we're not butterflies...

NHYA: Dirty Little Secrets vs. Invisible Girl...

2011-06-20T00:31:00.000-07:00

Nerds Heart YA is in its third year and seeks to bring books rarely blogged about more attention. According to the site, "the contest focuses specifically on books that in some way represent groups of people who are typically under represented in YA fiction."

All YA novels published in 2010 with few blogger reviews can be considered so long as a character (or the novel's author) falls into one of the following seven categories:

•Person(s) of Color (POC)

•GLBT

•Disability

•Mental Illness

•Religious Lifestyle

•Lower Socioeconomic Status

•Plus-size

The First Round of Judging commenced on June 13th and runs until June 29th, followed by the Second Round. Visit Nerds Heart YA to keep up with what books are still in the running!

A Backwards Story and We're Not Butterflies... teamed up to decide which of the following two titles would move on to Round Two, INVISIBLE GIRL by Mary Hanlon Stone or DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS by C.J. Omololu.

Both books deal with abusive relationships. Read on to find out our decision!

LEGEND:

RED = We're Not Butterflies...

PURPLE = A Backwards Story

Black = Everything Else!

EXPECTATIONS:

WNB: I honestly thought that DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS was a silly title. That kind of turned me off... But I did like the cover image. I have the paperback.

ABS: I thought the title for DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS sounded too much like PRETTY LITTLE LIARS. I didn’t expect much from the title, to be honest.

ABS: I thought INVISIBLE GIRL was going to be more of a beach read based on the cover despite the hard-hitting issues lying within.

WNB: I was hoping INVISIBLE GIRL would be more feminist-y. I thought it was going to be more of an exploration of socio-economic status based on the cover synopsis and the descriptions of the golden CA imagery and the dirty, skinny, poor imagery of Stephanie's home life.

PLOT:

WNB: With INVISIBLE GIRL, I thought the beginning struggles with her mom were intense and horrifying. I thought her dad was a BIG wimpy loser for sending her to CA. After CA, I thought the mean girl seemed a lot like Regina in MEAN GIRLS. I thought the drinking beer/making out with the dude/barfing scene was weak.

ABS: I agree. The opening for INVISIBLE GIRL was so intense. The imagery with Stephanie curled in the closet with her childhood NANCY DREW novels and soiled pants really got to me. I thought this book was going to pack a huge punch, but the emotions fizzled when she moved to CA. The focus was more on her fitting in and less on all her emotional scars.

WNB: Yeah, and fitting in in a REALLY lame, already-been-done-a-lot way. It didn't seem realistic that she would want to be friends with those people no matter how sucky her life had been.

ABS: All the focus on fitting in made the book seem ordinary, like something I'd read before. Stephanie just happened to have an abusive mom. It was more about fitting in around rich, mean, snobby girls.

WNB: In DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS, I loved the reality of Lucy’s feelings about her mom. I loved how she described the house and tried so hard not just to avoid her life but to change what she could about things.

ABS: I loved that DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS occurred over such a short period of time. It made all of Lucy's decisions harder. She was a scared teenager in a situation no one should have to go through. She loved her mom, but was embarrassed, too. It was easy to sympathize with her.

WNB: I really like how the author acknowledged things like how the character was worried how she smelled after living in a dirty house and how she valued hot showers, but didn't harp on these things and make it seem like she felt sorry for herself.

ABS:

It felt like she really explored the issue of children whose parents are extreme hoarders and focused on the impact such a disorder would have on a family. I wish there had been more of this type of focus in INVISIBLE GIRL.

CHARACTERS:

WNB: In DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS, the relationships between the family such as the sister blaming her siblings for various events and the brother in denial all seemed possible.

ABS: I liked the way C.J. Omololu created such an introspective narrative that focused internally on Lucy's struggle. It never felt overdone or boring. She had just the right mixture of external events.

ABS: And the way her sister was turning into a younger version of her mother was scary! I also liked the focus on her friends, classmates, and neighbors. It revealed so much about Lucy and her situation.

