Ms. Kehe’s Recommendation
When stars are scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed (Graphic Biography)Taking place in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. Omar Mohamad is a young child when his village in Somalia is attacked by soldiers. As he and his younger brother flee, they are separated from their mother and their father is killed. They manage to reach the refugee camp, which has been their home for many years. Despite having a strong desire to go to school, Omar must look after his nonverbal, seizure-prone younger brother Hassan. In spite of this, he is finally able to attend school with the help of a social worker and a woman who has become a stepmother to him and his brother. Through wonderful illustrations, we can see life in the camp vividly, as well as the plight of women and the community’s efforts to help each other despite hunger and hardship. Omar remains compassionate and steadfast in his dream of one day moving to the United States despite the incredible challenges he faces. This is an inspiring story!
Bell’s Recommendation
One of the main rules of this game is not to talk about this game. It is happening and being played by people around the globe, and now people are disappearing at an alarming rate. The signs are there. The scary folks hiding in the shadows are there. Big tech is there. What is happening? In a story that is full of nostalgia and reflections on games, we likely have all played, this book takes the reader on a journey. However where we are headed becomes more and more mysterious. Additionally, our main character has some really weird ‘gaps in time’ occur where she loses full days and yet there is evidence that things have happened. A strange yet exciting book for the more mature reader. This book is too fun to put down.
Digital Citizenship Corner
Sometimes, whether you are a student or a parent (or both), hearing and learning about Digital Citizenship can be a bit scary. Learning how vulnerable we are and how difficult it can be to navigate all of the information on the internet can be daunting. I’ve mentioned before that ISB uses the ISTE Standards as the basis of all technology instruction as well as embedding these standards into the curriculum. Thus, we look to ISTE for valuable information in regard to Digital Citizenship. This article is actually titled, ‘How To Empower — Not Scare! — Parents About Technology’. There are loads of resources and some really great examples that explain things in ways that make sense.
Technology Tip
This is a bit of a double dip, but… Manga is one of the fastest-growing literary genres on the planet. Much of it comes out of Japan or Asia and can range from very young style to fully adult. Here in the Main Library, we have seen our readership nearly double in the last two years. This is really amazing, as getting students to read, whatever they read, usually leads to students reading other titles. The Tech Tip is Crunchyroll.com which has a website and app that you can download to read Manga on your device. If you’ve never tried it, I, for one, can tell you that it is worthy of exploration. Librarians often downplay Manga based on the ‘high brow’ thinking that students should only read classic literature, but once you delve into these books, you will see there are types of stories, hero stories, comedies, tragedies, the full gamut. Additionally, the artwork is generally really engaging. Check one out from the library or check it out on Crunchyroll.com