10 Different Options to Create Online Posters

Because of the technology that educators and students are using as well as the infrastructure being provided by school districts for devices, libraries and classrooms, more and more, are embracing the paperless society.  Although advertising with paper posters can still bring buzz, more and more people are looking at websites, both personal or professional, and what is posted on them.  With that in mind, here are the top 10 online poster creators you can use (in no particular order) **UPDATE AT BOTTOM FOR NEW SITE!!

Design Wizard https://www.designwizard.com/  This handy tools allows you to create posters, but also cards, backgrounds for web sites and blogs, invitations and more.  The most unique feature is the creation of videos with this site! 

Posterovenwww.posteroven.com  Create your own poster to share, save, or print with already provided templates you can custom design.  Incorporates QR codes as the main theme in all templates.  No registration required.

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Keep Calm-o-matic – http://keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk  We all know the familiar Keep Calm posters.  Here’s a place you can create your own.  After creation, it is part of the many other public Keep Calm posters created.  You can post it on social media outlets as well as save it as a pdf.  Login only required if you’d like to keep your posters private.

Poster My Wall – www.postermywall.com Create a poster by choose a background, and  adding anything from text to photos to clipart.  Also has a flickr search function.  Download it or share it on Facebook.  You can purchase higher quality downloads if you’d like to print.  No registration required

Canva – www.canva.com  This site not only allows you to create a poster, but you can also create many other things including a blog graphic, presentation or a card.  Choose from hundreds of different options but be aware that there are higher quality options that cost (typically $1.00 per graphic).  Share on social media outlets or save and publish online.  Registration required.

Picmonkey – www.picmonkey.com  This isn’t just a photograph editor, it can create beautiful posters as well.  Add text, background, images and frames, then take it to the editor.  You can save to your desktop or share via social media outlets.  There are parts of the site that are premium and require payment but the free parts are more than enough to create beautiful posters.  Registration required.  

Lucid Press - https://www.lucidpress.com/pages/examples/free-online-poster-maker  This is the more sophisticated poster maker that looks a lot like MS Publisher.  It allows for more freedom of creativity with many  different functionalities.  You can share it via social media, share the link or publish it online.  Registration is required.

Flyer Lizard - http://flyerlizard.com/  Easy to create posters that already have the templates and backgrounds to work with.  All you need to supply is the text and photo if you choose to.  There’s an option to add a QR code or even an audio clip from SoundCloud.  You can share via social media or save it.  Registration required

Motivator - http://bighugelabs.com/motivator.php  We’ve all seen the motivational posters with the black frame and a motivational saying at the bottom (usually with a soaring eagle as a picture).  Here’s your chance to create your own motivational poster.  Upload images from your own photos, Facebook, or Flickr Account.  This is a premium account and registration is required

Bannersnack - http://www.bannersnack.com/  With a free account you can create a banner and download or embed it.  With the free account, you get 1GB of storage, gif only download, and no more than 10k views a day.  Registration is required and premium plans are available

Recite This - http://www.recitethis.com/  Choose from an assortment of poster backgrounds by sliding through your options.  The only thing you need to create is your text.  Share it via social media, a permalink or email.  No registration required. 

Muzy (app) is available for Andoid, Iphone, Ipod, or Google Play.  Create a poster using your own photos from Facebook, photo album, or Google Images (be careful with this option...it doesn't differentiate between Creative Commons and copy written images) and add text to create an online poster.  Share it via Instagram or Facebook.  Registration required.

Tackk - http://www.tackk.com
 I discovered this website through the co-founder on Twitter, and LOVED it instantly!  Easy to use, easy to share, you have your choice of backgrounds, photos and information you supply.  While the format is set, the creativity is all yours! 

The Tyrant's Daughter by J.C. Carleson

published by Knopf Books for Young Readers

Laila remembers her father crumpling to the ground, shot to death.  She remembers being rushed from the palace to a waiting airplane...then the blur begins.

Now, she is safe in the United States, but she doesn't feel safe.  Nothing here is familiar.  Laila knows that although they are still alive, things are definitely different.  Gone are the extravagant clothes, parties and food.  In its place are bare cupboards with no income.  Her mother has changed as well.  She meets with a group of men from her own country, and they talk secretively about things.  There is shouting and anger involved in every conversation.  Laila sees a man lurking in the corners and is sure that he works for the American government.  But why is he so interested in her family?

