Frosty or the Caribbean?

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Last week, I was searching for a Young Adult novel that had a Christmas feel to it, and I couldn’t find one. Apparently, there isn’t a whole lot of Young Adult Christmas literature. So, instead of reading a YA novel, I chose an adult book that I’ve wanted to read since I was shelving it as a page. The book is titled Skipping Christmas, was written by John Grisham, and was made into a movie called Christmas with the Kranks a few years ago. I watched the movie the year it came out, and even though it starred Jamie Lee Curtis and Tim Allen, I didn’t find it incredibly funny like I was expecting. But, I was curious what flavor the book took, and if it matched the movie. So, without having a YA book to read, I decided I’d see what the book was like.

The book opens with a loving mother and father kissing their twenty-three year old daughter goodbye, just before the holidays. Blair, the daughter, is going on a Peace Corps expedition for two years, and her parents, Luther and Nora Krank, know that Christmas won’t be the same without her. Not really in the mood for the Christmas festivities, and realizing how expensive it was last year, Luther comes up with a brilliant idea; my wife and I will skip Christmas altogether, use the money to go on a cruise, and still be in the black at the end of everything! A few brochures, the fact that she misses Blair, and the thought of 10 days in the Caribbean quickly bring Nora around. The only problems are all of the neighbors, the charities begging for donations, and all the people who had to be snubbed because you aren't coming to their Christmas party. With each dollar saved, and with each annoying Christmas tradition avoided, Luther’s resolve to skip Christmas gets stronger and stronger. But, the Kranks anti-Christmas plans are ruined when Blair calls on Christmas Eve expecting a Christmas celebration for her and her fiancé!

I was amazed at how well the movie stayed with the book. All of the same situations and scenarios happened in both. I also thought the movie captured the overall mood of the book very well. Although many slapstick things happen to the Kranks, getting a tan in December, hanging upside down from a roof, the last white chocolate package being taken, neither the movie nor the book are funny. Things seem to be told in a very matter-of-fact way, even when the funny things are happening. But, I think this might be the point of the book. Why do we do all of our holiday traditions? Why do we spend more than we have to make a holiday special? Why don’t we all just skip Christmas? The answer the book seems to offer is that we could all use a little bit less of the materialism, and the hard feelings we have for our neighbors. But, we could all use a lot more of the giving and focusing on our friends and family that we all seem to miss in the hustle and bustle.

I don’t know what your holidays look like, but I hope they are filled with friends, family, great food, giving, and a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

What day is it again...

So last night, I was brushing my teeth, and for some reason I thought it was Saturday instead of Thursday. I smacked myself in the head thinking “I didn’t get a Weekly Update out on Friday. Ugh!” Then, I realized that it was Thursday night, and I still had all Friday (which is the day it’s supposed to go out) to get the blog post finished. I sighed with relief and got myself to bed.

If my rattled brain last night was any indication, this week must have been busy. I started on Monday with our monthly Ka-Boom: Science Experiments program. We had a great turnout, and a great time! We started by mixing flour, salt, and warm water to create our own Play-Doh, and then we tried making edible dough. That one didn’t mix so well…but it tasted good!

As I alluded to on Wednesday, I was supposed to be off Tuesday to go skiing with my friends. Well, that didn’t quite happen. Our friend on 49 North called us and said the mountain was all ice, so we thought we’d head over to Lookout, where there was some new powder. Lo and behold, Lookout isn’t open on Tuesdays! So we drove all the way from Rathdrum (we had been driving to 49 North when he called us) to the Idaho/Montana border (where Lookout is located) and we didn’t get to ski! Needless to say, my friends and I will be finding another time to go skiing, and I got some office work done on Tuesday.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent working and meeting on our Teen Film Festival that is coming up in March. Last year, we had a Three Minute Teen Film Festival where the movies could be up to 3 minutes, and there were cash prizes for the winners. This year, we are doing 2 categories: Short Film and Public Service Announcement (PSA), and we are still doing cash prizes for both categories. In addition, the winners of our PSA category are going to be sent to the statewide PSA competition being put on by the Idaho Commission for Libraries. The winners of the statewide competition are going to be used to promote summer reading across the entire nation! If you like making movies, be looking for more information on the film festival coming in January.

Noticing that next Friday is Christmas Eve, I won’t be doing a Weekly Update. But, noticing that you all might want something to read during the Christmas break, I’ll still do a Book Blurt.

Have a great week!

A Trumpeting Skateboarder with Dreams

Howdy! Hows the week been going?

