BLOGS AND BLOG READERS

     There are so many blogs to keep up with that unless you have a feed reader you will be going back and forth from individual website and wasting time you could be using to actually read the blogs. I personally decided to use Digg Reader to keep up with all the blogs I follow. The reason I chose this feed reader was because it was simple and easy to use. I didn't have any trouble adding blogs. It was self explanatory. I also liked that when I signed up for it I was able to link it to my gmail account. Another reason I chose it was that you can get the Digg Reader APP on your phone or tablet. It is available on iOS, Android, and Google Chrome. The best part of this feed reader is that it is free!
     One o the first blogs I added to my feed reader was Library Displays. I found this blog very interesting and helpful. It has so many great ideas on how to make amazing displays in your library. The display that stood out to me was titles Movie Reads. This display promotes books that have been made into movies. It is a great way to introduce great reads to our students. I also liked the Airport display which introduces their new arrivals.
     Another blog that caught my attention was Read Aloud Dad. It is such a cute blog to follow. In this blog you will find a variety of books to choose from to read to your children. The blogger is a father who never imagined that reading to his children would make him a better father.
     I also added Mrs. ReaderPants. I found this blog very helpful. Not only does she offer book reviews but also library lesson plans. Her lesson plans are linked to a book and tell you step by step what to do. She even offers tips on how to run your library. For a first year librarian her tips are very helpful. I know I will definitely be going into her blog often when I become a librarian.
     Another blog I added was Katie's Book Blog. In this blog you will find reviews for the latest books. She gives a synopsis and then goes on to give her thoughts about the book. Katie will give the pros, cons and overall reaction to the books. You can also find blogger and author interviews that she has done. I found this pretty interesting.
     5 Minutes for Books is another great blog to follow. It offers a variety of book reviews from children to young adult. In this blog you will have a chance to win free giveaways. Her giveaways are through Universal Studios. So not only can you find great book reviews but also a chance to win free prizes such as books, gift cards, and  other prizes associated with your favorite books.
     These are just a few blogs that I added to my feed reader. Now it it so much easier to keep up with the blogs that I follow.
    I also started a Tumblr account. I didn't have one so this will be interesting. Here is the link to my Tumblr Librarianonthego.  I don't have much on it yet.

Facebook and Twitter

     In the times that we are living today social media plays an important role in our society. Facebook and Twitter are just two of the many forms of communication that are used in very day life. I myself have both of those plus Snapchat and Instagram. It is my form of communicating with my extended family especially those who live out of town.
     Facebook is not only used by family and friends to stay in touch; businesses also use it for promotional purposes. Although our schools have websites in which to log into for information, some school libraries also use Facebook to promote their school.
     I explored several pages of Elementary schools that use Facebook and found that they use it for several reasons. One school in North Carolina uses it to promote the upcoming events such as their Book Fair that starts on September the 22nd. Meet the Teacher night was also promoted through Facebook. In that same post the librarian promote the PTO's sale of spirit shirts. What I mainly noticed on this page was that the librarian shares a lot posts from other pages such as Polk County Public Library, Harper Collins Children's Books, and Polk Students. I went into another page and this did promote books which is what I expected to find on school library Facebook pages. This page like the other also promotes their public library's up coming events. There wasn't any comments made, but some posts were shared by several people.
     I went into a middle and high school page as well. In high school page there was information on the football schedule and the up coming homecoming dance. There was also several videos from what seemed to be a pep-rally. The page also had the morning announcements on a daily basis. The junior high page shared videos and up coming events such as the Scholastic Book Fair. There was also several posts on the Library Palooza 2017. There was several comments made on this post about people looking forward to this event. Other than that no comments were made to any other posts.
   
