I've been going to see a movie every weekend lately. Which is nice (though expensive) as I saw like three movies in theaters last year.
Iron Man- Best superhero movie of the last year or two, though way more violent. Marvel is laying the groundwork for something big. Robert Downey Jr. is the perfect Tony Stark. Go for the theater if possible, and remember to stay through the credits.
Get Smart- A fun film, not great but funny. Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway make a nice team, though the chemistry isn't quite there. Dwayne Johnson and Masi Oka are fun. A good rental, but if you don't know the original show, you might not get some of the jokes.
WALL-E- Definitely the best of the bunch. Check out my full review. Go see this in theaters.
Wanted- I don't really like violent movies or movies with really stupid plot devices, and this movie unfortunately is both. Four words: Mystical loom of fate. It wants to be Kill Bill or the Matrix, but it would need better writing. Rent if you like mindless violence filled movies with Angelina Jolie. Rent Beowulf if you like Angelina Jolie, violent and intelligent movies.
Hellboy II- Good movie, fun characters, lots of action and humor, and a gaping plothole. However the huge fight happens so soon after the plothole that you won't have time to consider it. Great creatures throughout, though some appear to be Pan's Labyrinth leftovers. Del Toro is good at combining humor, action, and scary stuff, so I'm quite hopefully about the Hobbit. If you liked the first Hellboy go see this one in the theater, it deserves the big screen.
This weekend is The Dark Knight, which looks very promising.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Summer Reading is upon us
6/9/08 (not posted earlier due to lack of time at computer)
Across the country libraries are either beginning Summer Reading or finishing up their first week or two. My library has begun today, and is off to quite a start. With schools out and temperatures in the 90's-100's, families and groups of teens seem to be flocking to our air-conditioned library. We've got over 60 kids and 30 teens signed up for the Reading Program at the main branch, and who knows how many at the other branches. The children's librarian told me that she'd be out at the desk signing youth up all day. I am lucky enough to have teens volunteering and doing sign-up at the moment.
Teen volunteers are a great thing to have in libraries, though I fear somewhat underused and unavailable. We have use volun-teens mainly during the summer, though I'm trying to get them to work during the school year too. They currently say that they to busy to do anything more when school is on, but I'll try again in the fall.
Summer Reading is a definitely a mixed blessing for libraries. Our circs, door counts, program attendance, and reader's advisory go way up. Earlier we had at least six families in the children's area reading, looking for books, playing games, making puppets eat each other. It is chaos and it is kinda the most wonderful thing.
Across the country libraries are either beginning Summer Reading or finishing up their first week or two. My library has begun today, and is off to quite a start. With schools out and temperatures in the 90's-100's, families and groups of teens seem to be flocking to our air-conditioned library. We've got over 60 kids and 30 teens signed up for the Reading Program at the main branch, and who knows how many at the other branches. The children's librarian told me that she'd be out at the desk signing youth up all day. I am lucky enough to have teens volunteering and doing sign-up at the moment.
Teen volunteers are a great thing to have in libraries, though I fear somewhat underused and unavailable. We have use volun-teens mainly during the summer, though I'm trying to get them to work during the school year too. They currently say that they to busy to do anything more when school is on, but I'll try again in the fall.
Summer Reading is a definitely a mixed blessing for libraries. Our circs, door counts, program attendance, and reader's advisory go way up. Earlier we had at least six families in the children's area reading, looking for books, playing games, making puppets eat each other. It is chaos and it is kinda the most wonderful thing.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Printz and Newbery award books
I just finished listening to "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary Schmidt. It is the winner of both the Printz Award and a Newbery Honor, which is a pretty big honor. Now this is also tells you some things about the book with having even seen it.
-The main character will be between 11 and 14 years old
-It will very likely be historical fiction
-It will almost certainly be realistic fiction
-There will be some sort of death
-There will be issues
-It will be depressing in at least some parts
-It will likely not circ great at my library
Now I haven't read all the Newbery books or even all the Printz ones. I'm certainly making some generalizations here, but there are definite trends to be observed in the winners and honorees. Of the 2008 Newbery books, all four are historical and realistic fiction, and all deal with race, religion, or class issues. The 2007 batch brought us two of historical and two contemporary, with the issues of families and disablities thrown in. Only about 12 fantasy or sci-fi books have won the Newbery Medal going book all the way to 1922. And that is including the ones that are fantastical because they are about and told through the point of view of animals.
As my father said when I spoke to him about this the other day, the depressing nature of the books and the issues like racism, classism, and religion are things that real youth are experiencing and helps them connect them to the book.
The Printz Award is definitely edgier, but still it is fond of historical fiction, issues, and depressing bits. But they at least chose winner and honor books with good amounts of humor and interesting characters and narrators like Death, demons, the Monkey King, and ghosts.
My current bet for a Newbery this year is The Underneath by Kathi Appelt. It appears to have all the requirements, other than historical. Looks like it has some strong fantastical elements at least.
