Messing Library

After reviewing several book selling and publishing magazines, it looks like Messing Library has all the titles that appear on nationwide bestseller lists. If a book or series is on a bestseller list somewhere, and it's aimed near our target-audience (5th-8th grade), we've got it in the library.

We also have plenty of books that don't appear on bestseller lists, but have been hand-selected because all kinds of reviewers say they're good... If it's on the new book shelf, we guarantee it's a great read. Just find a genre you like (drama, scifi, fantasy, historical fiction, etc.) and start reading.

Also browse our Shelfari shelf to view our newest arrivals online.

BOOK REVIEW  |  Light on pages (less than 200), but heavy on great storytelling, Ten Mile River grabbed me from the first look I got at the cover while I was at a store called the Book Revue on Long Island. The gritty, dirty-looking image of the city skyline across a frozen river says a lot about the book before you even crack it open.

The first line drew me in even more: "Ray was bigger but Jose was boss." Two kids, fresh out of juvie and skipping out on the child welfare system, live together in an abandoned shack in NYCs Ten Mile River Park. These guys protect their place by befriending a pack of a dogs, make a living by doing "jobs" here and there, and even fall for the same girl. Oh, and they're fiercely loyal to eachother. It's this loyalty that drives the story into good, bad, and ugly for both Ray and Jose.

7th grade to adult... but some parents and teachers may object to some of the more mature themes. Google Books page.

BOOK REVIEW  |  Whoa. Daniel X does have some really dangerous days. Parents getting killed by an alien? Hunting aliens as a living? Creating stuff with his mind? All before he's old enough to drive on Earth, or "Terra Firma" as he calls it.

If he was able to drive, I have the feeling that his car would have more weaponry than the most recent incarnation of Kitt on Knight Rider.

So this kid can create stuff just by thinking about it. Even people. His best friends (and the main supporting characters in the book) aren't real...Or maybe they are. Daniel's creations aren't just virtual images, they're actually physically real, DNA and all. He can rearrange matter at will.

Overall, The Dangerous Days of Daniel X was a good story. I'd call this a "beach read;" a little light on depth but perfect for some good entertainment. I didn't have to think much while reading this one, and sometimes I like just being able to rip through a book and enjoy the story without much thought. If you need some quick entertainment, and you like the whole boy vs. alien thing, this is a quick read that might interest you.

BOOK REVIEW  |  Summer reading has gotten a lot better since the last time I was an eighth grader. This being the second year that I was supposed to read Maximum Ride by James Patterson so that I could lead a student discussion about it, I decided that it was actually time to read the book. As a librarian, you'd think that I would've read it the first time around.

I admit it: I didn't. But I led a really good discussion about it.

I am glad that I read it this summer. I was a little skeptical of the premise at first... genetically engineered kids with wings escape lab, get chased by genetically engineered kids that can turn into wolves, fighting ensues. Despite having a good taste for science fiction, this one seemed a little too weird for me.

Far from it, I find out. I picked it up on the book rack at a Stop 'n Shop on Long Island and finished it a couple of days later. The story and characters had a depth I wasn't expecting, and the situations and dialog were more real than I thought possible, given the whole wings and wolves thing. I found myself laughing out loud a few times at the situations the bird kids found themselves in and the way they handled themselves and the people around them. It was interesting to be inside Maximum's head and to hear her thoughts about life, her creators, and her "flock."

Turns out this "weird" premise was more real to life than a lot of the books I've read recently.

BOOK REVIEW  |  Wednesdays aren't so good for Holling Hoodhood. He's the only seventh grader at his school who doesn't attend religious classes during Wednesday afternoons, so that leaves him alone --and with plenty of work to do-- for his teacher, Mrs. Baker.

And she hates him.

But a series of events throughout the book change his relationships with everyone, from his friends, to his family, and even to Mrs. Baker.

Just some highlights of The Wednesday Wars to peak the potential reader's interest: food rotting in the classroom closet; a plot to employ hundreds of different methods to torture a teacher; rats loose in the school; even a principal who never grants a snow day (even after an ice storm).

