The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac

Casey, D. (2006). The great race: The story of the Chinese zodiac. Cambridge, MA: Barefoot Books.
ISBN: 1-905236-77-8

Author: Dawn Casey
Website: No author website

Illustrator: Anne Wilson

Website (not official): http://www.illustrationweb.com/artists/AnneWilson/profile 

Media Used: Typeset in Present and Cerigo. The illustrations were prepared in printed collage papers with acrylic and printed backgrounds. 

Summary: Tells how the Jade Emperor choose the 12 animals of the Chinese calendar by holding a race across a wide river.  The 12 years of the the calendar would be named after the animals in the order that they arrive. 

Personal Reaction: I really enjoy the artwork of this book.  It is comprised of colorful layers which draw the eye across the page.  I've personally read this book for a variety of ages, in order to help introduce the Chinese New Year, and it has always done well.  This is one of the few story time quality picture books about the Chinese Zodiac that I enjoy reading aloud - and surprisingly unlike my usual story time material it doesn't rhyme.  Possible follow up discussion topics - figuring out which animal of the zodiac you are; comparing the similarities and differences between the Western and Chinese calendars; learning about other important Chinese festivals; or an art lesson plan such as the one offered by the publisher, Barefoot Books.

Curricular Connection: 6th grade World History
California Standard 6.6: Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of China.

21: The Story of Roberto Clemente

Santiago, W. (2011). "21": The story of Roberto Clemente. Seattle, WA: Fantagraphics Books.
ISBN: 978-1-56097-892-3
Book's Website: http://www.21comix.com/

My Top Ten Selection

Author & Illustrator: Wilfred Santiago
Author's Website: http://www.wilfredsantiago.com/

Media Used: Use of a yellow and dark blue color scheme (when mixed together also created a dark black blue color) inspired by the Pittsburgh Pirates uniform.  English speakers were represented by orange colored word bubbles and Spanish speakers represented with white colored word bubbles.  Used a cartooning and caricature style of drawing in order to help express the story in fun but realistic way while avoiding a "static" feel ("Creator Q&A | 21 author Wilfred Santiago," Mautner, 4/1/2011).

Summary: Chronicles the life of Roberto Clemente including his growing up in Puerto Rico, his baseball career highlights, and his life on and off the field.

Personal Reaction: Roberto Clemente was the first Latino inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  He grew up in a poor family in rural Puerto Rico.  He came to the United States to play baseball during the Civil Rights movement, and he, himself, was subjected to what was the common inequalities of the time.  This book shows Clemente's own personal beliefs in kindness and justice.  A great book to suggest for young baseball fans learning about inequality and the civil rights' movement (though it is more baseball then civil rights).           

Use of Allusion: As a child Roberto is shown reciting in class the phrase "Amarillo is yellow!" which alludes to the color of the Pittsburgh Pirates uniform color that he will wear in the future.

Use of Simile: "It's like he has eyes on his fingertips!" & "Arm's like a bazooka!"

Non-Fiction in Graphic Novel Format
Curricular Connection: 9th to 12th grade Social Science
California Historical Interpretation Standard #3: Students interpret past events and issues within the context in which an event unfolded rather than solely in terms of present-day norms and values.
California Standard 11.10.5: Students analyze the development of federal civil rights and voting rights by discussing the diffusion of the civil rights movement of African Americans from the churches of the rural South and the urban North, including the resistance to racial desegregation in Little Rock and Birmingham, and how the advances influenced the agendas, strategies, and effectiveness of the quests of American Indians, Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans for civil rights and equal opportunities.

30 Days of Night

Niles, S. (2004). 30 days of night. San Diego, CA: Idea & Design Works, LLC.
ISBN: 978-0-971977-55-6

2009 Students' Top Ten List Nominee
Author: Steve Niles
Author's Website: http://www.steveniles.com/#tp


Illustrators: Ben Templesmith (art) & Robbie Robbins (letters & design)
Ben Templesmith's Website: http://www.templesmith.com/faze3/
Robbie Robbins Website: No illustrator website
Media Used: Mostly color illustrations against a smoky black and blue grey background with computer graphic letter art.  Comic panels are set against a solid black background.  Use of soft fuzzy lines enables the reader to envision looking out through a snowstorm or a dark foggy night. 