WNB: It was. I really liked how the romantic interest was dealt with. It was subtle and seemed healthy, like two kids liked each other and wanted to spend more time together, but it forced Lucy to really look hard at her issues. I think was a really important catalyst for her development and rebellion against her mom's illness.

ABS: For INVISIBLE GIRL, I honestly have trouble remembering a lot of the characters now. I hate how Stephanie's dad just shipped her across the country (even though she had all those uncles). It was never really explained why she had to move so far. Stephanie felt like such a burden, and all it did was hinder her more.

WNB: I hated the shitty, wimpy dad, the intense mom and the Carson Drew dad in L.A., the lawyer. I really thought the lawyer was another person who totally failed Stephanie especially when she wanted so badly to respect him.

ABS: I agree. At first, I thought he was going to be a fantastic role model for Stephanie, and then after the briefcase incident, he did a complete 180. I felt bad for Stephanie; she had no one to turn to.

ABS: I loved how terrified we were of Stephanie's mother in the beginning and wish there had been tighter character development throughout.

WNB: Yeah, the beginning descriptions of Stephanie's mom were really great. Those are the characters Stone should have stuck with. I think the uncles would have been a more interesting choice as well. As for the adoptive family... All the people in LA were jerks. I am really relieved that she finally found Amal. Although Amal's character seemed really childish and the ending of finding Amal's family as allies seemed really sudden and a pat solution to Stephanie's problems.

WRITING/PACING:

ABS: DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS takes place over the course of about a day. The writing is tight and the events are so horrible that they compel you to keep reading to see what happens next. The end of the book has a drop, but Omololu posted an “aftermath” chapter online here (but DON’T read it unless you’ve read DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS).

WNB: I thought INVISIBLE GIRL was really choppy. It was hard to keep track of the days and nights; they all looked really similar. The book spanned summer and the start of school during the fall semester.

ENDING:

WNB: I thought the ending of DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS was great. While it left one wanting to know more... the catastrophe couldn't have been a more causational end to the situation.

ABS: I didn't buy the ending of INVISIBLE GIRL. It felt too tidy. I think it's because the book had pacing issues and took place over such a long period of time. DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS, however, had that drop, so I was really happy to see Omololu post the extra chapter online. I was hoping for a sequel until I saw that!

WNB: The end of INVISIBLE GIRL was definitely too tidy. It did offer relief from the horrors of Stephanie's life and while I was glad for that, I didn't really believe it. I remember thinking that I was glad that she found one person in her life that she could trust. I related to that part a lot because I teach high school girls and hopefully get to be that person for some of them.

And the winner that will be moving on to Round Two of Nerds Heart YA?

DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS by C.J. Omololu. Congratulations! Keep score of what books move on at the OFFICIAL SITE.

WNB: Thanks to Nerds Heart YA and our sponsors! This was my first time judging and it was a really fun excuse to buy and read MORE books!

ABS: I really enjoyed participating in this year's Nerds Heart YA Tournament and can't wait to see who makes it into the final rounds. DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS is *my* dirty little secret and I hope it makes it all the way through! Thanks to everyone who took the time to read our post!

Nerds Heart YA!

2011-05-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

Hey there blog readers!

Ms. Haverstock is participating in her first ever book reviewing/judging process!

Check out the button in the sidebar to see the shortlist and learn more about the contest. Here's a link to the shortlist of the books that are under consideration. I am in the first round of judging. I am super excited about the role I get to play in evaluating these books!

Check back here to keep up with what is going on!

Book lists!

2011-04-05T10:31:00.000-07:00

Another booklist... I keep posting these booklists and links to blogs about books because I think that is what could attract people to read. I guess I like lists and I hope that other people do too. Enjoy!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/2011/apr/04/cat-clarke-top-10-teens

-Ms. H

Hunger Games casting nominations...

