Battle of the Books

Oregon schools are in full gear for another year of "Battle of the Books". If you haven't heard of the program before, I suggest you do a little internet surfing. In Oregon, the OELA comes up with a yearly book list broken down into age groups. Those schools that do participate get kids so caught up in it that they don't have enough books to keep all of the teams reading. I always enjoy seeing what was chosen each year and this year in particular I think the lists are great because in the past there were not so many surprises. This year the OELA compiled a list of books that runs the gamut in interest and also includes some titles I've never heard of. Here's the list:

Books:

2010 OBOB 3‐5

Beauty by Bill Wallace

o Realistic Fiction

The BFG by Roald Dahl

o Fantasy

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

o Historical Fiction

Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell

o Mystery/ Fantasy

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

o Historical Fiction

The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker

o Fantasy

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

o Fantasy

Honus and Me by Dan Gutman

o Science Fiction

Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke

o Fantasy

Iron Thunder by Avi

o Historical Fiction

Leonardo Da Vinci: A Nonfiction Companion to Monday with a Mad Genius by Mary Pope Osborne

o Non‐fiction

Marley: A Dog Like No Other by John Grogan

o Non‐fiction

Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

o Mystery

No Talking by Andrew Clements

o Realistic Fiction

Piper Reed, Navy Brat by Kimberly Willis Holt

o Realistic Fiction

Socks by Beverly Cleary

o Realistic Fiction

2010 OBOB 6-8 Division

Adam Canfield of the Slash by Michael Winerip

o Mystery/Realistic Fiction

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

o Fantasy

Any Small Goodness by Tony Johnston

o Realistic Fiction

The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis

o Realistic Fiction

Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah

o Non-fiction/Autobiography

Dragon's Keep by Janet Lee Carey

o Fantasy

Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix

o Science Fiction

Maximum Ride: the Angel Experiment by James Patterson

o Science Fiction

Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci

o Realistic Fiction/Graphic Novel

Ranger's Apprentice: Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan

o Fantasy

Schooled by Gordon Korman

o Realistic Fiction

So B. It by Sarah Weeks

o Realistic Fiction

Trapped Between the Lash and the Gun by Arvella Whitmore

o Historical Fiction

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

o Historical Fiction

The Wild Girls by Pat Murphy

o Historical Fiction

Zen And The Art Of Faking It by Jordan Sonnenblick

o Realistic Fiction

2010 OBOB 9-12 Division

Acceleration by Graham McNamee

o Mystery/Thriller

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll

o Fantasy/Classic

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

o Fantasy/Graphic Novel

The Book of Fred by Abby Bardi

o Realistic Fiction

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

o Historical Fiction

Boy's Life by Robert McCammon

o Mystery/Fantasy

Deathwatch by Robb White

o Adventure/Survival

Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

o Realistic Fiction

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

o Science Fiction/Classic

Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston &/or James D. Houston

o Non-fiction

The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjiian

o Realistic Fiction

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

o Science Fiction

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

o Science Fiction

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

o Non-fiction

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

o Realistic Fiction

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

o Fantasy

Young Readers: On your mark, get set.....go!

Flavor of the Year

There's been lot's of buzz in the publishing business about what will replace the obsession with vampires that has hit young adult readers over the last few years. As a result (of course) there has been a near avalanche of books and series with one form of vampirism or another. It was fun for a while but odds are this fad is nearing satiety.

One of the interesting predictions I read about lately is that books with "apocolyptic visions" will replace vampires with the young adult readers. Interestingly enough, one of our school accounts here at Boone Bridge has a High School class that is called "apocolyptic visions". I thought I would share their reading list with you. You may recognize a few.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller

Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

Childhood Ends by Arthur C Clarke

The Earth Abides by George Stewart

Wastelands: Stories of the Apocolypse by Various authors

King Lear by Shakespeare

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Endgame by Samuel Beckett

Gift Upon the Shore by M K Wren

A Good Read

The Man Booker shortlist was announced this month and it reminded me why I like this award. Every year I rely on the nominee list to help me find my next good read. The nominees include, A. S. Byatt, author of The Children's Book, Hilary Montel, author of Wolf Hall and Sarah Waters, author of The Little Stranger. For the complete list, visit The Man Booker Prizes website. This years Man Booker was won by Hilary Montel for Wolf Hall. The award, which includes a nice cash price, guarantees world class and sized readership.