This one was one of the sleeper hits I read this summer... never expected it to be this good. My first doubt was the seventh grade dialog: it didn't seem real in the first few chapters, to simple to have come from seventh graders. I thought the author was pegging "sevies" as too young or too simple-minded. After a few more chapters, however, I found the relationships and conversations between the students to be the best part of the book. From the threats Holling receives when he doesn't provide cream puffs to the comments involving him acting in a play, I can see that I was wrong about the dialog. It's fun to read and has insight I didn't see coming.

I recommend this one for 6th graders to adults. From dealing with weird situations in school to the difficulty of oblivious parents at home, the life of Holling Hoodhood reads about as true to life as any book you'll find.

BOOK REVIEW  |  Someone told me recently that my wish list for gifts (birthday, etc.) always looks like it was written by a 10-year-old. Why?

No, it's not because of the handwriting... (well, maybe sometimes) it's because it's always full of books and video games.

Since I'm a huge fan of Stephen King's Dark Tower series of books, one of the items on the "10-year-old" wish list was the graphic version of the beginning of that Dark Tower story. I read it last week and can tell you this: I'm not quite sold on the comics/graphic novel thing. But they're growing on me.

PROS: I got to relive the first part of a story I already knew I loved with this graphic novel. The illustrations were dark and fantastic and matched well with the themes of the plot. Great use of color!

CONS: It was initially annoying to look at the illustrations while reading the text (this from a graphic novel newbie)... after reading thousands of pages of the original story (with vivid details), the illustrations kind of short-circuited the images I had made up in my head when I first read the Dark Tower books.

Overall, it was really just a new take on one of my favorite stories. I wouldn't say better or worse, just different. I'll buy the next installment because I like the story... however, I'm not sure how I would approach graphic novels whose stories are new to me. I like to build a visual world in my head when I read, making it my own by basing it on the words on the page. I feel like graphic novels won't let me do that... but I'm willing to give it a try and see how it goes! In my mind, it's always good to mix things up once and awhile.

BOOK REVIEW  |  I've always been into Indiana Jones... the movies actually lead me to take a string of archeology classes in college and eventually influenced how I chose my major.

I can't tell if that's cool or just sad.

So when I saw a (fake?) leather-bound book at Borders entitled The Lost Journal of Indiana Jones, I bought it without even looking at the price tag.

It's definitely a fun book for fans of the movies... but you have to really know the details of the Indiana Jones storyline to appreciate the "Lost Journal," which is supposedly the lifelong journal of Indiana Jones that fell into Soviet hands at some point and is now annotated with KGB notes. It includes maps, sketches, newspaper clippings, photos, and some comments that give an interesting and amusing insight into some of the characters.

Fans of the series should give this one a try!

Messing Library is pleased to introduce micdslibrary.com, the new library webspace.

Aimed at providing a wealth of content with just a click or two (and with little to no scrolling), micdslibrary.com is the 3rd web design created & implemented by Messing Library. After several years of observing student research and browsing habits in and out of the classroom, this 3rd generation site has been tailored to meet the needs of students, parents, and faculty at MICDS.

Changes to this version of the site include: a complete visual & organizational redesign, faculty and tech resource pages, and more robust research support for the MICDS student.

Although still under construction in some areas, most of micdslibrary.com is now fully functional. Stop by and take a look around!

April ushered in a new athletic season in the Middle School, and along with it came the gear.

Mr. Lay's TLC study group has been reading SPARK: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by Dr. John Ratey, whose research into the benefits of exercise on the brain has drawn national attention recently. Articles have appeared on the covers of the latest issues of both U.S. News & World Report and Education Week (requires login) touting the benefits of exercise on academic performance.

Ratey's study and the recent articles highlighting it suggest through extensive research that exercise has a direct effect on the brain and can help fight memory loss, depression, attention deficit disorders, addiction, aggression, and Alzheimer's, among many other common conditions. You'll find many of the practices mentioned already fully integrated into the MICDS Physical Education curriculum (led by Department Chair Lay).

SPARK includes an extensive look at the physical fitness program at Naperville Central High School and the accompanying evidence to link exercise to improved brain function (and test scores) in education. The Education Week and U.S. News also highlight the benefits gaming has for young and old minds alike (Nintendo in particular).