2011-03-16T13:57:00.000-07:00

I read blogs, library blogs, librarian blogs, book review blogs. I think I have mentioned this before. In my mornings reading, I came across another link to a discussion of the casting of the upcoming movie based on the book the Hunger Games. So, the issue is that the person cast in the movie role as the character, Katniss, may not/probably will not look the way she was described by the author in the book. An article from the blog, Jezebel says this:

"Those who read The Hunger Games slowly enough to savor its descriptive language know that Suzanne Collins gives her heroine "olive" skin, grey eyes, and dark hair. Katniss' looks in the novel are typical of her fellow residents in "The Seam," an impoverished area populated by coal-miners like her deceased dad. The wealthier merchant class, including Katniss's mom and sister, generally are described with fair hair and skin." Other blog and internet folks are predicting who will be cast and rumors are flying.

The main point is that the women in the running for the Katniss role have lighter skin and lighter hair and are not a person of color. Are the movie decision makers whitewashing this character, casting a Caucasian person when it seems obvious that the character would be a person of color? Read the blog discussions. There are more here and here and here and here. Remember, these are blogs and they are opinions, but they could be interesting to think about.

In a fit of inspiration this morning in response to reading all about it and thinking about it, the HNHS Library decided to run a little contest. Who would you cast as the different characters in the Hunger Games? Here are some suggestions from The Film Stage, another blog. Who didn't they think of that you would like to see on screen?

You can nominate the actors you would like to see in the different characters' roles on the poster outside the library. Once we have received all nominations, I will make up an online ballot and we can all vote!

Keep thinking!
Ms. Haverstock

library magic...

2011-01-13T14:36:00.000-08:00

About once every couple of years or so, I create a library video using Animoto. It doesn't get used for much, but maybe I will put it on the library homepage. Delightful!

Holidays and books...

2010-12-01T14:25:00.001-08:00

Happy Holidays from the HNHS Library!
In my daily reading, I have come across lots more best of 2010 lists of great books. I have used these lists to compile the HNHS Library's wish-list on Amazon.com.

If you would like to purchase a gift for the HNHS Library, click the link above. The book will be conveniently shipped right to the school! You can dedicate the book to a current student or to an alum. The book will then receive a bookplate with the student's name and graduation date.

Best of...

2010-11-18T14:42:00.000-08:00

The Best of 2010 lists are starting to come out. The variety of these lists are a really cool way for me to do some collection development. There are lots of diverse groups producing the lists... teachers, students, librarians, library organizations, award committees, publishing companies and that makes for interesting review reading. The first of the lists on my radar is the Kirkus Review's 2010 Best Books for Teens.

The others that I watch for are:

Cybils
Michael Printz Award
National Book Award
Booker Prize
Teen's Top Ten
Alex Awards

With the exception of the Alex Awards, I am often a bit skeptical of wholesale acceptance of award winning books. I know librarians are trained in most things book-ish and publishers do the book-ish thing for a living but I also know that these people are not teenagers (nor am I). I like recommendations from people who the books are intended for. That is why I am always also on the look out for teen reviewers.

If you want to be a reviewer for library books and you happen to fall between the ages of 13 and 19, email me and let me know! HNHS students and otherwise are welcome!

Amazing library post of the year!!!

2010-11-09T10:39:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! The HNHS librarian is back in action. After a lengthy hiatus, I am back with lots of interesting library-related links to share. Here's a couple of fun ones for starters:

Awful Library Books: this blog is dedicated to all the awful library books that we librarians remove diligently from the shelves. Haven't you seen that one about atomic war from the 1950's? What about those teen advice books with pictures of girls in plaid knee socks? Be gone! But first, take a photo of the cover and send it to this blog so that we may all chuckle at our past.

The Travelin' Librarian: this blog entertains with ridiculous cartoons about libraries and librarians (what high school student doesn't love those?). There are other interesting posts with snarky library videos and some informative stuff about what to do if you want to be a librarian.

If you are curious about what I do all day, a lot of what I do all day is read book reviews and blogs to figure out the best way to teach you about research and to find the BEST books for you to read. Some of the blogs I read for that are:

Brown Paper: this blog is written by an Southeast Asian Canadian person who reviews books written by people of color. She reviews books from a person of color perspective which I find extremely valuable.

Reading in Color: similarly, this blog author is a person of color AND she's a teenager. So her thoughts and opinions about books are especially extra cool. I seek these people out because they do a great job of helping me find books that reflect the incredible diversity here at HNHS. This is really important for me to do for you all. It's good to have variety.

