Hello!

 

I can't believe it's been so long since I've last posted! I really do miss this blog. I've been so busy and a lot of things have happened over the last year. I started teaching at San Jose State University for their Master's in Library Science program and that is very exciting! I love working with graduate students and I am thrilled to be teaching our future librarians. I am also working on a book that has really been a work in progress due to the pandemic. My book is basically going to give away all of my programming secrets to librarians and library staff and I am so happy that I have the opportunity to do this! My focus is going to be on Adulting programs for teens because that is something that I think is really important for teens today. I just spoke at a virtual School Library Journal Teen Live event to start promoting my book. It was a total blast and has given me the boost I need to finish this book! The title I have for the book so far is Growing Up Is Hard. I'll post more about the book and about the new class I'm teaching at SJSU this fall, it's all about sustainability and I designed it myself. It's great to be back and I will try my best to post more regularly. I do have an idea to go old school and review middle grade and YA books I've been reading and offer up ideas for booktalks. So you should see that coming up very soon too!!!

Keep on reading,

Mrs. Librarian Lady

Storms of the Greek Gods

Today is a dark and stormy day! I am reminded that the Greek gods and goddesses are a source of infinite wisdom. With this in mind, I would like to recommend the book Greece, Rome, Monsters by John Harris. In this great book, twenty mythical monsters are featured along with a supporting cast of gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines. The book begins with a  warning telling you that you are about to embark into the land of creepy creatures. There is the Basilisk and if you see him run for your life! Keep away from the Cyclops, he’s a very big and very mean guy. You’ll not want to look at Medusa because there’s that terrible option of turning to stone. The book does offer a few nice creatures such as, Pegasus the beautiful white horse with wings, and the fiery Phoenix who is reborn out of the ashes over and over again. Calef Brown’s artwork is fun and playful with shades of sour-apple green, turquoise blue, and terracotta orange.

Of course this brings on a surge of memories for me of The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan featuring the notorious yet amazing Percy Jackson. Our hero is a teenage boy who is quirky, clever, and determined always ends up having nasty creatures chase after him. Percy soon finds out that his life as he knew it is not really the truth of who he really is. He has been cloistered away from the world of gods and goddesses in which he knows nothing about. There just might be a surprise relative that Percy never even knew about, but I'm not going to give that away. As Percy learns how to deal with his newly found origin story, he decides to go on a quest to find out who stole  Zeus' lightning rod. This book is excellent and full of great surprises. You'll want to read this one and the entire Percy Jackson series to catch up on your Greek Mythology!

Until next time, Happy Reading!

Mrs. Librarian Lady