What Laila wants "is an interpreter.  Not for the language, but for life" in this new place where the rules she has always lived by no longer apply. The girls here dress differently, act differently.  She doesn't understand their culture but wants to try.  Then there are the boys, especially Ian.  Everyone is telling her what she already knows but she isn't sure she can give back the affection he shows. Life in school is confusing at best, with her dangling between what she knew and what she needs to know.

Having friends helps tremendously, and it's through small talk with them that she hears, for the first time, about her father and the horrors he committed.  War, murder, embezzlement....this can't be the same father she loved, who protected her from her evil uncle, who indulged her....So she goes to the most dangerous place to find out more information.  

The library shows Laila the truth not only about her father, but about her country.  It's falling into shambles without a government to take over after years of dictatorship.  It's filled with corruption from the legacy her father left into the hands of her uncle, fervent in his religion and will to dominate.  And with this truth comes the knowledge that somehow, her mother is still involved in the politics there, working with the Americans but to what end, she doesn't know.  Laila is kept in the dark but she is making sure she doesn't stay there for long, and when she slowly uncovers the truth, safety is no longer an option for her or those she cares for.


J.C. Carleson writes a beautifully balanced book about love and hate, war and peace, tradition and truth.  Laila represents innocence through oppression as she slowly fights through this to find out that the truth can be an ugly place to live. Carleson's characters are deep and synonymous with the many facets of not only American life, but Middle Eastern life as well and weaves several familiar stories about the turbulent Middle East without designating where Laila and her family is from. It's a story about two sides, but which is the darker side depends on who the character is. One of many things Carleson is best at is the beauty in her writing.  There were several times I had to stop and re-read portions of the story simply because of how lyrical her writing is.  Her other strength is being able to transport the reader into not only a different world through a story, but also to the world of modern day Middle East and how politics, both domestic and foreign are involved.  The reader will also appreciate how Carleson uses her own past experiences to make this novel come alive.  You know you have a good book when you read it in one sitting.  This is a must have book for all collections. 

10 Great YA Reads (and their sequels) for Warmer Weather

Feathered by Laura Kasischke. HarperTeen, 2008.
While on Spring Break in Cancun, Mexico, high-school seniors and best friends Anne and Michelle accept the wrong ride and Michelle is lost--seemingly forever.


The Living by Matt de la Pena.  Delacorte Press, 2013
After an earthquake destroys California and a tsunami wrecks the luxury cruise ship where he is a summer employee, high schooler Shy confronts another deadly surprise.
 
 Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson.  Simon & Schuster, 2012
After Taylor Edwards' family gets devastating news, they decide to spend one last summer all together at their lake house in the Pocono Mountains, they get to know each other again and bond, and Taylor remembers her past friends and crush.


The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen.  Viking, 2013
During her last summer at home before leaving for college, Emaline begins a whirlwind romance with Theo, an assistant documentary filmmaker who is in town to make a movie

Desert Crossing by Elise Broach. Henry Holt, 2006
A summer trip across the New Mexico desert turns nightmarish for fourteen-year-old Lucy, her older brother Jamie, and his best friend Kit, as they become involved in the suspicious death of a young girl.

The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson.  Arthur Levine, 2013
In a Brazil of the distant future, June Costa falls in love with Enki, a fellow artist and rebel against the strict limits of the legendary pyramid city of Palmares Tres' matriarchal government, knowing that, like all Summer Kings before him, Enki is destined to die.

   Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore.  Delacorte Press, 2011
Seventeen-year-old Amy Goodnight has long been the one who makes her family of witches seem somewhat normal to others, but while spending a summer with her sister caring for their aunt's farm, Amy becomes the center of weirdness when she becomes tied to a powerful ghost.  Sequel: Spirit and Dust

Unbroken by Paula Morris.  Point, 2013
Returning to New Orleans for spring break, sixteen-year-old Rebecca finds herself embroiled in another murder mystery from more than a century, when she meets the ghost of a troubled boy.  Prequel: Ruined

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr.  HarperTeen, 2007.  (series)
Seventeen-year-old Aislinn, who has the rare ability to see fairies, is drawn against her will into a centuries-old battle by Keenan, the terrifying but alluring Summer King, who determines that she must become his queen and save summer from perishing.

Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs.  Katherine Tegen Books, 2010. (series)
Seventeen-year-old Lily, half-mermaid and half-human, has been living on land and attending high school, where she develops a crush on a boy but is afraid to tell him of her true destiny as the ruler of the undersea kingdom of Thalassinia.


(picture collages by Fotor Photo Collage)

It's all about Divergent!!

So, March 22nd is the big date, and nearly EVERYONE is thrilled about seeing the movie.  In the library I can't keep up with how many copies are out or on hold or even missing!  I'm just crossing my fingers that this isn't a sleeper, but a HUGE success!

And I'm getting swept along with the tide of excitement!  Recently on a listserv, I was following a strand about an idea a wonderful librarian named Amanda K started.  She's making a display revolving around the four factions and needed titles.  Of course I contributed to the conversation, but my wheels began to turn about how I could fashion my March bulletin board display to this as well....

My library assistant and I started knocking heads on this one.  She found a PERFECT poster from EpicReads ( http://epicreads.tumblr.com/post/66974564610/25-books-to-try-if-you-loved-divergent ) that gave her ideas for displays on the shelves.

I found a wiki with PLENTY of information, including the faction graphics we can freehand (or rather a gifted student with art skills, since I suck at drawing!  Thank goodness there's a thing called an Elmo!) http://divergent.wikia.com/wiki/Divergent_Wiki

Then I came up with a list of books for each faction.  It was a dauntless task, filled with abnegation to share with the erudites of the world who need a little more amity in their lives. (yeah, yeah...couldn't help myself)  So here's what I'm using:

Abnegation (definition: selflessness)

Beastly by Alex Flinn

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Hideous Love by Stephanie Hemphill

Deadline by Chris Crutcher

Contaminated by Em Garner

Erudite (definition: great knowledge or learning)

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

Accomplice by Eireann Corrigan

Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks

Test by William Sleator

Cheater by Michael Laser

Amity (definition: friends; friendly relationship)

Boy 21 by Matthew Quick

Roomies by Sara Zarr

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Fransisco X. Stork

Hothouse by Chris Lynch

Dauntless (definition: fearlessness, determination)

The Warriors Heart: Becoming a Man of Passion and Courage by Eric Grietens

Courage Has No Color: the true story of the Triple Nickels: America’s First Black Paratroopers by Tanya Lee Stone

The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Fearless by Cornelia Funke

The Odyssey by Homer

Candor (definition:honesty)
To Be Perfectly Honest by Sonya Sones
Harmless by Dana Reinhardt
In Too Deep by Amanda Grace
Inexcusable by Chris Lynch
Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

A little of everything from fantasy to non-fiction; romance to real life reads, even new vocabulary words!  So can you use this?  PLEASE DO!  Let's all make the world a little more Divergent, shall we?  

In the After by Demetria Lunetta

HarperTeen, 2013

Amy lived with her mother and father in the typical life of a suburban teenager.  But now everything is different.  Amy’s perception of time is different – “the past is Before, and the present is After.  Before was reality; the After, a nightmare”.

Her mother is gone and her father is dead.  She’s alone and her world is caving in.  It’s now a matter of survival and stealth.  They hear every sound and are fast…very fast.  Light attracts Them like moths to a candle.  They have no mercy and will kill and feast on everyone they capture.  They are taking over…

Amy has no idea where They came from or how it all happened.  But she has no time to think about that.  Because of her mother’s incessant need for protection, her house is fortified to keep Them out, but she still has to go out to forage for food.  And it’s during one of those forays that she meets Baby, a toddler who doesn’t talk, doesn’t make a sound.  Amy knows adding another person into her life and home right now is dangerous at best, but she can’t leave this little girl out there to die. 

Three years later, Baby and Amy are still struggling to make life happen.  Now they have to contend with more than Them.  There are other people who have managed to survive, but it has become more like survival of the fittest where no one can be trusted.  The ones who survived will do anything to ensure their own safety and no one else’s, and life has hardened Amy to feel the same way.  It’s only about her and Baby, but one decision will spiral out of control and put them both in serious danger.

