Having played the role of Rick in my library, The Cafe Americain, from 9am to noon yesterday, I jetted home to watch The King’s Speech with my wife and then Megamind with my daughters. Neither one need my endorsement. The history buff/teacher part of me loved watching Lionel Logue use elocution for good and not evil. The worn out nerd in me loved watching Megamind use “presentation” for evil and not eviler.

This week I had a conversation with a teacher who has read my book. She asked where I got my ideas for the amped fight scenes. I explained that that’s how I survived all my English courses in school. I can distinctly remember reading Watership Down and picturing the rabbits smoking cigars and having eyepatches while solving their problems with rapiers and not whatever they did in the book. It always led to an interesting class discussion in Mrs. S’s freshmen English class.

On the topic of books, the first book that I’ve read in a long time that really grabbed my attention was Okay for Now. Any fan of YA novels needs to read this now. Okay?

Jeremy is off trying to punch Antoine Leroux in the face. You can track him here or on the map below:

Quick Reads (but still quality):
Skeleton Creek (book 1)
I Heart You, You Haunt Me
A Boy at War: A Novel of Pearl Harbor
Among the Hidden (Shadow Children #1)
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Monster
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda (since she liked Wimpy Kid – this one’s very similar)
Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen
The Maze of Bones (39 Clues, No. 1)

Longer Reads:

Reckless
I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You (Gallagher Girls)
The House of the Scorpion
Chains
Gone

Hopefully that helps.

Go read it. It’s awesome.

I see plenty of great book covers every day. You could say I see a “library” of them. There are a few, though, that make me laugh at how bad they are. Many of the books are pre-YA Renaissance, before publishers realized teens spend money.

Now that I have a phone that can update photos easily, I can highlight some of the books that I see each day that make me laugh.

Today’s example stands out because it is an older book targeting reluctant readers. It is older, so we’ll forgive the muted colors. Another rarity was photos on covers back in the day, so we gotta cut them some slack.

I know I’m intrigued. One kid is in the hospital and one is proud of his giant buckle. Will I read the book? Probably not.

Lightning Thief

and

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid

Also, book three to the Hunger Games has a release date. August 24, 2010 (see? I told you it would be one a year).

___
Choose Your Own Adventure books kept me coming back to the public library daily as a kid and I would be willing to bet partly influenced my decision to become a librarian.

A friend of mine sent me this link a while back and it’s taken me until now to sort through all of the analysis of the Choose Your Own Adventure books. I hadn’t realized that as the series went on, there became less choices in the books. I have always wondered what it took to organize all of the pages to point to different places throughout the book. (I made a Choose Your Own Adventure radio show CD in high school, so I understand the effort on a smaller scale.) Check out this site for more of the math behind Choose Your Own Adventure books.

Also of note were the Lone Wolf books by Joe Dever. It makes sense that these types of books, ones where you jump around inside the framework of the book, came around during milestones in video game computing. (For my students that know how much I love video games, you should imagine what it would be like growing up on this game. Yeah, no 3D cards, just text.)

The Lone Wolf books were cool because they had a page at the end with random numbers scattered across them. This was to generate a score for your character’s skill checks and attacks. It was a book where you were the main character and it played out like a variation on a video game. You were supposed to close your eyes and point to one of the numbers, but my teacher would always get mad at me during silent reading time.

These books really grabbed my imagination because, no matter how hard I tried to predict where the story was going, it could always take a crazy turn. Some smart authors even put fake endings into the book to trap you if you were just flipping through the pages.

The worlds that these authors created I can still remember. That’s why the samizdat quote is so poignant:

It was the fact that after reading it you understood the logic of Gibson’s world. And that logic was portable to any new scenario you could dream up.

