Extension Forms
As posted last Monday, last week was the final week for regular check-outs in the MRC and Central Library; HOWEVER, if you still need books for a class or project, all you need to do is stop into either library and pick up a Circulation Extension form. Get the form signed by a teacher, then give it to one of the MRC or Central librarians to keep your book for an extra week (one form per book).
Amnesty Week
Spring Amnesty Week is coming up soon! During the week of May 21-25, bring in any library books you still have (no matter how overdue they are) and have your late fees cleared! (Seniors, please make sure you bring those overdue books to Central Library, not MRC -- there's a little extra paperwork involved that they'll take care of.)
We know, we know -- you've still got another month here. But the libraries have to start figuring out what's missing*, what needs replaced**, who still owes overdue fines***, etc, and so forth. So...
EVERYTHING is due THIS FRIDAY, May 11.
This means, of course, that you only have this week to check out and read any books from the MRC and Central Library that you didn't get the chance to read yet. (After that you'll need a special extension form signed by your teacher in order to check anything out. Forms are available in both MRC and Central Library.)
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*Are we missing something from you? Please stop in and return it! Are you not even sure whether we're missing something from you? Please stop in and check with the librarians!
**Did you lose a book? Like, you've searched and searched and it's just never coming back? Did you tell us yet? Could you, please?
***Are you one of those people who owes overdue fines? Please stop in and pay them ASAP! Are you one of those people who really have no idea whether you owe overdue fines? Please stop in a check with the librarians!
Camp Nine: A Novel
by Vivienne Schiffer
"These are the parts of my life: before Camp Nine and after Camp Nine, and those brief, unexpected days when Camp Nine was everything to me."
 On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 authorizing the secretary of war to prescribe military zones “from which any or all persons may be excluded.” Eventually this order was applied to one-third of the land area in the United States, clearing the way for the relocation of 120,000 people of Japanese descent.
Chess Morton lives in tiny Rook, Arkansas. Her days are
quiet and secluded until the appearance of a relocation center built for the internment of thousands of Japanese Americans. Chess’s life becomes intertwined with those of two young internees and that of an American soldier mysteriously connected to her mother’s past. As Chess watches the struggles and triumphs of these strangers and sees her mother seek justice for these people who came briefly and involuntarily to call the Arkansas Delta their home, she discovers surprising and disturbing truths about her family’s painful past.
Reviews:
"A compelling, vivid account of a shameful episode that should not be forgotten." --Booklist (starred review)
"Through the prisms of place, family, race, class, power, and privilege, Vivienne Schiffer skillfully constructs a necessarily complicated portrait of the era into a meaningful mosaic and satisfying story." --Grif Stockley, author of Ruled by Race: Black/White Relations in Arkansas from Slavery to the Present (University of Arkansas Press)____________________________________Interested in other fiction about life in the United States during WWII? Check out...
- Caleb's Wars, by David L. Dudley
- Is It Night or Day?, by Fern Schumer Chapman
- The Whirlwind, by Carol Matas
- Homefront, by Doris Gwaltney
- The Green Glass Sea, by Ellen Klages
- House of the Red Fish and Under the Blood-red Sun, both by Graham Salisbury
- A Boy No More, by Harry Mazar
- Slap Your Sides: A Novel, by M.E. Kerr
- All Good Women, by Valerie Miner
- The Homefront: Collected Stories, by Margaret Craven
Now Is the Time for Running
by Michael Williams
"The game is 2-2 when the soldiers come in their jeeps..."
 Just down the road from their families, Deo and his friends play soccer in the dusty fields of Zimbabwe, cheered on by Deo's older brother, Innocent. It is a day like any other ... until the soldiers arrive and Deo and Innocent are forced to run for their lives, fleeing the wreckage of their village for the distant promise of safe haven. Along the way, they face the prejudice and poverty that await refugees everywhere, and must rely on the kindness of people they meet to make it through. But when tragedy strikes, Deo's love of soccer is all he has left.
