New Titles in YA Fiction

Homeland - Cory Doctorow
When Marcus, once called M1k3y, receives a thumbdrive containing evidence of corporate and governmental treachery, his job, fame, family, and well-being, as well as his reform-minded employer's election campaign, are all endangered.

Peanut - Ayun Halliday and Paul Hoppe
Nervous about starting her sophomore year at a new high school, Sadie decides to make herself more interesting by claiming to be allergic to peanuts, but her lie quickly spirals out of control.

The Summer Prince - Alaya Dawn Johnson
In a Brazil of the distant future, June Costa falls in love with Enki, a fellow artist and rebel against the strict limits of the legendary pyramid city of Palmares Três' matriarchal government, knowing that, like all Summer Kings before him, Enki is destined to die.

Keeping the Castle - Patrice Kindl
In order to support her family and maintain their ancient castle in Lesser Hoo, seventeen-year-old Althea bears the burden of finding a wealthy suitor who can remedy their financial problems.

Discovering Wes Moore - Wes Moore
The author, a Rhodes scholar and combat veteran, analyzes factors that influenced him as well as another man of the same name and from the same neighborhood who was drawn into a life of drugs and crime and ended up serving life in prison, focusing on the influence of relatives, mentors, and social expectations that could have led either of them on different paths.

Fox Forever - Mary E. Pearson
Before he can start a life with Jenna, seventeen-year-old Locke, who was brought back to life in a newly bioengineered body after an accident destroyed his body 260 years ago, must do a favor for the resistance movement opposing the nightmarish medical technology.

Boy 21 - Matthew Quick
Finley, an unnaturally quiet boy who is the only white player on his high school's varsity basketball team, lives in a dismal Pennsylvania town that is ruled by the Irish mob, and when his coach asks him to mentor a troubled African American student who has transferred there from an elite private school in California, he finds that they have a lot in common in spite of their apparent differences.

The Lucy Variations - Sara Zarr
"Sixteen-year-old San Franciscan Lucy Beck-Moreau once had a promising future as a concert pianist. Her chance at a career has passed, and she decides to help her ten-year-old piano prodigy brother, Gus, map out his own future, even as she explores why she enjoyed piano in the first place."-- Provided by publisher

DVDs for Middle and High School

The Abolitionists
Radicals. Agitators. Troublemakers. Liberators. Called many names, the abolitionists tore the nation apart in order to create a more perfect union. Men and women, black and white, Northerners and Southerners, poor and wealthy, these passionate anti-slavery activists fought body and soul in the most important civil rights crusade in American history.

Cape Spin! An American Power Struggle
Cape Spin! An American Power Struggle tells the surreal, fascinating, tragicomic story of the battle over what would be America's largest clean energy project. Cape Wind was slated to be the U.S.'s first offshore windfarm... But strange alliances formed for and against: Kennedys, Kochs, and everyday folks do battle with the developer and green groups over the future of American power. With full access to both sides, a commitment to impartial storytelling and fueled by a satiric 'revolutionary' soundtrack, Cape Spin! is "a gripping and entertaining study of eco-capitalism and grassroots democracy".

Death and the Civil War: How the Unthinkable Became Unforgettable
Based on the best-selling book by Drew Gilpin Faust, this film will explore how the American Civil War created a 'republic of suffering' and will chart the far-reaching social, political, and social changes brought about by the pervasive presence and fear of death during the Civil War.

Deadliest Volcanoes
Millions of people around the world live in the shadow of active volcanoes. From Japan's Mount Fuji to the 'Sleeping Giant' submerged beneath Naples to the Yellowstone 'Supervolcano' in the United States, Nova travels with scientists who are attempting to discover how likely these volcanoes are to erupt, when it might happen, and exactly how deadly they could prove to be.

The Devils' Arithmetic
Based on the novel by Jane Yolen. An American Jewish teenager dreams that she has been transported through time to a Nazi concentration camp located in Poland.

Gum in My Hair
Presents a look at bullying, explaining what it is and how it makes people feel, discussing the responsibility of witnesses to bullying, and offering ways to cope and tips to thwart bullies.