___

Justin Bieber got his start broadcasting videos of himself singing on YouTube, getting the attention of a record label. Now Web 2.0 stuff is creating some trouble for that record label. James Roppo of Island Def Jam Records is being charged with a couple of misdemeanors, such as endangering the welfare of children. A riot of fans broke out at a mall appearance on Friday; five people had to go to the hospital.
James Roppo is accused of not helping out the police in handling the angry crowd. Here’s what one officer had to say about it, from the Associated Press article:

“We asked for his help in getting the crowd to go away by sending out a Twitter message,” said Nassau County Police Det. Lt. Kevin Smith. “By not cooperating with us, we feel he put lives in danger and the public at risk.”

You want to do what you can to keep the fans safe. Those are the people that make a star famous. But I’ll admit it’s an interesting step in technology ethics by requiring someone to write a message on Twitter. Is that covered under the first amendment? Is this like yelling fire in a movie theater?

But then I sit back and think about some of the concepts that made it to publishing. Here is a sampling of covers that I checked back in today.

Anyone who works with students aged 12-15 can probably identify the author, but I won’t mention his name. The whole set-up for this book is that Tod gets a new hockey stick that he thinks will make him a better player. He doesn’t feel worthy of the stick so he works really hard to deserve the stick until he finally realizes that the power was in him all along.

Really? The Mockingjay Rebellion is poised to tear apart the dystopian Panem so that no generation will suffer the Hunger Games…or Tod decides to use a different hockey stick.

Look who’s playing first base? That’s the whole intrigue? Let me take a guess…is it the kid on the cover? You know, the one who has the umpire with questionable motives staring at him.

This one has the whole “Mom is coaching my team” thing going on. (Didn’t Roseanne star in one of those movies?) The only reason this one stood out to me is that the mom looks like Andy Samberg. “I’m on a base.”

1. No belt. For the first two hours I had to teach while standing like this guy:
   
2. The revelation on Facebook that I am Batman – the belt and lunch are just one facet of the utility of it all
3. I borrowed some shoelace-ish material from the janitor’s closet and fashioned a rudimentary belt while hiding in the server room
4. A long-since vanquished evil has awoken from its eight-year slumber
5. My wife brought me lunch and book two to Skeleton Creek…Devin, one of the new students is hounding me for book two of Generation Dead. Thoughts?
6. Scott Westerfeld posted a link to audio from his new book, Leviathan. I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, but I’m in the works to get him to our school sometime in the spring
7. I got to hang out with my niece:
   
8. I’m anxiously awaiting this:
   

Once you’ve done that, listen to Neil Gaiman read The Graveyard Book in its entirety. Newbery!

You may have seen that our politicians don’t always agree.

The legislature of Arizona approved a budget June 4. We can start planning for the school year, right? Not yet.

We have three branches of government (checks and balances still rock, even if we don’t wear powdered wigs anymore).

The legislature is holding onto the budget. It’s like a game of keep away, where they keep looking like they’re going to give the paper to her, and then they pull it back quickly.

It’s actually more like a game of chicken. We’re waiting to see who’s going to be responsible for shutting down parts of Arizona government. Who will flinch?

Who will have the stinky hot potato budget in their hands when the June 30 Catch Phrase buzzer goes off?

One branch of government is suing another branch of government and asking the remaining branch of government to mediate.

“I’m not speaking to you. Judicial Branch, will you tell Legislative Branch to give me the budget?”

“Judicial, you tell Executive that we can do what we want. I’m going to hold my breath until she says that she loves me.”

I think we may have a possible cause for low voter turn-out. There’s an attitude that politicians follow their own interests and not the interests of the people of the Republic – that the population doesn’t feel represented/that their vote affects policy. Intriguing…

And then we see goofy school districts doing stuff like this. I feel like mentioning that not all of us subscribe to the rubber room philosophy.

While I was looking up the details about the Arizona Supreme Court, seeing if I could find anything in the Supreme Court online records about the budget case…imagine my surprise at what I stumbled across.

The Public Access Case Lookup.

I searched myself and thankfully none of the atrocities committed under the Booyor banner were listed, but one guy who shares my first and last (but not middle) name should probably lay off the alcohol – forever.

Look up your name. Tons of fun for the whole family. Gotta love public access court documents provided by our government.

