Mellon Library

The Mellon Library is excited to welcome children's author Kate DiCamillo to ASL on 16 September.  Kate is the author of many well-loved children's books including Newbery winner The Tale of Despereaux, the Newbery Honor book, Because of Winn-Dixie, and the Mercy Watson series.  

Kate was born in Pennsylvania, but grew up in Florida. Her father left the family when she was five years old, and in her writing she explores the recurring themes of loss, redemption, and trying to fit in. Her books also exemplify the healing quality of friendship. According to Kate herself, she is short, loud, hates to cook, but loves to eat!  She also thinks of herself as an extremely lucky person as she gets to tell stories for a living.

She will be talking to 5th graders about her life, her craft, and her recently published a new book, The Magician's Elephant.  If you would like to learn more about Kate DiCamillo, you can visit her website.

The Children's Bookshop will be selling a selection of Kate's books to be signed by the author in the LS Reception on 15 and 16 September.

Authors Scott Westerfeld and Sarah Rees-Brennan will visit ASL 7th and 8th graders on Tuesday, June 15th. Both authors are in the UK to promote their latest novels: Leviathan and The Demon’s Covenant.

Books will be on sale the day of the event and include: Scott Westerfeld's Uglies, Pretties, Specials, Extras and his latest novel Leviathan, as well as Sarah Rees-Brennan’s The Demon’s Lexicon and its sequel The Demon’s Covenant. All the books are £6.99 or students can purchase any three titles for £18. Students should bring cash or checks made payable to ‘Tales on Moon Lane’.

The list for the high school community read has been posted on the Mellon Library website under "Suggested Reading."  There's a great list of titles to choose from!

Check out the suggestions for summer reading for rising 5th through 8th grade students posted under the "Suggested Reading" section of the library webpage.  Hopefully you will find something of interest on the list. Please see one of the librarians if you would like help finding suggestions beyond these books. The important thing is to keep reading!

All books checked out from the Mellon Library are due on June 7th. Lost books will also need to be paid for by that date as well. Students in the Middle School will not receive their yearbooks until they take care of their library obligations. High school students will not receive their records and report cards until all is clear.

Summer checkout begins June 9th. Please feel free to stock up for the break.

Summer hours for the Mellon Library are Tuesdays from 12 to 4 beginning July 6th and running through August 10th.

The Mellon Library adds links each month to our "Suggested Reading" page showing the new books received. The February list just went up and on it you'll find not only books for student research but some other great reads... starting with several interesting non-fiction titles. 

Methland by Nick Reding is the true story of a small Iowa town that became a mecca of crystal methamphetamine production when it fell on economic hard times. Although Reding, a writer and journalist, focuses on one small town, this is really the story of a problem seen throughout the U.S.A.  However, in Oelwein, Iowa residents are fighting back, trying to take back their town. Visit the book's website to find out more about Methland and its author.

We've added several interesting war titles this month, including Jon Krakauer's Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman and Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the New Face of American War by Evan Wright.

Where Men Win Glory is about professional football player Pat Tillman, who gave up everything to serve his country in Iraq and later in Afghanistan where he would die before completing his personal commitment of three years. Krakauer looks at the controversy surrounding Tillman's death and the government's coverup. As always, Krakauer's research is applauded as is his compelling writing style.

Evan Wright's Generation Kill, which some of you may know as a movie, is about the two months the author spent embedded with an elite group of Marines in Iraq. First written as a series of articles for Rolling Stone magazine, this account tries to look past the typical war coverage of today to give a human face to the conflict. Wright describes the "new pop-culture breed of American warrior," following closely several young soldiers to give us an intimate portrait of war from this generation's perspective. Like Krakauer, Wright receives praise for his reporting and writing style.

 

One of the most important jobs of the librarian is to help students find that next great book to read. But what do you do when the librarian isn't around to help? Well, you might want to turn to the Internet and several sites that generate lists of books based on something you've just read and enjoyed.

This One Next (the new name for what used to be known as What Should I Read Next?) asks you to type in the title or author of a book that you enjoyed and it will generate a list of titles that you might like based on suggestions by other users. For the most part this site is very useful, but there are times when results seem a bit off. You might find an adult book listed alongside a list of children's books, for example. But it can be a great place to start.

The Book Seer is another web application that generates lists based on the author and title of a book you enjoyed. These lists are generated from Amazon, The Library Thing and Book Army by using publicly-available APIs. These lists seemed pretty reliable, and each title directs you to a link on either Amazon or The Library Thing, so summaries and reviews depend on those sites for information.

Finally, WhichBook allows readers to choose books based on their mood. Do you want a book that's happy or sad, gentle or violent, funny or serious? You can select several of the descriptors given to find a book that might suit you. Or, by clicking on an alternate search method, you can search by character, plot or setting. For example, if you choose "setting" you are given a map of the world to click on or you can choose "imaginary." After the list is generated, for each title you see a reader comment, an extract from the text and similar titles. It seems like an extremely helpful site.

So if the librarian isn't around and you need to find something to read, give one of these a try... you might find something great.

Don't forget to add Diane W. Frankenstein, author of Reading Together: Everything You Need to Know to Raise a Child Who Loves to Read, to your calendar. She will speak in the Mellon Library from  7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday evening, February 1 and will discuss what reading can do for our children from teaching values to developing critical thinking skills as well as enhancing creativity and imagination, and building emotional intelligence and confidence.

She will also be at school the next day, Tuesday, February 2, to lead a workshop for parents of students in grades 4-6 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the LS reception. In this session she will talk about age-appropriate books and great authors and will help parents more effectively talk to their children about the books they read.

Diane holds a Master Degree in Children's Literature and Language Arts and has worked for many years as an educational consultant in children’s and adolescent literature. Her educational consulting business specializes in children’s literature and provides school communities — parents, teachers, and librarians, as well as individual families, and private organizations — the tools, resources, and knowledge that ensure children become the readers they deserve to be and become lifelong readers.

To learn more about Diane’s work, visit www.dianefrankenstein.com

Author Neal Shusterman will speak to 7th graders during their Flex block on Monday, January 25th.

Shusterman has written many books, including Unwind, Everlost and most recently Everwild. Fans of Everlost will be happy to hear Shusterman is currently working on the screenplay for Universal Studios.

On Shusterman's website he says that when he was a kid, he wanted to be everything when he grew up. His "teacher said, 'You can't do that? you'll be a jack of all trades and a master of none!' But I had it worked out: I'd be a jack of seven trades, and master of three." And Shusterman seems to have done just that. Besides being an award-winning author, Shusterman busies himself creating games, and writing scripts for films and television.

Shusterman's books will go on sale Monday before and after the event and will cost £6.99 each.

Seventh and eighth graders will get a chance to meet Jack Gantos on Monday, 11 January. Gantos has authored books for all ages and has created such memorable characters as Rotten Ralph, Joey Pigza, and Jack Henry. He also has written books for young adults, which include The Curse of the Rumbaughs, Desire Lines and his memoir Hole in My Life.

Books will go on sale Monday morning before the event and during break. Several Joey Pigza titles are available for £4.99 and Hole in My Life will be on sale for £6.99.

To learn more about Jack Gantos, visit his website.