tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176941322024-03-12T23:44:11.101-05:00Librarian Piratelibrarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.comBlogger201125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-60981162015726992542012-01-18T23:32:00.002-06:002012-01-18T23:34:36.276-06:00Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ly14vjEJNV1r7bvdjo1_250.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 128px; height: 189px;" src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ly14vjEJNV1r7bvdjo1_250.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p>Title: <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781600604294" _mce_href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781600604294">Under the Mesquite</a><br />Author: Guadalupe Garcia McCall<br />Publisher: Lee and Low Books<br />Pub Date: 10/1/2011<br />Reviewed from: ARC received from the publisher<br />Grades 9 and up</p> <p><strong>booktalk<br /></strong></p> <p>Oh, I'm a sucker for a good novel in verse. And this is a really good novel in verse. Lupita, the eldest of eight, is having a year full of changes. She's getting very involved in drama at her high school, her friends are telling her that the fact that she's losing her accent means she's loosing sight of who she is and where she comes from, and then Mami gets diagnosed with cancer. Papi all but moves into the cancer center and leaves Lupita in charge of her family.</p> <p>Lupita is finding her voice and the free verse she shares that voice with us is evocative and beautiful.</p> <p><strong>good for</strong></p> <p>Fans of novels in verse like <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780679734772" _mce_href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780679734772">The House on Mango Street</a> or <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780312603830" _mce_href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780312603830">Diamond Willow</a>. Also good for fans of novels that make you cry and cry like <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780525478812/john-green/fault-our-stars" _mce_href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780525478812/john-green/fault-our-stars">The Fault in Our Stars.</a> </p>librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-77231698146616813632012-01-13T13:05:00.000-06:002012-01-14T13:15:02.242-06:00The Trouble with Chickens by Doreen Cronin<a href="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxlgixjtjZ1r7bvdjo1_400.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 269px; height: 400px;" src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxlgixjtjZ1r7bvdjo1_400.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-top: 8px; margin-right: 12px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 12px; background-image: url(http://assets.tumblr.com/images/input_bg.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.4; background-position: 50% 0%; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; "><p>Title: <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780061215346" _mce_href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780061215346" style="color: rgb(0, 123, 255); ">The Trouble with Chickens</a><br />Author: Doreen Cronin<br />Publisher: HarperCollins<br />Pub Date: 3/1/2011<br />Reviewed from: library copy<br />Grades 2 and up</p><p><strong>booktalk</strong></p><p>J. J. Tully is a world weary dog recently retired from the search and rescue business. All he wants is some peace and quiet. But then a chick comes into his doghouse and he just knows this chick spells trouble. And so do the other chicks. But J. J. Tully is on the case! A baby chick is missing and he is just the dog to help out - assuming the promised cheeseburgers do indeed appear.</p><p><strong>good for</strong></p><p>Fans of <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780152024857" _mce_href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780152024857" style="color: rgb(0, 123, 255); ">Chet Gecko</a> and other animal noir (is animal noir a genre? It is now. And I love it. Film Noir - film + middle grade novel + animals = Animal Noir) will be clamboring for this one. I've also recently given this book to two different children who have recently started keeping chickens who wanted novels about chickens and both of them loved them and wanted more exactly like it.</p><p><strong>other rambles</strong></p><p>For full disclosure, <u>The Trouble with Chickens</u> is similar to <u>Delirium</u> in that I was sent an eGalley back when I was going through a bit of a TIME and I didn't get around to reading the ARC before it expired but I did devour the print copy when it came into my library. So while I read my library's copy, there was the initial offer of a free galley from the publisher that i feel I need to acknowledge.</p></div>librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-17204593478894522752012-01-12T13:15:00.000-06:002012-01-14T13:16:27.217-06:00<a href="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxlfrzMVte1r7bvdjo1_400.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 314px; height: 475px;" src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxlfrzMVte1r7bvdjo1_400.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-top: 8px; margin-right: 12px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 12px; background-image: url(http://assets.tumblr.com/images/input_bg.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.4; background-position: 50% 0%; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; "><p>Title: <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062112439" _mce_href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062112439" style="color: rgb(0, 123, 255); ">Delirium</a><br />Author: Lauren Oliver<br />Publisher: HarperTEEN<br />Pub Date: 2/1/2011<br />Reviewed from: So technically I recieved an ARC from publisher but then I completely forgot to read it and it expired (because eARCs do that) then I borrowed a copy from the library.<br />Grades 7 and up</p><p>So when I first got this I didn't read it right away because I had just read a whole bunch of distopian fiction and I was getting bored of it. But then I read it and OH EM GEE I am glad I did.</p><p>So.</p><p>Love is a disease. A plague. A scurge upon humankind. Good news, though! Scientists have fixed that little love problem! When you turn 18 the government mandates that you get the cure. Lena is only 90 days away from turning 18 and oh how she has longed for that cure! Her mother is one of the few tragic people that the cure didn't work on and Lena knows all too well how love can ruin a life. And then the unthinkable happens. Lena falls in love.</p><p><br /></p><p>Oh mah goodness you are going to love this book. This is what distopian fiction was like before the hype - before it became formulaic and "lets just get all these out there on the shelf because that's what the people want!" The society sucks you in and tries to seduce you with it's logic and it's order all while there is a part of you screaming, "BUT LOVE! I LOVE LOVE! DON'T TAKE LENA'S LOVE AWAY!" And then as the cracks in the society begin to show and the action takes off and your pulse starts pouding ... suddenly you'll realize that it's 2 am and you were just going to read one more page but that was 400 pages ago.</p><p>This book is for fans of: Dystopian novels, Romance with a side of breaking and entering and plotting to defy the government, and tragic pasts that inform but don't define characters.</p></div>librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-15766285410857406742012-01-11T13:16:00.001-06:002012-01-14T13:18:12.132-06:00Entwined - Heather Dixon<a href="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxkjzrMguZ1r7bvdjo1_400.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 314px; height: 475px;" src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxkjzrMguZ1r7bvdjo1_400.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-top: 8px; margin-right: 12px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 12px; background-image: url(http://assets.tumblr.com/images/input_bg.