#TXLChat

Texas Librarian Chat #TXLChat is a great way for librarians, or anyone, to connect with others on Twitter.  I have gained so many resources and book recommendations from participating in these.  Chats are every Tuesday at 8 p.m. on Twitter.  Just use #txlchat.

I just received an email from Nancy Jo Lambert through the listserv informing "chatters" that there will be a SyncUp at TLA next week.

I'm so excited about this opportunity to finally meet some of my online mentors!  If you are going to TLA, I hope you will join us.  I look forward to Syncing Up with you as well.

If you aren't, the chat moderators are a wonderful resource.  Here is the link to the active ThingLink shown above.  TXL Chat Moderators  This site will link you to their Twitter accounts as well as their blogs or websites.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Happy Monday everyone!  Please check out Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers to learn more about It's Monday! What Are Your Reading?

My reading adventure and attention continues to be all over the place.  The positive side, however, is I'm enjoying some really good reads along the way.

This past week I read Sarah Dessen's Someone Like You.  It is the first time I've been able to read one of her books.  My niece loved her when she was in high school.  In fact, Dessen's book actually hooked my niece on reading.  She continues to read now that she's a mom and all grown up.  (Thank you Sarah.  You made this aunt a happy librarian!)  

Dessen is also popular with many of my girl junior high readers as well.  This is one of the reason's I haven't had a chance to read her books yet.  They stay checked out.  A good problem to have, I believe.

When I started the book, I figured it was going to be just a good romance story.  I happen to like these, so I was ready to settle in for a cozy read, but what I got was so much more.  Scarlett and Halley have been best friends forever, it seems.  One summer everything changes.  Life is not necessarily neat or a fairy tale.  Even Seventeen magazine doesn't prepare them for this roller coaster of a ride.  Through it all, however, they have each other.  This book explores the challenges of life and how those challenges mold and shape who we are as people.  Everything once familiar becomes threatened and different.  Can friendship survive the stress of growing up?  

I found the book a realistic view of challenges some teens face today.   Scarlett and Halley face life together, and I love the friendship they share.

This week I'm diving into Pearl by Jo Knowles.

Hope you have a great reading week.

Lone Star Reading List 2015

The Lone Star Reading List books have finally arrived in the library.   The yearly list is created by public and school librarians who serve on the Young Adult Round Table, a committee of the Texas Library Association.

What I love about this list is the variety of books suggested.  I have never read a book off the list that I didn't like.  I've written before about stretching myself as a reader by reading outside of my comfort zone.  This list helps me do just that.

Below is a Thinglink of the books on this year's list. I hope you find some new titles and/or authors you love.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Happy Monday everyone!  Please check out Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers to learn more about It's Monday! What Are Your Reading?

This week kicks off state testing on my campus.  Students are actually testing today and tomorrow.  If you ever want to hear schools be extremely quiet when they are filled with students, just imagine a state test day.

With all the new books that have come into the library recently, I have found my TBR list has grown leaps and bounds.  Almost to the point of being  unmanageable.  As a result, I started a Goodreads account last week.  I have linked to it in the sidebar of the blog. I have also noticed that my reading brain is being pulled in many directions and am finding it hard to focus on just one book.  Sometimes certain books have to be put on the back burner until  your brain is ready to tackle them  Such is the case for Vango and me.  I'm still interested in it; other books keep stealing my focus, however.

So this past week I finished The Bridge from Me to You by Lisa Schroeder.  She is such a popular author in our library; I knew I had to read this one fast.  I'm so glad I did.  The story contains two narrators: Lauren and Colby. Their chapters alternate.  She's the new girl in town who has come to live with her aunt and uncle for mysterious reasons, and he's the high school football star who just wants football to be over.  They soon find their very different lives collide in small town life.  Not only do they seem to find common ground, but they also discover they ultimately are looking for the same things.  Are they able to conquer their own problems in order to find happiness with themselves and each other?  The book is worth the read to find out.

Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong by Prudence Shen & Faith Erin Hicks is a great graphic novel.  While graphic novels aren't usually on my personal reading radar, I LOVE THIS BOOK!  Nerds versus cheerleaders in a battle for student body president and control of some school funds.  Both sides think they have the election wrapped up; it's a no brainer, but is it?  Lots of high jinks incur, and things don't go as planned for either side.  They might even just have to work together in order to get the funding they desire.  A fun, fast read.  It was perfect for my reading in the sun Saturday.

This week I'm reading Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen.  I love following her on Twitter at @sarahdessen.  In fact I just saw she has a new book coming out in May -- Saint Anything.

Good luck to all taking state exams.  I hope you have a great reading week.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Happy Monday everyone!  Please check out Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers to learn more about It's Monday! What Are Your Reading?

My week was filled with family activities helping my kids prepare a project for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.  As a result, I didn't read quite as much as I would like.  I'm still working on Vango: Between Sky and Earth  by Timothee de Fombelle and translated by Sarah Ardizzone.  This past week in the library, however, the Lone Star Reading list books finally arrived.  For more on the list please click here.

One of the books that made the list is Popular: a memoir by Maya Van Wagenen.  I had the privilege of meeting Miss Van Wagenen last year at the TLA Annual conference in San Antonio.  I was so impressed with her; she is but a mere teenager.  Don't let her age fool you, however.  She is now an accomplished author.  Her first published book has received many accolades including the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction.

Van Wagenen got the idea for the book from her parents. She discovered a book her parents had purchased years earlier and forgot:  Betty Cornell's Teen-age Popularity Guide which was published in the 1950s.  Van Wagenen's parents suggested she try out the advice secretly for a year and see how it went, consider it an experiment.  Van Wagenen accepted the challenge; she considered herself socially awkward, so what did she have to lose?  Set in Texas, the book is an honest look at what teenagers go through trying to navigate the social world around them.  Some of the suggestions are way out of date, like wearing a girdle, but Van Wagenen learned many lessons along the way.  I was impressed by the author last year and am even more impressed by her book.  Let Maya impress you for yourself.






This week I plan to continue with Vango.

Hope you have a great reading week.

Celebrate the Sun!

Today I thought I would join Ruth Ayres and her Celebrate Link Up.  If you would like to learn more about this weekly celebration, please see Ruth's Blog. 

Celebrate the sun.  Yep, you read that correctly.  The sun has been in short supply here on the Gulf Coast for much of February and March.  In fact, I'm beginning to think mud is taking over the countryside.  Here's an example.

This would be my driveway after one recent rain.  I live in the country, so mud has been abundant.  Don't get me wrong, I appreciate all the nourishment our land and animals are receiving from the rain, but here on the Gulf Coast we are also used to lots of sunshine.  The animals especially appreciate slightly warm and sunny spring days. 

I think I'll take a long nap!!!



Or maybe I'll just soak in the warmth.

I love watching the horses, cows and dogs just lay around and sun bathe without a care in the world.  We humans would sun bathe too except most of us just burn here at the ranch.  However, that doesn't stop me from finding a shadier spot and enjoying a good book.


I know it will be all too soon before we are roasting in the southern summer heat,  but a little spring sunshine would be nice.  I saw a peek of it earlier.

Hello, Sun!

So today, I will be thankful for the rain that will disappear eventually, but I will celebrate the Sun.  I'm ready for spring!

It's Monday What Are You Reading?

Happy Monday everyone!  Please check out Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers to learn more about It's Monday! What Are Your Reading?

Last time I checked in I mentioned that I was planning to read Lessons from a Dead Girl by Jo Knowles.  Well,  last week was spring break, and right before students left for the break, someone requested to read the book.  So, because I am all about getting books into students hands, I gave up my copy.  I couldn't let the student go without reading over the break!

