Tales from a Loud Librarian

Purple Daze is one of the titles that Bookmarked, the library book group, received as an advanced reader's copy to review for YALSA's Teen's Top Ten (TTT). Brenna Gourgeot read the book and reviewed it. Like all the other reviews, I sent it off to the publisher. If a student recommends a book for TTT, then the title and author is listed on a spreadsheet. Eventually, those nominated titles are collated into a list of 25 titles that teens all over the country can select as their fav. Every review good or bad is sent to the publishers. It seems that the publishers send many of the reviews on to the authors. This is what Brenna had to say about the book, "  Amid drugs, sex, war, and sacrifice, Purple Haze echoes the current generation of teens. Readers explore the loss of family and friends to the Vietnam War and the politics that surround Vietnam as well. Poems, free-written prose, letters, and newspaper articles express what it was like living in the countercultur...

Jon and Pamela Voelkel make a return visit to Patrick Taylor Seniors, Zerhow Chan and Michelle Tran, do it again. They designed another fabulous poster to welcome the authors. They took the images from the book cover of the End of the World Club and simplified them for a very eerie look.  One of our sixth graders explains that he has Mayan ancestors. He was outfitted with a microphone so that he could describe his trip to Copan in his father's native Honduras. He regaled the audience with stories of climbing the ruins. The Voelkels have traveled to Mayan ruins in Mexico, Belize and Guatemala, but had not traveled to Honduras.  As you can see, the authors were dressed to take us on a trip down to the rain forest. Jon showed us video of some of the interesting things that he got to eat in Mexico: scorpion, termites, worms, and monkey. Sounded delicous, NOT. Then they offered the teachers a chance to taste one of these tasty morsels: fried worms. Believe it a not we all ha...

The members of Bookmarked, the library book group, have been writing reviews all year to nominate books for Teen's Top Ten. the president of the group, Enjoli Gilbert, has really embraced the power of reviewing. She has a way with her booktalks, and she is the top recommender of books in the group. She downloaded an eBook called Mayne Attraction by Ann Mauren. She posted a review on the author's website. The author was so excited with Enjoli's enthusiasm over the book that she included an excerpt. Below is a photo of her review, but you can find it by clicking here . 

On March 1st, I was given a certificate by the Jefferson Parish School Board. I am standing on the dais with my principal, Jaime Zapico and superintendent, Diane Roussel. It was just a photo op; I didn't have to speak. On Wednesday afternoon (March 16th) I recieved the Louisiana School Library Media Specialist award at the opening ceremony for the annual Louisana Library Association conference in Lafayette, LA. Tonight I am exhausted and enjoying spending some quiet time by myself with the computer. Jaime Zapico, principal at Patrick Taylor, and I pose with my plaque and certificate. I got two copies of the certificate, so that I can have one and I can give one to the school. Below you see me just as I have stepped off the stage with all my goodies. The table decorations were edible. The cupcakes were yummy. Click here to find a video of the most fabulous introduction speech by Maranda Howell and a not so fabulous acceptance speech by me. I was taken by surprise that I ha...

I don't know, but lately it seems that it takes me forever to finish a book. I have enjoyed the last few books that I read, but I just haven't had a chunk of time on the weekends to read. I have been spending two or three weeks on just one book, and usually I read a book a week. I try to read daily, but that might only be 15 or 20 minutes. On the weekends, I like to find a couple of hours on both Saturday and Sunday to read. I have noticed a trend in YA literature. The books are getting longer. It is not unusual for books to be over 300 pages. The kids are still reading, so I guess this is not a bad trend. This afternoon I finished Libby Bray's Beauty Queens . I read her Printz winner, Going Bovine, and though I could appreciate it, I did not love it. However, I thought Beauty Queens was a riot. It was definitely over the top. The premise is an airplane full of teen beauty queens crashes on an inhabited tropical island. There are a handful of survivors, but no survivi...

At Taylor we had to celebrate Teen Tech Week , sponsored by YALSA,  a week early because of Mardi Gras. I decided to be a little low key this year. Students could play the Research Riddles daily. On Friday, I pulled a middle school student, Ariadne Landaeta, and a high school student, Enjoli Gilbert, from each jar. Both of them will get an iTunes gift card. Pictured is a sixth grader adding his answers to the jar. Everyone who played got a small prize. On Tuesday and Thursday during lunch, I scheduled a class to make kaleidocycles that I found on the website:   foldplay.com . Students who signed up for the class had to send me four pictures ahead of time. I created the template for them on cardstock. When they came to the library, they had to score, cut, fold, and glue to create their hex kaleidocycle. Some sent me pics of the musical stars that they admire, others sent me family pics, and others found some nature pics that they liked. The best ones had pictures wi...

R R 4 TTW 10 March 4 th You can play Research Riddles every day. Visit the library with the correct answer, and you will win a prize. You will use a pre-printed form to write down your answer/s and the source/s where you got the information. I don’t need a citation, but you need to state if you found your answer on Gale or Britannica or World Book. If you used a website, then you need to give me the name of the website or its URL. Google would NOT be the name of a website.  Questions of the day: The first case of the Spanish Flu was recorded on  March 4, 1918; this marked the start of a devastating worldwide pandemic. 1.      The first cases originated at Camp Funston, Kansas. How did the flu travel to Europe?  2.      What percent of people under 30 in the United States contracted the flu during this pandemic?  A flu ward at Camp Funston in Kansas

R R 4 TTW 10 March 3 rd You can play Research Riddles every day. Visit the library with the correct answer, and you will win a prize. You will use a pre-printed form to write down your answer/s and the source/s where you got the information. I don’t need a citation, but you need to state if you found your answer on Gale or Britannica or World Book. If you used a website, then you need to give me the name of the website or its URL. Google would NOT be the name of a website.  Questions of the day: The nation of Bosnia was established on March 3, 1992. 1.     From what country did Bosnia declare independence in 1992? 2.     What are the three main ethnic groups living in Bosnia? 3.     These three groups practice different religions. What are they?

R R 4 TTW 10 March 2 nd You can play Research Riddles every day. Visit the library with the correct answer, and you will win a prize. You will use a special form to write down your answer/s and the source/s where you got the information. I don’t need a citation, but you need to state if you found your answer on Gale or Britannica or World Book. If you used a website, then you need to give me the name of the website or its URL. Google would NOT be the name of a website.   Questions of the day: The Academy Awards were first televised on  March 2 nd What was the year? Name three of the academy’s founding members? Can you name an individual who directed themselves to an Oscar in the acting category? Can you name one film that has earned an Oscar for Best Picture, Best Director, Leading Actress and Writing?    

R R 4 TTW 10 March 1 st You can play Research Riddles every day. Visit the library with the correct answer, and you will win a prize. You will use a pre-printed form to write down your answer/s and the source/s where you got the information. I don’t need a citation, but you need to state if you found your answer on Gale or Britannica or World Book. If you used a website, then you need to give me the name of the website or its URL. Google would NOT be the name of a website.   Questions of the day: The “crime of the century” happened on March 1, 1932. 1.     What was the crime? 2.     Did the man act alone in this crime or did he have accomplices? 3.     What act of congress caused organized crime to flourish during the early part of the 20 th century? 4.     What Italian crime boss was instrumental in getting Jewish and Irish crime organizations to align with his  during the 1930s? This is a picture of the crime b...