farewell

When May appears on the calendar, the library staff starts to think about tying up loose ends and preparing to close the library. We have already culled a large quantity of outdated and unused books to make room for the new and exciting books we will acquire next school year (By the way, these old books are free for the taking. If you haven't already done so, look through these books and take a few home to read over the summer). We also need to re-shelve all books, take inventory, make any necessary book repairs, read all the shelves to make sure the books are in proper order and easy to find....and ugh! dust all the books and shelves. Since this is impossible to do while books are still circulating in and out of the library, all books currently out are due back to the library by Friday, May 7th. Sorry! You are still more than welcome to read the newspapers, magazines, and of course use the databases and internet resources available via computers.

It has been a phenomenal year, with almost 4,000 books checked out! We are proud of all you readers and researchers out there! Get a James V. Brown Library card and keep reading over the summer!

Thanks to all of our patrons and to all of those who helped us so much this year!
Mrs. Lynch and Mrs. Smith

Percy Jackson

We just added the 5 book Percy Jackson & the Olympians series to our collection. These fictional adventure and fantasy books are authored by Rick Riordan.

The books are predominantly based on Greek mythology. The main character is Percy Jackson, who discovers that he is the son of Poseidon, god of the sea and earthquakes. He learns that the legendary beings of Greek mythology still exist and have always existed, including monsters, cyclopes, empousae, Titans, and the Greek Gods (Olympians) themselves who dwell in Olympus, which is now situated at the mythical 600th floor of the Empire State Building.

The first book was made into a movie which you may have already seen. If you like mythology and/or adventure, pick up the first book and give it a try. I'm betting you'll end up reading all 5! As always, we'd like to hear your critique!

Dentally Challenged Readers

These students have not let their dental issues interfere with their reading progress. Be inspired! There are no good excuses to not read!

What Fish Don't Want You to Know

Here it is anglers, just in time for the beginning of trout season, What Fish Don't Want You to Know by Frank P. Baron. Learn a few tricks before you buy your bait and secure your favorite fishing spot. With a little luck you'll have your own fish stories to tell. Post 'em on here! We, in the library love a good story....fiction or non-fiction!!

The Hunger Games

Due to student requests, we recently acquired The Hunger Games which is the first book of the Hunger Games trilogy. It introduces sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world where a powerful government called the Capitol has risen up after several devastating disasters. In the book, the Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the ruthless and evil Capitol randomly selects one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts, who are then pitted against each other in a game of survival and forced to kill until only one remains.

The library also has the second book of the Trilogy, Catching Fire. The third book, Mockinjay, will be released in August, 2010. You can be sure we'll have that available when you begin school in the fall.


Suzanne Collins

Christopher Morley

"The real purpose of books is to trap the mind into doing its own thinking."  Christopher Morley

Black History Month

February is Black History Month! To celebrate, our suit of armor is sporting appropriate garb and displaying Bob Marley's biography. You can check this whimsical display on your next visit to the library. While you're there, why not check out a biography. In addition to Bob Marley, some famous figures featured for Black History Month are: Tiger Woods, President Barack Obama, Michael Jordan, Ben Carson, Michael Jackson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Donovan McNabb, Tony Dungy, Derek Jeter, Ishmael Beah, Nikki Giovanni, Nathan McCall, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou, Mohammed Ali, Laila Ali, Colin Powell, Tony Dorsett, and Harriet Tubman.

What's that you say? You haven't heard of some of these famous people? Well then, you'd better get reading!

Library Superstars

I just want to give a shout out to three young ladies whom I consider to be library superstars, Briana, Erinn, and Alexandria. If you want to know if a book in our library is a good read, just ask one of them...they've probably read it.

The Blind Side

Have you seen the movie The Blind Side starring Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw? It's currently playing at the Cinema Center, Williamsport and at Great Escape, Lycoming Mall. The movie is based on a new book in our library, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis. This is the true story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family. Michael Jerome Oher (born May 28, 1986) is an offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League.  He played college football at the University of Mississippi for the Ole Miss Rebels.

Read Michael Oher's exciting true story.....and as I've said before, read the book before you see the movie!!!

Cormac McCarthy

Two new novels the library has acquired, The Road and No Country for Old Men are written by Cormac McCarthy . Cormac McCarthy's real name is Charles McCarthy. He is an American novelist and playwright. He has written ten novels and several plays and screenplays. He received the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for The Road, which was recently made into a film. His 2005 novel, No Country for Old Men, also adapted as a film in 2007, won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. He received a National Book Award in 1992 for All the Pretty Horses.

In addition to a 2007 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, The Road also won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 2006. It is a post-apocalyptic tale of a journey taken by a father and his young son over a period of several months, across a landscape blasted by an unnamed cataclysm that destroyed all civilization and, apparently, almost all life on earth.

No Country for Old Men is  a novel set along the United States–Mexico border in 1980, the story concerns an illicit drug deal gone wrong in a remote desert location. The title comes from the poem "Sailing to Byzantium" by William Butler Yeats. I always recommend reading the book before seeing the movie!

