Tag Archives: Book

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Feature Book: Girl Meets Boy

This post is an original series created by librarians/media specialists across Central Minnesota featuring books. If you have a book you would like to showcase, send your review to our offices.

Review by Maria Burnham, SRRHS Library Media Specialist

Cover art for Girl Meets Boy by Tracey Emin. Retrieved online 12/12/13.
Cover art for Girl Meets Boy by Tracey Emin. Retrieved online 12/12/13.

Feature Book: Girl Meets Boy: Because There Are Two Sides to Every Story edited by Kelly Milner Halls

I have to believe that everyone, at some point in their lives, has had a discussion with someone about the difference in perspective between men and women. Oftentimes my husband and I talk about how we “interrupt” a conversation we’ve had or events in our lives so differently from each other.  Frankly, we just see things differently because we are different genders.  And that idea is exactly the premise of Girl Meets Boy: Because There Are Two Sides to Every Story.

The book is actually a compilation of short stories about male/female relationships among teens.  Each story is told twice, once from the male perspective and once from the female lens, and each chapter of the book is written by a different YA author. The first story in the book is written by Chris Crutcher and it’s a story of a young (and quite handsome) young man named John who has a bad habit of lying to girlfriends to get what he wants.  However, he vows to change his ways, so his next female relationship takes him down a new road of friendship and love.  Once you learn of this relationship through John’s eyes, the next chapter retells the story through the lens of his newest love interest, Wanda Wickham, written by the book’s editor, Kelly Milner Halls.  And once you learn how Wanda sees the world, your view on the whole situation completely changes.

I love that each chapter of this book is a little different because the voice always changes and you never know what you’re going to read.  The book is fairly short and would be a good fit for a struggling reader because the stories cut right to the chase.  Warning: some of the content about the relationships relate to sexual intimacy, so the book is probably most appropriate at a high school level.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist

I-Pad Apps Used to Create Books

Image retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

This week, CMLE links members to an online resource that combines technology, literacy and learning by capturing simple stories. TeachThought developed a list you can use to create books with apps including; Story Buddy 2, Book Creator and Scribble Press. Follow the link to review the complete list of 15 Literacy Apps to Create Books on the iPad (July 2013.)

Tips: Incorporate one of these apps with a community activity in the public library. Collect stories from a classroom instruction to share with parents as they stop by during conferences. Capture success stories to help demonstrate value added programming.

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Feature Book: Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital

This post is a part of an original series created by librarians/media specialists across Central Minnesota featuring books. If you have a book you would like to showcase, send your review to our offices.

Review by Kathy Parker, Director of Libraries, Media, and Archives, College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University Libraries

Feature Book: Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink

Image of Kathy Parker provided by CSB/SJU.
Image of Kathy Parker provided by CSB/SJU.

Combining the best of both worlds, Five Days at Memorial has the tense plot line, complex characters, and life-and-death flashpoints of a thriller, but it’s actually a meticulously researched work of remarkable reportage.  Fink investigated events at a New Orleans hospital during and after Hurricane Katrina.  Healthcare workers struggled to keep critically ill patients alive as electricity winked off, generators flooded, HVAC systems failed, sleep was unattainable, looters were roving the streets, and rescue was uncertain.  In the end, some staff faced criminal allegations for injecting patients with drugs that hastened their death.   The author carefully avoids judgment, and instead helps readers understand how professionals trying to do their best in a crisis may arrive at very different decisions about how to respond.

As it happens, I was reading this book while updating and expanding our library’s disaster plan.  It made me realize that much of our plan is focused on keeping collections safe, and that I needed to pay more attention to how to keep people safe as well.  I learned some lessons about communication, coordinated responses, and compassion.  Sheri Fink’s book reinforced my fervent hope that I never have to live through such a horrendous disaster as Katrina; and it has given me the opportunity – the luxury, really —  to think about how I might wish decisions would be made should a disaster happen here.

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Library Journal’s Top Ten Books in 2013

Image retrieved online at Library Journal 11/19/13.
Image retrieved online at Library Journal 11/19/13.

Aha, we are getting close to the end of a calendar year, and the flurry of lists begin, which is always popular! And book lists rank supreme with our readers!

Library Journal’s review editors are now sharing their Top Ten  List, and as you read their blog post you feel their pain. They  briefly chronicle their struggles in just choosing ten titles. They lament a bit about the “ones that got away” too, simply because other books  grabbed them with more intensity.  I like that image….

Some of us read for plot, others for character development (that’s me), and yet others for flowery language (not me) among other things, so it is possible you will love a title  on the discard list too! Take a look at their More of the Best List too!

Tip: If you read one of these books and would like to submit your short review to our offices,  we can include it in our Featured Book blog posts. Thanks!

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Book Nostalgia

Image by Pattys-Photos. Retrieved in Flickr. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by Pattys-Photos. Retrieved in Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

This week, CMLE highlights the printed book!

The Scholarly Kitchen recently posted an article about the time honored tradition of making a print book. Originally housed in the archives at Oxford University Press, a series of three silent films were showcased.

Just for Fun, take a step back in time to the 1920s; experience the once labor intensive process of creating a beloved classic; the printed book!

The making of a book, take three, and…..action!