Program: Dreamcatchers

To celebrate Native American Heritage Month in November, I decided to offer a make your own dreamcatcher program. A while back, another librarian had donated her supplies from a program she had done a number of years back, so I already had everything I'd need for running the program. I thought about making a handout or simple presentation about dreamcatchers but decided instead to just talk about them a little bit while we were making them.

This program was a success, I think, but also very frustrating. I wasn't sure how many kids to expect since I was holding it the day before Thanksgiving (kids get that entire week off from school here). I had about ten kids show up, so I was pleasantly surprised. However, maybe one or two of the kids were actually the right age for the program (advertised for ages 9-12, as nearly all my programs are). This is what led to the frustration. It was just me in the room for the first part of the program (we later roped a teen volunteer who happened to be here into helping) and most of the kids seemed unable to understand the instructions on how to create their dreamcatchers. I had a large scale hoop and rope to demonstrate what they were supposed to be doing, so I explained and also showed them. They did not get it. So, every kid was asking for individual help. That's fine, but not how I expected the program to go. The program was geared at 9-12 year-olds because they are more able to do this kind of intricate craft without as much individual attention. That's why I chose it. So, I was a bit flustered trying to meet the attention demands of all the kids I had in the room while trying to maintain control over the group as a whole. I also had one girl with a bit too much energy, who was irritating the other kids present by flinging her string and hair (her own hair) around and into their workspaces.

Completely my own fault, but I didn't practice enough making a dreamcatcher beforehand so I had to make up some MacGuyver-esque knots and such to keep everything in one piece. The kids really enjoyed choosing what beads and feathers to decorate their dreamcatchers with, though there were some arguments about differences in materials. They also really liked hearing the story of dreamcatchers; one girl had come to the program specifically because she'd been having nightmares and hoped the dreamcatcher would help.

All in all, it wasn't a bad program and I'd like to try it again (I still have leftover supplies!) but I'd like to practice more making dreamcatchers before trying to teach the kids.

Picture Book Saturday

I don't think I'm going to keep track of the numbers this year, as I don't think I'll be reviewing as many picture books as I did this past year. But I will always post the picture book reviews on Saturdays, so keep your eyes open for them!

Lovabye Dragon

By Barbara Joose, illustrated by Randy Cecil

Published 2012 by Candlewick

A lonely dragon wishes for a girl; a lonely girl hopes for a dragon. Will the two find each other? This is a cute little story about finding the perfect friend with softly sweet illustrations. I didn't love the story as much as other dragon tales I've read, but it would be nice in a love and friendship storytime.

This is Not My Hat

By Jon Klassen

Published 2012 by Candlewick

The hat is back. This was one of the most anticipated picture book of this year, and it's not hard to see why. I love Klassen's simple story and simple illustration style. I actually enjoyed this one much more than I Want My Hat Back, but I think kids will love them both. I can see this being a great storytime book and a great book to share one on one.

Find a Cow Now!

By Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

Published 2012 by Holiday House

I cannot be impartial about this book because it's about an Australian cattle dog - the breed we used to have. This brings back fond memories of being herded by him around our small house. In this book, the dog is restless in the city and embarks on a trip to the country to find something to herd. The kids will like this one as Dog mistakes a number of different animals for cows.

Go, Go Grapes!: A Fruit Chant

By April Pulley Sayre

Published 2012 by Beach Lane Books

I really enjoyed using Sayre's Rah Rah Radishes! in a fruits and veggies themed storytime last year, so I was excited to see the fruit version come across our new book cart. These books are awesome because they are filled with photographs of actual fruit and vegetables, in all their brilliant colors. They include lesser-known foods as well, and it's fun seeing if kids have eaten any of these. It also makes for great vocabulary. I don't know what Sayre will do next but I hope she continues in this vein!

Review: 33 Minutes

33 Minutes
By Todd Hasak-Lowy
Published 2013 by Aladdin

Morgan Sturtz and Sam Lewis used to be best friends. "Used to be" because Morgan is about to kick Sam's butt - in 33 minutes. How will Sam make it through the dread and anticipation of the next half hour? And is there any way he can avoid getting his butt kicked?

