Wednesday, May 25, 2011

"No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks!"

"No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks!" I remember singing this Alice Cooper song when I was a kid.

Yes, school was out for summer. No more homework, no more getting up early to catch the bus. All the way home I fantasized about playing outside all day with my friends - staying up late at night watching movies rather than doing homework.

Yes, my summer was planned, and I thought I would never get bored. However, that idea was short lived. By mid June, several of my friends were away at camp or on family vacation. I had nothing to do, and nowhere to go. All I had left was to stand on my head and spit wooden nickles, as my mother suggested.

That was until I went to my local public library and found out they were running a summer program for middle schoolers. The library was going to put on a puppet show, and we got to make the puppets and the stage. I signed up immediately and went to the first meeting and had a great time. I made some new friends. I learned all about puppets and made one of my own. We read Pinocchio as a group read.

The last day we had a big party, and we performed our puppet play for the smaller children and our parents. That summer made a difference in my life. Ms Patty was the library assistant, who was a college student working at the library for the summer. She was cool, and she was fun, so she made the library cool and fun, too. I was always a reader, but this experience made me a library user for life. That was back in the days of tie dye and bell bottom jeans, back in a time when we thought summer lasted forever.
Now this may be the 21st century, and kids today may have so much more to occupy their time, but I still hear kids telling their moms they are bored, that they have nothing to do. So my suggestion is to get them down to your Library and sign up for the free Summer Library Program. Let us help make your kids library users for life.

PreK - Grade 5
We are offering something for everybody in the family. One World, Many Stories is for children from preK through grade 5, You Are Here is for tweens and teens from grade 6 through 12, and Novel Destinations is our Adult program. We will have special guests and speakers to read stories and share interesting facts about different cultures. There will be games, crafts, and prizes. Most importantly, the kids will keep up their reading skills and make new friends while having fun learning.


So don't get stuck standing in the corner spitting wooden nickels all summer come see whats happening at your local library.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

New Best Sellers

FICTION

The Sixth Man by David Baldacci. The lawyer for an alleged serial killer is murdered, and two former Secret Service agents are on the case.

The Land of the Painted Caves by Jean M Auel. The latest volume in a series that began with The Clan of the Cave Bear, set during the ice age.

Bel Air Dead by Stuart Woods. In this Stone Barrington novel, the New York lawyer makes enemies when he represents a widow in the sale of a movie studio.

A Turn in the Road by Debbie Macomber. A middle age woman takes a cross country road trip with her daughter and former mother in law.

The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly. The lawyer Mickey Haller represents a woman facing home foreclosure and who is accused of killing a banker.

Born of Shadows by Sherrilyn Kenyon. In the Ichidian universe, a smuggler and a woman warrior must fight together to survive - a League novel.

I'll Walk Alone by Mary Higgins Clark. A woman haunted by the disappearance of her young son discovers that someone has stolen her identity.

Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts. A smoke jumper faces a new season of firefighting in Montana after the loss of her partner.

Save Me by Lisa Scottoline. A mother’s action during a school emergency causes an uproar in a Philadelphia suburb.

44 Charles Street by Danielle Steel. The owner of a Greenwich Village town house takes in boarders and bonds with her tenants.

Eve by Iris Johansen. The forensic sculptor Eve Duncan searches for answers to the mystery of her daughter’s disappearance.

The Lost Fleet. Beyond the Frontier: Dreadnaught by Jack Campbell. Captain Black Jack Geary and his fleet search for aliens in Syndic space.

NONFICTION

Bossypants by Tina Fey. A memoir from the creator of 30 Rock.

I'm Over All That by Shirley MacLaine. The actress offers observations on what remains important to her.







CHILDREN

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip Christian Stead.  Zookeeper Amos McGee always makes time to visit his friends who live at the zoo until the day he stays home because he is sick.

Gooney Bird Is So Absurd by Lois Lowry and illustrated by Middy Thomas.  Mrs Pidgeon’s second grade class studies poetry and her students write haiku, couplets, free verse, and finally, a tribute to Mrs. Pidgeon’s mother that was organized by the irrepressible Gooney Bird Greene.

Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel by Nikki Grimes and illustrated by R Gregory Christie.  Spunky third grader Dyamonde Daniel misses her old neighborhood, but when she befriends a boy named Free, another new student at school, she finally starts to feel at home.

Top Secret, Personal Beeswax: A Journal by Junie B and Me by Barbara Park.  Junie B Jones shares her thoughts and personal pictures in this journal that allows the user to include information about themselves.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

The Prince Is Coming to Natchez

Earlier I posted an article about the Prince from Natchez, and the film about him. Now the film is coming to Natchez.

Film & Conversation

Prince Among Slaves is an award winning PBS documentary about the fascinating life of Abdul Rahman, a West African prince enslaved in Natchez, Mississippi for 40 years, who through improbable circumstances won his freedom and became one of the most famous men of his day.

Sunday, June 5, 2:30 — 5:30 pm
City Auditorium
FREE and open to the public

Special guest Terry Alford, author of the book upon which the film is based, will introduce the film, describing how he came to write this story and how it became a film.





Following the film, the audience will break into small groups to talk about the film. Leading the conversation will be special guest Amad Shakur, founder of the Center for the African Diaspora, a research institute in Charlotte, North Carolina.



All attendees will receive a free DVD of the film and are invited to attend a reception with refreshments following the event to honor the guest speakers at the NAPAC Museum.

Event Partners:
  • Alcorn State University
  • Antioch Missionary Baptist Association
  • Bluff City Post
  • City of Natchez
  • Copiah Lincoln Community College
  • Friends of the Armstrong Library
  • Historic Natchez Foundation
  • Judge George Armstrong Library
  • NAACP
  • Natchez Association for the Preservation of Afro American Culture
  • Natchez Convention & Visitors Bureau
  • Natchez Historical Society
  • National Endowment for the Humanities
  • National Park Service
  • Unity Productions Foundation