book talk: Lori Lockwood's librarian blog

Let's try this out: new bulletin board for book club

2010-06-15T20:05:00.004-05:00

I'm trying out some new ways for our future book club to suggest books for our readers, and I've had some fun today trying out Wallwisher. It's relatively easy to use and has many potential uses. Check out what I did (in less than 10 minutes). Feedback?
Cedar Ridge High School Library Bulletin Board

Cedar Ridge High School Library

2010-05-22T20:14:00.002-05:00

From Cedar Ridge High School Library

Here are a few views of the inside of the new Cedar Ridge High School library. It's a work in progress, but it already beautiful!!! Can't wait to see my CD students and meet new ones next year!

TLA fun!

2010-04-21T11:43:00.002-05:00

This is the time of year that librarians all over the state meet up to learn about new technology, hear YA authors, and find ways to make YOUR library a better and more interesting place to hang out!

It's not all work for 4 days, however, Your crazy librarian, Mrs. Lockwood, was part of a group of 10 Round Rock ISD Librarians participating in a book cart drill team at the Texas Library Association state conference in San Antonio last week. Attached is the video of our rather, um, interesting performance. We had a blast doing it and will have another routine ready for TLA Austin in 2011!

Play Non-Fiction Tic-Tac-Toe!

2010-04-19T09:46:00.003-05:00

This semester's latest contest has been a rip-roaring success, and it's not even over yet! Students can choose from the 1000s of non-fiction books we carry at the CD Fulkes library, including 100s purchased with a generous Dollar General grant I received in August. Rules are SO easy, and students win a prize for each entry (a new paperbook)!

1)get a tic-tac-toe board from the library staff;
2)read 3 or more non-fiction titles from various areas of the library;
3) get 3 in a row, win a brand new paperback book of your choice! We have dozens to choose from!

Jennifer Ziegler @ the Round Rock Public Library!

2010-04-19T09:36:00.004-05:00

Please come join me tomorrow night, Tuesday, April 20 to see 2009 Lone Star Award winner (How Not to be Popular) and CD Fulkes Alum Jennifer Ziegler! Any CD Fulkes student who attends will receive a free copy of her book to get autographed! The event runs 6:30-7:30 pm ---- hope to see you there!

More information about the event, as well as information about the RR Public Library Teen book club, posted from the fabulous librarian Jane Dance here.

Ms. Ziegler has a WONDERFUL website---I highly recommend you spend a few minutes looking around on it!

Mucho catching up to do!

2010-04-01T09:26:00.001-05:00

Yes, I have fallen embarrasingly behind in keeping up with the blog. My goal was one post per week; I can't believe how much I need to catch up!

On February 3, Laura Contreras-Rowe, the author of Aim High : Extraordinary Stories of Hispanic and Latina Women, visited the CD Fulkes library with her amazing message of empowerment and goal setting. Some of our students managed to take a picture of her with her beautiful book (which is available for checkout!).

The great news is she will be returning for a second visit on May 20! Stay posted for details. I can't wait to visit with her again. Ms. Contreras-Rowe has a very interesting website where you can read her incredible life story and find out what has inspired her to succeed in life, as well as her motivation for talking to groups of young adults all over the country about her story.

More book recommendations

2009-12-07T09:27:00.006-06:00

I just two more books I HIGHLY recommend to all readers!

Heather Henson's Here's How I See It, Here's How It Is is narrated by a 12 year old girl named Junebug. Just like the title, she first tells you how things should be in her life, then continues with how things really are. Her family owns and runs a summer theatre program, and she dreams of being an actress on stage. Her sister is a drama queen---literally. Junebug can't seem to get much attention with her sister around. Her parents are separated, and her father seems to be VERY interested in another actress, who Junebug wants to hate, but really can't. There is a fun cast of characters, including the strange and interesting character Trace, a teen intern who is an expert on theatre, but has an annoying habit of talking too much (which doesn't help, since he has a stutter). The characters really come alive and you feel like you are on the stage with Junebug every step of the way.

The second book I recommend is Eve Yohalem's Escape Under the Forever Sky. The story is set in Africa and centers on Lucy, a young teen and only child who has accompanied her mother, a U.S. ambassador, to Ethiopia. Her mother seems very over-protective and won't even let Lucy out of the American compound to hang out with the local kids she's made friends with in school. The story takes a very sudden turn when Lucy is kidnapped by some very tough guys who act like they will kill her if they don't get their ransom money. Lucy plots an escape in this page-turner. If you like adventure stories, you will definitely like this novel!