Here are some other blogs I read regularly:

Reviewer X: awesome international YA reviewer.
Librarian in Black: technology in libraries... lots of links to new products and 2.0 things.
Blue Skunk Blog: a blog specifically about school libraries.

The moral of the story: I read a lot!

Happy almost four-day weekend!
-Ms. Haverstock

YA through the decades....

2009-12-14T09:22:00.000-08:00

Woohoo! Ms. Haverstock is participating her first book challenge! For those of you that don't know librarians and other book-y sorts of people like to dork out about different nerdy things one of which is books. We like to challenge each other to do things like read. Imagine that. Here are the rules for this one:

"Rules:

1. Books should be considered YA or, for older books, should feature a teenaged main character or point of view. Let’s say from roughly ages 12-18.
2. Read at least one book from each decade: 1930s or earlier; 1940s; 1950s; 1960s; 1970s; 1980s; 1990s; 2000s. Re-reads are fine. Check the main challenge page for book ideas for each time period.
3. Sign up either by commenting or signing the Linky at the bottom of the page. You can use the graphic on your blog to promote the challenge if you wish. You can start this challenge at any time during the year.

Optional

Post your reading list on your blog!"

So, over the course of the rest of the calendar year, I will be reading YA books from long ago and from today. If you have any suggestions, let me know and I will see what I can do.

Thankgiving thoughts...

2009-11-24T10:02:00.000-08:00

So, I was reading things on the internet as I do and I came across an email from Debbie Reese who writes a blog about Native Americans in Children's Literature. She pointed her readers to the website for the National Museum of the American Indian and their online resources for teachers about Thanksgiving.

We as a school have not really discussed the reason for the season. Maybe some folks have in the classroom and I don't know, but just in case, here's some information from the museum.

The first Thanksgiving was in Plymouth in 1621.
The Indians in attendance were the Wampanoag.
The Wampanoag had lived in the region for thousands of years and had a very sophisticated society with their own government, their own religious and philosophical beliefs and developed culture.
The gathering of people on this day was as much to forge political alliances and recognize a day of peace as a gathering of neighbors. It was also a celebration of the success of crops planted by the Europeans with help from the Wampanoag.
There is a letter from Edward Winslow wrote that is considered to be the only surviving record of the event.***

A quote from the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address:
We are all thankful to our Mother, the Earth, for she gives us all that we need for life. She
supports our feet as we walk about upon her. It gives us joy that she continues to care for us as
she has from the beginning of time. To our Mother, we send greetings and thanks.

Consider these things as we head to our respective homes for the holiday. Enjoy the time!

*** This material is from: American Indian Perspectives on Thanksgiving and Harvest Ceremony: Beyond the Thanksgiving Myth, documents published by the National Museum of the American Indian Education Office.

November 7th @Barnes & Noble in Emeryville!

2009-10-19T15:17:00.000-07:00

Come one come all to the HNHS Library fundraiser @Barnes and Noble!

look at our Non-fiction Wishlist
look at our Fiction Wishlist

Check out the Evite and invite yourself (if you haven't already been invited!)

Librarians use lots of ACRONYMS!

2009-10-19T15:01:00.000-07:00

Hey fellow readers...

Just an FYI from ALA and YALSA (that stands for American Library Association and Young Adult Library Services Association). The Teens Top Ten list is in! That means that teenagers just like you voted on their favorite books. The results include some books that we have here in this very library. Including:
Paper Towns by John Green
Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
and soon to be cataloged
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.

Stop by the library to check these out or to print your nerdy yet cool 2009 Top Ten bookmark!

Welcome back HNHS!

2009-08-21T09:16:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone! It's my fifth year here as the librarian and I am so excited about that. I am a seasoned librarian now. It's official.

To kick off the year, I wanted to share some cool stuff with you all. I spend a lot of my time here in the library researching cool resources for students and teachers. With all of this I find lots of non-library related things too. But for today, I want to share some magazine sources that you may not know about. Some of them are linked in the sidebar over there to the left of the screen under the pictures of book covers.

