Star Wars Episode VII-IX?

So the internet went nuts yesterday when Disney bought Star Wars (and Indiana Jones!) and announced immediately that they're having Kathleen Kennedy produce more sequels starting in 2015.  Some see this as a bad thing.  But I have evidence that while it may not be the best thing ever, it at least has the possibility of not sucking.

Some points to consider:

Disney bought Pixar and they are still autonomous and awesome.

Disney bought Marvel, they are still autonomous and awesome, and we have some great superhero movies including Iron Man and The Avengers.

George Lucas is to Star Wars as Gene Roddenberry was to Star Trek.  The original series is cheesy fun and established some great ideas, but it wasn't until he was gone that The Next Generation really took off.  Most of the Roddenberry written episodes are not very good and you only have to think about how much better subsequent seasons of The Next Generation were to the Roddenberry-produced first season.

Which is to say, the best Star Wars movie was The Empire Strikes Back which Lucas neither wrote or directed.

Kathleen Kennedy is no slouch. Producer of E.T.; The Goonies; Back to the Future; Who Framed Roger Rabbit; Cape Fear; Jurassic Park; Schindler's List; The Sixth Sense; Seabiscuit and more.  Now I'm not saying they're all great (Congo; Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull), but they are all well-produced, found their audiences and the directors clearly had some artistic freedom.

And remember Episodes I, II, and III?  Yeah, it can't be any worse, that's for sure.

With that out of the way, let's speculate on the story arcs of the next three films!  Might as well be wrong in print.

Things they need to keep: Jedis, The Force, John Williams, cool space battles and space ships, funny robots and interesting aliens. And most importantly: A SENSE OF FUN.  That's what separates the original films from the prequels.

Things they need to ax: midi-chlorians, Jar-Jar, CGI yoda, trade agreements, replicating elements of the other films just because they're there.

In my humble opinion the best approach would be to put a wide distance between the new films and the old.  Even if you like the prequels, the only connection is the babies of the queen (Luke & Leia), Yoda, an old Obi-Wan, and Darth Vader.  The closest they should come is that.  The main characters could be children of either Luke and whoever and/or Han and Leia.  The robots could stick around.  There could be a different actor playing an old, wise Luke or some other Jedi and we could have all new adventures.

But that's not what I would recommend.  I'd separate them even further.  Go with the Old Republic, which takes place hundreds and thousands of years before the prequels, or go a century or two after the events in Return of the Jedi.  Sort of like the very healthy distance The Next Generation had from the original series.

With the Old Republic story lines, they already have built in mythology from comics and games to tap (and sell) and it mixes the familiar elements of the Jedi and the Force with an elegant and retro style blending the best of fantasy and science fiction.  New CGI technology creating a technologically advanced, but Old world style would be different and fun.  But there might be rights issues with the creators of the comics and games.

By going two hundred years into the future, they could keep all the familiar locations, add more and put in completely new, but of course familiar-type characters with new adventures.  At the end of Return of the Jedi the Emperor is destroyed but is the entire Empire?  The rebels have won, but how long will it take to bring peace to the galaxy?  In two hundred years there would still be the Sith and hopefully Luke has passed on the knowledge of the Jedis.  Would the Galaxy be full of Europe-type factions?  Would there be the galactic version of a Cold War? A Galactic Berlin Wall? Would R2D2 still work?  Sure he would!  Remember, for the first movie, Lucas' major touchstones were WWII fighter films and Flash Gordon serials.  There's no reason to abandon those influences and remix them for a new generation of films that stand on their own as well.

So I'm hopeful for a good, new beginning.  There are few enough fun things in our culture that I can talk to with new Kindergarten students every year and Star Wars is one of them.  Let's hope the Force is with the new caretakers of the franchise.

Childhood's End

In the long agonizing weeks between giving my daughter my Kindle Keyboard and waiting, waiting, waiting for my new Kindle Paperwhite to show up, I decided to grab something off my TBR pile.  I have an old, 80s cover art version of Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End that I've always meant to get to.  I read a bunch of Clarke back in middle and high school and I was pretty sure I'd read this, but was foggy on the details.

