Sesame Street: Cookie Monster in the Library

Poor Cookie Monster. All he's ever wanted was cookies! As the 2013-14 school year begins and I retire from my most fulfilling profession, that of a school teacher and librarian, here's hoping you always find what YOU want in your school media center or public library. Happy Reading!

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

27 Things Your Teacher Librarian Does by Mia MacMeekin

Teacher Librarian | School Librarian | Media Specialist | School Library Media Specialist

We have many names but we all LOVE our profession and working with YOU! Others may not realize all that we do - this infograhic will help. Whether while in high school or college, seek out the librarians around you. They will help you. And if they don't, speak up! YOU deserve better!

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

23 Signs You Are Hermione Granger by BuzzFeed

23 Signs You Are Hermione Granger. Some summer fun! Using short video clips of the character Hermione Granger taken from Harry Potter movies, BuzzFeed has created 23 signs to know that you're like Hermione. How many of the 23 match you? :-)

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

Her first novel. Tell the Wolves I'm Home is Carol Rifka Brunt's first novel. I've written before how I'm drawn to debut novels. I'm stunned by the quality of this one. It is simply THAT good!

Love - between sisters, siblings, niece and uncle, and gay men. Rivalries that occur when we wrongly perceive each other's lives. Secrets kept to protect others. So many intertwined themes that continually keep you, the reader, enthralled by Ms. Brunt's novel.

My heart strings were continually pulled as I read of the meanness between Greta and June, the two teen sisters. Yet there were glimpses of love wanting to be renewed between them. A diminished love was also present in the relationship between adult siblings Finn, a gay man and renowned artist, and his sister Danielle, the girls' mother. June and Finn, niece and uncle, shared a most special love intensified by the knowledge that he was dying of AIDS.

Tell the Wolves I'm Home takes place in 1987 as AIDS was beginning to be understood yet feared. Once contracted, there were no cures. People were blamed for infecting others because of the certain death. That scenario is the backdrop which the author uses to show the power of love to forgive and transform lives.

It is one of the 10 titles chosen for the 2013 Alex Award - books originally written for adult readers but suited for teens as well. I highly recommend that you set aside some of your summertime reading time for this debut novel. Beach reading? Yes it is!

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

Scientists are brilliant. They are geniuses. The scientists who mess around with atoms and radioactive material are also risk takers. Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin is a thriller and based entirely on fact. It is the story of the atomic bomb.

Considering that the world still lives under the threat of an atomic bomb in the hands of terrorist nations, you'll find it amazing that it was in 1938 Germany, that scientists happened upon the discovery that a Uranium atom would split in two when placed near radioactive material. That brilliant German scientist knew his discovery had international implications - for good or evil.

The events unfold with all the intrigue of a James Bond, Agent 007, spy thriller as World War II was beginning. In the United States, a team of the best minds across multiple disciplines of science were assembled to secretly develop an atomic bomb. They gathered in a quickly assembled laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. They were acutely aware that the bomb they created could be used against our enemies. There were also keenly concerned that those same enemies could be developing a similar bomb.

The author, Sheinkin, does a masterful job writing this book so it is easily understood yet full of intrigue. It's worth noting that Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon has won him several awards including the coveted 2013 YALSA Award for Excellence in Non-fiction for Young Adults. Kudos to Steve Sheinkin!

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Food Cures: Fight Disease with Your Fork! edited by Readers Digest

The Reader's Digest book Food Cures: Fight Disease with Your Fork! is not a cookbook. It has only a few recipes. It enlightens the reader with information about the best foods for certain illnesses, foods that provide needed vitamins and natural remedies for health. Published by Reader's Digest, you can trust the information to be well researched and indexed.

Looking for a natural remedy for acne? Pages 86-87 suggest carrots, almonds, and oranges offer nutrition that will help. Suffer from asthma? Eating onions may reduce the number of asthma attacks. (p. 102) Sufferers of ADHD will benefit from foods high in protein and complex carbs. (p. 107) Rather than a chapter full of recipes, that chapter is titled Healing Recipes which indeed they are.

If you're longing to improve your health in a natural way, borrow this book from your school library media center or public library and start reading.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Every Day by David Levithan

Imagine waking up EVERY DAY in the body of a new person! EVERY day! Every DAY! You may wake up a boy, you may wake up a girl, rich, poor, troubled, homeless, gay, straight, a bully or being bullied. That is A's life. He doesn't even have a name; he simply chose A as his name because it was the first letter.

In David Levithan's bestselling novel, Every Day, A has grown used to his ever changing life. If he finds himself in a bad situation, he takes comfort knowing he'll be in another life the next day. Of course, he knows no parents or best friends. He's never felt love. Then one day he awakes as Justin and falls in love with Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon. They cleverly develop a friendship then relationship working around A's changing life, every day finding a way to get together.

