Book of the Week: Formerly Shark Girl

This post brought to you by student blogger Naiya. 

Formerly Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham

"God has plans for you," is one thing Jane Arrowood, 17, heard a lot once she recovered from a shark attack. That attack took her right arm, her dominant hand. Jane decided to take nursing classes to help people in situations like hers. Jane is an artist. Learning to paint with a new hand is hard, but for a perfectionist like Jane, it is harder and very frustrating. Jane being a senior in high school, needs to decide where to go to college. The four schools she sent applications to all accepted her, but she can't decide between art college or nursing school. 

I really like this book. The author adds a lot of good detail that makes you want to read more. Jane's story is very relatable. I love this book, and I think you will love it too. 

Book of the Week: Hatchet

This post brought to you by student blogger Julian. 

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Hatchet is a great book for you if you love survival. Thirteen year old Brian Robeson is going on a flight to see his dad. There is no one else in the plane besides Brian and the pilot. The pilot teaches Brian a couple things about flying a plane, but not many. The pilot has a sudden heart attack and dies. Brian is stuck in the plane by himself. He has no other choice but to try and fly the plane. He runs the plane until it runs out of fuel. His plan is to land it in a lake. He somehow manages to do it and survive. Now he has to survive in the woods until someone comes to rescue him, which might never happen. Will he survive? Read this book to find out. 

Lower Campus Holiday Cheer

Our lower campus library is decorated for the holidays! Our tree was donated by a Carondelet family and we are so grateful for it. It puts the library in the holiday spirit. Students have been having a wonderful time reading by the tree and enjoying the lights. Library Day is a favorite of many lower campus students. It's a great chance to read and relax!

Book of the Week: One for the Murphys

This post brought to you by student blogger Mae. 

One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Have you ever been in a situation where you wish you could completely change it? Have you ever had to do something you didn't want to do but ended up enjoying it? That is exactly what has happened to Carley Conners. Carley is a twelve year old girl growing up in Las Vegas with her amazing, funny, loving mother. But when an incident occurs where her mother betrays her for someone else, Carley's world gets thrown upside down. She lands in a foster home with a sweet couple and their three little boys. Immediately, Carley hates it and wants to go back home with her mom. Will Carley eventually fit in and feel like she's at home? Or is this how her new life will treat her? Find out and read One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt.

Barnes and Noble Book Fair

Last weekend we had our book fair at Barnes and Noble. It's always a lot of fun. The book fair is our biggest fundraiser for the library. When families from our school come shopping at Barnes and Noble that weekend, we earn money that can be used toward new library books! Staff come to the store as guest readers and it's a great opportunity for them to see their students outside of school. Online sales are still being calculated, but it sounds as though the in-store book fair was better than ever! I look forward to being able to buy new books for the library. 

Mrs. McSweeney reads to a big crowd at the Storytime area at the book fair. 

A field trip to the Wilson Library

This week, the 8th graders and I (along with social studies teacher Ms. Hardy and secretary Derek from the office) traveled to the Wilson Library at the U of M. Students worked on research for History Day using the Wilson Library's collection of primary and secondary source books, journals, and documents. The call numbers at Wilson were detailed and confusing, but all students were able to find at least a couple books on their topic. Some students even got a chance to use the microfilms and government documents! Students also got the chance to learn how to request items via Interlibrary Loan, how to make photocopies of their research, how to do citations for government documents, and so much more. It was like getting a chance to be a college student for the day. It was a great research field trip!

Book of the Week: The Selection

This post brought to you by student blogger Margaret. 

 The Selection by Kiera Cass

The Selection is the best book of the century! It's about a girl named America who lives in a low social caste. She applies for a competition between other girls to become the bride of Prince Maxon. She doesn't think she'll be chosen for the competition, but to her surprise, she is. Read to find out if she becomes queen or stays with her boyfriend in the lower caste. 

Page-Turners Book Club

Mrs. McSweeney and I have started a book club for third and fourth graders. It's called Page-Turners book club and it's been a huge success! This past Friday, 26 students came before school to discuss Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library. It was very cool to see students discussing the book with each other and getting excited about literature! 