As I re-read it this time I think I must have only read the first section because that was all very familiar but the ending was new to me.  Why did I stop reading such an elegant book half way through?  I have no idea other than I tend to read more than one book at a time and it must have just slipped through the cracks at some point.

Interestingly enough, this title isn't available on the Kindle as far as I can tell, so I guess it was a good choice. I remember buying it new (for $2.50!) and it has since yellowed with age. While dated in some ways, the story itself holds up marvelously.  I think it works so well because the science and technical details aren't as important as the allegory aspect of the tale.  Clarke is letting us know that the universe is bigger and stranger than we can probably imagine, so we need to do the best we can here and now before we drive ourselves to extinction.  He seems to worry more about a possible nuclear war, but climate change is a possibility as well.

I can't completely summarize the book without giving too much away.  Basically the old science fiction cliche (yes, even back in the 50s when Clarke wrote this) of a bunch of massive alien spacecraft appearing over the major cities of the world takes place.  The aliens never show themselves and do not take violent action except as necessary.  They become known as the Overlords and subtly but effectively push humanity in certain directions.  Wars cease.  Poverty is eliminated   Things are looking up.

But they never show themselves and the main point of view character tries repeatedly to find out why this is so.  Finally they give in and say that in 50 years, they will come down from their ships.  This gives them enough time to have a whole generation of humanity who have never known a world without them to be there when they reveal themselves.

The reveal isn't the major point of the book though.  It goes on with different POV characters and slowly more is revealed, not only of the Overlords, but of humanity and the universe in general.  It ends in some very surprising ways.

Many call the end depressing but I'm not sure I agree with that.  It's definitely wistful at least and probably more than that.  But just because something comes to an end, is that the worst that can happen?  Should we never buy a pet knowing full well we'll be burying it before two decades are out?  Should we never build or create anything knowing that nothing will withstand the ravages of time?  I don't think so but I suppose that those who find the ending depressing do.  I'm not saying nothing sad happens, but I didn't feel depressed after reading it.

Mostly, I was in awe of Arthur C. Clarke's achievement in writing such a fantastic book. He may be gone, but we still have his work to enjoy.  At least until the sun burns out or aliens attack or the Borg assimilate us or humanity evolves into something...else.

I have more to say but then I'd have to reveal too much, so I'll leave it to you if you're interested.

Kindle Paperwhite Review

Dude.  It's awesome.

So before this I had what is now known as a Kindle Keyboard with the built-in light cover.  It was great.  I have been very happy with it for a couple of years now and it's been adopted by my 9-year-old for her right-before-bed re-reading of the Harry Potter series. I usually took that Kindle out of the cover when I was around the house and only used the cover for carrying around out in the world.  It was a bit bulky and now I can catch up with the books on my iPhone when I'm out and about.

I dreamed of a newer touch screen Kindle without the keyboard and they announced those last year.  But I'm not one to upgrade every iteration of some tech just because.  And I like to wait for the reviews to make sure there's no problems.  The Kindle Touch was nice, but it just didn't really seem worth upgrading for.  Then in the spring when Barnes & Noble announced the "GlowLight" I knew it was only a matter of time before Amazon released a similar feature.  I figured it would be the same Kindle Touch with the added lighting and figured, well, that might be worth upgrading for.

It was worth the wait.  This is the Kindle finally done right.  It's smaller than those other versions and has absolutely no buttons on the front.  There's just a power button on the bottom and a place to plug in the charging cord. I got the case (similar to the one in the photo above, but mine is black).  This cover should come with the thing because it goes with it so well.  This Kindle fits snugly into the case and the clasp is a little magnet that turns it on and off when you close it.  It folds back and actually makes it easier to hold while reading.

The touch screen is better than I expected.  I was worried I'd always be accidentally turning pages, but you need to give it a decisive push or swipe to turn the page.  A light brushing or tap won't do it, which is nice.  I love being able to just touch a word and have the definition pop up!  And it's easily manipulated with one hand, so that's great too.

But I know it's the built in light that's the big draw here.  It's amazing.  I was concerned it would feel like reading on something backlit like an iPad but it's not.  It really feels like there's a light source reflecting of the page (which I suppose there is).  So it doesn't cause any eye strain like trying to read off a tablet in the dark does for me.

