Happy Birthday, Little Blog

Looking Back

This little blog began as a way to track my journey as I learned about Web 2.0 both through my courses at USC and self-discovery.  Since its inception, I have learned much – including the fact that I can never have a solid grasp on the read-write web due to its nature.

One of the most useful tools I’ve added to my blog is the tag cloud.  Not only does it show the key focus of my blog in just a few words, but it also shows (to me) that I have expanded my blog’s original purpose.  I have begun to put more emphasis on YA lit and topics (such as the poetry festival and teen read week) directly reflecting activity in my own media center. 

Looking Forward

I look forward to this next year of my journey and seeing where it has taken me this time next year.  To the friends I have made along the way, thank you for your support and encouragement.  To the other bloggers I follow, thank you for the inspiration and ideas you have provided. 

Image attribution:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/mao_lini/2775155989/

YA Authors

Today’s bibliophiles can correspond much more easily with their favorite authors than those growing up decades ago.  Authors not only have web sites, but also use MySpace and Facebook pages to publicize their books and stay in touch with their fans.

Those working with teenagers today should acquaint themselves with the sites of the most popular YA authors and share them with their students/patrons.

You could spend DAYS browsing through all the YA author sites out there!  Here are just a few examples of YA authors’ web presence:

Author Sites

Stephenie Meyer 

     Highlights:  See the Twilight movie trailer, listen to playlists she created for writing and reading the Twilight series books, read the partial draft of Midnight Sun (the book that was illegally posted on the Internet and is now on hold).

Gordon Korman  

     Highlights:  Homicide Meets Mr. Gold Medal – the script to a short play written by Korman published in Scope magazine, Top Ten Questions where Korman answers fans’ questions, and a Message Board.

Gail Giles 

     Highlights:  links to book trailers, Teacher’s Guides to accompany some of her books, FAQ’s.

     Gail Giles MySpace page

J.K. Rowling 

     Highlights:  Wow!  Too much to pick from.  This is a must-visit site.

Carolyn Mackler 

     Highlights:  Book Club information, Reader’s Guide for The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things,  and the author’s blog (she admits she’s a bad blogger).

     Carolyn Mackler MySpace Page

Sharon Draper 

     Highlights:  Copper Sun resources, Study Guides for many of her books, For New Teachers (Draper was an award winning teacher and offers great advice), Homework Helper which answers a plethora of questions about Draper to help with student research, and The Paper Draper Project – Draper is offering the few remaining Author Visit in a Box kits free (you pay the $35.00 shipping) to schools, libraries, and classroom teachers.

Walter Dean Myers 

     Highlights:  Bio and Reviews.

Eion Colfer 

     Highlights: Play the Artemis Fowl Inner Circle game, discuss books on the Message Board, and hear an audio announcement from the author about a new book.

Alane Ferguson 

     Highlights:  Video clips of the author discussing the books and characters, Study Guides for two of her books, link to the author’s blog.

Meg Cabot 

     Highlights:  Meg’s Diary, Message Board, pages on each of her books with reviews and book excerpts.

     Meg Cabot MySpace Page

John Green 

     Highlights: Anagrams, Blog, Famous Last Words.

     John Green MySpace Page

Character Sites

Some popular characters also have official sites:

Georgia Nicolson (Louise Rennison’s Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging heroine)

Harry Potter

Series Sites

Some popular series have official sites:

Gemma Doyle Trilogy  (A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and A Sweet, Far Thing)

Artemis Fowl

The sky’s the limit on finding all the YA author, book, and character sites on the ‘net.  What are some of your favorite ones?

Image attribution: www.flickr.com/photos/71651012@N00/127194972

Teens’ Top Ten 2008

More than 8,000 teens voted for the Teens’ Top Ten 2008 books. The winners are:

1.  Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

2.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

4.  Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

5. Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson

6. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

7. The Sweet Far Thing  by Libba Bray

8. Extras by Scott Westerfeld

9. Before I Die by Jenny Downham

10. Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

Image attribution:  www.flickr.com/photos/97317367@N00/369412187

Disco CPR

Okay. A bit off topic for me, but having danced to many a disco tune this bit of news caught my eye.