Mine’s been kind of crazy. I had finals on Monday, and an unplanned roadtrip yesterday (more on that Friday), so I kind of spaced reading a book until last night. Oops!

But, I’m glad I had a chance to read through Under the Baseball Moon by John H. Ritter. The book is told from Andy Ramos’s point of view, and is one of those fun, off-kilter a little bit kind of books. Andy is a skateboarding trumpet player, who was aspirations of being the next big musical sensation. Enter Glory Martinez, the crazy girl he used to know in grade school, who moved away for a couple years and is now a drop-dead gorgeous softball pitcher. These plot elements seem normal enough, but then the twist happens. Andy likes to give some movement to his music, so he played a few rifts while she pitched, and they both found they were better than before. Glory pitched like crazy, and Andy had never played with more soul. People started to notice, and there are plenty of opportunities for Glory to shine on the diamond, and Andy to shine with his stellar notes. But, what is the deal with the mysterious man in black who says he can make all of Andy’s dreams come true, and the fortune teller who has some odd things to say?

Under the Baseball Moon hits on what makes a great performer, what causes you to do better, and what you're willing to give up or not give up for your dreams. The book also has plenty of fun describing fantastic softball plays, intricate musical accompaniments, and there are even chords for the songs in the back of the book. If you are looking for a slightly different story, this one can be quite a bit of fun. Of course some elements of the plot, like the romance that develops between Glory and Andy, aren't exactly new, but they are still enjoyable to read.

Creating Successful Teen Programming...

Is it possible to create successful teen programming starting from the ground up? I think so.

Now, I won’t say that I have successful teen programming at this point. But I will say that I hope to create a successful teen program in the next few years. What do I base this confidence on? Well the first thing is that other libraries have done it. Other libraries, of equal size to our library and district, have created and maintained a successful teen program. I hope I can learn from their experiences and successes to help our success.

Another confidence booster is the budding success of Airband Awesomeness. I’ve contacted one of the families that came to the event, and they are excited that we are doing something similar with Jingle Bell Rock. They said they would be spreading the word about the event. I think this will be the biggest step toward a successful teen program; teens and families wanting to get involved with it. I can try to create great programs, post things on blogs, Facebook, and Twitter, but if young adults aren’t being served and enriched, it is all for naught. I hope I can remain even more fully focused on serving our young adult patrons with everything I do.

Finally, I am starting to see interested educators come along side our efforts to start teen programming. As soon as I’ve mentioned teen programming to parents, educators, and librarians, they immediately get excited about it. There hasn’t been a lot done for teens in the library, so I think having somebody on that encourages people. Obviously, I can’t create a successful program on my own, and I thank everyone who has helped me to this point, and everyone who will help me in the future.

So, what is your Community Library Network at Hayden doing in the next few months? We will be launching a Library Next-Gen website. We will be involved in Teen Tech Week and our annual Three Minute Teen Film Festival. We will be continuing to get you new books, and keep our collection up to date. We will start posting book lists that hopefully you will enjoy. We will be starting a Next-Gen Advisory Group in the summer. And we will continue to find what you need from the Community Library Network at Hayden.

Hope you have a great week and thanks for reading!

The Empire State Building=Mount Olympus?

Should I start this blog post with a question? Or should I just say good morning again? I love stuff like that. You kill two birds with one stone, make the beginning of the blog post a little bit more interesting, and still get to say good morning.

Anyways, I read a book this week that probably all of you have heard about, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Obviously, this is the first book in the series, Percy Jackson & The Olympians, and I had a really good time with it. I enjoy a good fantasy novel, the book is hugely popular among our patrons so it can’t hurt to read it, and Greek gods have always interested me. It’s fascinating to look at what other cultures believed about the metaphysical and why we are all here.

Go back to your high school classes and remember all of the Greek gods, heroes, and monsters you know of. Remember all of the ones that died, all of the ones that couldn’t resist that simple beauty, and all of the ones that tried to cause havoc for their sibling or close relative. Now imagine that all of these gods and monsters still exist in our world today, and Mount Olympus is actually on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building!

Welcome to the world of Percy Jackson, a half-blood son of one of the gods (I’d tell you which one, but he is actually “undetermined” for a portion of the book, and I wouldn’t want to give it away). Percy always had a problem with ADHD and dyslexia, and one day during a field trip (after one of his teachers turns out to be a monster sent from Hades) his best friend (who is actually a satyr) drops the news on him; you’re a demi-god and the gods are trying to kill you.

