Happy Holidays!

What a lovely start to the holidays! The snow day felt like a gift - a slow day for wrapping gifts, reading, napping, and enjoying the fall of lazy flakes from a quiet sky.

The Bookmark Contest was a success. Kody, Kayliegh, Danica, Megan, Jordyn  and Loveleen created amazing tiny works of art which will be available in the new year.

This is just a quick post for now. I'll be back soon with a list of new books which will be ready to borrow when you all return to HPSS. Hint - Manga fans will be very happy.

The winner is...

Harveer Sekhon won the Divergent boxed set. Congratulations, Harveer, and thank you to all who participated. We've got some terrific new reviews. The next contest will be a new Design a Bookmark contest. Listen to the announcements for the start of this competition.

NOVEMBER CONTEST!

The library is hosting an exciting contest for November. The prize is a box set of the Divergent trilogy in hardcover - many of you have loved this series, now you have the chance to own all three books to read or reread at your leisure. To enter, all you have to do is write a review of any book and submit it to Ms. Schmor in the library. You can submit it in person or by email to Christine.schmor@mpsd.ca. Names of entrants will go into a draw that will take place on Thursday, November 21st at 3:30 pm. You can write up to four reviews for four chances to win. Good luck!

HOW TO WRITE A REVIEW***************************************

Your reviews do not have to be lengthy. You should begin with an introduction to the main characters, the setting and the plot. Set the scene and hint at future twists, but no spoilers please. If you know the genre or type of literature (paranormal, fantasy, romance, mystery, thriller, science fiction, humour, survival, dystopian, steampunk, relationship issues etc.) make mention of it.

Next, explain what you most liked about the novel. Try to be specific and provide examples where you can. If you simply say the story was interesting, you're not telling us much. But if you describe the characters as multi-dimensional, realistic and compelling and the plot as original, suspenseful and surprising, we have a much more clear impression. You can mention some weaknesses at this point, but they should not overshadow the novel's strengths.

Finish with a recommendation. What kind of reader would be most drawn to this story? Is the novel appropriate for a certain age group or for anyone? Does the novel put forward an important theme or lesson about life? Is this a series book that will have readers looking for the sequels? Is this a book that will change a reader's life?

The book you've been waiting for.... ALLEGIANT

 

Yes, it is finally here. Those of you who have been dying to know what happens to Tris and Four can now finish the Divergent series with the long-awaited Allegiant. We have two copies that are out with readers right now, but we have more coming next week. Here's a look at the upcoming movie.

MORE READALIKES!

I've just listed some readalike titles for the  Conspiracy 365 series and John Green's novels on the " If you like, you should try" page. Take a look!

House of Hades is in the library!

One of the most eagerly anticipated sequels has arrived! The House of Hades, book four of The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan, has already been snatched from the shelves and the early student reviews are excellent. We have 3 copies of what appears to be a fast read - no putting this one down- so you shouldn't have to wait too long for your turn at the adventures.

BOOK CLUBS

If you love to read and chat about books, then you should join one of our amazing book clubs! Laurel Bieber, the teen librarian at the Mission Public Library, and I will be hosting two book clubs on Fridays this year.

JUNIOR BOOK CLUB (Grades 7-9)

Our first book is the thrilling Across the Universe by Beth Revis. This science fiction novel has all of the dystopian elements we crave and a dash of romance. Here's the synopsis...

Amy is a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed. She expects to wake up on a new planet, 300 years in the future. But fifty years before Godspeed's scheduled landing, Amy's cryo chamber is unplugged, and she is

nearly killed.

Now, Amy is caught inside an enclosed world where nothing makes sense. Godspeed's passengers have forfeited all control to Eldest, a tyrannical and frightening leader, and Elder, his rebellious and brilliant teenage heir.

Amy desperately wants to trust Elder. But should she? All she knows is that she must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets before whoever woke her tries to kill again.

We'll meet at lunch in the library on Friday, October 11th to discuss the first half, then we'll meet at lunch on Friday, November 1st to finish exploring the novel while munching on pizza. Oh, and at each meeting we'll have a draw for free books. What could be a better way to spend your lunch break?