There are four little LED bulbs embedded at the bottom of the screen and they somehow magically spread their light evenly over a thin film of magical light spreading something-or-other.  (I'm sure you can read the technical specs if you care.  I'm sticking with magic.) Of course at the very bottom of the page where the little light photons begin their journey across the screen, there is a bit of shadowing of brighter and darker areas.  It's noticeable in low light but it's at the very bottom so doesn't bother me at all.  I've heard people complain about this and often wondered when these people have 100% perfect light coverage over their whole page completely shadow free 100% of the time, because I live in the real world and am always moving around and tilting my books this way and that to get just the right light.  I'm guessing those people would complain if you hung them with a new rope.

Another thing I've heard people complain about is Amazon no longer supplying a wall plug to charge the device.  They do supply a charging cord that ends in a USB plug.  The end that plugs into the Kindle is the same universal size as 90% of the cell phones out there.  So if you have anything in the world with a USB outlet (every computer ever) have or had a cell phone with one of those charging plugs our have any other USB ready wall plug (I like this one) then you're fine. So this is not a big problem.  And if you have a previous version of the Kindle, then you already have a wall plug.  So people need to get over that one.

We've already heard Amazon is taking a loss on most of their Kindle line, so cutting unnecessary items is not surprising.  This Kindle no longer has speakers, text-to-speech or audio capabilities.  I never used that stuff anyway.  I just read books on it. My school is interested in the text-to-speech feature, but Amazon still sells the 3G Kindle Keyboard so we're looking at those.

I'm cheap, so I have ads on my screen saver.  I only see them for a half a second though, before I've opened up my book and am reading.  It does chap me a bit that on the home screen, they now have a "cover view" along with"list view" like they've always had but the entire second row of covers is stuff they're promoting, not stuff from my library.  So I keep it on list view.  But that is a very minor complaint with such a great overall reading tool.

Oh, and have you heard about their little "time remaining" feature?  On the bottom right it shows you something like "19 minutes left in chapter."  It's not terribly accurate but it is a nice ballpark estimate that lets you know if there's a good stopping point coming up.  Cool feature.

As I've mentioned, I'm no format nut.  I read on the Kindle, on my phone, listen to audio books, and check out actual physical books at the library.  I ask for gift cards for birthdays and holidays to keep the Kindle supplied with books, but then use the library or my never-ending pile of unread books at other times.  It always cracks me up when someone says to me, "I'd never get one of those things because..." and it's usually "...I like to get my books for free" or "...I just love the feel of real books" or whatever.  That's okay, you don't have to!  Keep going to the library.  Keep reading real books.  I do too!  It's not an either-or thing.

But if you do have any interest in an e-reader, then this is the best one you're going to find.  If you're already married to Barnes & Noble, I wouldn't switch or anything, but if you already have an earlier Kindle or are ready to take the plunge into e-books, then this is for you.

I Got My New Kindle!

The Paperwhite! I'm so excited...

Books! Both audio, paper and electronic...

I've been reading a bunch but blogging little.  For my physical book club I read Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut.  They didn't have it in audio at my library, so I checked out the paperback copy they did have.  Usually I renew books as soon as I get home two times, so  I can keep them for the full nine weeks if I wish.  But this had a reservation on it and I had to turn it in before I was finished.  So I downloaded the Kindle version and read the rest that way.  It was a good, but uneven collection.  Vonnegut himself gives it a B-.  I'd rate it a bit higher but only a few of the stories really stand out.  I'll stick to the novels.

I listened to the audio of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas and I'm so glad I did.  It's a book I've heard about for some time but it seemed to me that it was going to be another one of those Oh-look-how-clever-I-am-books like, well, you know who I mean I'm sure.  The Sword & Laser has been reading it this month in anticipation of the movie.  It's funny because a friend loaned it to my wife who was happily reading it until the first section cut off.  Then the movie trailer came out and she was like, "No thanks."  But the trailer actually intrigued me and I picked up the book, then got the audio from the library.  The audio is the way to go because it's actually six different stories nested together.  Think of those nested Russian dolls, except only the big one on the outside is complete, the rest are all cut in half vertically.  Then they are lined up with the smallest left half, the next biggest, the next, the next, then the big, whole one in the middle, then the other halves of the smaller ones in descending order on the right.  So the last thing you read is the second half of the first story you started with, which was cut off mid-sentence.

