The Unidentified

In the not-too-distant future, the federal government has proven unable to continue to put money into educating the nation's youth. Instead, school are taken over by corporate sponsors who provide the latest and greatest in technology and give students the freedom to choose their own activities and learn at their own pace. In exchange, the students are constantly monitored by where they swipe their ID cards and their activity on social networking sites for the purposes of market research. The best of the best are chosen by the sponsors to be "branded" and become spokespeople for their products. Education is driven by so much consumerism and virtual technology that they no longer call it school - it's just The Game.

Kid Dade is a mediocre student. She's smart but doesn't quite have the drive that other students do to become branded. She would rather confide in her two best friends than have a huge network of almost-friends and prefers to make music just for herself than for the masses. But after a strange prank catches her eye Kid becomes entangled with a group known as The Unidentified, a small group of students who value their privacy and refuse to be taken in by The Game's consumerism. But when Kid's interest in The Unidentified is picked up by the sponsors they decide to brand her, giving the sponsors the rights to all of Kid's ideas and creations in The Game and greater access to The Unidentified. How will this group rebel when their actions are simply spun into the latest trend?

This first novel by Rae Mariz takes a compelling look at social networking and consumerism in our society. The kids in The Game are constantly online and constantly connected via gadgets like smartphones and social networking similar to Twitter and Facebook. The scary part is that you can really see how this fictional world stems from our own. I really give this book credit for making readers think about issues like privacy in social networking and commercialism, and how challenging it can be to find our own truly unique identities in a consumer-driven society. I would have really liked to see the educational aspect of The Game a bit better developed as the characters seemed to nearly exclusively participate in extra-curriculars (or is this purpously done?), but this book still remains incredibly thought-provoking and absorbing.

Overall Grade: A-

Yippee!

Today was another installment of LEGO Club, and once again I had a room full of school-age kids eagerly creating masterpieces out of colored bricks. At one point during the 1 1/2 hour Club time one of the boys asked me how much more time we had left. I reassured him that we had about 30 minutes left, so he had plenty of time to keep building. Pleased, the boy said, "Yippee!" and hurried off happily to have some more fun with the LEGOs.

I don't think I've ever heard the word "yippee" used in a sincere, non-sarcastic manner in my life. Hearing it come out of a 9-year-old's mouth was actually kind of awesome. Such honest jubilation, complete with an exclamation point or two tacked on the end, is actually a pretty challenging thing to vocalize. Phrases like "hooray" and "yippee" tend to sound a bit cheesy and, dare I say, a bit old fashioned when said out loud.

We have other words in the English language that accomplish the same thing as "yippee" that are used much more frequently in our society. "Awesome!" "Yeah!" "Cool!" "Woot!" "Gnarly, dude!" (I may be being a tad facetious on that last one.) But I'll be honest, it totally made me smile in a completely happy, non-sarcastic way to hear a good old-fashioned "Yippee!" here in the library.

Subscribe!

Did you know that you can subscribe to my blog and be notified every time a new post is published? It's pretty easy. At the bottom of the sidebar you will see that I have set up both an RSS feed and e-mail notifications. Pick your poison and never miss one of my awesome library-themed ramblings.

Bulletin Board - Non-Fiction

In my library, the children's non-fiction is set up in a pretty interesting way. Instead of rows and aisles of books, our non-fiction collection wraps around the room, covering two whole walls. Above these shelves I have a good amount of bulletin board space to play with. But what should I do with this space?

Remember, I personally believe that library bulletin boards should be both useful and decorative. And what better use of this unique space than to highlight the non-fiction collection below! I decided to think about the questions that we get fairly regularly from kids seeking materials. Where are the dinosaur books? The sports books? What about joke books? I selected 24 different subjects and made simple signs with the appropriate Dewey call number and the subject name.



Next came the fun part. I went through the non-fiction section and selected 2-3 books from each of these subject areas. I made color copies of the covers of each book, shrunk down in many cases to the appropriate size. A ladder and several dozen pins later and voila! A lovely bulletin board that is both attractive and useful to patrons. Now when they ask us where they can find books about animals (or pirates, or fairy tales, or the weather...) we can use these signs to guide them to the materials they need.

Livvie Owen Lived Here

Things haven't been easy for 14-year-old Livvie Owen. Her parents lost their jobs at the local mill when it closed down and since then have had to commute to the nearby city of Neighbor to work. They have spent the past several years renting homes and trailers, but they can't stay in one place for too long. A big part of this is because Livvie has autism, and occasionally she throws violent fits that damage the property. Livvie is obsessed with finding the perfect home for her family - one with four bedrooms so that her sister don't have to share, one that is pet-friendly so she can keep her cat, and one that just makes Livvie and her family feel at peace. On top of it all, Livvie has started hearing the sound of the whistle that once called and dismissed workers at the mill from their day at work. Most chalk it up as a figment of Livvie's imagination created by her autism. But will anyone - her teachers, her sisters, or her parents - be able to understand how important it is that she get to the bottom of this?

There are a lot of great books out there about kids with autism - Marcello in the Real World, Rules, and Anything But Typical immediately come to mind. Author Sarah Dooley did a great job of getting inside the head of a kid with autism, and Livvie's existence is in do doubt inspired by Dooley's own experiences as a special ed teacher. The narration is lyrical and beautiful - perhaps a tad too elegant and refined for someone with autism, but nevertheless it is a joy to read. Perhaps most remarkable about this story is the relationship that Livvie has with her family, especially her sisters, which is honest in both its struggles and its joys. I'll admit that I teared up a bit at the end of this book with happiness as things finally started to come together for Livvie and her family.

Overall Grade: B+