Monthly Archives: October 2010

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Did They or Didn’t They?

"Stumps of trees cut by the Donner Party ...

Image via Wikipedia

On this date in 1846, the members of the Donner Party were snowed in for the winter in the middle of the Sierra Nevada, just north of Lake Tahoe.  They were aiming for a pass (now called Donner Pass) that would lead them down the western slope of the mountains to the milder climate of the San Joaquin Valley.  Instead, they were trapped with few supplies and a long winter ahead.  (The cut stumps in this photo show the depth of the snow; they were cut off at what was “ground level” during the winter of 1846-47.)

The big question is: did they resort to cannibalism to survive?  And if they did, did they simply eat those who died of the cold and hunger, or was it more sinister?

To learn more about the Donner Party and their months-long ordeal, try these books:

  • The Donner Party by Scott P. Werther (979.403 Wer)
  • The perilous journey of the Donner party by Marian Calabro (979.403 Cal)
  • Ordeal by hunger: the story of the Donner Party by George Stewart (979.438 Ste)
  • Lovina’s song: a pioneer girl’s journey with the Donner Party by Marian Rudolph (FIC Rudolph)
  • Patty Reed’s doll: the story of the Donner party by Rachel K. Laurgaard (FIC Laurgaard)
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Boo-ks

Jack-o-latern

Image via Wikipedia

It’s almost Hallowe’en!  Get in the mood with some great books. 

Whether you like ghosts (The graveyard book by Neil Gaiman) or werewolves (Shiver by Maggie Steifvater) or zombies (The enemy by Charles Higson) or vampires (Jessica’s guide to dating on the dark side by Beth Fantaskey) or witches (The wee free men by Terry Pratchett) or monsters (The monstrumologist by Richard Yancey), we’ve got you covered.

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International Stuttering Awareness Day

To Whom It May Concern (Nat King Cole album)

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Today is International Stuttering Awareness Day.  You’ve probably met someone who stutters, or may even stutter yourself (I know I can get a bit tongue-tied myself when I am nervous or trying to speak too quickly).  But did you know that these famous and very successful people were stutterers?

  • Aesop – writer of the famous Fables
  • Jorge Luis Borges – great Latin American writer
  • Clara Barton – founder of the Red Cross
  • Lewis Carroll - author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-glass
  • Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra – author of Don Quixote, the first European novel
  • Winston Churchill – British prime minister during World War II
  • Charles Darwin – author of On the Origin of Species and other important scientific works
  • Nat King Cole – jazz singer and father of Natalie Cole; famous for the song “Unforgettable”
  • Robert Heinlein – classic science fiction writer
  • Thomas Jefferson – 3rd President of the United States, sent out the Lewis & Clark Expedition
  • Marilyn Monroe – famous actress
  • Joseph Priestly – scientist who discovered oxygen
  • Theodore Roosevelt – 26th President of the United States
  • Alan Turing – founder of computer science
  • Jimmy Stewart – actor, famous for It’s a Wonderful Life and other classic films
  • George Washington – 1st President of the United States, Revolutionary War hero
  • Samuel L. Jackson – actor
  • James Earl Jones – actor, voice of Darth Vader
  • John Stossel – reporter for ABC (20/20)
  • Bruce Willis – actor
  • Tiger Woods – professional golfer
  • Juanfran (Juan Francisco Garcia Garcia) – Spanish soccer player (Real Madrid)
  • Julia Roberts – actress
  • Marc Anthony – singer, husband of Jennifer Lopez
  • Joe Biden – current Vice President of the United States

 We have books about many of these people in our collection; you can search the online catalog at www.mohigh.com

For more information on stuttering and International Stuttering Awareness Day, visit: www.stutteringhelp.org, www.stutterisa.org and www.stutteringhomepage.com

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Forget Vampires, Let’s Talk About Angels …

Cover of "Fallen"

Cover of Fallen

YA author Lauren Kate will be at the Ontario City Library on Tuesday, November 9 @ 4 pm to talk about her dark romance fantasy series.  Mrs. Nelson’s Toy & Book Shop and Friends of the Ontario City Library are sponsoring this event. 

Books will be available for purchase and signing after the event.