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.4; background-position: 50% 0%; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; "><p>Title: <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062001030/heather-dixon/entwined" _mce_href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062001030/heather-dixon/entwined" style="color: rgb(0, 123, 255); ">Entwined</a><br />Author: Heather Dixon<br />Publisher: Greenwillow Books<br />Pub Date: April 2011<br />Reviewed from: copy I bought for myself</p><p>Grades 7 and up</p><p>Earlier this evening (in a review that won't be published for a few months because it was an ARC and I don't want to be too cruel in my booktalks) I created a new genre. Princesses who get dirty. You <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780142300855" _mce_href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780142300855" style="color: rgb(0, 123, 255); ">know</a> <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780061479939" _mce_href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780061479939" style="color: rgb(0, 123, 255); ">the</a> <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780152045661" _mce_href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780152045661" style="color: rgb(0, 123, 255); ">type</a>. These are those sorts of princesses. And there are 12 of them. Twelve! Twelve kick-ass princesses who are not afraid to get dirty. And being royalty they get to refer to the time they all fell asleep outside while spying on their parent's royal ball and then attacked the Prime Minister with snowballs as "the Great Rosebush and Snowball scandal." I mean seriously. Don't you want to sit down and spend a few hundred pages with these princesses?</p><p>Anyway.</p><p>Their mother's pregnancy has been very hard but when she dies giving birth to princess number 12 it is a shock to all of them. More of a shock is their father's subsequent harshness. He stops eating dinner with them, stops talking to them, and even (seemingly) rushes off to war just to get away from them! Their only happiness comes from dancing but since custom dictates they must be in full morning for a year, they can't even do that!</p><p>And then they discover a secret magical room in the castle and a man named Keeper who gives them a secret spot to dance. But Keeper isn't telling them much about him. Is he to be trusted? Or is he leading the girls on a path unimaginable?</p><p>Give this book to: Fans of fairy tale retellings (the 12 dancing princesses, natch), lovers of formal dancing, readers who want their romance (there are 3 complete and satisfying romances hidden inside this book) with a side of dashing and adventure, and fans of (obvs) princesses who are not afraid to get dirty.</p></div>librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-47531199584865294902012-01-10T13:18:00.001-06:002012-01-14T13:20:20.801-06:00Saving June - Hannah Harrington<a href="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxkjalYmtM1r7bvdjo1_250.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 175px; height: 276px;" src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxkjalYmtM1r7bvdjo1_250.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-top: 8px; margin-right: 12px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 12px; background-image: url(http://assets.tumblr.com/images/input_bg.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.4; background-position: 50% 0%; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; "><p>Title: <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780373210244" _mce_href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780373210244" style="color: rgb(0, 123, 255); ">Saving June </a><br />Author: Hannah Harrington<br />Publisher: HarlequinTEEN<br />Pub Date: May 2011<br />Reviewed from: ARC received from publisher<br />Grades 10 and up</p><p>June was always the perfect daughter and Harper was always the screw up. June's suicide - a week before her high school graduation - is a shock to everyone. Harper's divorced parents decide to split June's ashes but Harper, knowing June's ardent desire to go to California, takes off with her best friend Laney and Jake. Along the way they go to a protest, a concert, and, hokey as it sounds, learn a lot more about themselves. I know. I KNOW! That last line is hokey. But sometimes that's exactly what you need.</p><p>And Jake. Let me tell you about Jake. Gorgeous. Music obsessed. June was tutoring him. But they were just friends, right? But there's a lot more to his story than he's telling.</p><p>This book is perfect for: someone who needs a good cry, someone who loves reading about awesome music, fans of good road trip stories, fans of <a href="http://yainthesecondcity.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/bookends-ya-literature-trends-wish-list-2012/" _mce_href="http://yainthesecondcity.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/bookends-ya-literature-trends-wish-list-2012/" style="color: rgb(0, 123, 255); ">slow-burn romances</a>, and someone who wants to read about some awesome friendships.</p><p>Also - if you've read this let me know. Because I need to talk to someone about this book. The ending. I just have to say something but I can't say it to you because you haven't read this book.</p></div>librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-72066684716360913872012-01-09T13:20:00.001-06:002012-01-14T13:22:13.931-06:00Dancergirl - Carol M. Tanzman<a href="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxhz8w2JHG1r7bvdjo1_250.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 249px; height: 400px;" src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxhz8w2JHG1r7bvdjo1_250.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-top: 8px; margin-right: 12px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 12px; background-image: url(http://assets.tumblr.com/images/input_bg.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.4; background-position: 50% 0%; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; "><p>Title: <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780373210404" _mce_href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780373210404" style="color: rgb(0, 123, 255); ">Dancergirl</a><br />Author: Carol M. Tanzman<br />Publisher: Harlequin<br />Pub Date: 11/2011<br />Reviewed from: ARC received from publisher<br />Grades 10 and up</p><p>Ok, so this is one of those books that I started right before bed and ended up staying up way too late to finish it. And then I had to start another book before sleeping because it had freaked me out too much.</p><p>Alicia is an amazing dancer and one day her friend captures a video of her dancing at a concert and it goes viral. So they do another video. And another. And then another video goes up of her dancing along in her room that her friend didn't film. And she didn't film. And her world is thrown into a nightmarish reality where she's afraid to be alone at her dance studio, afraid to walk down the street. Is she going to have to give up her dream of being a professional dancer because of some creep? Or will she overcome?</p><p>This book is for patrons who: like pulse pounding creepiness (the creep factor is high but more realistic than ghosts), love reading about dancing (ooooh, the descriptions of dance! This book made me miss being a dancer), or are interested in the viral nature of the internet.</p></div>librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-66559890806627272072011-12-14T19:01:00.000-06:002011-12-14T19:01:00.148-06:00Waiting on Wednesday: Show Me A Story<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-36CrQRzI1vk/Ttgji6Izv5I/AAAAAAAAARg/uiRWRWe8Ttg/s1600/picture.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-36CrQRzI1vk/Ttgji6Izv5I/AAAAAAAAARg/uiRWRWe8Ttg/s320/picture.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681330012556607378" /></a>Title: <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780763635060">Show Me A Story: Why Picture Books Matter: Conversations with 21 of the World's Most Celebrated Illustrators</a><br />Author: Leonard S. Marcus<br />Pub Date: 4/24/2012<br />Publisher: Candlewick Press<br /><br />I think I've told y'all before that authors are my rock stars. I mean - it's probably like that for most everyone in the kid-lit-osphere but really. Authors. Unf. And illustrators? Those people who take words and perfectly encapsulate them into art? UNF! So when I saw this book was coming out I got super excited. SUPER excited. This book has interviews with:<br />Mitsumasa Anno<br />Quentin Blake<br />Ashley Bryan<br />John Burningham<br />Eric Carle<br />Lois Ehlert<br />Kevin Henkes<br />Tana Hoban<br />Yumi Heo<br />James Marshall<br />Robert McClosky<br />Helen Oxenbury<br />Jerry Pinkney<br />Chris Raschka<br />Maurice Sendak<br />Peter Sís<br />William Steig<br />Rosemary Wells<br />Mo Willems<br />Vera B. Williams<br />Lisbeth Zwerger<br /><br />OH EN GEE how perfect does this sound? I can't wait to read it.librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-16370412787750159912011-12-07T18:51:00.000-06:002011-12-07T18:51:00.258-06:00Waiting on Wednesday - Incarnate<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uLo0Z3hsyuA/TtghjBhUUjI/AAAAAAAAARU/_j78j1611HE/s1600/incarnate.