Today's book 08/29/2012

• Krosoczka, Jarrett. LUNCH LADY AND THE MUTANT MATHLETES

  Krosoczka, Jarrett. LUNCH LADY AND THE MUTANT MATHLETES New York : Knopf, 2012 IL 3-6, RL 3.0 ISBN 0375870288 The Breakfast Bunch has skipped the museum tour and now the principal is going to discipline them. After discussing it with their parents, he decides that Dee, Hector and Terrence will join the mathletes team to help them in their quest to win he trophy. Why would anyone join the mathletes team if they didn't have to. Well, the kids will do their best to help the team beat Willowby Academy in the championship. But Lunch Lady notices something odd about the kids from Willowby.

  tags: podcasts blueduke elementary

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Today's book 08/28/2012

• Cooper, Rose. SECRETS FROM THE SLEEPING BAG

  Cooper, Rose. SECRETS FROM THE SLEEPING BAG New York : Delacorte Press, 2012 IL 5-8, RL 6.4 ISBN 0385742460 Summer camp. Is there really any thing like it? For Sofia Becker and her best friend Nona, the idea of summer camps is a bit mixed. They are looking forward to it but don't know what to expect. They certainly don't expect to be in different cabins! And the idea of going four weeks with no Internet is not a pleasant thought. How is Sofia going to keep up her blogtastic blog? So now she is keeping a journal of all the things that happen so she can blog about them when she gets home. And she is sharing her adventure with us!

  tags: podcasts blueduke elementary

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Today's book 08/26/2012

• Clements, Andrew. ABOUT AVERAGE

  Clements, Andrew. ABOUT AVERAGE New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2012 IL 3-6, RL 6.5 ISBN 1416997245 Have you ever thought of yourself as average? Jordan Johnston does. She gets average grades, she has average looks, she is an average singer. Then there are those things that she is below average in like playing an instrument. She relates to the book Sarah Plain and Tall except she is Jordan Plain and Average. The class bully finds a list Jordan made listing Things that I'm Good at, Things I'm OK at, Things I Stink at. This puts Jordan into a really bad mood but she comes up with a plan to make Marlea stop teasing her. And she just may find a way to become a little less average.

  tags: podcasts blueduke elementary

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Today's book 08/21/2012

• Trueman, Terry. LIFE HAPPENS NEXT

  Trueman, Terry. LIFE HAPPENS NEXT New York : HarperTeen, 2012 IL YA ISBN 0062028030 In Stuck in Neutral, we met Shawn McDaniel, a teenage boys with normal teenage boy thoughts and desires. He is a bright, friendly boy who loves music, tv and girls. But no one will ever know that. Shawn has cerebral palsy that renders his body useless. People around him have no way of knowing what goes on inside. And that is why his father decided to end Shawn's suffering a couple of days ago. But he changed his mind at the last moment and now Shawn is moving on. He is madly in love with his sister's best friend but he can't tell her. And when his mother's cousin moves in, he has a lot he would like to say. Debi has Down's and is very direct. Her dog Rusty is not the friendliest dog in the world. But the three of them form an unusual friendship. But how can you form a friendship when you can't talk, walk or even wave hello?

  tags: podcasts blueduke ya

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Today's book 08/19/2012

• Russell, Rachel Renee. TALES FROM A NOT-SO-GRACEFUL ICE PRINCESS

  Russell, Rachel Renee. TALES FROM A NOT-SO-GRACEFUL ICE PRINCESS New York : Aladdin, 2012 IL 3-6, RL 6.2 ISBN 1442411929 Nikki cannot believe that Brandon has asked her to a party. BRANDON! Her absolute crush. How lucky is she? Brandon is so sweet. And when Nikki finds out that Brandon volunteers at an animal shelter, she is more in love. But the shelter is in danger of closing. Nikki is determined to help save it and she teams up wih Chloe and Zoey to find a way to get the money needed for the shelter. It involves entering an ice skating compettion so you just know that is not going to go as planned. And then there is Mackenzie to deal with.

  tags: podcasts blueduke elementary

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Today's book 08/18/2012

• Roth, Veronica. INSURGENT

  Roth, Veronica. INSURGENT New York : Katherine Tegen Books, 2012 IL YA ISBN 0062024043 This is a sequel to Roth's Divergent. Tris and Four have survived the Erudite simulation and are now determined to try to find out what was behind it. The Dauntless attack has left the factions fighting amongst themselves and Tris is trying to save those she loves. Civil war looms and the quest for power begins. There are even more simulations and the factions thrown together. Tris discovers that there is a secret to protect. A secret that is so important that if known, it may destroy all the factions. Insurgent starts out right into the story and does not give a summary of what has happened in the first book. It is recommended that readers are familiar with Divergent before plunging into this story.

  tags: podcasts blueduke ya

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Today's book 08/17/2012

• Pyle, Kevin C. TAKE WHAT YOU CAN CARRY

  Pyle, Kevin C. TAKE WHAT YOU CAN CARRY New York : Henry Holt, 2012 IL YA ISBN 0805082867 Two stories set decades apart. Kyle in 1978 is new in town. And he is bored. He joins up with a few other boys and they start destroying property just for the fun of it. They get their kicks from stealing and breaking up a construction site. When they are caught, Kyle and one of the boys end up in jail. The second story is a wordless story set in 1941. A family of Japanese Americans are shipped off to an internment camp. Life in camp is hard and the family changes in ways they didn't see coming. These two stories come together and the two learn from each other.