It's important for you all to be exposed to things other than the popular culture found in things like Seventeen and Teen Vogue. To that end, I try to supply alternatives both in print and online like: Alive Magazine, a magazine written for and by people your age and LaTeen, a magazine specifically for Latina girls. Another that I like is VenusZine, a magazine that profiles all things women, DIY and rock and roll. There are so many ways to be and choices to make about who you are and who you want to be. So, come on over to the library and read all about it.

Would you read this...

2009-05-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

So, I read this review of a book on the Reading Rants blog. It's called Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia. Based on this review from Reading Rants and these from Goodreads (one of my favorite book-review sites), would you read the book? Would you be excited about it?

Mitali Perkins on literature and race...

2009-04-01T14:23:00.000-07:00

Mitali Perkins, author of one of my favorite books, Monsoon Summer (it's set in Berkeley!!!), wrote an article for the School Library Journal about her experiences with reading and her culture growing up. Read it here:
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6647713.html

Enjoy!

Step right up for some new John Green action...

2009-03-25T09:56:00.000-07:00

Hot off the presses, the new John Green book, Paper Towns, has hit the HNHS library shelves.

John Green also wrote other fan favorites, Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines. We have all of these in the HNHS library!

Paper Towns by John Green

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Wow. As usual, John Green writes good boy-nerd characters and humanizes the heck out of everyone, jocks and nerds alike. Good job, John. But, I have to agree with other reviews that say "what happened to the end?" I was surely expecting a much more dramatic conclusion to what was a very dramatic mystery and search. All we got was an unshowered girl with a laptop and a little teeny bit of mediocre soul searching. I didn't need a dramatically emotional reunion (ok, maybe I did), but what about a little more something. Overall, enjoyable and entertaining... not bad.

View all my reviews.

I'm a Shover and Maker... are you?

2009-03-23T14:34:00.000-07:00

after a hiatus of sorts...

2009-03-02T09:09:00.000-08:00

Hello. Ms. Haverstock is back. I have been reading a lot, but most of the record of that is on Goodreads. That being said, I wanted to share my latest review here. I read Red: Teenage Girls Write on What Fires Them Up Today. It could be something that one of you HNHS students would like or would identify with... check it out (gosh, I love this library pun).

Red: Teenage Girls Write On What Fires Up Their Lives Today by Amy Goldwasser

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This collection was not as mind-blowing as I would have liked it to be. Given that, there were a few really great pieces of writing, some great stories and a lot of sweet (and sad) self-expression. How rad would it be to be 15 and a published author?! Teenagers are thoughtful (duh!). I would have liked to see more diversity of voices especially in light of the author's mention of diversity in the introduction. Overall, it was fine.

View all my reviews.

The Inauguration of President Barack Obama - The Big Picture - Boston.com

2009-01-21T10:03:00.001-08:00

The Inauguration of President Barack Obama - The Big Picture - Boston.com

Posted using ShareThis

Just in time for exams...

2008-12-12T10:27:00.000-08:00

Use it with care... may inspire studying or saving the world.

This was originally posted at: Best Week Ever

Grown-ups and copyright: Emily the Strange...

2008-12-04T10:42:00.000-08:00

Today when doing my regular bloggy reading, I came across some information about our dear friend, Emily the Strange. Whether you like her or not, you should know that according to this blog, she was copied from an earlier book, Nate the Great and the Lost List. So, the people who originally created this character have gotten neither credit for their creation nor any of the big bucks that the creator of Emily the Strange has earned from her merchandise sales AND upcoming movie sales.

What do you think about this? What do you think should happen to the creator of Emily the Strange? How should the original author and illustrator be compensated?

My wishes were answered...

2008-10-30T10:09:00.000-07:00

This is funny, library-related AND appropriate.

Libraries featured...

2008-10-29T09:41:00.000-07:00

I am always on the lookout for library or book related bands, music videos, music lyrics, Youtube videos, etc. So far, I know about Harry and the Potters, the Belle and Sebastian album Books, the band the Books, Green Day's song At the Library and many, many more. Here's the Green Day video.

Help me find some more!