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 211px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uLo0Z3hsyuA/TtghjBhUUjI/AAAAAAAAARU/_j78j1611HE/s320/incarnate.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681327815515198002" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Title: Incarnate</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Author: Jodi Meadows</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Pub Date: 1/31/12</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Publisher: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Harper Collins</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 18px;" ><div>Ok, so, I hate this cover. I almost scrolled on by this book because this cover is just so ... I don't even know. But the description caught me:</div><div><br /></div><div></div><blockquote><div>For the last five thousand years, the same one million souls have always been reincarnated into new bodies, retaining their minds, memories, and skill sets of past lifetimes. Always, that is, until once. Eighteen years ago Ana, the newsoul—nosoul, some call her—was born in another’s place. </div><div><br /></div><div>INCARNATE is the story of this one new soul, raised in isolation by a mother who is ashamed of her. On her eighteenth birthday Ana decides to set out alone for Heart, the capital city, to find out why she was born. Ana hopes knowing why will show her what she is supposed to do with the one lifetime she’s been given. Led to believe that nosouls are worthless, she has trouble accepting the kindness of Sam, a (5,000–year–old) teenager who rescues her from a frozen lake she jumped in to escape Sylph, shadow monsters. Sam offers to take her to Heart, where he is assigned as her guardian. They begin to develop feelings for each other, but that is complicated by the fact that Sam is afraid to love someone who, for all they know, will only live once, who will disappear from his world too quickly. But in Heart, Ana is surrounded by people who see her as a danger and an ugly omen for the future—what if nosouls replace more people? The only way Ana can save herself is to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, and find the answer to the question of whether she will be reborn like Sam and the rest of the inhabitants of Heart.</div></blockquote><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Now TELL me that doesn't sound like way to much fun!</div></span></div>librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-46860782055366651792011-12-04T08:36:00.000-06:002011-12-04T08:36:00.151-06:00Sunday LinksI had great fun looking through this <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2011/11/the_wondrous_database_that_reveals_what_books_americans_checked_out_of_the_library_a_century_ago_.single.html">database of what Americans checked out of the library a century ago</a>. Thank you to <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/107399739914668385323/posts">Nancy Picchi</a> for the link<br /><br /><a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/103900810161918675722/posts">John Pappas</a> linked to this great article about a library that has a <a href="http://rcpldigitalpressroom.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/get-your-e-reader-questions-answered-at-the-library/">mobile devices display</a> where you can check out the different types of ereaders and tablets there are so you can make a more informed decision before buying one. I'm on the Overdrive team at my library and we've had a couple of petting zoos with lots of devices and informed people around to ask questions of but I love the idea of a permanent display!<br /><br />Anne Slaughter of the Oak Park Public Library <a href="http://www.walkingpaper.org/4353">took Ranganathan's 5 laws</a> and updated them for the Virtual Library. I love this. But then again I'm a Ranganathan fan - I've often thought that if I ever get another tattoo it will be either "The Library is a growing organism" or "every book it's reader." Thank you <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/102331362505834311647/posts">Jeffrey Hamilton</a> for the link!<br /><br />Being the Fairy Tale fan that I am I loved reading <a href="http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/are-fairy-tales-really-for-children/?scp=6&sq=children&st=cse">Are Fairy Tales Ready for Children</a> - it was a good discussion of Fairy Tales without falling straight into "Fairy Tales have sex and violence and therefore nobody should ever read the originals ever ever ever."</p>librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-90937590285739750632011-11-30T08:59:00.004-06:002011-12-01T11:48:01.370-06:00Book Advent Calendar<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Bnvavr4tkxs/TtZF88-O_vI/AAAAAAAAARI/l0BpkJzvhck/s1600/innernet.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Bnvavr4tkxs/TtZF88-O_vI/AAAAAAAAARI/l0BpkJzvhck/s320/innernet.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680804893436083954" border="0" /></a>I just finished wrapping our advent calendar. A book a day for 24 days - and that will be our first bedtime book that night. At the end of January I’ll put the Christmas/Winter books away for a year so we can do this again next December. I did this last year - I got the idea from <a href="http://babyccinokids.com/2009/11/29/christmas-book-advent-calendar/">this lovely blog post</a>.<br /><p>I wasn’t thinking much - I wrapped everything, putting it into piles and now I don’t remember which book is which. Hopefully <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781932416879">The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming</a> is on #20 and hopefully the 2 I Spy books aren’t next to each other but if so whatever.</p> <p>Last year half of the books were library books. This year they’re all ours! Many are thrifted and some are paperbacks that are about on their last legs but I’m glad that I’ve got an excuse to get a handful of fun new Christmas books every year. I’m thinking in 2013 the first book will be the best Christmas Pageant Ever and we’ll do a chapter a night. I’ll probably have to get a second chapter book for #15 or so. You know I love love love the ages the girls are and I don’t want to seem like I want them to grow up right away but I love thinking about things they’ll be able to do in the future.</p> <p>Do any of y’all have a favorite Winter/Christmas/Holiday book for me to add in future years?</p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hAYTcjnsGK0/TtZFWYvDrBI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/FTNLfr7P0kI/s1600/innernet.jpg"><br /></a>librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-36919957892060039932011-09-25T14:29:00.003-05:002011-09-25T14:33:30.524-05:00Magic Kitten readalikes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-knxBauee-bQ/Tn-B3bg7tSI/AAAAAAAAAQo/WafstGpAN5w/s1600/inner.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 314px; height: 297px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-knxBauee-bQ/Tn-B3bg7tSI/AAAAAAAAAQo/WafstGpAN5w/s320/inner.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656382446279308578" border="0" /></a>I recently talked with a group of first graders who all loved the Magic Kitten series. And I realized that there are a whole huge pile of books about magic kittens. And since I like creating booklists about esoteric topics here is my list of early chapter books about magic kitten (with a little bit of branching out at the end). (all summaries are from the publisher) (picture is of one of my adorable cats. His name is Furygosa and he's the sweetest little magic user in the world.)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5593026-the-pet-sitter">Tiger Taming by Julie Sykes</a><br />When animal lover Max sets up a pet-sitting business, he finds himself looking after some very unusual pets. Max can't wait to take care of Miss Warble Itchy's black cat, Tiger. But a witch's cat can really be a handful-- talking back, drinking forbidden bat juice, and getting kidnapped by an angry wizard.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9393258-paw-power">Paw Power by Kitty Wells</a><br />After Maddy buys a set of three ceramic cats at a mysterious flea market stall, one of the statues comes to life to help her stop a school bully.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11391419-katie-the-kitten-fairy">Katie the Kitten Fairy by Daisy Meadows</a><br />When Katie's kitten is missing, her fairy friends help her find it.