Time Snatchers: Stealing from the Past

Time Snatchers by Richard Ungar

Why did I read it?

We have the awesome problem of getting a lot of new books right now (YAY!) and this had a cool cover and an interesting synposis lol.

What happened?

Apparently, items from the past are in high demand in the future, and Uncle is in the business of connecting items with buyers. The year is 2061, and Caleb is one of Uncle's time snatchers, a child he "adopted" and sends on missions into the past.

Snatching itself isn't that bad; but, Uncle is starting to threaten physical harm for failed missions, and Frank is starting to steal the things that Caleb was sent to steal. That isn't to mention the expansion that Uncle is planning, and the fact that Abbie, his best friend and partner, is starting to make goo-goo eyes at Frank. Problems!

While Caleb thought he'd be a time snatcher for life, these new complications are starting to put some doubts in his mind and makes him start to wonder what kind of future he wants to create.

What did I like or not like?

I think its kind of funny that I've read two time traveling books one after the other, but these novels couldn't be more different. Stravaganza: City of Masks had more of an historical fiction feel, and this one definitely leans more toward Sci-Fi. But, that doesn't mean it is the typical time travel novel. I thought it had some great new ideas and situations.

While the technology made for some interesting twists, and the story was very engaging, I thought the ending was a little bit lacking. It could have been that the author was leaving it open for a sequel, or that I just missed something, but I kind of felt like there were some loose ends.

But, this book is definitely worth reading!

Experiments with Forces and Motion

As many of you know, the Hayden Library isn't open on holidays, so I wasn't able to post a Program Idea this Monday, which happened to be Memorial Day. But, I figured I'd give you one today, and move our Book Blurt to tomorrow.

Our Ka-Boom: Science Experiments program this month was about Forces and Motion, and it was pretty awesome!

When I look for science experiments, Steven Spangler's website is the first place I look, and this month was no exception :)

Do Not Open-Soda Prank

While this would be hillarious to actually try as a prank, it also works as a science experiment. If you poke holes in a soda bottle and then screw the lid back on, the water doesn't come out. Why?

Egg Drop

While Spangler calls for a pie dish and some eggs, I just use a paper plate and a juggling ball (doesn't make as much of a mess). But either way, this is a fun experiment that teaches kids about the law of inertia.

Hammer Balance

So one problem with remembering experiments instead of where you got them is that you can do the experiment again, but you can't point people to where you got it from. But luckily, this experiment isn't too hard to do. Basically, you put a ruler half on and half off a table, make a loop out of a string, and balance a hammer against the ruler. The top picture is what it looks like.

When you ask the kids if you can balance a hammer with a ruler, they don't think its possible, but they think its pretty cool when you can. They also like trying to see how far they can get the ruler off of the table before everything falls apart.

Magic Pendulum Catch

This may seem super simple, but it is currently my favorite experiment. If you have one hex nut on one side of a string, and fifteen hex nuts on the other, what does is create?

Tornado in a Bottle

Most likely everyone has doen this before. But, that doesn't mean it isn't fun to do it again hehe.

TED: Ideas Worth Spreading

Something that I continue to run into in my travels and perusing across the Internet is TED. In short, TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. The main way I've become familiar with them are the TEDtalks that I've watched, but I've come to find that this is just one facet of what they do.

TED includes two annual conferences held in the US, and a global conference held in the UK. They also have volunteers that work on translating TEDtalks into other languages. TEDx supports local communities that want to have a TED experience on the local level, and the TEDPrize awards an individual $100,000 to support an idea that can change the world.

As I mentioned, I'm the most familiar with TEDtalks, and just this aspect of TED is so cool that I needed to share it! There are over 1,100 free videos ranging in topics from libraries, to technology, to music. Originally, TED brought together people from 3 worlds; technology, entertainment, and design, but there are many talks that have nothing to do with those topics as well.

A recent talk that I found interesting was on Sixth Sense technology. If you like the video, check out the other TEDtalks that are out there :)

Stravaganza: Danger in another World

Stravaganza: City of Masks by Mary Hoffman

Why did I read it?

Stravaganza has been one of Miss Karen's favorite series for a long time now. So, when we were decided on a book at TeenBookWorms, I suggested this one, and everyone else agreed.

What happened?