Destiny Quest

Destiny Quest is an alternate way to use our library catalog. In addition to searching for books, Destiny Quest shows new arrivals, the top ten books in the library, and allows students to interact with the catalog and with each other. Students can log in and write book reviews, send recommendations to other students, place their own holds, see their current checkouts, and create lists of books they'd like to read. 

Our students love being able to send friend requests to other students in the school and then writing book recommendations to each other! It's their first chance at social networking and they really enjoy it!

Book of the Week: Ender's Game

This post brought to you by student blogger Brendan. 

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

I read the book Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card recently and I really enjoyed it. This book, which is a fiction book, is based in present day Earth. But as the book progresses, Ender travels into space to go to a training camp for the military. 

In space, Ender has many emotions. He beats up other soldiers and even his old boss. After he does this he feels bad after each one. And then when the war begins, he nearly single-handedly defeats all the buggers (an insect-like species, the enemy of the humans) in the galaxy. Then he feels bad again. 

I really enjoyed this book because there was always a lot of action and adventure. 

Book of the Week: Hate that Cat

This post is brought to you by student blogger Piper. 

Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech

Are you a dog person or a cat person? Whichever you are, you'll enjoy this great book. Hate that Cat is a book about a girl who hates cats, but one little kitten ends up under her Christmas tree. It's got humor and anyone can connect to it. I couldn't put it it down! You should read Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech. 

Book of the Week: Flush

Some weeks we will have two Books of the Week so we can get through all the great student reviews. 

This post is brought to you by student blogger Caroline. 

Flush by Carl Hiassen

Do you like fiction books? If so, Flush is the book for you! Flush is about a boy named Noah who lives in Florida. His dad owns a fishing boat and is accused of sinking another man's gambling boat and goes to jail. Noah later finds out his dad had a pretty good reason for doing what he had done. The boat that Noah's dad sunk, the Coral Queen, is doing something illegal, and Noah needs to find out how to prove it to the police. Flush is a suspenseful book that will make you want to keep reading. Read Flush by Carl Hiassen. 

More pumpkins!

Here are more literary pumpkins from the Lower Campus! (In the second picture, the pumpkin without a book next to it is depicting Who Would Win? Grizzly Vs. Polar Bear. There is a painting of a grizzly and a polar bear on the pumpkin)

This project has been a lot of fun! The kids love looking at the pumpkins as they walk by. 

Book of the Week: Sweet

This post brought to you by student blogger Nicole. 

The book Sweet by Emmy Laybourne is a mystery book for all mystery lovers. It's about two friends who go on a cruise sponsored by a sweetener called Solu. The sweetener is designed to make people lose weight fast and easy. While aboard the cruise, one of the friends falls in love with a celebrity. Soon on the cruise, people become addicted to the sweetener and will kill for it. Will Laurel, Tom, and Viv be safe on this cruise, for killers? You should read this book to find out the ending, and it's just an amazing book all around. It's a great teen mystery novel!

Literary Pumpkins

The students at the lower campus have been having great fun with the Literary Pumpkin Project! This is the fourth year we've done the project and it's been so fun to see all the creative book characters! This is just a sampling of the pumpkins that have been turned in so far. I will post more of the creations later! This has been a great way to generate excitement about books and characters. 

Book of the Week: Chasing Lincoln's Killer

This post brought to you by student blogger Marc. 

Do you love historical nonfiction? Then you will love Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson! It is the story of the assassination of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. It starts as a story of hatred, then the action-packed story begins. John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater. Then he began running and the adventure begins. He hides at many acquaintances' houses and farms, but will he ever be caught? Will he ever pay for what he did? Find out when you read this exciting true story!

Lincoln Peirce Visits Carondelet

Yesterday, our 3rd-5th grade students enjoyed an author visit from Lincoln Peirce, author of the Big Nate series. It was so much fun! Lincoln discussed his background in writing and drawing, how he got his start in comics and with the Big Nate books, and even gave us a cartooning lesson. He also played Big Nate trivia and gave frisbees to the winners! Our students did a great job at the trivia questions! They know so much about Big Nate. We were so excited to meet one of our favorite authors!

Book of the Week: Unremembered

This post brought to you by student blogger Addy. 