So begins the quest of Percy Jackson; accused of stealing Zeus’ master bolt and given only 10 days to return it until the big three (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades) start an all out war among the gods! The book starts with an attack by a Fury, and Percy runs into many other mythical monsters, gods and heroes such as Ares, Medusa, Dionysus, Hades, Chiron (trainer of heroes), the Fates, the Furies, and countless other mythology references. The characters of the gods are similar to their forms in Greek mythology, and the modern setting makes it so interesting (what happens when a monster attacks with modern mortals watching?) Finally, a key question throughout the book is whether or not Percy has a choice in his destiny: is he just a god’s mistake, a pawn in their schemes, or is he his own person? The question is posed in this book, and I’m sure it will come into play again in the later books of this series…

Disney, Murals, and Storytimes

Well, hello everyone. How was the week?

Mine went really well. I felt like a have a much better handle on the programs and events that I have coming up, and I also got to spend some time with little kids. I love it!

Just like last week, my first couple days of work were spent pondering, considering, and brainstorming upcoming programs and summer reading. Since I got a lot of ordering done for Next-Gen events last week, I had time to discuss the younger kid summer reading program this week. Even though there are still things to iron out, we have a jumpstart on summer reading now, and have the ordering finished.

Then I turned my attention to the next couple of months. I’ll start with December for this week, and I’ll let you know what’s going in January, February, and March in the next couple of weeks. As I mentioned last week, Jingle Bell Rock is going to be on Dec. 22 from 7:00-9:00pm. We’ll have some pizza, drinks, jingle bells, some holiday spirit, and any Christmas or normal songs you want to rock to! There is also some talk of having Christmas crafts available while you aren’t rocking. Because school will be out, we’re letting anybody from grades 6-12 in on the event.

Looking back on this week instead of into the future, I got to spend some time doing storytimes. Miss Cassie has a Tales for 2’s storytime every Thursday, and I got to cover for her. We read some train stories, and made some train collages. Today, I got to pop into the Kinder Center for their library times. It’s fun when kids recognize you, and enjoy reading stories with you!

In between classes, I got to talk to a local artist who is painting a mural in the Kinder Center Library. She told me about her start with Disney (back when Walt Disney was alive and would talk to his artists), all of the famous people she got to meet, and some fun details about Disneyland rides. It was also cool to see her take a rough sketch of a crab and transform it into the finished work. Today was the perfect end to a productive and great week.

Hope your week was also fantastic, and I’ll see you next week!

A Historical Egyptian Fairy Tale

Merry December to all, and to all a happy blog post!

Even though we are covered in snow, I read a book this week that dealt with Egypt, the Nile, and a complete lack of snow. Funny how different the climates are. But, the book was called Sphinx’s Princess, and it was a historical fiction novel about Egyptian Queen Nefertiti. The book opens with Nefertiti as a young girl, and this first installment follows her to her mid-teen years. The second installment, Sphinx’s Queen, came out this year. New young adult books cross my desk before we shelve them, and Sphinx’s Queen caught my eye. Instead of starting with that book, I figured I’d backtrack to the first one.

Nefertiti is the eldest daughter of Pharaoh’s chief investigator, and she leads a normal nobleman’s daughter’s life. Even though her mother died in childbirth, she has had a loving father and a caring nurse, who get married near the beginning of the book. Meanwhile, Nefertiti has no recollection of her mother, and has never met her mother’s sister, High Queen Tiye. Nefertiti’s father might be a chief investigator, but her aunt is the Queen of Egypt! Queen Tiye has a good looking, powerful son named Thutmose, and he is next in line to the throne. That is if any of Pharaoh’s junior wives don’t steal his affection for their own sons. In a ploy to seal the throne, Queen Tiye tries to force Nefertiti into marrying Thutmose, as Pharaoh loves a beautiful woman, and Nefertiti is gorgeous.

Even though I wasn’t expecting historical fiction when I picked up the book, I really enjoyed it. The name Nefertiti sounded really familiar, and I finally looked on Wikipedia to figure out who she was. She and her husband radically changed the face of ancient Egypt by claiming that there was only one god instead of the many gods that had been the Egyptian religion for years. Knowing who she would ultimately become helped me understand the drive and charisma that Nefertiti possesses in the book. Even though it is historical fiction, the “wicked stepmother” (technically aunt), and the beauty being launched into political intrigue read a lot like a fairy tale. But, who doesn’t love a good princess story?