19,767 Views and counting!

I created this trailer for the Enola Homes series and not only does it have almost 20,000 views, a well known news magazine asked to use it for an online article.  I wish all my trailers were so successful.

My Bitmoji Library

Check out my new

Waste of Space by Gina Damico

What happens when a network needs a hit show?  What happens when the space program needs great exposure?  Together they conjure up "Waste of Space" a reality television program featuring ten teenagers in space.

The casting call doesn't ask for the best or brightest, just the most volatile.  And the spaceship?  It's in a warehouse deep in the desert.  Except for Kaoru, the Japanese teen shanghaied into the cast, the kids accept that they are in fact in space. Some more than others.

The NASA scientists blackmailed to create the mock spaceship are outraged at the increasingly bizarre situations the DV8 production team is putting the Spacetronauts through.  As the show begins to wind up, survival challenges ensue and the whole thing just becomes ridiculous! 

Gina Damico is one of my favorite authors.  If you haven't read Croak, go out and read it.  RIGHT NOW.  It is one of the most circulated series in my MS library. I love Damico's irreverent sense of humor and amazing imagination. I created a book trailer for her new title, so check it out below.
It's fun and the multiple perspectives throughout keep the pace upbeat.

Dietland

I had never heard of Sarai Walker's Dietland.  Then I began to watch the  AMC series.  I was addicted after the first episode. I then ripped through the book in one day.

Alicia "Plum" Kettle has struggled her entire life.  She has been mocked about her weight and does everything she can to hide from the notice of others.

Plum works for a teen magazine, Daisy Chain, as the ghost writer for her editor in chief "Kitty".
She spends most of her days alone, answering fan mail and typical girl questions. 


As she waits for the date of her gastric bypass surgery, Plum notices a young woman following her.  It is her encounter with her stalker Leeta that changes Plum's life, and she is thrown into a world where women feel empowered. She meets strong role models who fight for acceptance on their own terms.

This is all set against a backdrop where a new vigilante group calling themselves Jennifer decide to fight back against the male patriarchy and punish those who abuse women in a very public and violent way.

Dietland is FIGHT CLUB meets The Devil Wears Prada.  Have Fun!

Enola Holmes, the other detective.

While we were watching Sherlock on Netflix earlier this summer, my daughter asked if I had ever read the "Sister Books".  I had no idea what she was talking about.

Didn't I know Millie Bobby Brown was going to play the sister of Sherlock Holmes in a new film?  Isn't Millie Bobby Brown the perfect actor to play a detective? Will she be telekinetic in the Enola Holmes movies? Did I have the Enola Holmes books in the library?
 The answer to all of these questions was no, and so off I went to the Lincoln Public Libraries to check out Nancy Springer's Enola Holmes series.


As I began The Case of the Missing Marquess, my daughter spotted the book and deftly ripped it
from my hands.  Luckily, Amazon exists, and within minutes I was reading on my kindle while my kiddo curled up in the couch with the hardback.

"Deeper and deeper into the shadows and East London dockside slums, she walks on. Alone.." (p.3)

After a quick. mysterious prologue, we meet Enola.  In her first sentence she queries, "I would very much like to know why my mother named me 'Enola,' which, backwards, spells alone." We know immediately we are in for an interesting mother daughter relationship.

When "Mum", Lady Eudoria Vernet Holmes, disappears on Enola's fourteenth birthday the mystery begins and we follow Enola's search for the truth.

I have read the first two books in the series.  I am already dreading reaching the sixth, because Enola is a champion for independence and savvy.  I want to follow her far in to the future to see what she can accomplish as she reaches adulthood.  Purchasing all six books for my library and eagerly awaiting the film adaptations!

Tuesdays in the Castle

Tuesdays in the Castle by Jessica Day George.

Such a cute book!!  Lots of action, adventure, intrigue and all in under 200 pages.  I reached the end and was disappointed that I didn't have another Castle Glower book to jump into.  So glad that I came to Goodreads and saw that Tuesdays is only the first of a series!

Great title for intermediate to middle school age students.  It's such a quick read, older kids might really enjoy being able to finish it in one bite.  I read it in little over an hour.

