I have been asked to talk to a class about blogging and how I started my website and blogging. Then I realized, I have not updated my blog since October! That's the number one no-no in blogging! If you're going to blog, you have to give your audience updates often.

I like blogging, but sometimes I don't know where to start? For today, I'm going to start by promising to update more often for the students, parents, and teachers of Pewaukee (and beyond).  Because blogging is collaborative, I would also like your comments and suggestions. Don't be afraid to post a courteous comment or share more information with all of us in the comment section.

The voting is open for the Waukesha county Kids Choice Awards! Please vote for your favorite nominee before February 12th.

http://www.wcfls.org/kidschoice/nominees.php

There are so many things going on in our libraries, it is hard for me to keep up! Last month, we redesigned Pewaukee Lake library to make a larger meeting space and ended up with more shelf space for new books.

My two schools have book fairs running at the same time, right now. There are only a few more days left, hurry and get a brand new GREAT book soon! If you can't get there, you can always purchase online, too.  I want to thank all of the volunteers and Book Fair Chairs for providing all of us with an awesome fair! We couldn't do it without them! Please help me to thank them and let them know how much you love the book fair.

At Horizon, I am in the process of making room for 600 new fiction books. That's right! 600! I can't wait to share the new titles and authors with students.  I expect the order to arrive at the end of November. Stay tuned to the New Book Spotlight page to see what's coming.

Soon the Youth Librarian from public library will visit us to tell us about the 2013 Waukesha County KIds Choice Awards nominees.

This seems to be the latest video going viral online. Probably most of my students never knew this man, but us old folks grew up watching Mr. Rogers Neighborhood every day. He really did instill curiosity and imagination in me. Enjoy the video!

Struck by Jennifer Bosworth, Of Poseidon by Anna Banks, Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne, Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo....Each page more fierce than the last! Download the song at https://www.facebook.com/FierceReads and where you can read chapter excerpts, and more! 

Download links will be posted at
www.audiobooksync.com. 

Schedule of SYNC Downloads 
SYNC Titles Summer 2012

June 14 – June 20, 2012
The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch, Read by Dan Bittner (Scholastic Audiobooks)
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Frank Galati [Adapt.], Read by Shirley Knight, Jeffrey Donovan, and a Full Cast (L.A. Theatre Works)

June 21 – June 27, 2012
Irises by Francisco X. Stork, Read by Carrington MacDuffie (Listening Library)
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, Read by Wanda McCaddon (Tantor Media)

June 28 – July 4, 2012
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud, Read by Simon Jones
(Listening Library)
Tales from the Arabian Nights by Andrew Lang, Read by Toby Stephens
(Naxos AudioBooks)

July 5 – July 11, 2012
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake, Read by August Ross (AudioGO)
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, Read by Ian Holm (AudioGO)

July 12 – July 18, 2012
Guys Read: Funny Business by Jon Scieszka [Ed.] et al., Read by Michael Boatman, Kate DiCamillo, John Keating, Jon Scieszka, Bronson Pinchot (Harper Audio)
The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Stories by Mark Twain, Read by Norman Dietz (Recorded Books)

July 19 – July 25, 2012
Cleopatra’s Moon by Vicky Alvear Shecter, Read by Kirsten Potter (Oasis Audio)
Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare, Read by a Full Cast (AudioGO)

July 26 – August 1, 2012
Pinned by Alfred C. Martino, Read by Mark Shanahan (Listen & Live Audio)
TBA (Brilliance Audio)

August 2 – August 8, 2012
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, Read by Khristine Hvam (Hachette Audio)
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Read by Simon Prebble (Blackstone Audio)

August 9 – August 15, 2012
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy, Read by Rupert Degas (Harper Audio)
Dead Men Kill by L. Ron Hubbard, Read by Jennifer Aspen and a Full Cast
(Galaxy Press)

August 16 – August 22, 2012
The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera, Read by Jay Laga’aia (Bolinda Audio)
The Call of the Wild by Jack London, Read by William Roberts (Naxos AudioBooks)

Go take a look!! Pottermore is a unique online experience from J.K. Rowling, built around the Harry Potter books. 

I keep seeing this term "steampunk." WHAT IS STEAMPUNK????

Wikipedia states that, " Steampunk is a genre which came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s and incorporates elements of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, horror, and speculative fiction. It involves a setting where steam power is widely used—whether in an alternate history such as Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United States, or in a post-apocalyptic time —that incorporates elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology, or futuristic innovations as Victorians might have envisioned them, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture,architectural style, and art. This technology includes such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or the contemporary authors Philip Pullman, Scott Westerfeld and China Mieville. 


 Read more about this popular genre at:
 www.steampunk.com www.steampunkmagazine.com
http://steampunkscholar.blogspot.com

Our library has a few steampunk books, but you can look forward to more steampunk books to come!