010/12/southwest_book_club_meets_dece_4.html There is no book to read for the month. Instead, we will celebrate our annual "My Book to You: Celebrating the Gift of Reading." For those of you who are new to the book club, the December meeting is a time to share one book with other club members that you really enjoyed reading outside of book club. This may even be a book you enjoyed as a child or teen. You do not need to possess a physical copy of the book. Just try to remember the title and author, for some of us may want to put the book on our "To Read" list or may want to consider it for future club selections. Don't miss this special last book club meeting of the year. Plan to relax and enjoy some refreshments too! Anyone age 18 or older is welcome to attend. The Southwest Book Club meeting monthly at the Southwest Library located in the Dr. Phillips area at 7255 Della Drive, Orlando, FL 32819. For more information, please call 407.835.7323 or email southwest@ocls.info (Source: SouthWest) Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:19:09 +0100 893060 http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/ebooks-take-the-fun-out-of-giving-well-allow-me-to-retort/ Every now and again, missives like this one entitled “How the rise of e-readers takes the fun out of giving books” from the Canadian Globe and Mail by Leah McLaren pop up and bounce around the web. They make me chuckle. Their common theme is that, essentially, you can’t wrap ebooks and stick them under your Christmas tree. They are only one step away from those “but what about the smell of books” rants bemoaning the changing of technology. Don’t get me know – if people don’t like ebooks, and enjoy dead trees with words on them, that’s their right. But call a spade a spade. Why don’t you ever see a post titled, “I don’t like ebooks because I just don’t like change generally.” That would be honest. These people are entitled to their opinions, but so am I. So allow me to offer some counter-arguments… Publishing-industry experts are calling the holiday season a “tipping point” – with good reason. Curling up with a new novel on Christmas morning will never be the same. Thank whomever your Lord is for that one. A decade or more ago, I went through a period when the unwrapping of any book-shaped gift revealed the latest in the 101 Uses for a Dead Cat comedy cartoon book series. After 90 seconds of flicking, I needed its companion edition: 101 Uses For an Unwanted Book. No. 17 – frisbee. If ebooks and vouchers were around, I could have been reading the book I was actually craving within two minutes tops. Stay with me! I swear this is not going to be one of those hackneyed columns about how much we’ll all miss the old-fashioned book. I travel too much to be sentimental about the beauty of marginalia or the satisfying crack of a hardcover spine. Hauling books around the globe has cost me thousands in excess baggage fees, and left me with a hyper-extended left shoulder and a nagging sense of having misplaced something important. ... Wed, 15 Dec 2010 14:34:18 +0100 892895 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/15/lost-roald-dahl-manuscript-ebay The Eyes of Mr Croaker, a deliberately unfinished tale, fetches £1,200The original typed manuscript of a previously unseen children's short story fragment by Roald Dahl was sold last night on the auction website eBay. The highest bidder paid $1,900 (£1,200) for the two-page, 400-word piece, titled The Eyes of Mr Croaker.Dahl wrote the short piece in 1982 for two young American publishers who were planning a book designed to encourage children to write. Jerry Biederman and Tom Silberkleit successfully approached a range of high-profile authors, including Richard Adams, Joan Aiken and Mary Poppins creator PL Travers, to write the openings of short stories that children could then finish themselves. The duo planned to publish the book under the title The Do-It-Yourself Children's Storybook, following the earlier example of The Do-It-Yourself Bestseller, which had invited adult writers to complete stories begun by authors such as Stephen King and Ken Follett.Dahl was paid $200 for his contribution, but Biederman and Silberkleit ended up being distracted by other projects and the planned volume did not see the light of day. For some years The Eyes of Mr Croaker was stored, forgotten, in Biederman's parents' garage in California.The story-starter Dahl provided shows the author writing in characteristically creepy mode. "Not one single person in the whole neighbourhood liked old Mr Croaker," Dahl began. "It wasn't just the way he looked, though that was bad, nor the nasty way he talked, though that was worse. It was not only his strange dark house on the edge of the woods that put people off. It was something frightening about his eyes."Two children, a girl and a boy, decide to go for a picnic in the woods even though they know they will have to pass Mr Croaker's house, and one of them has once seen Mr Croaker carrying into the house "a sack that wriggled". ... Wed, 15 Dec 2010 14:00:39 +0100 892960 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/15/rowan-somerville-good-sex-fiction From Bram Stoker to Vladimir Nabokov, the novelist selects the best writing about a subject 'central to much of our lives and indeed life itself'Rowan Somerville is the author of two novels, The End of Sleep and this year's The Shape of Her, described by the Economist as "deceptively