    I have had Twitter for almost two years now. If you want to keep up with the most current library trends Twitter is the place to be. I follow authors, library organizations, and several professors like @kperry, @egross, and @ProfessorNana. I have followed Josh Funk @joshfunkbooks since I opened my Twitter account and really enjoy his tweets. This past week he has tweeted about launching his newest book Dear Dragon which actually launched yesterday 9/10. He also tweeted Coming Soon: 2017 Picture Books Part IV which gives you the covers of several picture books. Professor Teri Lesesne (@ProfessorNana) retweeted Jarret J. Krosoczka tweet on Matt De La Pena's youtube video Matt De La Pena Newberry Caldecott Acceptance Speech It is a must see video. I found Jim Lerman's tweets very interesting; he is a must to follow on Twitter. His scoop.it page is very interesting.

     After looking through Facebook and Twitter I found that Twitter gives a lot more information if you want to keep up with authors. I was disappointed with the Facebook pages I explored. I expected the posts to be more about promoting books for students to read. I expected to see book trailers and posts about activities that are happening in their libraries.

Here is my Facebook Library page:
Library Facebook Page

Green, J. (2014). The fault in our stars. Penguin Books.Hazel, a 17 year old girl with cancer, meets a boy named Augustus at her cancer social group meeting. Although they just met he invites her to his house. Augustus drops her off at her house and they agree to read each others favorite book. Hazel’s favorite book is An Imperial Affliction it is about a girl named Anna who has cancer, but the book ends mid sentence. Without giving the reader closure about how it ends, if she dies or not. Hazel likes this book because its similar to her situation. She wants to know if Anna’s mom made it fine with her dying so that way she’ll know if her parents will be okay once she’s gone. Augustus and Hazel set out to look for the author, Mr. Van Houten, to ask him how he would write a sequel to the book but he ends up being a rude alcoholic that doesn't care about anything. When Augustus dies Mr. Van Houten comes to the funeral but Hazel ignores him. He gives her a letter Augustus send him where Augustus writes a sequel himself. In the sequel Augustus writes that in this world getting hurt is inevitable but we get to choose on who we allow to hurt us. He says he is happy with his choice and hopes she is happy with hers. The novel ends with Hazel saying she is. A strength I found was how Hazel was able to handle everything she went through and still ended up with a smile at the end of the book. Other books by Green are Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns. I learned that this world is full of things that we can’t control so go for what we want and don’t regret it. Hazel and Augustus knew they were dying but that didn't stop them from enjoying the last days of their lives. They went to Amsterdam in search of an explanation of why the book ended without a conclusion.

 

Ness, P. (2008). The knife of never letting go. Candlewick Press. Todd lives in Prentisstown with his dog Manchee. The thing about this town is that only men live there. Todd is the youngest person in this town and sent out to pick apples when he hears a hole in the noise. He knows it's impossible not to hear noise. Because of this Todd has to leave town and never come back. He leaves with his dog and is being chased by Aaron the preacher. As he is trying to escape he bumps into the silence he heard earlier and to his surprise it ends up being Viola. Viola is a girl and Todd has never seen a girl in his life. At first Viola is afraid that Todd is going to kill her and runs away from him. Soon after Todd finds her again and they both head off together since Aaron is chasing after them. Although they don't know where they are headed they keep going away from Prentisstown. Together they encounter several people who help them along the way. They are headed toward Haven where they think they might find safety. Unfortunately, Todd is stapped by Aaron and Viola is taken away. Todd uses Manchee as bait to distract Aaron to try to get Viola. It works but Manchee is killed. Aaron seems to catch up to them right when Todd and Viola can see Haven in the distance. Viola is shot so Todd carries her the rest of the way to Haven. Sadly Haven is really not a safe place. They are surprised to see Mayor Prentiss welcoming them to the new Prentisstown. One strength I found in the book is when Todd goes after Aaron even if meant he would kill him in order to find Viola. Other books like this one are Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner and The Moon Dwellers by David Estes. After reading this book I learned that secrets are never kept a secret for ever. This town had secrets that Todd later discovered. The women were not killed by the germ noise like he was told growing up.