Twilight series trivia contest!

2009-11-29T20:07:00.002-06:00

Better late than never. . . the new Twilight series movie, NEW MOON, was released a couple of weeks ago to much fanfare (and some rave reviews from several students and staff members!). In honor of the movie's release, we are giving away a limited edition NEW MOON paperback with the movie poster cover, and a Twilight themed journal, for the 2 students who can complete the highest number of Twilight series trivia questions correctly. The trivia questions are found on either the front page of the library homepage, or at this link: TWILIGHT SERIES TRIVIA CONTEST.

Two new reads for November

2009-11-21T09:49:00.005-06:00

I recently read two new YA books that will appeal to several middle schoolers.

Veronica Goldbach's debut novel Deep in the Heart of High School combines realism and romance to produce something most middle schoolers will identify with. Although I wouldn't consider it "chick-lit," the three main characters are girls (and the cover photograph, focusing on a girl's pink tee shirt, isn't going to attract many male readers, either). Three girls from very different families in San Antonio come together in the high school band and deal with their family and boy troubles together. Vanna is a recent transplant from Plano, and is dealing with meeting new friends and her parent's recent divorce. She has a very difficult relationship with her father, who left the family for another woman. Olivia is dealing with her father's death and tries to be the perfect daughter and sister, a task that isn't always easy, to make life better and easier for her mom. Fatima, my favorite character, tries to be the peacekeeper in her large family. Her sister has left home and is now a single mom, causing a huge split in the family, and Fatima is dealing with weight issues. She is in love with Carlos, but soon realizes that her best friend from childhood, Alex, may be more than a friend. A great portrait of the melting pot that is San Antonio and of the complexities and issues of high school, middle school readers (especially females) will find something to like in this novel.

Veteran mystery writer Caroline Cooney's latest mystery, If the Witness Lied, follows the lives of four siblings who are dealing with the tremendous loss of their parents. As the story unfolds, the reader finds out through flashbacks why teenager Jack is taking care of three year old brother Tris, why sisters Smithy and Madison are living away from home, and why the four children have no parents. When their mother decided to choose carrying her fourth pregnancy (Tris) to term instead of taking treatment for cancer, the media got involved and the family found itself in the middle of a media controversy. After their mother died, their father was killed in a freak accident in which Tris is blamed for releasing the brake of his father's Jeep, which in turn hit and killed him. The kids' aunt moves in with them, and when she gets a reality television show deal, focusing on Tris who is to blame for both parents' deaths, the siblings come together to fight back. In the process, they find out what really happened to their father. The book is a pageturner and any Cooney fan won't be disappointed.

Six graders rock!

2009-11-21T09:34:00.003-06:00

Mrs. Adam and Miss Smith invited me into their wonderful classrooms this week to teach lessons on plagiarism and copyright. I had a wonderful time teaching and listening to our very smart sixth graders!
Here are some links that some of you asked me about:
The story from MSNBC about the American family whose picture ended up on a billboard in the Czech Republic is here.

My favorite web site (Animoto) to make movies that encourages and helps you use copyright free images and music is here.

Hope to see you at the library!

A Big THANKS!

2009-11-14T09:32:00.000-06:00

A huge thanks for all the parent and teacher volunteers who helped out with our bookfair! Several teachers came to my rescue when the bookfair arrived an entire day early, and the parent volunteers did an amazing job of taking time out of their busy days to help our school library. THANKS so much!

New books are here!

2009-10-23T10:59:00.007-05:00

Here are the covers to some of the 60+ new books we just received. Look for more information during booktalks! Also check out their availability and a quick summary on our library iBistro page:
iBistro/CD Fulkes M.S.

Like to be scared? We have lots of horror for you!

2009-10-23T10:30:00.005-05:00

Suggestions for a good scare:
Darren Shan's Cirque du Freak series (and a movie soon, too!)
Melissa de la Cruz's Bluebloods series (#4 is coming to our library soon!)
Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book---the most recent Newbery Award winner
Kate Cary's Bloodline series
Scott Westerfeld's Midnighters series
Any ghost story by Mary Downing Hahn
Any story by Edgar Allan Poe

Here's the theatrical trailer for Cirque du Freak: the Vampire's Assistant. It looks GREAT!
The trailer is from Youtube and submitted by the movie studio for the film. More information about the movie is found HERE, as well.

