Celebrate Your Freedom to Read

This year’s Banned Books week takes place September 27-October 4th 2008. This annual celebration reminds people not to take their democratic freedom to read for granted. Take some time to celebrate your freedom to read.

Here are some books that have been challenged frequently:

Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes

His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman (including The Golden Compass)

Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers

Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher

What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Awesome Sports Books Part 3

Westling
Wrestling Sturbridge. 2001. Rich Wallace.
Ben decides to challenge a friend for his spot on the first string team during his senior year wrestling season.

Basketball
Ball Don’t Lie. 2007. Matt De La Pena
Sticky loves nothing more than playing basketball at the rec center he goes to in Los Angeles. It seems like he might be headed for the pros but first he has to get past the obstacles in his path.

Counting Coup: A True Story of Basketball and Honor on the Little Big Horn. 2001. Larry Colton
Check out this true story where the author follows the around the high school girl’s basketball team in Crow, Montana. The team’s star Sharon Laforge, who native American, is extremely talented but her hopes for a college scholarship are threatened by her homelife.

Dance
Rhysmyth. Illus. by Lincy Chan. 2007. Anthony Andora
Check out this graphic novel about the America’s newest sport Rhysmyth, one-on-one dance battles on top of a glass court. Elena gets her groove on after she joins to enhance her college applications.

Extreme Sports
Extreme Sports: In Search of the Ultimate Thrill. 2004. Joe Tomlinson and Ed Leigh
This books is a great place for information about extreme sports like base jumping, ice climbing and street luge.

Awesome Sports Books Part 2

Cheerleading
I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader. 2007. Kiernan Scott
Annisa tries to not lose her identity after she moves to Florida school where almost all of her classmates are blonde.

NASCAR
NASCAR Now! 2006. Timothy Miller
Find out more about NASCAR racing in this book.

Baseball
Heat. 2006. Mike Lupica
Pitcher Michael Arroyo is banned from Little League because the coaches do not believe he is only twelve. He does not have parents to prove it either.

The Boyfriend League. 2007. Rachel Hawthorn
Dani hopes to find romance when her family hosts summer league baseball players.

Hockey
Open Ice. 2007. Pat Hughes
After another concussion it looks like Nick Taglio will never play high school hockey again. Will this setback sideline him from living his life or will he rise to the challenges life offers?

Surfing
Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board. 2006. Bethany Hamilton
Check out this true story of a surfer girl who goes back to her sport after a shark attack.

Awesome Sports Books Part 1

Fall will be here on Sunday and with it the cooler weather. Fall is a great time to play sports or read books about sports. No matter your sport we have some great suggestions for you.

Soccer
Soccer Chick Rules. 2007. Dawn FitzGerald
Tess becomes involved in local politics while trying to save sports at her school.

Football
Dairy Queen. 2007. Catherine Murdock
D.J. spends the summer training the quarterback of the school’s football team then decides to try out herself.

No More Dead Dogs. 2000. Gordan Korman
Eighth grade football hero Wallace Wallace is taken off the football team when he complains about always being assigned books where the dog dies in the end. Unfortunately, he is assigned to an after school detention in the auditorium where they are producing a play about the same book that got him in trouble “Old Shep, My Pal.”

Tennis
Prince of Tennis Volume 1. 2004. Takeshi Konomi
Ryoma Echizen comes to his new school in Japan with awesome tennis skills, then challenges the rules of the school in this graphic novel.

Swimming
Head Above Water. 2003. S.L. Rottman
Sky deals with a lot in her life including competitive swimming, a brother who has Down’s Syndrome and having her first boyfriend.

Live Homework Help

Is everyone happy to be back in school? There are many fun things about the school year like seeing friends and hanging out but going to school in most cases also means that there is homework to do. Have you ever had a homework question but did not have someone right there you could ask for help? Well, that is why there is a service called Live Homework Help. Live homework help is available from 4-10pm seven days a week.

To use it go to the Chester County Library System webpage at http://www.ccls.org/ Click on the icon for Live Homework Help. You will be connected with a teacher who can help you. This service specializes in English, Math, Social Studies and Science as well as science and math instruction in Spanish. College and adult learners can also use this service.

Good luck!

New Books

These Just In:

Masquerade- Melissa De La Cruz

Chibi Vampire v. 1-4- Yuna Kagesaki

Whistle- 17,18, 19

Bone- Ghost Circles- vol. 7
Airman- Eoin Colfer

Diabolo 1,2,3
Before I Die- Jenny Downham
Chiggers- Hope Larson (Eisner Award Winner)

Get Well Soon- Julie Halpern

November Blues- Sharon Draper