Mariachi High
The program documents a year in the life of Mariachi Halcon, a top-ranked competitive high school mariachi band in the rural ranching town of Zapata, Texas. Using the band and its music as a lens, this spirited documentary focuses on Mexican-American teenagers pursuing excellence and finding strength in themselves, as well as a connection to their cultural heritage.

The Musical Brain: A Journey of Discovery into the Mystery of Music
Explains how various types of music affect the brain emotionally and physically and features a discussion with Dr. Levitin on his book, "This is Your Brain on Music," which discusses how technology can be used to see the affects of music on the human brain.

Paper Clips
Students at Whitwell Middle School in rural Tennessee attempt to collect 6 million paper clips as part of a school project on the Holocaust.

Underground Railroad: The William Still Story
Tells the compelling story of William Still, one of the most unheralded individuals of the Underground Railroad, and details the accounts of black abolitionists who had everything at stake as they helped fugitives follow the North Star to Canada.

New DVDs - Story Collections

The following titles have been added to our DVD collection. For more information, click on the title for a link to the library catalog.

Animated Tales of the World series 
     China: The Magic Paintbrush
     Japan: Crossing the Snow
     Namibia: Omuninyan

Reading Rainbow series
     How Much is a Million? 
     Lemonade for Sale 

Be Safe!
Stories include Officer Buckle and Gloria and Dot the Fire Dog

The Boy Who Cried Wolf...and More Children's Fables
Other stories include Charles Needs a Cloak, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, Seven Blind Mice and Stone Soup

The Curious Garden...and More Stories About Nature
Other stories include The Lion and the Mouse, Fletcher and the Falling Leaves and Planting a Rainbow, plus author interviews

Duke Ellington...and More Stories to Celebrate Great Figures in African American History
Other stories include Ellington Was Not a Street, Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa and John Henry

The Ezra Jack Keats Collection
Stories include The Snowy Day, Whistle for Willie, Peter's Chair, Pet Show!, A Letter to Amy, The Trip, and Apt. 3

Rapunzel...and More Classic Fairytales
Other stories include The Elves and the Shoemaker, The Talking Eggs, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China and Princess Furball

The Tomie dePaola Library
Stories include Charlie Needs a Cloak, Strega Nona, and The Clown of God

The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Other Stories
Also includes Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me, The Very Quiet Cricket, The Mixed-up Chameleon and I See a Song

The Wheels on the Bus...and More Musical Stories
Other stories include Musical Max, Joseph Had a Little Overcoat, Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!, All the Colors of the Earth, Keeping House and Hush Little Baby

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears...and More Stories from Africa
Other stories include A Story, A Story and Who's in Rabbit's House

Nonfiction DVDs

The following titles have been added to our DVD collection. For more information, click on the title for a link to the library catalog.

Signing Time series
     Playtime Signs (birth to age 5)
     Everyday Signs (birth to age 5)
     Family, feelings and Fun (ages 1-8)
     ABC Signs (ages 1-8)
     Welcome to School (ages 1-8)

Math
Economics for Children series (grades K-4)
     What is Economics?
     Saving, Spending & Investing Money

Science
Bill Nye the Science Guy series (grades 4 and up)
     Heart
     Skin
     Digestion
     Respiration
     Spiders
The Science of Disney Imagineering series (grades 5-8)
     Design and Models
     Friction
Animal Life for Children series (grades K-4)
     All About Mammals
     All About Birds
     All About Reptiles
     All About Amphibians
     All About Animal Adaptations
     All About Animal Life Cycles
     All About Food Chains
Animals Rock with Lucas Miller! Volume 1: Monarchs, Metamorphosis and More! (PreK to grade 5)
What Makes a Fish a Fish? (PreK & up)
Who Lives in the Sea? (PreK & up)
Arctic & Antarctic (grades 4-8)

Social Studies
The Animated Hero Classics series (grades 1-4)
     Alexander Graham Bell
     Benjamin Franklin    
     Thomas Edison
Paul Revere: Midnight Ride (grades 2-6)
All Aboard America (PreK-4)
American Government for Children series (grades K-4)
     American Citizenship
     Federal, State and Local Government
     The History of American Government
     The Three Branches of Government
     What is Government

Music
Beethoven Lives Upstairs (grades 2-6)

New Picture Books

Biscuit in the Garden - Alyssa Satin CapucilliBiscuit the puppy is eager to see the plants and make friends with the animals in the garden.