SENIOR BOOK CLUB (Grades 10-12)

This group meets in the library after school on Fridays until about 4:30. The first book is a modern classic set in Germany in 1939. In The Book Thief, author Marcus Zusak uses a very unusual narrator to bring a fresh perspective to the Holocaust. By the way, this novel fulfills the requirements for Mr. LaFontaine's Social Studies 11 and History 12 courses.

The extraordinary #1 New York Times  bestseller that will be in movie theaters on November 15, 2013, Markus Zusak's unforgettable story is about the ability of books to feed the soul.

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak, author of I Am the Messenger, has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

This group will meet on Friday, October 11th to discuss the first half and then on Friday, November 1st to explore the entire novel. Afterschool snacks will be provided and there will be draws for free books!

COME DOWN TO THE LIBRARY TO PICK UP YOUR COPY!!! The books are going quickly.

Fabulous summer!

I hope you have loved these long, lazy, sunny days as much as I have! Ah, the luxury of time! But we're now in the waning days of August and it's time to starting looking towards the start of school. It's going to be an exciting fall in the library with dozens of terrific new books arriving daily. I

thought I'd ease back into posting by telling you about some of the eagerly anticipated series' sequels

being released over the next few weeks. The top of the list is the third book in the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. Fans of this thrill-ride dystopian saga will have to wait until October for Allegiant,

but I've got this title on preorder!

I am Number Four, a hit sci-fi series by Pittacus Lore, has its next installment in The Fall of Five.
This action-packed series has lots of dedicated  followers. By the way, aliens are the next big trend in YA publishing; I'll introduce some new books on this subject in an upcoming post.

Readers of fantasy adventure stories will likely be familiar with The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney. Book 12, I am Alice, is out this fall just in time for the movie version of the story, Seventh Son. The trailer looks amazing! Read the series before the movie arrives in theatres.

Alex Scarrow's exciting Time Riders series has a new book, The Mayan Prophecy.  Even Skullduggery Pleasant continues his bone-rattling adventures in Last Stand of Dead Men.

Pretty Little Liars gets more complicated in Crushed, book 13 in Sara Shepard's long-running series.  Ellen Hopkins, whose verse novels are deeply satisfying reads, will publish the prequel to her best-selling Crank; it's called Smoke and we'll have it on the shelves.

Sarah Porter's mermaid trilogy started with Lost Voices and now ends with The Twice Lost. Croak, a surprisingly funny story about grim reapers, by Gina Damico is getting a third installment in Rogue.

Need more zombies? Jonathan Maberry's violent and creepy horror series spirals even further into darkness with Fire & Ash. Ilsa J. Bick began her series with Ashes and finishes the trilogy with Monsters. Fans of apocalypse fiction should check out these books!

There are no better spy-thriller stories than Cherub by Robert Muchamore or the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz. Both series have sequels arriving this fall: Cherub continues in Black Friday and
Alex Rider fights for his life in Russian Roulette.

Manga readers, you haven't been forgotten. When you check the shelves in September, you will find more volumes of Naruto, Black Butler, Sailor Moon, and One Piece!

Take the new poll on the right. If there are any series' sequels that you are looking for that I haven't mentioned here, please add the titles in a comment, so I can be sure to look for them.

In the next post, I'll introduce new books and series by familiar, beloved authors.

BITTERSWEET

Here we are - the school year is coming to an end. While part of me yearns for the warm, easy days of summer, I am also sad to close up the library for the next two months. I'll never get used to telling students that they can no longer take books out - it breaks my heart. But it has to be done, especially since there are still hundreds of books to be returned.

This June is especially difficult because I must say farewell to six of the Library Club students who are graduating this year. Emily, Felicia, Stefan, Miranda, Morgan and Katelyn have been stalwart friends to the library for three years. While I will be forever grateful for their help, I think that what I miss most will be the frequent friendly visits, the book chats, the library improvement discussions, and the sharing of future aspirations.  Wonderful ambassadors, every day they demonstrated their love for the HPSS library. They should be tremendously proud of their accomplishments and  I wish them all that is most wonderful in their future lives.

