You'll want to read this!

After watching this:

You'll want to read this (FIC OST):

Where Do You Draw Your Digital Line?

The End of Publishing?

This video was prepared by the UK branch of Dorling Kindersley Books. Originally meant solely for a DK sales conference, the video was such a hit internally that it is now being shared externally. Make sure you watch it up to at least the halfway point, there's a surprise -- very thought provoking, and very palindromish (although that's not really a word).

Lunch with Tim O'Brien

Yesterday we celebrated the 20th anniversary of The Things They Carried. Tim O'Brien spent an hour with us in a live webcast. He was interviewed by Nathaniel Flick and the student audience. He read from his book and discussed the atrocities of war. 120 of Ms. Devore's senior AP English students joined us. It was a good day. Thanks to Mr. O'Brien, Mr. Flick, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for sponsoring this event for us.

The Things They Carried - 20th Anniversary

On the twentieth anniversary of its publication, THE THINGS THEY CARRIED returns. A classic work of American literature that has not stopped changing minds and lives since it burst onto the literary scene, THE THINGS THEY CARRIED is a ground-breaking meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling.

O'Brien's story depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the character Tim O'Brien, who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three.

Taught everywhere -- from high school classrooms to graduate seminars in creative writing -- -it has become required reading for any American and continues to challenge readers in their perceptions of fact and fiction, war and peace, courage and fear and longing.
 
Our AP Senior English students will be joining us today at noon for an online web discussion with Tim O'Brien. Check back tomorrow for pictures.

World War Z

World War Z (FIC BRO) by Max Brooks is written as a collection of personal accounts gathered several years after humanity suffers through and survives a virus that turns much of the population into mindless, flesh eating zombies. Brooks goes well beyond the usual takes on the subject and provides a range of stories, from touching personal accounts to explorations of the political and military implications of the crisis. Don't worry; it's plenty gross enough, too, if you're into that. Recommended by Guys Lit Wire in their list "Not Just Gross But Actually Scary Horror Books."

Are you watching The Pacific?

If you're watching the HBO miniseries The Pacific, maybe you're inspired to learn more about this event in our history. Why not check out a book? Here are some of our suggestions. And don't forget to stop by the library to see our book display.

Have a Great Spring Break!

A book recommendation for Spring Break

Hot Girl by Dream Jordan - Kate, a fourteen-year-old Brooklyn girl and former gang member, risks losing her first good foster family when she adopts the risqué ways of her flirtatious new friend, Naleejah.

You need a book for Spring Break!

These are the top circulating fiction books at the CBHS library since January. If you need an idea, try one of these.

Magnetic Poetry @ Your Library!

OK Go - Rube Goldberg music video

Remember playing Mouse Trap as a kid and trying to make your own Rube Goldberg machines. This new music video by OK Go is amazing. It must have some science application. It's fun to watch. Enjoy! [And once again---sorry YouTube is blocked for you guys at school--watch it at home or ask a librarian and we'll show it to you.]

Rita Dove to read at The Menil

Poetry Reading
Rita Dove
Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 7:00 p.m.

Esteemed American writer and former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove will read at the Menil Collection as part of the opening of the Houston Museum of African American Culture. She is the author of a dozen volumes of verse; her awards and honors include the 1987 Pulitzer Prize and Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Virginia (2004–2006). Dove will read from her new book-length narrative poem, Sonata Mulaticca (2009), which re-creates the life of the biracial violinist George Bridgetower, the first performer of Beethoven’s "Kreutzer" Sonata.

Thinking about a driver's license?

Try these sites for information. Ask your librarians if you need assistance.
Parent Taught Driver's Education
Texas Drivers Handbook (also found on the shelves at 629.28 TEX)
Teen New Drivers' Website
Edmund's Teen Driver Safety Series

It's time to cowboy up! How about a rodeo book?

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

Definition of monstrumology:

1: the study of life forms generally malevolent to humans and not recognized by science as actual organisms, specifically those considered products of myth and folklore.

2: the hunting of such creatures.
The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey is the tale of Dr. Pellinore Warthrop and his assistant Will Henry. Will is an orphan under the care of Dr. Warthrop, a peculiar man who studies dangerous creatures and monsters. In the middle of the night in 1888, a nightmarish specimen is carted to the monstrumologist's home. Will can barely stand the sight of a half-eaten girl and an anthropuphagi, which is a vicious man-eating creature without a head. Will is forced to assist the intense doctor and is eventually led on a quest to find more of the creatures.
from Guys Lit Wire

The Greater Houston Teen Book Convention

Our event is scheduled for Saturday, April 10th from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. at Alief Taylor High School. Admission to the event is free! Talk to one of your librarians, Ms. Buckley or Ms. Sullivan, for more information. Here's a chance to see some of your favorite authors.