Get Crafty at your library!

2009-10-01T09:11:00.000-05:00

We have a wonderful display of several arts and craft books available for checkout at the CD Fulkes library. Some topics include:
Knitting and Crochet
Sewing your own clothes
Flower arranging
Cooking
Drawing
Paper crafts (origami, paper airplanes)
Making books---pop-up and 'zines
Calligraphy
Photography

And of course, we always take suggestions for library purchases. Don't see information on a creative hobby at our library? We can order something to help you out!

Read it Forward 2009 is here!

2009-09-16T09:06:00.001-05:00

The book for this year's RIF program is I.Q.: Independence Hall by Roland Smith.

This book combines mystery and adventure, and Q gains a new step dad and step sister named Angela, and goes on tour across America. Did I mention his mom and step dad are in a famous rock band together? He and Angela soon realize that the papparazi are not the only people following them! People aren't who you think they are, and they find themselves on the run. You'll love this fast paced novel, a winner of this year's Lone Star contest!

Are you ready?

2009-08-23T15:28:00.006-05:00

Just for fun. . .

2009-08-09T22:18:00.004-05:00

Funny librarian website with tools to make your very own book cover! Follow her directions, guaranteed to be fun.

Have you ever wondered what your very own book's cover/title would be? Especially if you took a pseudonym (a fake name)?

Here is mine:

It took maybe 5 minutes to make my first book cover. My novel is entitled reach and my new author name is Martin P. Hufnagel!

link is here:
Create your own debut YA cover

Or directions here:

CREATE YOUR DEBUT YA COVER

1 – Go to “Fake Name Generator” or click http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/

The name that appears is your author name.

2 – Go to “Random Word Generator” or click http://www.websitestyle.com/parser/randomword.shtml

The word listed under “Random Verb” is your title.

3 – Go to “FlickrCC” or click http://flickrcc.bluemountains.net/index.php

Type your title into the search box. The first photo that contains a person is your cover.

4 – Use Photoshop, Picnik, or similar to put it all together. Be sure to crop and/or zoom in.

5 – Post it to your site along with this text.

Have fun and post some of your examples on here!

April Lurie visits the CD Fulkes library!

2009-05-16T14:52:00.000-05:00

We had a FANTASTIC time with local author (and a nationally recognized one, at that) April Lurie this past Friday the 15th. She did a lunchtime author book talk with our 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in the library. Students either brought their own lunches or got a box lunch from the cafeteria, and listened to Mrs. Lurie talk about her beginnings as a writer (including a humorous story about writing a Hitchcock-inspired short story, much to the horror of her parents), and her inspiration for writing from her real life experiences. Our students had excellent questions, and as always, I was proud of our Lizards!! Some of the lucky students won a drawing and got free autographed copies of her three novels.

Speaking of April Lurie's novels. . . if you haven't picked up any of them, DO IT NOW! You won't be sorry! We have all three at our library, too. Highly recommended are:

Brothers, Boyfriends, and Other Criminal Minds (a 2008-09 Lone Star Winner)---I previously discussed this book in another blog about this year's Lone Star winners

Dancing in the Streets of Brooklyn---new to our library, review to come!

The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine

Mrs. Lurie discussed the real-life inspiration of this novel of a boy's reaction to his brother's downward spiral into drugs---her own son's struggles with making the right choices in life in regards to his friends and actions. I recently finished this novel and highly recommend it, especially for our older students who will be soon entering high school. Dylan narrates a story in which he deals with many issues---his mother's desertment of the family, his workaholic father's absenteeism, his brother Randy's life of loser friends, music, and drugs, and his love for the girl who happens to think of him as her best friend. It sounds heavy, but it's an enjoyable read about a serious topic that isn't preachy or depressing.

THANKS for a great book fair!

2009-05-03T13:01:00.000-05:00

Our book fair was the week of April 20, and it was a great success! In fact, we had one of our most profitable book fairs ever!

So now I have been very busy cataloging and getting on the shelves the 40+ books we got as part of our profits! Many are books some of our students have been requesting, so I'm excited to finally get a copy on the shelf. In addition, I picked up 50+ books for next year's "Read it Forward." And no, I can't tell you what our selection will be---it's a secret!

