The new summer reading lists are now ready for your perusal! The lists are comprised of titles selected with care by your English teachers and school librarians. Enjoy your time off with a few good books!

Maine’s two children’s choice book awards were announced this week.

The Chickadee Award, a picture book award program for kindergarteners through fourth graders,  is given annually to one of ten picture books.  Waynflete Lower School students in kindergarten through third grade participate.  This year’s winner is:

The Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen

 

The Maine Student Book Award program is open to fourth through eighth graders.  Students read from a list of approximately 30 nominees, which include fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.  This year’s MSBA winner is:

 

Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle

by Major Brian Dennis, Kirby Larson, and Mary Nethery

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to all Waynflete students who participated!

 

 

Each year Waynflete students in kindergarten through third grade happily participate in the Chickadee Award program, a children’s choice picture book award program.  The official Chickadee Award website explains, “This award is given annually to one of ten picture books nominated by a committee of teachers, librarians, and early literacy professionals. Each year the books are chosen from those published in the previous year and are selected because they present a solid original story and artwork that supports and extends the text.”  The nominees are read aloud in the library throughout the year, with voting (including a voting booth and “I Voted!” stickers) taking place the last week of March.

For older students, there’s the Maine Student Book Award, a program for 4th-8th graders co-sponsored by the Maine Library Association, Maine Association of School Libraries, and Maine Reading Association.  Students read independently from a list of approximately 30 nominees.  To be eligible to vote, they must have read at least three of the nominees.  Voting for MSBA is held in late March.

Both awards were announced last week.  Younger students were excited to learn that the favorite Chickadee nominee here was also the overall winner:

The Wolves are Back by Jean Craighead George

For over a century, wolves were persecuted in the United States and nearly became extinct. Gradually reintroduced, they are thriving again in the West, much to the benefit of the ecosystem.

As for the Maine Student Book Award, the winner was a book that many Middle Schoolers have read and enjoyed:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss’s skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister’s place.

Next year’s nominees for both awards will be announced soon.  The MSBA nominees make great choices for summer reading, so we’ll be including them here in our summer reading lists.  The Chickadee fun will begin again in September.  Thank you to all young readers who participated in both programs!

With our friends in the English Department, we have come up with lists of wonderful books to recommend for your time off this summer.  It is wonderful to have the opportunity to share some of our favorite books with you, so please, if you fall in love with one of them this summer, please stop in and tell us all about it!

Also, if you discover a new book that’s not on this list that you think we should recommend to others, please come to the library to tell us about that too.

Here’s to a summer of reading, basking, playing, and relaxing!

All the best,

Emily

One of my favorite traditions here in the Waynflete Library is to ask the members of the senior class what their favorite book is.  Every September for the last several years I’ve posted a large sheet of paper with each senior’s name on it.  I ask them to write down one title.  Some respond quickly and decisively.  Others take several months.  Some change their minds, erasing once, twice, or more.  And then there are those students who simply can’t make up their minds.  I have fond memories of one student, a couple of years ago, whose response was, “too numerous to name just one…”  She was a voracious reader, so I could certainly understand her inability to settle on one title.

The list is always eclectic, including everything from Dr. Seuss and J.K. Rowling to the Bronte sisters and J.D. Salinger.  It reflects a lifetime of great books.

Here is this year’s “Seniors’ Favorite Books” list. Thank you and congratulations, Class of 2009!

Laurel

SENIORS’ FAVORITE BOOKS
Class of 2009

Abby Armstrong – The End of Faith by Sam Harris

Zohar Azoulay – Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

Lisa Beneman – The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

Maddie Berrang – The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Josh Bloom – The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini

Lauren Bruns – The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

Alicia Chatterjee – The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

Ilona Cieplinski – The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Ellie Cole – Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Suki Nesvig – Susuki Beane by Sandra Scoppettone

Annie Cutler – Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs

Allie Dawe – Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch

Anna Edwards – Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Adele Espy – Bony Legs by Joanna Cole

Sabrina Garnett – All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

Lauren Hadiaris – The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Tucker Hagge – Hunger by Knut Hamsun