I didn't get much reading done last week with the break and one of my kids having a medical procedure, but I did start Vango: Between Sky and Earth  by Timothee de Fombelle and translated by Sarah Ardizzone.  It is a Junior Library Guild Selection, and so far I've liked the books my library has received from JLG.  I'm just barely into this book, but it has been full of action from page one!    The opening setting is April in Paris in 1934.  Vango along with forty other men are beginning a ceremony which will ordain them as priests.  Suddenly the police appear looking for Vango among the men.  He asks for forgiveness from the head cardinal and then bolts, attempting to runaway from security.  Why is he wanted?  Why does he choose to run?  Where is he going?  I don't know yet, but it has my attention!

My other reading goal is to start some professional reading this week, in addition to the professional blogs and Twitter PLN feeds I follow.  I hope to start Reading Ladders by Teri S. Lesesne.  I love Teri.  I have read some of her other works, and I know this one will not disappoint.

I hope you have a great reading week.

Celebration -- Book Fairs

 

 

 

 

Today I thought I would join Ruth Ayres and her Celebrate Link Up.  If you would like to learn more about this weekly celebration, please see Ruth's Blog. 

 

 

This past week was book fair week in the library.  I am blessed to be able to host two of these a school year -- one in the fall and one in the spring.  Book fair week is such a special time in the library.  I love talking books.  No big surprise.  I talk books with students and teachers all the time in the library, but book fair changes the atmosphere.

 

Usually I am offering ideas, showing off new arrivals, or helping locate requests. 
The week of the fair, however, teachers and I become consumers right along with the students.  We explore the titles, ask each other for recommendations, make suggestions based on our reading.  Students are always amazed at just how many books I and fellow teachers purchase.  Somehow it makes them want to be purchasers of books themselves. Some buy books because I bought them, and others buy books because they don't want to have to wait until titles hit the library shelves.  Still others buy because their friends do.  Whatever the reason our school reading community grows and strengthens itself during book fair week.  Books are talked about throughout the school.  Books are the buzz for the week, and I love it. 

 

Libraries and librarians work hard all year to generate book love in lots of different ways.  Book fairs help provide a special week and promote reading in a unique way.  I loved book fairs as a kid, and I still love 'em as a librarian.  Books  -- always worth celebrating.

 

 



Book Fair Hot Titles

Just a peek at several of the covers of books that are really popular at the book fair.  I created the collage using PicMonkey

Book Fair!

This week is Book Fair week in the library.  Lots of wonderful titles are being offered including many of this year's Lone Star Reading List selections.  Students who purchase books are able to put their name in for the drawing of free stuff.  Each book purchased equals an entry for the drawing.

The book fair is open from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each day except Thursday.  It will close for the week after lunches on Thursday.  It will also be open for Open House this evening from 5:30 to 6:30.

Come on by and let's talk books!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Happy Monday everyone!  Please check out Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers to learn more about It's Monday! What Are Your Reading?

Lately I've been reading The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater.  This is not my normal reading genre, but after hearing Maggie at TLA last spring, I really wanted to stretch myself and try something new.  I'm so glad I did!  Raven Boys really set  the stage and drew me in.  I instantly became curious about the characters and connected with each one of them on some level.  Dream Thieves is so full of anticipation.  Each page kept drawing me into the story.  I had so many questions, and I wanted answers.  Then I would find myself saying, "I didn't see that coming!"  So naturally I had to read Blue Lily, Lily Blue.  I read this book the fastest (still trying to get answers).  Once again Stiefvater has this knack for keeping the reader fully engaged in the story.  She gives you just enough but continues to twist the plot and lead you down unexpected paths.  I'm so hooked!  Now I must wait until fall to discover more answers when The Raven King is published.

I also managed to read The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith.  A total opposite direction of my previous choices but still good.  This is a great romance novel.  A chance meeting in a New York City elevator during a power outage, an instant connection and then separation.  Although their meeting was brief something draws these two characters together, and the reader gets to travel along while these two try to find their way back to each other.  Ahh...I can't help myself to like these types of stories.