Yellow Jackets

2008-10-10T14:13:00.001-07:00

Wednesday night a teeny group of HNHS students and I went to see the play Yellow Jackets at the Berkeley Rep. It was a fabulous experience. The play was thought provoking and definitely great to see a second time. The issues were fairly universal for anyone who works in or attends a school in the Bay Area with incredible diversity. Each of the characters had strong personalities and points about the experiences they were having. The range of topics raised ran from the Holocaust to tracking in schools to institutional racism. Whew. Heavy. It sparked great conversation with the students.

The best part came when we stalked the actors after the show. They were generous with their time and talked with us for at least a half an hour.

If any students out there want to come next time come see me in the library. If we can get 10 students to go, the tickets will only be $15!

This one goes out to the librarians...

2008-10-07T14:46:00.000-07:00

Hey BAISL-ers... Here's the link to Hecka Tight Reads with Rachel and Julia.

Review sources mentioned:
Some are librarians, some are young readers, some are less young readers... all are interesting. In my further exploration of this, there are many, many folks out there blogging about YA fiction. Reviewer X has a GIANT list of these folks' blogs on her blogroll. Other folks do as well. These are the ones that I follow regularly in my Google Reader and like. Explore at will!

Favorite Teenage Angstbooks: Book Reviews
Reading Rants! Out of the Ordinary Teen Booklists!
The YA YA YAs
Alternative Teen Services » YA Books
Crazy Quilts
ALAN Online
hiplibrariansbookblog.blog-city.com
YA or STFU
Bookshelves of Doom
The Chick Manifesto
Young Adult Book Bloggers

Here are the two student review blogs:
Reviewer X
And Another Book Read
WORD for teens

The Library of Congress and Stevie Wonder

2008-09-03T11:07:00.000-07:00

Stevie Wonder is one of my favorites. I think because my dad is a fan and the music reminds me of him. So, news of note today is that the Library of Congress has honored Stevie with the Gershwin Prize.
As some of you juniors know, the Library of Congress is the largest library in the world and holds most of the books published in the United States. It also has amazing collections of photographs, maps and manuscripts. Many of the photos from the Library of Congress can be viewed on Flickr.com. The library was established 208 years ago in 1800 by President John Adams. To read more about it go here to the history section of the LOC webpage.

Food for thought... literally.

2008-08-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

So, in all my blog reading, I came across this great article about school lunches and trash. Think for a minute about your lunches whether you buy them here or bring them from home. How much do you throw away after each one? What things do you re-use? Then read the article. What can you do to reduce the amount of trash you throw away every day?!

Welcome back, welcome back...welcome back!

2008-08-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

Hello all you studious students. Welcome back to school! I hope your summers were fabulous and relaxing. Don't forget to check back here for all kinds of snazzy library or school-related links and fun facts.
Cheers,
Ms. Haverstock

the end of the year!

2008-05-28T10:22:00.000-07:00

So, today is the second to last day of the 2007-2008 school year. You all will be happy to know that I finally got my cataloging software to cooperate and I have no lingering books checked out! Thank you to everyone who made this year great for the library and thank you all for checking out books!

One final link to share with you as the year draws to a close. Yesterday I found this great site called Today in Literature. Each day, the site offers a story and a picture about a significant person or work of literature. Today's entry is about the death of Anne Bronte, the sister of those other, slightly more famous authors who wrote Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Enjoy!

And more importantly, enjoy the summer!

Tomorrow is Earth Day!

2008-04-21T13:40:00.000-07:00

What can we (you) do? Go here to the Earth Day Network's website to find out what's going on around the world. Around the East Bay there are many things to do. Here's a few:

Habitat for Humanity's Build-a-thon
Read about Earth Day happenings in Castro Valley
UC Berkeley is hosting Earth Week
watch KQED's Earth Day special on Quest
Go to the Aquarium of the Bay for special Earth Day events!

Do it!

Poetry prize awesomeness.

2008-04-11T09:12:00.000-07:00

I love poetry, but don't usually spend much time reading it. When I do, it usually really connects with something in my heart. There's something about being able to capture a feeling or an experience in so few words and for those words to have the power to evoke similar feelings in the reader. There is great power in that.