Lucien is battling cancer in modern day London. Struggling with chemotherapy, Lucien welcomes the gift of an old notebook to write his thoughts when his throat hurts. But, little does he known that the notebook is a talisman from Talia, an alternate world that was stumbled upon by an alchemist from our world.

Each night that Lucien goes to bed clutching the notebook, he wakes up in Bellezza, as city that resembles Venice almost 400 years in the past. While the political intrigue, beauty, and wonder of the city are similar to events in our own history, Bellezza is a city wrought with its own dangers, traditions, and scandals.

What did I like or not like?

For many of the folks that read it for TeenBookWorms, this book missed just slightly. They said the writing style was confusing at times, and the actions of the Duchessa (the female ruler of Bellezza) were a little bit brutal.

But, I can see why Miss Karen really likes this book. Assassination attempts, powerful families vying for control, and selfish rulers are very much historically accurate, and it makes sense that an alternate world would have these same problems. Having Lucien bounce back and forth between the two world also made for an interesting plot element.

Even though I agree that the writing style, which was third person keeping track of multiple story lines at the same time, could be a little confusing, I thought it helped the story along once I got into it.

SYNC: Audiobook Downloads this Summer!

Saw this on one of the newsletters I get, and I thought it was super cool! SYNC is the audio book publishers' and AudioFile's Magazine partnership to introduce readers to Young Adult books and Classics in audio book form. Basically what that means, is they are giving away two audio books a week for 10 weeks this summer. Each week, they will be offering a new Young Adult title, and a Classic that corresponds to it, absolutely free!

Downloads are going to be in MP3 format, and will be available to download for 7 days. But, once you download it, it is yours to keep. The service will be hosted by Overdrive, and most listening devices are supported.

The downloads start June 14 and go through August 22, 2012. If you would like a list of the books available each week, just click the Schedule of SYNC Downloads. There is also more info on their website About page.

Happy listening!

Brownies: The Chocolate Chip Variety

Once again, having a stove while doing cooking programs is very convenient :) We just did Chocolate Chip Brownies for our last Play With Your Food program, and part of the recipe is melting the chocolate chips on a stove top. Luckily, the same result could be accomplished with a microwave, but I thought the kids would enjoy working on a stove top (obviously with close supervision lol).

As everyone knows, but silly young adult librarians like me fail to take into account, is that brownies take a while to cook! The recipe I used takes about 40 minutes, which is a large chunk of an hour program. So, if I were to do it again, I would probably make it an hour and a half program instead.

Then the question becomes, what do you do with the kids while the brownies are cooking? I found that they had a really good time entertaining themselves. Now, they didn't have free range of the library, we were in our kitchen, but they were chatting, talking, and joking about this and that, and seemed to be doing okay with the waiting time.

But, something that I used to fill a little bit of the time was making cinnamon sugar tortillas. I had the kids tear tortillas into smaller pieces, sprinkle cinnamon-sugar over the top, and cooked them for about 5-7 minutes. They were surprisingly simple and delicious :)

Another idea I had but didn't quite use was something with mashmallows. These Zombie Marshmallows are super simple to do, and would also be quite hillarious hehe.

Whether you use some fillers or not, brownies were really popular, and the kids were really excited to make their own.

The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

The Avengers: The Ultimate Guide to Earth's Mightiest Heroes by Scott Beatty, Alan Cowsill and Alastair Dougall

Why did I read it?

Because I am so super excited to watch Marvel's The Avengers this weekend! I know that the movie has been out since May 4th, but I was waiting for my Dad to get back from a trip to watch it. But, in the meantime, this book came up on one of the lists that I watch, and I couldn't resist getting it for the library.

What happened?

This book happens to be non-fiction, so it doesn't exactly have a story line. But it does contain a ton of summaries of Avengers' comics story lines :) It brings you through the first Avengers comic in 1963, all the way through the modern story lines of the Civil War and the start of the Heroic Age.

In-between, it has hero profiles, details on super villains, the agencies that The Avengers run into, and a look at The Avengers through each decade since their inception.

Another cool feature is the Key Issues. These are the really groundbreaking comics that made The Avengers what they are today.

What did I like or not like?

