It's Caudill Time!

Next Monday is the introduction to the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award 2010 for all 6th graders. The 6th graders as a class will particiapte in this Illinois state book award for grades 5-8. There are 20 books nominated each year. Each 6th grader will read a minimum of 3 nominees before the end of February to be eligible to vote. All Lakeview votes will be sent to the state committee and the state winner will be announced in March, 2010. This year's nominees are fantastic. Mrs. Wilson and I have read all 20 nominees and we are having a hard time picking a favorite. But we don't get to vote! Only the students do. To see the list of nominees, click on the link on the Lakeview library webpage. There is even a link to an online book talk about the nominees. And I hope to link my mimio presentation as well. If you ever need a good read recommendation, any Caudill nominee since the beginning in 1988 would be a great choice.

An New Explanation for Vampires

With all the excitement about the next Twilight movie opening, here's a very different fiction book about vampires. In his book Sweet-Blood, Pete Hautman presents the idea that vampires are created when diabetes goes untreated. Lucy Szado frequents the Transylvania Internet chat room as Sweetblood. Usually it's just a group of young people that discuss all things goth, but Draco claims that he really is a vampire. As Lucy becomes more involved in the goth/vampire world, her life in the real word begins to fall apart include her ability to regulate her diabetes. Now Draco invites her to meet him and enter his strange world. Lucy has some very difficult decisions to make. Follow this disturbing yet fascinating story to see what Lucy decides to do.

How Far Will Reality TV Go?

In Andrea White's book, Surviving Antarctica, Reality TV 2083, the answer is all the way to possible death. In the year 2083 education is controlled by the Department of Entertainment. All learning is done on television. The Department sets up reality survivor shows to educate and entertain students and adults. Now the ultimate challenge is given to 5 carefully chosen children - a chance to recreate Robert E. Scott's 1912 doomed attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole - without any adult help! Newly hired Andrew Morton is on the team that monitors the audio-video feed from hidden cameras and microphones for this Historical Survivor show. But Andrew is forbidden to assist the children or even let them know that there is an adult watching them all the time. Once the children have been dropped off on Antarctica, they will face many dangers and life-threatening hazards - all in the name of entertainment. Is there anything that Andrew can do to save the children and keep his job? Can the children survive the cold, ice, snow and reach the South Pole? This is the suspense book that will keep you reading to find out what happens next.

Scary Books

In honor of Halloween, Mrs. Wilson and I have picked our favorite scary books in the IMC. We hope you will enjoy them, too.

Mrs. Wilson liked: The House with a Clock in Its Walls, by John Bellairs -- Hunters of the Dusk, by Darren Shan (one of the Cirque du Freak series) -- Old Willis Place, by Mary Downing Hahn -- All the Lovely Bad Ones, by Mary Downing Hahn (a Caudill 2010 nominee) -- The Silver Kiss, by Annette Curtis Klause.

I liked: All the Lovely Bad Ones -- The Dollhouse Murders, by Betty Ren Wright -- The Halloween Tree, by Ray Bradbury -- The House with a Clock in Its Walls -- The Silver Kiss.

As you can see we agreed on 3 of the 5 books. We often think alike.

If you prefer a humorous book to a scary one, try Vampire High, by Douglas Rees. Happy Halloween!

Spooky Books for a Dark Night

It's time to get into the "spirit" of the holiday. The IMC has several new books that can help you.

For information books, we have 2 new books - one on haunted houses and one on witches. These books are from a series called The Mystery Library. Each book examines the history, investigations, and mystery of its topic. There are lots of photographs that show people and events. Just the right kind of nonfiction for Halloween.

There are a number of new fiction books that are spooky, scary, or just plain creepy. You may want to look at Bunnicula, an old favorite about a vampire bunny by Deborah and James Howe OR Heck, Where the Bad Children Go, by Dale E. Basge OR Danger in the Dark, by Tom LaLicki, a mystery which features Harry Houdini, the great escape artist OR Shadowmancer, by G.P. Taylor which involves the forces of good and evil OR The Witches of Worm, another old favorite by Zilpha Keatley Snyder about a girl who wants to become a witch OR a new book by Ms. Snyder called The Unseen about a ghostly world OR Death Is a Lonely Business, by Ray Bradbury, a mystery featuring the author himself and many strange events. These and other terrific holiday books are availble in the IMC.

New Poetry Series

We are expanding our poetry collection with new additions from the Poetry for Young People series. These slim, brightly illustrated volumes present poems and excerpts from longer works by such famous poets as Robert Frost, Robert Browning, Edward Lear, Rudyard Kipling, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edgar Allan Poe, and William Shakespeare. These are the type of books that you can dip into at any time. Read a poem here or there --or use the book when your class is studying poetry and impress your teacher. Each book has a short introduction which highlights the poet's life and work. The newest additions are in the New Book section. For the volumes we already have look in the literature section of the non-fiction collection where the call numbers begin with 811 or 821.

Is This the Future?

In the year 2074, in Pete Hautman's book Rash, people are very, very safety conscious. In the United Safer States of America (USSA) french fries are illegal, football is banned, and outbursts of anger are taken very seriously because people must be protected. Teenager Bo Marsten learns this the hard way. When his temper flares out of control, he is sentenced to three years of manual labor in the Canadian tundra. Now he works in a factory where the warden cares nothing about the safety of his prisoners. If Bo can survive his sentence, he will have to decide what's worse - a society where people are locked up for road rage or a prison where the wrong move could make you a polar bear's dinner.