Of course, there are younger members of the Library Club whom I hope will continue to work with me next year to provide excellent library services to the students of HPSS. Thank you to all for your amazing contributions.

NEW CONTEST!!

The library is hosting the second annual bookmark design contest open to all HPMSS students. Last year's amazing winning entries have been eagerly snatched up by our patrons, so we need some new bookmarks for next year. Five entries will be chosen to be made into bookmarks and the overall winner of the competition will receive a $20.00 gift certificate to Black Bond Books. Come right in and pick up the contest details. The final day for accepting entries is Monday, June 10th. Unleash your imagination!

May Long Weekend

Ah, the final hours of this lovely long weekend find me thinking about the weeks ahead and the end of another school year. There are still new books arriving daily, so visit the library and check out our amazing collection of YA fiction while you still can! Start digging into closets or burrowing under beds to find the books you have out as the absolute deadline for returning books will be announced in the next couple of weeks - all books must be in the library before the last day of classes.

I will, of course, continue purchasing new books in preparation for some exciting book talks in September. Your suggestions would be most helpful. What titles are you looking forward to? What kinds of stories do we need more of in the library? Are there any sequels I have to get?

I'm also thinking of starting a writing club next year, something for all of you who love creative writing and those of you who might want to try your hand at a YA novel.  It would be open to students from all grades and we would meet once or twice a month to share our work. I'd like to start a private blog for just the members of the club so we could read and comment on creative pieces at any time. What do you think? If you're interested, let me know here or in the library.

We've got one book club still on the go. Members of the Senior Book Club are reading How to Read Literature Like a Professor and we will meet Friday, May 31st at 3:00.

CONTEST WINNER...

Emmah Noon won Thursday's draw for the Papertoy Monsters book. Congratulations, Emmah! There is one more chance to win a copy of this amazing book - just drop by the library next Thursday to fill out an entry.

BOOKMARKS, CLUBS AND CONTESTS

Last year, we held a competition for students to design bookmarks for our library and five fantastic designs were chosen. It's taken much too long, but these bookmarks are finally available. They are all wonderful works of art and they are flying out of the library. Come in soon to pick up one for yourself.

Senior Book Club has just started a new book, Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. This novel has it all: ghosts, romance, twins, suspense. Our first meeting will be coming up in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned for details and don't forget to come in for a copy of the novel. This book club is open to grade 11 and 12 students as well as grade 10 readers looking for a challenge. Newcomers are always welcome!

Students in grades 9 and 10 are invited to join an April book club featuring The Scepter of the

Ancients by Derek Landy. This is the first book in the darkly hilarious fantasy adventure series, Skulduggery Pleasant. Be warned though: you'll likely spend your summer devouring all the other books in the series! Our first meeting will be on Thursday, April 18th. Come in and get your copy next week.




Carly Gendron won the PaperToy Monsters book. Congratulations, Carly! There will be another copy of this amazing craft book available to be won next Thursday. It's easy to enter and the odds of winning are great.

See you in the library!

NEW CONTEST!

If you were hoping to win one of the coveted Fold-Your-Own-Unicorns calendars but
Lady Luck wasn't smiling on you, you now have another chance to create a paper universe, this time inhabited by 50 of the most unique and quirky monsters imaginable. All day next Thursday, April 4th, you can enter each time you visit the library. Oh yeah, you get an extra entry for each book you take out and return. This amazing book will be on display starting Thursday (tomorrow), so come in and take a look.

Spring Break

Ah, Spring Break has come and gone...it was a little too short and a little too cold, but it was a lovely interlude. Actually, this year it really feels like a prelude to the true warmth and colour of spring. I arrived back at school to boxes of intriguing new books and rested students who were looking ahead to the end of the year. The next few months will fly by, especially if you're reading great stories!

BOOK CLUBS UPDATES
Grade 7/8 students reading Museum of Thieves, get ready to discuss the whole novel this Thursday at lunch - there will be pizza.

Senior students meet next Friday to finish off To Kill a Mockingbird.

There will be a new contest in the library next week. Listen to the announcements and watch this blog for more news. Here's a hint - MONSTERS.

I got a great deal on some manga over the break - volumes 1-35 of Naruto and volumes 1-11 of One Piece for $2.00 each! They will be ready to borrow tomorrow.

