Author Visit: Curtis Jobling

We just finished a fantastic author visit with Curtis Jobling, author of several picture books, the YA series of Wereworld and Max Helsing and the creator of Bob the Builder!  Mr. Jobling worked with students PreK-Grade 12 in homeroom classes, art classes and Humanities/English classes.
A big takeaway...."Keep your hobby! You never know where it will lead you."  A valuable thing for students and parents to hear. Below are a few pics of his work with MS/HS students:

ES Librarian and me with Mr. Jobling

A fun-filled MS lesson on writing short stories.

Getting my caricature drawn in MS/HS art workshop

High School English writing workshop

Every Day by David Levithan

Image from: Amazon.com

I recently finished Every Day by David Levithan.  This book hooked me from the start.  "A" is a mind (soul, maybe?) that changes bodies every day.  Each day is a new life that A can only stay in for the day.  One day A meets Rhiannon and wants to continue to see her.  From then on,  the life of whatever body A ends up in is disrupted by A trying to be with Rhiannon.  This story was intriguing and I look forward to reading Someday, which is expected to publish later this year.  Book 2, Another Day is written from the point of view of Rhiannon.  I will likely not read this one just yet because I'm more excited to see how the story continues rather than reading the same story from another perspective.

Find Every Day in our library at: ROMANCE F LEV

Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading by Tommy Greenwald

(Amazon.com)

Both my son and I recently finished Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading by Tommy Greenwald.  It was actually read several times in our house.  Once by my son, once by me after great reviews from him, and once as a read-aloud together.  This book left us both laughing about life in middle school as Charlie Joe Jackson tries to figure out how not to read anything...ever.  My son, who loves to read, liked the funny ideas on how to trick your parents into thinking you are reading.  He was concerned over the price of the bribe for getting Charlie's friend to read the book for him being raised to two ice creams.  My son read this book in a day and is now on to the second in the series.  I liked that this book was funny, easy to read, and high interest.  I will be recommending this book to other boys (and girls too!) in Grades 4-7.

Find Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading in our library at: HUMOR F GRE

ECIS Library 2018

I just returned from a great conference in Chennai, India.  ECIS Library happens every three years and is some of the best PD for international librarians that I have experienced.  I met many people, learned a lot and now have a long "to-do" list of all sorts of fabulous ideas for the library!

I presented at ECIS Library this year on our nonfiction gentrification process for the MS/HS Library.  I have blogged about the process here.  If you would like the slide presentation, please let me know.  If you attended ECIS Library, the presentation and materials are in the shared Drive folder.

Here are a few photos of the workshop:

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

(Amazon.com)

I've been walking by Dumplin' on the library shelf for awhile wondering if I should read it.  Then, I pre-ordered the upcoming sequel, Puddin', and wondered some more.  Finally, someone returned it to me in the library and I took the book home with me.
I am glad I did!  This book made me laugh and it made me cry.  I stayed up extra-late just to finish it.

A teaser from the Amazon.com blurb:

"Dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom, Willowdean has always been at home in her own skin...With her all-American-beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . .  until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.  Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet Pageant"

Find Dumplin' in our library at: REALISTIC F MUR

The Flip Side by Shawn Johnson

(Amazon.com)

I've always been a fan of gymnastics and ordered this book last year when it was reviewed in School Library Journal.  The Flip Side was written by  olympic gold-medalist, Shawn Johnson.

Gymnastics is a topic that's been in the news a lot lately so I picked it up off our Realistic Fiction shelf when I was looking for something new to read.  

I enjoyed the first half of the book, but ended up not finishing it; the book felt predictable and it made me lose interest.  So, I admit it....I just skipped to the last chapter to make sure it ended like I thought it would.

But, as we all know, just because it wasn't my favorite book doesn't mean it won't be yours!  Try this book out if you like professional sports, want a look "behind the scenes" of the gymnastics world and/or like a bit of romance in your books.

Find this book in our library at: REALISTIC F JOH

Book Speed Dating

Book Speed Dating has been a hit in the library this week.  Students had four "dates" with different books and then ranked their dates using an emoji rating system.  Many students left with 2-3 new books, which is great for our upcoming discovery week.  No devices allowed, but books are!

Credit to Jessica Drinks; I used her slides on SlideShare as a guide in creating this presentation.