New Arrival!

Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs is about a teenage girl who ends up going to high school on a remote Greek island where all the students and teachers are descendants of gods and goddesses. If you liked Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, check it out!

Library Tip of the Week

Did you know you can review a book you've checked out from the library? It's easy! Here's how:

• Log into Destiny, just like you do to put a book on hold.
• Search for the book you want to review. Click on the title.
• To the right, you should see a tab named "Reviews."
• Click on that tab.
• Write your review of the book. Or just rate the book, from one to five stars. Or do both!
• Hit the "Save" button and you're done!
• Mr. Thomson will read your submitted review, edit it for content, spelling, grammar, and punctuation, and then approve it to upload.

You can submit as many reviews as books you've read! It's fun and easy!

BoTW: Unwind

Unwind by Neal Shusterman is a book about a grim alternative future for the United States. Pro-choice and pro-life forces arm themselves and fight a civil war over the issue of abortion. Neither side wins the war, but instead compromises with a new amendment to the Constitution: The Bill of Life. As part of its tenets, the Bill states the following:

• Human life may not be touched from the moment of conception until a child reaches the age of thirteen.
• However, between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, a parent may choose to retroactively "abort" a child . . . on the condition that the child's life doesn't "technically end.
• The process by which a child is both terminated and yet kept alive is called "unwinding."
• Unwinding is now a common, and accepted practice in society.

The story begins when the main character, Connor, finds out accidentally that his parents plan to have him unwound. Knowing full well that will kill him, Connor runs away. He's quickly caught (his cellphone gives him away) but then escapes again. A fugitive from the government, Conner teams up with two other "Unwinds," attempting to stay out of sight until the day they turn eighteen and by law cannot be unwound.



Unwind is another 2009 Lone Star book and can be found in the new arrival shelf.

New Arrival!

As mentioned last week, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins just arrived! The book is the highly-anticipated sequel to Collins' The Hunger Games. Even though we've only had the book a couple of days, both copies are already checked out. If you want to read this title, login to Destiny and put it on hold today!

Library Tip of the Week

Did you get an overdue notice for books that you checked out? Turn those books in as soon as possible!

If you're still reading the book, stop by the library and renew it. If the book hasn't been put on hold, you can keep the book for another two weeks.

The Cutty Sark

Stop by the library and see the Cutty Sark, a beautiful model of the actual ship built back in 1869. John McClure, a teacher at Cy-Springs High School, lent the model to Smith as part of his "Storyboat Project." John builds ship models and then lends them out to schools to help teach students the rich naval history of the United States and world.

BoTW: The Dead and the Gone

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Pfeffer is a book about a Puerto Rican family trying to survive a devastated planet Earth. The story begins when a meteor slams into the moon, knocking it out of its typical orbit. The collision brings about catastrophic climate changes to Earth, plunging the world into a sudden Ice Age. As the temperature drops worldwide, crops fail, hunger ensues, and people starve and die by the millions.

Alex Morales, all of sixteen years old, must protect and provide for his two sisters. The entire books takes place in the middle of a New York City in the midst anarchy and destruction. Be forewarned, this book is stark and serious and not for the faint of heart. It deals liberally with a variety of moral issues, including the bleak choices that come with hard survival.

The Dead and the Gone is a 2009 Lone Star award winner. It can be found on the new release shelf with the other Lone Star winners.

New Arrival!

If you're looking for a new and . . . unusual book title, look no further than The Story Behind Toliets by Elizabeth Raum. This non-fiction title covers the entire history and mechanics of our favorite sanitary recepticals. Look for the book at call number 696 RAU.

Just try not to read while you're on the toliet!

Hot Titles Just Arrived!

Some of this year's hottest young adult titles arrived today at Smith, including Rick Riordan's The Last Olympian and Suzanne Collins' Catching Fire. Stop by the library soon to check these books because they won't be on the shelf long!

Library Tip of the Week

October 18th-24th is Teen Read Week. This year's theme is "Read Beyond Reality @ Your library," encouraging everyone (but especially teens) to read something out of this world! Check out the American Library Association's website devoted to Teen Read Week at http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teenreading/trw/trw2009/home.cfm

BoTW: Peter and the Starcatchers

Looking for a great fantasy book? Love Peter Pan and Tinkerbell? Then check out Peter and the Starcatchers, a retelling of the Peter Pan story by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. Check out Wikipedia's entry about Peter and the Starcatchers, including summaries of the book and the major characters, comparisons between this book and the original written by Barrie, and critical opinions of the book.

And if you like Peter and the Starcatchers, read the sequels, Peter and the Shadow Thieves and Peter and the Secret of Rundoon.

Look for all three books in the Fiction section, under the call number FIC BARRY. For lots more information about the book, visit the website http://www.peterandthestarcatchers.com/

New Arrival!

The Seventh Daughter by Frewin Jones is a new fantasy title about an alternative world on the other side of modern day London. Tania and Edric must join forces to fight the evil Sorcerer King and save King Oberon and The Faerie Court. It's the third book in The Faerie Path series.

Library Tip of the Week

You can access Smith's library from the comfort of your own home! Here's how:

1. Go to Cy-Fair's homepage at http://www.cfisd.net/.
2. In the middle tool bar, mouse over to departments.
3. In the pop-up toolbar, click on "libraries."
4. Click on "middle school."
5. Click on "Smith."

That's it! The Smith library page works the same at home as it does at school, so feel free to search for hot titles, put books on hold, or check to see what you have checked out.

Cirque du Freak Movie

The Cirque du Freak series by Darren Shan is a fan favorite here at Smith. Check out the trailer for the upcoming movie, The Vampire's Assistant.

You can check out more Cirque du Freak stuff at the official website: http://www.thevampiresassistant.net/

BoTW: The Traitor's Gate

Do you like a good mystery? Do you like historical fiction? If you do, you'll enjoy The Traitor's Gate by Avi. The story begins with a mysterious meeting between two shadowy men. Are they trading in government secrets? Yes! John Hoffman's father works for the navy and has access to a new rifle design that promises to revolutionize firearms in the 19th century. John himself gets sucked into the intrigue when his father gets thrown into debtor's jail. John must play the role of adolescent detective to save his family from shame and bankruptcy.

The best part of this book is the setting: 19th century London, inspired by the writing of Charles Dickens. In fact, Avi mentions Dickens often throughout his book, most often the novel David Copperfield.

New Arrival!

Anthony Horowitz is famous for his Alex Rider series, but his latest book The Switch has nothing to do with a teenage spy. The book is about a boy who wishes his life were different. He gets his wish when he's magically transformed into an entirely different person, the son of a poor carnival worker.

Look for it in the blue Fiction section with the call number FIC HOROWITZ.

Is the book checked out already? Log in too Destiny and put it on hold!