Book Review: Where She Went: Gayle Forman

“Where She Went” is the sequel to the book “If I Stay” by Gayle Forman.  I read that there was going to be a sequel a couple of months ago.  I was not entirely pleased to hear this because (a) it was a great stand-alone and (b) I had decided what had happened to Mia and Adam and did not want the author to mess with my vision.
If you have not read the first book, I highly encourage you to read it as you will not understand where Adam is coming from in this book.  In the first book, we have the point of view of Mia and what she is going through.  Through her descriptions, we met Adam her boyfriend.  Let me state right here that Adam was amazing throughout the crisis that she was going through.  His love was Mia was so incredible that he made my “top YA boyfriends” list.
“Where She Went” focuses on Adam’s life three years later.  He is nothing but a shell of the person that he was.  Why?  Well, because Mia dumped him.  This is where I started getting a little peeved with the author.  This was certainly not my fantasy ending.  However, Forman has this knack of weaving a story that leaves you pondering every aspect of the life that Adam and Mia have lived since the tragedy three years ago.  And once we get to hear Mia’s side, it starts to make sense.  Although I did not cry as much as the first book, there are certainly some weepy moments.
Overall, I think Foreman did a fantastic job writing Adam’s side of the story.  She was able to create for the reader a range of emotions that certainly tie you to this book.  At times, I was downright sad and then was very angry but at the end of it all I walked away feeling okay with this book.  BTW, I bought the book last night and finished it early this morning.  I was so restless that here I am at close to 3 am blogging about the book because I cannot stop thinking about it.

New genre in the Department!

Over the past few months, we have had a practicum student from McGill creating a new genre area in the department. In order to make it easier to find books for our patrons, we separated all the fantasy chapter books out of the collection and gave them their own area.


So, if you are looking for some fantasy chapter books, the new call number is JFAN and they follow the regular chapter books. The books also have a purple sticker with a dragon on the bottom of the spine.





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New Picture Books for the Week

The Red Hen

By: Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley

Red Hen finds a recipe for a Simply Splendid Cake and asks her friends the cat, the rat, and the frog to help with the preparations. But it seems as though her friends want no part in the cake until it's ready to eat. Will they decide to pitch in, or let Red Hen do all of the hard work?

Let's Count Goats!

By: Mem Fox

The reader is invited to count goats of many shapes, sizes, hobbies, and professions.

A Bedtime for Bear

By: Bonny Becker

A small but effervescent overnight guest tries the patience of a curmudgeonly bear who needs absolute quiet to fall asleep.

Interrupting Chicken

By: David Ezra Stein

Little Red Chicken wants Papa to read her a bedtime story, but interrupts him almost as soon as he begins each tale.

Calvin Can't Fly

By: Jennifer Berne

A young starling chooses to read books when his cousins are learning to fly, and the knowledge he acquires comes in handy when a hurricane threatens the flock's migration.

Dinosaur VS the Potty

By: Bob Shea

Dinosaur doesn't need to use the potty. Even when making lemonade, running through the sprinkler, splashing in puddles, playing in the water... But wait, is that a victory dance or something else?

Emily's New Friend

By: Cindy Post Senning

Emily and a new neighbor become friends by treating one another with generosity, kindness, and good manners. Includes a note for parents on the importance of teaching principles of etiquette at home.

My Mommy Hung the Moon

By: Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell
A hard-working mother's extraordinary accomplishments are listed by her devoted child.

Where are you Bear?

By: Frieda Wishinsky

Sophie is excited to visit her Grandma in Vancouver. But when it comes time to leave home in Newfoundland, she cant find her best friend Bear. Bear watches her departure sadly from the window and vows to find her again one day. For the remainder of the book, Sophies travels, depicted on the left-hand page, are parallelled by Bears own on the right-hand page.

Realistic Fiction for Teens

Are you tired of fantasy, sci-fi and all those paranormal romances? Here are a few book suggestions of stories that take place in the normal world.

Mockingbird (mok'ing-bûrd)

By: Kathryn Erskine

Ten-year-old Caitlin, who has Asperger's Syndrome, struggles to understand emotions, show empathy, and make friends at school, while at home she seeks closure by working on a project with her father.

Speak

By: Laurie Halse Anderson

A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school.

Godless

By: Pete Hautman

When sixteen-year-old Jason Bock and his friends create their own religion to worship the town's water tower, what started out as a joke begins to take on a power of its own.

Dairy Queen

By: Catherine Murdock

After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school's rival football team, sixteen-year-old D.J. decides to go out for the sport herself, not anticipating the reactions of those around her.

