✿✿OotS has moved to WordPress and iTunes! Come with us!✿✿)

Our podcasts and blog are now located at OutoftheStacksAustin.com
You can also subscribe to our shows via iTunes.

Lost and Found

Click the play button below to hear this week's show!

In this episode, Hauser, Mauser, and McElroy discuss the book Lost & Found, by Shaun Tan.  A compilation of 3 different stories, one of which won an Academy Award for best animated short film in 2011, this book has fascinating art and heartfelt stories.  Part picture book, part art, part fiction, this book is flexible enough to fit into a library for any age and interest level. We discuss several issues with the book including the artwork, why we acquired it, and how to promote books like this one and others.

In the tech segment we discuss safeshare.tv, which enables users to create playlists and safelinks, for displaying youtube videos without ads and similar videos listed in the background. 

Books and Techie Goodness

This episode was recorded at Opal Divine's Marina in North Austin.
McElroy begins reviews with a great book series to encourage boys to read.  Dragonbreath by Ursula Vernon, is a funny fiction series that incorporates nonfiction subjects with a nice balance of text and pictures.  In the books, Danny and Wendell have adventures, sometimes get into trouble, and learn new things. 
Hauser shares the book, Ten Things We Did (and probably shouldn't have).  When April's father and stepmother decide to move to another state, she and her friend Vi make arrangements to live together, without telling their parents.  With total freedom and a lack of parental oversight, things quickly spin out of control.  April learns that a lack of responsibility leads to severe consequences.  This book is highly recommended for a high school collection.
Mauser finishes reviews with the first in a series, Blackbringer.  Magpie Windwitch, granddaughter of the West Wind, is from Dreamdark and not your usual fairy. She travels with a murder of crows and tracks down evils who have escaped their bottles, to recapture them.  This book is recommended for upper elementary through middle school.  
In the tech segment, Mauser introduces Evernote, a tool for saving notes, pictures, and things you find on the web, in one place accessible from the web or through and app.

Book clubs 24/7

Mauser begins reviews this week with Maureen Johnson's newest, The Name of the Star. Louisiana teen, Rory, has found herself attending boarding school in London as new "Jack the Ripper" type murders are beginning to occur. This book is a fun mystery for middle and high school students.
Hauser reviews the professional title, Teaching as Leadership. This book would be helpful for those looking into alternative certification, but does not offer anything new to the teacher trained in a traditional college of education.
McElroy wraps up the reviews segment with the Newberry Honor book, Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. Illustrated with beautiful wood block prints, this book of poetry describes nocturnal animals. In addition to the poetry, much of which is concrete, each print also includes nonfiction text about each of the animals.

In the second segment we discuss different ways to organize book clubs.  We have all had inconsistent success with traditional book clubs, but Mauser shares her latest venture, online book clubs.  This format has allowed her students to expand what they are reading by creating discussion forums online for multiple books.

All Books

Recorded at Opa! in South Austin, McElroy begins reviews with the book, The Cat's Pajamas. With the new STAAR test, it is essential that students study poetry, and also understand idioms. This is a beautifully illustrated picture book of idioms (with a bonus cat hidden in each illustration). The Cat's Pajamas is great for teaching inference and idioms.

Hauser continues reviews with Witches of East End. Upon reading she realized it was not appropriate for her collection, which then begs the question, "What do you do with a book that is not right for your collection." The book, De La Cruz's first for adults, centers around the Beauchamp women in the mythical town of North Hampton. The women are witches who have been stripped of their powers but have begun using magic again. Each has her own specialty in magic (potions, reanimation, etc.) and each has her own inner conflict. Part mystery, part romance, this adult fantasy is a fun read.

Mauser finishes reviews with another Tayshas book, Pink, a new LGBTQ title. The story centers around, Ava, the daughter of liberal parents who has recently come out to them as a lesbian. She has a girlfriend, Chloe, who is the epitome of the "cool lesbian." But Ava has a secret--she loves pink and she's not sure she's gay at all. Because of this inner conflict, she decides to go to another school to start over, but finds she still isn't living the life she wants, she is still trying to please others.

In the second segment we discuss collection development and meeting the needs of our users. Mauser discusses the large proportion of her collection that is dedicated to women's studies and fiction with strong female characters. In responding to a listener's comment, we discuss the tendency by adults to dismiss some YA series fiction and the need to not pass that on to students.

If teeth can be wishes...

We begin this episode with a request for our listeners--drop us a line and let us know what you think, what books you are reading, and what topics you would like us to cover.
Mauser begins reviews with the book Daughter of Smoke and Bone. The protagonist, Karou, is an errand runner for a shady employer in Prague who sends her to collect teeth. The characters are well developed and the storyline involves angels and chimeras and wishes that serve as currency. First in a series, Daughter of Smoke and Bone is well developed story with a true cliff hanger ending. Recommended for 8th grade and up.
Hauser reviews Indigo Blues, a book told in alternating perspectives, is about a break up and the resulting number one hit single. Characters Adam and Indigo are trying to move on with their lives and get past their break up, but Adam's band's song about Indigo has the press seeking information from her and his manager is after him to write a follow up. Through the novel, the characters learn about themselves and each other. Recommended for high school audiences.
McElroy shares The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. Purchased as a ipad app, this interactive book has many intricate features that will make it a visual delight for the children in your life. Print version expected to be published by Antheum Books in July 2012.
The technology segment centers around apps. How do you select apps, what reviews do you use, what are your favorite apps?
Leave us a comment and let us know what you think!

Books that make readers

McElroy begins reviews with The New Kid, in which 3rd grader, Carson, moves to a new community, and a new school. She was not as enamored with this book as with others reviewed which leads to a discussion of the concept of "for every book a reader and for every reader a book." Hauser reviews the Scott Pilgrim series of graphic novels. In this series, Scott, is a 20 something with little direction in his life, who spends his time playing in a band and living off the generosity of his friends, until he meets Ramona. An interesting aspect of the book is that many of the characters are not very likeable, but they are all interesting. Mauser finishes the review segment with Un Lun Dun, a modern fantasy set in an alternate London, where the fog has developed consciousness, milk cartons can become pets, and broken umbrellas join an evil army. Un Lun Dun is a fun book for grades 5 and up.

In the second segment we discuss the books that made us readers. It seems almost every reader has a favorite from childhood, whether a picture book or a series, that stands out from the rest. For us, My Puppy is Born, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Mists of Avalon, showed us the world through a different lens and connected us to reading. These magical books, wrapped in fond memories, helped us to become the readers we are today. Please share with us your books by answering the question, "What is the book that made you a reader?"