New in the OES Middle School Library:: 2009

New Books, 12/4/09

The Middle School Library received one more gift from the Book Fair -- thanks to the Layendecker Family!

The Soccer Book: The Sport, the Teams, the Tactics, the Cups
by David Goldblatt and Johnny Acton
(796.334 GOL in the MSL)

An illustrated guide to the skills, rules, tactics, and coaching of soccer that covers the history of the game, positions, equipment, formations, passing, volleying, injuries, FIFA confederations, competitions, and other related topics. (Follett TitleWave)

Monday, 11/23/09

Thanks for your enthusiastic support of the All School Book Fair this year. Friends of the OES library (FOESL) did a great job putting it together with the assistance of Powell's Books. OES students will read books, and visit with authors, illustrators, and poets because of the money raised by this event!

A special thank you to the families who donated books to Transitional Schools and Vose during our book fair. And, thanks also to those who gave books directly to the OES Middle School library:

The Georges and the Jewels
by Jane Smiley
(FIC SMI)
Given to the MSL by Amanda and Will Rosch
Seventh-grader Abby Lovitt grows up on her family's California horse ranch in the 1960s, learning totrain the horses her father sells and trying to reconcile her strict religious upbringing with her own ideas about life. (Follett)

Lips Touch Three Times
by Laini Taylor
(FIC TAY -- Mature)
Given to the MSL by Lien Vu-Brenner
Three stories about kissing, featuring elements of the supernatural. (Follett)

An Uncommon History of Common Things
by Bethanne Patrick and John Thompson
(031.02 PAT)
Given to the MSL by the Polscer-Carson Family
Offers odd and extraordinary details about the histories of everday things, arranged by themes such as food and drink, seasons and holidays, ceremony and customs, symbols and markings, health and home, garments and accessories, medications and potions, toys and games, and tools and innovations. (TitleWave)

Stop and Smell the Roses
by Patrick McDonnell
(741.5 MCD)
Given to the MSL by Annonymous

A collection of Mutts comic strips featuring Mooch the cat and Earl the dog and their long-suffering owner, Rob. (TitleWave)

Tuesday, 11/3/09

Adam Canfield, the Last Reporter
by Michael Winerip
(FIC WIN in the MSL)

When the school board shuts down the student newspaper, the Ameche Brothers, two budding entrepreneurs with a knack for refurbishing junk but a shaky command of journalistic ethics, step in to help. (Follett Titlewave)

Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis
by Al Gore

Al Gore theorizes that making bolder choices regarding the environment in the twenty-first century will create more jobs, stimulate the economy, and inspire a new generation of potential world leaders. (Follett Titlewave)

Splendor, a Luxe Novel
by Anna Godbersen
(FIC GOD in the MSL)

Diana and Elizabeth Holland, two of Manhattan's favorite socialites, show new signs of maturity as Elizabeth tries to deal with a secret from the past, and Diana is forced to make a decision about her future; meanwhile, Carolina finds that money can buy happiness, and Penelope learns the pleasures of life without Henry. (Follett Titlewave)

And Another Thing
Eoin Colfer
(FIC COL in the MSL)

If you loved the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, rejoice! Though its author, Douglas Adams, died several years ago, the series has been resurrected.
"In a continuation of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" saga, Arthur Dent returns to Earth from his galactic adventures and discovers that the planet is about to be blown up yet again." (NoveList)

Stubborn Twig Tie-Ins in the Middle School Library

On Thursday, October 22, author Lauren Kessler visited OES to talk with parents, faculty, and some Upper School students about her book Stubborn Twig: Three Generations in the Life of a Japanese American Family. In this work of literary non-fiction, Kessler writes about the troubles and prejudices that a Japanese-American family living in Oregon experience in the early to mid 20th century. Below is a short list of titles in the Middle School library that connect in one way or another with the theme of Stubborn Twig.

