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August 30, 2011
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Editor's Two Cents
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| INTERVIEW | |||||||||||||||||||
| Judy Dutton Talks About Rock Star, Student Scientists By Lauren Barack  Author Judy Dutton tackles the world of student scientists and their inventions, from a homemade nuclear fusion reactor to a therapy for autism adopted by schools, in her latest book, Science Fair Season. (Hyperion, 2011). We asked Dutton what drives students to push themselves to this level of scientific excellence and how teachers and policy makers can support today's students in the sciences.What compelled you to write about high school science fairs? What sparked my interest was an article in The New York Times about a science fair competitor who'd trained cockroaches to sniff for drugs. Curious what else kids were working on, I went to the Super Bowl of science fairs known as the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, where the very best 1,500 competitors from 50 countries compete for $4 million in prizes. I was floored by what I saw there: nuclear fusion reactors, balls of lightning whipped up in buckets, nanotech projects that led to five patents and a $12 million company.... Clearly science fairs had come a long way since I was a kid! Read More... |
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| NEWS |
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| Exhibition, Book Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Keats's The Snowy Day By SLJ Staff  Calling all Ezra Jack Keats fans—the first major U.S. exhibition to pay tribute to the award-winning author and illustrator opens at the Jewish Museum in New York on September 9."The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats" features more than 80 original works from preliminary sketches and dummy books to final paintings and collages for the artist's most beloved children's books, including Whistle for Willie (1964), Peter's Chair (1967), and The Snowy Day (1962). Read More... |
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| Study Explores What Kids Want, Expect from the Internet and Computers By Lauren Barack  What would you like your computer or the Internet to do that it can't do right now? That was a question posed to 200 kids aged 12 and under from around the globe for the study "Children's Future Requests For Computers & The Internet." "What I found most interesting is how seamlessly kids think about the interaction between the online world and the physical world," says Steve Mushkin, founder and president of the research consulting firm Latitude, which conducted the study and asked respondents to also draw their answers. "It tells us the divide between the digital and physical device is disappearing." Read More... |
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| Frenemies: Jack D. Ferraiolo's hilarious new novel features dueling superhero sidekicks By Rick Margolis  Sidekicks opens with Bright Boy, aka Scott Hutchinson, the teen sidekick of superhero Phantom Justice, getting aroused as he's rescuing a hot young woman. The bulge in his bright yellow tights is caught on camera, and now everyone's cracking jokes at Bright Boy's expense.Is any of this autobiographical? [Laughs] The whole thing is autobiographical, right down to saving a woman from falling off a building. Everything! No, actually, I mean like any young boy, there was the inappropriate hard-on. How'd you come up with that idea? As a young kid, I was a huge fan of Batman comics, and I actually liked Robin a lot. However, in the mid- to late-'70s, when they started aging up Dick Grayson and sending him off to college, there'd be those pages where Robin would be standing there, in his mid-teens, in that green set of jockey shorts and bare legs. Read More... |
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| TECH TRENDS |
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| SLJ Summit 2011 Preview By Kathy Ishizuka  When it comes to the ebook revolution, it's not all about bits and atoms—digital is transforming the act of reading itself. With a focus on the human experience and the implications for librarians, educators, and students, the 2011 School Library Journal Leadership Summit will consider "The New World of Reading: Digital, Networked, Transliterate." Set for September 22–23, the summit will be held in Washington, DC, just prior to the National Book Festival, which will take place that weekend, September 24–25. Read More... |
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| WATCH AND READ |
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| A Tale to Tug the Heartstrings By Joy Fleishhacker  Dolphin Tale (PG), a family drama from Warner Bros. Pictures and Alcon Entertainment, premieres in theaters on September 23, 2011, in both 3D and 2D formats. Inspired by true events, the movie tells the story of Winter, a young bottlenose dolphin that is caught in a crab trap off the Florida coast, causing serious injury to her tail. Seeing her stranded on the beach, a boy named Sawyer (Nathan Gamble) cuts her free and the two instantly form a deep bond of affection and friendship. The dolphin is rescued and taken to the Clearwater Marine Hospital. Though she is lovingly cared for by Dr. Clay Haskett (Harry Connick Jr.) and his dedicated staff, her survival is not guaranteed: Winter's tail must be amputated and without it, her prognosis is bleak. Read More... |
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| SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL EVENTS |
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| REMARKABLE READS |
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| Off to College By Dodie Ownes  For many high school students, the next big chapter in their lives will be going off to college. Whether they are heading overseas, to the local community college, or out of state, it's always a good idea to do a little preparation—sort of like looking at the map ahead of time. This group of titles focuses on college prep in a variety of ways, from the serious to the chic. It's never too early to start planning, senior class!BRADBURY-HAEHL, Nora and Bill McGarvery. The Freshman Survival Guide: Soulful Advice for Studying, Socializing, and Everything In Between. Center Street. 2011. pap. $14.99. ISBN 978-0-446-56011-5. Gr 11 Up—This title offers a different take on preparation for freshman year with its decidedly spiritual lean, covering important points and cultural sensitivities of most of the world's major religions. Written in consultation with a raft of college chaplains, the writing is friendly and topics are presented in a very approachable manner. Incoming freshman looking for something more than a party guide to their new home will appreciate this book being available to them. Read More... |
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| MEDIA MIX |
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| Remembering 9/11 By Phyllis Levy Mandell  The horrific events of September 11, 2001 will never be forgotten and have changed our lives forever. Many of today's students are too young to have witnessed or to remember the world's deadliest act of terrorism. This year is the tenth anniversary of a day Americans, and the world, will never forget. Remembering 9/11, a film just released by Inception Media Group, powerfully and emotionally presents the aftermath of those acts of terrorism and insights into the roots of al-Qaeda. It is that historical insight that will be most relevant to the global studies curriculum, although some teachers will want to present the entire emotional content. Teachers should preview the film and show segments of this accurate and objective production over several class periods. Read More... |
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| BLOG SPOTLIGHT: A CHAIR, A FIREPLACE & A TEA COZY |
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| Opposing Viewpoints By Liz Burns  Love young adult books? Pull up a chair, have a cup of tea, and chat with New Jersey librarian, Liz Burns.The question of boys and reading is one that comes up from time to time, and always brings about strong reactions based both on the actual article in question and the personal experiences of those reading the article. Take, for example, Boys and Reading: Is There Any Hope? by Robert Lipsyte at The New York Times. Read More... |
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