Unremembered by Jessica Brody

Do you love books that are very suspenseful? Romantic? With a touch of horror? Then Unremembered is the perfect book for you. When Flight 121 crashed into the Pacific Ocean, you don't expect anyone to survive. That's why when they find a sixteen year old girl floating on a piece of the plane, the news would go nationwide. They find her unharmed, but without a single memory. No one can find out why she is perfectly fine, no one understands why there is no record of her boarding the plane, and no one can explain why her DNA fingerprints can't be found in a single database in the world. She is brought to a home where she figures out the basics of life, and her unexplainable abilities. While she finds out what she is and where she's from, she figures out the most important emotions: bravery, love, and fear. 

Day of Service in the Library

On Friday, we had our Marathon Day of Service. Students did service projects with their homerooms all over town and on campus. Projects included going to Feed My Starving Children, visiting nursing homes, making crafts for homebound parishioners, making cards for neighbors, and more. Since I had my regular classes in the library, I decided to integrate a  service project into our library time. Third graders listened to the story Maddi's Fridge. Maddi's Fridge is about a girl who does not have enough food at home and about the efforts her friend makes to help her. After listening to the story, students decorated grocery bags for Waite House. Waite House is a community center in the Phillips neighborhood. Our school donates to Waite House's food shelf each month. Clients at the food shelf need bags to load their groceries into, and now they will have bags with positive and cheerful messages. 

Fourth graders listened to the story A Sick Day for Amos McGee. The story is about a zookeeper who always cares for the animals at the zoo and gives them special attention. When he becomes sick, they go to his house and care for him. After listening to the story, students made projects and cards for our secretary who has been out sick. I won't put a photo of the projects here, as she hasn't received them yet.  

Book of the Week: Since You've Been Gone

This post brought to you by student blogger Luci. 

Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Madison
Emily and Sloane are best friends but one day Sloane disappears with nothing but a list of thirteen things for Emily to do. Usually Emily would never do anything on the list, but if it means bringing Sloane back, Emily will complete the list. While going on adventures and completing the list, Emily comes out of her shell and makes her life more interesting. Will Sloane ever return? You'll have to read this fun and interesting book to find out. 

Tellagami

Seventh and eighth graders used an app called Tellagami to introduce themselves during the first weeks of school. We all had a lot of fun using this app to create a personal avatar and then placing that avatar in a background important to us. 

Fun with the Green Screen

Fifth graders have been having fun with the green screen! Students wrote their own book talks and we filmed them in front of our green screen. We then used a Green Screen app to apply backgrounds to their videos. 

Book of the Week: Canyons

This post brought to you by student blogger Walsh. 

Do you love action packed fiction books? I do, and if you do too you'll love Canyons by Gary Paulsen, it's about Brennan, a boy that loves to be outside and run. His family is very poor and in the summer he works mowing lawns to pay for his clothes. At the same time in the story but hundreds of years before Brennan was born, a young Native American child named Coyote Runs, was involved in a raid against the Confederate Americans during the civil war. Him and his tribe are living in the Grand Canyon. He dies in the raid and hundreds of years later Brennan goes camping in the Grand Canyon and finds his skull and it gives him lots of visions of the raid. You should read this book to see what Brennan does about having his visions in Canyons by Gary Paulsen.

READ Posters

Eighth graders created their own READ posters based on the celebrity READ posters put out by the American Library Association. Eighth graders got to act as the celebrities in these posters and came up with their own slogans. They took photos using the iPads, and used Pic Collage to put text onto their photos.

Book of the Week: I am Malala

We are starting a feature where students will blog about books they recommend. There may be two or three books featured in a week so we can get through all the great reviews. 

This post brought to you by student blogger Emma.

I am Malala is a great book because it tells a real life story of a girl living in Pakistan when her hometown, and a lot of Pakistan, is taken over with battle and terrorists. These terrorists believe that girls should not go to school like Malala and her friends do, but Malala loves school and is not going to give it up because of some terrorists. She begins to stand up for her beliefs by writing a journal and speaking out against the terrorists, making a difference. She is becoming known everywhere, but when a turn of events take place, her whole world changes.

Welcome to a New School Year!

Welcome to the new school year. My name is Mrs. Adelman and I'm the librarian (library media specialist) at Carondelet. We have lots of new books this school year! Looking forward to sharing them with you. This blog will be a place where we can share library happenings and book recommendations.