Fallen -  There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce–and goes out of his way to make that very clear–she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.

Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, Fallen is a page turning thriller and the ultimate love story.

Torment – Hell on earth.

That’s what it’s like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel.
It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts—immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.

At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn’t told her everything. He’s hiding something—something dangerous.
What if Daniel’s version of the past isn’t actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else?
 
The second novel in the addictive FALLEN series . . . where love never dies.

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Be Still, My Beating Heart!

Be still my beating heart

Image by wiccked via Flickr

It’s a busy week here at MoHi!  Last night we had the school board meeting in the library; tomorrow is the big statewide earthquake drill, The Great California Shakeout; Friday is the Homecoming Rally during 2nd period and the Homecoming game in the evening; and Saturday night is the Homecoming Dance.  On top of all that, it’s still Teen Read Week!

The rainy weather we’ve been having is PERFECT for curling up with a good book.  We are featuring Teen Top Ten nominees (check one out and get a vintage button!) and books about love.  The main Teen Read Week theme is “Books With Beat” but we are narrowing that down with our display theme “Be Still, My Beating Heart.”  Plus there is a display of Pura Belpre Award winning books in the lounge area for Hispanic Heritage Month (which actually ended on October 15th, but what the heck!).

Lots of great books + gloomy weather = massive outbreaks of reading!

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New Books!

It’s that time again … a new shipment of books from Junior Library Guild is ready to go on the shelves!  We’ve got some interesting titles this month:

No safe place by Deborah Ellis (FIC Ellis, D.) – Fifteen-year-old Abdul has made a long and dangerous journey from his home in Baghdad to a migrant camp in France.  Now, he must try to make it across the English Channel to reach safety in England.  His only chance: a smuggler’s boat, filled with other young illegal immigrants.

Blank confession by Pete Hautman (FIC Hautman, P.) – A new kid, Shayne, shows up a school one day.  He befriends the smallest boy in school, takes on a notorious drug dealer and then turns himself in to the police, confessing to a murder.  Who is Shayne and what is going on?  Detective Rawls means to find out.

Girl parts by John M. Cusick (FIC Cusick, J.) – David has a million friends, on- and off-line, but doesn’t feel close to anyone.  Charlie is a loner, completely off the grid.  David’s parents give him a luscious Companion robot to treat his “dissociative disorder” and help him make healthy bonds.  But the beautiful Rose comes with strict intimacy protocols, and every time David tries to get too close, she gives him an electric shock!  Things get more complicated when she forms a bond with Charlie, who seems to have finally found a friend.

Brain jack by Brian Falkner (FIC Falkner, B.) – In the not-too-distant future, online gaming is the most dangerous street drug around.  Las Vegas has been destroyed in a terrorist attack, and Black Hawk helicopters patrol the skies of New York City.  Keyboards are obsolete: neuro-headsets link players directly to the Internet.  Teen hacker Sam Wilson realizes a terrifying truth: if his computer is vulnerable to hacking, what about his brain while he is linked into the system?

Three black swans by Caroline Cooney (FIC Cooney, C.) – Missy Vianello and her cousin Claire are best friends and finish each other’s sentences.  When Missy begins to suspect that Claire might be her twin instead of her cousin, she decides to use her school project about scientific hoaxes to find out.  But what she reveals could change her life …

Which one are you going to read first? :)

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Self-Help 101

The two paths (m)

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Today is Evaluate Your Life Day.  So take some time to think about who you are and what you want to accomplish in your life.  What is going well for you and what do you need to change?  What are your goals?  Who do you want to be?

Here are some books to help you figure it all out:

What do you really want?: how to set a goal and go for it!: a guide for teens by Beverly Bachel (153.8 Bac)

The 7 habits of high effective teens: the ultimate teenage success guide by Sean Covey (158 Cov)

Self-direction: taking positive risks, following your dreams by Robert Wandberg (158.1083 Wan)

97 things to do before you finish high school by Steven Jenkins (646.7 Jen)

The quiz life by Marina Khidekel (155.533 Khi)

Chill: stress-reducing techniques for a more balanced, peaceful you by Deborah Reber (155.5 Reb)

The courage to be yourself: true stories by teens about cliques, conflicts, and overcoming peer pressure edited by Al Desetta (305.235 Cou)

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Teen Read Week 2010

It’s Teen Read Week and that means the Teens’ Top Ten winners have been announced!  How many of them have you read? (Titles owned by MHS are in bold).

