Whittier Warriors

Well, I received my Twilight movie poster in the mail today.  I’m flattening it out now and I’ll laminate it before school starts so I can put it up in the library.  The kids will go crazy!  I can’t wait for them to see it along with our new copies of Breaking Dawn they’ll be able to check out!  It is so much fun being a librarian.

This installment of the Vampire Kisses series is a delight.  It is much better than the last couple in the series.  Granted, there are still problems with the novel, like Raven ALWAYS gets out of trouble too easily and she never gets caught by the adults in her life when she is doing something she isn’t supposed to.  These issues don’t take away from the storyline thought.

It’s summertime in Dullsville and Raven is chomping at the bit to get out of school.  The only thing putting a damper on her plans is that Alexander still hasn’t returned from Hipsterville from reuniting Valentine with his brother and sister.  The only thing she can think to do is to hop the bus to Hipsterville for an impromptu visit to her Aunt Libby’s house.

Raven takes the first opportunity she gets to head to the house Alexander and Jameson have rented.  Her time with Alexander is never long enough.  After a quick dinner it’s time for her to head back to her Aunt’s house.  Before she goes inside though, she decides to check out The Coffin Club, the goth club she visited the last time she was in Hipsterville (even though Alexander warned her not to go there alone.)

Once inside, she immediately can tell the place has changed.  It is a lot more crowded and it seems a little more intense.  She is intrigued by one person in particular – a motorcycle riding, leather wearing, purple haired man.  She can’t seem to take her eyes off of him.  He scares her and intrigues her at the same time. 

While looking around the club, Raven gets turned around and stumbles upon something called The Dungeon.  The Dungeon is located underneath The Coffin Club.  Some very interesting people are in attendance, including Jagger, Alexander’s long time enemy.  Is it possible that Raven is in over her head this time?

Ellen Schreiber has written an enjoyable installment in Raven and Alexander’s complicated relationship.  It seems clear that she doesn’t have any plans to stop writing this series.  Even after 5 books, only a couple of months have passed since the beginning of the series.

The Pendragon series is extremely popular at my middle school, but I’ve never read any of them for myself.  So, this graphic novel is my first introduction to the series. 

Bobby Pendragon is a “traveler,” but he doesn’t know it.  His Uncle Press picks him up the day he is on the way to a big basketball game and takes him to an abandoned subway station.  Once there, he makes it to the flume and is transported to Denduron.  Bobby has no idea what he’s doing there.  His Uncle hasn’t had time to explain anything.  It turns out he is meant to save worlds like Denduron from disaster.

Bobby becomes very frustrated with the responsibility of saving Denduron and is asked to keep a journal of the events he is going through in order to keep everything straight and for future reference.  He was given a way to send his journals to someone he trusts back on Earth and the only person he can think of is his best friend Mark.  Through Bobby’s journal entries to Mark, we get the whole story of Denduron and the problems they are facing.

I enjoyed the story, but I do feel that I missed some of the story.  I feel like I need to go back and read the whole story. 

FInished THE COFFIN CLUB: VK 5 by Ellen Schreiber.  This go round I read 106 pages for a grand total of 346.  I’ve finished two books which I’m happy about.  I can probably squeeze in the Pendragon graphic novel after some sleep. 

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? 
I started getting tired around Midnight.  That is a couple hours after my normal bed time.  Everything was dark and my eyes were already tired from reading throughout the day and even drinking iced tea wasn’t doing anything for me.  I decided to finally go to bed with the intent of getting up in a couple of hours, but lo and behold, I didn’t even wake up until 8 AM.  UGH!!

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
Well, this is a hard question since tastes are so different, but here are some suggestions.  I didn’t read this for the read-a-thon since I’ve already read it, but for someone needing an entertaining book I’d try FREAK SHOW by James St. James.  This book is hysterical.  It will keep your attention.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
I think everything worked great.  I just seemed to me that if I stayed on the computer to participate in a mini-challenge and visiting other readers and cheerleaders I lost most of that hour’s reading time.   Still, don’t change it…I loved the mini-challenges.  I just need to be more disciplined and get off the computer right away.

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
I think the Cheerleaders did a great job.  It was so motivating to have comments come in randomly throughout the event. 

