Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a holiday that reminds us to be thankful for our many blessings.  Here are a few of mine:

-the ability to see
-the ability to read
-the ability to speak

-my workplace
-my coworkers
-my students

-great authors
-great illustrators

-friends who love books
-students who love books
-parents who buy their kids books
-kids who still let their parents read to/with them


-my faithful blog followers...all 4 of you!  


I am thankful for so much more, but wanted to keep this list "bookish".  ;)


So this Thanksgiving holiday, let's take the opportunity to not only BE thankful, but to SHOW our appreciation and TELL others how thankful we truly are.  


And when you sit down to read this week, be thankful that you CAN.  Illiteracy is a disease this country isn't working hard enough to cure.


Happy Thanksgiving Reading to you and yours...
RC

Book Characters

If you ever have trouble keeping a multitude of characters straight, such as when reading a series of books in which new characters are constantly being added, you may want to create a visual character map to help you remember.

After finishing another book in my favorite historical romance novelist's series, I had a virtual pool full of characters facing swirling in my head and I became frustrated as I tried to picture them.  Some of the characters I hadn't thought of for over two years...So, I logged onto the author's website and downloaded the character family tree (thank goodness she created one) and copy/pasted her inspiration pictures to a Word document so I could refer to the pictures while reading her next novel.  I tagged each picture with the character name and made short comments below each to remind me of their relationship to other characters in the series.   

So, if keeping up with characters is a problem for you as well, take a tip from this visual learner and create a character map.  I can't wait for her next book...released in September 2011...I'll be ready!

Happy Reading!
RC

MNMS 6th Graders

Well, I officially invited the 6th graders to follow my blog.   I'm going to try to post new arrivals to our library and upcoming events and contests.
Since this is the only means of communication with me outside of school, I hope some of them subscribe.

I also introduced the students to the Voki.com website.  We created a Voki avatar together.  I'm sure some of them will take a closer look at that site.  Voki avatars are great...you can send them out across the web with messages.  Love it!

Plan on finishing the public library's community book read selection, Pay It Forward this weekend.  If you'd like to join me, we'll be having a book club discussion/dessert at the Greenville branch on Friday, December 3rd.  Visit either library for a free copy of the book and to register.  It's completely free.  Shouldn't last more than an hour.  I think it begins at 5:30.

Need to check the 6th grade's "fake" blog we created today for comments.
Happy Reading!
RC

Rules Author in Owensboro!

I'm running a quick contest at school to provide 3 students (1 6th, 1 7th and 1 8th grader) to meet Cynthia Lord, the author of Rules.  Not only did she receive the Kentucky Bluegrass Award in 2008, she is one of our student population's favorites.  I love this book for it's humor, honesty and morality.

To know more about the book, just Google it.  You'll love it.  To know more about the contest, email me or see me at school.  Deadline to return the persuasive essay required is Thursday, November 11th.

If you'd like to meet Cynthia Lord on your own, be at Burns Middle School in Owensboro at 7:00 pm on Monday, November 15th.

Now I'm off to order a copy of Lord's latest book for young adults...Touch Blue. 
Happy Reading!
RC

Election Day: a great day to vote and read!

Yes, it's the first Tuesday in November...not only a day to exercise your right to vote, but a great day for education employees and students across Muhlenberg County to curl up with a good book.

Currently, I'm reading George Ella Lyon's novel, Sonny's House of Spies.  I have recently placed this book on the Kentucky Bluegrass shelves of our library to supplement the collection.  (The shelves are always empty!  Go North Middle readers!)  However, some of the subject headings may be too controversial for our patron community, so I'm previewing.  Have to say, so far it's a difficult read for young adults.  I'm enjoying the suspense and doing quite a lot of foreshadowing.  I'll let you know.

The book event was a HUGE success.  I've decided to call it the "Fall Book Frenzy".  Our principal has requested we do this every year.  I agree!  Photos and video are available on the G drive of our school server.  Have created a bulletin board of photos and displayed them outside the library doors.  You should come by to look at them!


Cynthia Lord, author of Rules, will be in Owensboro on November 15th.  The school librarian welcomes the public to meet her at 7 pm that evening.  Want more information?  Shoot me an email.  Would be happy to share.

Back to my book...I have to know what happened to Sonny's dad!
Happy Reading!
RC