Celie is the fourth child and princess of her kingdom.  Her ruling family all live in a magic castle that creates rooms and turrets on it's own.  The castle is so busy that even the King and Queen get lost on the way to their own suite.

Celie keeps a map of the ever changing castle and is a favorite of all.  Her knowledge of the castle and bravery help make her one of the best young heroines I read in a long time.  I am buying this for my library, and all the sequels too!

The Candymakers

Another Golden Sower Nominee Finished!!!

Do you like candy?  How much do you like candy? Maybe enough to enter a contest to create the next great sugary confection?

In The Candymakers, by Wendy Mass, twelve-year-olds across America compete to create the next BEST candy.  Four intrepid candymakers are assigned to the "Life is Sweet" candy factory, but each has a hidden agenda.

If Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Westing Game had a baby, it would be this book. The mystery slowly unravels while the point of view juggles between the contestants.  I love the twist at the end that eventually ties the characters together in a time before the contest.

I am afraid to say much more about this charming book, for fear of giving away a clue to the ending.  Don't be scared of this thick book, it is detailed, but who can resist such delicious descriptions!!

PIE and Wild Life

Two more Sower nominees down!

PIE by Sarah Weeks is a short, original mystery involving a secret pie crust recipe, a jealous mother, and a cat named Lardo.  Alice's favorite person in the world is her Aunt Polly, owner if the world famous PIE shop.  When Polly unexpectedly dies, and leaves her top secret pie crust to Lardo, Alice begins to see her small town and family come apart.  After she discovers the bakery in shambles after a break-in, Alice decides it's up to her to find the would be thief.  Great story, good for any boy or girl who enjoys a good quick mystery.  I finished reading PIE and immediately handed it to my middle school daughter to read!

My next book, Wild Life , by Cynthia DeFelice, is really geared toward middle level boys.  That said, I know that the girls it school that hunt with their families will love this title!

Erik has just had his whole world pulled out from under him.  Both of his parents have been deployed to Iraq unexpectedly and all of his plans with his best friend Patrick have been thrown out the window.  In four days, Erik is in North Dakota, a world away from New York.

After he arrives, Erik begins to see why his mother had avoided trips home. Big Darrell, his grandfather, is grouchy and distant.  Erik spends the first two days avoiding him.  

When Erik finds a young hunting dog with porcupine quills stuck in her nose, he thinks he might have found a friend that can make North Dakota bearable.  Big Darrell has other ideas and that's when Erik decides to take off on his own and try his hand at the "wild life".

Great book for students who enjoy hunting or realistic fiction.

Three more Golden Sowers done!!

I finished three Sowers this afternoon, and all were really good, quick reads.

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick uses the same, unique form he created for The Invention of Hugo Cabret. The novel is told in pictures and text, so that a book of 617 pages, only has about 100 full pages of text.  This time the story involves a young deaf girl from the 1920's, whose story is told in pictures.  Her images are intertwined between the story of Ben, told in 1977.  The stories are more straightforward than the tale in Hugo, but I think Ben's quest will make this tale more appealing to the middle school reader.

May B by Caroline Starr Rose is written in the form of a poem, so it is another very quick read.  May B is twelve when her family takes her out of her country school and sends her to help another farmer in this 1870's tale.  Although May B  longs to be a teacher when she turns 16, she struggles with reading.  A new teacher in her one room school house doesn't help, so her parents send her 15 miles away to another Sod House farm.  When the new bride at the Oblinger farm runs home, her husband chases after her, leaving May stranded and alone in the Oblinger Sod house.  How will she survive the horrible Kansas winter?  This is a great historical fiction choice for students who enjoy The Little House on the Prairie novels.

My last read today was Payback by Carl Deuker.  This sports novel is also a mystery.  Dan "Mitch" True, longs to be a top reporter someday.  When he and school newspaper photographer Kimi Yun find a new stand out football star on their HS team, they can't wait to write a fantastic story for their school paper.  It's when they are told no, that the anomalies start appearing and the two decide to investigate the new player.  Lots of football action, so you feel like you are right there, at the game.  Mitch is a great character, who really works hard at becoming a better writer and stronger person.  Super book for all sports and mystery fans.

