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.