February 12th marked the annual MICDS Faculty Professional Day that gives students in all grades a day off school and faculty a day to meet and learn with colleagues. Between meetings, faculty and staff had a 90 minute break and were able to choose from a variety of PDC-sponsored activities, including a demonstration of the gaming capabilities built into the new Messing Library floor plan.

The main question in the library that day: "Why Wiis in the library?" The answer: The library was designed to provide the opportunity for programming beyond the school day. One of these planned opportunities was the use of 5 Nintendo Wiis for community gaming events. Wii events in Messing Library use only games that require collaboration between individuals or groups and are designed to drive foot traffic into the physical library space and online traffic to the virtual library space (www.raminfo.org).

Library users can become familiar with library resources in many ways... one is through extracurricular community events that familiarize users with library spaces (both physical and virtual).

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS

February 12th marked the annual MICDS Faculty Professional Day that gives students in all grades a day off school and faculty a day to meet and learn with colleagues. Between meetings, faculty and staff had a 90 minute break and were able to choose from a variety of PDC-sponsored activities, including a demonstration of the gaming capabilities built into the new Messing Library floor plan.

The main question in the library that day: "Why Wiis in the library?" The answer: The library was designed to provide the opportunity for programming beyond the school day. One of these planned opportunities was the use of 5 Nintendo Wiis for community gaming events. Wii events in Messing Library use only games that require collaboration between individuals or groups and are designed to drive foot traffic into the physical library space and online traffic to the virtual library space (www.micdslibrary.com).

Library users can become familiar with library resources in many ways... one is through extracurricular community events that familiarize users with library spaces (both physical and virtual).

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS

Blog Post -- "What is digital citizenship?"
By Wesley Fryer from techLEARNING.com

We hear a fair bit about "Internet safety" in educational technology circles today, and more schools are starting to address online safety issues with students. Many of these presentations do not delve into the rights and responsibilities which accompany technology use, however, as discussions about digital citizenship naturally invite. Rather than simply tell students "don't talk to strangers" and "don't reveal personal information" online, educators need to be discussing (as the ProTechT teachers are with their students) issues surrounding the ethical uses of digital technologies and the impacts those uses can have not only at a personal level, but also on larger scales... CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

The 27 student-generated questions he lists could be good questions for advisories.

"I'm fiscally conservative, but for everything else I'm liberal."

"I love planets."

"Where's my planner?"

"Mr. Dieffenbach, am I going to fail?"

"If Hillary wins, I'm moving to Cuba."

"Something's wrong with this computer!"

"Why do you like him for president? Do you even know the issues?"

"Is that the music from the MacBook Air commercial?"

BOOK REVIEW  |  This is an interesting one... A kid (Hilmer Eriksson) follows around a police detective that's trying to solve a missing persons case. The detective (Harald Fors) is kind of the loner-sort... no partner, no family, and no ideas about what happened to the missing kid. Together, the two move from place to place while Fors interviews witnesses and uncovers clues.

The catch? Hilmer is the missing person. He, like Fors, has no idea what has happened to him... all he knows is that he is now invisible to everyone around him. And he frequently feels pain on certain areas of his body and experiences the sensation that something has been stuffed into his mouth. So Hilmer's only choice is to follow Detective Fors around to try to understand what, if anything, has happened to him.

While this was an interesting (and short) book, I expected to see more of the subject of the title... Hilmer. Despite being the main subject of the plot, we very rarely see or hear from him... which may lend to the feeling that he's invisible and right alongside you as you read the book. It did creep me out a couple of times.

If the the names and some of the expressions sound a little strange, no worries... this book was translated from Swedish and takes place in Sweden. It may also have been made into a movie at some point recently... but probably not a very good one since I don't ever remember hearing about it!

CLICK HERE to learn more by visiting the book's Google Books page!

Books donated by the Middle School Library and the MICDS Bookfair are helping support a reading program this year in St. Louis area public schools...

Over 3000 books from Messing Library were organized, boxed, and moved in August as part of the 8th grade football team's annual service project. Over half of these books have already made their way to the "A Million Minutes by March" program. CLICK HERE to view the press release.