February Book Clubs

Today the students in the grades 9/10 book club meet to celebrate the reading of the suspenseful dystopian novel, The Maze Runner. Tomorrow, the senior students will gather for cake and a final discussion of the unusual The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. It's been a great month for reading!

For the month of March, grades 7/8 students are invited to join us to read a fantasy adventure novel called The Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner.

The students in Senior Book Club will be exploring a classic gem: To Kill a Mockingbird  by Harper Lee. Believe me, this novel will stay with you your whole life (you might even consider naming your first child Scout).

Both books are now available in the library.

The Fault in Our Stars

Many students at HPSS have found a great deal to love about John Green's latest novel, The Fault in Our Stars, a poignant and gripping story of two teens struggling with terminal illnesses. One of our readers shares this review:

 The Fault in Our Stars by John Green is a perfectly written novel. As a reader, you are drawn to the charismatic characters but appalled by the events that take place. The best way to describe it is like a car accident, terrible to look at but impossible to put down. With the language in the book being so drastically different on each page and the true depth of the characters, the story is, simply put, beautiful and guaranteed to make the reader laugh and cry.

I absolutely agree! In fact, all of Green's novels have a way of working themselves into the reader's heart. Looking for Alaska; Will Grayson, Will Grayson; An Abundance of Katherines; and Papertowns are all available from our library.

Drumroll, please...

The winner of this week's Fold-Your-Own-Unicorn Calendar is Gurleen Randhawa. Gurleen, you may pick up your prize on Monday. Congratulations!!

Argh!

I forgot to draw the name of the winner of the Unicorn calendar before I left school. I'll draw it tomorrow and post it tomorrow afternoon. Check the blog after 5:00 pm. I'm so sorry to keep you waiting, but half the fun is the anticipation.

FEBRUARY BOOK CLUB FOR GRADES 9/10

At last, grade 9 and 10 students are invited to a book club! We'll be reading the suspenseful dystopian novel The Maze Runner by James Dashner. Along with The Hunger Games and Divergent,

 

The Maze Runner  has been one of the most popular series in the library. We've only got ten copies, so come in to pick up your book as soon as possible. We'll get together to discuss the first half on Thursday, Feb. 7th, at lunch, in the library.

Senior Book Club wrapped up their discussion of The Cellist of Sarajevo last Friday. We're now reading the darkly comic The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. The first meeting will take place Friday, Feb. 8th at 3:15. Newcomers are always welcome.





The Fold-Your-Own-Unicorns calendar has developed an enthusiastic following. There is one more to be won this Thursday. Be sure to bring books back on Thursday to receive more entries into the draw!

Links to Great Books

I've added three new links to the blog that you might find useful when hunting for the next terrific book.

Laurel Bieber, Mission Public Library's Teen Librarian, has a blog called A Cup of Teen. Laurel is extremely knowledgeable about books, especially manga and graphic novels.She is also a
good friend to our library, co-hosting book clubs and bringing in authors like Scott Chantler and Carrie Mac.

Reading Rants! provides informative reviews of an endless number of YA books.

If, like me, you are sometimes confused as to the order of the books in a long series, you will find Fantastic Fiction to be a useful site. It lists all of the books in a series in the proper order and mentions books about to be published.

Zombie Unicorns

Starting this last Thursday and continuing the next two Thursdays, you can enter your name in a draw to win a very cool Fold-Your-Own Unicorn 2013 calendar! Not only is the calendar a delight to behold, but you can make 12 of the most unique unicorns you'll ever see. Just drop into the library on Thursday to fill out an entry form. By the way, with each book you return, you get an extra entry form.

 

The winner will be announced during announcements on Friday.

2013!

Wecome back to HPSS! 2012 was a fantastic year for wonderful YA novels. The new year looks to be even more exciting. In the coming days I will be adding dozens of terrific new books to the library collection. There will be something great to read for every student, just keep dropping in to check out the new books section.

Grade eleven and twelve students who want to be part of the January book club should come in to pick up The Cellist of Sarajevo. We'll meet to discuss the first half on Friday, January 18th, after school.