Weigh in on Summer Reading 2010

I've got a working list going of candidates for the 2010 summer reading list. Take a look and let me know if you have others I should be considering or if  you've read any books on this list and have some feedback for me. (I have not read them all!!) I'm inviting students to come to talk with me today, and am also inviting parents and staff to provide their thoughts and opinions as well. In addition, I always get great info from Beverly Public Library colleagues and the staff at Banbury Cross Bookshop in Wenham.

Just Read: How Do You Spell g-e-e-k? by Julie Anne Peters

I picked this up based on (a) the author and (b) the cover - it's definitely eye-catching. The author, Julie Anne Peters, also wrote Define "Normal", one of the big hits of our summer reading the past couple of years. And the cover is definitely memorable! When I looked more closely, it was about 3 girls who are into spelling bees. I loved the movie Spellbound and also enjoyed watching Akeelah and the Bee (predictible but well done), so I figured it was worth a look.

OK, so that's why I picked the book - what did I think of it? It was pretty good. Not memorable, but a good read. The main character befriends a goofy looking/dressing new kid who's been homeschooled, and in the process her (former) best friend becomes alienated, although that's mostly her own doing (the friend's). A bit predicable, and I wished the book had been a little longer so there had been more time to develop the characters in more depth. I liked the spelling words with their pronunciation given, but that might slow down or frustrate some younger readers. The book is relatively short (maybe 125 p. or so) and readable, and since it's by Peters, it could appeal to some kids who are not huge readers, but they could find the somewhat obscure spelling words a bit of a stumbling block. Or maybe not - maybe they'll enjoy the word play. All in all - recommended, but maybe not heartily. Probably best for 5th-7th grade girls.

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month

National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) is a national public awareness campaign to encourage everyone to protect their computers and our cyber infrastructure. 

The website StaySafeOnline.org has information and lesson plans for parents and educators, as well as for businesses and other users.

Protect Your Children includes sections on safety and security, cyberbullying, and safe searching and monitoring.

The K-12 Educator section has lesson plans, contest information, and reviews a national study about K-12 cyber security.

Books into Movies

Lots of children's and YA books have been picked up by Hollywood and made into movies. Here's a look at what's coming in the next few months:

• Where the Wild Things Are is out Oct. 16. Based on Maurice Sendak's classic children's book, it's got plenty of hipster cred, with Spike Jonze directing, and starring all kinds of your favorite indie-film stars.
• The Vampire's Assistant comes out Oct. 23. Based on a book from the enormously popular Cirque du Freak YA horror series, it is rated PG-13. 
• New Moon, the second in the Twilight series, is already creating a huge buzz. Out Nov. 20.
• The Lightning Thief, the first book in the Percy Jackson saga, is due for a Feb. 12 release. It's got some of the same cool folks who are in Where the Wild Things Are - well, OK, Catherine Keener anyway. Plus bigwigs Pierce Brosnan and Uman Thurman, and Chris Columbus directs.
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid is out in April. This will be live-action - will it lose the charm of it's hand-drawn inspiration?

Then there are the inevitable classics that have been trotted onto the silver screen for yet another turn. Does the world need Disney's A Christmas Carol, due in November? Hard to believe the evil empire - er, the maker of American dreams - hasn't tackled this one yet. Jim Carrey stars, along with Gary Oldman (MUST be the ghost of Christmas Past), Colin Firth, and other names you may recognize. Tim Burton tries his hand at Alice in Wonderland in March with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, and Alan Rickman playing the Caterpillar. Then Ridley Scott tackles Robin Hood with Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett in starring roles, due out in April.

Free Museum Day - Sat 9/26

The Smithsonian Magazine is promoting a free museum day across the country this Saturday, September 26. In Massachusetts alone, there are about 50 museums taking part.

First, download a card, then bring it with you on Saturday, so that you and a guest can get free admission to any of the participating museums.