While I thought the book was awesome, I read it more as a reference work instead of reading it cover to cover. Sometimes I read the text and background, and other times I just looked at the pictures lol. The pages are visually interesting, filled with comic panels and pictures of the heroes, and the authors are very knowledgeable about their source material.

I've read a couple other hero encyclopedias and guides from Scott Beatty. They were interesting and very informational, and this one is no different :)

Koha: Your New Library Catalog

It has finally happened! The Cooperative Information Network (CIN), the bigger network that the Community Library Network is a part of, just got a new catalog, which means we have a new catalog :)

The system is called Koha, and it is taken care of by ByWater Solutions. But, that isn't what you are interested in. You would probably like to know how it is different. "Koha is the first free and open source software library automation package (ILS). Development is sponsored by libraries of varying types and sizes, volunteers, and support companies from around the world."

What does that mean for you? It means you have more control of your catalog experience. Koha allows you to create lists of books you want to check out, put holds on, or just keep track of. It allows you to create RSS feeds on new books, and also to keep a reading history of what you have read. You can create a private list of things you want to read, or make the list public so others can see your suggestions.

Another cool feature is you can limit your searches to items that are available right now. That means you don't have to click on each individual record to see if you can actually go grab it on the shelf.

There are plenty of other awesome things, but there is one more I want to point out. With our previous catalog, you had to select a specific copy of a book to put a hold on it. Now, you can place a "Next Available Copy" hold, and no matter where it is in the network, the next available copy will be heading your way.

Even though change is always hard, and there are definitely some things I'm getting used to, I'm excited about this new system, and how it will be used in the future!

Jennifer Fallaw: Connecting Patrons with Local Talent

Local authors and librarians are a match made in heaven :) Authors are obviously in the business of creating book content, and librarians are in the business of getting that content into patron's hands. Sounds like the beginning of a beautiful friendship hehe.

Obviously, library's are filled with fantastic books and resources from well-known authors, vendors, and publishers. But, it is also cool when librarians are able to support local authors, and bring awareness to their talent.

Recently, we had the opportunity for local author, Jennifer Fallaw, to come in and chat with our Monday Fun group. She read a few chapters from her debut novel, The Wishflower Field: Book One-Marie's Triumph, chatted about where the idea came from, and answered some questions on what it was like to write it. The Wishflower Field gives kids a positive way to deal with fear, and that was another large part of Jennifer's talk.

Not only was their a good turnout from our library, there were also quite a few folks that we normally don't see at Monday Fun that came down to support Jennifer. Perfect! Jennifer really appreciated the chance to come, and the kids really enjoyed her appearance. A couple kids purchased the book (with their parents help of course) and by the next week, one girl told me she read it at least five times!

Library's are all about connecting readers with literature, and it was fantastic to connect local talent with our patrons =D

Around the World: A Historic Graphic Novel

Around the World by Matt Phelan

Why did I read it?

Every month or so, I get a couple library magazines that roll across my desk. One of the main ones is VOYA (Voices of Youth Advocates). VOYA has great articles that deal with teen programming, and they also have a huge list of book reviews.

Around the World was one of the ones that my eye, so I asked our Acquisitions Librarian (the lady that orders our books) to buy us a copy. I'm always wondering if the books that I order because of a book review are any good, so I couldn't resist reading it. I'm really glad I did.

What happened?

In 1873, Jules Verne wrote the intrepid novel, Around the World in 80 Days, in which Phileas Fogg makes a wager to circumvent the globe in under 80 days. Inspired by that story, actual travelers sought to circle the globe. Matt has assembled three of these real-life stories into a fantastic graphic novel adventure.

Thomas Stevens road a bicycle around the world (boated over the ponds lol) to be remembered. Nellie Bly, girl reporter, did it to prove that she could. Joshua Slocum, a well-known sea captain, traveled around the world in a second rate ship as he mourned the loss of his first wife.

What did I like or not like?

When I first read the review for this one, I thought it was just an author inspired by the writings of Verne who knew a good idea when he saw one. Little did I know that there were real life people that went all the way around the world shortly after Around the World in 80 Days was published. Telling these actual events in graphic form, mixing in quotes from the traveler's journals, and pondering why they did what they did makes for a very interesting read.

Puppet Tales: Puppet Website Suggestions

So a couple week's ago I talked about the local puppet business, Puppet Tales. I mentioned that I would mention some puppet distributors, but I forgot to do it the next week, or the week after...