I also am excited that we will have enough money to have one (and maybe even two!) guest authors visit our school next year. Yay!

A special thanks to the amazing PTA volunteers from CD Fulkes, and also the A+team of volunteers from the La Frontera Kohl's. There is no way we could have had our success without our volunteers---we were able to get the library up and running for our students and staff members, all while having the bookfair run throughout each day non-stop!

Celebrate Library Week!

2009-04-15T21:56:00.000-05:00

We have 2 fun contests to kick off National Library Week!

Guess the number of books in our library---closest 2 students are winners! Contest ends Friday.

Design a poster for next week's book fair---winning poster(s) will be selected on Friday, as well.

Prizes are gift certificates for next week's book fair!!! Yay book fair!!!! Hope to see you in the library!

Highlights from the Texas Library Association annual conference

2009-04-04T21:58:00.001-05:00

I have decided that I am a total book nerd.
Getting to see authors speak, going to book signings, and getting free (did I mention FREE?) books from vendors makes me very excited.
So here are some highlights:
1) got to go to a publisher's dinner and met Meg Cabot (Princess Diaries) and Ally Carter (I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You). Had an awesome conversation with Scott Westerfeld about a possible Uglies movie in the future!
2) got to see one of my heroes, Gloria Steinam, speak;
3) heard graphic novelists describe what they do, how they are inspired, and bought 2 graphic novels I'm excited about previewing and adding to our library;
4) met Austin author Cynthia Leitech Smith and got a signed copy of her companion to Tantalize, entitled Eternal, "to the readers from CD Fulkes Library!" Cool!
5) got a ton of free paperbacks and hardbacks to preview and add to the library this semester and over the summer.

Did I mention that all the of RRISD middle school librarians presented a workshop on "Read it Forward?" We had a great time telling librarians all across the state about the incredible participation we've had with the program in our district.

April is Poetry Month

2009-03-31T09:42:00.001-05:00

Here are some excellent books we have at the CD Fulkes library that are written as free-verse poetry:

Pieces of Georgia by Jen Bryant

Georgia remembers life when her family was all together, before her mom died. She loves to draw, which makes life even more difficult living with her dad, since she reminds him of her artist mom. She suddenly gets a gift in the mail from an anonymous person that changes her life forever.

This is a 2008-09 Lone Star Winner, and reading this book will count as one of your 5+ for the Lone Star Contest!!

Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy by Sonya Sones

All of Sonya Sones' books in our library are very popular, and all are beautifully written as free-verse poetry. This story centers on a girl who is losing her sister to mental illness. As she watches her sister slip away, her family starts to tear apart and her friends abandon her. How does she find the strength and will to survive? Ms. Sones states in the epilouge that this book is based on her real life story.

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

Fourteen year-old Billie Joe has to endure the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, and has to live through many tragedies in her family. Hesse's entire book, however, is not sad and depressing---it has many happy moments, as well.

the 2009-2010 Lone Stars are here!

2009-03-22T21:59:00.000-05:00

When the 2009-2010 list of Lone Star Award Books were named, I was excited, since we already have several of the 20 at the CD Fulkes library!

An annotated list (with summaries and lists of similar novels) can be found here.

I recently finished the following Lone Star novel for next year (which I loved!) and know students and staff members will enjoy this fast-paced mystery:

Siobhan Dowd's The London Eye Mystery is just that, a great mystery story. When a boy suddenly and apparently disappears while riding on the London Eye, a giant ferris wheel, his cousins Ted and Kat try to find him. The police get involved, and nobody seems to get anywhere. However, Ted, who is also autistic, has an unusual way of thinking that helps the case in many interesting ways. This was a very fast-paced novel, and I really had a hard time putting it down!

Also The Adoration of Jenna Fox (see my previous entry) is another of next year's Lone Star Books. Again, I can't recommend it enough---it was another real page-turner.

Muchas Gracias

2009-03-22T21:40:00.000-05:00

A belated THANKS to the wonderful students, staff members, and parent volunteers who helped with our Gordon Korman author event in January!

This school year's READ IT FORWARD program has been a wonderful success so far, due in part to the enthusiasm of our staff and buy-in from our students. Over 200 students have filled out a form and colored a bus for our first Read it Forward book selection, Gordon Korman's Schooled.