I highly recommend another from the shortlist that I just finished up. "Wish Her Safe At Home" by Stephen Benetar. (Not available here in the states until Christmas.) A perfect little book that would be a great book club choice. Talk about a crazy good read. This is exactly why I always pay attention to the Booker Man because man. they make a good list.

Halloween Books for the seasonal reader

Every year about this time I succumb to my childhood fantasies of halloween and yearn for a darn good scare. I thought it would be fun to make some suggestions from the plethora of yarns that are showing up on bookshelves this fall. "Monstrumologist" described as a "Terrifying Gothic Horror Adventure" by the publisher is turning out to be a creepy enough read. It's my current read and if it's any indication I only read this during daylight hours.

Perhaps learning what it must be like to be the only living resident of a graveyard will pique your interest. If so, Neil Gaiman's "Graveyard" has been a huge hit this year. Of course let's not forget "Where the Wild Things Are". It is such a classic and with the movie adaptation out, what better time to sail along with Max on his adventure in the wild.

The Big Rewind

As a child and teenager, Nathan Rabin viewed pop culture as a life-affirming form of escape. Today, pop culture is his life. For more than a decade, he's served as head writer for "A.V. Club," the entertainment section of "The Onion." In "The Big Rewind," Rabin shares his too-strange-for-fiction life story. From a psilocybin-addled trip to the Anne Frank House to having focus groups for his movie-review panel show opine that all the male critics seemed "gay" and that the show as a whole was "too gay," Rabin discusses his personal evolution in prose as hilarious as it is unexpectedly poignant.

Using a specific song, album, book, film, or television show as a springboard to discuss a period in his life, Rabin recounts his heartwarming tale of triumph over adversity(R) with biting wit and unwise candor. The pop culture touchstones Rabin uses here reflect his broad frame of reference with comic dissertations on "The Simpsons," "The Catcher in the Rye," Dr. Dre, "Grey Gardens," "The Great Gatsby," the Magnetic Fields, the uncanny parallels between Ol' Dirty Bastard and John F. Kennedy, and how the stock market mirrors the pimp game.

Rabin writes movingly about how pop culture helped save him from suicidal despair, institutionalization, and parental abandonment -- throughout a childhood that sent him ricocheting from a mental hospital to a foster home to a group home for emotionally disturbed adolescents. "The Big Rewind" is also a touching narrative of a motherless child's search for family and acceptance and a darkly comic valentine to Rabin's lovable, hard-luck dad.

Featuring cameos by Billy Bob Thornton, a vomiting Topher Grace, and Barack Obama, "The Big Rewind" chronicles the surreal journey of Rabin's life and its intersection with the dizzying, maddening, wonderful world of entertainment.

-Publisher's Marketing

Shannon: a Poem of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

From the inimitable Campbell McGrath comes an epic poem of george shannon, the youngest member of the lewis and clark expedition, who wandered the prairie alone for sixteen days.

The last of the Maha will fade from the earth Vanquished utterly by the Pawnee & after the Pawnee the Sioux may perish & eventually the Kentuckians and Ohioans &c--I doubt not but my countrymen Will populate in numbers these fulsome plains But what untold count Of years & men, of decades & centuries What numberless generations will it require Life by life & skeleton by skeleton To claim this land from the buffalo?

With "Shannon," a testament to both natural splendor and human courage, Campbell McGrath has created a thrilling narrative that rises from those vast, lonely spaces that continue to haunt the American consciousness.

-Publisher's marketing

A Great Place to Live

I remember my first library as a kid and it was by all intents and purposes the library you would conjure in your imagination.  It had all the props, leaded glass windows, gothic architecture, the faint smell of old wood mixed with yellowing paper, positioned on a quant little main street of a small town.  The one thing it did not have was the librarian of one's dreams.  Skip the physical aspect of their appearance, and let's focus on that perfect librarian, the lover of books, the mentor of readers.  I instead had the opposite experience which was the librarian of the desk and the stamps.  It's the librarian of my dreams that would have led me to the great books.  I stumbled into books and because of this it was only as an adult that I actually read "The Wind in the Willows" or other fine classics.  What could have been had I read those as a child?  So as a vendor and recommender of books, I particularly consider this as one of the most important parts of my job.  

I stumbled across this wonderful video that made me contemplate this life of mine that is so essentially built around books and the reading of them.  "A Great Place to Live" reminds me of that dream of a library, and

the art of fabrication, embellishment and piecing together of words that can result in a completely new world.  I hope you enjoy it too.