Only the sixth story is told complete, without any breaks.  They are all told in different formats as well.  The first is an adventurer's journal form the late 1800s.  The second is a set of letters from an aspiring composer in Europe in the 1930s.  The third is the pulpy novelized version of an investigative journalist's attempt to learn the secrets of a nuclear power company.  The fourth is the hilarious account of of a shady publisher who goes into hiding to avoid strong-armed creditors and finds himself, then trying to find a way to escape his own accidental imprisonment in a rest home of sorts.  The fifth is the holographically recorded testimony of a kind of cloned human created for slave labor in the future.  The sixth is an oral account told around a campfire in a post-apocalyptic future.  So yeah, Mitchell is very clever and playing games, but the stories are much more accessible than I expected and the references between and to the other stories, along with the recurring and refracting themes was always fun.  I'm especially glad I was listening because the audio producers decided to have a different narrator for each section.  The sixth story is also told in a kind of pidgin English that I would have probably found annoying on the page, but on audio it wasn't any more difficult than puzzling out a thick Irish accent--you get into the flow of it and it makes sense.  Or at least sense enough.  Problem is, now I don't know if I actually want to see the film.

Ernest Cline's Ready Player One was also a joy to listen to.  It's narrated by Wil Wheaton, which is appropriate since it's a celebration of all things geeky.  It's kind of a Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory scenario for geeks who grew up in the 80s.  It also takes place in a terrible future.  It's not post-apocalyptic, but post-oil crunch.  The world is not a happy place, but luckily some genius has created a wonderful, immersive, online virtual world that everyone hangs out in anyway.  It's where our main character, Wade, even goes to high school.  The genius that created all this died five years ago and left a video announcing a contest.  Whoever can find three hidden keys, get through the gates they open, and find a final hidden "easter egg" will win and inherit a controlling interest in this virtual world's founding company and the creator's own multi-billion dollar nest egg.  Like I said, it's been five years and our guy is the first one to find something that puts him on the games leader board.  Suddenly he's the most famous gamer in the world and the competition gets stiff.

The fun thing about this one is that the genius creator, and obviously Cline himself, are obsessed with 80s pop culture so to navigate these puzzles and challenges, Wade and the other challengers must have and encyclopedic knowledge of music, movies, books, television shows and especially video games from the 1980s.  It's quite a hoot for someone my age.  I wouldn't put it quite up there with Snow Crash as a novel, but it's pure enjoyment and great fun if you're the right kind of geek.

Finally, I just read a good old fashioned library book.  It was John Wood's Leaving Microsoft to Save the World.  I recently watched the film Half the Sky based on the book by Nicholas Kristof and Cheryl WuDunn.  Holy crap is all I can say.  But one of the many great charities the referred to in the film was Room to Read set up by former Microsoft exec John Wood.  They are focused on providing books, libraries and schools to the developing world with an emphasis on the education of girls.  The book is about how he came to make the switch from being a Microsoft exec running himself ragged to becoming a guy who creates a successful non-profit and running himself ragged and trying to save the world.  And unlike that ultimate dingleberry Greg Mortenson (who wrote a similar but mostly fictional book called Three Cups of Tea and mismanaged a whole lot of charity money), Wood really is doing great work and his non-profit is actually doing what he says it's doing.  Think of all the Carnegie libraries in the US.  What a legacy, right?  Well he set up  2500  libraries, primarily in the US (and other English-speaking countries.  Room to Read has already set up more than 12,000 libraries AND built about 1500 schools AND publishes native language children's books AND has provided over 13,000 scholarships for girls.

Rock on, I say!

Bad News for Library Media in GA

Our Coordinator of Library Media Services and Literacy Support at the Georgia Department of Education is a wonderful woman named Judy Serritella.  I've had the pleasure of meeting her at a few conferences and she's always been supportive, enthusiastic and complimentary.

She's retiring effective October 31 and while this would normally be a post congratulating her and and thanking her for her service, it has to be a bit more sad than that.