I"ll keep working through the Golden Sower nominees, and let you know my favorites!!!

Updating and upreading

I have been updating our Middle School Library sites as I create our new Integrated Technology curriculum.  I hope that the updates have made the links and info on the site easier to access.  Feel free to check it out.

My goal to read every Golden Sower nominee this summer is not quite completed, but I have a few days before summer is over.  Here are the nominees I have read so far:

Intermediate Nominees:

The Clockwork Three by Mattew Kirby

The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann

Wonder by R.J.  Palacio


Young Adult Nominees:

Matched by Ally Condie

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25  by  Richard Paul Evans

Dark Life by Kat Falls

Red Cell by John Kalkowski

Legend by Marie Lu

Epitaph Road by David Patneaude


As you can see, I have quite a few titles left to read.  Hopefully this week and next weekend will afford me some time to get caught up.  My favorites so far have been Wonder and The Unwanteds, I was surprised by how much I loved both books.  I talked both of them up on my Twitter feed Follow @jessiesandre

Raven Boys

Just finished Maggie Stiefvater's awesome new series opener: The Raven Boys.

I love Maggie Stiefvater, she does such a great job creating believable situations out of unbelievable circumstances.  Magic?  Ley Lines?  A search for a sleeping prince?  Teenage angst?  She can write it all and it flows naturally and organically throughout the book.

Although the story opens with Blue Sargent, the daughter of the town psychic, this is not a "girls" book.  The male characters are just as present and just as strong.  Gansy, Adam and Ronan own their scenes in the book, just as Blue owns hers.   The tale shifts to the perspective of each character and the mystery flows seamlessly from person to person.

Blue has been told ever since she can remember that she will kill her true love.  One kiss and her love dies forever.  Gansey knows he is destined to find the missing king of Glendower.  Adam must find a way to escape his family and the stigma  of poverty and Ronan must learn to forgive himself for his father's death.

The Raven Boys is the first of a planned four part series.  I cannot wait to read the next title!!  I LOVE Maggie Steifvater!!!!!!!

Book Fair coming soon!

We will be hosting our second book fair in April!  This will the first time the Middle School has hosted TWO book fairs!  To accompany our fair, we will have a movie night on April 27th!!

Be on the look out for more information!!

Two Phenomenal Books

I was lucky to find two fantastic titles in the last few weeks.  The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater and The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson.  In both cases, I literally could not put the books down.  I was reading Jenna Fox in the middle of a Winterguard competition, when I should have been watching performers.  I stayed up half the night to finish Scorpio Races.  It's been a while for me...I haven't been so invested in a story for a few months and I think that obsession with a story, when you are there with the characters, is why reading is so important to me.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

On Thisby, horses emerge from the sea.  They are beautiful, fast, and blood thirsty.  Every November, as the horses  pull themselves out of the breaking waves, the island residents of prepare for the races and sleep with one eye open.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox  by Mary Pearson

Paolini Spotlight this month in the High School

The Norris HS library will be featuring author Christopher Paolini this month.  His final installment in the Eragon series will hit shelves November 8th.

Here is our animoto featurette:  Paolini Spotlight

NSD Titans Book Club

We have started our Twitter book club at Norris High School.  Our first title is Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. Members of the book club can either follow us at Twitter with the hash tag #nsdtitanbookclub or at the NSDTitansBookClub in the groups of nsdtitans.org.

Curious about what Shiver  is about? Here's a quick synopsis:
Grace, 17, loves the peace and tranquility of the woods behind her home. It is here during the cold winter months that she gets to see her wolf—the one with the yellow eyes. Grace is sure that he saved her from an attack by other wolves when she was nine. Over the ensuing years he has returned each season, watching her with those haunting eyes as if longing for something to happen. When a teen is killed by wolves, a hunting party decides to retaliate. Grace races through the woods and discovers a wounded boy shivering on her back porch.   Who is he, and how will this boy change her relationship with the wolves in the forest?

