CA Reading Society

CA Reading Society

Meeting details: Thursday, March 17^th, 2:30 pm, CA Library

Present: Mr. Bateman, Miss O’Donnell, Mrs. Goodemote (Wood Library), Alyssa H., Meghan P., Miranda Y., Tom G., Nick Z., Brady G., Kaylah B., Sarah K., Brooke T.

Purpose of the Group: The purpose of the Society is to encourage and promote reading and provide students and other members the opportunity to interact and share with others, both in person and electronically, their personal reading experiences. Mr. Bateman shared that he envisioned a group modeled after the MIT Literary Society, which “creates a comfortable atmosphere for undergraduates to freely discuss their book interests.” Unlike MIT’s group (which reads the same agreed-upon book each month), the CA Reading Society encourages its members to read whatever they’d like.

Membership: The number of participants has increased dramatically, due to Mr. Bateman sending out personal invitations to students at the Academy who are known readers (based on library circulation statistics), as well as promoting the Society on the CA Library Facebook page (www.facebook.com/calibrary)

Books to Read: Mr. Bateman explained the concept behind Advance Reading Copies (books that are made available before they are published), and made several dozen available for selection. Most group members found something of interest before we adjourned, with the understanding that at our next meeting, we will share our reading experience with the rest of the group and perhaps exchange books for others we are interested in.

It was also suggested that once we start sharing books, we keep a log to indicate who has read what. This seemed like a good idea, and we will start keeping records at our next meeting.

Next meeting? – It was decided that a schedule that allows for a meeting every two weeks was ideal. Although we had decided on a regular meeting schedule of the 1^st and 3^rd Thursdays of each month, because of the long month of March, or next meeting will be on Thursday, March 31^st at 2:30pm in the Academy library. The tentative schedule for the rest of the year is as follows.

• 3/31
• 4/14 (this is the 2^nd Thursday, but gets in a meeting before Spring Break)
• 5/5
• 5/19
• 6/2 (this may be the final meeting, depending on what members would like to do)

When should we meet? – Because of the difficulties involved with trying to schedule a common meeting time during the regular school day, it was decided a 2:30, after-school meeting would be better. Some students indicated they would not be able to come until later, because of a late arriving BOCES bus. Mr. Bateman said this would be fine…

Where should we meet? – The Academy Library seems to be the most logical place.

Should we have food? – Mr. Bateman provided some hot chocolate for the group, which seemed to be enjoyed.

Social Networking – Mr. Bateman handed out a sheet on LibraryThing, an online resource that allows users to catalog, organize, review and discuss books in their own collections. The Library has been adding the newest books in its collection to LibraryThing, and makes the library account available to anyone who would like to submit a book review on behalf of the library.

www.librarything.com/profile/calibrary1
The library account is calibrary1

CA Reading Society

Meeting details: Thursday, March 3^rd, 2:30 pm, CA Library

Present:          Mr. Bateman, Meghan P., Tom G.

Purpose of the Group: The purpose of the Society is to encourage and promote reading and provide students and other members the opportunity to interact and share with others, both in person and electronically, their personal reading experiences. Rather than a traditional “book club,” which usually entails all participants reading and discussing a common book, we decided we would be more interested in encouraging members to read and discuss any book that is of interest to them.

Membership: The number of participants at this time is low (see above), but we hope that as we develop a better focus in terms of purpose, meeting times and dates, etc. for the group, we will attract more members.

Mr. Bateman will investigate the possibility of creating personal invites for already active readers, as determined by library circulation records.

Books to Read: The Academy Library has no shortage of books to read; between the new books, general collection, Advanced Reading Copies, and resources available through other school libraries, hundreds of thousands of titles are available to members.

How often should we meet? – It was decided that a schedule that allows for a meeting every two weeks was ideal. Since the first meeting was on the first Thursday of the month, we will schedule meetings on the 1^st and 3^rd Thursday of each month. Here is the tentative schedule:

• 3/3
• 3/17
• 3/31 (this is the 3^rd Thursday, but it gets in a meeting before Spring Break)
• 4/14 (this is the 2^nd Thursday, for the reason mentioned above)
• 5/5
• 5/19
• 6/2 (this may be the final meeting, depending on what members would like to do)

When should we meet? – Because of the difficulties involved with trying to schedule a common meeting time during the regular school day, it was decided a 2:30, after-school meeting would be better.