I know that we’ve been very focused on the Iranian elections (which I’m glad that crimes normally ignored are being brought to light) but I find it interesting that people haven’t been intrigued by what’s going on with North Korea, Myanmar, and China.

View Larger Map

A cargo ship, the Kang Nam, is heading to Yangon, Myanmar but may have to refuel at Shanghai.

Here are the complications: there’s a U.S. destroyer (the USS John McCain, ironically enough) following the ship to see if it has illegal cargo. After North Korea tested nuclear weapons and launched a missile in May, the UN has sanctioned North Korea from shipping nuclear weapons-type stuff. If they have that junk, the ship is to be redirected to a port of Pyongyang’s (North Korea version of Washington, D.C.) choosing to be searched.

North Korea has been saying that this would be an act of war.

We’ll see what happens with the port authority of Shanghai. I wonder if North Korea’s testing the sanctions like a one year-old tests if you’ll make them finish lunch (not like I have any experience, right?) or if they’re just waiting for the U.S. destroyer to slip up.

I should be careful with my comparisons to big news events with immature acts. I don’t want to pull a Hoekstra. He posted an exaggeration on Twitter:

Iranian twitter activity similar to what we did in House last year when Republicans were shut down in the House.

and an entire site was born:

I put up a review of Catching Fire on the professional site.

One week until Conduit’s release. I am excited for a co-op game for my wife and I, though. The new Super Mario looks promising, and perhaps the next Ultimate Alliance could be good. I’m not current on my printed comics. Wasn’t Captain America dead? Now he’s back?

Japan is now going to have movie rentals on the Wii.

I guess I shouldn’t be blown away by the response to Mike’s Ghostbusters III group on Facebook. Since he ain’t afraid of no ghost, it’s the only logical progression. I do like Wil Wheaton’s thoughts on the busting of ghosts:

If there’s something strange in your neighborhood, you should call the police, contrary to what the song suggests.

I also appreciate his thoughts on current events:

Pretty sure the City of Los Angeles can find a better way to spend a million dollars than on a parade. Teachers come to mind.

It’s not that I don’t like the Lakers (I always forget, from time to time, that there are professional sports ever since the NBA started playing on cable instead of free TV).

But I am a fan of irony, and I guess some other Twitterers agree with something interesting that I noticed this weekend:

Riots in the same weekend. What do you stand for, Lakers or fair elections? #iranElection

Catching Fire has reminded me of what large masses of angry people look like.

Thanks to everyone who re-tweeted that. It’s been crazy watching Twitter hold CNN accountable for going light on the coverage of world events. They focus on Iran if it relates to something gossipy, but now the public demands more info on a government that cracks down on free speech.

On the topic of free speech (literally free…no cost to you, right?):
Shi Weihan was arrested for printing Bibles for free, which I guess is illegal in China still. Argh.

I’m intrigued by Kiva. I’m not a big fan of throwing money at a problem, but I know what it’s like to have an expense come up.

I must also confess that I am entertained on Twitter with pictures of director Adam Shankman with his dog on the movie set watching 3D monitors for Step Up:

as well as finding it fun that Miley Cyrus watches Funniest Home Videos to cheer herself up.

Keep those last two secrets to yourself.

We talk of getting an ARC for Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan (giving away galleys at BEA? Argh!). Can you imagine if I got an advanced copy of 1Q84?

What is the book about? No one knows, except that they need to buy it.

Perhaps it’s a puzzle, like this one:

Polimomce

Can you get the pictogram? It’s like one of those “head/heels” puzzles.

A hint? I’m fond of mine.

I get frustrated when I go to a bookstore and they say they have the book at every location except for the one I’m standing at.

I don’t like paying for shipping (or paying a subscription to not pay for shipping).

But have you seen the Espresso Book Machine? It launched on Friday at a Blackwell’s bookstore. You type in which book you want, it binds a new copy while you drink a cup of coffee.

Insane.

Now you don’t have to worry about books being in stock, especially rare/old books.