Little does Amy know there are two worlds co-existing together; one outside the walls and one within the safety of New Hope, a colony of survivors who have managed to live through intelligence and science.  While Amy has struggled, New Hope has kept Them out through their own inventions and research.  But little does Amy know what exactly is going on in this too perfect world…

Part science fiction, part horror, Demetria Lunetta writes a dystopian novel that takes the reader into the pages, not just reading them.  The emotional compromise of the main characters in every situation creates the reality of this book and leans heavily on this technique to create a very well-written and read plot.  Amy is tough but still vulnerable without overstereotyping.  Lunetta goes beyond by creating dual main characters in both Amy and Baby, a symbiotic relationship.  The reader understands the bonds between the two and is constantly wondering if a shift in trust to outsiders will make or break that oneness.  Lunetta also captures the dualism throughout the book by creating both a dark and light side in everything from the characters to the setting to the theme. It’s this remarkable ability, wondering which side is dark and which is light, that makes the complexity in the novel stand out.  Recommended JH/HS
Paired Reading: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
Book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlafxpsEB2s

For the Good of Mankind: The shameful history of human medical experimentation by Vicki Oranksy Wittenstein

Twenty First Century Books, 2014

We’ve all heard of guinea pig scientists…the brave ones who boldly experimented on themselves to further medicine.  We applaud people like Marie Curie and Daniel Carrion who took that risk and put themselves in harm’s way for the good of humankind.  But there is a dark side to everything….

Simeon Shaw was a child from Australia who was diagnosed with cancer.  He was flown to the United States, along with his mother, to receive experimental treatment for his condition.  He died not knowing he was part of an experiment on human radiation.  Simeon died…

That was in 1946, but human experimentation has been going on long before Simeon.  Slaves were used is many gruesome ways, but they weren’t the only hapless victims.  Children in orphanages, those who were mentally handicapped, and prisoners were all subjected to the same harsh, dangerous and painful experiments doctors used to for research. 

There have been cases where this type of medical butchery has surfaced and created a maelstrom of outrage and recompense.  The most infamous ones were those done during the Holocaust by the notorious and odious Josef Mengele.  Another occurred in the United States...the Tuskegee experiment, in 1932.  African American men thought they were going to free clinics, when the fact was they were experiments on a study for syphilis, which can kill.  The facts weren’t exposed until much later when most of the men had died from health complications.  Then there was Henrietta Lacks, who wasn’t so much experimented upon as were her cells, which were taken without authority and harvested for biomedical experimentation.  Today, scientists still use her cells, even though she never gave consent for this back in 1951…

We may think that this type of abuse can’t possibly go on in the modern world, but it still does.  Think about all of those commercials you see on television asking for people to be part of a new “study” for a new drug.  Although consent is now law, there are still many countries where it isn’t, and where there’s ignorance of law and need for medicine, many people will suffer through “studies” hoping to receive health care in places where none exists.

Wittenstein writes a powerful and in-depth look at the subject of human experimentation from the past to the present.  She leaves no doubt about the horrors and scars they have left behind and writes about real life accounts that are occurring now.  The bottom line may not always be about advancing science so much as advancing ego or from financial gain.  This non-fiction book is different from others I’ve read because it goes further with the reader by having a book study/lesson guide at the end to create conversation.  As a young adult novel, it’s these types of questions that will stir not only emotion, but also morality and make teens think.  Wittenstein blurs the line and creates that gray area that people, from intellectual to working class backgrounds, will finds themselves in, wondering what is right and true while taking either side of the issue.  It is definitely clear  that Wittenstein has done some quality research, and has skillfully condensed it into a short non-fiction book (less than 100 pages) with actual photographs of some of these incidences.  But those 100 pages will make you think about this topic long after you put the book down.  Highly recommended for JH/HS

Book pair:

Non-Fiction:  Guinea Pig Scientists: Bold Self-Experimenters in Science and Medicine by Mel Boring, Leslie Dendy, and C.B. Mordan  