If I Stay

By: Gayle Foreman

While in a coma following an automobile accident that killed her parents and younger brother, seventeen-year-old Mia, a gifted cellist, weighs whether to live with her grief or join her family in death.

Along for the Ride

By: Sarah Dessen

When Auden impulsively goes to stay with her father, stepmother, and new baby sister the summer before she starts college, all the trauma of her parents' divorce is revived, even as she is making new friends and having new experiences such as learning to ride a bike and dating.

13 Reasons Why

By: Jay Asher

When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death.

Confessions of a Serial Kisser

By: Wendelin Van Draanen

After reading her mother's secret collection of romance novels during her parent's difficult separation, seventeen-year-old Evangeline Logan begins a quest for the perfect kiss.

The Absolute True Diary of a Part time Indian

By: Sherman Alexie

Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

Perfect Chemistry

By: Simone Elkeles

When wealthy, seemingly perfect Brittany and Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, develop a relationship after Alex discovers that Brittany is not exactly who she seems to be, they must face the disapproval of their schoolmates--and others.

Hate List

By: Jennifer Brown

Sixteen-year-old Valerie, whose boyfriend Nick committed a school shooting at the end of their junior year, struggles to cope with integrating herself back into high school life, unsure herself whether she was a hero or a villain

We received a new picture book this week that I absolutely love. “It’s a Book” by Lane Smith is about monkey who loves books, a donkey who is obsessed with computers and a straight talking little mouse. I love how the donkey keeps trying to understand the concept of the book and relating it to technology. To top it off, there is a fantastic book trailer to go with it. I first saw the trailer a couple of months ago when one of my friends posted it on Facebook. Check it out:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4BK_2VULCU

I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

Plot:


The story begins Ed Kennedy, a down-and-out underage taxi driver who is hopelessly in love with his best friend Audrey. She, however, does not have the same romantic feelings towards him. One day, Ed is standing in a bank line when a robbery takes place and forever changes his life. He accidentally foils the robbers' escape, and is proclaimed a hero. Shortly after, he receives a playing card,an ace, in the mail. Ed does not know who has sent the ace but on it is written a list of addresses and times. This is where the adventure truly begins.

My thoughts:

I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak has been on my reading list for a couple of years now. I had read the Book Thief by him and wanted to see if he was indeed a wonderful author or he just hit the jackpot with the Book Thief. Over the holidays, I decided that enough was enough and grabbed the book from the library. Needless to say, I was not disappointed! This book was really good. Zusak has a way of grabbing the reader and pulling them into the story. I especially like the fact that he never sugarcoats anything, he just tells it like it is. Once you finish the book, you are left with thoughts on how you perceive your life and how you can affect others. I highly recommend this book!


On a side note, I AM THE MESSENGER won the 2003 Children's Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year Award.

Storytime Ideas: Penguins

There are so many activities that you can do with penguins. Here are a few suggestions:


Books:

Cuddly Dudley              by Jez Alborough
Penelope Penguin : the incredibly good baby     by John Bianchi
A penguin pup for Pinkerton                             by Steven Kellogg
Tacky the penguin         by Helen Lester
Penguin moon              by Annie Mitra
Penguins                      by Liz Pichon
A penguin story           by Antoinette Portis
Pink!                          by Lynne Rickards
Little Penguin’s tale     by Audrey Wood


Movies:
March of the Penguin
Happy Feet


Craft Ideas:

DLTK penguin crafts:
http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/birds-penguins.html

Easy Penguin craft:
http://familycrafts.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=familycrafts&cdn=parenting&tm=9&gps=94_609_988_551&f=02&tt=14&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.dltk-kids.com/animals/measypenguin.html

Storytime Ideas: Winter

Well, we can no longer avoid the fact that it is winter so have some fun with these books and activities!

Books:

Winter Games by Roger Paré
Elephants Cannot Dance by Mo Willems
Totally Polar by Marty Crisp
Snow by Manya Stojic
The Mitten by Jan Brett
Perfect Snow by Barbara Reid


Fun Movement Activity:

Get the kids all warmed up with this!

Have the kids repeat the rhyme after you -

Brr, Brr, Brr
It’s cold! cold! cold!
It’s time to warm up, by jumping.
Jump on one foot,
Now on the other foot,
Now with both feet.
Turn and turn, now stop!
Now we are warm.



