Amazing Book: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie!

I want to suggest an awesome book to you guys - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney (illustrator). Previous Americorps*VISTA Cara gave it to me before she left, and I read almost all of it last night after work! I just learned that this book really is "absolutely true," and based on poet/short-story writer/and first-time young adult writer Shermen Alexie's life - read his bio here.

Alexie writes as Junior, a witty, Native American budding cartoonist who lives on the Spokane Indian reservation and gets bullied for being a "retard." Junior was born with too much spinal fluid in his brain which caused him to suffer all sorts of physical problems, but he's incredibly smart, hopeful, and knows he needs to go beyond his poor reservation if he wants to live up to his potential. Junior transfers to an all-white school miles away from his reservation, and has to deal with racism, resentment from the Native American community, and allllllllll that other crazy stuff you have to deal with in high school. I absolutely love this book so far - it's beautiful throughout, sad at times, and there are laugh-out-loud cartoons (like, seriously, I LOL'd in the middle of a coffee shop last night) every few pages which makes me feel like I'm getting a peek at the extra-secret thoughts of this incredible character. Here is a great book review from The New York Times. We have copies at the library! Check it out.

Meet Rachel: The New Teen Services Coordinator!

Cara Lovell, this past year's amazing Teen Services Coordinator with Americorops*VISTA has handed over the baton to someone new - Rachel Dingfelder! Cara Lovell did an awesome job expanding teen programs and making the Teen Area a much more welcoming place. We'll miss Cara, but her hard work is everywhere.

Now, I'm going to not-so-sneakily switch into the first person and tell you a little bit about me, Rachel!

The three most important things you should know about me: I'm very new to Burlington, I LOVE peanut butter, and I'm a firm believer that all the worlds' problems can be solved if we simply listen, laugh, and act really goofy together. I mean, it would be nice - right?!

I'm from a very different place - Pittsburgh, PA - and it's been so much fun exploring Burlington, riding my bike down roads I've never been on before, hiking up Camel's Hump - you guys are lucky! This city is beautiful and I'm happy to be here for the next year. It's possible that I'll bombard you with questions about Burlington, 'cause you guys know it well.

So, without sounding too much like a Facebook profile, let me just list off some things I like. Maybe we have something in common.. or not. :-)
Alright, here it goes: dancing FOREVER! (I can't stop sometimes), bicycling, learning how to knit, cooking delicious food with lots and lots of vegetables and spices with friends (no silly, the friends don't go IN the food), drinking tea, giggling, whales and other cool creatures who live in the ocean, hand-made things, lazy mornings, primates, reading the news and political gossip, going on bicycle adventures, slowly learning more about bicycle mechanics, and my friends.

Some things I don't like: olives, rude people, reading - HAH! Gotcha. Ever heard of a librarian who doesn't like to read? When you do, tell me.

I love reading. Right now, I'm all about The Death and Life of Great American Cities, by Jane Jacobs, which is a critique on modern urban planning. A few friends recommended it to me and although it's a slow read, it's really, really awesome. I just read two of Marjane Satrapi's graphic novels, Embroideries and Chicken with Plums (you might have heard of her - she wrote Persepolis, which was made into a totally rad movie), which were both very good and beautifully illustrated. One of the books that I would like to get around to reading is the classic Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I have an incredible edition which is illustrated by Dame Darcy, who is this gothy Neo-Victorian illustrator, singer, author, and awesome lady. Check out Dame Darcy's illustrated Jane Eyre here.

That's all for now. I'm super-excited to meet you guys. I love e-mail, so e-mail me anytime if you have suggestions or questions! Here's my address: rdingfelder@gmail.com. You can call me at 865.7228.
And here's a picture of me so you know who I am! I'm sitting inside what I'm pretty sure is part of an old blast furnace. Pretty cool, huh?

Author Doug Wilhelm visits EMS 8th graders and parents

Every year the 8th graders at Edmunds, parents and teachers have a book bunch early one morning to discuss good books that talk about the transition to high school. This year they all read Falling and invited the author, Doug Wilhelm, to speak.


Here Doug read from a section where Matt and Katie take a walk and the point of view switches back and forth so that the reader can get inside both of their heads (and see how nervous they both are)!

Doug talked about how the book was written with the help of local middle school students, who fleshed out the characters like Matt, Katie, Tamra, Sam, and KJ during class and writing workshops. Students came up with the baking cookies idea and even the title of the book!




Doug answered questions about whether the parents were realistic and also about whether the characters (especially Katie) were too mature. He described reading students religion papers to get in the heads of his 9th-grade characters!

He also talked about getting information on drug use from local police, detectives, and rehabilitation counselors.




Many students got their copies of Falling signed, which they get to keep for their personal libraries. Bagels and treats capped off the event.


Both Doug and the students said they really enjoyed meeting each other and connecting over some important issues. Falling started through conversations with young people, and the book bunch continued those conversations! They are definitely not over yet... keep talking!

There is a request for reactions and comments on the Falling blog, located at http://crenca.edublogs.org.

Game Design at the Art Hop

Fletcher Free Library sent an envoy of young game testers to this year's Art Hop in early September.

Champlain College's Emergent Media Center and Burlington Telecom teamed up to create an exhibit showcasing the games students have been working on.



Champlain students were on hand to explain to the young gamers how the games were made and what they were supposed to teach.


The games focused on media literacy. In one, the player acted as a detective searching for clues in a 3-D science laboratory. In another, the player sailed to various islands and undertook different challenges to earn light and eventually build a lighthouse.
Champlain College also exhibited their work on America's Army and Google Maps.


The exhibit was hosted by SoundToys, which set up visualizations of sound mixing as part of the exhibit!

Great games to test, great gamers to test them: a great partnership!