Area 51

Everyone wants a scary book in October.  Murder mysteries — ghosts — witches — vampires — horror — even the Halloween cookbook.  Everyone seems to be getting ready for Halloween.

Lois Duncan, Mary Downing Hahn, Joan Lowry Nixon, and R.L. Stine are staples of a scary story diet.  But who can pass up Greg Taylor’s Killer Pizza?  The main character is overjoyed to get a job making pizza; he’s not at all prepared to fight “hideously terrifying monsters.”   Check out the Fangtastic Hawaiian and the Frankensausage pizzas for yourself.

Scary series abound, too.  Elizabeth Cody Kimmel’s Suddenly Supernatural is a perfect blend of spirits and 7th grade.  With her Drake Chronicles, Alyxandra Harvey picks up the vampire theme where Stephenie Meyer left off.  There are two volumes so far and, I’m sure, more to come.  Finally, who doesn’t love a good detective story?  When the detective is a “fire-throwing skeleton,” anything can happen.  Skulduggery Pleasant is the ace detective created by Derek Landy who, with his 12 year old sidekick, must save the world.

For shorter bursts of adrenaline, try short stories from Neal Shusterman (Darkness Creeping), Avi (Strange Happenings), and Vivian Vande Velde (All Hallows’ Eve).  All three write great, full length scares, too.

If none of these appeal, check out OPAC for some other spooks, thrills, chills, and ghosts.

Area 51 — The Library at WMS wiki has a new home page.  All of the familiar wiki pages are still there, but the front page has a new look.  There are links to many of the sites that staff and students use regularly.

Included in those links is a new one to Destiny, our new OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog).   It does the same jobs as the old OPAC, but it’s an updated version.  The buttons are have moved around a bit and images of book covers are available for many of the titles.  You’ll notice that you can access all the elementaries and the MS from one homepage.  (You’ll still have to go to WHS to get to their OPAC.)   Also, check out Destiny Quest.   It’s a little different way of looking at the library.

Rich Wallace’s newest book is another tale of competition.  However, the competition in Perpetual Check is a little different than many of Wallace’s other sports-themed books.  This time the battle is between brothers Zeke and Randy Mansfield, and the game is chess.  If you think the competition is any less intense than in other sports, think again – and check out Perpetual Check.

Are you a fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies?  Do you remember the beast from the deep that attacked ships and sailors?  The creature, called a kraken, wasn’t just created for the film.  Stories about krakens have been around since sailors began traveling the seas.  Is the kraken real?  If you want to know, take a look at a new book by Sue Hamilton, Creatures from the Abyss.

Creatures from the Abyss is just one of the books in two different series called Unsolved Mysteries.  Both ABDO and Rosen publish titles on popular “mystery” topics like Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, ancient astronauts, the Bermuda Triangle, lost cities, ghosts and poltergeists, and UFO’s.   These short reads combine facts, stories, photos and drawings to try to explain the unknown.

Miss Bossman and Mrs. Olson shared a lovely Christmas treat last week — Oreo truffles.  I mention this because I have a new cookbook (surprise, surprise) that has that particular recipe in it.

Paula Deen’s Cookbook for the Lunch-Box Set has a number of recipes that have kid friendly directions and sound wonderful.  There are breakfast treats, snacks and sandwiches to pack, dinner suggestions for the whole family and lots of sweets and desserts (including the oreo truffles).   I’m particularly excited to try the praline crunch brownies.  (I really like pecans.)

Another new cookbook, The United States Cookbook, has a few facts about each state, a recipe and some food facts.  South Dakota’s recipe is cornmeal mush with molasses.  While this wouldn’t be a first choice for me to make, the cookbook points out that made a regular appearance in the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Mississippi’s contribution, Mississippi mud pie, sounds much tastier.

Do you need new recipes to try over vacation?  Check out the cookbook section in 641.

Sounds exciting doesn’t it?  Adventure.  The possibilities are endless.

My Dewey Decimal manual tells me that 904 is the spot:   class here adventure.  These are certainly not the only adventures found in the library.  However, when a book contains a collection from different countries and different time periods, this is where they land.  If you browse the 904′s you’ll find several titles that offer a selection of adventures.  Also, each happens to be part of a series of similar collections on other topics.

