Category Archives: Youth Services

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 22, 2015

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Mary Jo Ryan
402-471-3434
800-307-2665

Young Readers Invited to Write to Favorite Authors

Young readers in grades 4-12 are invited to write a personal letter to an author for the Letters about Literature (LAL) contest, a national reading and writing promotion program. The letter can be to any author (living or dead) from any genre—fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic—explaining how that author’s work changed the student’s view of the world. The 23rd annual writing contest for young readers is made possible by a generous grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, with additional support from gifts to the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, which promotes the contest through its affiliate Centers for the Book, state libraries and other organizations. This reading and writing promotion is sponsored in Nebraska by the Nebraska Center for the Book and Nebraska Library Commission, and supported by Houchen Bindery Ltd. and Chapters Books in Seward.

Prizes will be awarded on both the state and national levels. The Nebraska Center for the Book’s panel of judges will select the top letter writers in the state, to be honored in a proclamation-signing ceremony at the state capitol during National Library Week in April 2016. Their winning letters will be placed in the Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors at Bennett Martin Public Library in Lincoln. Nebraska winners will receive state prizes, and then advance to the national judging.

A panel of national judges for the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress will select one National Winner per competition level (Level I for grades 4-6, Level II for grades 7-8, and Level III for grades 9-12) to receive a $1,000 cash award, to be announced in May 2016. The judges will also select one National Honor winner on each competition level to receive a $200 cash award.

Teachers, librarians, and parents can download free teaching materials on reader response and reflective writing, along with contest details and entry forms, at www.read.gov/letters. Nebraska-specific information (including lists of Nebraska winners of past competitions) is available at http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/programs/LAL.html. Listen to Nebraska winners, Ashley Xiques and Sydney Kohl, read and talk about and their winning letters to authors that meant something to them in their own lives on NET Radio’s All About Books (http://netnebraska.org/basic-page/radio/all-about-books). Submissions from Grades 9-12 must be postmarked by December 4, 2015. Submissions from Grades 4-8 must be postmarked by January 11, 2016. For more information contact Mary Jo Ryan, 402-471-3434 or 800-307-2665.

The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the Nebraska Library Commission.

As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, bringing

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The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission Website, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.

Refresher for Series Reading

The Recaptains website reminds you what happened in a book to get you ready to read next book in series.  As it states on their web page, “Yay! The next book in your favorite series is coming out soon! But hey, wait a second… what was it that happened in book 1 again? Did they kiss? Did they beat the bad guy? Did they have to run for their lives and was there a Cliffhanger with Capital C?”  Now you can find out quickly and easily what happened in the previous book.

It contains Goodreads summaries and with a click on “read more” you can access more detailed information.  There it includes an “In Short” paragraph, a “What Went Down” bulleted list of actions that occurred in the book, and “How Did It End.”  I just read through the information on The Diviners by Libba Bray since I plan to read the sequel Lair of Dreams this weekend.  It did a great job of reminding me who the characters are and what events happened in the first book.  It doesn’t cover everything, I just searched for Terry Pratchett and he is not on their author list, still I’m going to be using this site often.

My highlighted book this time is Jack: The True Story of Jack & the Beanstalk by Liesl Shurtliff; I heard the author speak at the Norfolk Public Library’s 21^st Annual Literature Festival held on July 25, 2015, which is a great opportunity to hear authors talk about their writing processes and get a book signed!  (Their next Festival is scheduled for July 30, 2016.)

In the book, Jack’s 7-times great grandfather was the famous Jack the Giant Killer and this Jack wants to imitate him, except that there are no giants.  But then two giants come down from the sky and take everything – the entire town – and Jack is soon up in their land to find his father and slay some giants.  Things are not that easy.  Full of adventure this twist on the fairy tale is logical and fun – with a bit of a message about greed.  Fans of her book Rump: The True Story of Rumplestiltskin (one of the Golden Sower nominees for 2015-2016) are sure to grab it.  This book is written for grades 3-6.

(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers.  After review, the books are distributed free, via the Regional Library Systems, to Nebraska school and public libraries.)