In the case of the Printz, I haven't a clue. It seems to be the book no one predicted in the past couple of years.
-The main character will be between 11 and 14 years old
-It will very likely be historical fiction
-It will almost certainly be realistic fiction
-There will be some sort of death
-There will be issues
-It will be depressing in at least some parts
-It will likely not circ great at my library
Now I haven't read all the Newbery books or even all the Printz ones. I'm certainly making some generalizations here, but there are definite trends to be observed in the winners and honorees. Of the 2008 Newbery books, all four are historical and realistic fiction, and all deal with race, religion, or class issues. The 2007 batch brought us two of historical and two contemporary, with the issues of families and disablities thrown in. Only about 12 fantasy or sci-fi books have won the Newbery Medal going book all the way to 1922. And that is including the ones that are fantastical because they are about and told through the point of view of animals.
As my father said when I spoke to him about this the other day, the depressing nature of the books and the issues like racism, classism, and religion are things that real youth are experiencing and helps them connect them to the book.
The Printz Award is definitely edgier, but still it is fond of historical fiction, issues, and depressing bits. But they at least chose winner and honor books with good amounts of humor and interesting characters and narrators like Death, demons, the Monkey King, and ghosts.
My current bet for a Newbery this year is The Underneath by Kathi Appelt. It appears to have all the requirements, other than historical. Looks like it has some strong fantastical elements at least.
In the case of the Printz, I haven't a clue. It seems to be the book no one predicted in the past couple of years.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Summer Reading Countdown
Summer Reading is a great, wonderful, fun thing for kids, teens, and libraries. But preparing for it makes me pull out my hair.
Here's a piece of my To Do list:
-Choose movies
- Screen movies
-Choose crafts
-Make sample crafts
-Book program space
-Buy prizes
-Photograph prizes
-Write up prize descriptions
-Create bulletin board
-Make fliers for schools
-Use up all the copier toner
-Make packets (will be done as soon as more toner arrives)
-Visit schools
-Website
-Prepare a book list for visiting 4th graders
- Make drawing bins
- Print sign-up sheets
Writing it up actually makes me feel better.
Getting close to the end!
Here's a piece of my To Do list:
-
- Screen movies
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Make drawing bins
- Print sign-up sheets
Writing it up actually makes me feel better.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Reading lots, but not writing
Summer Reading is hurtling towards us, and I feel sort of ready. I'm trying to get a lot of things going with the Teen Advisory Board too. They have agreed to make posters promoting Summer Reading, and the review blog is finally getting off the ground. I'm very pleased that it is finally happening, so I hope it continues to grow.
We are talking about meeting at Barnes and Noble to do some end of the fiscal year shopping, as there is always money that needs to be spent quickly in May or June. The TAB has been asking about a field trip and this might be a good opportunity. I'm always asking them for purchase suggestions and understandably they have trouble thinking of specific titles. The nearest bookstore that carries teen books is about an hour away, so they aren't as easily exposed to the newest titles.
Might get a couple reviews up later.
We are talking about meeting at Barnes and Noble to do some end of the fiscal year shopping, as there is always money that needs to be spent quickly in May or June. The TAB has been asking about a field trip and this might be a good opportunity. I'm always asking them for purchase suggestions and understandably they have trouble thinking of specific titles. The nearest bookstore that carries teen books is about an hour away, so they aren't as easily exposed to the newest titles.
Might get a couple reviews up later.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
PLA rundown
I really enjoyed PLA. There were good programs, good company, and good food. It is nice to be able to go to a conference where I actually had to chose between programs every session. Highlights included:
Reader's Advisory for Teens program- Helped confirm that I'm doing things right, and gave me some new hints.
Game Studio program- The Minneapolis Library is using a really cool program called Scratch. It is a free program that you can use to program/make some things of various types, i.e. games, videos, or other things. It uses some of the same code that the old Logo programming language used, but now the scripts are written in blocks that the user just has to select and stack. Projects are uploaded onto the Scratch website, where there's an online community like YouTube or Flickr. People can download projects to look at the coding. Minneapolis Library has a regular program where they have teens teaching other teens how to use Scratch.
Dealing with Teens Virtually- Respect the teens and respect their use of the net. Don't make the teens always come to you and your space, go to them in their's. Those two sentences sum up most of the important stuff from this program, though we also talked about ways to reach teens. Meebo, texting, e-mail, Flickr, blogs, and MySpace are just a few of the things we talked about.
Those are just a few of the programs I went to, and a very few of the ideas I picked up. Lots more to think about, consider, and do. I've gotten permission to start a blog for my teens to review books, movies, and music in. Maybe an online book group will happen as well in the future.
In a side note about PLA and to the organizers: If you are going to have a "paperless" conference, stop the daily newspapers or print them on demand, and even more importantly, don't give everyone books they don't want. This is one of three like it at the end of the conference.
Reader's Advisory for Teens program- Helped confirm that I'm doing things right, and gave me some new hints.
