WLPCS Q2 Library Newsletter
News from the Washington Latin Library
Dear faculty,
In the spirit of the many quotes we view daily and share in the Daily Bulletin, I've chosen to start this newsletter with quotes or articles to inspire thought about reading and the teaching of reading.
If any of you have thoughts, quotes or articles about reading to share in future quarters, please let me know! Please enjoy this issue of the library newsletter!
Best,
Sereena
Genre Labeling
In order to help students find library books more easily, library interns and I are undertaking a genre labeling project. All fiction books will be labeled according to the following genres:
- Adventure
- Fantasy
- Historical Fiction
- Horror and Suspense
- Humor
- Mystery
- Realistic Fiction
- Romance
- Science Fiction
- Graphic Novels
- Series
- Classics
We're about 70% finished, but anticipate completing the project in Q3.
ALA Award Winners
And the 2015 winners are...
- Caldecott Medal: The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat
- Newbery Medal: The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
- Printz Award: I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
- Coretta Scott King Author Award: Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
- Pura Belpre Text Award: I Lived on Butterfly Hill by Marjorie Agosin
- Stonewall Award for LGBT fiction/ nonfiction: This Day in June by Gayle E. Pitman
- Sibert Award for nonfiction: The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant
Check out the full list, including honor books, in the ALA press release.
Blind Date with a Book
The Blind Date with a Book display is back!
In the month of February, students can check out a wrapped book in hopes that they will make a perfect reading match. Then, they can rate their date to enter a drawing to win a tasty treat at the end of the month.
A Few Reminders
- Please allow students to return computers to the library five minutes before the period ends to help students be on time for their next class.
- To take a computer outside the library during tutorial, students need a pass. All laptops are due by 3:50pm unless other arrangements are made with Ms. Hamm.
New library books for Q2
I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
At thirteen, fraternal twins and young artists Noah and Jude are inseparable. At sixteen, they have stopped speaking to each other as their lives have been disrupted by a horrific accident. Only as the twins come together and begin to share their lives and their art again can they make sense of the tragic events and begin to heal. Told in the twins' alternating voices, this powerful story of sibling love and rivalry will delight. Recommended for grades 9 and up
Love Is the Drug by Alaya Dawn Johnson
It’s her senior year at an all-girls prep school in Washington, DC, and Emily Bird, daughter of prominent government scientists, is looking forward to going to Stanford next year. As a pandemic flu virus threatens the country, however, her future seems uncertain. After the events of a party with political elite leave frightening gaps in Bird’s memory, she believes that she has uncovered secrets about her parents’ work with a nation-wide flu epidemic -- if only she could remember them. With the help of her new friend and love interest Coffee, Bird works to uncover her parents’ secrets before the disease destroys the country. Recommended for grades 9 and up
How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon
When 16-year-old Tariq, a black teen, is shot by a white man, a community is left in confusion, anger, and heartbreak. Eleven community members and witnesses tell their varying stories of “how it went down.” Recommended for grades 9 and up
100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith
Finn Easton’s life has felt a bit unreal ever since a horse fell on him in a freak childhood accident and his father fictionalized the event in a sci-fi novel. With the help of his friend Cade and girlfriend Julia, Finn learns to embrace his destiny outside of his father’s book. Recommended for grades 9 and up
Race: A History Beyond Black and White by Marc Aronson
Historian Marc Aronson traces the intellectual and social history of prejudice from the ancient world to today. While it’s impossible to fit an exhaustive study of race and racism in the West in 336 pages, Aronson’s thought-provoking volume is sure to offer many opportunities for conversation about this difficult topic. Recommended for grades 7 and up
This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
Rose and Windy spend every summer together playing and swimming by the lake where they vacation with their parents. This summer, amid family fights and drama with the other local teens, the girls realize that, despite challenges, their friendship is a welcome retreat from the trials of growing up. Recommended for grades 8 and up
Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
Albie struggles with learning disabilities, so school has always been tough. His demanding parents and teasing peers only make his life harder. When a quirky and artistic new babysitter enters his life, Albie learns to take pride in his talents. Recommended for grades 4-6
The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
This spooky fable tells the tale of two Irish children working in an eerie English manor house. At first the siblings, Molly and Kip, are thrilled to have a place to stay, food, and work. In time, they notice that the manor dwellers are not what they seem. Each is haunted by the malicious spirit of the Night Gardener and the mysterious tree on the estate. Recommended for grades 4-6
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
In a powerful biography-in-verse, Jacqueline Woodson tells the story of growing up a young black girl in South Carolina and New York in the 1960s and 1970s. Woodson explores identity, home, memory, family, writing and faith through lyrical poetry. Recommended for grades 5 and up
Freedom Riders: John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the Front Lines of the Civil Rights Movement by Ann Bausum
This nonfiction book focuses on the lives of college students John Lewis, a black seminarian and student nonviolence movement leader, and Jim Zwerg, a white Wisconsin native, as they participate in dangerous bus integration protests in 1961. These highly personal histories provide not just facts and information, but the interior thoughts and motivations of these young men as they participated in the historic protests. Recommended for grades 5-9