Where should we meet? – The Academy Library seems to be the most logical place.

Should we have food? – It was decided the availability of food and beverage would make for  a better meeting. Meghan suggested some hot chocolate. Mr. Bateman will take care of this.

Social Networking – Mr. Bateman shared a resource that CA Library has become involved in recently. LibraryThing is an online resource that lets users catalog, organize, review and discuss books in their own collections. The Library has been adding the newest books in its collection to LibraryThing, and makes the library account available to anyone who would like to submit a book review on behalf of the library.

http://www.librarything.com
The library account is calibrary1

The New and Improved Vivien Leigh Reid: Diva in Control by Yvonne Collins and Sandy Rideout

The further adventures of Vivien Leigh Reid, teen actress.

All right, so she blew it! The last time she was in front of the camera, she acted like a total diva and ended up losing the gig. But now the new and improved Vivien Leigh Reid is back in L.A. for Thanksgiving and determined to make it right. While helping her mother plan for her wedding, Leigh unexpectedly lands a featured role in a new television series, and this time she is going to keep her inner diva in control.

It may not be easy as she hoped, though. The all-male cast of Freak Force, an action-adventure series about superhumanoids, isn’t exactly thrilled to have a girl on board. Add that to the demands of her mother, who is quickly turning into Bridezilla, and a wicked soon-to-be stepsister, and Leigh’s newfound cool may really be put to the test.

“Fans of Meg Cabot’s “The Princess Diaries” series will enjoy the inside look at life among the famous and identify with Leigh’s romantic travails.” — School Library Journal review

earthgirl by Jennifer Cowan

This post is related to the recent announcement that Canandaigua Academy recently received a grant to fund the installation of wind turbine.

This unusual novel written partly in blog format (complete with comments posted by the earthgirl’s followers and detractors) takes the cutting-edge form of an online confessional. The story follows the eco-evolution of 16-year-old Sabine Solomon. When she’s blindsided by a driver whose thrown-out McDonald’s leftovers leave her covered in plum sauce, Sabine throws the garbage back, causing a clash that’s captured on her friends’ videophones. Quickly the footage is shown on YouTube, and Sabine finds herself at the center of a heated eco-debate.

Inspired to greater global consciousness, she goes to work for an organic food co-op and meets charismatic, idealistic eco-warrior Vray Forest. Mesmerized, she vows to change her life and influence others, much to the dismay of her meat-eating family and shopaholic friends. But when Vray’s activism takes a dark turn, Sabine must face some difficult decisions.

Jennifer Cowan’s first book presents an endearing, funny, modern heroine — at once smart, curious, self-mocking, and self-righteous — whose story riffs on universal teen dilemmas of peer pressure, first love, and trying to do the right thing.

“Extremely well researched and full of additional Web site links to further information, Earthgirl is something of a fiction to nonfiction crossover and is a wonderful read for any aspiring or devoted activist.” — School Library Journal reviews

Rough and Tumble by Mark Bavaro

A riveting debut novel of a season in the life of a professional football player—written by one of the NFL’s best tight ends of all time.

Dominic Fucillo is a tight end for the surging New York Giants. Rebellious, ferociously angry, deeply religious and fighting injuries and a crumbling love life that would bring the average man to his knees, Dom is a veteran player who is having the toughest season of his career at a time when his team can do nothing wrong–or so it seems.

Because behind the big wins, a major scandal is brewing. The team’s star linebacker has always lived on the edge and enjoyed the nightlife more than he should. But when he’s found beaten nearly to death in the stadium parking lot, it’s clear he’s gotten himself into more than even he bargained for, and it’s something that threatens to tear himself and his team’s promising season apart.

Inspired by his years shedding blood and sweat playing professional football, Rough and Tumble is Mark Bavaro’s novel about the brutal world of the NFL—and a classic sports story of one man’s determination and grit.

“[T]he football scenes are dramatic and gripping, and the insider knowledge will fascinate fans.” — School Library Journal Review