2005, Henry Holt and Co

Fiction:  Dr. Frankenstein's Daughters by Suzanne Weyn 

                   2013, Scholastic Press

            The Madman's Daughter by Morgan Shepherd 

                   2013, Balzer + Bray

Google Database Lesson Plan

Thanks for coming to the presentation :)  Here's the link to my presentation:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-wHb5Nsjhy0amlxdlVYQkNJNEU/edit?usp=sharing

Content Curation -TCEA 2014 Presentation

The permalink is: https://magic.piktochart.com/output/1217729-content-curation#/pikto-block-4

Book Trailer: Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alender

This is currently on Youtube and shared via Google Drive...I haven't been able to upload it to Schooltube (trying to figure that out!)  Here's the link if Youtube is blocked:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-wHb5Nsjhy0U3lEYlZDNEVXVFU/edit?usp=sharing

I haven't made one in awhile...it was nice getting back into the groove :)
Enjoy!

Juvenile in Justice by Richard Ross

2012, Published by Richard Ross.

Richard Ross spent a lot of time sitting, writing, getting permission, and listening to the stories of teens (as well as children aged 12 years old) of what life is like inside the bars of juvenile detention centers throughout the nation.  It isn't pretty...

The first thing the reader will see are statistics:  Juvenile courts process about 4,600 delinquency cases per day; juvenile incarceration is unique among the world's developed nations; the cost (from 66k-88k) it takes to pay for a young person in the system for 9-12 months.  These aren't the only facts scattered throughout this book.  There are many more...

Stories about told and re-told.  You see the plight of a twelve-year old who was thrown in juvenile detention for fighting in school, just waiting until his mom can pick him up after work.  You also see the 16 year old who has multiple counts of rape, murder and assault on his record.  It shows incarcerated teens visiting their babies as well as the creativity these teens possess in a new environment that is much more restricted that life outside.  Pages are filled with different stories, some saying their innocent, some saying they've changed, some saying they're guilty....

Ross also spends time in his book to get a holistic view of what the Youth Offender System looks like from solitary confinement to regular cells, from the cafeteria to the guard's observation room.  Nothing is left out, and readers get face-time through stunning photos of what life looks like on the inside.  Ross also takes the reader into facilities that aren't all bars and concrete.  They look more like rehabilitation centers than prison cells.  But it's always the same kids in every facility there is.

This book will definitely get different reactions from different readers.  But what's most important is the story that's told throughout the book.  It's a quick read because of the pictorial nature of this non-fiction, but it's powerful.  The saying, "A picture tells a thousand words" is true in this instance.  It has taken a lot of perseverance and a keen eye to capture the beauty in a world where not much beauty can be found.  This is one non-fiction novel that should be in all YA libraries. Recommended.


Fiction book pair:  Monster by Walter Dean Myers
                             Rikers High by Paul Volponi


**I am adding the companion website to this book, but am not advocating or have any personal affiliation for any political information found therein.  http://www.juvenile-in-justice.com/

Ahhhhh.....Love! Amour! Liebe! 爱

It's coming.  A pink tinge hangs in the air ready to burst into full bloom red.  Chocolates are molded, wrapped, and dipped, that irritating commercial from Pajamagram slips into the regularly scheduled commercials, and the cards full of love, hope and poetry are purchased in bulk. (as an aside, my husband has given me the same Valentine's Day card for the last 20 years, and every year it means something different) But fear not!  There is hope in the form of YA novels!  And not a moment too soon!  Here is a short compiled list of recent romance novels written with teens in mind.  And what's more, they're all novel in verse.  Get lost in the translation...

Audition by Stasia Ward Kehoe. Viking, 2011. Sara's first love is ballet, and now her hard work and determination have paid off.  She's accepted into an apprenticeship with professional dance company and moves to New York to fulfill her dreams.  Her excitement quickly turns into loneliness, until she meets Remington, a choreographer who works with this troupe of ballerinas.  Sara's loneliness quickly turns to giddiness, then into the ultimate emotion and decision she never thought she'd make.  What, exactly, does she truly want, in terms of a relationship and career?  Life is the ultimate learning experience for her.  Genre: real life read

