The View from the Leslie Library Windows: 8 Math Groups a Working

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

8 Math Groups a Working

Mr. A came in today and asked if his math classes could come in and just work in the library and I said ‘YES!!!’ They were in four periods today and it was great! Though we didn’t have 8 groups, we did have 4 classes in with 6 tables being used by each class. Loved the buzz going on! Tuned into the LibraryCon virtual conference today! That was pretty cool! Even though I had many interruptions I still got some great book titles out of it! Listened to a few of the speakers, asked a question to Gene Luen Yang and he answered it! About what was the hardest thing to draw and he does not like drawing animals! Make me smile, because I really do love his stuff! I got to hear him at the OASL conference in 2008 and write a bio on him for the conference magazine, so it was good to see him again and promoting libraries and books! He told how he first saw comics and found his friend was already seriously into the comic scene. So Gene goes with his mom to the comic store and she sees a pretty revealing cover from a Conan the Barbarian comic (I think it was!) and tells him he can never go there again! So he and his friend get their parents to drop them off at the library and they head down to the comic store, then get picked up back at the library! He also talked about the great way comics diversify our world - like Superman, and explained the similarities between Superman and people of Jewish origins. Sent off on a rocket (Moses), kryptonite (Samson getting his hair cut off), hiding who they really are (during the war and with anti Semitic people) and how that also related to him and his Asian roots, being two different people in the same body. Pretty cool! And how he’s working on diversified super heroes. Might have to get Ms. Marvel! Got my order sent in for approval from my principal today for Titlewave. Only had one lunch in since the math students were in for one lunch. 7th period saw the math class in, our Leadership class in making posters, another small group studying under an IA in the old computer lab. So good to see the library so busy and a hub of great things going on!

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What I'm Reading

The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris was a great non-fiction read! Love a good non-fiction! Joseph Lister worked hard, studied hard, never gave up on his ideas that something outside was causing untold numbers of people to die after surgery. His quest to find the answer was long overdue and he was the one to craft it and make it a medical standard. Brilliant!
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy by Emmanuel Acho was so good. I liked it even better than Stamped. His honest and open look at what is was like for him growing up really brings the issues into focus. Highly recommended!
Verify by Joelle Charbonneau - what if everything went digital which gave the government and people in power a way to change history, past and current. What happened to some words, like the word 'verify' that is no longer in the digital dictionary. Meri has lost her mom and her dad drowns sorrow in liquor. Meri is entranced by her mom's last art pieces and is given a slip of paper (the horror! what about the trees? recycling?) and on it is the word 'verify'. Atlas gives her a dictionary, a paper one and an old history textbook. Meri jumps on the train with him so they can change the world.
Kalahari by Jessica Khoury - what a ride! I even took this home one night to finish! Sarah lives with her dad doing research deep in the Kalahari. A group of students are sent to see if they can qualify for a grant and when her dad goes missing when he heads off after poachers, she is left to take care of them. Her dad doesn't return and the poachers are after them. They come across a white lion stalking them, but wait? It isn't white it's something else. They come across a lab and realize there is a virus, that has been let loose on the Kalahari that could destroy the whole world. So exciting!! Great ending as well!
The Year of the Buttered Cat by Susan Haas with Lexi Haas - Okay. I have to admit that I got this book because of the title. Buttered cats, what an intriguing thought! But the real intrigue is the persistence, the optimism of Lexi. Because of jaundice, she was disabled and this story is about her decision to take a chance on ground breaking surgery to try and get some mobility, speech and live her gifts. She has five she had to find. Read it for Lexi (and maybe to find out about that buttered cat).
Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram. There are spaces only you can fill, and Darius learns this as his family travels to Iran to see his grandfather who is dying. Along the way he deals with his depression, makes a friend, has innumerable Star Trek references and also learns that it's okay, to not be okay. I must admit, I had to look up some of the places he got to visit. What a rich heritage. I thought Zoroastrians were long gone, but no, they are still practicing today in Iran. Great book, totally okay.
The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin - perfect book lover tale of a woman captivated by a man and a bookstore and how she made more impact on her fellow book lovers and the man who got her to read than any bomb that fell during the Blitz. Very lovely!
The Girl From the Channel Islands by Jenny Lecoat - Lovely WW2 story by Jenny who actually grew up on one of the Channel Islands. Hedy fled Austria only to find her island haven invaded by the Germans. And though she is wary, she falls in love with a German officer. The twists and turns of German occupation test them both as each find a way to help the allied forces win.
Ancestor Approved edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith. I loved these short stories that all center around a modern day Native American Powwow. My fave was Rez Dog and they were all a great window into culture that I have rarely seen. I watched some videos on Fancy Dancing because of this and I would love to attend one, but feel a bit like a looky loo if I did. Fun, eye opening and full of information. Loved it!
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams Loved this fictionalized tale of the daughter of one of the lexicographers of the first ever Oxford Dictionary. As Esme goes from hiding under the sorting table, to one day being a lexicographer herself, we see her story unfold along with the people attached to the dictionary. It was really wonderful as we glimpsed her life and how the words she found and rescued formed the backbone of this novel. Really well done. It will stay on my shelves.