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/532511.Fashion_Kitty">Fashion Kitty by Charise Mericle Harper</a><br />After a stack of fashion magazines falls on Kiki Kitty's head while she is blowing out the candles on her birthday cake, Kiki turns into Fashion Kitty, a feline superhero who saves other kitties from fashion disaster.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/476909.Queen_of_the_World_">Babymouse : Queen of the world! by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm</a><br />An imaginative mouse dreams of being queen of the world, but will settle for an invitation to the most popular girl's slumber party.<br />(not about a kitten but I always like adding things to book lists that are slightly out of the exact specifications that will lead off into other passions!)<br /><br />If you want to branch out to more middle grade fiction you can add in some of my favorites!<br /><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/128521.No_Flying_in_the_House">No Flying in the House by Betty Brock and Wallace Trip</a><br />Annabel Tippens seems like an ordinary little girl, with short blond hair and very good manners. But Annabel is actually quite unusual. Instead of parents, she has Gloria, a tiny white dog who talks and wears a gold collar. Annabel never wonders why her life is different, until one day a cat named Belinda tells her the truth -- she′s not just a little girl, she′s half fairy! But now that she knows the truth, will her whole life have to change?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/822630.Time_Cat">Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander</a><br />Jason and his magic cat Gareth travel through time to visit countries all over the world during different periods of history.<br /><br />And this list only has one familiar cat! If I opened the list up to all witch's cats it'd really explode.<br /><br />What do y'all think? Do you have any favorite magical cat books? I'd be especially grateful for more very early chapter books because it seems that all the first graders are devouring everything I have!librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-61342879584663186122011-09-25T08:00:00.006-05:002011-09-25T08:00:06.431-05:00Sunday LinksSo my good friend Hummingbird Heart* has started a series on her blog called <a href="http://hummingbrdheart.wordpress.com/category/media/origin-stories/">Origin Stories</a> where she and some friends write blog posts about books that inspired us as children and how they have shaped who we have become. Her first one is on <a href="http://hummingbrdheart.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/origin-stories-enders-game/">Enders Game</a> and her second is on <a href="http://hummingbrdheart.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/origin-stories-harriet-the-spy/">Harriet The Spy</a>. I'm going to write one (I have a couple of books in mind, don't worry - I'll link over when I write it) - there are so many books that have made me who I am today and so many things to say about those books! Anyway - if you want to read some beautiful love letters to/about books then click on over. <br /><br />New York Public Library has a children's librarian who <a href="http://nypl.tumblr.com/post/10486709845/susie-childrens-librarian-at-mulberry-street">has done some great youtube book recommendations</a>! Her astronaut recommendations are below:<br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qMWAdfAh19c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />I'm inspired! I might have to make some of my own!<br /><br />The Huffington Post, of all places, made a great <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/22/top-banned-books-2010_n_976846.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003">infographic about banned books week</a>. I can only hope they start adding previous years in because it really is a fun visual!<br /><br />*Not sure if you wanted real names on other people's blogs, HH, so I'm sticking with this!librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-50949553259564621452011-09-13T00:05:00.001-05:002011-09-13T00:05:00.061-05:00Reel Life Starring Us by Lisa Greenwald<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mefD5ehixc8/Tm7Sx54HVMI/AAAAAAAAAQY/8_iAC5rIe8c/s1600/Reel%2BLife%2BStarring%2BUs.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mefD5ehixc8/Tm7Sx54HVMI/AAAAAAAAAQY/8_iAC5rIe8c/s200/Reel%2BLife%2BStarring%2BUs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5651686337188156610" border="0" /></a>Title: <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10806006-reel-life-starring-us">Reel Life Starring Us</a></span><br />Author: Lisa Greenwald<br />Publisher: ABRAMS<br />Pub Date: 09/01/2011 <br />Reviewed from: egalley received from publisher<br />Grades 4 and up<br /><br />Ok, this one was fun. I've been meaning to read <u>My Life In Pink and Green</u> for ages - I have a coworker who raved about it! So I absolutely jumped at the chance to read Lisa Greenwald's new book. <u>Reel Life</u> is one of those rare books that tackles huge issues but very much does it as just something that happens when you tell a good story as opposed to being a book about huge issues. The new girl Dee and the most popular girl Chelsea are thrust together to do a project for school. Dee wants to be friends! Chelsea does too but her friends think Dee is weird because she's so into filming everything. Chelsea is dealing with a lot of stuff - her father just lost his job, boy issues, mono - and while she wants to be friends with the new girl she isn't quite strong enough right then to actually stand up to her old friends. And she's dealing with so much stuff personally that she keeps being an absolute poop head to Dee. I hate feeling preached too (who likes that?) so it's nice when the book just is a great story and there are always important things to learn from great stories.<br /><br />I especially liked the boy sub-plot. Chelsea's friends are all convinced she has a crush on a certain guy and she doesn't think she does and she spends a lot of time angsting about that but when she finds out that the guy actually likes someone else she gets super jealous for a bit - not because of sour grapes and suddenly now she likes him but because she was still thinking and it jolted her to realize that it isn't just her decision. That isn't an angle I've seen often.<br /><br />Anyway - if you or one of your patrons is in the market for a good school/friendship book with a heavy dose of film trivia, this is the book for you!librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-36660291271090357212011-09-09T13:36:00.001-05:002011-09-09T13:38:57.974-05:00Friday FunFriend who had read <a href="http://librarianpirate.blogspot.com/2011/09/undead-audiobook-roundup-part-1.html">my last blog post</a>: So what book are you listening to nowadays?<br />LP: <a href="http://rebeccaskloot.com/the-immortal-life/">The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks</a> - I'm absolutely loving it!<br />FWHRMLBP: Oh! More undead audiobooks!<br />LP: More like nonfiction medical narrative with racial overtones?<br />FWHRMLBP: Oh ...librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-25566957337887893512011-09-02T05:30:00.000-05:002011-09-02T05:30:00.366-05:00Undead Audiobook Roundup part 1I feel like Twilight has made the Paranormal Romance genre both explode and also become a bit taboo for the discerning YA reader, ya know? Who wants to admit to reading VAMPIRE ROMANCE? Well I recently listened to a whole bunch of books and and then I realized that all of them were about the undead and half of them also had a romantic component to them. So here is a quick round-up of all the fantastic undead audiobooks I've heard recently.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6953500-insatiable">Insatiable</a> by Meg Cabot narrated by Emily Bauer.<br />I totally got the impression that Meg Cabot read through <a href="http://markreadstwilight.buzznet.com/user/">Mark Reads Twilight</a> or other criticisms of Twilight before writing this. Meena Harper is, in many ways, the anti Bella Swan. She has the ability to tell hwo people are going to die so when she finds out that the man she's falling for is a vampire, the last thing she wants is to be turned into a vampire. She wants life. She wants a future that includes her friends and her family and sunshine. <br /><br />Insatiable is quintisential Meg Cabot. Fun, quirky, deceptively light (she always packs quite a bit of substance into her fluffy reads, if that makes any sense), and fantastic. Highly recommended.<br /><br />Four and a half out of five stars.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8041873-hold-me-closer-necromancer">Hold Me Closer, Necromancer</a> by Lish McBride, narrated by Jonathan Todd Ross and Chris Sorensen.