Tuesday, February 27, 2018

‘The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik’

Written by David Arnold, this story offers an intriguing premise: the protagonist, Noah, emerges from an attempted hypnosis to discover that details of the world around him have changed.

For example, Noah's friend Alan was an avid collector of DC superhero comics books, but post-hypnosis, Alan is a devotee of the Marvel universe.

Noah's parents owned the complete DVD set of the sitcom "Friends;" now, apparently, they're obsessed with the TV show "Seinfeld."

Strangely, though, some things in Noah's life remain steadfastly constant; they're those people and things around which Noah forms his own "Strange Fascinations."

I found this to be a captivating story that kept me guessing throughout. Publication is anticipated for May 2018 by Viking Children's Books. For its use of mature language, I'd recommend this book for older teens and young adults.

Reviewer's Note: The publisher provided me with an advance reading copy.

Saturday, February 24, 2018

‘Estudiantes pueden tener acceso a la biblioteca pública’

Estudiante UnaTarjeta

(En español / In Spanish)
Con “Estudiante UnaTarjeta,” los estudiantes de Santa Rosa City Schools pronto podrán usar su número de identificación de estudiante en el sistema de la Biblioteca del Condado de Sonoma (boletín del distrito para febrero 2018, en la página ocho de revista bilingüe La Voz).

(En inglés / In English)
With “Student OneCard,” the students of Santa Rosa City Schools will soon be able to use their student ID number in the Sonoma County Library system (district newsletter for February 2018, on Page 8 of La Voz Bilingual Newspaper).

‘Of course’ Trump wants to strip funding from libraries

“Of course” U.S. President Trump wants to strip away federal funding of libraries. Writing for The Nation, Sue Halpern argues that libraries provide the “raw materials of civic education.” They offer a “space where everyone belongs.” And not only are libraries built on “the open and egalitarian promises of democracy;” libraries also exist to promote those promises. Cuts to libraries are consistent with Trump’s assault on immigration and democratic principles.

Friday, February 23, 2018

At SRCSA: Cataloging for classrooms and for library

Cynthia M. Parkhill sits at library desk with keyboard, monitor, barcode scanner, small stack of barcoded books and a sheet of barcodes in front of her at the counter. She's wearing her white-image-against-black 'Narwhal' hoodie for Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts, decorated with metallic gold trim along the edge of the hood, and her newsboy hat with a brim and alternating panels of white-against-black elephant pattern brocade with red stripes. The remaining panels of the hat are solid olive-green, and solid denim-blue. The hat band is solid olive-green. She is also wearing sparkly green-knit wristers that just peek out beneath the long sleeves of the hoodie.

This week was enjoyably characterized by cataloging and barcoding new materials. First up were textbooks and educational resources from Santa Rosa City Schools, which I processed and delivered to classrooms as Instructional Materials Technician. Next, I cataloged books for the library as the school’s Library Technician. The beautiful green decorations shown are for Literacy Week; volunteers worked tirelessly today to set up for Scholastic Book Fair in the library. As of Friday afternoon some $300 in books, purchased with book-fair dollars, had already enriched the library, and I’m truly grateful to past and present support that made the purchases possible. I wish even more success to book fair during the coming week.

School library transformed into Emerald City for Scholastic Book Fair

Roomful of cabinets and round tables, piled with books that are displayed as merchandise. The table-tops are draped with green table cloths.

At Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts today, a team of volunteers transformed the library into a bookstore for Scholastic Book Fair and “Literacy Week.” Under the artistic vision of parent-volunteer Lissa Provost, the library now resembles the Emerald City of Oz. It opens for business on Monday bright and early for parents to preview its wares.

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Scholastic Book Fair merchandise arrives at SRCSA

Man wearing dark shirt and pants, with dark sunglasses on, pushes metal cabinet into place next to a second cabinet. Several boxes with the Scholastic Book Fair logo are balanced on top of each cabinet.

Excitement is building for Scholastic Book Fairs at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts. Eleven cabinets arrived today, as well as a multitude of boxes. Here’s Scholastic driver Norman Miranda, bringing them into the library. Parents, check for recent communications about Book-Fair preview on Monday morning; each adult who drops in will receive a raffle ticket for each of your children who attends the school. And if school staff catches students reading ... I for one hope to give out many more tickets between now and start of fair.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

SRCSA ‘Literacy Week’ needs volunteers

Banner with white letters against red background, reading: 'BOOK FAIR Volunteers Needed!,' attached to metal gate railing

“Literacy Week” and the Scholastic Book Faire are almost here, and parent-volunteer Lissa Provost put up this attention-grabbing banner today at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts.