During our author visit, the students asked outstanding questions, and Mr. Korman's presentation was very entertaining.

I'll be presenting a program on "Read it Forward" along with the awesome RRISD Middle School librarians at the Texas Library Association Annual Conference in Ft. Worth in late March/early April!
My son, Gray, visited CD Fulkes for the Gordon Korman presentation and loved it.

Who is Jenna Fox?

2008-11-12T19:56:00.001-06:00

I am so excited!
One of my favorite books so far this year has been chosen to be filmed as a movie!
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson is AMAZING. Jenna awakens from a coma to find that a lot of time has passed and she has to figure out how to talk, walk, and think again.
She learns everything quickly---very quickly---but her memory is rather strange. She can remember entire passages from books, many dates and details from history, but can't remember anything about her friends.

This is a story about finding who you really are---and about the extremes a parents could take to save the life of a child.

Enjoy the book trailer, from Mary E. Pearson's website www.whoisjennafox.com:

Scary Books!!!

2008-11-07T19:41:00.000-06:00

I have two very scary---and very good---books to suggest for you!

The first is All the Lovely Bad Ones by Mary Downing Hahn. The story starts when siblings Travis and Corey are sent to their grandmother's house for the summer. Their grandmother doesn't live in any house, though; she lives in an old house that's an inn. And this isn't any inn; it's rumoured to have ghosts.

When Corey and Travis try to fake out the inn's customers by pretending to be ghosts, they attract attention and get their grandmother more customers. They also get more than they bargain for: they attract ghosts who actually do haunt the old house!

This novel is very fast paced and the story is put together very well. I enjoyed it and found myself getting chill bumps more than once! If you like to be scared, this is a great book for you to read.

The second book is by Cliff McNish and it's a Lone Star award winner. Breathe is a very scary and very original story about a young boy named Jack who lives with his mother in an old house. Only he can see and talk to ghosts (yes, like the little boy in The Sixth Sense) . Some of the ghosts in his house, however, are not friendly. In fact, they want to hurt his mother.

On top of everything else, Jack has asthma and cannot breathe when he is hurt or stressed out. The danger of the ghosts is real for him as well as for his mother.

I highly recommend both---just be prepared to be very scared!

Best of Lone Stars. . . so far. . .

2008-09-01T21:39:00.000-05:00

I will be the first to admit, I have not read all 20 books on the Lone Star 2008-09 list. Yet.
But I have made my way through 10 of them, and that's not too bad, considering that I didn't even start until July!

So far, my three favorites are the following:

Gordon Korman's Schooled--because it made me laugh so hard in a few places, my stomach hurt. My husband actually asked me to quit reading it in bed because he couldn't sleep for my giggling. A boy from a hippie commune who has been homeschooled has to attend public school, and he is as culture shocked to be around his classmates as they are to be around him.

Gary Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars was a little more serious than Schooled, but so far, my favorite scene of any of the Lone Star books comes from this one. All I'm saying is there are rats and a track involved. You must read the novel yourself to understand (and I guarantee you'll double over laughing).

Jen Bryant's Pieces of Georgia deals with two of my favorite things---art and writing. Georgia has to deal with her mom's death, and an unusual gift from a mystery person helps her along the way. This one is written like poetry in a journal, and I really enjoyed it. It was rather short, but the length was perfect for the story.

Which Lone Star books are your favorite and why? Don't forget the Lone Star contest---we have some great prizes and hope to have many participants this year!!

Lone Star Preview!!!

2008-08-27T21:37:00.000-05:00

Let's Get This Started Again!

2008-08-08T10:50:00.000-05:00

As the new year is starting, I'm very excited to be back as the librarian at CD Fulkes! While some of you were having a nice, relaxing vacation, I was taking two classes that were exhausting BUT gave me some great information about making our library even better!

Upcoming events for 2008-09 (so far) include:

Book Club--- after a year break, I'm ready to get our book club off the ground and running again!
Lone Star Award Events -- booktalks, contests, drawings and prizes throughout the year, and a fun breakfast in the spring.
Read it Forward-- begins in September through June. Stay tuned to this fun program, with many events planned that go along with the book.
Banned Book Week: September 29-October 3
Teen Read Week: October 12-18
Fall Book Fair: October 20-24
Author Visit: Gordon Korman, January 29, 2009
National Poetry Month: April
National Library Week: April 13-16
Spring Book Fair: April 20-23

Stay tuned for more details about each of these events as the year progresses!