Relevant, timely, and accessibly written, Now Is the Time For Running is a staggering story of survival that follows Deo and his mentally handicapped older brother on a transformative journey that will stick with readers long after the last page.
Reviews:
"A harrowing tale of modern Zimbabwe... gripping, suspenseful and deeply compassionate." --Kirkus (starred review)
"Williams skillfully draws the plight of these refugee brothers with both suspense and sympathy, and readers cannot help but root for them in their quest to rebuild their broken lives ... a compelling mix of suspense, sports, and social injustice." --Horn Book _________________________________________ Interested in other fiction about modern Africa? Check out...
- We Are All Zimbabweans Now, by James William Kilgore (**also new the MRC**)
- Welcome to Hillbrow: A Novel of Post-Apartheid South Africa, by Phaswane Mpe
- Say You're One of Them, by Uwem Akpan
- This Thing Called the Future: A Novel, by J.L. Powers
- Running the Rift: A Novel, by Naomi Benaron
- Baking Cakes in Kigali, by Gaile Parkin
- Broken Memory: A Novel of Rwanda, by Elizabeth Combres
- Chanda's Wars, by Allan Stratton
- Over a Thousand Hills I Walk with You, by Hanna Jansen
- Measuring Time: A Novel, by Helon Habila
- A Hare in the Elephant's Trunk, by Jan Coates
- Coconut, by Kopano Matlwa
- Between Sisters, by Adwoa Badoe
- Many Stones, by Carolyn Coman
- Rainmaker, by Don Pinnock
- Beats of No Nation, by Uzodinma Iweala
- The Power of One, by Bryce Courtenay
- Swallow, by Sefi Atta
- The Famished Road, by Ben Okri
- Living, Loving, and Lying Awake at Night, by Sindiwe Magona (short stories)
- In Corner B, by Es'kia Mphahlele (short stories)
Amplified
by Tara Kelly
"My fingers were slick against the strings, and I couldn't tell the difference between Bryn's chaotic beat and my heart. Air escaped my lips, reminding me to breath. This was it. A chance to be part of a band that completely rocks. And I couldn't even move."
 When privileged seventeen-year-old Jasmine decides she doesn't want to go to college, her father kicks her out. Left to fend for herself, Jasmine takes her savings and flees to Santa Cruz to pursue her dream of becoming a musician. She finds the ideal room in an oceanfront house, but she needs to convince the three guys living there that she's the perfect roommate and lead guitarist for their band, C-Side. Too bad she has major stage fright, and the cute bassist doesn't think a spoiled girl from Woodside can hack it.
Reviews:
"Kelly’s background in music is evident in her electric descriptions of Jasmine’s evolution as a performer." --Publisher's Weekly
"A treat for industrial-rock lovers; a pleasant summer read for others." --Kirkus Review
______________________________________ Interested in other fiction that rocks? Check out...
- Beat the Band, by Don Calame
- Five Flavors of Dumb, by Antony John
- So Punk Rock (and Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother): A Novel, by Micol Ostow
- Fat Kid Rules the World, by K.L. Going
- Freefall, by Mindi Scott
- Battle of the Bands, by K.L. Denman
- Guitar Girl, by Sarra Manning
- Born to Rock, by Gordon Korman
- Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
- Rock Star, by Adam Chamberlain
- My Misadventures as a Teenage Rock Star, by Joyce Raskin
- Rock Star Superstar, by Blake Nelson
- Where She Went, by Gayle Forman (sequel to If I Stay, written from Adam's perspective)
Everybody Sees the Ants
by A.S. King  Lucky Linderman didn't ask for his life. He didn't ask his grandfather not to come home from the Vietnam War. He didn't ask for a father who never got over it. He didn't ask for a mother who keeps pretending their dysfunctional family is fine. And he didn't ask to be the target of Nader McMillan's relentless bullying, which has finally gone too far.
But Lucky has a secret -- one that helps him wade through the daily mundane torture of his life. In his dreams, Lucky escapes to the war-ridden jungles of Laos -- the prison his grandfather couldn't escape -- where Lucky can be a real man, an adventurer, and a hero. It's dangerous and wild, and it's a place where his life just might be worth living. But how long can Lucky keep hiding in his dreams before reality forces its way inside?