I requested this one on NetGalley as part of my efforts to read more tween books in 2013. It sounded like something that would appeal to tween boys especially - the main character knows he's going to be forced into a fight with his former best friend at recess and there isn't much he can do to get out of it. I wanted to see how the issue of male friendship would be handled in this book, especially as compared to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. I've made no secret (well, maybe not here, but in real life) of the fact that I think Greg is a terrible friend and I hate the way he treats Rowley. Seeing as how this book deals directly with how male friendships can evolve over time, I was very interested. I liked how readers initially don't know why Sam and Morgan aren't friends anymore. We are told the story from Sam's point of view and he seems less than eager to relieve all the details of their friendship's fallout. But we do get bits and pieces leading up to the whole story. I think Hasak-Lowy does a fantastic job of charting a friendship over the years, especially the very tricky years from being kids (age 6 or so) to becoming teens (I think the kids are 13 in the book, though I don't remember if it's mentioned specifically). Though it might not appear that way at first, this is a difficult period of life - popularity becomes a bigger and bigger issue at school and how one attains popular status comes through very different means as you get to the upper end of this range. The descriptions of Sam and Morgan's drifting apart are incredibly realistic, almost painfully so. Similarly, Sam's confusion and sadness about the current state of their friendship is genuine and heartbreaking. I liked how the whole book takes place over the course of those titular 33 minutes - it gives the novel a nice pacing and frame. And, perhaps my favorite thing about the book is the ending. I don't want to give it away, but I think Hasak-Lowy has given us the most truthful ending possible and it really makes the book feel that much more plausible and accurate. The book does have its funny bits and I think kids will pick it up based on the title alone.

Thanks to the publisher for a digital advance reader's copy, provided via Edelweiss.

Review: The Darkest Minds

The Darkest Minds (The Darkest Minds, book one)
By Alexandra Bracken
Published 2012 by Disney Hyperion

On her tenth birthday, Ruby woke up different. So different that her parents called the police and she was taken to a government rehabilitation camp. She survived the mysterious disease that targeted children, but now Ruby is dangerous. She's developed abilities that she doesn't know how to control. Six years later, Ruby needs to escape. How? Will she survive?

I was really excited when I first heard about this book - it seemed to be getting a lot of buzz and I thought it was an interesting concept. First, a disease kills a majority of the child population. Second, the remaining children develop psychic abilities that are awesome and beyond their control. Third, chaos reigns. Then, I saw the cover. I like the simple yet fiery feel to it. I think it's graphically appealing. Finally, I heard other YA authors saying good things about it. So, I was excited.

Unfortunately, for me, this book didn't really live up to my excitement level. This book is long - just under 500 pages - and it felt even longer. The first two-thirds (at least) of this book just dragged - I didn't find enough action, I didn't care enough about the characters, I wondered when it was going to end. Part of my problem with connecting with the characters, particularly Ruby, stems from, I think, the way the story is told. We hear quite a bit about Ruby as a ten-year-old, and then briefly (well, maybe not so briefly) cover the six years she's been living at the camp. The majority of the narrative is Ruby as a 16-year-old, with flashbacks of the accident that sent her to camp sprinkled throughout. I really enjoyed this slow reveal of what happened to land Ruby in this terrible place. But, though Ruby is supposed to be 16 throughout the majority of the narrative, she doesn't read as a 16-year-old to me. I understand that Ruby may be experiencing a bit of arrested development; after all, she has not been living a normal childhood during her adolescent years. But I don't know that this justification is actually given anywhere in the book and her voice feels too inauthentic without it.

Things get better when Ruby meets a new group of companions. I really enjoyed these characters - Chubs, Liam, and Zu - and the action picks up significantly as they band together in search of the mythic East River refuge. I thought the twist with the camp's leader was a bit too obvious, but I really enjoyed the ending (though I think it frustrated many other readers). I've just discovered that this is the first book in a series and it seems a bit unnecessary - I thought the story was ended nicely here and I don't remember having too many questions that I felt needed to be answered. I imagine the other books in the series will focus more on the government and what they're trying to do, as well as probably resolve that frustrating (for some) ending. Will I be back for the sequel? Not sure; we'll see where I'm at next December, when it's currently scheduled for release.

Thanks to the publisher for a digital advance reader's copy, provided via Netgalley.

Review: Gingersnap

Gingersnap
By Patricia Reilly Giff
Expected publication January 8, 2013 by Wendy Lamb Books

Jayna and Rob are all that's left of their family. But with WWII taking Rob overseas, Jayna is left in the care of their landlady. Before he left, Rob told Jayna a secret: they might have more family, a grandmother, in Brooklyn. When a telegraph arrives with devastating news, Jayna sets out to discover if he's right.