Here's a prize winning poem by unpublished poet Polly Atkin. I ran across it today in an article in the Guardian, a British newspaper. How does the description of the surroundings on each day make YOU feel?

Seven Nights of Uncreation

On the first night I woke up deep underwater,
dry as a fish-bone in the belly of a ship,
the heavy silence below the water-line
punctured by crackings like timbers or bones
smashing to splinters on unseen rocks.
I was blind, trapped. Utterly lost.

On the second a glimmer of pinkish light
showed pillars rising from lengthening sides
to meet in the curve of the ceiling like arches.
Something within me could tell without asking
that these were the ribs of a monstrous creature,
the platform I stood on, its lung.

On the third night the taste of the dark was different;
I felt right at once I was deep underground
with the weight of the wet earth driving me down,
the metallic blood-tang of hewn rock in my mouth
and a prescient knowledge I'd never get out.
I was buried, the cave was a tomb.

By the fourth night of this I was wary of dreams,
the days between blinking, plagued by impressions
I did not recall from the nights' haunting visions,
but knew from their otherness they were the same.
I arrived just like home on a wide open plain,
but the wind spoke in alien tongues.

On the fifth night I rose to the ridge of a hill,
my eyes fixed by chance to a passage below,
where a sad slow procession wound its way north
into shadow, hung over the land like a hawk.
I felt it important to watch, but the wind
and the rain relieved me of sight.

On the six night I fell into nothing. Nothing
smothered me, crushing and crowding around,
everywhere, blankness rubbing me out
inch by inch, until I was nothing. I stuttered,
coughed when I tried to speak.
When I tried to scream I was mute.

The seventh night was a night of rest.
I crouched awake til the birds' dawn chorus,
hearing them singing to hours of darkness,
thinking I'm them; I am just like the birds,
tricked into ludicrous song by illusion,
tricked to believe in the false dawn light.

On the dawn of the eighth day I unlocked my limbs,
and stepped into a new life.

Totally rad library video!

2008-04-07T14:28:00.001-07:00

urban myths...

2008-04-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

In the interest of being a good librarian who asks students and people in general to check their sources before they pass on information, here is a link to a site that helps you do just that. You know those pesky email forwards that have stories about things like missing children or certain politicians and their dirty deeds, well, here's a wealth of information that will help you discern if these are true or not. Thanks to Mrs. Mandujano for passing it on.

Online magazine... by you for you.

2008-02-21T10:23:00.000-08:00

Here is a lovely publication by teenage writers, for teenage audiences, specifically young women. It's called Alive. You can either view the features online or you can download the whole thing and read it on the computer like a magazine.

High Schoolers are cool!

2008-02-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

According to researchers as reported in the USA Today, high school students in the United States often think of African Americans and women when they think: famous. That's pretty cool and as the article mentions, this indicates an important shift in how people in the United States think. Read all about it!

the HNHS library catalog.

2008-02-11T08:09:00.001-08:00

Just a reminder to all of you, you can access our databases and library catalog from home!

Instructions about how to use the catalog are on the Library FAQs web page here.
Instructions for the databases and our all new exciting e-books are to follow.

Fiction of interest...

2008-02-11T08:01:00.000-08:00

Hello my fair students and personnel. Here's an interesting article from the Guardian about a fabulous new Dominican writer, Junot Diaz. We have a copy of his work in the library as we speak. Come check it out.

And thus begins the Spring semester at HNHS...

2008-01-18T15:08:00.000-08:00

Welcome back one and all. I hope you all had copious time to read many, wonderful books over the break. I certainly did. Here are the highlights:

The Golden Compass (If you liked the movie, you'll love the book!)
The Subtle Knife (The sequel!)
The Amber Spyglass (The third and last book...)

Reservation Blues (a book by Sherman Alexie... Native American story about a band...so fabulous!)
The Green Glass Sea (a novel told from the perspective of a girl living in Los Alamos as the atomic bomb is being developed)

See you all on Tuesday, ready or not!

i love Maurice Sendak!!!