Garden, N. (20017). Annie on my mind. Square Fish. Eliza was a senior in high school when she met Annie at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Annie's voice was what drew Liza, short for Eliza, into the colonial rooms. That's the day Liza's life changed for ever. Liza couldn't explain what she was feeling. She couldn't get Annie of her mind. She had never felt this away about a girl before. That's the day she realized she might be gay. Through out the book the two girls spent a lot of time together without anyone knowing how they felt about each other, until the day they get caught in Liza's teachers house. Liza was suppose to be there feeding the cats but made the mistake of inviting Annie with her. Mrs. Baxter and Sally, a friend of Liza, found Liza and Annie at the house. Liza was bare foot and Annie was just wearing her lumber jacket so Sally and Mrs. Baxter realized what was going on. Not only did they find the two girls in that situation but also found out that the two teachers were lesbians as well, something no one knew not even Liza. She found out that same day too. The school fired the teachers thinking that they had a huge influence on Liza and Annie although they didn't. In the end the two girls went their separate ways. Liza went MIT and Annie left to California. Annie would write to Liza, but Liza never wrote back. She just couldn't. One strength I found was that Liza couldn't fight her feelings anymore. She loved Annie and didn't care what people thought. When Mrs. Baxter and Sally found them, Liza screamed yes I am a lesbian. She couldn't fight it anymore and was tired of hiding it. Other books by Garden are Molly's Family and Nora & Liz. What I learned form reading this book is that young kids are scared of what they are feeling on the inside because of what people might say. They are scared to come out but that doesn't change how they feel. Annie and Liza loved each other. In the book Annie mentions another friend she had in California whom she had feelings for before Liza, but it was Liza's first time feeling this way toward a girl. At first Liza couldn't understand how she felt about Annie. Why she couldn't stop thinking about her. In the end she still can't stop thinking about her.

Wagenen. M. V. (2014). Popular: vintage wisdom for a modern geek: a memoir. Penguin Group. Maya is a Junior High student that is not popular at school. At her school's popularity scale she and her friends fall under the social outcast group until the day she comes upon a book her father bought at a garage sale. Betty Cornell's Teenage Popularity Guide written by Betty Cornell in 1951 made a huge impact on Maya's social life. It all started when her mother suggested she follow Cornell's advice this year and write about it. Maya did just that and to her surprise although the book was written so many years ago it actually worked. Maya became popular with all social groups. She did this by following a suggestion in Cornell's book of sitting in other people's tables during lunch. By doing this she was able to meet all those kids that she was once afraid of. One strength I found was when Maya wrote, "Now I know and talk to more people than I ever thought possible. I've learned lots of people are afraid to make the first move in a conversation," She forced herself to approach new people. Something she couldn't of done if it wasn't for Cornell's book.  She knew she made a difference. All the social groups accepted her in their tables something that had never been done before. Other book like this one is How to Be Popular by Meg Cabot.  What I learned form reading this book is that being popular is not being a part of the cheerleaders and football players social group, but instead it means knowing people from every social group in school. Maya wrote that the closest she was to being popular was when she opened her introverted circle and allowed everyone in.

Forman, G. (2010). If I stay. Speak. Seventeen year old Mia l is driving with her family when a truck looses control and crashes into them. At this point Mia is seeing everything outside of her body and now she is faced with a bigger question, should she stay or should she go? She is split between two choices that will change her forever. If she decides to stay she is going to have to go through all that pain of losing her family whereas if she lets go she won’t feel anything. The other choice is if she goes, that means she’s leaving the rest of her family and friends. Her boyfriend who is a big part of her life, grandparents that are just like her parents, and Juilliard, the school she had just gotten accepted into. At the end of the reading she is ready to go with the rest of her family but when Adam, her boyfriend, tells her that’s its okay to let go, but he wishes she stay. Somehow Adam gets through to her because all she wanted at that moment was to hold his hand and suddenly she was, suddenly she awakens. The strength of the novel was that no matter what Mia chooses she is always going to have love and support of the people around her. Other books similar to this one are Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schreoder and Ever after Ever by Jordan Sonnenblick. One thing I learned from this novel is to never be afraid to make life changing decisions.