A few that look good to me:

• The Beverly Historical Society and Museum


• The Great House at Castle Hill on the Crane Estate in Ipswich
  
• Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester
  
• JFK Presidential Library and Museum in Boston


• Lowell National Historical Park
  
• Harvard Museum of Natural History

Acquiring Used Books Creatively

It's easy to go online and buy new books from Amazon or similar vendors. And there are plenty of used books for sale online too - also through Amazon and other good used book sites. But there are lots of other ways to find and share used books. Each of these sites has a slightly different twist. And believe it or not, I found this list in a recent issue of Family Circle magazine!

BooksFree.com works like Netflix. You pay a monthly fee to borrow new books or similar products. For $11/mo you can have two paperback books at a time. They also have children's books and audiobooks (on CD or MP3). Pricing varies depending on how many items you have at a time and what formats you want.

A couple of swapping sites, AmericasBookShelf.com and BookMooch.com, allow you to share the books right on your own shelf with others, and thereby acquire points to get books that others have in their homes. Costs are low. AmericasBookShelf has a small annual fee and you pay $3.50 for each book you "borrow", but this covers shipping costs. BookMooch is free, but you have to pay for your own shipping.

BetterWorldBooks.com is more like a typical used bookstore, where you can buy or sell used books. What makes them different is that they used money raised from the online store and books that are acquired through book drives to support literacy programs around the world. According to their site, they have raised over $7 million for literacy.

BookCrossing.com has a more whimsical approach, sort of a WheresGeorge for books. If you have a book to share, you can register it at BookCrossing and then leave it somwhere - in a coffee shop, in a hotel, on a coffee shop, at the gym. The person who picks it up can enter the number in to find out where it came from and you can track where your books go as they travel the world.

Hispanic Heritage Month 9/15-10/15

Hispanic Heritage Month started yesterday, September 15, and runs through October 15. If you're wondering why it starts on September 15 and not the first of the month, the date was chosen because it is the anniversary of independence for five Central American countries, while independence days for some other countries follow soon after. Here are a few good resources to consult to learn more about Hispanic Americans, the Spanish language, quizzes and games, lessons, and more:

• FactMonster - Hispanic Heritage Month - information and games
• Smithsonian Institute - Hispanic Heritage Virtual Tour
• Scholastic.com - Celebrate Hispanic Heritage!
• National Register of Historic Places - Hispanic Heritage Month
• U.S. Census Press Release - Hispanic Heritage - statistics and data on Hispanic Americans
  

Summer Reading '09 done - Time to get ready for '10

Briscoe held its annual Summer Reading "Book Clubs" on Friday 9/11. After some mad dashes through the halls, practically everyone in the building dropped everything for an hour to go to a room with other staff or students who had read the same book over the summer. Some of the most popular books this past year were Define "Normal" and Things Not Seen for the sixth graders, and Deep and Dark and Dangerous for the seventh/eighth grade groups.

Now that we're done with 2009's list, it's time to start looking ahead and finding new books for 2010. One I've recently finished that's already on my short list is The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman. The book is set sometime in the future. It hints at a post-global warming world where the world is run by a giant "Corporation" and overseen by "Earth Mother." Honor and her family have been brought to an island where they must follow the rules - or they will disappear. Honor wants to fit in but her parents consistently spurn the rules laid out for them, which leads to trouble for them all. Utopia or dystopia? I hope Goodman gets cracking soon so we find out more about Honor and her family!

Digital Bookmobile Coming Monday 9/14

The Digital Bookmobile is coming to Beverly on Monday, September 14. The website says "The Digital Bookmobile is a community outreach vehicle for public libraries to promote downloadable eBooks, audiobooks, music, and video. Developed inside a 74-foot, 18-wheel tractor-trailer, the nationally touring vehicle is a high-tech update of the traditional bookmobile that has served communities for decades."

It will be at the Beverly Public Library from 10am - 4pm on September 14. I wish it could be there longer so more of our Briscoe students could check it out!

How's your handwriting?

Most kids get less practice with handwriting than they did in the past. Not surprising, considering that they will probably be using a keyboard or touch screen a lot and writing less by hand than earlier generations. But lots of work is still done by hand, particularly tests, and it's frustrating to all when students (and adults!) have illegible handwriting.