Rabbit and the Not-So-Big-Bad Wolf - Michaël Escoffier
Rabbit is afraid of the Big Bad Wolf, but the Not-So-Big-Bad Wolf brings a delightful
surprise.

Flora and the Flamingo - Molly Idle
In this wordless book with interactive flaps, a friendship develops between a girl named Flora and a graceful flamingo, as they learn to dance together.

The Deep, Deep Puddle - Mary Jessie Parker
During an overnight rainstorm, a large and deep puddle forms across a city street, and the next day increasing numbers of creatures or things disappear into it, from one shaggy dog to nine robbers.


Tiger in My Soup - Kashmira Sheth
Left in the care of his older sister, a boy begs her to read his favorite book but she is too absorbed in her own reading even to notice when a tiger comes to life in the steam from his soup.

A Long Way Away: A Two-Way Story - Frank Viva
A picture book that can be read front-to-back or back-to-front. Start from one end and journey from outer space down to the sea; start from the other end and journey from deep in the sea out to a distant planet.

Common Core Resources

Vertical Progression Guide for the Common Core - English Language Arts (ELA) K-12

 Vertical Progression Guide for the Common Core - Mathematics K-12

These guides support school district’s implementation of the Common Core State Standards by facilitating collaboration between teacher teams working to develop curriculum that aligns with the Standards.  Vertical progression arranges the
Standards in an ascending staircase format by grade level and content type. This format allows educators to see the progression of the Standards within a grade level and to develop an in-depth understanding of how the Standards for each year lay the foundation for instruction in the next.


 Teaching with the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts - PreK-2
-edited by Lesley Mandel Morrow, Timothy Shanahan and Karen K. Wixson

Teaching with the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts - Grade 3-5
-edited by Lesley Mandel Morrow, Karen K. Wixson and Timothy Shanahan

These books serve as a practical guides and indispensable resources for teachers and teachers-in-training. Leading authorities explain each of the English language arts (ELA) standards and vividly shows how to implement them. Each book is filled with grade-specific classroom vignettes, instructional strategies and activities, sample lesson plans, and discussion questions. Chapters cover the major ELA
strands: reading (literature, informational texts, and foundational skills); writing; speaking and listening; and languages. Issues of assessment and technology integration are also explored. An appendix includes thematic units for each grade level demonstrating ways to embed CCSS/ELA standards into content-area instruction. --from back cover

Teacher Resources - Language Arts

Effective Read-Alouds for Early Literacy: A Teacher's Guide for PreK-1-Katherine A. Beauchat, Katrin L. Blamey, and Zoi A. Philippakos
"Sharing high-quality storybooks and nonfiction books is not only enjoyable for young children and teachers--it is also a powerful way to build crucial literacy skills. This engaging guide provides effective strategies for selecting books and using read-alouds to develop children's oral language, vocabulary, concepts of print, alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, and comprehension. Illustrated with rich examples from diverse classrooms, the book takes teachers step by step through planning and setting goals for read-alouds, as well as reflecting on each lesson to inform future instruction. Helpful planning templates can be reproduced for repeated use; the large-size format facilitates photocopying"-- Provided by publisher

Literacy Work Stations: Making Centers Work - Debbie Diller
Offers practical suggestions for over a dozen literacy work stations that link to instruction and make preparation and management easy for teachers.

Picturing the World: Informational Picture Books for Children - Kathleen T. Isaacs

This annotated resource by veteran children's book reviewer Isaacs surveys the best 250 nonfiction/informational titles for ages 3 through 10, helping librarians make informed collection development and purchasing decisions.

