Witchlings Findings: Gamer Girl

One of the very few books that mixes reality with games, Mari Moncusi creates a mixed new book called the Gamer Girl. Beginning with city slicker Maddy and divorced parents, an easy-going younger sister, and moving to the suburbs with her unicorn loving grandmother, Maddy believes her life couldn't get any worse.
The best thing that had happened to her was her father buying the new game Fields of Fantasy for her birthday party that the book dedicates to as the continuation of a love plot, that her new school lacks. But when she learns that her Prince Charming, Sir Leo is from the same high school, she tries to find him.
The entire story was shallow and lacking in many ways, as Maddy believes she is the most pitiful person in the world, but isn't portrayed with an aloof and a try-to-fit-in manner at school. But the moment she enters Fields of Fantasy, she becomes a beautiful, medieval elf mage with a knight to protect her, with no concerns. The difference between Maddy's reality, and her online gaming time as Allora is too different to be relatable and believable. A common theme in suburb schools are bullies and cliques and rulers of the school. Which is quite ironic, because this doesn't really happen, especially when reading it as a student attending a school in the suburbs. The game Fields of Fantasy, while made a big deal, has a tiny role to fulfill; to continue a love story that has a million-in-one chance of actually happening in reality. Which is is basically the entire plot.

Yvonne Prinz coming Oct. 29th!

Come to the Library during tutorial on Oct. 29th for a special event with author Yvonne Prinz, presented by Book Nook. Her new book, If You're Lucky, came out yesterday. Read more about it below (from Amazon) and sign up to meet the writer when she visits.

“Who decides what’s real?”

Is Georgia's mind playing tricks on her, or is the entire town walking into the arms of a killer who has everyone but her fooled?

When seventeen-year-old Georgia's brother drowns while surfing halfway around the world in Australia, she refuses to believe Lucky's death was just bad luck. Lucky was smart. He wouldn't have surfed in waters more dangerous than he could handle. Then a stranger named Fin arrives in False Bay, claiming to have been Lucky's best friend. Soon Fin is working for Lucky's father, charming Lucky's mother, dating his girlfriend. Georgia begins to wonder: did Fin murder Lucky in order to take over his whole life?   

Determined to clear the fog from her mind in order to uncover the truth about Lucky's death, Georgia secretly stops taking the medication that keeps away the voices in her head. Georgia is certain she's getting closer and closer to the truth about Fin, but as she does, her mental state becomes more and more precarious, and no one seems to trust what she's saying.

As the chilling narrative unfolds, the reader must decide whether Georgia's descent into madness is causing her to see things that don't exist–or to see a deadly truth that no one else can.

For more info, click here or stop by the library. Contact hhs_lib@fuhsd.org to get on the guest list.

Tools to support your research

If your classes are embarking on research papers this fall, Homestead subscribes to two web-based tools to support the research process (identifying and using sources, organization and synthesizing information, and correctly citing sources).

One, which many students have already used. is Noodle Tools. NoodleTools uses virtual notecards on a virtual desktop to help organize research. Each individual notecard has a Main Idea (the title of the card) and sections to quote, paraphrase and make original connections to the source. Each card can be linked to a source in the bibliography, to keep student research organized and allow quotes and ideas to be appropriately cited in the final paper. Notecards can also be tagged and categorized, stacked and sorted on the virtual desktop, and searched and printed. Projects can be shared with teachers, who can view student progress and give feedback.

NoodleTools also has a citation creator, which walks you through the information needed to correct cite a source, and then creates the properly-formatted citation. To use the full subscription version, students should log on using their FUHSD accounts here.

New this year to Homestead is EasyBib. EasyBib has a free citation generator, which is well known to many students. Its subscription service offers much of the same functionality as NoodleTools, with a slightly different interface and usability. Students and staff should log in using their Google accounts here.

Both are integrated with Google Apps for Education, which means you can create, access and share Google Docs from within the app, and use your FUHSD login to access. Visit the library for more help in using these tools!

Last book swap of the year!

May 20th is the final book swap/lunchtime librarian visit of the school year. Bring a book to swap for something new for summer reading, or just stop by to show your Sunnyvale library card and get into the Jamba Juice drawing.

Dan's picks # 8 "the berlin boxing club"

Centered in WW2 Germany, Karl Stern, a young jew is constantly harassed by nazis and his classmate bullies. When his father makes a famous boxer a deal for some paintings in his gallery, Karl get the chance to be mentored by a world famous boxer. The story follows his rise in Karl's personal boxing career, the progress of his romantic interests and the struggles of his family. 
I personally connect with this story because of the fact that Karl is a young jewish kid like myself, however the story is very well written and not confusing at all. The reader will learn about treatment of the jewish people during WW2, as well as the personal connection to Karl and his family. I felt like I was there training with him, inspired a stronger person. Overall, great book.

Dan's picks # 7 firefight

A sequel to the phenomonal Ssteelheart, this book elaborates on the journey of the protagonist after the defeat of his greatest enemy. With the help of the elusive rebels that helped him to defeat Steelheart, he continues to pursue his lifelong passion of hunting epics. With the threat of new and powerful epics our hero continues his battle physically and internally, fighting with the morality of his actions.

Great writing as usual from this author. Some of the scenes feel a bit played out, however the plot line remains strong, and the introduction of new characters is seamless. Good inclusion of the softer, emotional stuff as well.

the maze runner

     I heard about the Maze Runner when i was at school, and from what i heard sounds like a pretty good movie. I had gone to my friends house to watch it, having the volume really loud made me feel like i'm in the theaters. So basically the movie is about a teenage boy named Thomas wakes up in an elevator in the middle of a giant labyrinth like the other youths before him. Thomas becomes part of the group and demonstrates a unique perspective to his group that there's a way out of the maze. They will work together to solve the mystery of the maze.