Resolutions, Romance, and Peculiar Children

Hauser begins reviews with Shot Through the Heart, a romantic comedy centered around friendships, new relationships, traditions, and an enormous water fight. A great light hearted read, Shot Through the Heart is recommended for middle school and high school libraries.
McElroy reviews the picture book, Squirrel's New Year's Resolution. This charming book, requested by a teacher at McElroy's school, was written by fellow librarian, Pat Miller. Through Squirrel's efforts to find a resolution, she discovers she doesn't need to create a new resolution, she can continue with something she already does well.
Mauser shares Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Written as a retelling of a family story, this book examines the strange happenings on an island once used as a home for "peculiar children." Filled with intriguing black and white photographs, this tale offers fun for those who like things that are a bit odd and creepy.

In the second segment we discuss New Year's Resolutions both personally and professionally and encourage readers to share their resolutions with us. Please leave your ideas in the comments!

Meanwhile, Gifts, and Mysteries

The weather has finally cooperated and we were able to record outdoors at Spiderhouse.  McElroy began the book reviews with Rabbit's Gift, a beautiful picture book about the riches of sharing.  Rabbit finds two turnips and decides to share with Donkey, who in turn shares with goat, and so on.  By the end, all the animals come together to share a feast.  Mauser continues with The Chronicles of Harris Burdick.  We all loved the original Mysteries of Harris Burdick, and as Mauser points out, one of the wonderful things about that book is that it leaves the stories up to the reader's imagination.  The new book seems to take the magic from the original book which sparked conversation about the possibilities of the stories.  Hauser reviews the comic, Meanwhile, which allows readers to choose a storyline.  In Meanwhile, the panels are connected by tubes which travel in various directions and back and forth across different pages. 
The second segment involves a discussion of what 21st century libraries means.  There are many resources online for librarians to refer to parents and administrators on the AASL website.

Medicine, History, and Magic

Mauser reviews The Poisoner's Handbook, which chronicles the beginnings of forensic medicine and a history of poisons. Hauser shares The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and the wealth of discussion topics that arise from reading it. McElroy reviews Waiting for the Magic, the story of a suddenly single mom, her children, and the animals they adopt, and the communication between the animals and children.
The technology segment looks at the ipad app, Flipboard, as a great aggregator for things of interest.

Toys, Elements, and Certification

McElroy leads off the book reviews segment with the book,  Toys Come Home: Being the Early Experiences of an Intelligent Stingray, a Brave Buffalo, and a Brand-New Someone Called Plastic.  This book is not only a great read aloud, but is also a wonderful story of toys and the lives they lead while we're not watching.
Mauser reviews The Disappearing Spoon, which gives the reader a history of the world through various elements from the periodic table.  
Hauser reviews National Board Certification in Library Media: A Candidate's Journal.  This book gives advice for candidates and tips for successful completion of National Board Certification.  This review leads to the discussion of National Board Certification for Librarians, including the four portfolio entries, and the emphasis on reflective practice. 

Literacy, History, and the World

In this episode we finally had a break in the heat enabling an outdoor recording. Mauser begins the book reviews by sharing a professional book, Literature and the Web: Reading and Responding with New Technologies, which is an easy to use handbook for using online resources in responding to literature.
Hauser shares a YA nonfiction book, Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science, which examines the role of sugar in changing the course of world history.  
McElroy, finishes the book segment with a review of Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare as a set up for a future review.  This biography, is an approachable read that shows Shakespeare as a real person and the circumstances that enabled him to write as he did.

In the technology segment we review the site http://www.ifitweremyhome.com/.  This site provides quick and easy country comparisons.  The default is to compare the US to other countries, but can also compare any two countries.  It focuses on demographic information drawn from the CIA world factbook. 

Teaching teachers

This week's episode includes reviews of professional and recreational reading and a brief discussion of Austin Public Library's new overdrive ebook checkout.
Mauser begins book reviews by discussing Night Circus, a novel in which Celia and Marco, two illusionists find love among competition with each other, in performances in the night circus.
Hauser completes the book reviews segment with Focus, a professional book.  The author of Focus, proposes that the key to successful schools is a focus on authentic literacy including reading and writing in all subject levels and a drastic reduction of standards.
McElroy shares I am the Book, in which the author and illustrator share poems about books and libraries.

In the second segment, the trio discusses the role of librarian as a teacher of teachers, particularly when sharing technology.  When discussing technology with teachers, knowing what they need and when they need it really helps to get them integrating technology into their classes.

Marketing Books

Mauser begins the reviews with the first in the Hungry City Chronicles, Mortal Engines, by Philip Reeve, which sparks a conversation about cities, travel, and "municipal Darwinism."  At a time in the future, cities have become mobile and regularly consume smaller towns as they seek to become larger.  This sci-fi series is a great adventure that may appeal to students who liked the Hunger Games series.
Hauser reviews an adult novel by Meg Cabot, Insatiable, which tells the story of Meena Harper, a soap opera writer.  Meena has the ability to tell when people will die, but when she meets Lucian she doesn't see his death at all, because as a vampire he is already dead.  This book involves mystery, fantasy and romance.
McElroy shares A Long Walk to Water, a dual narrative of a lost boy of Sudan walks to seek freedom, and a young Sudanese woman who walks to seek water.  It is a great book for teaching voice in writing.  Based on the true story, Salva, the male protagonist, has established a foundation to dig wells in Sudan.

In the second segment we discuss ways to market books to students, including having a dedicated display place for books, or "prime real estate," making books available as soon as possible to students, and creating thematic nonfiction displays that help students find books of interest.