Busy, Busy, Busy. . .

2008-03-24T15:10:00.000-05:00

The last month has been a busy one here at the library!

I put together book talks for Ms. Shean and Ms. Green's 6th grade classes in February. What an amazing group and what a wonderful response! The next morning at 7:15, kids were literally at the library door waiting to be the first person to get a book.

Book talks were on the following books: Running the Dogs by Thomas Cochran; Stargirl & Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli; Getting Air by Dan Gutman; The Ghost, The White House, and Me by Judith St. George; The Invention of Hugo Cabret by David Selznick; Joey Pigza series by Jack Gantos; Kickoff! by Tiki and Ronde Barber; The Kissing Diary by Judith Caseley; Ten Ways to Make My Sister Disappear by Normal Fox Mazer; The White Giraffe by Lauren St. John; The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech; and Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst.

Whew! We covered every genre possible and by far, the most requested has been Getting Air. I have to say, I love Dan Gutman's books (his Baseball Card Adventure Series are some of my favorites) and this book is a great read.

MARCH has been just as busy with book talks, this time with Ms. Martinez' awesome classes of seventh graders. We talked about the following books: Extras by Scott Westerfeld; Stargirl and Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli; The White Giraffe by Lauren St. John; Gym Candy by Carl Deuker; Cover-Up by John Feinstein; London Calling by Edward Bloor; and Eye of the Crow by Shane Peacock. This group was a great audience, as well, and their most requested book was London Calling. Great choice!

Keep reading, Lizards! I hope to see more of you for book talks in the future.

all images from Barnes & Noble at barnesandnoble.com

Recent Reads: February 2008

2008-02-25T10:57:00.000-06:00

Reading, reading, reading. . . that seems to be all I've been doing lately!

I am enjoying reading more books suggested by the CD Fulkes students, as well as books I'm reading for my librarian book reviews.

Here are some February reads:

Little (Grrl) Lost: Charles DeLint's fantasy novel sounds very bizarre, but it's a fun and exciting read. T.J. has moved from the country to the city, leaving behind her friends, school, and most importantly, her beloved horse. She's in her bedroom and hears a scratching noise. It's not a mouse, however; it's a 6 inch tall girl! Elizabeth is a Little, or part of a tribe of tiny people, and she's run away from home. She and T.J. have adventures together and apart that include trolls, fairies, and a gang of really mean teenage boys! You'll love the characters and their adventures!

Uglies: I love science fiction, and I'm really excited about FINALLY starting this series. Scott Westerfeld's characters are driven by desire to be "pretty," and they'll do anything to be that, including going through horrific operations! Tally has to make a decision to become a Pretty and lose her identity, or to be herself and alienate her new best friend. It's adventure, mystery, and science fiction, all rolled into one fast paced book! I highly recommend this one.

Recent Reads: January 2008

2008-02-21T10:04:00.000-06:00

I'm finally catching up on the books suggestions students have given me. . . and I still have dozens of books left to read! Here are my most recent reads for the month of January:

I am not Joey Pigza: Joey Ganto's crazy character Joey is back!! If you haven't read the first two books in this series, Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key and Joey Pigza Loses Control, you are missing out! Joey's life seems to be in control---until his father shows back up into his life, and has won the lottery!! His dad also wants Joey to change his name. . . what is he up to? To find out, read this latest addition to the Joey Pigza trilogy.

Running the Dogs: Thomas Cochran's short novel follows the adventures of 10 year old Tal, who lives in Louisiana and has encountered a freak snowstorm during Christmas holiday. His father is snowbound away from home, and he tries to prove that he's no longer "just a kid" by taking the family's three beagles out for a run in the woods. Unfortunately, he loses the dogs, and without his father home, he has to go out and find them---in the dark. Find out what happens to Tal (and his dogs) by reading this fast paced and fun novel.

Twilight: Yes, I have finally started this series, and I'm so happy I did! Unfortunately, this novel was so exciting and interesting, I stayed up past midnight three nights in a row to finish it. The characters are very believable, and don't let the vampire angle keep you from reading it---it is also an adventure novel and romance novel rolled into one. I used to live in Washington state and love how the author perfectly describes the area. I'm excited about reading the next 2 books in the series (and can't wait until her fourth one, which comes out in September!).