Giff is a pretty prolific author but I'm not sure I've ever read her before. So when I saw her newest title available on Edelweiss, I requested a copy. I liked the historical aspect and the possible supernatural twist (Jayna is guided by a ghostly voice), plus I figured I was overdue on giving Giff a try. I have mixed feelings about this book now that I've finished. I really liked the setting - will anyone ever get tired of WWII settings? I liked the relationship between Jayna and Rob - it was evident that they loved each other and had a great relationship. Though it might be a bit overdone, I liked the use of food as a motif - Jayna makes soup to match her moods, Rob is a great cook and they've talked of opening a restaurant someday, and they both think their grandmother owns a bakery in Brooklyn. What makes this slightly different is how World War II has impacted the availability of certain foods - Jayna's recipes are included throughout the book and they show the bareness of cupboards during the war. I liked Jayna's determination to set out on her own and find that bakery in Brooklyn. What I didn't like as much was the ghostly guide and the discovery of who runs the bakery. Maybe I was reading too quickly, but the reveal of the baker's identity didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Additionally, I felt like, though the idea of it was partly what appealed to me initially, the ghost felt out of place and didn't really work as a plot device for me. Overall, this was a quick and interesting historical read, but not my favorite. I'd definitely like to try some of Giff's other books and see what I think.

Thanks to the publisher for a digital advance reader's copy, provided via Edelweiss.

Program: Adventure Club

Oh, I feel like this program was so long ago - and it was. Our last meeting of Adventure Club was in November (and we have another one coming up this month). I guess only posting about my programming once a week has put me pretty far behind! Anyway, as a reminder, Adventure Club is one of our new bimonthly programs, geared towards ages 7-12, with a new theme every meeting. Our first meeting focused on pirates; November's theme was Space. Here's what we did!

Build your own rocket ship: I've found that some of the most successful bits of my programs have been simply putting out craft and art supplies and encouraging the kids to make something. To fit our space theme, we had them build rocket ships. We provided toilet paper tubes as the body of the ships and then had various colors of paper, glitter glue and paint, and assorted other materials available for use. We also had aluminum foil for a more genuine metallic look.

Constellation keyrings: yes, I admit - these were leftovers from our Rick Riordan program, where they were not terribly popular. We had constellation cards for the kids to cut out and hole punch. They threaded them onto a keychain and voila! Constellations at your hand. They are the perfect size for flashlights and definitely seemed more popular this time around.

Planispheres and star clocks: these are really cool (personally, I think the planisphere is way cooler than the star clock, but that's just me). Both of these are paper crafts you can make and then hold up to the sky and they will tell you different things. By lining the star clock up with the constellations, you can find out what time it is. By selecting the month and day on the planisphere, you can find out what constellations you should be able to see in the sky. The kids thought these were really cool, though some had some trouble putting them together.

Constellation matching game: we had initially planned to do another scavenger hunt like we had done for our first Adventure Club but upon further thought decided to do something a little different. We kept it contained in the program room (the pirate scavenger hunt had been throughout the Children's Library) and did a matching game instead. We created constellations out of star stickers on black construction paper and hung them on one wall, labeled with a letter. Then we gave the kids a sheet with illustrations depicting each of the constellations labeled with numbers (a drawing of Pegasus, for example). The kids had to match the two versions of the constellations. They each received a packet of glow-in-the-dark stars for matching them all correctly. The kids really liked this one.

Straw rockets: what we expected to be the most popular part of the program turned out to be the least popular (or maybe the kids just ran out of time - they got very invested in building their rocket ships). So, straw rockets are exactly what they sound like: rockets made out of paper that fit over a straw so you propel them by blowing through the straw. You can alter the nose of the rocket to see how that changes the path and distance of the rocket's flight. Like I said, we didn't see too many kids making these, but I think they could definitely be popular in a separate program about flight. Maybe I will try them again over the summer, in combination with paper airplanes.

At the end of the program, we did some prize drawings. We had a set of glow-in-the-dark planets, astronaut ice cream, and a book about space. And that was our second meeting of Adventure Club! Everyone had a great time and I think they all learned different things about space, too. Can't wait for our next meeting!

Looking Ahead...

What would the new year be without a desire to desperately look ahead in the world of books? I mean, who am I kidding? I start looking forward to the next year's titles in August. Here are some of my most anticipated reads of 2013!