Doctors and students at the University of Illinois medical school have been in training using disco music. No, they are not dancing in the emergency room, but they have been wearing IPods to catch the rhythm of the Bee Gees’ song “Stayin’ Alive.”  Turns out that disco music can help save lives (which, of course, I love since I am one of those weird folks who loved disco).

Students in training have listened to the song while performing CPR on mannequins and then tried doing CPR without the IPods but using the tune in their heads.  Either way, the increased number of compressions per minute is what is needed to help save lives.

The article also mentioned that the song “Another One Bites the Dust” has the correct rhythm but didn’t seem quite appropriate.

Long live disco!

Teen Read Week 2008

 

The week of October 12-18, 2008, librarians, media specialists, and teens will be celebrating YALSA’s Teen Read Week.  The theme this year is Books with Bite which ties in with the wildly popular Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer.

The life of a media specialist is anything but calm and relaxed, so up until the last few days, I hadn’t even toyed with the idea of activities our media center could sponsor.  Today I have been compiling ideas and creating a web page to promote Teen Read Week.

I have found a few ideas available on the Internet that I thought I would share with others who, like me, haven’t been planning for this event for months.  (There is bound to be at least one or two others out there, right?)

YALSA’s Teen Read Week site – An obvious starting point.  Discover how to let your teens vote for the 2008 Teens’ Top Ten list and the 2009 Teen Read Week Theme.  Download the 2008 Teens’ Top Ten Nominations as well as find ideas about how to promote this contest. You can also download three PSAs to play over your school’s intercom.

Movie Trailers- Two N.Y. Times best selling novels that have been made into movies premier this fall.  Let your students watch the trailers for Twilight  and The Secret Life of Bees (this trailer has an advertisment added to the beginning). Organize outings for your book clubs to go to each premier.

Free Movie Entertainment Magazine Online - “Watch and download free horror and Sci-fi movies” at this site, including Night of the Living Dead, a 1968 classic.

Programming Ideas:

• Mission Possible:  Spy a Book! Adriana Flores and Victor Schill have created a 20 page guide that provides eight detailed mystery related programs for young adults.  Excellent guide!
•  List of Program Topics -  This document contains a long list of programming idea topics, some which may be suitable to adapt for your library or media center.  If nothing else, skimming through the list might spark other ideas you can use for this week or later.

Other ideas:

• Identify this Young Adult Author!  Print five pictures of young adult authors and display one each day of the week.  If students can correctly identify the author, they can enter their name in a drawing for a book by that author.
• Fill a jar with bite-sized candies and let students guess the number of candies.  The one closest to the actual amount without going over wins the jar of candies.
• Creatures of the Night Trivia Contest.  Have trivia questions that can be answered using reference books or databases read over the intercom.  Students who correctly identify the answer and list the source enter their names in a drawing for movie tickets.
• Distribute “Get Caught Reading” coupons to teachers.  Teachers will distribute them to students they catch reading outside of class.  These students should bring their coupons to the media center on Friday to exchange them for a treat.
• Ask teachers to submit the title of their favorite book read as a teenager.  Create a display of these titles or ask students to match teachers and titles.
• Ask students to write a book review to be posted in the library.  Students who submit book reviews are rewarded with bite-sized candy.
• Check out the Fur vs. Fang competition sponsored by the Carrollton Public Library.  Awesome idea!
• Favorite Bite – South Park High School in South Park, Pennsylvania, is having students write the title of their favorite book with bite on an apple that will be posted on the library’s doors. (From YALSA Teen Read Week Wiki.)
• Twilight Family Feud pits the Cullen family against the Quileute family at the Tuscaloosa Public Library. (Also from YALSA Teen Read Week Wiki.)

Printables to spark creativity:

• Dazzling Dazid de Zarco Vampire Puppet
• Fallicious Vampire Puppet
• Wolf mask
• Cartoon werewolf

Image attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/61407047@N00/1784382224