<br />At first I was nervous that this book had a severe case of <a href="http://www.unheardtaunts.com/wir/">Women in Refrigerators</a> syndrome. (Spoilers here - but really only for the first disc so unless you're super strict I don't know you'd care?) The first female we met was quickly killed off and the second female we meet has already been kidnapped and then gets drugged and tortured some more right in front of us. YAY FEMINISM! But things calmed down a little after that. <br /><br />Sam LaCroix doesn't even know he's a Necromancer until the had of the local Necromancers comes into the fast food resteraunt where he works and gets super upset at him for not presenting himself to the magical council and then spends the rest of the book trying to kill him. Not so much fun, yes? But this book is. I loved Sam's family (I really love seeing a happy non disfunctional family in a YA book. Yes there were secrets that shouldn't have been kept so long and Sam totally overreacted when he found out about them but if he hadn't overreacted and instead confided in his mother, she would totally have saved the day right then and there goes the second half of the book.)<br /><br />The audiobook narration is good. There are two male narrators, though, for the two main POVs of the book, but I didn't even realize that until haflway through because the voices were so similar. I had just assumed one guy was doing two slightly different character voices. Not a criticism - the two POVs were different enough that I was never confused - just an observation.<br /><br />Three stars! Fine holiday fun!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/518848.Sabriel">Sabriel</a>/<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47624.Lirael">Lirael</a>/<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/334643.Abhorsen">Abhorsen</a> by Garth Nix narrated by Tim Effing Curry<br /><br />These books almost deserve their own post - phenomenal. Tim Curry needs to quit all his other jobs (and I love all his other jobs) and just read books to me. Seriously. Best audiobook narrator ever. And the books! So good! Everybody has been telling me to read them for AGES but I read <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47613.Mister_Monday">Mister Monday</a> by Garth Nix and wasn't terribly inspired to read more Nix books after that? But Oh. OH! So. There is the Old Kingdom (magic, the walking dead, modern technology just doesn't work) conected to a more regular world that reads like a pre WWI England. Sabriel has been at a bording school in the regular world for most of her life, only visiting the old Kingdom on holidays. Then her father goes missing and Sabriel goes to find him and discovers the depth of her magical inheritance and oh. OH! So. I'm a sucker for a good world building and the world of the Old Kingdom is perfect. Flawless. The magic is divided into two kids - Charter Magic which is the "good" magic and flows from charter symbols that can be used to do most any magical whatnots and free magic which is dangerous and corrupts. Sabriel's father (and Sabriel and more) is the Abhorsen which is basically the head necromancer in the land. Necromancy is free magic and therefore forbidden but there is one necromancer, the Abhorsen, who works for and with the Royal family to keep all othe necromancers and The Dead in check. And there are bells and cats and really? Just read it. Or better yet listen to it. Because every fantasy lover needs to read or listen to these books.<br /><br />Five enthusiastic stars<br /><br />I still have 3 more series to discuss but I'm going to stop here for the moment. Five books in one post is quite enough, thank you!librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-9770970663867237492011-09-01T15:04:00.000-05:002011-09-01T15:04:00.209-05:00Wisdom's Kiss<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4t_rjYTVqn0/Tl0dG2VOr6I/AAAAAAAAAQE/xKEiM6cga3w/s1600/innernet.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646701511293448098" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4t_rjYTVqn0/Tl0dG2VOr6I/AAAAAAAAAQE/xKEiM6cga3w/s200/innernet.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 141px;" /></a><br />
Title: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10043376-wisdom-s-kiss">Wisdom's Kiss</a><br />
Author: Catherine Gilbert Murdock<br />
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children<br />
Pub Date: 09/15/2011 <br />
Reviewed from: egalley received from publisher<br />
<br />
Ok, so, I just realized while finding the Goodreads link that the author of this book ALSO wrote Princess Ben which I've heard of but never read. HA! That's also on the cover! That's the trouble with reading ebooks on my phone. The screen is plenty large enough to do the actual reading but apparently I miss important details on the cover. Seeing as how the dowager Queen in this book is Queen Ben I'm assuming this is a sequel to that. (insert frantic Novelisting here) Hmm - well nothing is saying sequel but same country, one character the same. WHATEVER - the point of this tangent* is that you don't have to read Princess Ben in order enjoy Wisdom's Kiss. I'm thinking that a couple of things Queen Ben alluded to would be more fleshed out and now when I read Princess Ben** I'm going to know that she ends up alive and a Queen. But knowing the Fantasy genre I don't think that was ever in doubt. So. Read Princess Ben first if you want to or go straight to Wisdom's Kiss if you want to. I don't think I am missing out on anything doing it this way.<br /><br />*is it considered a tangent if this is how I begin my review? Does this make the rest of the review a tangent? WHY DOES ANYONE EVER READ THIS WEBSITE? Questions for the ages.<br /><br />**The audiobook is currently waiting for me on the hold shelf when I get to work tonight but I'm wondering - I would not have been able to follow Wisdom's Kiss in an audiobook. The formatting and different POVs would have confused me? Whatever - I'll try it.OK! REVIEW, LP! STOP TANGENTING!<br /><br />This book was, in a word, fantastic. I try not to read other people's reviews before I write mine but I accidentally read a blog's "twitter style" review of this the other day and they didn't like it. Lack of characterization, they said. What? The characters were the best part of this - and that is saying a lot since I loved the plot, the format, and the writing style as well. BUT the characters! You've got these great characters - Princess Wisdom (who is just way to exuberant and impetuous to ever be a solid ruler but oh she's wonderful), Trudy (who has the gift of foresight but is somewhat terrified of it and is desperately in love with her childhood friend Tips), and Tips (who left Trudy to "be a soldier" but he has a secret and there may be trouble in his future). I fell in love with them all. I loved how they grew and changed and learned to live with what new things life threw at them. LOVE them.<br /><br />I loved the format. Letters, journal entries, a memoir, an encyclopedia, and a play.<br /><br />Basically if you love fantasy and strong women (oh the strong women) and great plot lines, don't dismiss this.<br /><br />On a last feminist note, I love that (super huge spoiler here so stop now) neither Trudy nor Queen Temperance end up with love interests in order to be happy. I mean there's a follow up encyclopedia entry that mentions their later lives and a husband and children for one but the actual story ends with them finding happiness through friendship and their jobs and lives. LOVE that. LOVE LOVE LOVE that.librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-91630350578225042272011-08-31T09:07:00.001-05:002011-08-31T09:15:59.975-05:00Waiting on Wednesday - All Men of Genius<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3rFBxeZkxSw/Tl5ANK7ih5I/AAAAAAAAAQM/YltFG1aRw58/s1600/innernet.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3rFBxeZkxSw/Tl5ANK7ih5I/AAAAAAAAAQM/YltFG1aRw58/s200/innernet.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647021577785739154" border="0" /></a>
<br />Title: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10839204-all-men-of-genius">All Men of Genius</a>
<br />Author: Lev AC Rosen
<br />Pub Date: 8/27/11
<br />Publisher: Tor
<br />
<br />Today I was perusing the recently ordered titles at my library for collections I am not in charge of when I found this little beauty. Listen to this description:
<br />
<br /><i>Inspired by two of the most beloved works by literary masters, All Men of Genius takes place in an alternate Steampunk Victorian London, where science makes the impossible possible.