  1. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
  2. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
  3. Heist Society by Ally Carter
  4. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
  5. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
  6. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
  7. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
  8. If I Stay by Gayle Forman
  9. Fire by Kristin Cashore
  10. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
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The Power of Positive Thinking

Something very positive happened in the library today.  About 30 freshman boys who received 3 or more F’s for 1st quarter came to hear a presentation from the Brotherhood Academy and the counselors.  It was an early intervention to try to help these boys get their grades back on track so they can graduate on time.  The scary fact is, that of freshmen who get 2 or more F’s at the end of the 1st semester, 60% will NOT graduate from high school. 

Our amazing counseling staff, administration and the Brotherhood Academy came together to let these young men know that there is still time to get it together and get that diploma … and that there are plenty of MoHi staff and students who care about them and are willing to help.

The library is a great resource if you are trying to keep up or raise your grades.  We not only host English and math tutoring Monday through Thursday from 3 – 5 pm, we are open before school and during lunches (unless there is a class in the library), too.  We have desk copies of most of the textbooks, which can be borrowed for in-library use or for tutoring elsewhere on campus.  Our computers have the Microsoft Office suite of software, which means you can type that paper in Word, create a brochure or flyer in Publisher or a multimedia presentation in PowerPoint.  We also have internet access and, through www.mohigh.com, access to several great subscription databases and many teacher websites.

Computers are also available before and after school in the computer lab (Rm. 62).  And there is plenty of tutoring all over campus, both before and after school.  You can get help in English, math, Spanish, French, Chinese, biology, chemistry, physics, anatomy, government, U.S. history, art history and world history. 

There’s no excuse for not doing the best you can in all of your classes.  Here’s to a GREAT 2nd quarter and some AMAZING grades at semester’s end.  You can do it!

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Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work Day

Teddy bear, born in Germany about 1954

Image via Wikipedia

The second Wednesday of October is Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work Day.  If, like me, you forgot to bring your little bear, here are some books about bears to make up for the lack of ursine companionship today.

The Darwin expedition by Diane Tullson (FIC Tullson) – Liam and Tej must rely on all of their survival resources to escape a ferocious bear tracking them after they lose control of their truck in a rainstorm on a remote logging road.

 

East by Edith Pattou (FIC Pattou) – A young woman journeys to a distant castle on the back of a great white bear who is the victim of a cruel enchantment.

Beardance by Will Hobbs (FIC Hobbs) – While accompanying an elderly rancher on a trip into the San Juan Mountains, Cloyd, a Ute Indian boy, tries to help two orphaned grizzly cubs survive the winter and, at the same time, completes his spirit mission.

The weirdo by Theodore Taylor (FIC Taylor) – Seventeen-year-old Chip Clewt fights to save the black bears in the Powhatan National Wildlife Refuge.

Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen (FIC Mikaelsen) – After his anger erupts into violence, fifteen year-old Cole, in order to avoid going to prison, agrees to participate in a sentencing alternative based on the Native American Circle Justice, and he is sent to a remote Alaskan Island where an encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes his life.

Rescue Josh McGuire by Ben Mikaelsen (FIC Mikaelsen) – When thirteen-year-old Josh runs away to the mountains of Montana with an orphaned bear cub destined for laboratory testing, they both must fight for their lives in a sudden snowstorm.

Wolf brother by Michelle Paver (FIC Paver) – 6,000 years in the past, twelve-year-old Tarak and his guide, a wolf cub, set out on a dangerous journey to fulfill an oath the boy made to his dying father–to travel to the Mountain of the World Spirit seeking a way to destroy a demon-possessed bear that threatens all the clans.

His Dark Materials trilogy (The golden compass; The subtle knife; The amber spyglass) by Philip Pullman (FIC Pullman) – Accompanied by her daemon, Lyra Belacqua sets out to prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from becoming the subject of gruesome experiments in the Far North. [One of Lyra's allies is the great bear Iorek Byrnison]

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