Teacher Resources - STEM

 Integrating Engineering & Science in Your Classroom - Edited by Eric Brunsell"To help you blend authentic and meaningful engineering activities into your teaching, this volume's 30 chapters have been compiled from Science and Children, Science Scope, and The Science Teacher, NSTA's journals for elementary through high school. The activities apply to life and environmental science, Earth science, and physical science and work well in traditional classroomas as well as in after-school programs." --from NSTA catalog

 Math Work Stations: Indpendent Learning You can Count On, K-2 - Debbie Diller

A guide to math stations in kindergarten through second grade, providing math vocabulary resources; literature links; suggestion on materials to include; ideas for modeling, differentiating, and assessment; reflection questions; and other resources.

 

 The Everyday Science Sourcebook: Ideas for Teaching in Elementary and Middle School
- Lawrence F. Lowery
Fully updated with content selected to build on the AAAS and National Science Education Standards, this new edition is full of hundreds of entries that can spark your thinking the next time you need to fill in a gap in your curriculum, add a fresh element to your textbook lessons, or extend and enrich hands-on activities. Six broad content categories provide the framework for the main body of this book: Inorganic matter; Organic matter; Energy; Inference models; Technology; and Instructional apparatus, materials, and systems. --from back cover

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Everyday Engineering: Putting the E in STEM Teaching and Learning
- Richard H. Moyer and Susan A. Everett
A compilation of articles previously published in Science Scope. Includes fourteen activities that explore engineering's role in the office, kitchen, bathroom, electricity, and outdoor recreation.

New Picture Books

Infinity and Me - Kate Hosford - After the sight of a night sky filled with stars makes eight-year-old Uma feel very small, she asks people how they think about infinity and gets a variety of answers before realizing the comfort in knowing that some things go on forever.

The World is Waiting for You - Barbara Kerley - "What do you want to be when you grow up?" is a question kids get asked over and over. But very few connections are made for kids between the present and the future. This book shows kids a pathway from their current interests and talents to a future career or interest. And in so doing, it also encourages adventure, exploration, and discovery, three core principles of National Geographic's mission. It's a celebration of possibility--so simple and so profound.

 

A Sister for Matthew: A Story About Adoption - Pamela Kennedy
When Matthew's parents decide to adopt a baby girl from China he has many questions, but by the time she arrives, he is excited about his new sister.


Open This Little Book - Jesse Klausmeier
 Pages of decreasing, then increasing, size open to reveal different animals, each opening a book of a different color and reading about the next.

Brave Young Knight - Karen Kingsbury
Although not the speediest, strongest, or most intelligent, a kind, honest knight wins a bravery competition to become prince of the kingdom.

The Dark - Lemony Snicket
Laszlo is afraid of the dark which lives in the same big, creaky house as him, until one night the dark pays him a visit.

The Giant and the Beanstalk - Diane Stanley
In this version of the traditional tale, a young giant chases Jack down the beanstalk to rescue his beloved hen and meets other Jacks from various nursery rhymes along the way.

Sheila Rae, The Brave - Kevin Henkes
When brave Sheila Rae, who usually looks out for her sister Louise, becomes lost and scared one day, Louise comes to the rescue.

New YA Titles

Revenge of a Not-So-Pretty Girl - Carolita BlytheFourteen-year-old Faye, an African American living in 1984 Brooklyn, New York, copes with her mother's abuse by stealing with her friends, but when robbing an elderly woman almost turns to murder, she gains an opportunity to learn new truths about life.

William and the Lost Spirit - Gwen de Bonneval and Matthieu Bonhomme
"In this graphic novel that combines medieval legends and folklore, the brutish feudal world, and devotion to family, William, the grandson of an elderly feudal lord in the thirteenth century, sets out on a labyrinthine journey to discover his father's killer"--Provided by publisher

Safekeeping - Karen Hesse
When Radley returns to the United States after volunteering abroad, she comes back to a country under military rule with strict travel restrictions, and she must find her way back to her Vermont home through the New England woods.

Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas
After she has served a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, Crown Prince Dorian offers eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien her freedom on the condition that she act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Quintana of Charyn - Melina Marchetta
Book Three of the Lumatere Chronicles. Froi and his companions travel through Charyn to find Quintana and build an army to secure her unborn child's right to rule, an effort that culminates in an ultimate showdown with Isaboe of Lumatere.