<br />
<br />Violet Adams wants to attend Illyria College, a widely renowned school for the most brilliant up-and-coming scientific minds, founded by the late Duke Illyria, the greatest scientist of the Victorian Age. The school is run by his son, Ernest, who has held to his father’s policy that the small, exclusive college remain male-only. Violet sees her opportunity when her father departs for America. She disguises herself as her twin brother, Ashton, and gains entry.
<br />
<br />But keeping the secret of her sex won’t be easy, not with her friend Jack’s constant habit of pulling pranks, and especially not when the duke’s young ward, Cecily, starts to develop feelings for Violet’s alter ego, “Ashton.” Not to mention blackmail, mysterious killer automata, and the way Violet’s pulse quickens whenever the young duke, Ernest (who has a secret past of his own), speaks to her. She soon realizes that it’s not just keeping her secret until the end of the year faire she has to worry about: it’s surviving that long.</i>
<br />
<br />Steampunk Shakespeare retellings? I am SO THERE! I already have this on hold for myself and I've told the YA collection development librarian thank you thank you thank you for finding this gem!librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-6865648373693425452011-08-28T06:47:00.001-05:002011-08-28T06:47:00.448-05:00Sunday LinksI have been sent over and over again this <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/books/review/boys-and-reading-is-there-any-hope.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&seid=auto&smid=tw-nytimesbooks">article from the NY Times</a> about how (gasp) boys aren't reading like they should and (bigger gasp) the problem is all those pesky wimmin writers taking all the good publishing contracts away from men. I have only responded to a select few of those with this <a href="http://www.therejectionist.com/2011/08/boys-and-reading-is-there-any-hope-of.html">absolutely lovely take-down</a> of the article that <a href="http://katiecoyle.tumblr.com/">Katie Coyle</a> pointed me toward.
<br />
<br />I don't think I blogged about it but last year's <a href="http://readcomicsinpublic.com/">International Read Comics in Public</a> day was way too much fun and I made a lovely little display at my library for it. This year it is being held TODAY! Sunday, August 28th! And <a href="http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com/post/8867417717/wrcip2">DCWomenKickingAss</a> is hosting an online Women Read Comics in Public event. Post pictures of you reading in public on twitter, facebook, tumblr, your blog, whatever! I will try to get some up here today as well!
<br />
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A5bhBxkaouU/TlbgBdV5zJI/AAAAAAAAAP4/aTwzytPQaAI/s1600/innernet.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A5bhBxkaouU/TlbgBdV5zJI/AAAAAAAAAP4/aTwzytPQaAI/s200/innernet.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644945498616482962" border="0" /></a>I have recently gotten absolutely addicted to nail polish and I did this manicure on Thursday where I used every purple nail polish I own. I'm absurdly proud of it! But I promise I won't become one of those nail polish blogs - there are enough of those and I will never be that talented. Books, babies, and social justice is what I'm sticking with! That said, I may have to share some of my favorites with y'all because that is the point of having a blog, yes? Sharing what we're proud of?
<br />
<br />And two super fun links from twitter! Nathan Bransford's <a href="http://mobile.twitter.com//NathanBransford">twitter account</a> pointed me to (not his but on his blog) this absolutely stellar <a href="http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2011/08/agent-responds-to-paperback-writer-by.html">literary agent responds to paperback writer</a> and <a href="http://mobile.twitter.com//MegCabot">Meg Cabot</a> tweeted, "Sometimes dreams do come true! Here's a 60 second video of every outfit worn by Cher in the movie Clueless: http://tinyurl.com/3hfvkwd " How did Meg know exactly what I wanted?
<br />
<br /><iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/F6eLxe5hMzg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-5627428282766539972011-08-27T13:07:00.000-05:002011-08-27T13:07:00.547-05:00Quick NoteDon't forget - tomorrow is <a href="http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com/post/8867417717/wrcip2">Read Comics in Public</a> day! So hand some comic books and graphic novels to everyone you can. librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-19981382553301592422011-08-23T22:43:00.003-05:002011-08-25T09:28:55.603-05:00Late Night Mommy Blogging<div>We recently had a chance to read <u>Monkey with a Tool Belt and the Seaside Shenanigans</u> (spoiler alert? It's awesome. Full review closer to the release date), so tonight we had to reread Chico Bon Bon's other exploits. <u>Monkey with a Tool Belt and the Noisy Problem</u> has a repeating (noisy, natch) refrain of AOOOOOGAH BOOM BOOM CLANG CLANG. Kinsie begged to sleep with Noisy Problem tonight and right now I am getting myself ready for bed and every few seconds I hear over the baby monitor* "AOOOOOGAH BOOM BOOM CLANG CLANG." I should probably go warn Kins not to wake up her sister but Pips tends to be a sound sleeper and I am laughing so much over this that I should probably let it be.
<br />
<br />Also I'm back from vacation and I'll be back to blogging soon! This phone app will probably lead to too much ill advised late night blogging with no access to spell check****. YAY!
<br />
<br />*yes, 4 years old is probably too old for a baby monitor but Pips is only 2 and still wakes up at 4am every other week or so.
<br />**I just realized there is a blogger app on my phone and I have no idea how this is going to format itself so I can't give the picture a proper caption. I just happen to have a picture of the sleeping special heads*** on my phone from a recent 2am cab ride after a full day of flying back to Chicagoland from Colorado. It seemed appropriate to late night blogging.
<br />***my sister has always called the girls each "special head." This photo always makes me think of that.