So, here is a list of websites that Dave suggested to us during the workshop :)

Animal Puppets

Folkmanis, Puppet Jungle (gives discounts on Folkmanis puppets), The Puppet Store (lots of animal puppets, including Folkmanis as well as people puppets)

Latex Puppets
(These ones are a little more expensive because they have heads or body parts made out of latex. There is a Turtle from One Way Street that is SO COOL! Latex lasts a long time and also gives a puppet more expression.)

Axtell, One Way Street, Puppets Inc.

People Puppets
(Dave is based as a church ministry, so some of these puppets are Bible characters. But, there are other puppet people as well)

Puppet Rvelation, PuppetU

Make Your Own Puppets
(Patterns, advice, and information on making your own)

Project Puppet, Muppet Central

Perler Beads: I did that as a kid!

So I'm always looking for fun craft projects to do. Shrinky Dinks were really fun at our Hunger Games Party, and I only knew about those because I used to do them as a kid. That got me to thinking what other things I had done as a kid, and I immediately thought of Perler Beads.

Now I never called them Perler Beads when I was growing up. It was just "those bead things" we always did at Grandma's house. Basically, you take a plastic peg board with tiny little pegs, put tiny little beads on them, and then iron them. The iron melts the beads together and you have an awesome and simple little thingy :)

My family already had the peg board shapes at our house, but they are easy to find at craft stores. Most of the time you can purchase beads and peg boards in a kit. If you already have the peg boards, you just need to purchase a thing of beads, and bring an iron from home.

The kids had a really fun time putting them together, and they also thought it was really cool that some beads and an iron could make such cool designs.

Could I Talk to You?

Dying to Know You by Aidan Chambers

Why did I read it?

So I'm supposed to read an award winning book for my Young Adult Lit class. Easy enough, right? Unless you're me. lol. I was shelving some books, and one said "Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award." Thought, cool, award winner, check! Only after getting half way through did I realize it was referring to the author, Aidan Chambers, not that particular book, Dying to Know You.

What happened?

Young man, Karl, walks into an aging author's office and asks for his help. Karl has a girlfriend, named Fiorella, who wants him to write about himself. Problem is, Karl has dyslexia, and writing about himself is pretty much hopeless. So, to please his girlfriend, who he really, really likes, Karl asks her favorite author to help him write to her.

That is at least how the book starts. Karl and the author soon find that they have a lot in common, look at the world in a similar way, and can help each other in ways they don't know quite yet.

What did I like or not like?

I really, really liked this book! It wasn't what I was expecting at all, and it was pleasantly awesome. While the book is written from the perspective of the author (the author in the story, not the perspective of Aidan Chambers, but it might be some of that as well), we never find out the author's name because the book is really about Karl. The author slowly learns more about himself and Karl throughout the book, and the discoveries are hopeful, encouraging, and very truthful.

In addition to a great storyline, the setting is also interesting. The story could take place anywhere, but it happens to take place in England. But, the author doesn't come out and say that. You just get hints and tips in some vocabulary they use and places they reference. It was surprising and cool.

This book is also chock full of little bits and pieces of very wise sounding things. The author in the story has lived a pretty long life, and it shows in the wisdom he has. I enjoyed a couple of the quotes so much, I'm probably going to share them on my Facebook profile.

P.S. There is some sporadic cussing throughout the novel, and some sexual content and discussions.

Informative Videos from Scout :)

This is actually a Techno Tuesday from a little while ago. But, I was having some trouble with the keywords on the original post, so I had to delete it. But, here it is again, with better keywords :)

So I got to attend a webinar on a new service from Idaho Public Television and the Idaho Commission for Libraries, and I wanted to tell you about it.

The service is called Scout, and its basically a free database of informational videos from Idaho Public Television.

There are two sides to the interface. The Idaho Collection features full episodes on topics like history, science, and places. The Classroom Edition (requires a very short registration, but is still free) features three to six minute clips on almost any topic a teacher or student could need. The Classroom Edition also features the ability to creat playlists, and to favorite and organize videos.

If you're a fan of Idaho Public Television, need quick, informative videos, or are just curious about what kind of content is available, I encourage you to check this out!