Some of you may be scratching your head wondering where the graphic novels went. Since our collection is rapidly expanding we decided it would be a lot less cluttered (and a little safer, that shelf was packed!) if we moved them. Your favorite graphic novels can now be found on the low shelf across from the videos, right before the 100's. Happy browsing!
We have some avid readers here at Dana, and library page Alexis C. is one of them. She is a voracious reader and was nice enough to share her thoughts on some of her latest reads. Here's what she thinks:
This series was randomly reccommended to me and I am so greatful. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVED, this series. This book is way better than Twilight. It has a strong plot and a strong, developed main character; Rose is a little spit-fire, and feminist who follows through with the belief that rules were meant to be broken. This is a action packed novel that also has a lot of romance throughout. It keeps you on the edge of you seat at all times, and just when you think the author can't possibly think of anything better, you read the next book and it tops the previous. I highly reccommend this series.
Weird. Thats all I can say about this book. It was very, very difficult to read because one of the main characters suffered multiple forms of abuse from her own father. I could relate to this book because I have a twin; it was heartbreaking to see one twin get all the love, while the other craved anything even close to love. I did not expect this book to have the ending that it did. I loved how it was all writen in poetry form. I want to read more books by Hopkins.
Stitches
David Small
W.W. Norton: New York, c2009
I admit, graphic novels are a format that I tended to stay away from. I was never really into comic strips as a child and somehow I let this color my view on this amazing format and method of story telling. I recently read Stitches, a memoir written and illustrated by picture book artist David Small, for a young adult literature class and was deeply moved not only by the story but also the hunting depictions of Small's childhood.
Stitches tells the story of Small's devastating childhood from the time he was 6 to about 16. When a lump is discovered on his neck at age eleven, his parents elect to ignore it fearing that treatment will be too expensive, even though his father is a doctor. It is obvious that David's parents neglect his needs and think of their son as an expensive annoyance. Three and half years later he finally has surgery on his neck which leaves, "a crusted black track of stitches; my smooth young throat slashed and laced back up like a bloody boot." Not only must David now live with this horrible scar, his is also left partially mute. He leaves home at 16 and lives amongst starving artist and addicts in the rough areas of Detroit's inner city.
Eventually, David gains his voice back. And finds a kind of solace and refuge in his artwork. He goes on to be the recipient of the Caldecott Medal, the Christopher Medal, and the E.B. White Award for his illustrations in picture books.
Stitches is a story that broke my heart and gave me hope. I would highly recommend this memoir for avid fans of graphic novels and for those who are new to the format.
After nearly three months of deligent baby cap knitting, Dana Hall faculty, staff and students made 188 adorable baby caps. Ms. Lechan shipped all the caps off to Save the Children Friday morning and from there they will be distributed to new born babies all over the world. All of us here in the library want to offer our sincere gratitude for all of your hardwork knitting these past three months. And please KEEP KNITTING! Many of you have developed a new hobby through this community service project. We have so many books on knitting and crocheting in the library (and on display in the case down the hall) and we'd love to see you keep knitting and creating hats, scarves, sweater, whatever!
Shift
by Jennifer Bradbury
New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2008.
Chris and Win (short for Winston) have been best friends since middle school, infact the two have been collectively known as "chrisandwin". As a final adventure after they graduate from high school and before they head off to different colleges the two set out on a two month cross country bike trip, but only Chris makes it back home at the end of the summer leaving Win's parents, an FBI agent and the rest of their small town wondering what happened to him on their trip.
Bradbury's Shift, told from Chris' perspective, bounces back in forth between the present tense of Chris at Georgia Tech to Chris and Win's bike trip. While trying to make it through his first week of college Chris is visited by an FBI agent who wants to know what happend to Win while they biked across the country and why Win would have taken off the way he did. Chris knows Win is still alive when he starts recieving mysterious post cards signed "Tricksey", he knows it's a sign that his friend is out there and wants to be found.
This is an great fast paced read about the lengths Chris will go to not only finding his missing friend but also finding himself. Shift is a great adventure/mystery but it also reminds us of the valuable lesson of coming in to our own at the end of high school and learning to break away from the comfort of home and of old friends.
I'd recommend this book for grades 7 and up.