2007-11-27T10:13:00.000-08:00

So, in library school, I read one of Maurice Sendak's books, In the Night Kitchen. I remember loving the slightly bizarre story and the amazing illustrations. There is an exhibit all about him and his works. Read about it here:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-Sendak-Exhibit.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Visit the museum here:
http://www.rosenbach.org/

Test your vocabulary and feed the world at the same time!!!

2007-11-20T10:36:00.000-08:00

So, this website is totally rad.... If you are looking for a way to:
#1 entertain yourself
#2 make your English teacher happy by practicing really hard vocabulary words
#3 save the world!
then go to this site:
http://www.freerice.com/index.php and have at it. This website claims to donate 10 grains of rice through the United Nations for each question you answer correctly. I am up to 150 grains of rice donated and I haven't missed a word yet. Beat that!

One week until Thanksgiving...

2007-11-13T10:19:00.000-08:00

Hello again girls and guys(?)...
The librarian has uncovered some very valuable information. There are some really cool reading resources out there just for girls and also African American teenagers. Who knew? This is the article that talks about it:
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6500194.html?rssid=190
and here are the actual sites... look and see how fabulous they are!

Two things...

2007-10-16T11:07:00.000-07:00

So, there are two things I want to mention today.

#1... It's Teen Read Week, this week, October 14-20th. Read all about it on their website... ha ha, get it..."read all about it"... Teen Read Week?

#2... Have you heard of the Gratitude Dance? Watch it here:

Attention all students!

2007-10-04T14:46:00.000-07:00

Good news...! The Oakland Public library has lifted bans on all library cards. That means that if you owe fines or books or anything else to the library, you can still use your library card.

"The campaign will encourage patrons to return overdue materials or admit that they’re lost—with no penalty. Under library rules, anyone with more than $12.50 in late fines is automatically blocked from checking out materials." By SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 10/4/2007

freaky, funky library!

2007-09-14T08:52:00.000-07:00

Hey kids! Check out the design for this weird, crazy national library in Prague. It looks a little like something that would be on the Teletubbies. Basically, it looks like an alien space ship. Look at it here. Read about it here.
Thanks to Jessamyn West's awesome librarian blog for pointing it out to me.

coffee!

2007-08-29T09:43:00.000-07:00

So, this posting is not strictly library related, but it is definitely school related and teenager related.
Coffee is delicious and maybe not SO nutritious, but did you know that there is a science associated with it? If you can't survive your day without coffee, you should check out this site.
http://www.cosic.org/

In addition, there is this really cool site like myspace, but for books. You can go on the site and make a list of all the books you have read and write reviews for them (or comments, really). As a librarian I fully endorse it. Add me!

Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back...!

2007-08-23T09:14:00.000-07:00

Hello my lovely students! It is close to the end of the first week of school. I hope things are going well for the start of a new year. There are a couple of things for you to check out.

HNHS library has a myspace page. It's so hip and cool. Add me! www.myspace.com/holylibrary

There is an opportunity for students to submit writing to a student-run publication that we feature in the library (usually) called Teen Voices

AND here's another one called Teen Ink

Please come visit the library in your spare time and as soon as things are cataloged (in the next week or so) new books will be available including the new Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer.

Bring them back!

2007-05-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

In case any of you missed the announcements, the library needs your books back. Please return all books before exams.

This just in...

2007-04-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

New at the HNHS library. Come check it out... and then check out the author, Courtney Macavinta's website!
http://www.respectrx.com/

Guess who's back!?

2007-04-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

After quite a long hiatus, the librarian's back. Please check back regularly for library news, interesting internet fodder and other library-related updates.

Today's cool website to view is:
http://www.6billionothers.org/index_en.php

the beginning...

2005-08-30T13:11:00.000-07:00

Hey Monarchs...
Hi. This is your lovely librarian speaking. I am testing this format as a way of communicating with you. I know that you all are on the internet non-stop and there are things that I do throughout the day that you might find interesting. I mean, not really things that I do, but articles that I find, stuff that I am reading, books that I am reviewing. I want your input. If you have a second, reply to my posts. Tell me what you want to see @ your library.