The Latest @ the Library

Everyone seems to have their favorites. Check out these newly released titles of popular series/authors!

If you’ve read The Maze Runner and The Scorpion Trials, you are probably dying to read The Death Cure, the final book in the trilogy by James Dashner. We have two print copies and 6 Kindle copies available.  Come in and check one out, or get your name on the waiting list!

Flight Volumes Seven and Eight by Kazu Kibuishi have been added to our collection. If you like graphic novels, and aren’t familiar with these they are very popular. Volume Eight is the final book in the series which includes fantasy filled stories you are sure to enjoy.

Have you read Eragon, Eldest, and Brisingr? Well, if you have, then I am positive that you would like to read Inheritance, the final installment of that series.  It is available in print form as well as on our Kindles.

Many of you enjoy reading books written by Ellen Hopkins.  Perfect is her newest book, and it is a companion to one of her best seller, Impulse. The story follows four seniors and their different paths towards what perfection means for them.

The Gray Wolfe Throne is the third of four books in the Seven Realms Series by Cinda Williams China which included The Demon King, as well as the The Exiled Queen. The final book is due out in Fall 2012 and will be called The Crimson Crown. Read this series if you like traditional fantasy including wizards, castles, swordplay, magical tools, medieval technology, and so much more!

Silence is the third book in the Hush, Hush Saga written by Becca Fitzpatrick.  Read these supernatural stories to find out if Patch and Nora’s faith is strong enough to overcome evil and betrayal.  Will their loyalty and trust be enough? 

There are a lot of new books in our library ready to be checked out by you! I just finished reading Divergent by Veronica Roth and it was really good.  It reminded me a little of The Hunger Games. Our ninth grade book clubs are going to be reading it starting Friday, September 16th.  Divergent takes place in a dystopian society where all 16 year olds must pick a faction in which they will live the rest of their lives.  The factions are Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent) Imagine living the rest of your life in just one of those factions! I enjoyed the characters and can’t wait to read the next book in the series which will be out in Spring 2012.  It is a fast read, filled with excitement, surprising twists and turns, and even has a little romance : )

A Kindle is a wireless reading device, with Wi-Fi, a 6 inch display, and new E ink pearl technology. It has a cool design, weighs 8.5 ounces, and has a battery life up to a month. Although they can hold up to 3,500 books, presently we have 41 books loaded on them. If you like the Kindle, recommend books you’d like us to purchase for it in the future!

Stop by the library, and check-out one of our three new Kindles! (A signed permission slip is needed before checking out due to the cost of the kindle.)

If all of the Kindles are checked out when you come in, put a HOLD on one and we will let you know when it comes back.  Although you can only check it out for a week at a time, you can do this many times throughout the year!

Try one, I think you are going to like it!

 Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Ship Breaker recently won the Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature. Ship Breaker takes place in a futuristic world where Nailor, a teenager scavenges for copper-wiring from grounded oil tankers. After a hurricane, he and his friend, discover a ship that’s filled with valuables. Even more interesting, they also find a beautiful wealthy girl who seems to be clinging to life.  Read this book to find out if they can trust her to lead them to a better life, or if they end up choosing to spend their time rescuing the valuables.

You by Charles Benoit

Kyle Chase seems to be a typical 15 year old guy……until everything starts to go wrong.

“You’re thinking this wasn’t the way it was supposed to go, this shouldn’t be happening. And now things are only going to get worse. You’re just a kid. It can’t be your fault. But then there’s all that blood.”

 The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Seventeen year old Lennie’s sister, Bailey, dies suddently, and Lennie is left to grieve in her own way. Lennie writes and leaves her poetry all over town in unexpected places…this is one of my favorite parts of the book. The story is romantic, heart-breaking, and funny all at the same time. Read it to find out how Lennie deals with a fabulous new boy in school, her dead sister’s boyfriend, feelings about her runaway mother, and her kind and loving grandmother.

I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore 

 I am Number Four is Book 1 of the Lorien Legacies.  It takes place in rural Ohio. John is acting like a typical high school student because a deadly enemy is out to find and destroy him. Three people “just like him” have already been killed…..he is NUMBER FOUR. It is a popular book right now because it is currently playing on the big screen. Read the book and compare it to the movie! It is classified as an action, sci-fi, thriller.