Baseball Saved Us
by Ken Mochizuki (FIC MOC in the MSL)

A Japanese American boy learns to play baseball when he and his family are forced to live in an internment camp during World War II, and his ability to play helps him after the war is over. (Follett)

*****

Bat 6
by Virginia Euwer Wolff
(FIC WOL in the MSL)

In small town, post-World War Oregon, twenty-one 6th grade girls recount the story of an annual softball game, during which one girl's bigotry comes to the surface.
*****

A Boy No More
by Harry Mazer
(FIC MAZ in the MSL)
After his father is killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, Adam, his mother, and sister are evacuated from Hawaii to California, where he must deal with his feelings about the war, Japanese internment camps, his father, and his own identity. (NoveList)
*****
Dear Miss Breed

by Elizabeth Kikuchi Yamada
(940.53 OPP in the MSL)

[This is a collection of] true stories of the Japanese American incarceration during World War II and a librarian who made a difference. (Follett TitleWave)
*****

Farewell to Manzanar
by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston & James D. Houston
(940.54 HOU in the MSL)

In this biography of Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, she relates her experiences of living at the Manzanar internment camp during World War II and how it has influenced her life.
*****

House of the Red Fish
by Graham Salisbury
(FIC SAL in the MSL)

Ov er a year after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and the arrest of Tomi's father and grandfather, Tomi and his frie nds, battling anti-Japanese-American sentiment in Hawaii, try to find a way to salvage his father's sunken fishing boat. (NoveList)
*****

The Invisible Thread
by Joshiko Uchida
(921 Uchida in the MSL)

Children's author Uchida, who grew up in California as a second-generation Japanese American, describes her childhood and her family's internment in a Nevada concentration camp during World War II. (TitleWave)
*****

Korematsu v. United States: Japanese-American Internment Camps
by Karen Alonso
(323.1 ALO in the MSL)

Profiles the case of Fred Korematsu, who sought compensation from the American government for his time spent in a Japanese-American internment camp during World War II. (TitleWave)
*****

Thin Wood Walls
by David Patneaude
(FIC PAT in the MSL)

When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Joe Hamada and his family face growing prejudice, eventually being torn away from their home and sent to a relocation camp in California, even as his older brother joins the United States Army to fight in the war. (NoveList)

*****
Under the Blood-Red Sun
by Graham Salisbury
(FIC SAL in the MSL)

Tomikazu Nakaji's biggest concerns are baseball, homework, and a local bully, until life with his Japanese family in Hawaii changes drastically after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941. (NoveList)
*****

Weedflower
by Cynthia Kadohata
(FIC KAD in the MSL)
After twelve-year-old Sumiko and her Japanese-American family are relocated from their flower farm in southern California to an internment camp on a Mojave Indian reservation in Arizona, she helps her family and neighbors, becomes friends with a local Indian boy, and tries to hold on to her dream of owning a flower shop.

I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want To Be Your Class President
by Josh Lieb
(FIC LIE in the MSL)

Twelve-year-old evil genius, Oliver, uses his great brain to become the third richest person in the world, and finds that overthrowing foreign dictators is easier than getting the kids in his middle school to vote him class president. (Follett TitleWave)

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid
by Jeff Kinney
(FIC KIN in the MSL)

In the latest diary of middle-schooler Greg Heffley, he records his attempts to spend his summer vacation sensibly indoors playing video games and watching television, despite his mother's other ideas. (NoveList)

Leviathan
by Scott Westerfeld

(FIC WES in the MSL)

In an alternate 1914 Europe, fifteen-year-old Austrian Prince Alek, on the run from the Clanker Powers who are attempting to take over the globe using mechanical machinery, forms an uneasy alliance with Deryn who, disguised as a boy to join the British Air Service, is learning to fly genetically-engineered beasts. (NoveList)

Summer Reading Challenge Celebration titles, Part 2

Here are some more of the titles given to Middle School library in honor of the students and faculty who met the Summer Reading Challenge.

The Cuckoo's Haiku and Other Birding Poems
by Michael J. Rosen; illustrated by Stan Fellows
(811 ROS in the MSL)

"The pond's still airstrip / far-off trumpets grow louder-- / one splash! two... hushed... glides..." Lyrical language, realistic watercolor and pencil illustrations, and thoughtful design capture the quiet thrills of bird watching. Facts about each bird's appearance, habits, and calls (finches: "potato-chips, potato-chips") are unobtrusively included on the spreads and in appended notes, making this an informative as well as artistic work. (Horn Book)

The Magician's Elephant
by Kate DiCamillo
(FIC DIC in the MSL)
When ten-year-old orphan Peter Augustus Duchene encounters a fortune teller in the marketplace one day and she tells him that his sister, who is presumed dead, is in fact alive, he embarks on a remarkable series of adventures as he desperately tries to find her. (NoveList)

Tentacles
by Roland Smith
(FIC SMI in the MSL)

After the mysterious disappearance of their parents, Marty and Grace go to live with their scientist uncle and accompany him on, what soon becomes, an increasingly dangerous expedition to New Zealand to track a giant squid. (Scholastic Press)

Summer Reading Challenge Celebration titles

Here are three of the titles that will be given to the library in honor of those who met the Summer Reading Challenge in 2009.