  tags: podcasts blueduke ya

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Today's book 08/16/2012

• Nichols, Tavis. MATTHEW MEETS THE MAN

  Nichols, Tavis. MATTHEW MEETS THE MAN New York : Roaring Brook Press, 2012 IL 5-8, RL 6.4 ISBN 1596435453 Meet Matthew. He is a freshman in high school and he has a dream. His dream is to play drums in a rock band. Unfortunately, his parents think that the trumpet is a great instrument and can't see spending money on something like a drum kit. But after he sees some local bands, he is more determined to follow his dream. And he won't let "The Man" get him down. Well, the man is really his parents. But he is determined not to let his frugal dad or even the IRS who takes a bite out of his first paycheck stand in the way of his dream. Do you have a dream that you would be willing to do just about anything for?

  tags: podcasts blueduke elementary

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Today's book 08/10/2012

• Khan, Hena. MARS : YOU DECIDE HOW TO SURVIVE!

  Khan, Hena. MARS : YOU DECIDE HOW TO SURVIVE!New York : Chronicle Books, 2011IL 3-6, RL 5.2ISBN 081187124XDo you ever dream of going to Mars? Would you like to be in charge of the expedition? Well, I can't give you that but this book is the next best thing. In this choose your own adventure, you are the commander of a mission to Mars. Your mission is to prepare Mars Base I for the first wave of permanent settlers and then return to Earth. As you read the book, you decide on the next step. Chose right and you return safely. Chose the wrong path and things may not go so well.

  tags: podcasts blueduke elementary

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Today's book 08/10/2012

• Hirsch, Jeff. THE ELEVENTH PLAGUE

  Hirsch, Jeff. THE ELEVENTH PLAGUENew York : Scholastic, 2011IL YAISBN 0545290147It's hard to look at life now and think that it used to be so different. Before the plague. Before the war. Two-thirds of the population has died and now the ones who are left struggle to survive. Stephen and his family have become scavengers. They move from place to place trying to find anything that they can trade. His mother has died and now his grandfather is gone as well. As he and his father are traveling, they come on some slavers. These are brutal men who sell humans into slavery. As they try to escape, Stephen's father is injured. What is Stephen to do now? His father is broken and in a coma. Fortunately, they are found by the inhabitants of Settler's Landing and taken in. Can a place like Settler's Landing really exist in this world? People live in houses, they go to school, they even play baseball. Is there more to this than meets the eye?

  tags: podcasts ya blueduke

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Today's book 08/09/2012

• Hicks, Faith Erin. FRIENDS WITH BOYS

  Hicks, Faith Erin. FRIENDS WITH BOYSNew York : First Second, 2012IL YAISBN 1596435569Starting high school is always an adventure. But what if you were homeschooled all your life and have no friends other than your brothers? Maggie is looking forward to high school but really misses her time at home with her mother. But her mother has left the family and she is now following her three brothers into public school. She just doesn't think she can do it. She does eventually make a couple of friends but they are both considered freaks by the popular boys. Add to this the ghost that Maggie has seen for years, we have a story about adjustment and a bit of a mystery to solve as well.

  tags: podcasts blueduke ya

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Hicks, Faith Erin. FRIENDS WITH BOYS

Hicks, Faith Erin. FRIENDS WITH BOYS
New York : First Second, 2012
IL YA
ISBN 1596435569
Starting high school is always an adventure. But what if you were homeschooled all your life and have no friends other than your brothers? Maggie is looking forward to high school but really misses her time at home with her mother. But her mother has left the family and she is now following her three brothers into public school. She just doesn't think she can do it. She does eventually make a couple of friends but they are both considered freaks by the popular boys. Add to this the ghost that Maggie has seen for years, we have a story about adjustment and a bit of a mystery to solve as well.

Hautman, Pete. THE OBSIDIAN BLADE

Hautman, Pete. THE OBSIDIAN BLADE
Somerville, MA : Candlewick, 2012
IL YA
ISBN 0763654035
In the first volume of a new scifi series, we meet Tucker Feye who is living a pretty normal life in a small town in Minnesota. His father is the local minister and his mother is the organist at the church. Everything changes when Tucker's father disappears from the roof of the house when he is fixing it. Tucker thought he saw a floating disk near where he father disappeared but how could that be? When his father returns, he is a changed man. He doesn't believe in God anymore and forbids the family from mentioning Him. He is also accompanied by a young girl who is wearing strange blue boots. She doesn't seem to speak English and there is no explanation as to where she came from. And now Tucker's mother has lost her mind and there is no help for her. Things get even stranger when Tucker's parents disappear. Tucker keeps seeing the strange floating disks but who would believe him if he said he thought his parents went through one of them?

Bobrick, Benson. A PASSION FOR VICTORY

Bobrick, Benson. A PASSION FOR VICTORY 
New York : A.A. Knopf, 2012 
IL 5-8, RL 8.7 
ISBN 0375868690 
As I watched the opening ceremonies of the summer Olympics, I was thrilled by the spectacle. The modern technology that allows the amazing show. And the athletes all looked so proud as they marched into the stadium. But has it always been like this? What were the Olympics like years ago? In this book, we find out. We learn about the first Olympic festival in 776 BC. And as we watch celebrities from the world attending the games, could it have been the same feeling when Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Herodotus and other celebrities of their time attended? From the games of the ancient times up through the 1948 games, we learn about the athletes both famous and little known. Like the Cuban marathoner Felix Carbajal, who stopped along the route to shake hands, paused in an orchard to eat some fruit which made him sick. Then he took a nap before finishing the race. And he actually came in fourth! That certainly wouldn't happen in the 21st century!