SOH Library Blog

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Every year three young adult novels get nominated for the California Young Adult Medal. The winner is chosen by California High School students like you. The library just got the latest titles. Check them out.

Life as we knew it by Susan Beth Pfeiffer

This is the sort of story you can’t put down.  The Moon is going to be hit by an asteroid. It’s one of those natural phenomenons that everyone is talking about. Miranda  and her family bake cookies and sit in the front lawn to watch it but what happens next is totally unexpected. The moon is pushed off its normal course! This creates Tsunamis that wash out parts of the world, giant waves crash over New York City. All power is lost and all communications are affected. Life as we knew it changes drastically.   

Daniel Half-Human by David Chotjewitz

Daniel has everything going for him. He has a great family and great friends. Except for one problem. He lives in 1930’s Germany.  His friends are joining the Hitler Youth but his parents won’t let him join. This is because there is a deep family secret. His Mom is Jewish and that makes him half-Jewish. Even though his Mom was not raised as a Jew it still counts in Hitler’s Germany. But even though they managed to hide this fact from everyone his secret is bound to come out some time don’t you think?

Sold by Patricia McCormick

Is the story of Lakshmi a young teen living in Nepal.  She is living a very simple (and poor) life in Nepal with her family when her gambling addicted step father convinces her that she can help the family by becoming a maid to a rich family in India. When Lakshmi arrives in Calcutta she is horrified to find out that it is all a lie. Her stepfather has sold her into child prostitution. At first they try to convince her that she will be able to pay off her family’s debt if she agrees to stay as a child prostitute but soon she finds out that this is a big lie too. She is trapped in this life forever. Can someone who has suffered so many lies and horrible experiences be able to trust anyone ever again? Read the book and find out.

OK. I know some of you are totally over Twilight but there are others out there who are still Twilight crazy. If you are one of them. Or, if you just miss a good vampire romance during these long winter nights here are a few recommendations to help you keep your vampire cravings under control:

In the Forests of the Night by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Risika, a teenage vampire, wanders back in time to the year 1684 when, as a human, she died and was transformed against her will.

Demon in My View by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Seventeen-year-old Jessica Allodola discovers that the vampire world of her fiction is real when she develops relationships with an alluring vampire named Aubrey and the teenage witch who is trying to save Jessica from his clutches.

Midnight Predator by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Turquoise Draka, a mercenary trained to fight vampires, witches, and shape-shifters, infiltrates a vampire stronghold, but ghosts from her past and new possibilities for her future threaten to distract her from the work at hand.

Evernight by Claudia Gray

Sixteen-year-old Bianca, a new girl at the sinister Evernight boarding school, finds herself drawn to another outsider, Jared, but neither of them is quite what they claim to be.

Look for Me by Moonlight by Mary Downing Hahn

While staying at the remote and reputedly haunted Maine inn run by her father and pregnant stepmother, sixteen-year-old Cynda feels increasingly isolated from her father’s new family and finds solace in the attentions of a charming but mysterious guest.

The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause

A mysterious teenage boy harboring a dark secret helps Zoë come to terms with her mother’s terminal illness.

The Color of Absence edited by James Howe. See the story by Annette Curtis Klause

A collection of stories dealing with different kinds of loss experienced by young people.

Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde

When sixteen-year-old Kerry Nowicki helps a young man escape from a group of men who claim he is a vampire, she finds herself faced with some bizarre and dangerous choices.

Some vampire series to keep in mind too:

• Vampire Kisses by Ellen Schreiber
• Blue Bloods series by Melissa De la Cruz
• Peeps series by Scott Westerfield

 These are just a few titles in the library. We have many more vampire titles. Stop by and check something out!

What is the hardest thing you have ever done? Ask yourself that question as you pick up Sherman Alexies really great book The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. 

It’s the story of Arnold  “Junior” Spirit an American Indian teenager who leaves his friends, his school and his community when he  decides to go to the best high school he could think of.  This great new school is 20 miles away where he is the only Indian (other than the school mascot) in school.  He is all alone, without friends and without anyone who believes in him.  This book is very funny and very sad at the same time. It contains drawings and is written like a diary.  Read it, you won’t be able to put it down! It’s the perfect Thanksgiving book.

The library is  celebrating TEEN READ WEEK this month! The theme this year is “Books with Bite @ your library”

What does this mean?   For our library it means vampires! (and other scary stuff)

Stop by and see our huge collection of SCARY, HORROR and VAMPIRE books. 

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo is a fascinating novel set during the WWI. It tells the story of teenager Thomas Peaceful and his life as a soldier during the “great war to end all wars”.  Its the kind of book that makes you think and its available at your library. 

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin is where you end up after you die. Its the story of fifteen year old Liz Hall and how she must cope with knowing she will never grow older. In Elsewhere everyone grows younger until they turn into babies and return to earth to start life all over again. But what if you want to get older, get your drivers license, graduate from high school and go to college? Is it possible to grow up as you grow young? Read the book and find out.

Vampire High by Douglas Rees is the very funny story of 15-year old Cody a California kid who suddenly has to go live in Massachussets. After getting straight F’s in school he is sent to a new school called Vlad Dracul Magnet School.  It is there that he comes to realize that he is one of few students who is NOT a vampire. Can Cody learn to fit in and make friends with people who are totally different from him? Or will he goof off and get kicked out again? Read the book and find out.

This is a student created picture of our library. It was going to be our website but that plan is on hold for the moment. But, I wanted everyone to see how good it looks. 

In case you have never had to do a research assignment here is are some basic steps to guide you:

Planning:

Prepare materials

choose a topic

refine topic (working thesis)

seek our sources

brainstorm search terms

develop a research timeline

Gathering information:

Find information

evaluate information

take notes

create a source list

Organize:

Review your notes

create a thesis statement

create an outline for your paper

Synthesize:

Put together a first draft

revise your first draft

edit and proofread your paper

Document and List sources:

Put together a works cited page

write and acknowledgement page

review the MLA checklist

turn in your paper

Good Luck!! Please stop by the Library for help if you get stuck!

Welcome to the SOH Library Blog

Visit us often for the latest information on books, reading and school assignments. We want suggestions so let us know what you would like to see included in this blog.

–Ms. Banos