Monday, February 19, 2018

‘Pinned’ by Sharon G. Flake

Update, March 11, 2018: I was able to connect with Scholastic, the publisher, concerning use of the phrase “confined to a wheelchair” in descriptive copy that appeared on the book’s back cover. (See my original review, below.)

I was told that Scholastic will change the phrasing for future printings of this book, and wish to express my appreciation to Scholastic for being receptive to concerns about ableism shaping how people with disabilities are perceived.


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My reaction was mixed to Pinned by Sharon G. Flake (Scholastic, 2014). I empathized with Autumn’s plight as she struggled to unlock reading, because one of the people closest in my life is dealing with a print-disability.

Sunday, February 18, 2018

Sonoma County Library ‘Educator Card’

Beginning Monday, Feb. 26, local educators will have access to a special “Educator Card” through Sonoma County Library (SCL). Educators will be able to borrow up to 50 items at a time to support their students in the classroom. They’ll be able to keep these material for up to six weeks, and will not be charged fines.

Saturday, February 10, 2018

Prize raffle for students ‘caught reading’

Stack of gold-colored slips of paper with a castle-style logo for 'SRCSA Literacy Week 2018.' Printing on the slips of paper state, 'You've Been Caught Reading! Enter this ticket in the raffle at our Book Fair Feb. 26-March 2nd.'

Compounding the excitement of officially starting work as Library Technician at my school, on Friday I handed out my first raffle ticket to a student whom I “caught reading!”

The raffle tickets are a promotion for “Literacy Week” at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts. The tickets were distributed to school staff on Friday, so we could start giving them to students. With each raffle ticket that a student receives, the student can enter a prize drawing.

“Literacy Week” will take place this year from Feb. 26 to March 2. I’m looking forward to supporting a Scholastic Book Fair in the library among “Literacy Week” activities.

Student IDs access public library resources

Intriguing news in the latest eBulletin from Santa Rosa City Schools: Effective March 5, all SRCS students will be able to use their student ID number in the Sonoma County Library system to check out books and access online materials.

Library Technician at SRCSA

Outside SRCSA Library

I officially started work this week as Library Technician at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts. I’m absolutely thrilled to add caretaking of the library to my work with school curriculum.

Saturday, February 3, 2018

‘Backlash’ by Sarah Darer Littman

Book cover, 'Backlash' by Sarah Darer Littman. Cover image depicts close-up view of a girl's hand, holding a multi-color polka-dot-patterned mobile phone. The girl has a silver ring with a large green circular stone on one finger. Her skin is beige, and in out-of-focus background, she has reddish-blond hair and is wearing blue.
High-school student Lara tries to kill herself after a boy who’d friended her on Facebook cruelly rejects her with a public post to her wall, saying the world would be better off without her.

But the boy, “Christian,” was a made-up account and the person who was really behind it was Lara’s neighbor and former friend Bree.

A friend of Bree’s knew and offered suggestions to make Christian seem more believable — and when Bree’s mother found out, she wanted to play-act Christian too.

Their involvement comes to light during the investigation, and they are vilified and shunned; Bree’s phone is hacked and the new recorded greeting invites callers to leave her death threats. Bree’s entire family suffers from the fallout, even though her father and brother were unaware of the incident.

Author Sarah Darer Littman said she was inspired to write Backlash “after reading news stories about several cyberbullying incidents and the online vigilantism that occurred in the name of making the bullies ‘pay.’”

I’d been familiar with some of these headlines myself, given my personal history as bullying-target turned crusader, who advocates that school- and work-communities unite to defeat bullying.

So with that history, I was drawn to read Littman’s book, and I found it very impressive.

Multiple-character viewpoints portray the broad and destructive impact that an incident of bullying can have. I recommend this book be read by teens and adults.

Disclosure of material connection: My taxes support local libraries’ acquisition of this and other resources. I consider the access I enjoy to be a “priceless” return on my investment.

Art reproductions in SRCSA Library

Wooden framework that supports a collection of printed art reproductions that have been stood upright. The image on the first art reproduction in the set, depicts a beach scene with sand and rocky hill in foreground with cloudy sky above, and a strip of water in the background.

“At Santa Rosa Charter School For The Arts, students benefit from an arts-integrated curriculum.” (SRCSA website). In my role as caretaker of educational resources, I’m responsible for art reproductions in SRCSA Library. The collection reflects a variety of styles, historic periods, and media, and several of the pieces in our collection are supported by teacher’s guides. I hope this collection will be a valuable asset to arts integration in the classroom.