Abduction

Have You Read This Yet?

June 07, 2011

I had one of our teenaged patrons bring forth a challenge to me recently. He is an avid reader and dared me to find some teen books that he had not read yet.

We walked back to our Young Adult section, and I rattled off some titles that I personally love, but he had read most of those books. After mulling around the stacks (and my brain), I was finally able to find some books that he had not read yet.

I have since put a tally in the WIN column, and would like to share the titles with you if you’re looking for even more to read at the library.

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Redwall by Brian Jacques

The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen

Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan

Lord Loss (the first of the Demonata series) by Darren Shan

Vampirates: Demons of the Ocean by Justin Somper

Keeper of the Grail by Michael Spradlin

The Surge of Graphic Novels

May 24, 2011

In 1971, Gil Kane and Archie Goodwin wrote and illustrated Blackmark, a novel that combined comic art with word balloons in an adult format. It was not the first book to use the term “graphic novel”, but has since been agreed upon as the first graphic novel.

If you haven’t noticed yet, MCPL has begun collecting these Adult Graphic Novels in its collection. They are distinctly different from our teen graphic novels, which tend to be more superhero related or manga. There has been increased demand for these graphic novels recently, and just as MCPL has opened its catalog to eBooks, the library has given a home to this literary medium as well. There has been controversy about adult graphic novels and their place in the public library, but I find them to be a valid and unique medium of expression.

Hollywood is to blame for the recent rabid popularity of graphic novels. Movies like 300, V For Vendetta, Sin City, and Watchmen are all based on graphic novels. However, graphic novels have been around much longer than just a few years. Throughout the 1900s, graphic novels have been published branching away from their comic book counterparts. They have won critics’ acclaim, and some have won literary awards. In fact, Maus by Art Spiegelman won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992.

As manga has grown in popularity, so have the adult graphic novels. Many mainstream authors are cashing in on the opportunity to gain even more readers. You will recognize a lot of the author’s names like James Patterson, Laurel K. Hamilton, Dean Koontz, and Janet Evanovich. Some have escaped the limelight of popular fiction such as Brian Vaughan and Alcante.

Graphic novels are a unique way to tell a story, and illustrators can use colors in a variety of ways to exude certain feelings that an author wants to convey. Picto-fiction, as it used to be called, is an exciting way to get readers into books again. A 1000 page hardcover book can be transformed into a 6 volume mini-series of graphic novels, which is much less daunting. In a way, these graphic novels bridge the gap between books and movies by creating a vivid hybrid of the two media. Many of the works include social and political commentary as well.

I hope you take the opportunity to explore these new additions to the library’s collection.

Geo-what?

May 04, 2011

Spring is upon us, and there’s no better time to get out and enjoy the weather and nature itself. There is a great way to do so and gain a sense of adventure at the same time. If you have a GPS or a smart phone, you can participate in the worldwide adventure of geocaching (pronounced gee-oh-cashing)!

What is geocaching? It’s been around for hundreds of years, but in the past 20 years it has really boomed in popularity. Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting endeavor that utilizes GPS coordinates. Players hide geocaches in parks or on trails, and mark them with coordinates. If you want to join in the fun, you can look up cache locations on the internet at geocaching.com and load them into your GPS or smart phone.

Every cache has a different “treasure,” though the treasure is not monetary. Treasures are usually items that can be traded, or they can be special trinkets that are on traveling missions. Every cache has a logbook, so take a pen or pencil to mark that you found it. Always put the caches back just as you found them for the next seekers to find!

Geocaching is a great way to enjoy the outdoors, see new places, and, most importantly, have fun. The game is ever changing because new caches are hidden every day, and there are already millions located worldwide! For more information, you can check out our catalog for geocaching books,geocaching.com, or even Blue Springs Parks and Recreation. Happy hunting and good luck!

QR Qrazy!

