Duke School MS Library

Such much hype this week, but it's just T minus 15 hours and the Hunger Games movie will be in the theaters!

To fortify yourself before the movie, how about enjoying Peeta’s burnt nut and raisin bread?  Maybe District 12 ration grain drop biscuits will get you in the mood?  Upgrade your snack to Capitol-level quality by adding pale purple melon!  Check out this fictional food website for more ideas and recipes.

But wait – you really need your very own Hunger Games name.  The website HungerNames.com provides you your own Hunger Games identity.  Or use it as inspiration and write yourself into the plot as you see fit.

Don’t forget to let us know what you think of the movie…

_

• Are you an ace with a bow and arrow?
• Do you own a mockingbird pin?
• Have you already decided to name your first-born “Katniss"?  _
  
• Have you read the Hunger Games trilogy countless times?

If you’ve been struggling to pass the time until the March 23 release of the Hunger Games movie, how about reading a Hunger Games read-alike?  

Below is a list of suggested titles*.  All books share a post-apocalyptic and/or future world setting similar to Hunger Games, each loaded with adventure.  All of these are available in the DSMS Library.

If you disagree with any of these Hunger Games read-alike books being on the list, let us know!

Dark Life by Kat Falls

The House of Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick

Rash by Pete Hautman

The Secret under My Skin by Janet McNaughton

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Storm Thief by Chris Wooding

Z for Zachariah by Robert O’Brien

SERIES:
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Carbon Diaries series by Saci Lloyd

Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness

Ember series by Jeanne DuPrau

Exodus by Julie Bertagna

The Giver series by Lois Lowry

Gone series by Michael Grant

Hunger City Chronicles by Philip Reeve

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Leviathan trilogy by Scott Westerfield

Life as we Knew It by Susan Pfeffer

Matched trilogy by Ally Condie

Maximum Ride by James Patterson

Maze Runner by James Dashner

Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card

Seven Kingdoms trilogy by Kristin Cashore

Truesight by David Stahler, Jr.

BTW, have you checked out the movie trailers?  Can’t wait to hear what you think of the movie!

*Thanks to all the librarians on the YALSA list-serv for compiling this list.

You’ve been to the media center to see the lists of 2012 ALA award winners, right?

For your convenience, we’re listing some of the winners below.

Have you read any of these yet?  Do you have a favorite?  Do you think the award committees missed any great titles and/or authors from 2011?   Add a comment and let us know.

Some of these titles already are in the Middle School collection, and more are coming.  Take a peek at the catalog to see what’s available.

The full list of award winners is here.

NEWBERY MEDAL (ages up to and including 14)

Medal Winner:  Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos

Honor Books:

Inside Out & Back Again, by Thanhha Lai 

Breaking Stalin’s Nose, by Eugene Yelchin

PRINTZ Award for Excellence in YA Literature (approximately ages 12-18)

Medal Winner:  Where Things Come Back, by John Corey Whaley

Honor Books:

Why We Broke Up, by Daniel Handler

The Returning, by Christine Hinwood

Jasper Jones, by Craig Silvey

The Scorprio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater

CORETTA SCOTT KING (Author) Book Award.  (Recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults.)

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans, by Kadir Nelson

Honor Books:

Eloise Greenfield  author of “The Great Migration: Journey to the North

Patricia C. McKissack, author of “Never Forgotten,” illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon and

PURA BELPRÉ  (AUTHOR) Award.  (Honoring a Latino writer whose children's books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience.)

Under the Mesquite, by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

Honor Books:

The Cazuela that the Farm Maiden Stirred, illustrated by Rafael López, written by Samantha R. Vamos

Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match /Marisol McDonald no combina, illustrated by Sara Palacios, written by Monica Brown

Interested in one more list touting the “Best of 2011”? 

The School Library Journal (SLJ) published its list titled “Best Books 2011”.  One of these many great titles could inspire the next book you read. 

All the books listed below are already in the Middle School library.  The recommended age ranges (from SLJ) and synopses (from DSMS catalog) are included here, too.  Look at the DSMS catalog to learn if the book is on the shelf. 

More books from SLJ’s list will be added to the DSMS collection soon. 

To see SLJ’s complete list, stop by the library and just ask!  And if you’d like to request one of those specific titles, talk to Elaine.

FICTION                                                                                      

Inside Out & Back Again.  Lai, Thanhha.  (JF F THA).  Grades 4-6

Through a series of poems, a young girl chronicles the life-changing year of 1975, when she, her mother, and her brothers leave Vietnam and resettle in Alabama.

Wonderstruck.  Selznick, Brian.  (JF F SEL).  Grades 4-8

Relates the stories of twelve-year-old Ben, who loses his mother and his hearing in a short time frame and decides to leave his Minnesota home in 1977 to seek the father he has never known in New York City; and Rose, who lives with her father but feels compelled to search for what is missing in her life. Ben's story is told in words; Rose's in pictures.

Breadcrumbs. Ursu, Anne. (JF F URS).  Grades 5-8

Hazel and Jack are best friends until an accident with a magical mirror and a run-in with a villainous queen find Hazel on her own, entering an enchanted wood in the hopes of saving Jack's life.

Chime.  Billingsley, Franny.  (JF BIL).  Grades 7 & UP

In the early twentieth century in Swampsea, seventeen-year-old Briony, who can see the spirits that haunt the marshes around their town, feels responsible for her twin sister's horrible injury until a young man enters their lives and exposes secrets that even Briony does not know about.

The Scorpio Races.  Stiefvater, Magge. (JF STI). Grades 8 & UP

Nineteen-year-old returning champion Sean Kendrick competes against Puck Connolly, the first girl ever to ride in the annual Scorpio Races, both trying to keep hold of their dangerous water horses long enough to make it to the finish line.

NON-FICTION

Bootleg:  Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition.  (363.4 BLU). Grades 7-10

Chronicles the history of Prohibition in the United States, a period from 1920 to 1933 during which it was illegal to sell or drink alcohol, discussing how what began as a movement to heal social ills, became a burden to ordinary citizens and a boon to criminals.

Congratulations to Walter Dean Myers, author of numerous books, who was named the new National Ambassador for Young People's Literature by the Library of Congress.

“Reading is not optional” is Myer's platform.  He is being inaugurated today, January 10, 2012.
 
Duke School’s media center has over 25 of his titles, including
fiction, non-fiction, poetry, series fiction and biographies.  

Titles you may recognize include Fallen Angels, Monster, and Riot.  

Take a look at some of his other books, too:  Sunrise over Fallujah; Slam!; The greatest:  Muhammed Ali; Darnell Rock reporting; and Harlem:  a poem. 

Wondering what his books are like? 
His work often is described as realistic and gritty.

Learn more Mr. Myers on his website.

To learn more about the Ambassador position, take a look at the Library of Congress website.