Booktalk Database

If you are interested in book talks but don’t have time to write them all yourself, visit Nancy Keane’s website.  Click on “New This Month” on the left and you will find ways to search the database on the left.  You can choose searching by author or by title, as well as a subject list.  If you are more interested in seeing what is new to the site you can click on the month by month listing in the main area of the page.  She welcomes everyone to contribute a book talk and to use any that are there.  Some books have several book talks written by different people.  There are plenty of titles, picture books on up to young adult choices.

The Library Commission owns several titles about booktalks by Joni Richards Bodart, the first person to write about booktalking, including Booktalk!,  Booktalk! 2, and the more recent Booktalk! 5, about how to write booktalks and how to present them as well as having samples if you are looking for something to help you get started.  Good luck!

In Wolfie the Bunny by Ame Dyckman, the Bunny family finds a basket on their doorstep with a wolf cub in it.  Mom & Dad are thrilled.  Daughter, Dot, exclaims, “He’s going to eat us all up!” but the parents continually ignore her.  Finally, one day at the market, it looks like her prediction is coming true (by this time Wolfie is wearing a pink bunny suit) but instead it is bear who wants to eat Wolfie.  Dot to the rescue!  Sibling rivalry, cleverness and courage, and family love are at the heart of this story.  This picture book will capture readers’ attention, especially when the bear appears!

(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers.  After review, the books are distributed free, via the Regional Library Systems, to Nebraska school and public libraries.)

Get to Know the Nominees for Teens’ Top Ten 2015

The Hub has begun a four-part The Hub to highlight the 24 titles on the Teens’ Top Ten list for 2015.  The books were published between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2014.  You can see the entire list here if you want to check and see how many your library owns.  Teens from all over the country can vote for their favorite title beginning on August 15, 2015 and continue through Teen Read Week (October 18-24, 2015).  The ten titles receiving the most votes will be named the Teens’ Top Ten list for 2015.  I hope your teens will want to participate!

Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon, who wrote the Dragonbreath series, introduces readers to new characters and setting, which could become a series as well.  Castle Hangnail has been without a master for far too long, and the main caretaker is worried it will be decommissioned.  Then Miss Molly, a 12-year-old witch arrives to claim the castle.  She does have an invitation (one of many sent out) but she seems so unorthodox, she’s nice (usually) and considerate, but she can do some magic.  She has four tasks to complete in order to claim the castle, maybe everything will work out.  Then, the sorceress who was the actual recipient of the invitation appears at the door; and she is nasty, just as the master of the castle should be.  But the minions in the castle rather like Miss Molly, what should they do?

(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers.  After review, the books are distributed free, via the Regional Library Systems, to Nebraska school and public libraries.)

Malinda Lo’s Four-Part post of “Perceptions of Diversity in Book Reviews”

Take some time to read and think about the things Malinda Lo has to say to us all.  You will have to scroll down to read the posts in order since the web page has them lined up with the fourth post first and so on.  While she is specifically addressing phrasing in book reviews, her message is well worth consideration.  I intend to reread this often as I write my blurbs for presentations on recent books I recommend to Nebraska librarians.  I am certain that in the past I have made similar assumptions and I hope to stop it completely.  If you are interested in following Malinda Lo and Cindy Pon on their blog, it is located here.

Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla  by Katherine Applegate is a nonfiction picture book that tells the story of Ivan, who was the main character in the author’s Newbery Medal winning title, The One and Only Ivan.  Here she tells of his capture in Africa and travel in a crate with another baby gorilla named Burma.  The man who owned a shopping mall in Tacoma, Washington had paid for their capture in 1962.  He eventually put him on display at the mall and Ivan was there for 27 years until a protest by the people of the area convinced the owner to send Ivan to Zoo Atlanta.  There he once again walked on green grass and met other gorillas.  A two-page spread at the back of the book tells older children and adults more about Ivan and has a couple of photographs.  This book is great for kindergarten through third grade children.

(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers.  After review, the books are distributed free, via the Regional Library Systems, to Nebraska school and public libraries.)