Darius & Twig - Walter Dean Myers
"Two best friends, a writer and a runner, deal with bullies, family issues, social pressures, and their quest for success coming out of Harlem"-- Provided by publisher

Freaks Like Us - Susan Vaught
A mentally ill teenager who rides the "short bus" to school investigates the sudden disappearance of his best friend.

New DVDs

Math Challenge - Equations

Dr. Strangeglove creates a Number Juicer in space designed to transform all of the world's numbers into tasty beverages. By answering a series of interactive questions on equations involving a single variable, students can help Special Agent Matt Mattics save the day.

Math Challenge - Equivalent Fractions & Mixed Numbers
Dr. Strangeglove has created an electric Storm Cloud Blender with the ability to break every calculator within a fifty-mile radius. In order to save the day, Special Agent Matt Mattics must answer a series of questions relating to equivalent fractions and mixed numbers.

Math Challenge - Percentages
When Dr. Strangeglove activates an Electronic Numbers Net to remove calculations from the airwaves, secret agent Matt Mattics must use his knowledge of percentages to save the day.



Science Clips for Children - Electricity
This film discusses the source of electrical energy. Includes a description of batteries and circuits and shows a city's electrical grid.

Science Clips for Children - Temperature, Solids & Liquids
This film demonstrates the effects of heat on the atmosphere and on metals such as copper and aluminum. The viewer learns about temperature and the Celsius scale and discovers natural and man-made insulation.

VeggieTales - The Little House That Stood: The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders - The Three Pigs roll into town looking to build some new houses. Each pig has very particular ideas about what they want, but will their choices be good ones when the rains come tumblin' down? Find out in this pig's tale that shows kids that when we follow God's blueprints, we can make the right choices! PLUS: Before Humpty cracked he was the mayor of a quiet little town. He is literally driven up the wall with the town's problems! Will all the citizens help bring Humpty to his senses again?

VeggieTales - Sweetpea Beauty: A Gril After God's Own Heart
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who has the truest heart of all? Sweetpea Beauty knows that what's on the inside is what matters most, but insecure Queen Blueberry can't see past her own reflection! Will Sweetpea be able to help the Queen see beyond the lies the tricky mirror tells, and be able to see herself as God sees her? Find out the real meaning of true beauty.

Nonfiction & Poetry

Too Hot? Too Cold?: Keeping Body Temperature Just Right - Caroline Arnold
Explains how people and animals living in different parts of the world survive in hotter and colder climates using remarkable adaptive strategies and behaviors.

Bats: Biggest! Littlest! - Sandra Markle
In this latest addition to the Biggest, Littlest! series, award-winning author Sandra Markle explores the diverse world of bats. How does being big help one kind of bat? How does being little help another kind? Sometimes these extremes offer the key to survival. The biggest bat is the Flying Fox, which can have a wingspan as long as a bathtub. Its littlest cousin is the Bumblebee Bat, which weighs only as much as a penny. Stunning photographs from around the world invite young readers to investigate up close the features that make each bat unique.

Can I Tell You About ADHD?: A Guide for Friends, Family and Professionals - Susan Yarney

Meet Ben, a young boy with ADHD. Ben invites readers to learn about ADHD from his perspective. He helps children understand what it means to have ADHD and describes what it is and how it feels. Ben explains how he was diagnosed and what he has learned about ways to relieve his ADHD symptoms, and how friends and adults can help at home and school.


Seeds, Bees, Butterflies and More!: Poems for Two Voices - Carole Gerber
Poems about the plant and insect world, designed to be read by two voices.

Nonfiction - Math

Graph It! Series by Robin Nelson
Each title in this series features simple text and illustrations to introduce graphing concepts to primary students, demonstrating with step-by-step instructions how to create the graph and how it is used to represent data.

Titles include:

Let's Make a Tally Chart

 

 

   

Let's Make a Picture Graph

 

Let's Make a Circle Graph

 

 

 

 

 

Let's Make a Bar Graph