To Be Perfectly Honest by Sonya Sones.  Simon &Schuster, 2013.
It's hard being the daughter of the most famous actress in Hollywood.  Just ask Collette.  She's lived in the shadows most of her life and has found the best way to escape them is to lie. Just little white lies.. those never hurt anyone.  So when she and her little brother go on "vacation" with their mother to film a new movie (starring, who else?), Collette brings out her secret stash of lies.  And when she meets Connor, she feels it'll be the only thing to protect her from the shadow of her famous mom.  He's gorgeous, older, sweet and sexy, and Collette falls in love. But the more lies you tell, the harder it is to keep them up.  Add a relationship to this mix, and Collette is just waiting for disaster to strike...or can she get away with it?  Genre: romance

Hideous Love by Stephanie Hemphill.  Balzer + Bray, 2013.  Mary was young when she first met Percy.  Living in Victorian England, becoming betrothed was a difficult task for her, especially as a girl with an academic background.  But sometimes emotions outweigh the logic. Mary and Percy begin a love affair that quickly turns illicit.  She makes the decision to elope with Percy, who would always be her heart's desire.  What she wasn't expecting was his adamant request to also bring along her step-sister.  Mary overlooks his philandering ways, but jealousy still lingers every time she sees them together.  Writing is an outlet Mary turns to in order to let free her emotions, experiences, and academic desires.  Little did she know it would be the most celebrated gothic romance of its time...Frankenstein.  Based on true biographies.  Genre: historical fiction

Love & Leftovers by Sarah Tregay.  Katherine Tegan, 2011.  Marcie has been pulled in two, emotionally and literally.  Her parents divorce has completely screwed up Marcie's life, and to help her mom pull through the depression, they move from Idaho to New Hampshire to start a new life over.  That means Marcie must leave her boyfriend  and group of the best friends she's ever had, behind.  But it doesn't mean the end of their relationship.  She constantly emails them all (aka the Leftovers), never losing touch them and hanging onto her relationship with her boyfriend.  But communication starts to drift when the cute guy in school takes a liking to Marcie. One secret withheld from her boyfriend but told to her best friend becomes her undoing.  Genre: real life read; romance

Falling For You by Lisa Schroeder.  Simon Pulse, 2013.  Love is a battlefield, and Rae is fighting through it right now.  She's in the hospital, unconscious, not sure if she'll pull through or not.   Rae can't stand to be around her step-father, so she spends most of her time at school and work, waiting for the day she can leave this town behind.  The only person she'd miss would be her best friend Leo, who makes her feel happy and carefree.  But then she meets the heartstopper, Nathan, and their relationship blossoms.  But the bloom becomes obsession and jealousy.  Rae knows what started out good is now toxic.  Leo is the only person Rae can talk to, and Nathan cannot stand that.  Will she have to lose both in order to start life over again?  One day, one gun, one life...  Told through flashback. Genre: real life read (this is more of a novel that contains Schroeder-esque poetry glittering throughout)

Waiting  by Carol Lynch Williams.  Simon & Schuster, 2012.  Growing up as children of missionaries, London and Zach's life have always had higher expectations (kind of like kids of preachers and teachers).  But when Zach lives life his way instead of his parents, the pressure becomes to great and he takes his life.  The entire family is stunned, and London can't shake the feeling that she's to blame.  Her mother won't talk to her, her father is distant, and Zach is gone...she thinks about her boyfriend Taylor, but feels the need to cut him out of her life because he was Zach's best friend; he knows too much family history.  But a new family moves into town, and London feels a pull to Jesse.  He's new, irresistible, and knows nothing about her past life, social and private.  A perfect getaway.  But even that really doesn't help her situation, and now London is pulled is more directions that she thought possible.  Genre:real life read

Addendum:  here are also some other excellent YA novels (not in verse):

Bunheads by Sophie Flack.  Poppy, 2011  Genre: real life reads


Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral.  Razorbill, 2012.  Genre: picture book

Eve & Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate.  Feiwel and Friends, 2012.  Genre: science fiction

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler.  Razorbill, 2011.  Genre: historical fiction

Pizza, Love & Other Stuff That Made Me Famous by Kathryn Williams.  Henry Holt and Co., 2012 Genre: girl reads

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson.  Simon & Schuster, 2012.  Genre: real life reads

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman.  Little Brown and Co, 2011. Genre: real life reads


And last but not least, an extensive list of YA novels from my previous blog post about YA romance:
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7260786418133593157#editor/target=post;postID=4408141181443459942

Mums in Texas....Holy Mum!