Not only is this wonderful woman in an important position for our state retiring, but for some unknown reason she is not being replaced.  I fear what this means for school media specialists and school media centers in the state of Georgia and all of the important work we do for the students in our state.

In the meantime, all we can do is the best job we can.  In her email notifying us of her departure, Judy sent along a list of 101 pieces of advice she's collected or written down over the years.  Some of it is specific to GA educators, but all of it is wise.  I'll attach it here.

Thanks Judy!

"Get a library card

Use your library card

Use sun block

Join GLMA, GLA, GAIT, AASL, AAL

Don’t just join—participate

Conduct Professional Learning

Don’t sit quietly thinking someone else will speak up for what you believe, what you think is right, what you think is wrong

Learn something from everyone—including children

If you say you will do it, do it.  Be reliable.

Nobody likes a know-it-all

Don’t save everything

Promote GALILEO to students

Promote GALILEO to teachers

Promote GALILEO to administrators

Promote GALILEO to legislators

Promote GALILEO to parents

Don’t buy a lot of stuff, and only buy the stuff you really love

Always remember those who helped you. Deliver two or three times as much value back.

Learn to really listen

Participate in Professional Learning

Stand up for what you believe in, but make sure you really believe it

Find your voice

Give people compliments…but make sure you are sincere

Find mentors and use them

Become a mentor to someone

Learn the name of the maintenance workers, custodians, bag boy.  If they speak a different language than you, learn a few words in their language.

Go to concerts

Be visible

Go to museums

Write a white paper on your Library Media Program.  Give it to your administrator

Go for a walk…without your cell phone

Tell the people you love, that you love them

Go on a picnic

Write an article for your local paper on your Library Media Program

Realize that students are our first priority

Having a passion for teaching builds a passion for learning.

Make your Library Media Center welcoming to all

Openness, honesty, and integrity are fundamental.

Be kind

When someone asks what you do, say “teach”.  When they ask what do you teach, reply “everything”.

Collaborate

Attend grade level/curriculum area meetings.  Bring food and ideas

Take a first year teacher under your wing

Take a first year Library Media Specialist under your wing

Smile…a lot.

Laugh…even more

Encourage

Start a book club

Vote

Pay the toll for the person behind you

Don’t be a “secret” weapon in the Library Media Center for the Common Core….why are we keeping it a secret?

Don’t criticize or complain without offering a possible solution

Be tolerant

Be respectful

Be indispensable

Be honest

Be happy with simple pleasures

Go to professional conferences

Go back to your school and share what you learned at professional conferences

Make parents your allies

Use blogs, twitter, Facebook to promote your Library Media program

Promote GALILEO to students

Promote GALILEO to teachers

Promote GALILEO to administrators

Promote GALILEO to legislators

Promote GALILEO to parents

Volunteer

Be in a book club

Have a focus

Don’t think someone else is going to toot your horn…you need to show your value.

Treat everyone with dignity

Be a team player

Publish….in a professional journal, your local paper, the school newsletter

Thank a former teacher

Manage your time well

Read banned books

Practice patience…even with yourself

Eat breakfast

Practice tact

Be grateful

Tip well

Participate in the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl

Wear your seatbelt

Be visible

Say yes as often as possible

Facilitate thinking

Engage minds

Listen to questions

Ask questions

Encourage risk

Cultivate dreams

Learn everyday

Stay true to your vision

Always know what is going on

Be professional at all times

Know that our business is a people business

Be authentic

Don’t hold a grudge

Leave a legacy

 Remember we are here for the kids

 Make your own list"

Ordering Books In the Library

Titlewave

One of the questions I received when I visited that online class last week was about how do I know how and what books to order and about budgeting in general.  I didn't have time to get into that one and since they're first semester students, told them not to worry, they would be having a whole class on that subject.  As I recall we were given an imaginary amount of money and supposed to use a collection analysis to purchase books for a specific section of the library.

I'll make it easier than that.  Follett and Bound to Stay Bound (BTSB).  Yes, there are more distributors and yes there is more to buy than books, but I'm just trying to cover the basics here.  If you stick with these two at first you can make this pretty easy and rewarding for all.