What will really be interesting is to see how the employees of the 60 branches scheduled to get the machines adapt. Will people look for more recommendations now? Less? There will be less time walking the shelves, straightening titles and all that. What if the employees now had a set-up like an Apple Store Genius Bar?

Did you like Skeleton Creek? (Creepy, right?) In October Ghost in the Machine is coming out. I’m very excited.

Yes. How does that book have a sequel? Perhaps it’s a companion book.

But would you like to be one of the video stars in the book? Patrick Carman’s studio will be holding auditions on May 1. Click on the link for more information.

Choose whether you want to read for the guy script or the girl script and it will open the audition PDF file. Videotape your audition and put it on YouTube following their directions.

Even if you don’t want to audition, it’s still pretty fun to read parts of the script ahead of time.

I can’t find where to audition as the bearded librarian…

Also of note was this space adventure. I remember always unleashing some horrible intergalactic plague.

Well, it’s good to see that the official brand is back.

Miley Cyrus recommends Don’t Die, My Love by Lurlene McDaniel. I can believe that.

Also of note – I guess Massachussetts has an official state epic novel.

“You weren’t selfish. You need to be among your own kind. Quite understandable. It’s just harder out there in the world of the living, and we cannot protect you out there as easily. I wanted to keep you perfectly safe,” said Silas. “But there is only one perfectly safe place for your kind and you will not reach it until all your adventures are over…”

Slade – what do you make of the lay-up fiasco?

I finished Tales of Beedle the Bard just now. I actually liked it more than Deathly Hallows. It fits with Devin’s and my obsession about fictional historical documents just nicely. It’s like the Brothers Grimm, except where magic is common and won’t solve your problems. Or save your hairy heart.

It’s full of trivia about the books. For instance: look at the cover of Uglies. Notice anyone in the girl’s pupil? That’s the reflection of the photographer from the photo shoot. And the design in Aya’s eye on the Extras cover was inspired by the videogame The Last Starfighter.
Check the last word of each book. Notice a pattern?

The real treat is the insight that Scott Westerfeld adds for aspiring authors. He gives quite a bit of honest information about his writing process and the thoughts behind sections of the book.

Floating Ice Rink
I have no idea where this idea came from, except that it allowed me to write a scene that put together my three favorite things: fireworks, falling, and miscreant behavior.

He highlights where the technology from the books intersects with real-life, like how cuttlefish camouflage can actually match checkerboard patterns and that there are flash tattoos under people’s skin that can detect blood sugar. (I did not know that people actually have surgery to put diamonds on their eyes. Ouch.)

And I appreciate Westerfeld’s great sense of humor. The book reads like you’re checking his blog’s RSS feed.

So littlies aren’t considered ugly in Tally’s world – they’re too cute and innocent and small. Like penguins.

If you’ve just created a cool new building that uses smart matter supports, you don’t want someone coming along and turning that matter into, say, liquid. Because that would be bad.

He also describes the process behind creating effective slang and using it in regular conversation. (I actually used “dizzy-making” in conversation with one of the school secretaries without realizing it.) He has an acronym to help with coming up with slang, but I want you to check out this bubbly book.

1. You can read Something Rotten by Alan Gratz for free until Nov. 30. Great modernization of Hamlet with Bo/Luke Duke as Rosencratz and Guildenstern. Something Wicked I will have to get when I come back home.

2. The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain plays Mike’s theme song.

Vote for DeWiki!

“Through the slits of his brightly polished helm, his blue eyes bored into Eragon, pinning him into place, like an arrow through a rabbit. He lifted his free hand and held it out toward Eragon. ‘My son, come with me. Together, we can destroy the Varden, kill Galbatorix, and conquer all of Alagaesia. But give me your heart, and we shall be invincible.’”
- Brisingr, p. 487

There are a lot of made up words in Brisingr, so I’m considering the correlation with the graph. There’s even an attempt at an appendix in the back, complete with pronunciation guide. But here’s the deal:

Let’s say that you got past the Eragon/Aragorn, Arya/Arwen, Old Brom (Dragon Rider in exile)/Old Ben (Jedi Master in exile), Empire burning down the farm boy’s aunt and uncle and farm/Empire burning down the farm boy’s aunt and uncle and farm, Paolini still doesn’t stop.

