MySpace is Your Space!

As many of you know, I am on the Young Adult Author Selection Committee for the ALABAMA BOOK FESTIVAL. (Didn't we have a great time last year?!) This year, we have decided to make ourselves at home on MySpace and we would love for you to stop by, add us as a friend, view the festival news and definately check out some of the authors that are already friends of the festival! You may even recognize a few!

Here's where you can find us:

http://www.myspace.com/alabamaauthorfestival

Make sure you add the authors as your friends and say "hi" as well...maybe you'll be seeing some of them soon? In other words....beg them to come!


Note from Mrs. Stu: When using MySpace, always have a parent's permission, never have your full name, location or our school name posted, report any suspicious activity, and most importantly use it as a POSITIVE place where friendships can grow and you can express yourself without tearing down others. Remember, words are like toothpaste...once you squeeze it out, it is impossible to put it all back in.

Welcome Back iREADERS!

Hi All!

Well, we're off to a great start this school year and as chaos begins to settle into an establised routine, it's time to for us to start thinking about our first read of the year! I have a ton of BRAND NEW books in the libray that I need YOU, my "Teen Review Team" to tackle so stop by, pick one up and get busy reading! I need your suggestions for our club reads ASAP so we can get a line up ready. There are a few surprise author visits I have in store for you this school year, so you definately will want to keep up with the hippist, coolest, most stylish reading club to ever "hit the books!"

Oh, and in case you "forgot" over the Summer (as if!) , look what's coming soon...

Don't worry, I'll save you a ticket! ;)

~Mrs. Stu

Oh, What a Night!

Who wants "dinner and a movie" when these days you can have dinner WITH an AUTHOR?!

That's exactly what we had last Thursday evening when award winning author R.A. (Russ) Nelson showed up at our school for our April meeting and discussion of his latest novel, Breathe My Name. Holtville Middle School's iREAD club came together with book club members and sponsors from Stanhope Elmore HS, Elmore County HS, and Holtville HS to enjoy a catered dinner and author presentation. In his discussion of Breathe My Name, Russ talked about what led him to writing this particular novel and about his research on mental illness which is touched upon in the book. He admits that until writing BMN, that he was not very familiar with psychological disorders and that some of the details he uncovered during his research were rather disturbing to him. In addition to the book chat, Russ entertained everyone with a slide show documenting his successful writing career from childhood to present, he taught us about the trials and tribulations of the publishing endeaver, we learned about his responsibilities as a NASA technical writer, and on a personal note, he even shared his journey with us as the father of an autistic son who inspires him on a daily basis to appreciate life and live it to its fullest. He encouraged everyone in attendance to always believe in themselves and in their capabilites, and to never let anything be an obstacle in pursuing your dreams. R.A. Nelson's next book, Days of Little Texas, is expected to be released in Spring of 2009.

Click on the pictures below to enlarge them!

A special thank you to Tammy Lynn and The Book Basket for once again donating door prizes and for being involved in the education of Elmore County Students!

Look Who's Coming to Dinner!

Author Dinner and Discussion

with R.A. Nelson

Thursday, April 17th

5:30 p.m.

Cost $8.00

Dinner is being catered by The Front Porch Grill

Join us as award winning author, R.A. (Russ) Nelson speaks about his latest novel, Breathe My Name (ALA 2008 Nominee). Nelson lives in north Alabama, works at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, and loves poetry, quantum physics, old movies like It Happened One Night (Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert), spelunking, history, traveling, astronomy, archeology, basketball, exploring, and just plain old walking in the woods. He is currently working on his third book, Days of Little Texas, which is set to be released in Spring of 2009. For more information on Russ, you can visit his web site at http://www.ranelson1.com/ or add him as a friend on My Space at http://www.myspace.com/ranelson1.

The Book Basket will be on hand with copies of Mr. Nelson's novels. Hard copies of Breathe My Name will be available for $14.00 and paperback editions of Teach Me can be purchased for $9.00.

Project 17 Meeting with Laurie Stolarz

It's rather ironic that our latest iREAD book club choice by Laurie Stolarz, takes place in an abandoned mental institution, because after reading Project 17, we have all came to the conclusion that it managed to scare us "silly!"

At our iREAD book club meeting held on Thursday, March 14th, we had a fantastic time discussing Project 17 over a candlight dinner while eerie photos of the Danvers State Mental Institution flashed on the projection screen directly in front of us. We all had our favorite scenes and characters from the story that we wanted to discuss and especially how it left us feeling after we turned the last page. It was unanimous that we were all "creeped out"...especially by the ending. It was also universal that we were all left with somewhat of an obsession with furthur researching information on the "real" Danvers State which in turn, managed to scare us even more as we shared what we had found!

But the highlight of our evening was having Laurie Stolarz call in and speak to everyone live via our school's intercom system! Our students had a variety of questions to ask Laurie, and she entertained us with answers to everything from information regarding the development of her writing career, to questions we had about Project 17's characters, her personal experiences (with and without the ghosts!) at Danvers while writing the novel, and also with information about her upcoming novels. Everyone sat under her "spell" as she wove together a plether of very interesting facts and personal stories. Speaking of spells, she also gave a "book talk" on her Blue is for Nightmares series which she so thoughtfully sent us all a signed Spell Book that contained a collection of Stacey's spells taken from the series. In addition to that, Laurie was also kind enough to send autographed book plates for everyone who attended making our entire evening truly "personalized"!