Liza Hall – The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Ellie Hallett – The Last of the Really Great Wangdoodles by Julie Andrews
Edwards

Dillon Hamilton – The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

Zoe Haney-Paradis – The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Tessa Hartley – Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin

Nasra Hassan – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Hassan Jeylani – The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

Sawyer Hopps – Chasing Ghosts: Failures and Facades in Iraq: A Soldier’s
Perspective by Paul Rieckhoff

Anisa Khadraoui – The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay

Greer Millard – The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Tara Milliken – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran
Foer

Robin Mitchell – Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link and Shelley Jackson

Mariah Monks – Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

Naomi Moser – The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Christine Ordway – A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Stephen Pardy – Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Isabel Parkinson – The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Emma Pedersen – 1984 by George Orwell; A Clockwork Orange by
Anthony Burgess

Eliza Perry – The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

Mariam Qazi – How Many Ways Can you Catch a Fly? by Robin Page and
Steve Jenkins

Ian Rummler – Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Nina Russem – The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

Joey Shapell – Go Down, Moses by William Faulkner

Melanie Shelton – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling

Zoe Sobel – Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling

Ike Voorhees – One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander
Solzhenitsyn

Mohamed Warsame – Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Marcela Wilk – Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi

Otis Wortley – Go Down, Moses by William Faulkner

Gulaid Abdullahi –  The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

While I was at home sick a few weeks ago, I read Mister Pip, a novel by Lloyd Jones. It tells the story of Matilda, a 14 year-old girl growing up on Papua New Guinea in the midst of political unrest. Lacking any other curriculum, Mr. Watts, the only remaining educated, white man on the island- and thus the default teacher- reads Great Expectations aloud to his class.

New York Times book reviewer, Janet Maslin, only reluctantly embraced this charming novel. I was entranced. I admit Jones is somewhat heavy handed, but Matilda’s voice feels authentic. Her love of Pip and adoration of the man who transforms her life by sharing Pip’s story is so touching, that this story, like Pip’s, had the power of transporting me off my chilly Maine couch and into the warm Pacific where frost could only be conjured by the imagination.

Reading about a book’s power to transform lives and transport minds got me in the mood for a book list… With April break nearing, and Spring only just arriving in our northern home, I thought you, too, might enjoy a get away with a good book. Here’s a list of some of the library’s newest. I’ve thrown in a few older favorites too…

Swimming to Antarctica by Lynne Cox “At age sixteen, legendary swimmer Lynne Cox reached her lifetime goal of setting a new world record for an English Channel swim. So she set her goals even higher: She became the first to swim the Strait of Magellan, narrowly escaped a shark attack off the Cape of Good Hope, and was cheered across the twenty-mile Cook Strait of New Zealand by dolphins. Her daring eventually led her to the thirty-eight-degree waters of the Bering Strait, which she crossed in her usual out-fit-just a swimsuit, cap, and goggles. She even swam a mile in the iceberg-choked seas of the Antarctic. With a poet’s eye for detail, Cox shares the beauty of her time in the water in this new classic of sports memoir, now illustrated with photos and maps throughout.” (Book Jacket)

Unbowed by Wangari Maathai “Maathai, the winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and a single mother of three, recounts her life as a political activist, feminist, and environmentalist in Kenya. Born in a rural village in 1940, she was already an iconoclast as a child, determined to get an education even though most girls were uneducated. We see her become the first woman both in East and Central Africa to earn a PhD and to head a university department in Kenya. We witness her numerous run-ins with the brutal Moi government; the establishment, in 1977, of the Green Belt Movement, which spread from Kenya across Africa and which helps restore indigenous forests while assisting rural women by paying them to plant trees in their villages; and how her courage and determination helped transform Kenya’s government into the democracy in which she now serves.”–From publisher description.

Slam by Nick Hornby “At the age of fifteen, Sam Jones’s girlfriend gets pregnant and Sam’s life of skateboarding and daydreaming about Tony Hawk changes drastically.”