5. How many books did you read?
I read 3 books.

6. What were the names of the books you read?
ZOMBIE BLONDES by Brian James
THE COFFIN CLUB: VAMPIRE KISSES 5 by Ellen Schreiber
PENDRAGON: MERCHANT OF DEATH (Graphic Novel) by D.J. MacHale
I’ll be posting the reviews for all three soon.

7. Which book did you enjoy most?
I enjoyed ZOMBIE BLONDES the most.  It was a nice horror novel set in a high school setting.  What is more scary than zombie cheerleaders huh???

8. Which did you enjoy least?
PENDRAGON: MERCHANT OF DEATH the graphic novel is the one I enjoyed the least.  I like graphic novels, but I don’t get as much enjoyment out of them as I do a traditional book.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
N/A

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
I would love to participate in the Read-A-Thon again.  I can’t wait.  I will be a reader again I think.  I love the Cheerleaders, but I think I’d want to spend my time reading instead of being on the computer the whole day.

Lori’s Reading Corner is sponsoring a book collage Mini-Challenge.  I have just started exploring Google’s Picasa and love it.  It has a picture collage feature built in.  Check out one of mine below.

Hosted by  Vasily, we are to find a favorite quote from a book we’ve read.  One of my favorite book is FREAK SHOW by James St. JAMES.  So here is my favorite quote.  It is when Billy Bloom, a gender obscurist, is getting ready for the first day at a new school.  He doesn’t want to come on too strong so he plans his first day outfit very carefully.

“OKAY, HERE IT IS.  MY OUTFIT:
Don’t worry.
It’s totally masculine.
Swarthy, even.
Nobody will suspect a thing.
I’m going with the whole retro-now wave/Vivienne Westwood/pirate look.  Fab, right?  What’s straighter than a pirate?  Ruffled lace shirt, unbuttoned down to THERE.  High-waisted blue pants, practically sprayed on.  Nothing gay about that right? Only redneck and Eurotrash dare to wear pants that tights and vulgar.
A thrift story military jacket in Prussian blue, a crimson sash, some rags tied in my hair…
Then what?  Pearls?
Eye patch?
Cap’n Crunch hat?
Trusty sword?
Gold teeth?

No, no, no.  It’s all too much.  Well, maybe one gold tooth……..”

And on it goes from there… this is an absolutely fabulous book.  Check it out.

Nymeth is hosting the Hour 2 Mini-Challenge.  She is encouraging us to read a web comic.  I went to the Unshelved site and searched through the archives a little reading 1 strip at a time.  I came across the June 26, 2008 strip and was able to totally relate.  Unshelved is a web comic based in a library.  The guys who started it even spoke at a conference I went to once.  They are great speakers.  Anyway, the June 26, 2008 strip was about student research and books v. Internet resources.  So true.  Go to the site for yourself and click Archive underneath the current comic strip and search for June 26, 2008.  This is exactly what teacher and librarians go through with kids when they are researching.   

Where are you reading from today?
My home in Washington, OK.

3 facts about me …
I own 30 goats and 1 donkey.
I’m a middle school librarian.
I was a sign language interpreter for the hearing impaired before I became a teacher.

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?
I have many in my TBR pile since I’m at home.  I’d love to finish 3 today, but I am going to have some interruptions.  I have to get some housework finished today…UGH.  I hate that!  Anyway, I’ll be listening to an audiobook during that time.

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?
See my goals listed in a previous post.

Any advice for people doing this for the first time?
I didn’t do this last year so I don’t have advice to give – yet.  I am going into this with NO PRESSURE.  If I have to stop at some point during the day then OH WELL.  I’ll participate as long as I can. 

Are you a fan of the Morganville Vampire series like I am?  If so, you’ll be glad to know that the next book in the series is available for pre-order from Amazon.  LORDS OF MISRULE is the fifth book in the series.  To read an excerpt you can visit Rachel Caine’s website.  On the books page you can find information on all of the books from the series.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the series, here is the order:

Glass Houses
Dead Girls’ Dance
Midnight Alley
Feast of Fools
Lords of Misrule (available January 2009)

Rachel Caine also has some cool Desktop Wallpapers and Banners to download.

AND, what I think is most exciting – Rachel Caine has written and posted a short story/scene about Claire and Shane.  It is called Lunch Date.  Be sure to check it out.  They are such a sweet couple.

Take the time to pick up these books.  Everyone I’ve passed them on to have LOVED LOVED LOVED them.