According to Judson Knight, the author o  Parents Aren’t Supposed to Like It, “it” is popular music.   This three volume set introduces a wide variety of rock and pop musicians.  While it doesn’t include the newest bands or the most recent news on all the stars, it’s a great place to begin researching the basics of favorite performers.  Black and white photos and interesting tidbits are included throughout making this a fun source for research or browsing.

If you’re a fan of the golden oldies, you might also like to take a look at Icons of Rock:  An Encyclopedia of the Legends Who Changed Music Forever.   Although there are few pictures in this two volume set, there is a treasure of information on classics like Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, U2, Jimi Hendrix, and Nirvana.

Do you need to brush up on your classic rock?   These two reference sets join The Rolling Stone Rock and Roll Encyclopedia  on the 781 shelf of the reference section.

The post about Hurricane Ike was getting too long to include some of the related material on hurricanes.  Here’s a selection:

If fiction is your preference, Hurricane: a Novel by Terry Trueman tells a fictional account of 1998′s Hurricane Mitch while Hurricane Song  by Paul Volponi is set during Hurricane Katrina.  Trueman’s Hurricane is on this year’s list of choices for the South Dakota Teen Choice Book Awards.

Hurricane Katrina:  Aftermath of Disaster is a nonfiction account of  what went wrong.  We can’t control the weather, only our response to its effects.

Hurricane Hunters describes the planes and men who track and map hurricanes.

Several different hurricane titles describe the mechanics of hurricanes and their effects.  Check OPAC for specific titles and call numbers.

Finally, on a lighter note, a beautiful picture book takes a look at wind.  Before hurricanes were named and categorized, a captain in the Royal Navy named Francis Beaufort set up a 10 point scale that allowed sailors to record accurate weather conditions before there was any mechanical way to measure wind.  Close to the Wind:  The Beaufort Scale by Peter Malone shows readers with artwork and words the changing winds.  Walk in the shoes of William Bentley, who wrote letters home to his sister from the HMS Zephyr about his experiences with each level of the Beaufort scale.  Check out the great artwork that shows you what he saw.

 It’s been more than a year since Hurricane Ike devastated Galveston, Texas.   Since then, we haven’t heard much about the recovery on the island.  The New York Times article by James C. McGinley, Jr. details the continuing struggle to get back to normal.

It is fitting that the hurricane that nearly destroyed Galveston was named Ike.  Ike, short for Isaac, recalls another hurricane that did the same thing.  On September 8, 1900, residents of Galveston had no clue that an unnamed hurricane was bearing down on them.  There were no hurricane hunters or high tech radar.   There were no orders to evacuate.  Communication from others who had experienced the storm was slow and spotty.   One man represented the U.S. Weather Bureau in Galveston.  It was his job to read the signs and keep communication lines open.  His name was Isaac Cline. 

Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson brings the Galveston of September 8, 1900 to life.    We meet the people, see the city and watch the Gulf as the storm comes ashore.  Most of all, we get to know Isaac Cline, who believed that no storm could hurt Galveston. 

Isaac’s Storm gives readers a chance to walk in Isaac Cline’s shoes and to experience the Galveston of 1900 before the storm that would change everything.  

If you prefer nonfiction with more details and pictures on fewer pages, take a look at Kristine Brennan’s The Galveston Hurricane.

If you prefer fiction, you will find Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale and The Great Storm:  the Hurrican Diary of J. T. King by Lisa Waller Rogers.  Both tell the story of the hurricane from the point of view of children who experienced it.

I don’t want you to think that I only read cookbooks, but when a recipe for grasshoppers crossed my computer, I couldn’t resist.   First, some background:  When I log into my computer in the morning, I have a widget for the how-to of the day.  These “how-to’s” come from a site called wikiHow.   Below you’ll find the actual article from WikiHow embedded in my post.  If you’d like to check out a wiki or find a fun place to post your own how-to’s, take a look at this site.  If you just want to know how to cook grasshoppers, happy crunching. Read the rest of this entry »