More Joey! Yippee!

The Book Standard reports that a surprise 4th Joey Pigza book is on the way!

Gantos said:

“I was writing one novel in the front of my journal and yet every day I was jotting down odd notes about Joey in the back of my journal,” Gantos said in a press release. “After a few months the random notes began to form a cohesive story and I came to realize I had an unforeseen Joey Pigza story on my hands. I’ve since flipped the journal over and have turned my full attention to Joey.”

I am a tremendous Jack Gantos fan. I was so happy to hear this news. He deserves the money.

In addition to the upcoming I Am Not Joey Pigza, Farrar, Straus & Giroux has signed a high-six-figure deal with Gantos for a new four-book series, set to launch in Fall 2008. The audience for the new series is younger middle-grade. FSG will also release Gantos’s The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs, in May.

Titanic

Today is the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. The ship struck an iceberg at 11:40 PM on April 14, 1912 11:40 p.m. at 41° 46’ north latitude , 50° 14’ west longitude. It sank about three hours later.

When THE movie came out, it was my first year as a school librarian. The library had the Robert Ballard books and a picture book biography on Mollie Brown but that was about all. Over the course of that year I decided there would never be enough books on earth about that subject to meet the demand. It was a veritable frenzy each day as kids scoured the shelves for some reading on the subject. I have not seen any topic seize their collective imaginations in the same way since.

The publishers jumped on the bandwagon immediately. At my first TLA convention that year, Little Brown came out with Inside the Titanic : A Giant Cut-away Book. The book was on display at their booth. On the last day of the convention, the sellers put the books on super sale. I was near the Little Brown booth at the appointed hour and saw so many hands reaching for the book that it looked like basketball players going for a rebound. I don't know if it got down to hair-pulling and shin-kicking because I quickly retreated. Librarians are usually such refined creatures. I did understand the excitement and desperation those folks felt.

Luckily there are lots of books for us to read today.



The Magic Tree House kids visit there in Tonight on the Titanic and felt the frustration of knowing what was going to happen and try to prevent it.



Eve Bunting's novel, S.O.S. Titanic, mixes a touch of romance with well researched facts.



Barbara Williams's Titanic Crossing describes thirteen year old Albert's happiness and pride in having graduated from short pants to new long pants for the trip to New York on the Titanic. Those long pants prevent him from entering a lifeboat however in the final desparate hours of the ship's life as they denoted the passage to manhood and it was "women and children first."


882 1/2 Amazing Answers To Your Questions About The Titanic
by Hugh Brewster is a terrific book for fact browsing.

Titanic

DK Eyewitness Books does their excellent take on the tragedy.


Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady

I'm not reader of Dear America books because they are so dreary but lots of girls read this one.

Exploring the Titanic by Robert D. Ballard

Ballard's account of his discovery of Titanic's resting place will be the reading favorite in school libraries for all time.

Books for the Birds

The True Story of Stellina by by Matteo Pericoli, 2006

One of the honors of being a school librarian is the opportunity to be there for some of the small but very important moments of your students lives.

Reading The True Story of Stellina reminded me of an early morning visit from a student who came in before school and asked "Do we have any books on birds?" Well, what do you want to find out about birds? Is this for a report? Is there any special type of bird you are looking for?

She was clutching a shoebox and slowly lifted the lid and began to explain how she had found this baby bird on the sidewalk on the way to school and she had run all the way back home to find a shoebox and now she had it in the box and see the sticks and leaves she had added? She needed to find out how to take care of the bird so she had come to her library to get help.

We ended up enlisting the help of our school nurse who, as a professional 4H mom, had raised just about every kind of animal imaginable. I cannot remember now what happened to the bird but my young friend would have been enchanted by this gentle story.

The author's wife hears a "cheep" and finds a baby bird on the noisy streets of Manhattan. She takes the little bird home and manages to feed it and care for it. Stellina lives and thrives and repays the couple with companionship and love for eight years. The drawings are light and delicate like the bird whose story they are telling. I am looking forward to sharing it with kids. They will be charmed.