Off the Map by Mark Jenkins One of my favorite travel narratives – the story of a bicycle trip across Siberia by a small group of Americans, Russians, and “Soviets.” In addition to the excitement and suspense of traveling through unchartered, roadless country where the children have never before seen bicycles, Jenkins conveys a knowledge of the culture one can only gain traveling through it on two wheels.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami A special recommendation from Seth Rigoletti: “Anyone who is interested in writing that can sweep you away and make you think would love this book. Murakami is a dangerous writer in that he forces the reader to experience the unknown and to love it. A wonderful story and thought-provoking journey.”

Oscar Wilde and a Game Called Murder by Gyles Daubeney Brandreth “It’s 1892 and Oscar Wilde is the toast of London, riding high on the success of his play Lady Windemere’s Fan. While celebrating with friends at a dinner he conjures up a game called “murder” that poses the question: Who would you most like to kill? Wilde and friends – including Arthur Conan Doyle and Bram Stoker – write the names of their “victims” on pieces of paper and choose them one by one. After leaving the party, Wilde scoffs at the suggestion that he may have instigated a very dangerous game indeed… The very next day, the game takes an all-too-sinister turn when the first “victim” turns up dead. Soon Wilde and his band of amateur detectives must travel through the realms of politics, theatre, and even boxing to unearth whose misguided passions have the potential to become deadly poisons…not only for the perpetrator of the seemingly perfect crimes but also for the trio of detectives investigating them.”-BOOK JACKET.

Darkmans by Nicola Barker “Is it John Scogin, Edward IV’s infamous court jester, who enjoyed burning people alive for a laugh? Or a salad-fearing tiny Kurd called Gaffar? Or a man who guards Beckley Woods with a Samurai sword and a pregnant terrier?” “A very modern book set in a ridiculously modern town, Nicola Barker’s Darkmans is an epic novel of startling originality – a story of obsession, art, prescription drugs, and chiropody. And the main character is the past, creeping up on the present to whisper something quite dark – quite unspeakable – into its ear.”–BOOK JACKET.

So Brave, Young and Handsome by Leif Enger The story of an aging train robber on a quest to reconcile the claims of love and judgment on his life, and the failed writer who goes with him.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid “At a cafe table in Lahore, a bearded Pakistani man converses with an uneasy American stranger. As dusk deepens to night, he begins the tale that has brought them to this fateful meeting. Changez is living an immigrant’s dream of America. At the top of his class at Princeton, he is snapped up by the elite “valuation” firm of Underwood Samson. He thrives on the energy of New York, and his infatuation with elegant, beautiful Erica promises entry into Manhattan society at the same exalted level once occupied by his own family back in Lahore. But in the wake of September 11, Changez finds his position in his adopted city suddenly overturned, and his relationship with Erica eclipsed by the reawakened ghosts of her past. And Changez’s own identity is in seismic shift as well, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and maybe even love.”–BOOK JACKET.

Flickipedia : Perfect Films for Every Occasion, Holiday, Mood, Ordeal, and Whim by Michael Atkinson “From the jolting summer electricity of “Jaws” to mending a broken heart with “When Harry Met Sally,” this entertaining and unique guide takes movies off the silver screen, offering viewing recommendations tailored to everyday situations. Equipped with more than 1,300 movie suggestions, this informative resource covers every landmark event, social situation, and annual occurrence from having a baby to watching the Super Bowl. Organized by categories such as holidays, seasonal passages, life phases, and emotional trials and eruptions, this guide recommends movies that readers may not be familiar with, while also featuring the popular classic movie pairings, such as “It’s a Wonderful Life “at Christmas and “The Ten Commandments “at Passover. Whether readers are looking for a scare on Halloween, packing for a road trip, or yearning for a bygone era, this innovative movie guide has the perfect recommendation.” From Sneak Peak.

