Library & Literary Miscellany

Montmorency On The Rocks by Eleanor Updale

Following his ignominious rise to the status of gentleman in the series’ first book (Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman (2004)), Montmorency also known as Scarper returns in Montmorency On the Rocks. Montmorency continues to fight against being consumed by Scarper’s proclivities. On a trip with his friend Lord George Fox-Selwyn, Montmorency begins taking a noxious drug. This drug brings Scarper out in full force in near obliteration of all that Montmorency has striven to become. After their return to London, Montmorency continues consuming the drug, or rather, letting the drug consume him: “The drug had long since ceased to bring him happiness, and yet he couldn’t help himself.”

Straits are so dire that Fox-Selwyn decides to help the man who can’t seem to help himself by removing Montmorency away from the prying eyes (and underground temptations) of London society. Fox-Selwyn takes Montmorency, along with his other friend Dr. Farcett, to Scotland.

After Dr. Farcett’s hubris and surgical error caused a patient’s death, he is facing his own demons. However, Dr. Farcett once saved Montmorency’s physical life, and now he is called upon to reach deep and recall his desire for helping make sick people well in order to help Montmorency overcome his substance abuse. In so doing, Dr. Farcett begins to face his past mistakes so that he might embrace his future.

Even as Dr. Farcett helps Montmorency detoxify, the three friends stumble upon another mystery on the island of Tarimond off the Scottish coast. Dr. Farcett’s skills are called upon to uncover why the babies on the island are dying within a few months of their birth. A parallel crisis calls for Montmorency to return to London and apply his  skills of camouflage and subterfuge to the task of finding the bomber that is loose in London. With this charge, Montmorency once again dons his Scarper persona in the heart of London–this time in the service of his country.

Unlike the first book that largely focuses on developing Montmorency’s complex identity, this second book expands to include not only Montmorency’s perspective but also the thoughts, actions, and complex personalities of Lord Fox-Selwyn and Dr. Farcett. Interestingly, Updale employs these three aristocratic characters to showcase the complexity of human nature, the harsher aspects of life for the impoverished, and the colossal inequities among social classes in Victorian England (a la Dickens).

Montmorency: On the Rocks is every bit as thrilling and as full of historical detail, adventure, and intrigue as the first book. Montmorency/Scarper ’s story continues in the third book of this series Montmorency and the Assassins (2006) and the fourth book Montmorency’s Revenge (2007).

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Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman by Eleanor Updale (2004)

“But it is time for you to go. Your possessions will be returned to you downstairs. You have been given the chance of life, 493. I hope you will take the opportunity to make that life one of industry and law-abiding behavior.”

So says the warden to Prisoner 493–also known as Montmorency also known as Scarper. While languishing for three years in the bowels of a Victorian England prison, Montmorency vows to reinvent himself–multiple reinventions really–as a thief, a liar, and a gentleman.

Montmorency’s time in jail is the result of his having been caught as a thief. During his capture, he suffers grievous physical injuries. In fact, Montmorency’s injuries are so grave that an up-and-coming London doctor, Doctor Farcett, is permitted to perform experimental treatments on him.

The treatments save Montmorency’s life and begin to heal of his physical injuries but, simultaneously, they augment his emotional pain over life’s inequities. As a part of his treatments, Montmorency attends meetings of the Scientific Society where he is humiliated as a specimen under examination but also where he learns about the underground sewage system of London. The seeds of a plan for revenge against society’s upper classes begin to sprout.

Montmorency resolves to create dual identities—he will enter London’s underground as Scarper, a sewer navigator who uses the routes to accomplish his thefts and to pave the way for the success of his above-ground persona, Montmorency. Using the goods he attains as Scarper, Montmorency lives the life of a refined gentleman and, in so doing, he defies the seemingly insurmountable Victorian class divisions of his day.

Updale fills her story with secret identities, complex characters, period details, scatological references, daring deeds, narrow escapes, and more vice than virtue. Social and economic disparities drive much of the action–while wealthy gentlemen spend the days at their club, the poorer classes spend the days doing what it takes (legal or no) to survive. Montmorency’s dual identities begin to foster identity confusion, and Montmorency/Scarper finds himself facing choices as to which version of himself he wants to control of his life–the thief, the liar, or the gentleman.

As a work for young adults, Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman is unusual as its characters are not young adults (the same holds true for the subsequent works in the series), and its main character is more antihero than hero. Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman harkens back to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in which one man confronts some unpleasant facts about the conflicting parts of his nature. More modern offerings that contain elements of history, mystery, adventure, and crime in historical England can be found in works by authors such as Chris Priestley, Iain Lawrence, Avi (Traitors Gate), and Paul Bajoria (Printer’s Devil). Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman is the first book in the series starring Montmorency.

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Rhett Butler’s Peopleby Donald McCaig (2007)

Rhett Butler’s People, the fully authorized prequel/sequel, to Gone with the Wind gives us the story from Rhett Butler’s perspective. McCaig invents the backstory that shapes Rhett–the family black sheep and Southern “almost-but-not-quite” gentleman. Readers get the inside look at how and why Rhett starts, stops, and starts giving a damn. The story also provides justifications for the details that mar Rhett’s character in the original (for example, Rhett’s purported illegitimate son, his arrest for killing a black man, his Klan involvement).

Rhett Butler’s People narrates not just the story of Rhett and Scarlet but also the stories of others whose lives are connected with Rhett’s life. His beloved sister Rosemary, his illegitimate son in New Orleans Tazewell Watling, his free black friend Tunis Bonneau, his schoolmate turned rogue and war hero Andrew Ravanel, and others get expanded space to tell their own stories in McCaig’s novel.

Rhett Butler’s People also covers a wider time frame than Gone With the Wind. We are privy to Rhett’s childhood on a rice plantation before the war begins, his experiences as a blockade runner and soldier during the war, and his life in the Reconstruction Era after the war. All this leads up to choices that he and Scarlett are faced with regarding helping to reconstruct not only their beloved South and also with whether or not to bother reconstructing their relationship.

Overall, reading Rhett Butler’s People provides an entertaining and informative look into the Civil War Era, although, compared with Gone with the Wind, it does give short shrift to the Rhett and Scarlett saga. Still, those who enjoy US historical fiction may find it well worth taking a second look at a long ago damned love story with its added look into the war.

For other modern works that have taken alternative looks at old classics try March by Geraldine Brooks (Little Women) and Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (Jane Eyre). For another alternative look at Gone with the Wind, try The Wind Done Gone by Alice Randall.

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Death Note, Volume 1by Tsugumi Ohba (Author) and Takeshi Obata (Illustrator)

In Death Note, light and dark become confused. Bored-out-of-his-mind Japanese teenager Light Yagami loses his apathy upon picking up the Death Note notebook. The Death Note was dropped into the human world by the equally bored shinigami death god named Ryuk. Ryuk wanted to see what a human would do with the power of the Death Note–the power being the ability to kill any human whose name is written within its pages (see Volume 1 itself for a complete list of rules and regulations for how this is done).

With the power wielded through the Death Note, Light decides to take justice into his own hands and rid the world of evil criminal-by-criminal. As Light sees it, he is “ridding the world of evil and creating a utopia…” over which he will rule. Light has little remorse for those he kills, and he continues to increase his death toll. It’s not long before the authorities become suspicious about the mysterious increase in deaths among the criminal ilk, and Light’s movement of the world toward purported utopia becomes increasingly nefarious as he goes to great lengths to avoid being identified and captured.

The tension rises further still when the authorities hire the renowned-for-his-deeds, anonymous-by-appearance detective “L” to catch the killer of criminals. Light and L begin a battle with each as the other’s nemesis. Each one plans, observes, and re-evaluates next steps based on the actions of the other. Neither one wants to be identified first as being identified would have disastrous repercussions for both of them.

Death Note is a dark and horrifying tale with a main character named Light but lacking itself much light and hope. As for the graphic part of the graphic novel, Ryuk the shinigami’s wide and threatening black mouth and sharp teeth cause chills to run down the spine. Light’s detached, methodical murdering is equally chilling. If the first volume is any indication, themes of the series are going to be morality versus immorality, justice versus injustice, utopia versus dystopia, hero versus monster, good versus evil, courage versus cowardice, and life versus death. Light is an anti-hero that readers will hold their breath for as they wait for him to be caught and then feel conflicted emotions if and when he is.

Death Note is part of the Shonen Jump Advance line, and the series is given a T+ rating (meaning for older teens). For readers who enjoy manga and ethics questions, this may be a series to point them to.

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Children Of The Lamp: The Akhenaten Adventure (Children Of The Lamp) by P.B. Kerr (2004)

In P.B. Kerr’s first book of his Children of the Lamp series, having wisdom teeth pulled out means more than a bit of discomfort, a large dental bill, and the possibility of developing dry socket. For twelve-year old twins Philippa and John Gaunt, having their wisdom teeth pulled means something else entirely.

As twins with loving (and wealthy) parents, they’ve always considered themselves to be pretty lucky. Once their wisdom teeth have been removed, they discover their good fortune goes far beyond luck and stems from who and what they are. They are Children of the Lamp; they are djinn (not genie, mind you, djinn as the term genie is prosaic and repugnant to djinn). With their wisdom teeth gone, it is time for their fallow djinn powers to begin burgeoning.

The twins’ parents (mother-djinn; father-standard order human) have hidden their “djinn” nature from them in attempts to help them lead normal lives. The twins, however, are not content to be ordinary and jump at the chance to go visit their Uncle Nimrod and have him explain some of the mysterious things that have been happening to them.

From their Uncle Nimrod, they discover that there are actually multiple tribes of djinn–not all of them are bestowers of good fortune and caretakers of humankind. Instead the djinn have split into the good (the Marid, the Jinn, and the Jann) and the evil (the Ifrit, the Shaitan, and the Ghul). As descendants of the Marid tribe, Philippa and John are on the good side, and they soon find themselves embroiled in the battle to defeat the evil djinn in their plan to discover the lost tomb of the evil djinn Akhenaten and to release him along with the seventy other djinn he had bound into his service (and you probably always thought he was just another pharaoh…). Whomever releases these seventy djinn will have the power to command them and thus disrupt the careful homeostasis of good and bad luck that the good djinn attempt to maintain.

Children of the Lamp: The Akhenaten Adventure chronicles the twins discovery of their djinn identity and their growing understanding of the responsibility that comes with power. Due to the relationship among djinn, heat, smoke, fire, and the like, smoking plays a larger role in this book than is typical in children’s literature. Still, the story contains more than exposition, smoke and fire, and good versus evil battle, Kerr also makes room for humor, particularly in the development of his secondary characters. Mr. Rakshasas an older, wiser, agoraphobic djinn who has spent many a year trapped inside a bottle frequently inserts cryptic (but fitting in-context if you pause to think on them long enough) interjections into the conversations. For example:

“The cat is his own best advisor, right enough”

“There’s many a time a man’s mouth broke his own nose.”

“To be sure, it is a shame to try to make a goat’s beard out of a fine stallion’s tail”

Overall, Kerr has created a fully developed fantastic world that exists alongside reality as we know it (a la series such as Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, So You Want to Be a Wizard, the Bartimaeus Trilogy, etc.). Detail-by-detail he has laid the groundwork for creating more stories centering around the historical battle between the good and evil djinn. Some readers may relish the detail and the fully-created djinn history, while others may long for less exposition and more action.

The Akhenaten Adventure is Kerr’s first work for children, and the series may pick up in pace now that the world has been developed. It’s a fun work for younger readers who want to delve into a fictional extrapolation about the lives of genies, errr, I mean djinn. It’s also been rumored to be coming soon in movie form.

Uncle Nimrod also passes on some sage commentary on humans and wishes:

“…it’s usually best that they [humans] get the thing themselves. Through their own hard work. That way, they tend to appreciate it more when they get it…Equally, there are many occasions when they just don’t think their wish through. When they don’t consider the full implications of actually having their dearest wish come true.”

“They [wishes] can be unpredictable…When you play around with the future, there is a random, unexpected, even unpleasant aspect to what you’re doing.”

And if you emjoy the first book, you’ll be happy to know that there are more books in the Children of the Lamp Series:

Blue Djinn of Babylon (Children of the Lamp Book 2)

Cobra King Of Kathmandu (Children Of The Lamp Book 3)

Day Of The Djinn Warriors (Children Of The Lamp Book 4)

You can also check out P.B. Kerr’s official website.

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Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Obert Skye (2005)

As fate would have it, I picked up and read Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo, the first in the Leven Thumps series. Foo is “the fantastic realm that allows mankind to hope, imagine and dream,” and it is in peril due to the plans of the evil Sabine. Sabine seeks the Gateway to Foo. When he finds it, he intends to use it to merge Foo and reality and, in so doing, to destroy them both.

Fortunately, for the inhabitants of Foo and reality, Leven Thumps is alive and well in Oklahoma. All his life fourteen-year-old Leven has always considered himself to be pretty ordinary, aside from the white streak in his hair. One day, however, he discovers his power to manipulate fate in quite an electrifying manner. Since Leven’s Grandfather was the one who created the Gateway, Leven is the only one with the power to destroy the Gateway and to save Foo.

Unfortunately, Leven has not had a great deal (okay, any) affirmation thus far in his life and a great deal of Sabine’s power lies in his Shadows. Sabine’s Shadows have the ability to fill people’s minds with discouragement and self-doubt, and they are hell-bent on getting Leven to believe that he is powerless to help save Foo.

As with many fine fantasy quests, the reluctant hero needs some urging, encouraging, and assistance from faithful companions. Joining Leven are Winter, another child with a special gift and past connections to Foo; Clover, a sycophant with a bottomless pocket of mutant candy and a penchant for inserting English idioms where they don’t quite fit; and Geth, a powerful Foo royal turned minuscule earth toothpick who trusts Fate to bring the four of them together and to help them succeed in their quest (and to change him back out of toothpick form).

Skye’s protagonists complete their quest with little violence and lots of friendship, wit, and adventure. Plus, there’s the promise of more of the same to come. As such, Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo is likely to attract many fantasy fans, particularly those who like the underdog turned boy-hero type stories.

Indeed, Leven’s story breathes life into the boy-hero saves an otherworld quest. Foo is a reality whose existence is essential for human dreams and imagination, and its literary existence sparks consideration of and augments appreciation of dreaming and imagination. In reality, our dreams do sometimes get beaten down so often that they begin to die, but Obert Skye and Leven Thumps suggest that we need to keep believing and not give up on our dreams so as to keep them alive and well and with a chance for coming true.

And if you want to explore more about Foo before or after reading the book, visit the Leven Thumps Website. And if you still can’t get enough of Leven Thumps, then as fate (and the publishing industry) would have it, more of Leven’s adventures have been published Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret (2006) and Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want (2007) with the promise of others on the way soon (Leven Thumps and the Wrath of Ezra (September 2008).

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Adam Canfield of the Slash by Michael Winerip

Adam Canfield likes to stay involved–he’s involved in sports, music (the baritone), sundry clubs and quiz bowls, the voluntary/mandatory class to prepare state exams (in which he learns critical skills such as sharpening number 2 pencils). Even though Adam is already quite possibly the most programmed kid ever to walk the halls of Harris Elementary/Middle School, he has agreed to yet another commitment. He has agreed to be co-editor of the Harris paper, the Slash (it doesn’t take much coaxing considering that he has a bit of a crush on the other editor, his friend Jennifer).

The Slash has a reputation as a quality school newspaper to uphold, and Adam and Jennifer work hard to print interesting, relevant, and candid articles for and about their community. To accomplish this, they include articles covering everything from an exposé on a seedy law banning “accessory structures” (which includes basketball hoops), to a missing wooden cow reward offer, to a dental smiling contest, to a feature on the school janitor, to a mysterious gift to the school left by a benefactor for “general improvements”.

While all of these articles contribute to the plot, it is the latter story that ends up driving much of the novel’s action and discourse regarding truth, journalistic ethics, local corruption, and the prevarications of the mass media. Adam explains some hard truths of journalism to a young protegé who admires his work: “It’s not your job to write what Phyllis wants…Our job as reporters is to tell the truth as we see it. It has to be backed by facts, but that’s what good newspapers do. That’s why people read newspapers. They trust reporters to be honest about what they see…you are the public’s eyes and ears…” Phyllis and a few of the other adults in the book would have the Slash full of lies. Even as Adam and Jennifer face adult wrath and potential expulsion, they make difficult decisions about truth and compromise.

Winerip does attempt to balance the number of treacherous, nasty adults with the number of truthful, helpful adults. For every Mrs. Marris of his story he includes a Mr. Brooks. Mrs. Marris, the principal, charges them to always be sure to print stories that help “propel the Good Ship Harris forward” and not the kind that “poke holes in our bow, so to speak–bad stories, unhelpful stories, negative stories.”As Adam begins to despair in the face of so much treachery and obfuscation of the truth, his Latin-spouting, World Domination game creating, history teacher Mr. Brooks tells him, “…history certainly teaches us that treachery lurks around every corner. And yet, against all odds, despite every form of human stupidity, we Homo Sapiens are still here.”

While many (nor most, I hope) middle school editors will not be faced with the daunting task of exposing their principals avarice, all editors face decisions about what facts belong in the story and what can be omitted without sacrificing its truth. Adam Canfield of the Slash champions truth. Along the way, Winerip also satirizes the overprogrammed lives of many young people today and the prescribed nature of standardized testing.

For those who are involved in their own school papers or for those who like stories about principled young kids who stand up to and overcome adult deceit, then Adam Canfield of the Slash is a solid choice. Also, for those who like Winerip’s first book, more of Adam’s adventures with the Slash are now available in Adam Canfield, Watch Your Back! (Adam Canfield of the Slash)(2007).

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In case you hadn’t heard, the Olympics have begun! Below are a few web resources and books to check out, in case you find yourself needing something to do in-between events.

A Few Olympic Web Resources

• BBC’s animation on the ancient Greek Olympics
• CBBC Newsround Special Report on The Olympics
• CNN’s Report on the Olympics
• The History Channel has a collection of video clips from different historic Olympic events
• Infoplease’s Olympics 2008
• Internet Public Library’s Olympics Pathfinder
• A Voice of America Special English piece on Tibet and the Olympics
• From the International Olympic Committee: Animated tutorials covering sports at the summer games and videos of moments in past Olympics
• PBS’ Online News Hour China Prepares for 2008 Olympics
• New York Times map of Olympic Medals with an interactive visual for charting medal winning over time
• Scholastic’s Olympics Research Starters
• What Sporting Type are You?: interactive quiz from CNN
• Lists:
  • 18 Smaller Olympic Countries to Root For
  • 25 Sites to Experience the Beijing Summer Olympics

A Few Olympic Books

Fiction

For Kids

• Asterix at the Olympic Games (Asterix) by Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
• Elympics: Poems (Olympics) by X. J. Kennedy
• Koala Lou by Mem Fox
• The Mud Flat Olympics by James Stevenson
• Tacky and the Winter Games by Helen Lester
• Hour of the Olympics (Magic Treehouse #16) by Mary Pope Osborne

For Young Adults/Adults

• Before I Go by Riley Weston
• Bone Cage by Angie Abdou
• Lori: The Circle of Friends (Book 1) by L. Diane Wolfe

Nonfiction

For Kids

• Olympics (DK Eyewitness Books) by DK Publishing
• The Olympics: Legendary Sports Events by Matt Christopher
• Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman by Kathleen Krull
• The United States Olympics Committee has also made available publications for teachers to help them bring the Olympics into the classroom: Journey to Beijing, Grades 1-3 by United States Olympic Committee and Journey to Beijing, Grades 4-6 by United States Olympic Committee

For Young Adults/Adults

• Beijing’s Games: What the Olympics Mean to China by Susan Brownell
• The Encyclopedia of the Summer Olympics (Watts Reference) by David Fischer
• The Night Olympic Team: Fighting to Keep Drugs Out of the Games by Caroline Hatton
• Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World by David Maraniss
• Swifter, Higher, Stronger: A Photographic History of the Summer Olympics by Sue Macy

Reference

• The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition by David Wallechinsky

There’s no shortage of things to watch (for example, the first Team USA game, USA vs China, is at 10:15am ET the morning of August 10) and to think and pray about (for example, the Bachman family and all those who are present for the games and other controversies that have continued to surround the Beijing games) as the Olympics proceed.

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The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander (2004)

“My name is Mikhail Semyonov. I live in Lake Forest village, Illinois state, the United States of America. I am ninety-four years old. I was born in Russia before the revolution. I was born in Tula province and my name then was not Mikhail or even Misha, as I am known here in America. No, my real name–the one given to me at birth–was Leonid Sednyov, and I was known as Leonka. Please forgive my years of lies, but now I tell you the truth.”

So begins Misha’s recounting of the real story of his emigration from Russia to the United States. Robert Alexander’s The Kitchen Boy unfolds Misha’s story by degrees–at times moving painstakingly slowly and at times rushing towards its inevitable, tragic conclusion of the assassination of the Romanov royals by the Bolsheviks.

After decades of silence, Misha tape records his story of the events surrounding the Romanov’s execution for his granddaughter to listen to upon his death; in his recording, he continues to weave together lies and truth. The guilt he feels over surviving that night when his beloved Romanovs met their deaths is palpable and becomes increasingly understandable as his narration unfolds.

Misha declares himself to have been the kitchen boy for the Romanov family for their last years through their final days in the House of Special Purpose in Yekaterinburg. In this role, he was charged with the task of carrying smuggling notes between the Romanovs and their purported rescuers. Their subsequent deaths mark his failure in this charge.

The recording reveals that for the remainder of his life he lives in the shadow of their deaths, repeatedly replaying the events of that night and questioning his actions prior to that night trying to deduce how he could have acted differently to save them. He says, “I am the last living witness and I alone know what really happened that awful night…just as I alone know where the bodies of the two missing children are…”

Misha’s story–The Kitchen Boy–is a story full of history, tragedy, guilt, love, and forgiveness. I would particularly recommend it for those interested in learning more about Russian history in general and the Russian Revolution of 1917 in particular or for those who enjoy stories full of mystery and conspiracy. Plus, Alexander throws in a twist at the end regarding the fate of the missing Romanovs. Robert Alexander is also the author of Rasputin’s Daughter and The Romanov Bride.

To find other books that center around theorizing and/or extrapolating on the Romanov’s execution and the missing children, try selecting one of the works from the annotated list of books over at Royalty.nu.

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Technically, these are links of last week and this week (does the fact that I’ve been out of town exculpate me ). I’m actually thinking that this will be the last official Library & Literary Miscellany Links of the Week. I was hoping that these posts would be of use, but I haven’t really heard any feedback verifying this. But I will continue posting interesting finds on my Tumbleblog from here on out, so they’ll still be available just in a different way. Enjoy!

Library

Current Cites this month: Google Still Not Indexing Hidden Web URLs; Copyright Renewal, Copyright Restoration, and the Difficulty of Determining Copyright Status; Federated Search 101

Fair Use Resources by Mathew at Creating Lifelong Learners offers a few places to visit to learning more about fair use

Knowing The Mind Of The User contemplates elements involved in positioning our libraries to showcase what we do and what we offer users by Steven B. at Designing Better Libraries

Online Book Clubs at Libraries by LibrarianinBlack Sarah Houghton-Jan links to a couple of examples for taking book clubs online

Resurrecting Reference: the conversation continues! post over at Infoblog summarizing an Infopeople webinar and providing a link to the archived webinar

Literary

Books for Phonics Instruction - Accomplishing More Than Just Sounding Out Words article in Choice Literacy Magazine (thanks to A Year of Reading for the link)

Edward vs. Jacob: The Great Twilight Debate (featuring Eisha and Dana in the first ever 7-Imp Smackdown): yes, this is a pre-Breaking Dawn release article about the series characters in general, but it’s still well worth a read. You may also want to check out some of the many post-release reviews on the blogosphere such as the Booklist Online review and Bookroomreview’s review. Lastly, here’s a link to a follow-up post about fan response to the book and Meyer’s response to the fans entitled Stephanie Meyer Responds To Criticism: It Hurts by bookroomreviews.

IndieNext August Titles: list of books to watch for in August from IndieBound

My Say: When YA Might Not be Okay by Sarah Stevenson in which she tackles ways to approach situations in which young kids are “reading up” and encountering books that have mature themes

Oprah Kids Reading List: which began giving recommendations August 01 (thanks to Big A Little A for the link)

Literacy Debate: spurred by an article in the New York Times–Literacy Debate - Online, R U Really Reading? - Series - NYTimes.com–the first in a series of articles about how social and technological factors are impacting/changing the way we read. The debate spread across the blogosphere last week; a couple of interesting response are found at Librarilly Blonde with Carlie’s post Fanfiction: The future of literacy and Maybe We Should Spell it “R3@ding” by Keir over at Booklist Online

Man Booker Longlist announcement (the Longlist includes works such as Tom Rob Smith’s Child 44 and Steve Toltz’ A Fraction of the Whole…plus 10 more)

Online Swap Meets for Books by Mary Pilon at the Wall Street Journal

Spinal Exam by Lisa over at Under the Covers points to and discusses other articles that delve into the hows and whys underlying the book jackets/cover art in young adult literature

Top Ten Food Scenes in Children’s Literature: another top-notch top 10 list from The Guardian

Miscellany

25 Sites to Experience the Beijing Summer Olympics by Sean P. Aune at Mashable

30+ Solutions to Start Your Own Wiki by Sean P. Aune at Mashable with a roundup of choices for your next wiki

Barkley the Cat by David K. Israel at the Mental_Floss Blog: he asks us “Why are Cats so Darn Popular on the Internet” and then produces a video starring Barkley the Cat (thanks to Big A Little A for the Link)

Creating Student Accounts Using One Gmail Account by Sue Waters at the EduBlogger

Cuil: Have you tried a Cuil search yet? You may or may not want to after reading such posts as A “Cuil” New Way to Search by Daniel A. Freeman over at ALATechSource Blog, Cuil - The Dark, Mysterious Version of Google by Stan Schroeder at Mashable, Cuil: Good, But Not Great by Frederic Lardinois atReadWriteWeb, and How To Lose Your Cuil 20 Seconds After Launch by Erick Schonfeld at TechCrunch

File Extensions Reference: reference source for information on many file types along with the “how to” for opening the files

PlayCrafter Lets You Play and Create Casual Games (The Startup Review) by Paul Glazowski at Mashable reviews PlayCrafter, a startup with drag-and-drop features that make it worth looking at for those looking for easy ways to create games

Quote This: 11 Resources for Word Lovers by Doriano “Paisano” Carta at Mashable

Tools to Help You Celebrate Birthdays Online list of celebratory tools compiled at the Go2Web2.0 blog

The Lifehacker Editors’ Favorite Software and Hardware view this post to find out what the Lifehacker editors like to use

Simple Tools For Creating Screen Captures by Sue Waters at the EduBlogger outlining the use of tools such as Kwout, Picnik, Skitch, Jing, and Snagit to meet your screen capture needs

Wikipedia: who, what, how, and so on by amercer over at Instructify discusses some of Wikipedia’s strengths and weaknesses along with an embedded video of the development of the Wikipedia article for the 2005 London Train Bombing

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