Series books:

- UnSouled by Neal Shusterman: I can't wait to see how he ties all the threads together and what scary and important topics are tackled here. (Expected publication October 15, 2013)

- Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan: I want more Kami. And more Lynburn boys. (Expected publication August 29, 2013)

- Game by Barry Lyga: what happened to Jasper Dent's mother? Who is watching him? (Expected publication April 23, 2013)

- Untitled (Raven Cycle, book 2) by Maggie Stiefvater: this has already proven to be one hell of a ride. Where will it go next? (Expected publication September 2013)

- Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo: more of the Darkling, more of the Grisha, more of the magic - excited! (Expected publication June 4, 2013)

- Flame by Amy Kathleen Ryan: what will happen with Waverly, Kieran, and Seth? What is the fate of their ships? I'm excited for the conclusion of this sci-fi trilogy. (Expected publication June 4, 2013)

- Of Witches and Wind by Shelby Bach: while it wasn't my favorite book of the year, Of Giants and Ice was an enjoyable fairy tale book. I look forward to the sequel. (Expected publication July 2013)

- The House of Hades by Rick Riordan: I'm not sure I enjoyed The Mark of Athena as much as I wanted to, but I'm still dying to know how the prophecy will play out. Also, Hades is in the title - I expect dark things. (Expected publication October 2013)

- Prodigy by Marie Lu: how will Day and June's relationship develop? What other secrets and lies will they uncover? (Expected publication January 29, 2013)

- Fragments by Dan Wells: I thought Kira was a fantastic heroine and Partials an excellent start to a new science fiction series. I'm definitely wanting to know what will happen next. (Expected publication February 23, 2013)

- Untitled (Lorien Legacies, book 4) by Pittacus Lore: YOU GUYS. I thought there were only supposed to be three books! Curse you! Now I must wait to discover how the battle between the Loric and Setrakus Ra plays out. (Expected publication August 2013)

Standalones / New series:

- Hokey Pokey by Jerry Spinelli: a new Spinelli! Need I say more? (Expected publication January 8, 2013)

- Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool: I really enjoyed Moon Over Manifest and this sounds like another fascinating historical tale. I'm excited to see how Vanderpool has developed. (Expected publication January 8, 2013)

- Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger: I haven't yet read the Parasol Protectorate series (I KNOW) but I'm still interested in seeing how Carriger does with YA. (Expected publication February 2013)

- The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen: I am woefully behind on my Sarah Dessen reading. Here's hoping I get a chance to catch up in 2013! (Expected publication June 4, 2013)

- Loki's Wolves by K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr: I love mythology and I love Norse mythology in particular, so I'm really excited for this new middle-grade series from Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr (who appear to be pulling J.K. Rowling's with their names for this book). (Expected publication May 7, 2013)

- The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman: I know - it's not tween or YA. BUT IT'S NEIL GAIMAN YOU GUYS. This book sounds like it's maybe going to mess with my head. YES PLEASE. (Expected publication June 18, 2013)

- Invisibility by Andrea Cremer and David Levithan: Levithan is pretty much an auto-read for me (though Every Day is taunting me from the bookshelves, calling READ ME NOW) and this new one sounds like it could be great. I don't understand how Levithan does it all guys. Be honest: does he have a time-turner???? (Expected publication May 7, 2013)

- The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett: The main character of this book IS A NIGHTMARE. I hope this is as awesome as it sounds. (Expected publication March 5, 2013)

- Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys: I was completely blown away by Between Shades of Gray and, though this sounds quite different, I have faith that this new novel from Sepetys will be just as wonderfully written. (Expected publication February 13, 2013)

- Better Nate than Ever by Tim Federle: the cover of this book makes me hope it will be like My Most Excellent Year. Please do not tease me cover - please contain a book that lives up to you. (Expected publication February 5, 2013)

All right, this is getting long. I'm sure I've missed something (do you know how many awesome-sounding tween and teen books are coming out every day??). I can't wait to see what will surprise me this year.

2013 is going to be a busy year for me, so be forewarned. Postings may be slightly less frequent, but I will try to stick with Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. Also, Picture Book Saturday may be sporadic as I'm no longer holding storytimes and may not see as many picture books as I did this year. And, I have accepted an appointment on the Fabulous Films for Young Adults Committee. This should not effect the content of my blog (as I don't currently review films) but it may impact the frequency of my blogging as I learn to juggle the committee work with my full-time job, personal time, and blogging responsibilities. So, it will be a busy year, but I'm sure I will fill it with books as best I can!