E-books are here!

Check out our e-books online.  You can find them on our FollettShelf.

Go to http://wbb00376.follettshelf.com.  Guests can log on with the user name, swhs, and the password, mustang.  You can also access it off of our homepage: http://www.swsd.k12.pa.us/swhigh/library/libhome.html.

You will find most of the classics as well as some new fiction and nonfiction books.

Enjoy reading online!!!

If you are spending more time in doors this winter, check out one of our new books!

Fire by kristin Cashore

Fire is a prequel to Changeling. It is definitely an adventurous fantasy story. It takes place in a kingdom called the Dells. Fire is a beautiful human monster, who has the ability to read and control minds. Read this book to find out if Fire will use her special abilities to help King Nash’s kingdom in its dangerous war.

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

Imagine if dead teenagers started showing up at your high school. Read Generation Dead to find out how the ”living impaired” teens and the “ living teens” relate to one another at Phoebe’s school in Connecticut. This supernatural novel involves a love triangle between Phoebe, Adam, and Tommy, who is dead.

The Carbon Diaries 2015 bySaci Lloyd

The Carbon Diaries 2015 is a thriller written in diary form by Laura, a 16 year old punk rocker from London. In the year 2015, England is the first nation to introduce carbon monoxide rationing to help combat climate change. It is a School Library Journal Best Book of 2009 and includes Laura’s journal entries about black-outs, riots, flood, disease, and extreme life-style changes as well as everyday family matters.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Leviathan is a science fiction novel which includes imaginary creatures, princes, war, genetic engineering, and more! It takes place in Europe on the cusp of WWI. There is conflict between the Clankers, who use mechanical machinery, and the Darwinists, who employ fabricated animals as their weaponry. Find out what happens when 15 year old Austrian Prince Alek teams up with Deryn, a girl disguised as a boy, and they both end up aboard the Leviathan, a whale ship.

Liar by Justine Larbalestier

Micah is a compulsive liar…that much we know for sure! When fellow student, Zach Rubins, dies under brutal circumstances, Micah, who has a relationship of some sort with him,  is under suspicion. As narrator of the story, Micah alternates with “before” and “after” entries which keeps the readers guessing as to what really happened. One book review called Liar, “part mystery, part thriller, and part horror.”

Snatched by Pete Hautman and Mary Logue

For those of you who enjoy reading mysteries, try one of The Blood Water Mysteries.  In Snatched, Roni and Brian team up to investigate the beating and kidnapping of one of their classmates, Alicia Camden.

Purple Heart by Maureen McCormick

Matt Duffy is an Army Private fighting in the Iraq War. He wakes up in the Army hospital and is being honored with a Purple Heart.  The eighteen year old sustained a traumatic head injury and is struggling to remembr what exactly happened. In the midst of putting the pieces together he finds out  that Ali, an Iraqi 10 year-old boy who was his friend, had been killed. Read Purple Heart to find out how Ali really did die.

Creatures of the Night by Kate Thompson

This is a young adult thriller that has gotten many starred reviews. It is about a boy from Dublin named Bobby who thrives on danger including drinking, smoking, and stealing cars. Bobby’s mother moves them to a small cottage in the country with the hopes of getting him away from that dnagerous life. What they find there is another kind of danger.  Read Creature of the Night to find out what mysteries they face.

Guinness World Records 2010: The Book of the Decade

This is definitely a fun book to browse! It is filled with colorful photographs, and it includes a ton of  interesting records and facts. Read it to find out more information about the highest waterfall, the team with the most Super Bowl wins, the fastes police car in service and so much more. The book reveals the top 100 record-breakers of the decade, and the unbreakable records that have never been beaten.

Twilight Director’s Notebook: the Story of How We Made the Movie

If you enjoyed the movie, check out this book to get the inside story. Read about the wardrobe, see storyboard sketches, and behind the scene photographs. Includes interesting notes about some of the director’s favorite scenes.

Thinking about going to college? The U.S. News & World Report Ultimate College Guide has accurate up-to-date college profiles for you to peruse. It includes detailed profiles of over 1400 colleges and universities with information on tuition, academic majors, and so much more. Not only can you compare the colleges you are considering, but you can also read information on what colleges will look for in you, how to ace the big exam, putting together a killer application, and finding money to pay for college.

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

Do you enjoy science fiction? If you liked reading the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson, you might want to try this book. In The Dangerous Days of Daniel X, fifteen year old Daniel has followed in his parents footsteps as the Alien Hunter. His parents were killed when he was three by the most vile alien on earth.  Now it is Daniel’s turn to defend the Earth from threatening aliens.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

This book may have the ability to make you laugh and cry. Seventeen year old Mia is in a terrible car accident. Her parents and her brother are killed in the accident. The story has flash backs and flash forwards of Mia’s life with powerful descriptions and details.  You will get to know Mia, her family, friends, and boyfriend, etc.  As the story unfolds you will learn whether or not Mia decides to “stay.”

Doppelganger by Pete Hautman and Mary Logue

If you like mysteries, you might want to check out Doppleganger, a book in The Bloodwater Mysteries.  Read it to find out if Brian really is the missing child who was kidnapped years ago when he was three.

Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel

This is a sequel to Airborn and Skybreaker. In Starclimber, Matt Cruse and Kate De Vries travel into space and experience unexpected difficulties including facing strange life-forms and mechanical failures. Matt also learns that Kate is engaged to another man. If you like adventure, fantasy and reading about spaceships and outerspace, you’ll love this book.

We are so excited to have our South Western High School Library Catalog online this year. You can access it from home and school. You can log-in using your Novell user name and password in the upper right hand corner. While logged in, you can see what books you have checked out. You are also able to put a hold on books you want to check out.  Access it from : http://swlibrary.swsd.k12.pa.us/

Ready for a new book? Check out one of these.

Guinness World Records, 2009: Gamer’s Edition

If you are a gamer, you will love this book! It includes world records set by the video game industry and players in 2008. Read this book to find out firsts, speed records, high scores on a variety of video games, on a variety of platforms.

 Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson

If you enjoy reading science fiction, try this new book.  Jenna is a 17 year old girl who is in a terrible car accident. Read Adoration of Jenna Fox to find out what lengths her parents will go to in order to help keep their daughter alive. What secrets are being hid from her? This is a medical thriller!

The Graveyard Book by Neil Geiman 

The Graveyard Book won the 2009 Newbery Award! It also won the Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror book for 2008. Nobody Owens, who is known as Bod, is being raised by ghosts. Since he was eighteen months, he has lived in a graveyard.  The man who killed bod’s family will kill him is he leaves the graveyard.  Read this action packed story to find out what happens to Bod.

 21 Proms 

This is a collection of 21 prom stories written by contemporary authors. Teens will relate to these enjoyable stories about memorable prom nights coming from both male and female perspectives.

Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman                                                         

Climbing the Stairs takes place in India during World War II. Vidya is a fifteen year ole girl whose life changes dramatically when her family has to move from Bombay to Madras, a very conservative area. Read this book to find out if Vidya is able to persue her dreams in an area where arranged marriages are common and women are usually confined to a life of servitude.

The Boxer and the Spy by Robert B. Parker

if you like mysteries, read The Boxer and the Spy.  Fifteen year old Terry tries to uncover the truth about a classmate’s apparent suicide. Will asking questions put Terry in danger?Read this story to find out how George, who is teaching him to fight,  and his”girlfriend,” Abby, help him find the answers to his questions.

Jellicoe Road  is a Best Book for Young Adults 2009 and the Michael L. Printz Award Winner for 2009.  It is a complex mystery and romance set in the Australian bush.  Read Jellicoe Road to find out if seventeen year old Taylor Markham is able to find out the truth about why her mother abandoned her and how she relates to the horrific accident on Jelicoe Road years earlier.

Ten students entered our photography contest during Teen Tech Week,  We were excited to see such quality photos!  They are on display in the small showcases outside of the library for everyone to admire.  Congratulations to our first place winner, Macy Keefer. Second place went to Brandon Alexander and third place went to Joey Sheldon.  Since it was Teen Tech Week the prizes were 4 GB flash drives.