Michael L. Printz Honor recipient A.S. King's smart, funny, and boldly original writing shines in this powerful novel about learning to cope with the shrapnel life throws at you and taking a stand against it.
---------------------------------- Interested in other fiction related to the Vietnam War? Check out...
- Of Rice and Men: A Novel of Vietnam, by Richard Galli
- All the Broken Pieces: A Novel in Verse, by Ann Burg
- Amaryllis, by Craig Crist-Evans
- Search and Destroy, by Dean Hughes
- Fields of Fire, by James Webb
- Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
- Paco's Story, by Larry Heinemann
- The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brian
- The Short-Timers, by Gustav Hasford (inspiration for the movie "Full Metal Jacket"!)
- Don't Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Vietnam, by Susan O'Neill (short stories)
- The Other Side of Heaven: Postwar Fiction by Vietnamese and American Writers, ed. Wayne Karlin, Le Minh Khue, and Truong Vu (short stories)
Please note that the MRC will be closed to study halls and drop-ins during our scheduled activities, UNLESS those students wish to attend the workshops.
Spring Break is fast approaching! Whether you're preparing for a long drive or flight, headed to the local beaches, or just planning to relax at home, you'll want something good to read, right? (I mean, in-flight movies and daytime TV get old pretty quickly.)
FORTUNATELY, the MRC (as well as Central Library) has just received a HUGE shipment of new and new-to-us books!!!
We'll be featuring some of the new titles here on the website over the next few weeks, but get in early (and keep yourself entertained over break) by stopping into the MRC this week to take a look!
My Bloody Life: The Making of a Latin King
| Once a King, Always a King: The Unmaking of a Latin King
| Lady Q: The Rise and Fall of a Latin Queen
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Some of the most popular books in both the MRC and Central Library are Reymundo Sanchez's books about his time with the Latin Kings. We get asked about his books all the time, and once they're returned, they usually get checked out again almost immediately.
So what are you supposed to do if all the copies are checked out? (Or what if you've already read all of them?)
Here are some fiction and nonfiction books with similar themes that you can check out from the MRC in the meantime...
- A Good Day to Die, by James Hendricks [fiction]
- Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A., by Luis J. Rodriguez [nonfiction]
- Barrio Bushido, by Benjamin Bac Sierra [fiction]
- The Dirty South, by Alex Wheatle [fiction]
- Midnight: A Gangster Love Story, by Sister Souljah [fiction]
- True to the Game and Dutch, by Teri Woods [fiction]
- Yummy: The Last Days of a South Side Shorty, by Greg Neri [nonfiction graphic novel]
- Hood Rat and Gangsta, by K'wan [fiction]
- The Apostles, by Y. Blak Moore [fiction]
- 47th Street Black: A Novel, by Bayo Ojikutu [fiction]
- The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton [fiction]
- Scorpions, by Walter Dean Myers [fiction]
- Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang, by Joyce Carol Oates [fiction]
- Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga, by Hunter S. Thompson [nonfiction]
Good Omens
by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
"Have a nice doomsday."
 We hear the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner. Unfortunately, Sister Mary Loquacious of the Chattering Order has misplaced the Antichrist. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ride motorcycles. And the representatives from Heaven and Hell have decided they actually like the human race...
Reviews:
"It reads like the Book of Revelation rewritten by Monty Python." --San Francisco Chronicle
"From beginning to end, Good Omens is side-splittingly funny...a ripping good time." --Rave Reviews
"Irreverently funny and unexpectedly wise" --Library Journal
------------------------------- Interested in more silly sci-fi/fantasy? Check out...
- American Gods and Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
- A Hat Full of Sky and The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchett
- Cat's Cradle and The Sirens of Titan, by Kurt Vonnegut
- The Stupidest Angel, by Christpher Moore
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Doug Adams
- A Spell for Chameleon, by Piers Anthony
- Borgel, by Daniel Pinkwater
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