simple in plot and singularly musical in its voice, it is a study of the place where our past has become our present. A summer read to be kept – and visited in the dark days of winter..." Last month, the novel followed authors including John Updike and Norman Mailer in winning the Literary Review's Bad Sex in fiction award."Most adults are interested in sex. I am. My father was, and said as much to me when he was 92. I suspect that you are too. You're reading this after all. Being so central to much of our lives and indeed life itself, it is a valid and important topic for fiction."The challenge of writing about sex is to evoke the physicality, the yearning, the counterpoint between magnificent operatic grandiosity and ludicrous bestial grunting – without resorting to cliché. As the American author Elizabeth Benedict wrote: 'A good sex scene is not always about good sex, but it is always an example of good writing.' As an enthusiastic reader and a writer too, my opinion is that it doesn't matter how weird things get as long as it remains original and feels authentic."Some of the sex in the books below works as a device for revealing the state of society, some is a device for characterisation; a way of revealing truths about characters that they themselves may not be able to see – but most of it is just about desire, lust and sex itself."10. Platform by Michel Houellebecq (2003) Strange perhaps to begin this list with a book I really dislike – but churlish I feel to leave it out when it is such a reflection of contemporary views. ... Wed, 15 Dec 2010 12:21:41 +0100 892957 http://web.docuticker.com/go/docubase/62627 Marijuana use is rising; ecstasy use is beginning to rise; and alcohol use is declining among U.S. teens (PDF) Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse Several important findings come out of this year’s Monitoring the Future study, the 36th annual, national survey of American teens in a series that launched in 1975. [...] (Source: Docuticker) Wed, 15 Dec 2010 12:04:26 +0100 892891 http://newpagesblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/writing-and-buying-books-for-children.html The theme of Talking Writing for December 2010 is Kid Stuff: Writing and Buying Books for Children. Articles include: What Do Teenagers Want? by Rebecca D. Landau; Lessons Learned—Then and Now by Laura Deurmyer; Boys and Books in Lockup: It’s Magic by Lauren Norton Carson; Adoption Books: What’s the Message? by Fran Cronin; One Mom’s Comeuppance by Rebecca Steinitz; Editor’s Note: Kids like what (Source: NewPages Blog) Wed, 15 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 893815 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LawLibrarianBlog/~3/7sTkx6fOdus/sixth-circuit-rules-email-is-protected-by-the-fourth-amendment.html The Sixth Circuit issued the most extraordinary opinion yesterday, U.S. v. Warshak. It is, apparently, the first case to declare that email, and the people who use it (virtually everybody, except teens) have a reasonable expectation of privacy in its... (Source: Law Librarian Blog) Wed, 15 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 893494 http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2010/12/14/historical-fiction-for-tweensthe-dear-america-diaries-are-back/ One of my favorite series from childhood is back!  As a young teen, I spent countless hours with the historical fiction diaries of the Dear America series, in which girls experience the greatest moments in United States history. In particular, I remember The Winter of Red Snow, featuring a girl whose family lived near Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War.  Along with her mother, she cleans Martha Washington’s laundry, giving her an interesting perspective on the preparation for battle at Valley Forge.  Another of my favorites was A Light in the Storm, in which a young woman lives in a lighthouse on the Delaware coast.  She finds her life, like her state, divided by the Civil War.  Her mother supports slavery, whereas she and her father support the Union. The series (after a six year hiatus) has returned with The Fences Between Us: The Diary of Piper Davis, set in 1941 in Washington State.  Piper gives us a two points of view on the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Like the brothers of many of her classmates, Piper’s older brother enlists in the army and goes to Hawaii to fight.  Piper writes him letters in a secret code and spends a lot of time worrying about him.  On the other hand, Piper’s father is a minister for a Japanese congregation.  Piper has friends in the congregation, as well, and she helps protect their safety as American sentiment becomes more anti-Japanese, even toward those who are American citizens.  Her father, based on a real historical figure, works for Japanese-American rights in protest of internment camps. From my childhood favorites, I remember the girls being very serious, though they found time for friendship and fun in the midst of war.  I found Piper to be much more spirited and carefree, and her sweet silliness made the book an enjoyable read.  