Invisible nation : how the Kurds’ quest for statehood is shaping Iraq and the Middle East by Quil Lawrence Lawrence is Middle East correspondent for the British Broadcasting Corporation/Public Broadcasting International’s The World. He describes the recent political history of the Iraqi Kurds, offering some introductory material and then the main narrative, which picks up in the 1970s, the era during which the Kurds came to be significantly impacted by US policy in the Middle East. Almost half of the volume is dedicated to discussing the development of a tenuous Kurdish autonomy in the wake of the first Gulf War and even greater detail is provided for the period following the 2003 US invasion and occupation of Iraq, which has allowed the Kurds to set up a de facto state of their own in northern Iraq, thus achieving part of a long-frustrated ambition (much to the chagrin of the Turks and a significant portion of Iraqi Arabs). His narrative also contains some of the most detailed portraits of significant Kurdish political figures to be found in books about current Iraqi politics.” Annotation #169;2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

I’m Looking through You : Growing up Haunted by Jennifer Boylan “For Jennifer Boylan, creaking stairs, fleeting images in the mirror, and remote whispers were everyday events in the Pennsylvania house she grew up in. But those spirits weren’t the only ghosts: Jenny herself–James then–lived in a haunted body, and both her reticent father and her impulsive sister would soon become ghosts to her as well. This book is a candid investigation of what it means to be “haunted.” Looking back on the spirits who invaded her family home, Boylan launches a full investigation with the help of an earnest but questionable group of local ghostbusters. Boylan also examines the ways we find connections between the people we once were and the people we become, showing us how love, forgiveness, and humor help us find peace–with our ghosts, with our loved ones, and with the uncanny boundaries, real and imagined, between men and women in our society.”–From publisher description.

A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants by Jaed Coffin “Six years ago at the age of twenty-one, Jaed Muncharoen Coffin, a half-Thai American man, left New England’s privileged Middlebury College to be ordained as a Buddhist monk in his mother’s native village of Panomsarakram – thus fulfilling a familial obligation. While addressing the notions of displacement, ethnic identity, and cultural belonging, A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants chronicles his time at the temple that rain season – receiving alms in the streets in saffron robes; bathing in the canals; learning to meditate in a mountaintop hut; and falling in love with Lek, a beautiful Thai woman who comes to represent the life he can have if he stays. Part armchair travel, part coming-of-age story, this debut work transcends the memoir genre and ushers in a brave new voice in American nonfiction.”–BOOK JACKET.

The Girl with No Shadow by Joanne Harris “Since she was a little girl, the wind has dictated every move Vianne Rocher has made, buffeting her from place to place, from the small French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes to the crowded streets of Paris. Cloaked in a new identity, that of widow Yanne Charbonneau, she opens a chocolaterie on a small Montmartre street, determined to still the wind at last and keep her daughters, Anouk and the baby, Rosette, safe.” “Her new home above the chocolate shop offers calm and quiet: no red sachets hang by the door; no sparks of magic fill the air; no Indian skirts with bells hang in her closet. Conformity brings with it anonymity – and peace. There is even Thierry, the stolid businessman who wants to take care of Yanne and the children. On the cusp of adolescence, an increasingly rebellious and restless Anouk does not understand. But soon the weathervane turns … and into their lives blows the charming and enigmatic Zozie de l’Alba. And everything begins to change.” “Zozie offers the brightness Yanne’s life needs. Anouk, too, is dazzled by this vivacious woman with the lollipop-red shoes who seems to understand her better than anyone – especially her mother. Yet this friendship is not what it seems. Ruthless, devious, and seductive, Zozie has plans that will shake their world to pieces. And with everything she loves at stake, Yanne must face a difficult choice: Run, as she has done so many times before, or stand and confront this most dangerous enemy.”–BOOK JACKET.

A people’s history of American empire: a graphic adaptation of the book by Howard Zinn, “Since its publication in 1980, A People’s History of the United States has had six new editions, become classroom reading throughout the country, and been turned into a play. A People’s History displaces the official versions with their emphasis on great men in high places to chronicle events as they were lived, from the bottom up. Now, Howard Zinn, cartoonist Mike Konopacki, and historian Paul Buhle have collaborated to retell, in graphic detail, an immediate and relevant chapter of A People’s History: the centuries long story of America’s actions in the world. Narrated by Zinn himself, this version opens with the events of 9/11 and then jumps back to explore the cycles of U.S. expansionism from Wounded Knee to Iraq, stopping along the way at World War I, Vietnam, Central America, the invasion of Cuba, and the Iranian revolution. The book also follows Zinn’s own story, as the son of poor Jewish immigrants growing up in the Brooklyn tenements becomes one of America’s leading historians.” “Shifting from world-shattering events to one family’s small revolutions. A People’s History of American Empire presents the ground-level history of America in a new medium.”–BOOK JACKET.

