It's a Crisis. What Can You Do?

Event Description:
Monday April 19 - 8:00 pm. EST
Special Guests: Chris Harris and Buffy Hamilton
Hostess: Gwyneth Jones and Carolyn Foote
Location: https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/launch/dropin.jnlp?sid=lcevents&password=Webinar_Guest

It's the most exciting time to be a teacher librarian. The opportunities for learning have never been more rich. The studies prove the value of the role of strong school libraries in student achievement. Yet, the pink slips are flying. Where do we go from here? Led by Buffy Hamilton and Chris Harris and moderated by Gwyneth Jones and Carolyn Foote, this webinar is a crisis planning session for moving forward with purpose! Please join us!

TL Cafe events, the first Monday night of each month.
Visit the Elluminate room: https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/launch/dropin.jnlp?sid=lcevents&password=Webinar_Guest
(allow around 10 minutes to login!)

See who's attending and get more information here.

My Mom is a Firefighter

Would you ever imagine having a Mom who is a firefighter and having two families because of her job? Billy’s mom is a firefighter and his second family is the other firefighters at the firehouse. When his mom is working at the firehouse, his dad takes care of him at home. This book by Lois G. Grambling shows all the jobs Billy’s mom does as a firefighter and as a mom. Besides fighting fires,she teaches kids about fire safety and she takes turns cooking at the firehouse. One of the most exciting things Billy’s mom does is drives the great, big ladder fire truck. The illustrator, Jane Manning, has drawn brightly colored pictures in My Mom is a Firefighter (Harper Collins, 2008) that show all the jobs Billy’s mom performs as a firefighter. There are not a lot of women firefighters, but this book shows how Mom's can do anything Dad's can do!

Meet the Author

http://biography.jrank.org/pages/68/Grambling-Lois-G-1927-Sidelights.html

To learn more about the book's illustrator, check Jane Manning's website:

http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmr/mtai/manning.html

More Books by Lois G. Grambling

You Are Cordially Invited...

The university community is invited to attend the inaugural UCF Book Festival in association with the Morgridge International Reading Center on Saturday, April 17, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the UCF Arena and the Psychology Building.

More than 60 noted authors and poets will be on hand to discuss their works, meet readers, and autograph copies of their books. Book sales, exhibitors, children's activities, and complimentary book appraisals are among many highlights of the event. Admission to the UCF Book Festival is free. A full schedule of events and activities is available online at bookfestival.ucf.edu.

Please call 407-823-2835 for additional information.

The Boy Who Grew Flowers by Jennifer Wojtowicz

Here is a story for anyone who has ever felt different. I simply fell in love with this story from the first read! Published by Barefoot Books in 2005, The Boy Who Grew Flowers introduces Rink Bowagon, a misfit young man who just doesn’t seem to fit in. The kids at school make fun of him because of his family of misfits, but they don’t know his secret talent of growing flowers from his head during every full moon. Life at school is difficult for Rink, that is until Angelina arrives. The two instantly click and suddenly Rink finds the one true friend he’s been looking for. Rink discovers that Angelina is different in a special way too. Or maybe she’s more like him that they both know? You’ll have to read The Boy Who Grew Flowers by Jennifer Wojtowicz to find out just how happily Rink and Angelina’s story might end. You’ll gush over the beautiful and creatively painted illustrations by Steve Adams. The Boy Who Grew Flowers is a quirky book, and timeless story that reminds us all that despite our differences and “oddities” we are all special inside and have something to share with others. We are all worthy to love and be loved, even if others don’t realize it. The Boy Who Grew Flowers is one of the must reads for all elementary age children in 2010!

This story was based upon the author’s real life brother! Explore Jennifer Wojtowicz’s website and find out more about the inspiration behind The Boy Who Grew Flowers.

Copper Sun by Sharon Draper

What would you do if you were kidnapped from your village in Africa, sent to the American South and sold into slavery? Amari has to take this terrifying journey to South Carolina, where she meets an indentured slave girl, Polly. After months working on the same plantation, the girls run away when the master kills the man his wife was sleeping with and the baby they conceived. Author, Sharon Draper, writes a suspenseful tale of the girls’ path to Fort Mose in Spanish, Florida where they can be free. This book details life during the colonial period and would be a great read for Middle School and High School students studying this time in history. Recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award, this book (Simon Pulse, 2006), shows how slaves were treated and what they were willing to go through to be free.

Want to see what other books Sharon Draper has written? Check out this link!

http://sharondraper.com/bookdetail.asp?id=20

Review of Copper Sun

http://www.teenreads.com/reviews/0689821816.asp

Book Trailer for Copper Sun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRhh6B91YJU

Copper Sun Book Trailer. (December, 2009). From You Tube. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRhh6B91YJU