This week I plan on starting Lessons from a Dead Girl by Jo Knowles.  I loved her book See You at Harry's.  Not sure how fast I'll get to read it, however.  The library has a full schedule this week with the book fair, new books to get in the hands of readers, and our campus career day.  I hope you have a great reading adventure this week.  I would love to know what you are reading!  Comment here or give me tag on Twitter at @Boutbooks.  Enjoy your week.

Happy Tuesday

Wow, another week off to a fast and furious start!  I find myself already behind, and it's only Tuesday.  However, I mustn't complain.  Yesterday found me serving my civic duty through jury duty.  Yes, it is a pain and interrupts carefully planned out days, but I feel it is important to serve as positive contributing member to society.  A responsibility to fulfill in the land of the free.

Today held great surprises when I walked into the library.  NEW BOOKS arrived while I was gone.  My heart did the happy dance!  Reports were waiting, problem opportunities to help with were increasing, but new books had arrived.  Yep, one order of books came first; reports could wait.  Besides the joy of opening new boxes of books; I so enjoy getting new books into the hands of students.  Some have been waiting patiently for these titles to get here; others just like a surprise of something new every once in a while.  Whichever the case, it's fun to show off the new stuff.

I still have more to process so this week will be filled with activity.  {Doing the happy dance!}   The weather is cold and rainy here -- perfect for discovering new titles and great adventures.  Enjoy something new and have a great week.

EBOOKS ARE HERE!

Libraries are now a place where more than reading occurs. They are meeting places, media connections, learning environments, and yes, still a place to find a good book.

 Many still like actual books (like myself). There is just something about the feel and smell of a book that cannot be beat. Somehow while holding a bound copy I am able to lose myself within its pages. However, not everyone agrees with me. The convenience of accessing a book via cell phone, tablet, or ereader makes ebooks the perfect choice for many on the go. As a result, ebooks are now available in the library. Please see the Smore flyer below.

Happy Reading!

Library Love

So last week was all about love at our school along with many others.  Junior High kids love Valentine's week.  This year I decided to use an idea I got from Pinterest.  I had students share what they loved about the library.  They wrote their message on prepared hearts I had for them.  Then I hung them up along the counter for everyone to see.  It is interesting to see all the different viewpoints.

This last week I also began challenging myself to learn new tech tools I could use and share with teachers/students.  One I really liked is Animoto.  It is a simple process to use and creates neat presentations of information.  It includes several backgrounds to choose from and music is also connected to the backgrounds.  It offers a free account or it can be upgraded.  Teachers can also create an educational account that allows for student usage as well, Click here to go to the educator portion.  This is a web-based tool; it cannot be downloaded, but it works well, is quick, and easy.  All qualities I like!

I picked a few of the students' library love messages to share in an Animoto presentation.  Enjoy!

Author Love

Happy Friday the 13th! We are celebrating Valentine's Day here, so I thought I would share one of the authors that my girls love.

 Susane Colasanti has been discovered here in the library. Her books stay checked out, and I have a long waiting list for all her titles. Every day someone comes in and asks if any of her books have been turned in or if I've gotten any new books by her.

 Good news! She has a new book, and yes, I've ordered it for the library. Until it gets here, however, I thought you might like to preview it on the web. Please click here to explore her new book or older ones.

 I hope you have a great Friday and a wonderful Valentine's Day.

A New Adventure

I have decided to jump in with both feet and try blogging.  My goal is simple.  I want to have a place to share books and technology ideas with students and teachers.  I just don't have enough time during the day to interact with everyone.  Hopefully, this will be a place the conversations and inspirations continue.  Please be patient as I am new at this and unsure of my direction.  I do know books and learning will drive my focus.  I hope you enjoy the journey with me.