Library Tip of the Week

Have a pass to come to the library during class? No problem! Just keep in mind the following:

• Sign in at the circulation desk. Be sure to include the time that you arrived.
• If you see Mr. Thomson talking to a class, return to class and try coming another time.
• If you have books to turn in, hang on to them if you plan to check out more.
• If you don't see Mr. Thomson in the library at all, don't wait for him to come back! Return to class and try coming another time.

Remember the 10-10 rule! You can't be out of class the first and last 10 minutes of a class.

See you in the library!

BoTW: Antsy Does Time

If you look at the cover for Antsy Does Time by Neal Shusterman, you might think the book is about some goofy cartoon characters. It's not. The book begins with a group of boys witnessing a man plunge to his death in a bizarre hot-air balloon accident. Pretty heavy stuff.

In fact, the entire book is about death, though from a teenage boy's perspective. Even so, the book is funny. Antsy is a clever, witty young fellow. He has to handle the issue of life and death with a stranger, a friend, and eventually his own father. How does Antsy do it? Read the book and find out!

New Arrival!

The Devil's Paintbox by Victoria McKernan is a book about a young family that flees Kansas in 1866, making a long and dangerous journey to Seattle. A great book for fans of historical fiction and westerns.

Library Tip of the Week

Are you using Google or Wikipedia when you do research for a class project or paper? If you are, stop! Google is a search engine, and while it does a great job tracking down hits from your keyword searches, it does not guarantee the accuracy of any information from the resulting websites.

Wikipedia is just that: a wiki that anyone can add to and edit. In general, Wikipedia does have some broad editorial control over the accuracy of its content. In reality, however, anybody can post whatever they want. The bottom line is you can't trust what you read on Wikipedia.

So where can you turn? To your very own library of course! Smith's Destiny homepage has a wide variety of online databases and encyclopedias, all of them just a click away. Best of all? You can trust the accuracy and authenticity of the information you get.

Here's how you get started:

1. Go to http://www.cfisd.net/
2. Hover your mouse over "Departments" in the middle menu tab
3. Click on "libraries"
4. Click on "Middle Schools"
5. Click on "Smith"

The default home page should immediately come up. The online databases and encyclopedias list is in the middle of the page, to the right. Click on a database and begin your searching!

New Star Wars Display

Mr. Thomson's Ma used to work in a toy store. She saved for me a Star Wars promotional display that her store never used. Their loss is our library's gain. Check it out here on the blog and live in the library!

BoTW: Gym Candy

Gym Candy by Carl Deuker is another Lone Star award winner from this past year. It's about a young high school football player who feels so much pressure to excel, he turns to steroids to improve his game. The book paints a pretty bleak picture of steroid use, and doesn't pull any punches in describing the drug's many side effects. The ending is especially intense and hard hitting. Gym Candy is a must-read for any sports fan, but also has broad appeal for any reader that likes a good book.

New Arrival!

Erin Hunter continues the Warriors: Power of Three series with this latest title, Sunrise.


For more Warriors content, visit the official website.