This is a picture of my daughter and her boyfriend. Her mum cost over 300.00 and went right to the floor. She weighs about 110 pounds, the mum weighed between 10-15 pounds....Complete with lights on a powerbox with switch.  This is a 3 flower mum.  At our school, seniors have silver mums, juniors high gold mums, and underclassmen have mum in school colors.  

Do You Tweet? A Survey of Teacher Librarians and Twitter

direct link https://magic.piktochart.com/output/1075877-tls-tweet

The Outcasts by Kathleen Kent

Little, Brown and Co, 2013

This is the first Western novel I've read in quite awhile because it doesn't seem like there are many novels in this genre, and Kathleen Kent delivers! Set in the state of Texas from Ft. Worth to Houston and continuing to the turn-of-the-century New Orleans, Louisiana, Kent weaves three tales in one.

Lucinda wants to leave the cathouse and create a new start with the love of her life. She knows the many pitfalls of her profession and Madame Landry is cunning, keeping a tight fist over her girls, making sure they have little opportunity to leave.  Lucinda takes the only chance she has by planning her getaway and stealing from Landry.  Her beau is willing marry her, but she needs to find a respectable job. The opportunity as a teacher comes up in the small community of Middle Bayou, near Houston and while Lucinda may not be a teacher, her life has led her to create a close relationship with numbers, especially geometry.  She uses this as a tactic to escape reality and help curb her ailment that has plagued her since childhood and one she is hellbent on hiding. It won't take long for every niche in Lucinda's life to come out....

Nate is a new lawman from Oklahoma who is working for the first time with two famed Rangers, Deerling and Dr. Tom, learning what justice and law truly is in the Old West while still trying to preserve his integrity. His passion is horses, and he landed the job because of his reputation training them. Nate leaves behind a wife and daughter, whom he loves dearly and fights against the perils of his position.  His conscience and his position fight and rebel against each other as he sees firsthand how the Rangers work, not quite defying the law, but not quite working within it. Is there room for patience and tolerance in the Texas Ranger brotherhood?  He fights against their handling of outlaws and Indians, and this battle between mindsets has caused friction between Nate and the Rangers. But one thing will draw them together.  For the Rangers, it's an end to personal injury; for Nate, it's a promise he keeps...

McGill is a psychopathic outlaw who won't let anyone, including women and children, get in the way of his sole pursuit - finding the easy life at whatever price. McGill knows his trail is hot in Texas, but when he finds out about the prospect of a fortune ready for the taking, he takes a chance and goes to find it with two of his henchmen in tow. McGill is not only a psychopath, but a master manipulator, able to charm strangers into overlooking who he truly is to create a chameleon-like personality.  His luck and prowess have kept him alive this long thus far....

One gold piece, one tall tale of Jean LaFitte, and the singular and personal drive of all of these characters to do what they set out for will put them on a collision course with fate. The Old West is unforgiving, and it's this emotional landscape that molds the people who lived it. Kathleen Kent writes a fast-paced novel rich with history and description of not only the setting, but the characters and themes as well. Separated into chapters, she knows when to switch voices, leaving the reader wanting to know more about the previous story while slowly beginning to see the threads that knit everything together. More than that, Kent creates drama and surprise not only for the characters but also the reader. She bookends this novel with a beautifully crafted foreword and afterword. This novel can definitely be added to both adult and young adult shelves.
Highly recommended for secondary collections

Non-fiction pair:

 Bad Girls by Jane Yolen
 Lone Star Lawmen: the second century of the Texas Rangers by Robert M. Utley

 Photo by Brady by Jennifer Armstrong

If you like this, then you'll like:
Stephen King's Dark Tower series
Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale

Presentation: Copyright in the Digital Age

Copyright, Fair Use and Creative Commons in the Digital Classroom from naomibates

Well...Kinda Zombies Part One: YA books not quite, but nearly about zombies

Contaminated by Em Garner, Egmont 2013

Velvet Ellis lives in a different world as a teen than she did as a child.  There is no time for play, and very little time for school.  Velvet wishes she could have her old life back at home with her parents making all of the decisions, but that life is over.  It's more about survival now...,.

