Earthquake in the Library

Tuesday, August 23rd, sometime around 2:00ish in the Pine Road Library, I find myself perched on a ladder. With the transfer student meet and greet in the library, I decided to spiff things up a bit and make the place look welcoming and put together, and so commenced, with the help of a nesting Mrs. Abramson, the chores of displaying books, re-affixing any posters or wall decoration that had fallen toward the end of the school year or over the summer, organizing the student's work supplies, and picking up stray pencils and crayons. So, while hanging a poster on the top step of a ladder next to a wall bookcase that probably is not affixed to the wall, Mrs. A looked at me and asked, "What's that?". To which I replied, "What?". I heard the noise. There are four pillars in the library which contain, I believe support beams that I can hear jangle around in high wind, so I began to explain this when we heard noise above as if someone was walking in the ceiling. That was new. Then I looked outside expecting high winds but not a leaf was out of place on any of the trees. Then it stopped. So we got back to work. I never left the top of the ladder. It never occurred to me to do so. A few minutes later, one of the custodians came in and asked, "Did you feel the earthquake?". The what-quake. We are in Pennsylvania, folks. No fault lines here. But he confirmed that he had just gotten off the phone with his daughter who had felt it too. As it turns out, lots of people did. From South Carolina all the way North to Canada. And I was on the top of a ladder. I'll bet that's not a strategy in any earthquake emergency preparedness literature.

Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains

On the heels of "Any Which Wall" which was a somewhat drawn out read for me, through no fault of the book or author, but rather my nagging personal life, I picked up another book. Y Laurel Snyder, "Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains.". As I sometimes/always do, I studied the cover. And I thought, "eh.". The cover art didn't speak to me, didn't draw me in, but I had made a commitment to read each of Laurel Snyder's books, saving Penny Dreadful for last, since that cover art did appeal to me. And, not actually last, as a Random House rep did contact me today to get the shippingnaddress for Bigger Than a Breadbox which will technically be last. So, all this to say that you really should not judge a book by its cover, or even the description. When I read the inside jacket flap, I decided this book may find the main character having an adventure similar to the one we read about in The Phantom Tollbooth. And there were some similarities, but this book stands out on it's own. Now, I am a relatively fast reader, but even this was faster than normal. I finished "Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains" in two days, without breaking a sweat. Actually that last part is not at all true. I DID break a sweat. I brought the book with me to the gym and read while using the elliptical machine and the treadmill and stayed on longer than I normally might have because I did. not. want. to. put. it. down. So look at that, this book is good for your health too! Once again, Laurel Snyder uses her voice as an author to speak directly to the reader in asides and even defines tricky words when warranted in plain terms. She also incorporates her knack for poetry as she includes verse for the main character, Lucy, who often breaks out in song. Lucy is a strong character, supported by her best friend Wynston (who happens to be a prince, though that's not really his fault). The two find their own individual and joint adventures up and (as the title suggests) down the Scratchy Mountains.

My favorite quote can be found on page 106:
"I've never bben here before, if that's what you mean. But I'm not sure that not having been someplace is quite the same as not belonging."

Keep this in mind as we welcome new students to our schools this fall.

Any Which Wall

In preparation for the Skype visit we won from Laurel Snyder, I'm planning to read several of her books, including the soon to be released "Bigger Than A Breadbox", "Penny Dreadful", and "Up and Down the Scratchy Mountain.". The first I had to read was "Any Which Wall.". As I was also helping my sister to prepare for her wedding, I had some difficulty giving this selection the sustained attention that it deserves, but I did finish. I like the way the chapters were organized around each character's individual wish and adventure. I also love any time an author speaks directly to a reader as Laurel Snyder does in this story. When Roy, Susan, Emma, and Henry find the wall, they have to figure out (a) that it is magic, and (b) its magic rules. Through their travels, they do just that and meet many characters both ordinary (or common) and extraordinary. One of those characters ties it all together from the beginning to the end: Merlin. That's right, Merlin. Merlin had a lot of great lines in "Any Which Wall" and I don't think that, taken out of context, they give too much away, so...here are a few:

"That's very dangerous," said Merlin, shaking his head from side to side, "not thinking."

"You can't expect to be other than you are," said the wizard, "It's a lot of work to pretend....people have to remain who they are. They can change the way they look, their outsides, maybe, but the essence of who they are never changes.... "

"It is everywhere, magic," said Merlin, "Always, and in the commonest places. Only most people don't know what they're looking for."

Laurel Snyder uses an interesting tactic of peeking into the future chapters through an action of the characters seeing a glimpse of their own futures which pertains, in the end, to each of their wall wishes. This keeps the reader predicting and discovering right along with the characters.

I enjoy Laurel Snyder's writing style and am excited to explore her other novels. "Any Which Wall" is a good next step for students who have enjoyed The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne or the baseball card adventure series by Dan Gutman.

Allie in Wonderland

About a year late...

I want to thank Meg Cabot for hosting a book giveaway on her facebook page last summer. She asked for stories of a favorite teacher and I shared a story about my fifth grade teacher, Ms. Clark. What I remember most about Ms. Clark was all the odd jobs she held through the summers. As a Catholic school teacher, I'm sure it was out of necessity, but she seemed to enjoy those experiences as well. As a result, I was encouraged to pursue many different passions in life as well.

As a result of sharing my story about Ms. Clark, I won a few different Allie Finkle books for our library. I felt like I had stumbled down an awesome rabbit hole. The Allie Finkle books are hugely popular with our fourth and fifth graders and I enjoyed them just as much.

So, thank you Meg for sharing these books with us!

Summer Blog Hop

I found a summer blog hop with contests galore. And I've been a little preoccupied trying to enter them all. All 300 of them. Last summer, when I started tweeting, I won several online book giveaway contests. It was as simple as re-tweeting. And just like that, I had entered. These are a little more complicated. Some, you have to follow the blog through GOogle Friend Connect. I have only followed those that I wanted to continue to read. Following as a requirement seems a little much to me. The blog hop itself encourages people to visit and check out the blog. If they like it, they will follow. It's that simple.

Keepin' Kosher

Our school library serves a diverse population of students, and I do my best to find books that speak to our students. I think I have found just that in Baxter, The Pig Who Wanted to be Kosher by Laurel Snyder. After earning a spot in Ms. Snyder's 100 Schools in 100 Days Skype project, I'm doing my best to devour everything she has written to prepapre myself and was delighted to find Baxter in this way. Many of our students enjoy celebrating Shabbat each Friday evening with their families and I'm sure those that don't will be delighted to think that, like Baxter, they might be invited as well. I invite you to check out Baxter and Laurel Snyder's other great books. I'll be posting about others in the weeks to come.

Can They Even Do That?

I stumbled upon Mockingbird by Kathryn Lasky over winter break last year and loved it instantly. I told students it was my pick for the Newbery and learned shortly after that it was the National Book Award winner. I loved the original cover and I saw the appeal, though not timelessness of the paperback cover. While browsing at Barnes and Noble, I noticed something odd. Can they even do that?