At the Movies: Marley & More

Big excitement in the nearby city of West Chester, PA where they are filming the movie, Marley & Me. The movie, based on the book by John Grogan, stars Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. Maybe it's just me, but I just can't picture them playing the parts of John Grogan and his wife. Perhaps I'll be pleasantly surprised when it is released at the end of the year.

Of course, that's not the only "movie-based-on-book" we have to look forward to: Twilight (based on the ever-so-popular book by Stephenie Meyer) is also set to come-out at the end of the year. Based on the trailer which was recently released, it looks like it's going to be great. Perhaps it will be worth another school-trip to see the release, as we did for The Kite Runner!

King Dork, based on the book by Frank Portman and starring Will Ferrell, is set to be released
sometime this year (exact date to be determined). And we have quite a wait for the release of The Lovely Bones (based on Alice Sebold's novel). That movie, starring Atonement's Amanda Michalka, as well as Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon, is not due to be released until October of 2009! Of course, that also has local ties as much of it was filmed in Hatboro.

And, last but not least, The Dangerous Book for Boys hits not just the screen, but the tube very soon. Written by British authors, Conn and Hal Iggulden, the television show will air in England but may have a spin-off in America. It appears that both in the show and the movie, some of the British past times may be "Americanized" to make the viewing more appealing to the US population.

Summer Reading Book Fair

Good news for our students! You will be able to browse and select books for your required English reading on May 28th, 29th and 30th. All books will be on display in the library and order forms will be available for you to purchase the books at a 20% discount from Borders Bookstores.
Wondering what the books consist of? Stay tuned! The lists are being fine-tuned by the English teachers and will be posted in just a day or so.

Stamp of Approval

From Bucks County Courier Times, 5/12/08

How proud James Michener would be to know that he is today honored with his own postage stamp. The Pulitzer prize author from Doylestown was an avid stamp collector.

For Walter Dean Myers Fans

Many of our students just can't get enough of Walter Dean Myers. They'll be very pleased to learn that not one - but two - new Myers books have just been released.
As is the setting for many Myers books, Harlem is the location of the high school where Drew Lawson is a basketball player in the novel, Game. As he aspires for college and a future with basketball, Drew must deal with his anger over the arrival of two, new white players on his team.
And for you lovers of Fallen Angel, look forward to reading Sunrise over Fallujah - a sequel in a way. A Private Perry once again narrates Sunrise, but this time the war is Iraq and the private is Robin Perry - the nephew of Fallen Angel's Private Richie Perry.
For a full review, see today's NYT's Sunday Book Reviews.

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Twitter Your Library

Sarah Houghton-Jan (aka-The LibrarianInBlack) recently did a webcast for OPAL, Online Marketing for Libraries. You can find the archived presentation through OPAL's archive site.  She has tons of great tips on getting your library -and your library website- publicized and seen.  One of the things she mentions is iLibrarian's Guide to Twitter for Librarians.  Lots of great tips on how Twitter can be used to get information out to your students and to the community. Included is David Lee King's 10 Ways to use Twitter.  So many useful ideas!

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The World is Awesome

I recently saw this video at a Discovery Educator's workshop.  It's worth sharing.

Embedded Video

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The Host hits Bookstores

As of yesterday, Stephenie Meyer's new book, The Host, is available at bookstores. Although this is not the sequel to her Twilight series, I'm sure it will be equally popular with young adults. The plot is intriguing - an alien species invades the human population by inhabiting their bodies. For one girl, Melanie, this causes some major problems when her particular inhabitant starts falling for Melanie's boyfriend. A love triangle - but with two bodies!


Borders Media website offers an interview with Stephenie Meyer. She talks about this new book, her sequel to Twilight, Breaking Dawn, and the Twilight movie being released in December.

Wikiality

In yesterday's Washington Post (4/4), Monica Hess questions our use of online information in her article Truth: Can You Handle It? Better Yet: Do You Know It When You See It? She discusses the increased popularity of Wikipedia and, as Steve Colbert describes it,"wikiality: a reality where, if enough people agree with a notion, it must be true."
Thankfully, as Hesse points out, librarians are leading the charge to show the importance of thorough research and the notion that information is good - but knowledge is better.

Reading Olympics Books on Shelfari

I decided to enter the 2009 Reading Olympics books on Shelfari. This way, my students can see the book jackets and get a glimpse of what each book is about.

Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

Flock - My New Best Friend

Oh, the things you can do with the web browser, Flock.  What a great way to organize and keep track of all your social networking tools.  In fact, right now I'm testing out its blog editor with this very post.  Love It!

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The PSLA Top 40 Crew

HPIM1020
Originally uploaded by joycevalenza

Another great year with the Top Forty librarians! So much fun "Dancing with the Stars"!
See you all next year!

2009 Reading Olympics List

JUST RELEASED! The 2009 Reading Olympics list! There are many great new titles, including A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah.

Thanks for doing a great job, Selection Commitee!

2009 SENIOR READING OLYMPICS LIST