SAT Prep Has Started! Book of the Week!

ATTENTION JUNIORS AND SENIORS- SAT Prep has started.
Our library is stocked full of SAT practice and prep books. Most colleges want SAT scores and if you might even be able to take them for FREE. See your guidance counselor for more information and throughout the next month, I will be holding little SAT boot camps to help you prepare.

Mr. Bott's Book of the Week: The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni. 


I know I've said this before, but this is the craziest book I've ever read. It's about triangles, love, punk rock, living in a dome and....well, just check out the trailer....

I know, right...

I think my head just exploded...

I couldn't put this book down!

Book of the Week + New Hunger Games Trailer!

Happy National Library Week! ANNND WHAT A WEEK! We have new Hunger Games movie news!

Let me start with that because I just saw the trailer and fist pumped to myself (again, because I'm a nerd). Catching Fire is the second book in The Hunger Games series (available at the SCLA Library). A bunch of students and teachers went to The Hunger Games movie last year we loved it, so I was super excited to see the new trailer. It follow Katniss and Peeta as they start touring The Districts (because of course they BOTH SURVIVED and may or may not be in looooveeee). But, as always, things get a little crazy when the plot to kill Katniss and anyone she holds dear starts to unfold.

SOOOOO with this news, what do you think my Book of the Week is going to be? Catching Fire of course!


Read it before the movie comes out! I always like to compare the book to the movie as, most of the time, things change. Let's hope they don't change much because Catching Fire was my favorite book of the series.





Pssst...You...yeah you! REGENTS are right around the corner. Don't get caught off guard, pick up some practice Regents books in the library today!

Welcome Back! Bott's Book of the Week + News

Welcome back everyone! Hopefully you are rested from your spring break and now that it is warming up outside, I thought this book would be appropriate for my Book-o-the-Week! The Mutt: How to Skateboard and Not Kill Yourself. 

I used to skateboard back in the day and I've always idolized Rodney Mullen. The man is a magician on a skateboard and this autobiography offers an insight as to how he got started and why he stuck with it even though he was encouraged to quit

Below are some of the tricks Mullen invented and refined over the years. This book will even give you some pointers when you're out there skating.

NEWS

1. We have been going strong again this year at the SCLA Library. We set our goal of 1500 books circulated (like last year) and I'm proud to say we are 250 books shy of that with 2 months left! Great job - We have the best students here and you make me proud EVERYDAY!

2. REGENTS- Don't wait until the last minute. Regents exams are in 2 months and the SCLA library has all the test preparation materials you need. Likewise, we have tons of SAT books to help you out; remember, the SATs are kind of like your college entry test.

3. CONGRATS are in order- We just received the list of SCLA seniors accepted to 2 and 4 year colleges. I can't express how awesome it is to hold that acceptance letter in your hand and know that your future starts NOW.

4. FINALLY- Short story and poetry contest participants- your entries are due April 12th. Winners will be announced next week!

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Search the OPALS online library catalog for a book, find out news and much more on the SCLA Library Homepage

Do You Know Jenna Fox? No? Neither Does She...

My book of the week is called The Adoration of Jenna Fox, by Mary E. Pearson. I read this book in an hour it was that good. It takes place in the future and young Jenna Fox has just woken up from a coma. You see, she was in an accident a year ago and, now 17, doesn't remember anything. A lot has happened while she was out, new planets have been discovered a new president has been elected, etc. She has missed it all.

Her dad is trying to help her remember...


              But she doesn't remember anything....nothing, not a thing.....For now....



Soon, her memory begins to return and she starts to ask question, questions no one wants to answer...





                     

Short Story and Poetry Contest! Plus, Book-o-da-Week

3rd Annual Short Story and Poetry Contest!

Do you write poetry? Or maybe you have a story to tell... Well now is your chance. Here are the rules:

- All stories and poems must be original

- Stories should be short, but have a beginning, middle, and end

- Anything genre is acceptable: mystery, adventure, realistic fiction, science fiction, what ever you want!

- All submissions must be in by April 12, 2013. 

Prizes include gift cards to Dunkin Donuts, Barnes & Noblem, and Subway (mmmmmmm...)

For more updates, "Like" SCLA SCSD on Facebook!

Book of the Week! - Stitches, by David Small

Mrs. Karr's English class is doing graphic novels and while I was up there this morning giving a short lesson, I couldn't believe I forgot about this book. STITCHES tells the story of a young boy who develops a growth in his throat. He goes in for a routine surgery and when he wakes up he discovers the growth was actually cancerous and they had to remove a vocal chord, leaving him barely able to talk...now, he's angry at everyone. 

This book is dark and a little twisted, but it reads like a movie. The images are so distorted and off-putting that it makes you not want to turn the page...but you HAVE TO because together, the pictures and story make this an incredible read!

Book of the Week and Library Update!

Library update first - We are just short of 1100 books circulated for the year! That is awesome and just to give you an idea of how awesome it is, we average 4.2 books circulated per student. We have a goal of 1500 books circulated before June. Let's do this!

I am sure some of you have heard by now that we have to tighten our belts here in Schenectady. We are amongst the poorest districts in the state and we don't always get our fair share. I STRONGLY urge you to learn about how you, the student, is losing out on some serious $$$$. Our Superintendent, Mr. Spring, has put together some information here. Take some time to read, sit down with your parents/guardians and read, and find out what you can do. Without proper funding, we are going to lose some critical services.

Book of the Week - Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay

I love Shakespeare...this is not Shakespeare- but that doesn't mean it's bad, heck no! I loved this book. It's a twist on Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet's love story which we all think is tragic, but this digs a little deeper...

The most tragic love story in history . . .

Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But what Romeo didn't anticipate was that Juliet would be granted eternity, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. For 700 years, she's fought Romeo for the souls of true lovers, struggling to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Until the day she meets someone she's forbidden to love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy that love.


OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Get it from the SCLA Library today!

Mr. Bott's Book of the Week! Fine...I'll read about Zombies...

Each year it's something different. Last year it was all about VAMPIRES. I'm sure the culmination of the Twilight film series had something to do with that. This year, it's ZOMBIES. The TV series The Walking Dead is huge and the adaptation of the book World War Z into a major movie starring Brad Pitt is definitely driving interest in the genre.

Now I'm a simple librarian. I like Lord of the Rings and Walter Dean Myers and Sharon Draper and Ellen Hopkins and the list goes on and on...but I could never get into ZOMBIE books. They always seemed like the same plot over and over. So when I picked up ASHES, the first book of the trilogy by the same name, I thought it was going to bore me to death. I was wrong.

The story is about Alex, a young girl who is having a rough go of it. She goes for a walk in the woods....

                                                   Then there's an explosion......

                                                                                    And people are...."CHANGED"

check it out:

I loved this book...Not your average Zombie story!