March 21, 2011

Have you looked through your favorite magazine lately and found these on the pages? Within articles and advertisements, you may find these alien squares with smaller black and white squares within them. Publishers will have them scattered through their magazines to give added insight to articles, or offer a chance to enter some giveaway. Some advertisers will use an entire page just to present a single alien square. Others use them as supplements to their physical ads. Book publishers and authors are even jumping on the media bandwagon. What are these crazy things, and where did they come from?

Well, way back in 1994 (around the time eBay was founded), a Japanese company developed these Quick Response Codes. We know them today by their abbreviation: QR Codes. These square codes were initially used to track automotive parts through their assembly process, but have since been repurposed in a variety of ways. For example, these little squares ranging from 1” to 3” can store many different kinds of information. I have actually created and used QR Codes recently at http://zxing.appspot.com/generator/. ZXing (pronounced Zebra Crossing) is a web project that users participate in to make the codes more readily available and customizable. I created one QR Code that contained all of my contact information. Another one contained an upcoming event. Still another code linked to one of my favorite websites. Feel free to create one of your own and send it to friends!

With a barcode scanner on your smartphone, you can read these QR Codes. Once you scan the code, it will take you to the website, or add a person to your contacts, or even add an event to your calendar depending on what the code contains. Sometimes, it will give you multiple choices for a single code. MCPL has joined the trend, too! Don’t be surprised if you find more and more of these codes on our posters and publications. You can obtain a barcode scanner from your smartphone’s app store or market. The one that I have is simply called “Barcode Scanner” and is freely provided by ZXing.

If you would like more information, visit www.QRcode.com/index-e.html. If you have a barcode scanner already, you can scan the QR Code above. If you don’t, be sure to come back after downloading it and scan the code above. After you’re done here, go check out some magazines and start scanning. You never know what you’ll find or what you may win just by scanning a little techie square.

An Enigma of Aviation

February 28, 2011

What do airplanes, satellites, World War I epics, oil drilling, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder have in common? One man named Howard R. Hughes, Jr.

Howard Hughes was born in 1905 to incredibly successful parents. In fact, his father invented an oil drill bit that revolutionized the industry. After inheriting his father’s company and the millions of dollars with it, Howard turned his sight from business to Hollywood. He produced a myriad of movies, but his greatest success and expense was Hell’s Angels, a World War I epic in 1930. The movie required over $4 million, 18 months of filming, and over 100 planes, which Hughes commissioned to be built.

Hughes’s fascination with planes continued throughout his life. Hughes broke the air speed record in a plane that he had designed, and he acquired Trans World Airlines where he invented the precursor to the modern commercial airliner. He also designed the Spruce Goose, a giant wooden plane that was supposed to carry military and supplies behind enemy lines.

Hughes and his companies also engineered the shell for the Voyager satellites and laid the groundwork for satellite television. Hughes managed all of this and more while living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

You can find out even more about Howard Hughes at the library. Check out the movies, The Aviator or The Amazing Howard Hughes. The library also has numerous documentaries about the enigma that was Howard Hughes, and you can look up his biography in the American National Biography database.

How the States Got Their Shapes

November 09, 2010

Why does Missouri have the boot heel? Why is Michigan in two parts? How come Texas is so big, but Rhode Island is so small? If you’ve ever wondered about the eccentricities of the 50 states or would like to learn about them, then we have the perfect book for you.

How the States Got Their Shapes is a fascinating book that addresses many of the questions about just that. It explains why some states have mostly straight borders, while others are surrounded by rivers. It also looks at the driving forces behind naming and shaping the states. The History Channel even aired a miniseries based on the book. After you read How the States Got Their Shapes, perhaps a road trip is in order to explore the boundaries of the states.

If a road trip is not what you’re looking for, you can pick up Lost States by Michael J. Trinklein. It is a brand new book, and it gives a fun history lesson about the states that never were like Franklin, Chippewa, Montezuma and Yazoo.