Craft ideas:

Build a snowman:
http://www.daniellesplace.com/images/snowman-pattern.gif



Igloo craft:
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/winter/migloo.htm

Reading Resolutions for 2011

I do not generally make any sort of resolutions but this year I wanted to motivate myself to read books that have been piling up on my bedside table. I also wanted to venture back into reading books outside the Children's Department. So, here I am publicly declaring that I will clear all the books (and by that I mean read them, not put them away) piled up on my table. I also plan on reading 1 adult fiction book a month. So far, I have that one covered. I read Room by Emma Donoghue at the beginning of January. What a fantastic but horribly tragic book. If you have not read it, I highly recommend it! I also cleared off 2 books from my table - The House of Scorpion by Nancy Farmer (which I did not like so did not venture past page 50) and I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak (absolutely incredible read).




Wish me luck!

Protecting your child online: Facebook

On Thursday night at the library I will be giving tips to parents about protecting their child on Facebook.  Facebook, which I admit that I am addicted to, can be lots of fun but it is important to show our kids how to use it properly.  The privacy settings are not usually a concern for young tweens and teens but it should be.  If all your information is wide open, that means anyone can access it.   My number 1 recommendation regarding FB privacy settings – check them each month.  FB has a nasty habit of opening up people’s information without any warning.  Taking the precaution of checking privacy settings will help protect your child online.

CBC Book Club YA Death Match!

I was on Twitter this morning and saw that YA author Kelly Armstrong (she wrote the books: The Summoning, The Awakening and The Reckoning) posted a link to the CBC Book Club. The title alone was intriguing so I clicked on the link and came upon a fantastic idea - dueling YA characters from your favourite books. There is a mix of old YA heroes (like Nancy Drew, Anne of Green Gables, the Hardy Boys) as well as new heroes (The Cullens , Harry Potter and Katniss). You have until Sunday to vote for your favourite YA hero (they are divided into categories) and then we get ready for the duel. Have fun!


http://www.cbc.ca/books/bookclub/2010/11/get-ready-to-rumble-ya-style-introducing-the-cbc-book-club-ya-death-match.html

Pizza Storytime

Almost everyone loves pizza so why not do a storytime on pizza! You can get really creative with your craft as well.


Books:

Dragon pizzeria by Mary Morgan

"Hi, pizza man!" by Virginia Walter

How pizza came to our town by Dayal Kaur Khalsa

The Little Red Hen makes a pizza retold by Philemon Sturges

Pete's a pizza by William Steig

Songs:

Pizza Round - By Cherry Carl

(Sung to: Row Your Boat)

Roll, roll, roll the dough.

Toss it in the air!

Pepperoni, cheese and sauce,

There’s enough to share!



I Wish I Were a Pepperoni Pizza

I wish I were a (Type) pizza,

That is what I'd truly like to be

For if I were a (Type) pizza,

Everyone would be in love with me.

Craft:

Paper Pizza:    http://www.makingfriends.com/preschool/paper_pizza.htm


Pizza and Pasta:   http://www.firstpalette.com/Craft_themes/Food/Pizza_and_Pasta/Pizza_and_Pasta.html


Another Pizza Craft:

Make cardboard pizzas - the sky's the limit on decoration. Cut out photos and make a collage or make your own "toppings" out of decorated paper. Make a pizza-puzzle where the slices are cut out and rearranged to form a picture. Make your own pizza boxes too after dissecting one to see how they are cut and folded.

Halloween Event on the ice

This year I had the great pleasure of working on the Halloween committee for the city. It was lots of fun planning for this spook-tacular event. Check out some of our photos from the event:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=42479&l=653d690a70&id=123100031035453

New Children DVDs in the library

1. How to Train Your Dragon

2. Karate Kid

3. Marmaduke

4. Le journal d’Aurélie Laflamme

5. Happy King Julien Day!

6. Furry vengeance

7. He’s your dog, Charlie Brown

8. Geronimo Stilton

9. Océans

10. Tinker Bell and the great fairy rescue

Book Review: Kenneth Oppel's "Half Brother"

Imagine Ben’s surprise when he finds out that his new baby brother is actually a chimpanzee. Ben’s parents are both scientists who have decided to try an experiment to determine whether chimpanzees can learn language. The language that Zan, the chimpanzee, will be learning is sign language. In order to conduct the experiment, it requires having Zan live like a human being. Ben is leery at first about having a new family member but soon warms to the idea. Problems begin when funding is lost and Zan must be sent somewhere else to live. Ben must find a way to keep his little brother safe.


