Assignment Alert-Sky Vista Middle School

Smoky Hill Library was recently contacted by Annie Olson, Teacher Librarian at Sky Vista Middle School. About 120 students from that school have been assigned to read a Utopia/ Dystopia novel over the next month or so. She sent a suggested reading list that was provided to the students which I have attached under CORE TITLES at our ALD Teen Services wiki in case students come in without their list. This is also a good list for other teen patrons seeking similar titles. Here are a few more that are not on the list that we have @ ALD that would also work:

The destiny of Linus Hoppe / Anne-Laure Bondoux ; translated from the French by Catherine Temerson.
In a utopian world, fourteen-year-old Linus, who is approaching the test that will determine which Realm he will live, rejects the accepted way of life and ventures to change his destiny.

The silenced / James DeVita.
Consigned to a prison-like Youth Training Facility because of her parents' political activities, Marena organizes a resistance movement to combat the restrictive policies of the ruling Zero Tolerance party.

The supernaturalist / Eoin Colfer.
In futuristic Satellite City, fourteen-year-old Cosmo Hill escapes from his abusive orphanage and teams up with three other people who share his unusual ability to see supernatural creatures, and together they determine the nature and purpose of the swarming blue Parasites that are invisible to most humans.

Do you have others you recommend?

~Monica

Learning Styles

Ok, we've all heard about learning styles, but have you ever taken an assessment survey? Take this survey at www.learning-styles-online.com, and glean an understanding about yourself, your own kids, or the teens you work with. One of my daughters is very much like me, and one is not - this helps me remember that she doesn't learn like I do. Will you find out that the survey accurately identifies you, or will you learn something new about yourself?

The Brown Bookshelf & 28 Days Later

There's a cool blog called The Brown Bookshelf, run by 5 African-American authors and illustrators with the goal of showcasing A-A youth literature. They have an initiative this year called 28 Days Later, where for the first 28 days of Black History Month they will profile a different author or illustrator. The showcase authors will be announced January 15. There's going to be a poster to download and print out as well. Looks good!