Let's pretend this is my first year at the library and I just got $ to buy books for the year.  Since this is my first year, I don't have any teacher or student requests and my only guide is the school's learning goals which basically, when it comes to reading, says we want to improve reading.

I open an account with Follett and learn how to run a collection analysis. It's not hard and there are friendly people that will walk you through it.  Unless there is something glaring at you, let's just say you need to order good books.

The first thing you do is log into Titlewave, Follett's ordering system.  They've change it a bit recently and I'm elementary and I don't want to do a million screen shots, so this will be pretty basic.  But what I would do is click on "Collection Development" then click on "Books" and a screen with a bunch of blanks comes up.  I would click on the box next to K-3 and 3-6.  Then I would click the box next to "Publisher's Hardcover."  Then I would click the blue button at the top left that says "Search Books."  Now you will see some books.  Make sure the "Sort By:" drop down menu is set for "Most Popular."  And you are set.  These will be the 2500 currently most ordered titles by other librarians for there grade levels.  See how awesome this is?  Now you'll want to go through and pick the ones most appropriate for your population and what your student's and teachers will like.  You'll also want to know which titles to get more than one copy of.  But those things will become clearer the more you do this.

Now you're not really going to order a bunch of publisher's hardcovers from Follett.  You want as many of these as are available from BTSB.  So open up a new tab in your browser and log into BTSB and go down the Titlewave list and add them to a list in BTSB.  Anything that has a red line next to it is something you already have in your library.  Anything that doesn't show up in BTSB, you can go back to later.

Now I'm not a total weasel.  I still order from Follett too.  If they have it in FollettBound and not at BTSB, I'll probably order it, especially if it's not something that needs the BTSB treatment.  I don't order graphic novels from Follett anymore for example because they only last about five minutes before they start falling apart.  But a non-fiction book that will only be checked out once a year by teachers on Groundhog Day or something, it doesn't really matter about the binding.  If I'm in a hurry I may do the same search but click on the "FolletBound Sewn" and "FollettBound Glued" boxes rather than the "Publisher's Hardcover" box and that's fine as well.  Those are good books and in some way the covers look better than the BTSB ones.  On balance, this can be an overall cheaper option as well.  But if they are high-circulation titles they just won't last as long.

BTSB

I like BTSB the best, now that they've made their cover art a bit more appealing, because the books really do last longer. FolletBound books are my next choice.  Order "Publisher's Hardcover" only if there's no other way to get it and you can't wait for it to come out in a better binding later.  For example, I see that on the third page of that Titlewave search, Walter Wick's amazing book A Drop of Water comes up.  But when I type that into BTSB, they don't have it.  So I type the title into Titlewave and all the versions will come up.  Yet it seems A Drop of Water can ONLY be ordered in publisher hardcover.  Since it's an older title, it's obviously not going to come any other way so if I wanted it for my collection, I'd have to order it that way.  It should be fine because while I'll display it and point it out, it's not going to have the circulation of, say, a Wimpy Kid book so the binding isn't that much of an issue.  If it was a new book, I'd probably hold off and see if either BTSB or Follett did a more library-friendly binding at some point.  And it's hard to tell, but sometimes "Publisher Hardcover" IS library bound.

Every once is a great while I'll have a teacher request a book that I can only find in paperback on Titlewave. What I usually do with those is process them myself and put it in the Professional collection, which only teachers have access to.

BTSB is great because they give you the paper covers to use (I use them for bulletin boards) and they stamp the Dewey information into the spine, no stickers.  After doing this job for a while you'll realize there is a certain segment of humanity that cannot resist peeling off any kind of sticker, no matter how well glued down.  That's one less sticker per book to have to re-process later.

One more example.  Let's say I'm in a high school and I need to order new books just for the science section.  On that book screen, I would click on the boxes next to 5-8 and YA (to get a good range of reading levels). Then I would click on "FolletBound Sewn," "FollettBound Glued," and "Publisher's Hardcover."  I'd scroll down to "Dewey Range:" and put in 500 to 599.999 and run my search.  Here's where you would also want a curriculum map in front of you so you'd make sure to get science books not only of interest, but that went along with what you'r students are actually studying.  But since what comes up is the most popular books ordered by other librarians, it's a good bet these are good titles to check out.  You'll see right away what you can go ahead and get library bound and the ones that you can't you can decide it you want to try to get them form BTSB now or wait and see if they come available in better bindings later.

For your first year, if a teacher asks you for a book and it's not at BTSB or Follett, then tell them you can't get it.  Don't be a superhero trying to track down out of print or out of stock books just yet.

I could say a whole lot more, but I think this gives you an overview of a good way to get started and make the process pretty painless.  Actually, since I love making lists, I enjoy this part of it the most next to actually getting to open up the boxes of new books when they come in!

Throw me more questions and comments about this so I can clear anything else up you may want to know.

Some Good Kindle Sale Books This Month

Me and my stupid reasonableness. I waited for the reviews to come in before ordering the new Kindle Paperwhite.  Needless to say, the reviews are, um, glowing (sorry).  So I ordered it and a new cover last week.  I got an email about it being shipped and was disappointed to find out later that only the cover had been shipped.  Not the actual device.  And I've already gone and given my Kindle keyboard to my daughter.  So now I have to read my book club book on my iPhone and wait another 2-3 weeks for my new toy.  First world problems, I know.  In the mean time, I've been shopping their sale books.  Here's a list of some good ones that caught my eye today.  Remember, anything you buy from Amazon after clicking through my site nets me a few cents which I will be donating to my school library.  So it's for a good cause, people!

Kids Books:

Guys Read: Funny Business edited by Jon Scieszka $1.99

A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban $2.99

and today only (10/6) a bunch of Mary Downing Hahn books are only $1.99!

SF/Fantasy:

American Gods by Neil Gaiman $3.99
This 10th Anniversary edition has audiobook extras if you check it out on your phone or tablet or whatever.

Mysteries & Thrillers:

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill $1.99

The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie $1.99

Nonfiction:

Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher $2.99

Fiction:

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt $2.99
This is the one I'm most excited by.

Capture the Flag

First, a brief summary from the promotional material: "Anna, José, and Henry are complete strangers with more in common than they realize. Snowed in together at a chaotic Washington DC airport, they encounter a mysterious tattooed man, a flamboyant politician, and a rambunctious poodle named for an ancient king. Even stranger…news stations everywhere have announced that the famous flag that inspired “The Star-Spangled Banner” has been stolen! Anna, certain that the culprits must be snowed in, too, recruits Henry and José to help catch the thieves and bring them to justice.

But when accusations start flying, the kids soon realize there’s more than a national treasure at stake. And with unexpected enemies lurking at every corner, do Anna, José, and Henry have what it takes to solve the heist?"

I've heard some great things about Kate Messner, so I'm disappointed that this is my first exposure to her work.  Of course, if I had read and loved Over and Under the Snow or Marty McGuire and liked them, which by all accounts I will, I may have been more disappointed.

My main problem with this book is that it just doesn't fit. It's the length and reading level complexity of books like the On the Run series, the 39 Clues series, or The Gollywhopper Games but the thin characters and hand-holding through the pretty obvious plot make it seem more like an A to Z Mystery.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it just seems overlong for that audience.

The idea is a good one.  Kids trying to solve the mystery of a stolen American artifact a la National Treasure is a good one and a fun way to introduce some American history into something other than historical fiction.

For me, though, the execution just didn't live up to the idea.  When you have a character ask on page sixty (beginning of chapter seven), "You know where I think we should start?" that's a clue that things are dragging.

Now I have read some positive reviews and have read this would be a good read aloud for 3rd or 4th graders.  It is certainly true that using this as a springboard for discussions of American history would be way better than just using a social studies textbook.  But then, almost anything would be, no?

I might be wrong:
Jen Robinson's Book Page
A Year of Reading

Read Aloud Update

We (the family an I) are reading Gordon Korman's Swindle right now, but before that we read the newest Familiars book, The Circle of Heroes by Epstein and Jacobson.  And right before that we read the third Gregor Underlander book, The Curse of the Warmbloods. And before that we read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

I don't think there's anything to say about Harry Potter anymore.  You either love it and know all about it, or you don't read this blog.  Either way, yes, we finished that one (actually listened to Jim Dale read it to all of us) and then watched the movie and then I took Harper to a GameStop where she traded in some older Wii games and got LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7.  So it was a multimedia event, I tell you.

The third Gregor book was my favorite of the series so far. It's richer, more wide-ranging and seems to be taking the series to a darker but also more rewarding place than I first suspected.

The third Familiars book is action-packed but also pretty dark.  The authors do a good job at keeping it moving and throwing in lots of fun one-liners to keep it getting too bad, but the unending zombie hordes, along with the illustrations, will make sure you don't think this is just a cutesy animal series.  No, indeed.

Swindle has been out for a while.  He's turned this into a series as well, but the first one is very much a stand-alone book.  Some kids find an old Babe Ruth baseball card in an abandoned house and take it to a collector.  He gives them a couple hundred bucks and they're happy.  Then they see him on TV saying he's going to auction it off for upwards of a miiillion dollars!  Without a receipt and just being kids, they decide their only recourse is to try to steal it back.  Then they figure out he has quite a lot of security on his shop.  And the meanest Doberman Pinscher in the world.  But they just happen to know a dog whispering girl in their class.  And a computer hacker.  And a climber.  And so on.  So we get a Ocean's 11-type heist thriller for the upper elementary set with a very satisfying conclusion.

Swindle is actually the first pick for my spouse and daughter's newly-formed Mother/Daughter book club they've formed with some other mom/daughter combos they are friends with.  It'll be interesting to see how that goes!

Update on My Guest Speaker Thingee

"Don't let teachers do their own laminating!"

So as I mentioned previously, I was asked to be a guest speaker at a library media online class last night.  I think it went pretty well.  I only had to try two computers and three different browsers before I could log in to their Wimba classroom.  Just like old times.

I realized that it was their first semester and this was their first online class, so there wasn't much chatter in the comments area. I'm trying to remember what they asked me, because I had to be brief and will try to expand my answers here on the blog for their further reference.

Let's see.  My experience, the best/worst things about being a media specialist, would I go back to the classroom, how to I budget/know what to order.  I'm sure there was more, but those are the ones I remember.

I think I covered my past experience pretty well.  I think the thing I learned most from my previous teaching experience (mostly as a support teacher: small reading and math groups, English language learners, gifted) is to BE FLEXIBLE.  That is the main thing you have to be as a Media Specialist.

Best thing about being a Media Specialist: the relationships, being able to help students, parents and teachers, and the excitement of each new day being completely different.  Worst thing is not being able to have everything for everyone.  I think I mentioned that I guess the biggest challenge is just last minute things thrown in your lap and the frustration of knowing it could have been better if you'd known what someone wanted a little earlier.

I guess I'd go back to teaching if they axed the Media Specialist position but I have no plans to ever leave this job as long as they'll have me.  I love reading, technology, and helping people find the just right information they're looking for.  It's an honor to be able to have the best classroom in the building.

As for budgeting/ordering, that will have to be a follow up post.  I knew I could have spent more than one class just talking about that so I just let them know about an assignment related to it that they'll be having in a future class.  I also said to let me know if they had any other questions and I'd be happy to help them any way I can!

Thank you Dr. Clinton and the newest cohort for having me, and good luck in your future endeavors!

Babies Driving Robots!?!

I love living in the not-too-distant-future!

I'm Number 2!

I'm my former library media professor's number two choice for a guest spot for the online part of one of his classes this week!  It's an honor, I tell you.  I knew forwarding him those Honey Badger Don't Care videos would pay off one day.

But seriously, it'll be interesting to see how it goes.  I had an email exchange with him not long ago about Google's cool Power Searching class (which is happening right now and is totally worth it). Since he teaches course design, I thought he might find it interesting.  So I may be talking with the class about that or anything else they want to talk about. I know one of the more interesting things we did when I was working on my degree was getting the opportunity to talk to some real live working media specialists about what they do.  (Now if I could only figure out what it is I do...)

So if there's anything you think I should tell them or if you are visiting the blog because you are in Dr. Clinton's class, then post your comments and questions in the comments and I'll try to answer as many as I can!