If you're looking for a quirky read that is very romantic, this will suit you. You'll be drawn into the insights about love and human nature as seen through A's eyes - a beautiful reminder of the power of love.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Having earned starred reviews and national booklist honors, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart caught my attention. As I read book reviews and articles about YA authors, this one was mentioned often - months after I had purchased it for our BHS library. I added it to my stack of books to read and off we went on Spring Break.

Her freshman year Frankie, as most freshmen, is finding her way at her exclusive boarding school high school, Alabaster Prep Academy. By her sophomore year she's being noticed by upperclassmen and she grows from geeky to beautiful, awkward to confident, then wants to be included in their friends circle.

Frankie has an interest in the quirky use of words. Shouldn't the opposite of disgruntled be gruntled? The opposite of inept be ept? What would those words mean? She uses these 'new' words baffling her friends. I delighted in the author's inclusion of this into Frankie's personality. If you enjoy word usage games, you'll also enjoy this quirky side of Frankie.

She also takes on the all boys, long-standing, secret society at Alabaster. Using a fake email address, she secretly directs the boys of the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds (to which her father also belonged) to take on campus-wide pranks. Throw in a love interest, a distant sister, best friends, curfew violations, sneaking through the campus underground tunnels, and you'll find yourself captivated by Frankie's genius pranks and high school life.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Hard Truth by Nevada Barr

Summertime is always the time for a good mystery. How about one that keeps you on the edge of your seat, afraid to fall asleep, and your muscles tense? Try Hard Truth by Nevada Barr for just that type of suspenseful thriller.

National Park Ranger Anna Pigeon has arrived at her new post in Colorado in the Rocky Mountain National Park. She is one tough woman and she'll need all of her stamina for this job, stamina and strength she wasn't expecting to need. Three young girls have been missing and in spite of thorough searches of the park, have not been found until the day two of them stumble out of the woods into Wiley, a most welcoming dog. The girls have a dazed look, disheveled, unfed, non-communicative, and very frightened. Wiley's owner, Heath Jarrod, is wheelchair bound following a tragic climbing accident. She's angry and depressed by the new life confined to a chair. One of the girls is immediately drawn to Heath and Heath finds herself concerned and caring for the girls, especially Beth.

The girls' parents are contacted, they are elated, but will not permit the girls to speak with authorities at all. In fact, the girls are from a religious cult that keeps them cloistered in the compound. Anna and Heath learn the girls were on a camping trip with a trusted member of their religious cult when they were lured away by a serial killer working as a park ranger.

As these two situations unfold and become intertwined, the suspense builds. Anna is not aware, as the new supervising ranger, that one of her junior rangers can not be trusted. Against the backdrop of all that nature offers in a national park setting, you will connect with these characters as they face unimaginable peril.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

I remember it well - the day President Kennedy was shot and killed, November 22, 1963. No matter how many times I reread details expecting another outcome, his death is always an American tragedy.

What sets author Bill O'Reilly's recount in Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot apart from the immense, and growing, body of work on Kennedy's assassination? For me it is the author's tone and ability to bring the events focused in reality. The sad truth of JFK's short life. The human story in a Camelot world. A reminder of his charisma felt by many around the world. Such a tragedy.

I'm also made aware that across all the years since this tragedy, politics has not changed. No decision is made simply on it's own merit. Personal and global events always play a role - for good or evil. Politicians are always strategizing their next move, next decision, next choice, against the background of their past and future hopes. It's part of politics that so frustrates us who simply wish for a clean answer, the right decision.

I'm also impressed by another aspect of Bill O'Reilly's work - his bibliography. Mind you, this is no research paper, teacher expected, perfectly formatted MLA or APA bib! It, too, is a narrative and that makes it very readable and so much a continuation of the book. I immediately placed holds at my public library on other titles the authors found most helpful in their research. I found online videos of important speeches and coverage described as insightful. By the way, I also did that while reading the book... when Mr. O'Reilly mentioned an important figure in the Kennedy circle, I searched online for a photo or an updated biography of the person. One in particular was Marina Oswald, the widow of Kennedy's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, who lives a private life and works as a pharmacist.

Keep your online device at hand while you enjoy Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Catching Fire: Movie Trailer

A sneak peek at the Catching Fire movie. November 22, 2013 seems like a long time to wait!

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

Another masterpiece! Once again, author and illustrator Brian Selznick has delivered on a story that is both picture book and novel. Wonderstruck is his second book in this format having won the Caldecott Medal for his first, The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

Wonderstruck follows two parallel stories - one told in words, the other in pictures. Ben is a deaf boy whose cherished mother has died in an accident leaving him to live with his aunt, uncle, and cousins. His story takes place in Minnesota in 1977. Rose is a lonely, deaf girl whose mother is a stage and silent movie star with no time for Rose. Her story, told in the illustrations, takes place in New Jersey in 1927.

How will their lives intertwine? Are Ben and Rose related? Will their stories come together in the end? As you follow this story you'll be drawn into their lives in unusual ways. A museum, wolves, New York City buildings, small cottages, new friendships, and sign language are a few. It's easy to finish this 637 page book in one day - there are so many dynamic illustrations!