Is there any epic where an armored villain is not someone’s dad? And the middle of an aerial combat is not the best place to have a Dr. Phil “if you believe in yourself, you can re-invent yourself and rise above your circumstances” conversation. The whole middle of the book is “whose gods are real, the nomads’ or the dwarves’, or are the elves right and there are no gods?” philosophy rants. It sounded very anachronistic when he’s talking about “all of the gods are good and we all point to something”.

The end was cool because characters died, and when Eragon has a sword named Fire, every time he says its name it ignites on accident.

The part that made me laugh but was not a deal-breaker? The power of the evil king (which, wasn’t it an empire?) comes from a dragon’s heart of hearts: a tiny crystal colored the same as their scales and egg. How does a dragon give you their heart? By vomiting it at your feet. Yeah, a page dedicated to a regurgitating ceremony.

And there are some awkward moments where Eragon and his dragon, Sapphira, have some intimate interactions. Is she like a mom or are they even closer? I don’t know. Kinda weird.

Mix all this in with self-mutilation and heroes that drain the life energy out of people/unsuspecting creatures “for the greater good”, and it took some effort to finish the book.

1. I asked him a “Duh” question: “Did you watch Dr. Horrible?” His response: “Well, yeah, I designed the van’s remote control.”
2. He incorporates some cool astronomy into the presentation. He had kids standing with models of planets and used a one foot=one hundred miles scale to span the library. He even quizzed kids on the speed of light and Proxima Centauri.
3. He, too, was intrigued by the cover of Generation Dead and cracked up when I told him the concept.
4. He also smirked when I admitted to the Haiku Project.
5. He knows his audience. He started the presentation with a fist in the air: “Long live Halo!”
6. Lots of cool artwork in giant banner form, done by concept artists from Warhammer and Star Wars
7. He does all of his own site design, including the Flash movies. I was like, “Okay, yeah, that’s cool” until we started chatting about After Effects and ActionScript. Yeah, he actually did the site design.
8. Great stories from his childhood and a great closer to his presentation. (Sworn to secrecy, much like Ally’s title to Gallagher Girls 3.)
9. Alan Tudyk (Wash from Firefly) reads chapter one of book two on thesoftwire.com (if you can answer the question correctly)
10. He told us about Book 3: Pirates of Hyperspace. Pirates, Hyperspace…what more does a guy need?
11. He is upset by peoples’ assumptions that boys/guys don’t read.
12. He is more of a Mac addict than myself and the Futile Ohm put together.

Pictures tomorrow (as long as people don’t go as crazy as they did today).

They partnered up to create the Kids Need to Read foundation.

Very excited! I invite all of my sci-fi readers, even the people in Denver, Colorado, Fairfax, Virginia, and Edinburgh!

On second thought, maybe you should talk to me in person.

Check out the site for the book and the site for the video game.

A local book company asked me to blog for them. Here’s my first entry:

Harmless, a book that is anything but, raises some eyebrows. Do you buy it for your child? Do you put it on the shelf as a librarian? Can it be used in the classroom?

As an 8th grade Language Arts teacher I saw many heart-wrenching situations that my students wound up in, many situations that I think we as educators don’t always catch or know how to deal with. I grew up in a pretty stable environment, a fact I am thankful for, but a stable environment is not always par for the course.

What I love about Harmless is that it is told from three girls’ perspectives. Students can relate to Anna. Emma, or Mariah and their very different home environments. Because the narrator switches each chapter, there isn’t a true emphasis on one character over another. It also demonstrates to young adult readers that open communication with honesty is key to any relationship, as you are sometimes wishing one girl would just come clean to the other people to avoid confusion.