Her voice will definitely appeal to young teen girls, who will hopefully rediscover these great books. ... Tue, 14 Dec 2010 17:47:29 +0100 892784 http://blog.ocls.info/Teens/2010/12/check_out.html Listen to the newest podcast from our teens, Bradley and Emily, and be sure to subscribe to stay updated with all of the latest teen happenings at the library. (Source: Techno Teens LIVE) Tue, 14 Dec 2010 14:22:08 +0100 893999 http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/dec/14/hollywood-black-list-best-unproduced-scripts Wizards, zombies and Jackie Kennedy star on list of finest films you didn't see this yearFancy catching a taut drama about Jackie Kennedy's fight to preserve JFK's legacy in the seven days immediately following his death? Or perhaps a romantic comedy with the legendary title: Your Bridesmaid is a Bitch? Both stories could well find their names into cinemas, along with another 74, after making it on to the 2010 "Black List" of the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood.This year's list was revealed yesterday by its compiler, film executive Franklin Leonard. It consists of the screenplays which a team of more than 300 movie producers most liked but that did not end up making it into cinemas by the end of the year. "The Black List is a snapshot of the collective taste of the people who develop, produce, and release theatrical feature films in the Hollywood studio system and the mainstream independent system," said Leonard on website blcklst.com.The list is often a useful indicator of upcoming film-making trends, and this year is no exception. The mashup genre, which began with the forthcoming film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, is well represented with the likes of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Boy Scouts vs Zombies and the delightful-sounding Fucking Jane Austen, in which two friends angry at Jane Austen for creating unrealistic romantic expectations among modern-day women get sent back in time to the 19th century. "The only way for them to return home is for one of them to get Jane Austen to fall in love and sleep with him," reports the list.There are also indications of Hollywood's continuing obsession with famous historical and cultural figures. The list is topped by writer Wes Jones's screenplay College Republicans, which centres on aspiring politician Karl Rove's "real-life" dirty campaign for national College Republican chairman under the guidance of Lee Atwater, his campaign manager. ... Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:21:39 +0100 892703 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/dec/14/season-s-readings-mark-helprin A very modern fantasy set in a snowbound turn-of-the-century New York, this isn't obviously festive. But for me it feels steeped in yuletide atmosphere. Do let us know what your favourite Christmassy read is here, and we'll blog about the most popular on 24 DecemberAs a teenager in the mid-80s I was mildly obsessed by – among other things, of course – fantasy novels and New York. I'd never been – still haven't, as a matter of fact – but had assembled a composite picture of it from movies, TV cop shows and Marvel comics. Then along came a book which fuelled both of my obsessions: Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale. Back then books came to me with no hype or fanfare. We didn't get a broadsheet in the family home so I never read book reviews, and the internet was a distant dream from one of my SF novels. So I went blind into new books, judging them by their covers, their blurbs and a furtive read of the first few pages.I think I bought Winter's Tale with a Christmas book token, and it's that, along with the snow and frost and icy winds that whip through the book from start to finish, that will forever lodge it in my heart as a festive read, despite the fact that it isn't especially Christmassy.I was blown away by Winter's Tale. It was set in New York, but no New York that I'd ever imagined, even in the most way-out Marvel comic adventure. It was a fantasy novel, but without elves or dragons, and set in a place I vaguely recognised. I hadn't heard the term "magical realism" back then; nor had I read much 19th-century literature – so I didn't recognise the archetypes of the beautiful yet consumptive girl who sits, swaddled in blankets, on the roof of her house dreaming of the world and her collision with Peter Lake, a petty crook who lives in the rafters of a fantastical Grand Central Station and who tries to burgle her remote house. ... Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:15:14 +0100 892698 http://newpagesblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/cfs-children-and-war.html This CFS was previously posted, but the editor is still accepting submissions: Children and War (working title)When American politicians mention the “hidden costs” of war, they are referring to inflation, higher taxes, and medical care for veterans of U.S. wars. Even when we invoke images of human suffering, children and teenagers are often the forgotten part of the story.Yet who can forget (Source: NewPages Blog) Tue, 14 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 893819 http://newpagesblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/pongo-warm-smiles-in-winter.html Pongo's latest journal entry is "Warm Smiles in Winter," about a recent poetry workshop with incarcerated women... Pongo Teen Writing Project has many writing activities and resources on their website for teens, counselors, and teachers. Some other recent Project Journal posts: Watching Her and Her (Pongo Prize poetry, about a young woman who witnesses her mother's struggle with addiction) The (Source: NewPages Blog) Tue, 14 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 893818