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Reflexology: Health at Your Fingertips by Barbara & Kevin Kunz

Reflexology is a type of massage that puts pressure on specific points of the body - feet, hands, and head. Each pressure point is understood to connect to every part of your body. By stimulating these points, it is thought to relieve stress and provide healing. Hence, the title Reflexology: Health at Your Fingertips by Barbara and Kevin Kunz is so precise.

The authors are internationally known for their expertise on reflexology. They have practiced it for over 25 years and continue to research its benefits. Now they offer readers an opportunity to understand and try reflexology through this book - a very visual guide to the practice. Using photography and labeled diagrams, you'll be able to guide yourself and learn. There are steps for massaging various parts of the hands, feet, and head. There are suggestions for working with specific health concerns. Having a tired day? Pick up this book and share with a friend. You may both appreciate the benefits of reflexology.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

YA Lit Characterized

A new blog has hit the blog-o-sphere and it's sure to fill a niche for readers. YA Lit Characterized is the brainchild of Kara and Natalie - friends who met while studying library science at the University of Michigan. They are avid fans of young adult literature and want to share that love with you.

What sets YA Lit Characterized apart from other blogs about books written by librarians? This blog will have spoilers! The authors are NOT going to hold back. They will delve into the book's characters - heros, heroins, villains, and all those lesser known folks that help to bring every good read together. Kara and Natalie will share the writing responsibilities, they promise several posts each week and a new book every other week. Wow! I'm impressed by their energy and dedication to bringing YOU the real scoop on great literature.

Bookmark this blog! You'll want to check in often.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Shelter: A Mickey Bolitar Novel by Harlan Coben

It's only been a little over a year that I first heard of the author, Harlan Coben. It was a Brighton High School freshman who told me that Harlan was his favorite author. We did not own any books by Mr. Coben in our media center so I was intrigued. I quickly requested one of the Myron Bolitar detective stories from the public library. If you know me, you know that mystery and detective stories are my all time favorites. It was a great read!

Now this well loved author is writing for teen readers! Shelter by Harlan Coben is the debut novel in a series that features Myron's nephew, Mickey Bolitar, also involved in solving mysteries. He's a high school sophomore who has come to live with his uncle after his father's death, which Mickey witnessed, and mother's placement in drug rehab. Mickey's life is in shatters and he has few friends in his uncle's town. When Ashley, one of his new friends, does not return to school and no one has a clue of her whereabouts, Mickey gets involved. He befriends a loner Goth girl and a techie nerd guy. At the same time an elderly lady tells Mickey that his father is actually not dead. There is just too much to take in. With clever plot twists and action filled events, you may find yourself with a new favorite author much like I did.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

15 Grammar Goofs That Make You Look Silly by Brian Clark

An infographic that should be kept handy anytime you're writing. Clear to understand, very visual and oh, so helpful. 

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman

I've read many reviews for The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman. It has been included on several "Best of 2012" lists, including starred reviews, but I have to be honest in saying, I wasn't that impressed. I suppose it deserves kudos for not being an over-the-top teen romance. There are no explicit teen love scenes; there is no love at first sight moment. We simply follow Jen and Wes through their typical days, watch them become friends, feel their loneliness when Jen's family moves away. We also worry a bit about Wes as he saves and plots to drive to Jen's new home with a surprise visit. When they have their more tender moments when you think something more just might happen, it doesn't. Of course, that's how real life is. Only in movies and books do we see the love at first sight, highly romantic, sexually charged stories that we may think are real.

If you want to read about a young love as it unfolds naturally, as you and your friends may actually experience finding a boyfriend or girlfriend, becoming best friends, dating and sharing hopes and dreams with each other, than this is the book for you.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ranson Riggs

Odd. Weird. Strange. Eccentric. Dark. Peculiar. Not only are the children peculiar in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs but so is the entire story. Yet, the story didn't start out so odd but it sure did become strange for me the more I read. By that point, I needed to finish it although I will admit that I began skipping pages just to get to the end.

Jacob Portman is a sixteen year old whose life is less than exciting. He's missing his grandfather Portman who passed away leaving behind fantastical stories and the vintage photographs of the people in his stories. Jacob feels a need to unravel the truth behind his grandfather's stories and that's where this novel becomes eccentric and dark.

Author Riggs' premise is unique - to develop a story around actual cherished, found vintage photographs of peculiar situations and people. Those photos are interspersed throughout the book and are integral to the story. I was in constant wonder how Riggs selected and developed the story assuming he began with the photographs. But why? Was he so intrigued by them that he felt they could enthrall readers? The cover is haunting but in this day of digital photography, not unimaginable.

This has been a New York Times bestseller and included on numerous "Best Books" lists. I selected it for the BHS MCtr collection based on those accolades and stellar book reviews. Now it's your turn to step into this story with the peculiar children and peculiar story line. I'll be waiting in the media center to hear what you thought.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm