Dragon's Pages

Spotlight: Most popular movies 2009-2010

If you have ever set foot in the Dana Hall library on a Friday afternoon, you probably already have a good idea of how popular our DVD collection is.  For those of you who haven't, just take a look at the lifetime checkouts on some of the items on the list and think about when those movies came out on DVD (hint: we're talking a year to three years ago for many of them!).  Finally, this list only shows how many DVDs were officially checked out - not how many times they were seen in the library! 

The moral of the story: Dana Hall loves DVDs. 

Most Popular Movies at Dana Hall 2009-2010

Rank	Title	Call #	Checkouts 2009-2010	Lifetime checkouts
1	The Jewel in the crown	VIDEO F JEW v. 1-4	18	24
2	Rent	VIDEO F REN	15	20
3	Sydney White	VIDEO F SYD	12	12
4	The Reader	VIDEO F REA	11	13
5	She's the man	VIDEO F SHE	11	26
6	21	VIDEO F TWE	10	10
7	The Notebook	VIDEO F NOT	10	48
8	A History of European art	VIDEO 709.4 HIS v.1-4	10	10
9	Sunshine Cleaning	VIDEO F SUN	9	9
10	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.	VIDEO F CSI	9	19
11	10 things I hate about you	VIDEO F TEN	9	47
12	Love Actually	VIDEO F LOV	9	9
13	The Duchess	VIDEO F DUC	9	9
14	The Hurt Locker	VIDEO F HUR	9	9
15	17 again	VIDEO F SEV	9	9
16	Shakespeare, the animated tales	VIDEO 822.33 H SHA	9	9
17	Mad Men	VIDEO F MAD	9	9
18	Little Dorrit	VIDEO F LIT	8	9
19	Hannah Montana	VIDEO F HAN	8	8
20	Jefferson's blood	VIDEO 973.46 JEF	8	20

Spotlight on: Most popular nonfiction 2009-2010

And now for the most popular nonfiction books in the Helen Temple Cooke library during the 2009-2010 school year.  Drumroll please...

Most Popular Nonfiction Books at Dana Hall 2009-2010

Rank	Title	Author	Call #	Checkouts 2009-2010	Lifetime checkouts
1	Searching for Hassan	Ward, Terence	955.05 WAR	6	6
2	Sharon and my mother-in-law	Amiry, Suad	956.9542 AMI	5	5
3	Seize the story	Hanley, Victoria	808.02083 HAN	5	5
4	The cardinal's hat	Hollingsworth, Mary	282.092 HOL	5	5
5	Events that changed Germany	Thackeray, Frank W.	943.08 EVE	5	6
6	The competent woman	Barnett, Rosalind C.	155.633 BAR	4	4
7	Producing fashion	Blaszczyk, Regina Lee	746.92 PRO	4	4
8	911	Cart, Michael	810.8 NIN	4	4
9	Columbine	Cullen, David, 1961-	373.7888 CUL	4	4
10	How to attract the wombat	Cuppy, Will, 1884-1949.	814.52 CUP	4	5
11	Dancing in the dark	Dickstein, Morris.	973.91 DIC	4	4
12	Century of struggle	Flexner, Eleanor, 1908-	305.490973 FLE	4	6
13	The Purposes of pleasure	Hawley, Richard A.	613.8 HAW	4	4
14	Hispanic American struggle for equality	Jensen, Jeffry, 1950-	305.868073 JEN	4	4
15	America's war on drugs	Johnson, Joan (Joan J.)	363.45 JOH	4	5
16	Anastasia	Kurth, Peter.	947.08092 KUR	4	7
17	Drugs in America	Long, Robert Emmet.	363.45 DRU	4	6
18	The Oxford history of the British Empire	Louis, William Roger, 1936-	909.0971241 OXF v.4	4	4
19	Hispanic Americans	McCaffrey, Paul, 1977-	305.8968073 HIS	4	5
20	Contemporary world architecture	Pearman, Hugh	724.6 PEA	4	11

Spotlight: Most popular fiction titles 2009-2010

The following list shows which fiction books were checked out the most in the past year.  Have you read any of them?   If not, being checked out a lot generally means something is a good book (in librarian language!).  

Most Popular Fiction Books at Dana Hall 2009-2010

Rank	Title	Author	Call #	Checkouts 2009-2010	Lifetime Checkouts
1	The help	Stockett, Kathryn	F STO	8	8
2	The sea of monsters	Riordan, Rick	F RIO	6	10
3	When you reach me	Stead, Rebecca	F STE	6	6
4	Elsewhere	Zevin, Gabrielle	F ZEV	6	21
5	The Hunger Games	Collins, Suzanne	F COL	5	9
6	Along for the ride	Dessen, Sarah	F DES	5	5
7	13 little blue envelopes	Johnson, Maureen	F JOH	5	7
8	The evolution of Calpurnia Tate	Kelly, Jacqueline	F KEL	5	5
9	The Titan's curse	Riordan, Rick	F RIO	5	9
10	The Last Song	Sparks, Nicholas	F SPA	5	5
11	A girl made of dust	Abi-Ezzi, Nathalie	F ABI	4	4
12	The lost symbol	Brown, Dan	F BRO	4	4
13	Don't judge a girl by her cover	Carter, Ally	F CAR	4	4
14	Catching fire	Collins, Suzanne	F COL	4	4
15	Lock and key	Dessen, Sarah	F DES	4	9
16	Loving Frank	Horan, Nancy	F HOR	4	8
17	Greetings from planet Earth	Kerley, Barbara	F KER	4	4
18	Dirty little secrets	Omololu, Cynthia Jaynes	F OMO	4	4
19	Half broke horses	Walls, Jeannette	F WAL	4	4
20	Love & lies	Wittlinger, Ellen.	F WIT	4	4

Spotlight: Summer reading goes YouTube!

Picture this: you, on summer vacation, with a super book.  Pretty great, right? But yikes!  What to read, what to read?  We have got you covered.  We've recorded some summaries of recommended books that we endorse from both the middle and upper school summer reading list.  These titles are doubly great as they are NOT required titles (even though some of those books are delightful too)!  Huzzah freedom!  They are posted on our YouTube channel, which you can access year round from both our website and our links page on this blog!  Happy reading (and viewing!).

Spotlight on: Graphic Novels!

Bored with reading books?  Tired of text?  Well, we've got what you're looking for. This year we did a crazy thing.  We moved our graphic novels to one spot.  And then we bought a whole lot more!  In case you are wondering what a graphic novel is, it is a thing of beauty.  More officially (according to the Oxford English Dictionary Online):

graphic novel, a full-length (esp. science fiction or fantasy) story published as a book in comic-strip format.

We've got them.  Lots of them!  Take a challenge and try something new; we have all sorts of different styles and stories for you to try out! 

Everyone's a Critic: Al Capone Does My Shirts

 Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko
G.P. Putnam's Sons: 2004
Reviewed by Anna C., Class of 2014

     Al Capone Does My Shirts is the tale of a boy, Moose, and his adventures living on Alcatraz. His dad serves there as a guard and electrician, for one of the worst prisons of all time. Alcatraz is filled with rapists, murderers, hit men, con men, and all the dangerous sorts "regular" prisons don't want. So, needless to say, it is not the ideal home for Moose. But Moose, his sister Natalie, and some of the other children living on the island must learn to occupy themselves. When Moose discovers a convict loose and talking to Natalie, will he tell his parents?

      Al Capone Does My Shirts is a fun, must-read novel. Gennifer Choldenko's writing keeps you wondering what Moose and his friends will do next. I found myself devouring this book in one night, as I was brought back into the time of 1935. Overall I highly recommend this historical fiction novel for anyone who not only loves historical fiction, but a good laugh or suspense.

Everyone's a Critic: Boys Over Flowers

Boys Over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango), by Yoko Kamio
Viz Media: 2007
Reviewed by Kayla N., Class of 2010

            Makino comes from a middle class family and is sent to an academy for the wealthiest and most powerful families in Japan with her family's hopes of snagging a rich husband because they are in debt. There the F4 rule the school. When poor Makino has a bad run-in with F4 leader, Domyoji (an extremely rich heir to his mother's fortune), she has to fight against the control he has over the students, and make sure she doesn't fall for him!  Boys Over Flowers is a dramatic comedy about the trials and tribulations of their mutual love.

 

This manga may be an older story, but it is one of the best manga I have ever read. I highly recommend this for girls over the age of 12. The only complaint I have is that the characters are drawn in a fashion that does not suit today's manga. It was hard to look at the characters, and it can sometimes be hard to follow Domyoji's speech; however, the love between him and Makino makes an adorable, pure story. If you can tolerate the way the characters are drawn, I can say that you won't want to put it down!

Librarian note:  We own the second volume in this series, and the first one will be available after March break.  Let us know if you are interested in checking it out first!

Everyone's a Critic: Oh. My. Gods.

 Oh. My. Gods., by Tera Lynn Childs
Dutton Children’s Books: 2008
Reviewed by Heather D., 2014

 

 Being uprooted from your school, your friends, and your family wasn’t exactly Phoebe Castro’s idea of a “good time.” But when her mother moves them to an island in Greece to marry a guy she’s only known for about six days, Phoebe has to deal with a new school where the kids are not your typical high-schoolers. They are all descendants of Greek gods, and they have many powers. Will her evil stepsister, the meanest girl in school, and an extremely godly boy drive Phoebe off the island?

            I found Oh. My. Gods. to be a great book filled to the brim with humor and all the “chick flick” stuff that just exploded off the pages. It is both interesting and fun, plus Phoebe’s point of view and the situations she gets into make you long for another taste. If you enjoyed the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series or are looking for an excellent hybrid of fantasy, mythologies, and realistic fiction with a dash of romance, try Oh. My. Gods. and you won’t be disappointed.

Librarian note: We just got this book!  Look for it on the recent acquisitions shelf in the next week.

Everyone's a Critic: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly
Macmillan: 2009
Reviewed by Ms. Donohue

It is 1899 in Texas, where Calpurnia V. Tate, 12 years old and the only girl in a family with as many children as there are days in a week, begins a scientific journey into the natural world when she starts to take note of the wildlife in her yard.  Nobody can tell her why animals behave in certain ways, and she is directed to her gruff and reclusive Granddaddy, who challenges her to figure it out on her own.  When she does, he recognizes in her a fellow naturalist at heart.  He takes her under his wing, sharing in particular the works of the scandalous Charles Darwin.  Meanwhile, as the womanly arts of her era are being forced upon sweet and spunky Callie, she begins to realize that what she wants (to be a scientist when she grows up), and what is expected of her in her own natural world may not add up.  

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is an extremely well rounded story, with well-developed, likeable characters in realistic situations .  I found myself particularly amused by Granddaddy, a seeming curmudgeon with a heart of gold and wicked sense of humor.  Callie Vee herself is totally personable; you can really sympathize with her being the only girl in a family filled with boys who keep falling in love with her friends!  Callie Vee’s heartbreaking realization about her probable future is keenly felt, especially knowing that women today have options Callie could only dream of.  This book is probably best for middle schoolers, but high schoolers and adults will probably dig it too (especially if you like historical fiction and/or science!).  Finally, this book gets lots of snaps for having a fabulous, gorgeous, oh-so-pretty cover.  Snaps!

Everyone's a Critic: Tamsin

 

Tamsin, by Peter S. Beagle. 
Firebird: 1999.
Reviewed by Anna C., 2014

            Ever felt like you don't fit in? Well, so does 13-year-old Jenny. When Jenny's mom gets engaged, Jenny is suddenly forced to move from New York City to England with her beloved Mister Cat, where she must learn to accept a whole new family - and life. There Jenny discovers the unbelievable - boggarts and hidden passageways, mysterious legends, and a ghost named Tamsin who becomes her best friend. But when warned of a dark force, what will Jenny do to discover it?  

            Tamsin is a must-read, keep-you-guessing, funny adventure novel. The reader glimpses the fascinating world of the paranormal and discovers Jenny's failures and triumphs along the way. You will find yourself fascinated with Beagle's take on the supernatural and the odd decisions that make up Jenny's life.