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Hi Miss Julie! A Guide to Passionate Librarianship, by Julie Jurgens

I started my search here (thanks Minda, for the tip on Canvas!)
and looked through many of these sites, favorites being Waking Brain Cells, A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy, and I’m Here. I’m Queer.  What the Hell Do I Read? All of which are blogs by librarians.  But I bumped into Miss Julie while reading an article about Reader’s Advisory, and her style clicked with me.
Now, I’m not a natural in front of a crowd, but watching some of Miss Julie’s accomplishments with sing-alongs and story times gives me some inspiration. There are many ways to entertain, and her list of shared webinars and presentations is impressive.  She's even presented at the ALA Annual Conference!

In the Category Cloud of topics on the Sidebar Right of her blog, the largest words, thus topics of passion, are: Be the Best You Can Be, and Librarians FOR THE CHILDREN.  This combination won me over, because trying hard, doing a good job… that’s all we can do.  No one is great at everything!  So, run with your strengths.  She also gives advice on how to find library job, with current links, and applying for same.  Another blog is on the way about the Interview…. so, very helpful and supportive for the up-and-coming librarian.

Miss Julie has a lot to say about censorship.  My favorite post on her blog is “We Live in a World of Bad Text” from 1/15/17.  It speaks of words having power, and how, so often, that power is misused.  There are examples, and she urges the use of strong words when/if necessary, but be sure you have specific and accurate sources.  In other words, be a Librarian.  Read it here, right below the Hamilton post!

And check out her (very fun!) CV for all the awards she’s won over the past five years.

And finally, something I’ve posted in my office:
Miss Julie’s Loves of Librarianship

1. Libraries are for everyone.
2. Everyone benefits from libraries, whether they use them or not.
3. Make every interaction delightful, wherever it happens.
4. A degree does not a librarian make.
5. Every library its community, and every community its library.

Magazine

OWL Magazine
Owlkids, publisher

Owl Magazine is an educational publication for preteens that emphasizes STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering, and math. It is published ten times annually, not print and digital, and is out of Canada. Owlkids has been producing this family of magazines since 1976.

Appropriate Target Audience:
The magazine investigated is Owl, intended for 9-13-year-olds; sister publications Chickadee (6-9) and Chirp (3-6) are for younger readers.

Strengths/ Weaknesses:
Owl is the “discovery” magazine for kids 9 and up. It explores the world with science features and safe experiments. It's strengths are in both the layout and the content of the publication, and using both to deliver a top-notch reading and learning experience.

The table of contents, inside the front cover, lists this month’s articles in the middle of the page, while the regular features are a smaller list at the bottom of the page. So, if the Maker Space article is the reader’s favorite each month, it is easy to locate it in each issue. Photos, captions and article text are adjoining. While the pages are busy, they are still easy to navigate, not overwhelming.

It is a full color magazine, 34-pages long, with bright panels breaking up each page. The feature articles are each two to four pages long, with multiple captioned photographs that show the science behind the subject. Each article has a bright text box containing a video link inviting further exploration online. Articles focus around new inventions, discoveries, and theories.

The regular features are much shorter, two to four per page, covering reviews, a photo subject, puzzles, and jokes. Each issue also has two continuing comic strips: the 2-page spread of The Outrageous World of Alex and Charlie shows the hijinks of a pair of middle schoolers and their group of friends, while the longer X-tra Curricular is an investigative group of students studying the paranormal for extra credit at school.

A very strong addition for a school or public library collection, a weakness may be that it is based in Canada. As this family of magazines are some of the few based on STEM subjects for children, these strengths far outweigh that possible complaint.

Meaningful/Creative uses:
Portions of the magazine are in very small info bites, good for snagging attention of a middle school reader, and offer online links to more information. Focus on one subject and research further online. Locate the subject in the library’s nonfiction section: is it so new it isn’t covered in a book?
There are group activities, contests and jokes in each issue that would be fun to share with family or (supervised) with friends.
Two contests in the issues I read through were a Cover Art Invitational, celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday in June, and a Toy Hack, inviting kids to recycle/upcycle their old toys into something new. Prizes offered ranged from publication, subscriptions, a tablet, to a 3Doodler starter set. Recreate a contest within the classroom or library group, then display the results.

Awards:
Owl has been a Parent’s Choice Award Winner five times since 2010; and Won Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) Distinguished Achievement Awards, Whole Publication Anniversary/Commemorative Edition or Feature five times since 2009.

Other appropriate info:
Owlkids has a blog where kids can read book, movie, and tech reviews. There are craft ideas and recipes, jokes, and a “Do It This Week” column with challenges and DIY projects. The publisher has embraced social media, with Twitter and Facebook accounts where book launches and trailers are shared, challenges and contests are announced, interviews and book reviews are posted. Recently, a bi-weekly interactive eMag called Owl.Connected was introduced. It that has current-event stories and age-appropriate news, and contains original content that is available to magazine subscribers. Advertised online the combined cost was $34.95/year, but a special offer listed inside the magazine was only $29.95/year.

Owlkids

Tags: STEM, tweens, middle_school, articles, contests, series

Audiobook

The Bad Beginning,
by Lemony Snicket, Harper Collins (1999),
Listening Library (2003),
read by Tim Curry; on 3 Audio discs, approximately 2.5 hrs.

The story of the three wealthy Baudelaire orphans—Violet, age 14 (the inventor), Klaus, age 12 (the bookworm), and Sunny, an infant (with a penchant for biting). After their parents' sudden deaths, the children are forced to live with Count Olaf, a gruesome distant cousin who is interested only in getting rid of them so he may inherit their money. The first of the Series of Unfortunate Events books.

Appropriate Target Audience:  GR 4-8, ages 9+; This does depend upon the child, as The Bad Beginning is not an easy story to hear, or funny in the traditional sense.  But it is fascinating (like a train wreck?), and its popularity over the years proves its merit.

Strengths/Weaknesses:
This story is not a happy one, as the author warns, but while dark and weird, it isn’t frightening.  It may fascinate children in the same way as R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series, creepy, but fun.  The appeal of the audio format is strong, as Snicket does not hold back with vocabulary.  Many of the more complex words are defined in context, and others are literally defined: “The word “rickety,” you probably know, here means “unsteady” or “likely to collapse””, (disc one, chapter one).  This stretch forward with vocabulary makes the read aloud very informative and the story more accessible.

Presentation/Content/Technical:  Tim Curry is a master of voice.  In this original unabridged recording, he was the only narrator, yet the characters were well-represented and varied.  You could visualize Count Olaf’s sneering expression, be concerned over Mr. Poe’s coughing fits, and laugh at Sunny’s monosyllabic outbursts of opinion.  After the move was released in 2004, another ensemble cast version of The Bad Beginning was recorded, which won a Grammy Award in 2006 for Best Spoken Album.
This particular recording is the full, unabridged story, and so it contains all you would find in the print book.  This includes an introduction, the “Dear Reader" blurb, read by Snicket, explaining that the book is not a happy tale.  And a postscript (also by Snicket) at the end of the recording that tells about the next book in the series.  Tim Curry provides some sound effects that pertain to the characters and their persona, such as Mr. Poe’s coughing fits, but this version was not filled with creaking doors, the sound of footsteps, or the clang of a grappling hook.

This audiobook is very well done; Listening Library is quite prominent in producing children’s audio books.  There was no feedback or unpleasantness (besides Count Olaf!), and volume had no ill-effects on the enjoyment of this recorded story.

Meaningful/Creative uses:
Have a party at the library and make Puttanesca Sauce for dinner.  Create a Poster for the Theatrical Production of “The Marvelous Marriage”; dress as your favorite character and have readings of various scenes.
Hold a maker’s event to create inventions like Violet’s grappling hook (but be careful!).

Awards:  Audie Award, 2002 (Solo Narration, Male)

Read-Alikes:  The Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling (read by Jim Dale), The Goosebumps series, by R.L. Stine.

Other appropriate info:  http://www.fiction-food.com/2014/02/pasta-puttanesca-from-series-of.html

Tags: series, dark, weird, Baudelaire_orphans, middle_school, audio

Fiction

Al Capone Does My Shirts
by Gennifer Choldenko
Puffin Books; Reprint edition, 2006

Moose and his family move to Alcatraz Island when his dad gets a job as electrician and guard at the infamous prison. The family’s goal with this move is to get Moose’s sister Natalie, who is “different” and “difficult”, into a San Francisco school for “troubled” children, so that she might have a better life. This would mean a better, or at least a less-stressful life for the rest of the family.

Appropriate Target Audience: Gr 5-8

Strengths/Weaknesses:
One of a few Juvenile Fiction novels concerned with Autism and how it affects both the person and their family. The author explores how the move to Alcatraz in a economically depressed time complicates life for the entire family. Moose searches for new friends, including the warden’s daughter Piper, who is always scheming about Alcatraz’ most famous inmate, Al Capone. His older sister, Natalie, can be hard to control when having one of her "fits", and it falls to Moose to care for her when he's not in school. An endearing historical novel concerning love, friendships, and autism before we began to recognize or understand it. The book includes an annotated map of Alcatraz and author’s notes describing what was fictionalized and how she incorporated fiction into reality of Alcatraz and the island-dwelling employees. Choldenko used personal experiences with her sister to inspire Moose’s sister Natalie. Would appeal to both boys and girls, as there are a variety of intriguing secondary characters, as well as Moose and Natalie.

Meaningful/creative uses:
An excellent Tween Book Club selection: discuss different types of learning, how Moose felt caring for his sister, was the special school the right choice for Natalie?
For Mental Health Awareness Month, create a display with Al Capone Does My Shirts and other children’s books that address feelings, health, and coping. Place a Mood Wall alongside the display, so library users can show how they feel inside.

Awards:

• 2005 Newbery Honor book 
• 2007 California Young Reader Medal 
• Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award, 2006 (Autism) 

Read-Alikes:
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, by Gary D. Schmidt; “It only takes a few hours for Turner Buckminster to start hating Phippsburg, Maine. No one in town will let him forget that he's a minister's son, even if he doesn't act like one. But then he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a smart and sassy girl from a poor nearby island community founded by former slaves. Despite his father's-and the town's-disapproval of their friendship, Turner spends time with Lizzie, and it opens up a whole new world to him, filled with the mystery and wonder of Maine's rocky coast.”

Counting Thyme, by Melanie Concklin; “When eleven-year-old Thyme Owens’ little brother, Val, is accepted into a new cancer drug trial, it’s just the second chance that he needs. But it also means the Owens family has to move to New York, thousands of miles away from Thyme’s best friend and everything she knows and loves. The island of Manhattan doesn’t exactly inspire new beginnings, but Thyme tries to embrace the change for what it is: temporary.”

The War that Saved My Life, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley; “Nine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him.”

Resources: Dolly Grey Awards ; Children's Lit dealing with Mental Illness; Mood Wall; Mood Wall in Nashville

Tags: Family, mental_illness, hard_times, responsibilities, friends, baseball, relocating, habits