Anna and Emma have known each other since third grade. They have always been a support system for each other. When they get to high school, Mariah joins the circle. Lasting friendships are challenged as Mariah starts dating an older boy. Mariah wants to go to a party but needs Emma and Anna to come with her. Anna and Emma lie to their parents, using the excuse of going to the movies to get out of the house. Mariah is troubled that her family doesn’t ask where she’s going. When one of the girls’ moms shows up unexpectedly at the movies and doesn’t find the group, she frantically texts and calls her daughter.

To avoid getting in trouble, the girls conspire to tell their parents that the circle of girls went on a star-gazing walk when Emma was suddenly assaulted. The girls tell this story when they get home; the parents are thankful that the girls are safe, but they don’t stop there. The parents now want justice to be served for whoever attacked Emma, because it may happen again. The situation escalates as the police search for a phantom assailant and a young girl in a neighboring town goes missing.

When reading the story I was reminded of another controversial story, The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Young girls use their newfound power in society but get caught up in the lies. What is the extent of a person’s responsibility and character?

Would I use Harmless as a classroom novel? Probably in an upper-division high school class, but not at the 8th grade level. Not every single student at the 8th grade is ready for the situations, so a passing grade shouldn’t be connected to reading the book. Would I want my daughter to read it? Absolutely. A word of caution: you have to wade through Mariah’s coarse language and some very serious situations to get to the true value.

One very beneficial aspect of the book, though, is that not every consequence comes from a parent. Your parents are human; they won’t always catch you. But choices still have consequences, especially ones that you can’t see in the flurry of the immediate. I’ve had students tell me about how they’ve lied to their parents and the rough situations that they get themselves into. I would love to deal with these issues before the serious choices and consequences kick in instead of after the fact.

If one student is challenged to think twice about lying to their parents, I’m keeping the book on my shelf.

I just finished Specials by Scott Westerfield. Now I can jump into Extras, but I definitely had to read the end of the main trilogy.

The Specials are like an MIB squad, built to take on Special Circumstances. Think Matrix agents but with jet alloy for bones and skintenna networks keeping teams in contact. (And a whole bunch of “morphological violations”.) Everyone thinks that they’re a Boogie Man (I’m thinkin’ it might be ‘Bogey’ Man…I picture a zombie shakin’ his groove thang…for brains.) until they show up on your doorstep to take you away.

Now picture Specials fighting each other on hoverboards. Yep. Sold.

Lots of cool takes on life without getting preachy mixed with hard-core plastic surgery violence. Enough nervous-making tricks to keep you bubbly. (Yeah, I hear they’re going to release a future glossary soon.)

The Haiku
Bubble-headed freaks
Mind-wiped to party all night
Ah! Specials are here!

I will avoid the obvious “Harriet the Spy” references. But doesn’t she look like she should play opposite Keanu Reeves?

Keanu: Tubman, look out!

Blam!

Harriet: He just bought a one-way ticket.

Thought you might appreciate what comes across our scanners daily.

Genesis Alpha (almost as exciting as the Underground Railroad) is about a young boy who was created for his stem cells. His birth was sped up at month 8 to be able to save his older brother who had cancer.

Flash forward to his teen years and now his brother is on trial for murder. Should the older brother have been saved at the expense of the victim? Crazy questions arise throughout the entire book. This is suspense in the M. Night Shyamalan sense, less Clive Barker or Darren Shan. The reader constantly has to guess who’s crazy, who’s hurting, and who’s a mix.

One of the coolest parts for me is that the killer, whoever it is, left clues inside a World of Warcraft-esque MMORPG. The main character has to investigate in game (but it’s not one of those lame, “If you die in the game, you die FOR REAL” books). What’s really cool is that violence in video games is brought up but discussed quite eloquently. Yay! (for a change)

Questions of if we are more than just our DNA show up as people freak out about the genetic similarities between the two brothers.

Unlike my in-person library reviews, I can’t give too much more detail. It would be like saying, “Bruce Willis is already dead.”

D’oh.

(We’ll see what the 7th grade class thinks about it as I’m brought in for a second round of booktalks.)

Today’s Haiku:

Sharing DNA

Can it make you a killer?

Or just a big freak?