Both the Maine Student Book Award and the Chickadee Award winners were announced last week.

“The Chickadee Award is a picture book award program for children in kindergarten through fourth grade. This award is given annually to one of ten picture books nominated by a committee of teachers, librarians, and early literacy professionals. Each year the books are chosen from those published in the previous year and are selected because they present a solid original story and artwork that supports and extends the text.” -Chickadee Award website

The 2009 Chickadee Award winner is My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks!

“The Maine Student Book Award is designed to expand literary horizons of students in grades 4-8 by encouraging them to read, evaluate, and enjoy a selection of new books and to choose by written ballot, a statewide favorite.” -MSBA website

The 2009 Maine Student Book Award winner is Diary of a Wimpy Kid!

To see a sneak-peek of the 2009-2010 MSBA nominees go to:

http://www.windham.lib.me.us/msbaspl.htm

Here in the library we have been working towards updating our video collection to DVD format. Below is a list of some of the great new DVDs we have ordered in the past few months.

DVD 440 KIR Kirikou et les betes sauvages : Kirikou and the wild beasts

DVD 222.12095 EXO The Exodus decoded : Biblical folklore or historical fact?

DVD 303.4 GUN Guns, germs, and steel

DVD 362.196 CLO A closer walk

DVD 363.73 WAR Warnings from the ice

DVD 378.161 ADM Admission Zen : the stress free path to getting into college

DVD 398.2096 KIR Kirikou and the sorceress

DVD 419 LEA Learning American sign language DVD

DVD 536.56 ABS Absolute zero

DVD 550 FAC Faces of Earth

DVD 551 EAR Earth : the biography

DVD 551.2 IN In the path of a killer volcano

DVD 551.2 VOL Volcano : nature’s inferno

DVD 551.21 MYS Mystery of the megavolcano

DVD 551.41 AMA Amazing planet

DVD 551.7 HOW How the earth was made

DVD 575 LIV The living planet : a portrait of the earth

DVD 576 UNI The universe within

DVD 577.584 MYS Mysterious life of caves

DVD 597.3 DIS Discovery Channel Shark DVD Set

DVD 597.3 JEA Jean-Michel Cousteau Ocean adventures : Sharks at risk & Gray whale obstacle course

DVD 598.2 LIF The life of birds

DVD 598.47 PEN Penguins : the birds that wanted to be fish

DVD 658.42 ENR Enron : the smartest guys in the room

DVD 759.5 GRE The great masters of the Italian Renaissance

DVD 791.43 APO Apocalypse now, the complete dossier

DVD 791.43 AUR Au revoir les enfants : Goodbye, children

DVD 791.43 BIR The birds

DVD 791.43 GID Gideon’s trumpet

DVD 791.43 JOH John Adams

DVD 791.43 KEN Ken Russell at the BBC Russell, Ken

DVD 791.43 LAD Lady Jane

DVD 791.43 PER A personal journey with Martin Scorsese through American movies

DVD 791.43 PSY Alfred Hitchock’s Psycho

DVD 791.43 SEV The Seventh seal

DVD 791.43 SHA Shane

DVD 791.43 SOM Some like it hot

DVD 822.33 P7 A midsummer night’s dream

DVD 909 ENG Engineering an empire : the complete series.