Highest Duty

On January 15, 2009, the world witnessed one of the most remarkable emergency landings in aviation history when Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger skillfully glided US Airways Flight 1549 onto the surface of the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 aboard.

HIGHEST DUTY is written by "Sully" himself with Jeffrey Zaslow. He describes some important lessons he learned through childhood, in his military service, and in his work as a commercial airline pilot.

A few weeks after the crash, Sully discovered that he′d lost a library book about professional ethics, Just Culture: Balancing Safety and Accountability, in the downed plane′s cargo hold. When he called the library to notify them, they waived the usual fees. Mayor Michael Bloomberg replaced the book when he gave Sully the Key to the City in a New York ceremony. You can find this inspirational autobiography in the SWAHS Library. Read it and tell us what you think!

A Thousand Acres

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It was made into a film in 1997. This book is written as a contemporary parallel to Shakespeare's King Lear. The plot involves, Larry Cook, an aging farmer who hands his thousand acre farm over to his three daughters and drama ensues. This book is for the more mature reader who likes to think and brood over characters, plot, and themes.

P.S. Don't forget to feed the fish!

Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead

The year is 1985. Benji Cooper is one of the only black students at an elite prep school in Manhattan. He spends his falls and winters going to roller-disco bar mitzvahs and playing too much Dungeons and Dragons, 

But every summer, Benji escapes to the Hamptons, to Sag Harbor, where a small community of African American professionals have built a world of their own. Because their parents come out only on weekends, he and his friends are left to their own devices for three glorious months. Read this story about being young and black and priveleged in the 1980s.

Whitehead is a 2002 recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. You can visit his blog at http://www.colsonwhitehead.com/Home/Home.html.

Leslie

Say "hello" to Leslie, one of the library's most enthusiastic readers. Leslie shares her love of reading by donating her "gently read" books to the library. So the next time you check out a library book, look for the bookplate that identifies Leslie's donations. From all readers at SWAHS we say THANK YOU LESLIE!!!

New York The Big City

Check out the most recent addition to our Graphic Novels Collection, New York, The Big City by Will Eisner. In comic strip fashion, Eisner protrays a series of vignettes that examine nine elements of New York City: The Treasure of Avenue "C," Stoops, Subways, Garbage, Street Music, Sentinels, Windows, Walls, and finally, the Block. Although this book is written by a New York City native the elements he writes about could be found in other big cities. This book has been used as a springboard in high school writing classes.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

If you enjoy British humor and science fiction, you must read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The main character is Arthur Dent, who travels the galaxy with his brave pal, Ford Prefect, an alien from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse. The pair wreak havoc as they get into one hilarious mess after another. If you've had enough of the dark world of vampires and demons and wizards and would like to read something light hearted, check out this book. Other titles in our library collection by Douglas Adams are: Life, the Universe, and Everything and Mostly Harmless.

Douglas Adams was the creator of all the various manifestations of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy which started life as a BBC Radio 4 series. Since its first airing in March 1978 it has been transformed into a series of best-selling novels, a TV series, a record album, a computer game and several stage adaptations.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's phenomenal success sent the book straight to Number One in the UK Bestseller List and in 1984 Douglas Adams became the youngest author to be awarded a Golden Pan. He won a further two (a rare feat), and was nominated - though not selected - for the first Best of Young British Novelists awards.

You can check out Adams' biography here: http://www.douglasadams.com/dna/bio.html

Persepolis

Graphic novels are not all Manga, and some are actually non-fiction. Take Persepolis, for example. Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi's memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah's regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq.

In Persepolis, you can learn about daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life and of the enormous toll repressive regimes exact on the individual spirit. It is a reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. But it is also the story of a little girl.

If you like Maus, by Art Spiegelman, you will most likely love Persepolis.

As always, I'd like to know what you think!

Vampire Academy

If you've read the entire Twilight Series and you're still thirsting for more vampire action, try reading the Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead, New York Times and USA Today's best selling fantasy author. You can check out her website at http://www.richellemead.com/.

In the Vampire Academy Series, Two races of vampires walk our world. One, the Moroi, are alive and wield elemental magical. The other, the Strigoi, are undead and evil--feeding on the innocent to survive. Rose Hathaway--a half-vampire with poor impulse control--is training to be a bodyguard for a Moroi princess. Learning to decapitate and stake is hard enough, but Rose's real danger may lie in an illicit romance with one of her instructors...

This series, whose titles are listed below, have recently arrived in the Library:

1. Vampire Academy

2. Frostbite

3. Shadow Kiss

4. Blood Promise

The fifth title in the series, Spirit Bound, will be released May 18, 2010. Happy Reading!

Erinn

Erinn is one of our most enthusiastic library patrons.  She posed for us recently with a book she enjoyed. One of Erinn's favorite authors is Ted Dekker. Why not check out this author and see if you agree with Erinn.

An Afghan in the Library

An Afghan recently visited the Library. I made the mistake of referring to him as an Afghani. He corrected me and told me that Afghani is the name of their money. The people of Afghan are referred to as Afghans. Thanks for the lesson Mr. Radulski!