Mocking birdies by Annette Simon, 2005

Wikipedia explains that mockingbirds are "best known for the habit of some species of mimicking the songs of other birds, often loudly and in rapid succession." The Mockingbird is the state bird of Texas. Kids understand that copycatting is a sure way to get under someone's skin. The book flap reminds us that "stop copying me" is a frequent childhood refrain.

The bright primary colors and geometric shapes of the birds prepare the readers for a bit of fun as they read this book. The birds sit on lines that resemble a music staff and then later, telephone lines. The text varies in size and color, which would make the book interesting to share as a choral read with a class. I would put the book under an Elmo so the whole class could see the colors and read the words. One group could read the red lines, another, the blue lines, and the purple lines together. The echoing quality of the text would make all students feel successful. This is also a good book to share sitting side by side with just one special reading friend.

Author?: Katie Couric

Dare we speculate that Katie's return to "hard" news may signal the end of her career as a children's book author? Blessings abound for us all!

Ark Angel

Ark Angel by Anthony Horowitz, 2006

Oh the places you will go, Alex Rider!

Ark Angel is the latest chapter in the saga of Alex Rider. I do not want to give away too much in case you have not read the previous books but be warned, "spoilers" follow. If you have not read Alex Rider vols. 1-5 then hie yourself to a library and begin now.

Book 5 ended abruptly and very "Ian-Fleming-ly" with Alex on the ground, hit by a sniper's bullet. Ark Angel picks up soon afterwards with Alex recuperating in the hospital. There he befriends another patient, the lonely son of the multi-millionaire, Nikolei Drevin. Drevin is the developer of the Ark Angel space hotel project.

As usual, Alex is embroiled in the events that follow against his will. Only Alex, however, has the unique skills and talents to combat the evil plot and danger that unfolds.

Horowitz is at the top of his game in this sequel, the action is nonstop. The book actually contains several mini lessons in physics which make some of the predicaments almost believable. They are always fun.

While booktalking with some 5th graders, I mentioned that I had read this book and a young fan asked fearfully, "So, is Alex alright?" He cannot wait to get this book.

This is going on the "Gotta Have It" list.

Chaucer's Blog

Thanks to Child_Lit for this link to: Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog

Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman, 2006

I was intrigued by this book because of the story's opening premise: Julie's favorite book is Pride and Prejudice. She is dismayed when her best friend, Ashleigh discovers the book and adopts it as her latest passion. Ashleigh assumes the speech patterns, dress and mannerisms of Jane Austen's heroines and integrates them into her daily life. When she decides she wants to search for her "Mr. Darcy" she enlists Julie to help her crash a dance at the nearby private boys' school. Julie thinks of it as the "Snoot School Dork Dance" but they search out period dresses, learn to dance the quadrille and plan to get into the dance.

At the dance Julie meets her "Mysterious Stranger," the boy she has seen around town, who is a student at the school. Parr is a really nice guy and Julie is smitten. Unfortunately, Ashleigh has decided Parr is her Mr. Darcy and she keeps trying to convinice Julie that Parr's friend, Ned, is Julie's Mr. Bingley. Julie is torn between her interest in Parr and her friendship with Ashleigh.

I liked Julie very much. An only child, she lives with her mother and visits her father who left to marry the "IA" or Irresistable Accountant. Julie is like so many kids who are the victims of divorce. She is trying to keep some semblance of a relationship with her dad so she keeps her feelings to herself.

Shulman writes with a eye to Austen with her use of capitalization and tongue-in-cheek humor. This is a very lighthearted read. Entling no. 3 told me it was really "fun."

Foxtrot on an Odyssey

I read Foxtrot every day. This week, Peter is studying for a test on The Odyssey by listening to it while he sleeps. He is having very interesting dreams.

Brilliant!

The Lady Rona remarked recently that she recalls the names of the 50 states by singing the Animaniac's 50 States and Capitals song (.wav file here.) I have complained, frequently and often, that my favorite cartoons were only available on VHS.

Now I read that "Animaniacs - Volume 1 will escape from the water tower on July 25th." Also Pinky and the Brain - Volume 1 will be available.

This is great news! Narf!

Fair enough

Odd how close these goofy internet quizzes can be.

You are a Black Coffee

At your best, you are: low maintenance, friendly, and adaptable At your worst, you are: cheap and angsty You drink coffee when: you can get your hands on it Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?