A piece in the September 8 New York Times suggests that the old "Palmer" method of handwriting, and of teaching it is too difficult to do and to read, and suggests an alternate style. Inga Dubay and Barbara Getty, co-authors of a series of books on italic handwriting, suggest "American handwriting is in a woeful state. But there is hope. We can stop mumbling on the page and become legible writers by going italic." Try it out yourself!

Books still rule in the subways of NYC

The New York Times is running a story on what and how people read on the subways in New York. They're inviting people to post their subway line and what they read, so it should be fun to check back and see the info and graphic later.

My favorite part is in the section entitled "Readers in Training." Day campers, ages 5-8, who ride the subway regularly bring books with them and the rule is that if they get a seat they have to have a book to read. Although it also notes that "even campers who had to stand took to their books."

A library without the books

The Boston Globe's front page story this morning is about Cushing Academy's decision to chuck their books in favor of Amazon Kindles, computers, and coffee. (The reference desk will be replaced by a $50,000 coffee shop!)

While I applaud their courage to make a bold move and embrace some of the newly-available technology, I don't quite understand why it has to be an either-or situation. I do think that certain types of non-fiction information may be best found online, and there is a lot of value in providing access to fiction that rarely moves off the shelf, a lot is being lost here too. What you need is the right tool for the right job, and sometimes a print book is the right tool, sometimes it's a laptop, maybe sometimes it's a Kindle or iTouch or a photocopied page. Readers seem to agree, because as of 9am there were already nearly 100 comments posted.

Just because something's on a computer doesn't make it better - nor is it necessarily better because it's in print.

Give the students what they want - or do they know what it is?

An article in the New York Times was one of the most emailed and commented-on this past week. A New Assignment: Pick Books You Like highlights teachers who allow students to choose their own reading material in school.

There are a few hundred comments, which are worth picking through to see different sides of the debate. I think there are some great points being made on both sides. On one hand, both good readers and those who are less enthusiastic benefit from being able to choose books they like. On the other, there is something to be said for having a shared cultural experience in school - and in our culture in general. Really, we need to make room for both ways of doing things.

Used Book Superstore Sale 9/19

The Used Book Superstore in Danvers has a sale coming up on Saturday 9/19. Prices are usually good anyway, but you can get great deals at their sales. Kids' books will be only 50 cents, other books $1, VHS tapes 75 cents, etc. They also have some DVDs and audiobooks on CD and cassette (remember those?).

Summer Reading

I'm pulling together all the lists of what everyone read over the summer so I can organize who will be assigned to which rooms. Teachers will receive lists shortly of what books their students are signed up for, and students should check those lists carefully to be sure they're accurate. If you read Tiger you won't want to be sent to a room of kids discussing Define "Normal"!

Of course, I'm hoping that most of you (students, teachers and parents) read something other than the "required" reading. I love having time to read the newspaper - I admit to being a news junkie. I still love getting the morning paper and spreading it out while I drink my coffee. But now that I've acquired a laptop, I'm also hopping online in the morning and reading other papers and news outlets online - and hoping the papers don't go under with all of us reading them for free online :-) Some good books I enjoyed are:

• Girl Overboard - YA book, about the daughter of a billionaire whose passion is snowboarding, but now that she's been injured she has to figure out a bunch of things in her life, including issues with family, friends, boys, and whether she'll ever be able to snowboard again.
• Finding Oz - a biography of L. Frank Baum, the author of the iconic Wizard of Oz books. His life held a series of failures up until his early 40s, when the first Oz book was published. The book reveals some fascinating and surprising inspirations for many of the elements and characters in Oz.
• When a Crocodile Eats the Sun - written by a journalist who grew up in Zimbabwe in the 1960s, where his British (or so he thought) parents settled after WWII. His parents are now aging and the country is becoming increasingly dangerous during the early 2000s, when this memoir is set. Family secrets are revealed, and the author grapples with his own mixed feelings about his home country, now that he no longer lives there himself.

What have you been reading?