It all started with the newest drink, ThinPro, that helps you lost the weight you want to.  Most everyone in the country drank it, but little did they know they were drinking more than water.  And when the Contamination hit, the people who drank ThinPro changed.

The contaminated are now called Connies, raging mind-numbing people who barely resemble their former selves.  They're raging creatures, stumbling slowly toward the next victim regardless of who it could hurt them.  They look like zombies, but they aren't.  And Velvet's parents both became Connies.

Velvet has never given up trying to find her mother.  Every week she goes to the kennel to try and find her among the fetid, contaminated cages of people waiting to be found.  And one day, Velvet literally stumbles upon her mother.  It's time to take her home.

Connies don't change much.  They are still prone to being raging creatures, so to help protect the general population, they must wear collars that will stun them into submission.  There are certain protocols to keeping a contaminated person, and Velvet quickly realizes that trying to take of her sister, keeping a roof over their heads, going to school and working a job, and now taking care of her mother is too much.  Something's got to give...

And then it does...

Em Garner writes a brilliant dystopian novel whose premise of the downfall of the United States is unique and terrifying because it is based on something that could potentially happen.  The contamination knows no boundaries and affects anyone and everyone.  Garner brings in so many variants of society vs. man, including vanity, morality, prejudice and discrimination and survival of the fittest.  She creates a future world where history from the past is repeating itself.  The first chapter will rivet the reader to continue through the book and they will stay entranced with the unfolding story to the very end.  There has to be a sequel...and I can't wait to continue this story!  Recommended for JH/HS

Non-fiction pair:
 Invincible Microbe: tuberculosis and the never-ending search for a cure by Jim Murphy and Alison Blank

If you like this then you'll like...
Rage Within by Jeyn Roberts
Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick
Z by Michael Thomas Ford

Well...Kinda Zombies Part Two: YA books not quite, but nearly about zombies

Eat, Brains, Love by Jeff Hart HarperTeen, 2013

Jake is a slacker who'd rather sit in his basement and play video games.  He doesn't get out much, but one fateful night, he does and meets a hot, sexy barfly.  It's by no way going to form a lasting relationship, more like a one-night stand.  But it's definitely a girl and night that will change his world....forever.

Amanda sparkles down the halls of high school.  She's one of those beautiful girls people want to stare at but know it's rude to.  Her self-confidence is obvious, but people question why she would date a meathead like Chazz, who's more into skipping school and working out.  She's getting tired of the whole relationship.

Cass is a loner.  She had a few friends in high school, but had the opportunity to work for a secret division of the FBI, known as the NCD (Necrotic Control Division).  She has some unusual gifts they are tapping into, and the NCD relies on Cass to track down zombies.

Their worlds will collide when Jake and Amanda manage to eat most of the senior class and then run.  They are fugitives looking for their next meal (anyone say pervert alert?)  And it's during this time they come to terms with how this zombie thing works.  Throw what you think you know about zombies out the window.  Cass has been tapped to find these crazed killers while the FBI creates a cover story, but little do they know that when Cass steps into the mind of Jake it's more about stepping into a romantic fantasy than tracking a killer.  She's falling in love...with a zombie?

Jeff Hart writes a hilarious and gut-wrenching (yeah, I did it....pun intended) book about teens, zombies, men in suits and a possible cure to this whole mess.  When reading it, I couldn't help thinking about the crazy guy in the Greenpeace Santa commercial (you have to check that out!), the Walking Dead, crazy Indians in war paint and scalp necklaces, and creepy fed agents wearing bowties.  I triple dare you not to laugh through this immensely well-written and much needed hilarious horror genre!   Hart definitely changes the definition of zombie that you'll have never read before into something extremely interesting and unexpected, which makes this book such a great read. The only thing that worries me is this was never published in hardcover.  PLEASE write the sequel!  I need know what happens in Iowa!  Highly recommended

If you like then, then you'll like:
The Infect by Sean Beaudoin
Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
Soul Enchilada by David Macinnis Gill
Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion