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Meeting Katherine Paterson

Getting to meet one of your heroes is a rare feat in life. I've been privileged to meet several. I had the joy of hearing Katherine Paterson speak last Thursday night at a Scholastic book event. As in her books, she spoke eloquently about her life, her writings and their effect on people.

Because it was Banned Books Week, she spoke of the pain of having her book Bridge to Terabithia banned. She said it troubled her because she knew some teacher or librarian was putting their job on the line to defend her work.

Her new book deals with the pain of immigration and fitting in. What a beautiful book.

Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters

How do you connect with a book on another level? Well, the sixth graders on the E team decided to have a cultural fair learning more about the countries that the Somerset sisters visited in the book Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters by Leslie M. M. Blume. The fair turned out to be a visual and delectable one. Here's some pictures from the fair. You can share your comments about the fair on the voicethread.

Never seen a voicethread before? You can make your comments by typing, audio, video, uploading a file or telephoning in. So, you have 5 ways to get your opinion up on the voicethread. You can also doodle on the voicethread to point out a detail on the slide. Have fun!

Station Spirit

We had a great pep rally and the staff surprised the students by closing with a dance. 

Best ad for a library yet!

I would love to have the President hanging out in my library!


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Perks of the Job

Gordon Korman visited the Chicago area last week and I had the pleasure of laughing along with him as he spoke about his books, his philosophy of life, and his writing process. His manner of speaking reminded me of Jerry Seinfeld, deadpan and deadly delivery. I joined all the others in the room as I chuckled through his presentation. Mr. Korman allows his humor to bring us a different perspective on life, and it makes his books favorites among so many kids.

Mr. Korman told us how we got started writing. His 7th grade teacher gave him a free assignment. "Write whatever you want," he said, and Korman did just that. He took the whole semester to complete the writing assignment and it ended up the basis for his first novel, This Can't Be Happening at MacDonald Hall. It ended up getting published when Korman was just a freshman in high school! He's published more than 60 books since then.

As a dog lover, one of my favorite Korman titles is No More Dead Dogs. The main character, Wallace Wallace, has to write about Old Shep, My Pal. So Wallace Wallace delivers his opinion with no holds barred. "Old Shep, My Pal is the most boring book I've read in my entire life. I did not have a favorite character. I hated everybody equally." He rants to his teacher about all the dog books he's had to read and the crime that the dogs all die in the end. So, of course, he ends up in detention. Without giving away the ending, Wallace is able to rewrite history and save us from another dead dog production.

Korman's writing has taken a turn and is now participating in a unique writing opportunity by taking part in the Scholastic Series, The 39 Clues, which is being written by 5 different popular authors. Korman's title, One False Note, has great suspense, wonderful historical connections to Mozart, Ben Franklin. If you are a mystery fan, pick up the 39 clues and dive in. You'll have a fun time figuring out what's what with the Cahill clan.

Mythology Bee Winner

Congratulations to Kate S. for winning the Percy Jackson Mythology Bee. It was a hard fought battle and all the contestants stayed after the Bee was over to continue to answer questions not used in the Bee. They wanted to make it even harder by not giving the multiple choice answers. I do take offense to one question because it asked about a Greek monster and one of the choices was a teacher or librarian! Come on, guys. Monster? I'm not even a shushing librarian. . .

The kids and I had a wonderful trading questions and answers and they were all good sports as they cheered each other on. They even let a boy back into the competition after they all agreed the wording of the question was misleading. I'm all proud of you.

Kate, you have an opportunity to win a trip for you and 3 others to go to the Greek Islands with author Rick Riordan and his family, or a trip to Camp Half-Blood in Austin, Texas for a week, or an autographed set of Percy Jackson books! Good luck on winning the grand prize. Can you adopt me into your family so I can go along?

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Mythology Bee

Percy Jackson fans rejoice! If you love Greek Mythology, participate in the first Station Mythology Bee and you have an opportunity to win a trip to the Greek Islands with the author, Rick Riordan.

You must take a qualifying test to participate in the bee. The test will be given during advisory, Wednesday, April 21st. If you can't come during advisory, see me for other arrangements. The bee will be next Monday, April 27th in C6 after school.

Grand Prize: Trip to Greek Islands for you and your family to meet Rick Riordan.
First Prize: Trip to Camp Half-Blood in Austin, Texas
Second Prize: Signed copies of all 5 Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series

Not a fan? You need to get on board. and you'll get kids babbling on about Lightning Thief. Lightning Thief won the state of Illinois Rebecca Caudill Award for best children's novel for 2009. The premise is great. Percy finds out his mother hasn't been honest about who his father is. He finds that his dad is an Olympian. Not a olympic athlete, but an Olympians, as in Zeus, bolts of lightning, weird creatures, etc. Percy finds out who his dad is through a series of tests at Camp Half Blood. All the kids at the camp are demi-gods; the children of immortals, all with different powers and strengths. Of course, if you've got good guys, you've got to have bad guys. It makes for a wonderful adventure fantasy.

Tim Green gives insights into writing, hard work

We had the pleasure of having Tim Green, author, ex-NFL football player, lawyer, and all-American good guy stop by yesterday for a visit. Excited students, fresh released from ISAT testing, crowded into the library to hear Tim speak about how he writes, why he tells his stories and a little bit about his background. The students listened intently how he believes that rewards come with hard work, dedication and desire for success. "Success isn't measured in how rich you are, but whether or not you are a good person, good brother, father, son. At the end of the day that's all that matters." Well said, Mr. Green, thank you.

Bears Tales to Tackle Winner Announced

Evelyn M. was chosen as Station’s winner and has been invited to the Bears Training Facility in Lake Forest on Saturday, March 28^th. Twenty three students completed the Bears Challenge and attended a pizza party in the library today. We played games, ate pizza and talked about the books they read for the challenge. The Bears provided a certificate and gift for each child. Thanks to the PTO who gave each student a gift certificate for a free book at this week’s book fair. I hope more students take the challenge next year!

Our Rebecca Caudill Winner

Well, the votes are in at Station Campus and the big winner is Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. 174 students voted for their favorite Rebecca Caudill book for 2009. Lightning Thief is the story of Percy Jackson who finds out that his father isn’t mortal and it goes a long way to explain why Percy gets into trouble when he is around water. Percy goes to Camp Half-blood with others who have immortal parents and the adventure begins. Talk to your children about Percy and his friends (and enemies) and find out why Lightning Thief is such a big hit.

Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer came in a close second. Miranda and her family’s life is changed forever when an asteroid hits the moon and pushes the moon closer to the Earth, causing shifts in the tides, earthquakes and volcanos. This book will make you feel cold, hungry and very alone. The students have enjoyed sharing this book. Ask and they will share it with you.

This year's list contained some very entertaining and powerful books. Go to the library, ask for the list, and share some wonderful stories. I'm looking forward to next year's list.

44 Presidents in 4 minutes

The sun is shining despite the cold. I am really excited about the Inauguration coming up this Tuesday. It is truly an historical event. Here is an interesting video on YouTube showing all the Presidents' portraits.