The Great and Only Barnum
by Candace Fleming
(921 BARNUM)

Chronicles the life of showman P. T. Barnum, discussing how he created his legendary circus, the people and events that shaped his life, and the impact Barnum had on the entertainment industry. (TitleWave)

The Sweetheart of Prosper County
by Jill S. Alexander
(FIC ALE)

In a small East Texas town largely ruled by prejudices and bullies, fourteen-year-old Austin sets out to win a ride in the next parade and, in the process, grows in her understanding of friendship and helps her widowed mother through her mourning.

Syren
(Septimus Heap; Book # Five)
by Angie Sage
(FIC SAG)

Wolf Boy is sent on a Task by Aunt Zelda, while Septimus and the dragon, Spit Fyre, fly off to bring their friends home, but they all wind up on an island whose secrets are as dangerous as its inhabitants. (NoveList)

The World Snoop
by Ursula Dubosarsky
(420 DUB)

[The Word Snoop] tours the English language from the beginning of the alphabet in 4000 BC to text messaging and emoticons in the twenty-first century. (Follett TitleWave.)

Painless Study Techniques

by Michael Greenberg
(371.3 GRE)

[Painless Study Techniques] offers middle school and high school students strategies for improving their study skills, covering topics such as time-management, how to read a book, taking notes, studying for tests, and becoming a better writer. (Follett TitleWave)

Earthgirl
by Jennifer Cowan
(FIC COW)

Sabine Solomon undergoes a transformation when she joins the environmental movement and becomes involved with activist Vray Foret, but when his activities involve something that is potentially illegal, she begins to question her identity and values. (Mature, NoveList)

Baseball Great by Tim Green
(FIC GRE in the MS Library)

All twelve-year-old Josh wants to do is play baseball but when his father, a minor league pitcher, signs him up for a youth championship team, Josh finds himself embroiled in a situation with potentially illegal consequences. (NoveList)

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
(FIC COL in the MS Library)

By winning the annual Hunger Games, District 12 tributes Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark have secured a life of saf ety and plenty for themselves and their families, but because they won by defying the rules, they unwittingly become the faces of an impending rebellion. (NoveList)

Ecological Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
(333.72 GOL in the MS Library)

[This title] explores some of the inconsistencies present in many environmental movements, maintaining that consumers are unaware of the impact of some of the products they purchase and believe them to be environmentally safe. (Titlewave)

Pop by Gordon Korman

Lonely after a midsummer move to a new town, sixteen-year-old high-school quarterback Marcus Jordan becomes friends with a retired professional linebacker who is great at training him, but whose childish behavior keeps Marcus in hot water. (NoveList)

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980s television game show, "The $20,0 00 Pyramid," a twelve-year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterio us notes received from an anonymous source that seems to defy the laws of time and space. (NoveList)

My Vicksburg by Ann Rinaldi

During the siege of Vicksburg, thirteen-year-old Claire Louise struggles with difficult choices when family and friends join opposing sides of the war. (NoveList)

Dragonwings by Laurence Yep

The first book that OES 6th graders will read in September is Dragonwings by Laurence Yep. It is available in a variety of formats from numerous libraries and vendors, including the OES Middle School Library. If you are looking for a copy of this book, I hope that the list provided here helps in your search. Please contact me (spoonerp@oes.edu) if you need further assistance.

Amazon.com: book ; audio

Books-A-Million: audio

Multnomah County Library: book

Powell’s: book; audio

Washington County Cooperative Library Services: book ; audio

Summer Break!

We are on Summer Break now, so we will have no new books to tell you about, no new reading recommendations to make, until late August or early September. May you find wonderful books to read this summer and return to school with great stories about your reading adventures.

Here's the form for Summer Reading Program choices, 2009

Summer Reading Program 2009

Name: ______________________________ Grade: _____

Please write the titles of your three top choices for Summer Reading 2009, and then ask one of your parents to sign the form. Return the form to your humanities teacher by Thursday, 5/21.