Mo Knows Learning

October 25, 2010

You may or may not have heard of Mo Willems, but you most likely have seen his works. He has become very well known for his award winning children’s books. His works include the Pigeon series, Elephant & Piggie books, and Knuffle Bunny. Recently, he has written Big Frog Can’t Fit In, a pop-up book.

Besides his children book awards, did you know that he has won six Emmys? It’s true! Mo worked on Sesame Street, and while he was there, he won the Emmy Awards for his writing. Willems has a talent for connecting with children, and making memorable stories that enrich children with common concepts of personal relationships. Come check out Mo Willems for the kids, or for your own personal enrichment!

Getting a Second Chance…and a Third…

October 06, 2010

Jeff Winston has had an average life. He and his wife Linda haven’t been able to have children, but they have spent the last twenty years together. In 1988, when Linda calls Jeff at work to talk, Jeff suddenly suffers a heart-attack. He feels the excruciating pain; he feels as if he’s fading away. Then, he feels himself breathe into nothingness and death, but how can he feel if he is dead?

When Jeff opens his eyes, he finds himself in his dorm room at Emory University in 1963. He is eighteen, but still has the memories of his life. Jeff has just won the opportunity to do something everyone wants: rewind and live life again. He now knows what the future holds for sports, stocks, President Kennedy, and anything else he remembers. There are so many ways that Jeff can take advantage of this wisdom, and that is exactly what he does. He relives his life with new wealth, love, and luck along with new heartbreaks, but everything is not as he remembers. The movie, Starsea, is released in theaters and is bigger than Jaws will ever be, not to mention, it is 4 years earlier. The past is not how Jeff remembers. Does this Starsea movie hold the answers to his questions; a meaning to his lives?

Ken Grimwood’s novel Replay is a fascinating sci-fi adventure. Once I started reading it, I could not put it down. Even though Jeff Winston keeps reliving the past 25 years of his life, every replay is different, and he learns and experiences distinctly different things. Jeff gains wisdom from each of his lives, but the most important question that he needs to answer may not matter in the end. Replay reminds readers to sieze the day because the possibilities are endless, even though our lives may not be.

Frindle

September 16, 2010

Frindle: frin-dəl – noun. It is a new word created by Nicholas “Nick” Allen to replace the word “pen.”

Why don’t all the words in the dictionary mean what they say? Mrs. Granger doesn’t understand. She has to be the worst English teacher EVER! Nick decides to start using the word “frindle” instead of pen, and it catches on quickly. All the kids in school are using it, and pretty soon it is the coolest word in school. The teachers do not like it though. They try all sorts of wild stunts to stop the kids from using THAT word!

Andrew Clements’ first book is great! It is such a fun read that answers the question, “What would happen if I came up with a word that everyone (except the teachers) liked?”. Frindle has won numerous awards, including the Sasquatch Children’s Book Award, and with an award name like that, the book HAS to be good!

Your Family @ Your Fingertips

September 09, 2010

All patrons of Mid-Continent Public Library have access to the Midwest Genealogy Center in Independence, MO. From there, you can use a seemingly endless supply of resources to find your ancestry.

MCPL has access to Ancestry Library Edition at the branches, which is a useful tool for starting out on your genealogical quest. However, if you want to save a trip to the library, you can check out Heritage Quest, a genealogy resource which you can access from home. Though some of the sources overlap, such as census records and freedman’s bureau records, many are unique. Heritage Quest has access to thousands of family history books, memorials, and local history articles, which are not readily available.

When you are ready to begin (or continue) your family research, be sure to stop by the Midwest Genealogy Center, or visit our website for more genealogical resources.

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Again, you can access any of the above resources with a valid library card at mymcpl.org. The display was created by Erin, one of the many talented librarians that work at the Blue Springs South branch.

As a side note, the Midwest Genealogy Center is the largest free standing building in North America dedicated solely to genealogical research.