The HMS iREAD Book Club would like to thank Laurie Stolarz for being actively involved in our book club and for encouraging us to continue reading! It's authors such as yourself that inspire us to go above and beyond! Thank YOU so much for eveything you did to make this a special meeting for us all! But most of all...thanks for writing amazing novels like Project 17 that make us WANT to read! Keep 'em coming!

We would also like to thank Tammy Lynn, owner of THE BOOK BASKET in downtown Wetumpka, for being an active supporter of our club and for donating fabulous door prize giveaways for our meeting. Thank you Mrs. Tammy!

Congratulations to this month's door prize winners!

Project 17, by Laurie Faria Stolarz

You’re Invited to
A Discussion Dinner
on
Thursday, March 13th

(Sorry for another date change!)
at 6 p.m. in the Media Center

Your books will be in on THURSDAY...Hurray!

High atop Hathorne Hill, near Boston, sits Danvers State Hospital. Built in 1878 and closed in 1992, this abandoned mental institution is rumored to be the birthplace of the lobotomy. Locals have long believed the place to be haunted. They tell stories about the unmarked graves in the back, of the cold spots felt throughout the underground tunnels, and of the treasures found inside: patients personal items like journals, hair combs, and bars of soap, or even their old medical records, left behind by the state for trespassers to view. On the eve of the hospital's demolition, six teens break in to spend the night and film a movie about their adventures. For Derik, it's an opportunity to win a filmmaking contest and save himself from a future of flipping burgers at his parents’ diner. For the others, it's a chance to be on TV, or a night with no parents. But what starts as a playful dare quickly escalates into a frenzy of nightmarish action. Behind the crumbling walls, down every dark passageway, and in each deserted room, they will unravel the mysteries of those who once lived there and the spirits who still might.

Laurie Faria Stolarz grew up in Salem, MA,

Merrimack College, and received an MFA in Creative Writing

from Emerson College in Boston.

She is currently working on a new series, also for young adults.

Hardback copies of
Project 17
will be on sale for a discounted cost of $16.00
(tax included) next week!

Everyone who purchases a book will receive a signed bookplate from Laurie as well as other special treats! Get your copy before they are gone!

~

www.lauriestolarz.com

TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY Book Club Meeting

Note: Click on pics to enlarge them

13 REASONS....
Why our meeting was AMAZING!

1.While most teens were plopped down on their couches watching t.v., our faithful crew gathered after school hours for a book club dinner and discussion on the novel TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY by, Jay Asher.

2. While Jay could not be here in person, he has been working closely with us to make it a very special event. And it was!

3. In addition to sending "goodies" to everyone who purchased the book, he also allowed our members to ask him questions via email, and then he recorded their personalized answers on cassette tape (Just like Hannah...except Jay is still alive!) for everyone so we could play it at the meeting! And we ALL agreed it was...(for lack of a better word) "COOL!"

4. We had guest speaker Dr. Sue Adams from the Alabama State Dept. of Safety and Prevention come and speak to us on the topic of suicide and encourage us to reach out to those who are showing signs of depression and/or are threatening suicide. Thank you, Dr. Adams for taking time out of your busy schedule to come and speak to our club!

5. Our discussion questions ranged from lighthearted to serious and our discussion evoked emotions on several occassions as we relived the scenes from the novel. WE found many differing opinions and feelings regarding TRW and it's characters, but all came to one conclusion...we loved the book!

6. Tammy Lynn, from the Book Basket in Wetumpka stopped by to bring a gift card to add to our door prizes and commissioned the book club to be her teen reading team and help make buying suggestions for her store! We'll be right on that, Mrs. Tammy!

7. Ginger Wright (0n far right), Elmore County's Mentor teacher, came out and showed her support, as well as many parents and teachers. Thank you for being a part of our evening!

8. Everyone who purchased a copy of Jay's book got a personalized autograph of a "special sort" that we shall not reveal since it is just for us! Yes, be jealous everyone....we're #1!

9. Jay sent us cool bookmarks and t-shirts as well, and as you can see from the pictures, Mrs. Stu made sure she got her Razorbill shirt first!

10. We ate tons of food and had amazing fellowship that goes so far beyond what out counter-part couch potatoes were doing. :)

Here's Emily, Lindsey, Emily & Jesseca with their "noses stuck in Jay's book!"

11. We learned so many things about ourselves, how we should treat others, and how we should handle a situation where we feel like somone we care about is in trouble. The high school students (our "experts" on teenage drama) who joined us agreed that their lives were somewhat altered by this novel and the after our fabulous discussion, I am sure that everyone would attest to that!

(Glad you guys were able to join us!)

12. WE had a great photo shoot that involved much silliness and laughing. Things were going great until the group realized there was only one copy of Jay's book left...

"And. It's. Mine!"

13. And last but not least....The 13th reason why our book club meeting was AMAZING?

Because we all agree.....

Jay Asher *ROCKS*!

Thank you Jay for making this the best book club meeting we ever had!