Title: _______________________________________________________

Title: _______________________________________________________

Title: _______________________________________________________

Parent Signature: _____________________________________________

The Last Olympian
by Rick Riordan
All year the half-bloods have been preparing for battle against the Titans, knowing the odds of victory are grim. Kronos's army is stronger than ever, and with every god and half-blood he recruits, the evil Titan's power only grows. While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it's up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time. (Powell's)

Being Nikki by Meg Cabot
Things aren't pretty for Emerson Watts.

Em was sure there couldn't be anything worse than being a brainiac the body of a teenaged supermodel.

But it turned out she was wrong. Because that supermodel could turn out to have a mother who's gone mysteriously missing, a brother who's shown up on her doorstep demanding answers, a former best friend who's intent on destroying Stark Enterprises to avenge the death of his lost love, and a British heartthrob who's written a song about her that's topping the charts. (Powell's)

Summer Reading Challenge 2009

OES Summer Reading Challenge 2009
Sponsored by Friends of the OES Library

Name: _________________________
• Read at least TEN books (new to you) OR 2,009 pages OR read for 30 hours.
• Your required Summer Reading book counts on this list too!
• Record the titles and authors of your books below.
• Add the # of pages or # of hours if that is way you are keeping track.
• Classics count double – either as two books or as twice the number of pages!
• Ask one of your parents to sign your list.
• Bring your signed list to the Middle School library by Monday, September 14.
• We will have a Summer Reading Challenge celebration later in September.

Author Title #of pages

1. ___________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________________________
5. ___________________________________________________________
6. ___________________________________________________________
7. ___________________________________________________________
8. ___________________________________________________________
9. ___________________________________________________________
10. __________________________________________________________
# of hours spent reading: _________ Parent signature: _______________________
• Do you want a Summer Reading Challenge T-shirt? If yes, please circle the size you would like.
Adult XL Adult L Adult M Adult S Child L Child M
Summer Reading Challenge artwork designed by Toni Elsen ’12 and Kristen Grewe ‘12

The Carbon Diaries 2015 by Saci Lloyd

In 2015, when England becomes the first nation to introduce carbon dioxide rationing in a drastic bid to combat climate change, sixteen-year-old Laura documents the first year of rationing as her family spirals out of control. (NoveList) (FIC LLO, mature)

Soon it will be April, National Poetry Month, and we are getting ready!

The Poets' Corner
Compiled by John Lithgow

"I grew up with poems.
All of us did, whether we realize it or not. Poetry is in our bloodstream: nursery rhymes, shoolyard chants, song lyrics, limericks, jingles, rap. But not many of us think of ourselves as poetry lovers. The very question "Do you love poetry?" makes most of us nervous. It shouldn't. Poetry is a part of us. the purpose of this book is to remind people, young and old, of that simple fact." Lithgow, from the introduction

The latest from the Maximum Ride series

Max
by James Patterson
Maximum Ride and the other members of the Flock have barely recovered from their last arctic adventure, when they are confronted by the most frightening catastrophe yet. Millions of fish are dying off the coast of Hawaii and someone--or something--is destroying hundreds of ships. Unable to discover the cause, the government enlists the Flock to help them get to the bottom of the disaster before it is too late. (Powell's) (at OES, FIC PAT)

Starclimber
by Kenneth Oppel

As members of the first crew of astralnauts, Matt Cruse and Kate De Vries journey into outer space on the Starclimber and face a series of catastrophes that threaten the survival of all on board. (NoveList) (at OES -- FIC/OPP)

The True Adventures of Charley Darwin
by Carolyn Meyer

Young Charley Darwin hated school --- he much preferred to be outside studying birds' eggs, feathers and insects. And so, at the age of 21, he boarded a ship called HMS Beagle and spent five thrilling but dangerous years sailing around the world, studying plant and animal life that was beyond anything he could have imagined. Here, just in time for Darwin's 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his groundbreaking ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES, historical novelist Carolyn Meyer tells the story of his unconventional adventures. (TeenReads.com) (OES -- FIC/MEY)

Taj Mahal
by Elizabeth Mann
Come take a look at this stunning new book on the Taj Mahal. It offers "an exploration of the Mogal Empire that focuses on the architecture, construction, and significance of the Taj Mahal." (Follett TitleWave) If you don't have time to stop by right away, take a virtual tour of this north Indian landmark.