DVD 909.07 CRU The crusades : crescent & the cross

DVD 910.922 CON Conquest of America

DVD 916.04092 SEN Senator Obama goes to Africa

DVD 920 AFR African American lives 2

DVD 932 MYS Ancient Egypt

DVD 932 PHA The Pharaohs

DVD 932 RAM Ramesses II

DVD 932 TOM Tomb of the gods : the Great Pyramids of Giza

DVD 932 UNL Unlocking the Great Pyramid

DVD 937 EGY Egypt’s golden empire

DVD 938 GRE The Greeks : crucible of civilization

DVD 938 SEC Secrets of the Parthenon

DVD 938.04 ATH Athens : the dawn of democracy

DVD 940.12 DAR The dark ages : the fall of civilization, the rise of a new world

DVD 946.02 CIT Cities of light : the rise and fall of Islamic Spain

DVD 946.02 WHE When the Moors ruled in Europe

DVD 950.531 LOD Lodz ghetto

DVD 960 AFR Africa

DVD 970.015 MAG The magnificent voyage of Christopher Columbus

DVD 970.015 MAG The magnificent voyage of Christopher Columbus

DVD 973.2 DES Desperate crossing : the untold story of the Mayflower

DVD 973.931 BUS Bush’s war.

DVD BIO EIN Einstein revealed

DVD BIO FRANK Anne Frank remembered

DVD BIO FRANK Anne Frank : the life of a young girl

DVD FIC AND Sherwood Anderson’s I’m a fool

DVD FIC DIC A Christmas carol

DVD FIC HUG The hunchback of Notre Dame

DVD FIC REM All quiet on the western front

Please join us!

On Tuesday, January 27 from 7 to 8:30 p.m., the Waynflete Parents’ Association and the Waynflete librarians invite all current parents to learn more about programs offered to Lower, Middle, and Upper School students in the School’s library.  Librarians Laurel Daly and Emily Graham will explain the library program for the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools and will provide a hands-on demonstration of the research tools available to students and parents through the School’s website. Elizabeth Barrett, chair of The Friends of the Library, will offer a brief description of the group’s activities. Please join us for a closer look at the library!

American Library Association Book Awards Announced

The American Library Association has announced it major book awards for 2009.

The 2009 Newbery Medal winner is The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Dave McKean, and published by HarperCollins Children’s Books.  A delicious mix of murder, fantasy, humor and human longing, the tale of Nobody Owens is told in magical, haunting prose. A child marked for death by an ancient league of assassins escapes into an abandoned graveyard, where he is reared and protected by its spirit denizens.

Four books were also named as Newbery Honor Books: The Underneath, by Kathi Appelt; The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom, by Margarita Engle; Savvy, by Ingrid Law; and After Tupac & D Foster, by Jacqueline Woodson.

The 2009 Caldecott Medal winner is The House in the Night, illustrated by Beth Krommes, written by Susan Marie Swanson (Houghton Mifflin Company).  Richly detailed black-and-white scratchboard illustrations expand this timeless bedtime verse, offering reassurance to young children that there is always light in the darkness. Krommes’ elegant line, illuminated with touches of golden watercolor, evoke the warmth and comfort of home and family, as well as the joys of exploring the wider world.

Three books were also named as Caldecott Honor Books: A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, written and illustrated by Marla Frazee; How I Learned Geography, written and illustrated by Uri Shulevitz; and A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, illustrated by Melissa Sweet and written by Jen Bryant.

Monday Books Still Available!

Hosted by the Waynflete Arts Committee, Monday Books is a series of book discussions led by Waynflete faculty and staff. All Monday Books discussions are held in the library from 6:30 until 8:30.

March 16, 2009 - The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids by Alexandra Robbins

Discussion Leader: Peter Hamblin, Dean of Studies and Director of College Counseling

Copies of all four books in this year’s Monday Books discussion series are still available for sale in the library.  Contact librarians Laurel Daly or Emily Graham FMI.

Looking for gift suggestions?  Or maybe just a “good read” recommendation?  Check out these links:

The National Book Awards Foundation

See this year’s finalists and winners in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and young people’s literature, as well as winners and finalists of the last 58 years.

http://www.nationalbook.org/

The Newbery Medal

The Newbery Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberymedal.cfm

The Caldecott Medal

The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottmedal.cfm

To search the Waynflete Library catalog for any award-winning titles, go to:

http://library.waynflete.org:8008/simple/?sessionid=1NYR545AQ363333

Middle School Book Club

The Book Club has begun reading Jerry Spinelli’s Star Girl.

In this story about the perils of popularity, the courage of nonconformity, and the thrill of first love, an eccentric student named Stargirl changes Mica High School forever.

For more information contact the library.  Happy reading!