<br />****AOOOOOGAH BOOM BOOM CLANG CLANG
<br /><img src='http://lh3.ggpht.com/-5SdDazz7UbY/TlRzZyHXD2I/AAAAAAAAAPw/GWvCoC_d-ac/IMG_20110811_015218.png' /></div>librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-91454103819686495592011-07-31T10:11:00.004-05:002011-07-31T10:11:00.214-05:00Sunday Links<a href="http://www.ancientlives.org/transcribe">Want to play Indiana Jones* while you Procrastinate?</a> As <a href="http://muralgirl.tumblr.com/post/8196022582/want-to-play-indiana-jones-while-you-procrastinate">muralgirl</a> says, "This website gives you untranslated chunks of ancient Greek papyri texts from Oxyrhynchus, Egypt to transcribe. There are a series of characters for you to match up with what you see on the fragments. It’s kind of a fun puzzle, and it helps speed along the transcription of these documents so that they can be deciphered. Some of them are much harder to read than others, so click next a few times until you find a sheet where you can actually make out the letters. Nerdy fun! *Not the exciting part of his job." I've had way too much fun with this this week - and even got the girls helping! Early literacy - pattern recognition and all that.<br /><br />Jennifer Egan has written the most fantastic short story <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/22/jennifer-egan-short-story">here </a>but she has cleverly disguised it as a list. Go read it. Trust me. SO GOOD! Thanks to <a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/jennifer-egan-publishes-new-short-story-disguised-as-list_b35128">Galley Cat</a> for pointing me in that direction.<br /><br /><a href="http://melissa.depperfamily.net/blog/">MelissaZD</a> who hosts the fantastic <a href="http://melissa.depperfamily.net/blog/?cat=26">Flannel Friday</a> has created some <a href="http://pinterest.com/flannelfriday/">Pinterest boards for Flannel Friday!</a> I think it's about time I got off my cushy librarian chair and posted some of the Flannels I've made recently! Important question: if I make flannels and don't share them with the internet, do they make a sound?<br /><br />As you can imagine I was over the moon with this <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/books/review/pirate-picture-books-ahoy.html?_r=3&ref=books">list of pirate picture books</a>. What are your favorites?<br /><br />Also - I feel the need to point out that <a href="http://www.parentdish.com/2011/07/27/pippa-gaining-ground-on-top-baby-name-list-in-2011/?test=faces">I had a daughter named Pippa before it was cool</a>. (Hipster LP)<br /><br />I am writing this on Saturday (cheater LP is a cheater) and it's the anniversary of the first Defenestration of Prague. And really any excuse to use the word defenestration I take! So! Happy Day After the Anniversary of the First Defenestration of Prague!<br /><br />I am currently on a jet plane to Colorado to spend a week and a half. I may be even less bloggy than usual! Or maybe I'll be twice as prolific. VACATION - you never know what's going to happen.librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-864335338110279072011-07-30T17:21:00.000-05:002011-07-30T17:21:00.555-05:00New Picture Book Round-up!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FmA0fyuHC8U/TjQ9zz-9piI/AAAAAAAAANM/6N9fVN4aN84/s1600/innernet.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FmA0fyuHC8U/TjQ9zz-9piI/AAAAAAAAANM/6N9fVN4aN84/s320/innernet.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635196994084251170" border="0" /></a>Title: <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780763642013">Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters: a lullaby</a><br />Author: Jane Yolen<br />Publisher: Candlewick<br />Pub Date: 7/12/2011 <br />Reviewed from: Sitting here on the new books cart at my library<br /><br />I read this book without looking at the author then when I decided to review it I looked at the author and said, "Oh! Jane Yolen! No wonder this book is so much fun." And it is. So. Much. Fun. Rhyming text sends monster after monster home and off to bed. Kelly Murphy's art is muted and gorgeous! I read <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780810994911">Hush Little Dragon </a> in storytime yesterday and recognized her art style immediately! SO pretty! I'm putting this on my "to be used in storytime ASAP" list.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7zTZ4H7aH10/TjQ_yTgsgUI/AAAAAAAAANU/S8qRvu0Dcy4/s1600/innernet.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7zTZ4H7aH10/TjQ_yTgsgUI/AAAAAAAAANU/S8qRvu0Dcy4/s320/innernet.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635199167210750274" border="0" /></a>Title: <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780375864551">Farmyard Beat</a><br />Author: Lindsey Craig<br />Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers<br />Pub Date: 6/14/2011 <br />Reviewed from: Sitting here on the new books cart at my library<br /><br />Yet another new book that I couldn't wait to use in a storytime! Last week I had a dance theme and when I saw this on the new books shelf I couldn't resist. One animal can't sleep and starts making their very own beat and then they all wake up. At the end they all make their special beats together for a rousing chorus! I think it would be great fun to record that end piece - or with older kids (in our 4,5,K) give each child their own beat - so we can have all the sounds going at once! I am proud of my storytime skills but I can only be saying one thing at a time. Anyway - this is lovely. Check it out and use it in storytime!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ebq9_rAbHME/TjRGKH6-VTI/AAAAAAAAANc/jEagM2tWOTs/s1600/innernet.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 258px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ebq9_rAbHME/TjRGKH6-VTI/AAAAAAAAANc/jEagM2tWOTs/s320/innernet.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635206173486372146" border="0" /></a>Title: <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780375867446">Moo, Moo, Brown Cow, Have you any Milk?</a><br />Author: Phillis Gershator<br />Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers<br />Pub Date: 6/28/2011 <br />Reviewed from: Sitting here on the new books cart at my library<br /><br />I want to pair this one with <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780679837053">How to Make an Apple Pie and see the World</a> by Marjorie Priceman. This is <u>How to Make an Apple Pie and see the World</u> for beginners, though. Drawing on the poem Baa, Baa, Black Sheep the poem tells you what humans use from each animal (sheep - wool, chickens - eggs, cow - milk) and tells you how each thing is used (down feathers - pillow, honey - spread on bread, etc) all while sticking with the rhythm of the nursery rhyme it's building on. This one is nice and sweet and is perfect to recommend to the person who loves reading the quiet, gentle books during storytime.librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-73176110424201349292011-07-24T14:33:00.004-05:002011-07-24T14:33:00.394-05:00Sunday LinksMy friend* Julie wrote this great piece about <a href="http://himissjulie.com/2011/07/18/you-might-not-be-doing-it-wrong-but-you-could-certainly-do-it-better/">how getting an MLIS could be so much better</a>. My favorite part was where she said that, "children and teen librarians need to take courses in Child Development. The one class period spent during a materials class is not sufficient." As I said in the comments, I’ve been debating going back for some early childhood classes but lack the free time/money to do so so I’ve been self-educating with my library’s parent-teacher collection and TED talks (talks tagged <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/tags/children">children</a> and <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/tags/education">education</a>). It isn’t quite the same but it’s keeping me in the game! Do y'all have any favorite continuing education resources? I'm going to start sharing my favorites here - in a very thinly veiled effort to get me doing more!