Game Studio program- The Minneapolis Library is using a really cool program called Scratch. It is a free program that you can use to program/make some things of various types, i.e. games, videos, or other things. It uses some of the same code that the old Logo programming language used, but now the scripts are written in blocks that the user just has to select and stack. Projects are uploaded onto the Scratch website, where there's an online community like YouTube or Flickr. People can download projects to look at the coding. Minneapolis Library has a regular program where they have teens teaching other teens how to use Scratch.
Dealing with Teens Virtually- Respect the teens and respect their use of the net. Don't make the teens always come to you and your space, go to them in their's. Those two sentences sum up most of the important stuff from this program, though we also talked about ways to reach teens. Meebo, texting, e-mail, Flickr, blogs, and MySpace are just a few of the things we talked about.
Those are just a few of the programs I went to, and a very few of the ideas I picked up. Lots more to think about, consider, and do. I've gotten permission to start a blog for my teens to review books, movies, and music in. Maybe an online book group will happen as well in the future.
In a side note about PLA and to the organizers: If you are going to have a "paperless" conference, stop the daily newspapers or print them on demand, and even more importantly, don't give everyone books they don't want. This is one of three like it at the end of the conference.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Comic book rundown
Visited a number of comic book stores this weekend and picked up a bunch of stuff. Here's a rundown:
Echo- Terry Moore's new series looks interesting and science-fiction-y. Will it be good? Probably. Will it be appropriate for teens? Hard to tell so far, as really very little has happened, but I hope so. The cover of the first issue is very shiny.
Serenity: Better Days- Joss Whedon's new miniseries, which is nowhere near as good as the show, but if you are a fan of Firefly I'd suggest picking it up, or at least reading the forthcoming collection which your local public library will likely get. This one is a lost episode type mini-series, so everything is pre-movie state. *Bonus info* The letters page reveals that a Shepard Book mini-series is planned for later this year.
Teen Titans Year One- I love the art style (other than Aqualad, who looks scary) in this, and it is good to see young Ollie, Barry, and Arthur. Batman and Wonder Woman really haven't changed in appearance or even attitude (depending on who is writing them).
Tiny Titans- Adorable, short, and funny, yet somehow strangely wrong. Cyborg is not an Easy Bake Oven and Wonder Girl doesn't seem like the type to bake cakes. I'll admit that Terra throwing rocks cracked me up. When this gets collected, I'm definitely putting it on the kids' graphic novel order.
Booster Gold- I have a strong fondest for the characters from the old Justice League International. Something to do with reading the comics while I was growing up. Booster Gold and Blue Beetle were two of the leads in the series, and the ones who were always causing trouble. After both dying recently (they got better), they have ceased being simply comedic characters and are now saving the multi-verse and time. That's cool, and the series makes fun references to things and people past. It is funny and serious. Unfortunately, time travel, paradoxes, and the general current state of DC makes the whole series rather confusing and difficult for a new reader to pick-up.
Also picked up the first volume of Honey and Clover, which I haven't had a chance to read yet. It looks amusing. Wanted to buy, but couldn't find, the first volume of Pumpkin Scissors.
I also managed not to be mistaken for a bookstore employee this weekend, so that's good.
Echo- Terry Moore's new series looks interesting and science-fiction-y. Will it be good? Probably. Will it be appropriate for teens? Hard to tell so far, as really very little has happened, but I hope so. The cover of the first issue is very shiny.
Serenity: Better Days- Joss Whedon's new miniseries, which is nowhere near as good as the show, but if you are a fan of Firefly I'd suggest picking it up, or at least reading the forthcoming collection which your local public library will likely get. This one is a lost episode type mini-series, so everything is pre-movie state. *Bonus info* The letters page reveals that a Shepard Book mini-series is planned for later this year.
Teen Titans Year One- I love the art style (other than Aqualad, who looks scary) in this, and it is good to see young Ollie, Barry, and Arthur. Batman and Wonder Woman really haven't changed in appearance or even attitude (depending on who is writing them).
Tiny Titans- Adorable, short, and funny, yet somehow strangely wrong. Cyborg is not an Easy Bake Oven and Wonder Girl doesn't seem like the type to bake cakes. I'll admit that Terra throwing rocks cracked me up. When this gets collected, I'm definitely putting it on the kids' graphic novel order.
Booster Gold- I have a strong fondest for the characters from the old Justice League International. Something to do with reading the comics while I was growing up. Booster Gold and Blue Beetle were two of the leads in the series, and the ones who were always causing trouble. After both dying recently (they got better), they have ceased being simply comedic characters and are now saving the multi-verse and time. That's cool, and the series makes fun references to things and people past. It is funny and serious. Unfortunately, time travel, paradoxes, and the general current state of DC makes the whole series rather confusing and difficult for a new reader to pick-up.
Also picked up the first volume of Honey and Clover, which I haven't had a chance to read yet. It looks amusing. Wanted to buy, but couldn't find, the first volume of Pumpkin Scissors.
I also managed not to be mistaken for a bookstore employee this weekend, so that's good.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