My thoughts:

To be honest, when I was reading the book reviews and saw the book itself, I was not sold on the idea. I thought the book would not be interesting at all even though I loved all of Kenneth Oppels previous books. To my great surprise I loved the book. I loved the character development of Ben and Zan. Oppel has a way of creating relationships and we can definitely see the different relationships that are formed here. My heart went out to Zan throughout most of this book (the thought of experimenting on an animal for the sake of science) but it was heartwarming to read the way Ben and Zan interacted.

My rating: 4.5 stars


Update: I went home yesterday to find that the Gazette did a whole story on chimpanzee sanctuaries. Kenneth Oppel was featured in the article. Here is the link to the article: http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/Rejected+chimps+find+shelter+Chambly/3656247

New York Times Best Seller List: Chapter Books

THE RED PYRAMID by Rick Riordan


CLOCKWORK ANGEL by Cassandra Clare

TALES FROM A NOT-SO-POPULAR PARTY GIRL by Rachel Renée Russell

LINGER by Maggie Stiefvater

DORK DIARIES by Rachel Renée Russell

School Lunches

Well, we are already into the second month of school and I am already tired of making lunches for the kids. There are so many limitations to what we can send in for lunch that I usually feel quite uninspired. Peanut butter is out (for good reason) but we also lack the option of hot lunches too. Sandwiches are boring after a while. So, in order to jazz up lunch, I searched the web and found a few cool sites. Do you have any suggestions for a great lunch that your kids absolutely love? Post your comments!


Websites of interest:

1. Lunch Box Tool - www.todaysparent.com (click on Food)

2. Healthy Lunches to go - www.dietitians.ca/HLTG

3. iLunchBox - www.iLunchBox.com

Book giveways and Contests

Since I have been on Twitter, a whole new world has opened up to me – the giveaways and contests that are abound. I follow authors and book publishers and there is so much information out there that it is almost overwhelming but also puts you on the cutting edge of information that most people do not have.


This mornings tweet that I read from Becca Fitzpatrick is for her upcoming book – Crescendo. This is the sequel to Hush Hush and falls into the paranormal romance genre. It was a good story with a twist using angels as the romance hero instead of the usual vampire. In order to create excitement for the book, the publishers have a book contest underway. If you have read Hush Hush and would like to own a copy of the sequel, then follow the link below.

http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=31078

Cool Website of the day - Guinness Book of World Records

I always see the kids pouring over the Guinness World Record books in the library. Usually boys – which is fantastic! We just received the latest edition and I was going through it utterly amazed. I decided to have a look at their website and it is pretty cool. They have polls, what happened on this day calendar, as well as the latest records that are being attempted. Check it out – you will not be disappointed and you may find a record to break!


http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/

Dinosaur Storytime Theme



Dinosaurs are cool!!!!



Dinosaurs are really cool to do as a storytime theme. You can set up your storytime area with dinosaurs as well as lots of books about dinosaurs. Here is what I am doing this afternoon:

Gathering activity:

Talk about the different dinosaurs. See what dinosaurs that the kids like.

Books:

1. The lost Dinosaur Bone by Mercer Mayer

2. Franklin’s Class Trip by Paulette Bourgeois

3. Tadpole Rex by: Kurt Cyrus

4. Dino-Hockey by: Lisa Wheeler

Activity:

Dinosaur Dinosaur

(Tune: “Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear”)

Dinosaur, dinosaur, turn around.

Dinosaur, dinosaur, touch the ground.

Dinosaur, dinosaur, shut the door.

Dinosaur, dinosaur, jump and roar.

Dinosaur, dinosaur, tie your shoe.

Dinosaur, dinosaur, stomp in goo.

Dinosaur, dinosaur, turn off the light.

Dinosaur, dinosaur, say “Good night.”



Dino-Pokey

(Tune: “The Hokey Pokey”)

You put your claws in,

You take your claws out,

You put your claws in,

And you scratch ‘em all about.

You do the dino pokey,

And you turn yourself around.

That’s what it’s all about!



You put your feet in

You put your feet out

You put your feet in

And you stomp them all about.

You do the dino pokey,

And you turn yourself around.

That’s what it’s all about!



You put your teeth in

You put your teeth out

You put your teeth in

And chomp them all about.

You do the dino pokey,

And you turn yourself around.

That’s what it’s all about!



You put your tail in

You put your tail out

You put your tail in

And you wag it all about

You do the dino pokey,

And you turn yourself around.

That’s what it’s all about!

 

Craft:

check out this website for tons of cool crafts!!!

http://www.busybeekidscrafts.com/Dinosaur-Crafts-for-Kids.html