Ella Enchanted Book Trailer

Ella Enchanted Book Trailer

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks

I loved 99% of this book.  The ending was left so wide open, I am praying for a sequel. The exploits of Frankie Landau Banks have obviously just begun.  Infiltrating the top secret society of her prep school as a sophomore leaves two more years to create havoc.

Why should we care?  Frankie is out to take down the "good old boy" system.  She knows where the power lies and with her keen eye for strategy and detail, I am sure she can find some new icons to overthrow.  I am also dying to know what happens in several of her unresolved relationships.  Author E. Lockhart has left the second semester wide open and too many characters hanging.  I want/need to know more.

The book trailer doesn't do it justice, but here it is anyway:
History of Frankie Landau Banks Trailer

Starting a Twitter Book Club

The Norris HS students will be starting a Twitter Book club this fall.  My hope is to have the first title chosen soon and announce it when we come back from Labor Day weekend.  To sign up and or nominate a title check out the book club page.

Getting Ready for School!

I'm in BACK TO SCHOOL mode, frantically inputting new students into the library database and coding all of the magazines that came in this summer.  I'm still reading, just not as much.

 I have just started Feed by M.T. Anderson. It is a story about a future world where television and computers are connected directly into people's brains when they are babies. The result is a chillingly recognizable consumer society where empty-headed kids are driven by fashion and shopping and the avid pursuit of silly entertainment--even on trips to Mars and the moon--and by constant customized murmurs in their brains of encouragement to buy, buy, buy.  Click here to read an excerpt.   

My most recent bookish exploits

I have been relentlessly pawing through the racks of graphic novels at every library and book store I visit.  I have found many good titles and I hope to bring them over to Norris this fall.  Best news?  Turns out my soon to be 5th grader LOVES the graphic novels, so I can get a second opinion on them before I make that final book order.

Macey's fav so far is Smile by Raina Telgemeier.  It follows the harrowing and true life of a MS girl who knocks out her two front teeth running home from Girl Scouts one evening.  I loved it too, it will really click with any MS reader who has or will have braces, glasses, or anything they feel uncomfortable about.  Awesome book.


I am all caught up with the Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi.  This is another graphic novel and  these will be out on the shelves when schools starts and I am guessing they will always be checked out.  Book four comes out in September.


 Here is the review from Publisher's Weekly:


Almost too clever and poignant, Amulet is, on the surface, about navigating the murky waters of adolescence and, beneath that, an exploration of abandonment and survival. Emily and Navin are lost children, literally lost in a dark, new world and struggling to save their mother, who has been kidnapped by a drooling, tentacled beast. With stellar artwork, imaginative character design, moody color and consistent pacing, this first volume's weakness lies in its largely disjointed storytelling. There is the strong, young, heroine; cute, furry, sidekicks; scary monsters—all extraordinary components, but pieced together in a patchwork manner. There is little hope in his dark world as Kibuishi removes Emily and Navin's frame of safety. Their hopes rest in a magic amulet that seems to be working in the interest of the children—until it suddenly isn't. The most frightening element of Amulet is the sense of insecurity we feel for Emily, fighting her way through uncharted terrain with no guide and no support system. This first volume of Amulet isn't a disappointment, but it does feel like a warmup to the main event. If anything, it's a clear indication that Kibuishi has just begun skimming the surface of his own talent. 


Ms. Wilhelm suggested an author to me at the end of school and I loved her adult fiction.  Maryjanice Davidson writes great, funny "Chick Lit", the kind you read at the beach like candy.  I discovered that she has written a few Young Adult books and I like the first one quite a bit.   Dying for Ice Cream is about Austin Opitz and the girl he never meant to fall for, Yvonne Robinson. She is rich and spoiled, a lethal combination. But when he saw her sobbing in the hospital cafeteria with a plate of ice cream melting in front of her, he couldn't walk away. So begins a strange friendship between two opposites: Diabetic Yvonne, bitter about the mandatory change in her lifestyle; and jokester Austin Opitz, who hides his own recent tragedy by playing class clown. This is a story about teenagers getting a taste of life's ups and downs, and how they cope, despite tremendous odds.