<br /><br />Harry Potter. What can I say about HP7.5 except that I absolutely loved it and cried and cried and cried. That said (and despite my absolute love for Harry Potter) I also loved Sady Doyle's quite brilliant <a href="http://globalcomment.com/2011/in-praise-of-hermione-granger-series/">In Praise of Joanna Rowling's Hermione Granger Series</a>.<br /><br />Peter Dickinson wrote a gorgeous post called <a href="http://www.peterdickinson.com/DefenseOfRubbish.html">In Defense of Rubbish</a> that made me super happy. It's from 2002 but I just discovered it!<br /><br />*By friend I mean wonderful lady who I met once at a DLS conference who I have been blog-stalking ever since. I am an absolute hermit so I tend to count blog-stalking as friendship.librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-73293687549241137472011-07-22T18:51:00.001-05:002011-07-22T18:51:00.428-05:00Secrets, Monsters, and Magic Mirrors by Donald B Lemke<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VoPWov1YyHQ/Tii-72IFgwI/AAAAAAAAANE/SOBuzIEhjIk/s1600/35_Secrets%252C%2BMonsters%252C%2Band%2BMagic%2BMirrors_Donald%2BLemke.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VoPWov1YyHQ/Tii-72IFgwI/AAAAAAAAANE/SOBuzIEhjIk/s320/35_Secrets%252C%2BMonsters%252C%2Band%2BMagic%2BMirrors_Donald%2BLemke.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631961269377794818" border="0" /></a><br />Title: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11430988-secrets-monsters-and-magic-mirrors">Secrets, Monsters, and Magic Mirrors</a><br />Author: Donald B Lemke<br />Publisher: Capstone<br />Pub Date: 08/01/2011 <br />Reviewed from: egalley received from publisher<br /><br />What can I say? I loved <u>Secrets, Monsters, and Magic Mirrors</u>. I'm a sucker for fairy tales. I'm a sucker for graphic novels. Take those two, combine them, and do them well? I'm yours forever. <u>Secrets, Monsters, and Magic Mirrors</u> doesn't retell any of the fairy tales - you never know why the witch so desperately wants a baby in Rapunzel or why the parents seemingly give her up without a fight. You just get the basic story and you get absolutely gorgeous artwork. Seriously. Look at this cover! The artwork is beautiful. I just wanted to <a href="http://librarianpirate.tumblr.com/post/7780514861/confessions-of-an-inadequate-mother">lick</a> the pictures. But I didn't because, ya know, egalley. No licking the electronics.<br /><br />This is a short review just because what else is there to say? We all know these stories and the artwork just needs to be seen! Kinsie especially was a fan of these graphic novels and despite graphic novels being a pain in the keister to read aloud I have read them to her every night for a week and I am not complaining one iota.librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17694132.post-3662628476527380532011-07-21T18:13:00.002-05:002011-07-22T09:24:06.933-05:00Awaken - Katie Kacvinsky<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PWrivDfPfUE/TiiyD9XQ0OI/AAAAAAAAAM8/HREm3u5Pzns/s1600/Awaken.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PWrivDfPfUE/TiiyD9XQ0OI/AAAAAAAAAM8/HREm3u5Pzns/s320/Awaken.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631947115108290786" border="0" /></a><br />Title: <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780547371481">Awaken</a><br />Author: Katie Kacvinsky<br />Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children<br />Pub Date: 05/23/2011 (on shelves NOW!)<br />Reviewed from: egalley received from publisher<br /><br />Awaken is a dystopian book* set in a future where school violence has let to all school being done at home on the internet. Everyone has become completely disconnected from everyone else - meeting someone face to face is rare. Ok, can we start by noting the weirdness of reading this book as an e-book?** And I read the majority of this book on my phone so every time they mentioned the ubiquity of everyone's "flipscreens" and how everyone seems glued to said flipscreens? I felt a huge pang of guilt.<br /><br />*insert obligatory "all YA books nowadays are dystopian" comment<br />** I have a feeling that, since they gave out a lot of egalleys of this book that this has been a fairly common sentiment in the blogosphere. But I try to avoid reviews of books that I'm going to review because my opinion is easily swayed so I'm going to pretend that I'm original and brilliant here, ok?<br /><br />Our hero, Maddie, is the daughter of the founder of digital school. A few years back she aided some hackers to try to take down digital school which broke her father's trust in her and she's been grounded ever since. Her father monitors everything she does online and the only bit of face-to-face socialization she gets is at soccer. Then she meets Justin online who convinces her to come to an in person study session and all heck breaks loose.<br /><br />Overall this was an absolutely fun dystopian that made me want to grab a paper book*** and go read it outside in the sunshine. The romance was a bit heavy handed but I don't think a teenager would think so. I did wish I knew more what Justin DID. Everyone in the resistance keeps talking about how important Justin is to the resistance and oh mah geeze he's risking himself for some girl this will bring the whole resistance down tragedy tragedy tragedy! But what did he do for the resistance that was so special?<br /><br />I very much appreciated that this book didn't try to say that technology is evil. The resistance lives a simpler life but not a completely lacking in computers/cars/lights/running water sort of life. I appreciate that! BUT! I do wish that dystopians would quit saying that in the future we're going to get all our food in convenient perfectly balanced nutritional pills/bars/crap. People absolutely love food and I don't think that we're going to let the government take that away from us any time soon. (Seriously - first they came for the pies and I didn't care because pie is evil. Then they came for the cakes and I STARTED A GOSH DARN REVOLUTION!)<br /><br /><b>Feminism quotient****</b>: I got annoyed in the beginning because every dystopian ever***** has a girl enmeshed in the dystopia and then some enlightened man comes and enlightens her. Seriously - think about it. Have you ever read one with an enmeshed male and a female comes and enlightens him? Half a point for 1984 where Winston and Julia enlighten each other. As I read <u>Awaken</u>, though, her rebellion years earlier took on larger meaning. Justin was recruiting Maddie to the cause, yes, but her rebellion years ago had made her a hero to Justin and she had inspired him. <u>Awaken</u> is fairly heteronomative but in a book where you only get to see the inner life of two people I mostly forgive it. Overall I give it two feminist thumbs up.<br /><br />***I love digital books. I am not one who thinks that ebooks are heralding the end of paper books or lamenting what was - but Awaken did give me a feeling of nostalgia for paper books and seeing my neighbors! So reading in the park it was.<br /><br />****Yes, this is a new thing. FEMINISM QUOTIENT. Hush. I'm trying to get more critical because I tend to just like all things at all times.<br /><br />*****Slight exaggeration<br /><br />Check out Anna's <a href="http://www.librarianna.net/2010/12/awaken-katie-kacvinsky.html">much more nuanced review</a> for a less enthusiastic opinion.librarian piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16458921444865115705noreply@blogger.com4