Summary: Barrow, Alaska is a remote town that experiences 30 full days of night once a year.  Vampires have descended on the town, cutting off all communications, in order to enjoy feeding on everyone living there without fear of the sun rising.

Personal Reaction: Just by looking at the cover, you know that this is a horror tale about vampires and not some Twilight love story.  Though to be honest the hero of the book does sacrifice himself selflessly for his wife and the townspeople - so there is a little bit of love.  As with most horror stories, the characters here a fighting a desperate fight simply to survive both the vampires and the extreme Alaskan weather- barely finding enough food or shelter.  The use of soft fuzzy illustrations allows your mind to make its own images of the horror going on.  The limited use of bright splashes of color (particularly the splashes of red blood throughout the scenes) draws the readers eye from scene to scene.  I particularly enjoyed how the first scenes in the book of the sun setting mimics the last scenes when the sun once again rises.      

 Awards: Nominated for Eisner Award (2005)

Maus: A Survivor's Tale - Part I: My Father Bleeds History

Spiegelman, A. (1986). Maus: A survivor's tale. Part I: My father bleeds history. New York, NY: Pantheon Books.
ISBN: 0-394-74723-2

Author: Art Spiegelman
Author's Website: http://www.barclayagency.com/spiegelman.html

Illustrator: See Author
Media Used: Black ink on a white background.

Summary: Maus tells the story of Art Spiegelman's father, Vladek Spiegelman, a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. The story simultaneously tells of Vladek’s life before and during World War II as well as his life later in New York.

Personal Reaction: Once I picked up this book, I was unable to put it down.  It illustrates what daily life was like for Jews before and after the Nazi's came into power.  The hardships and fear they lived with.  Vladek's story of life in Poland is interrupted by his present day life - which improves the telling of the story rather then distracts from it.  The stark black and white illustrations fit the story's material well.  A great recommendation for students learning about the Holocaust.

Metaphor Use: The Jews in the story are represented as skinny mice, the polish as plump pigs, and the Nazis as big buff cats.  Spiegelman used different groups of animals to represent the different nationalities, religions and races involved in the war.  All the animals within a group were identical to one another except for their clothing which helped to highlight how people during that time viewed other's by their race or religion first and foremost.  Characters who were hiding by pretending to be of another race were represented as wearing another animal's face as a mask. 

Non-Fiction in Graphic Novel Format
Curricular Connection: 10th Grade World History
California Standard 10.8: Students analyze the causes and consequences of World War II.

Awards: Pulitzer Prize Special Award Winner (1992)

Journal draft - social networks in the library

http://tametheweb.com/2008/03/18/no-myspace-facebook-at-mishawaka-library/

social networks in the library, the need for privacy programming, but the need to keep computers available for others as well.

something to keep in mind for the future.  How libraries approach services to teens, incorporate current digital trends into their services, and approach conflict management.

Journal draft - the evolution of research

http://vodpod.com/watch/4384910-growing-knowledge-the-evolution-of-research?u=persei&c=persei

discusses how research is changing and becoming more digital thus making larger amounts of data available to researchers and how researchers are using and sifting through that large amount of data.

Journal #14 - methodology, online vs in-person

Currently in the process of writing and developing my research proposal paper, the question of online versus paper data collecting has crossed back and forth in my mind.  Is one better then the other?  What are the pros and cons?  For instance the idea of collecting data via surveys: online vs. in-person.  Online surveys allow the researcher to send surveys to a large number of people easily (via email or websites) and cheaply (no costs for stamps or paper).  But in person surveys allow a person to be present to explain any questions that a person may have and they might better target your intended audience (in this case people visiting the library).  Online surveys can use computer software to tally answers and sort through data.  In person surveys can better interpret data and detect typos or other human errors.  Case & Yang (2009) present a few more pros and cons of online versus in-person surveys in the literature review of their article. 

Whichever method I decide to use, it seems that there will always be weaknesses and strengths to every method of research.  The best thing that I can do is be aware of them during my research and adjust for them when possible.  I also have discovered how important it is for me to determine and outline my goals, as these goals can determine the methods I use.  Do I need to reach a large population?  Do I need indepth and personal responses?  Do I need data from those participating in a certain event or activity?  Do I need to collect a large amount of data or just have  a few quick questions?  When reading over other people's research at the beginning of the semester, their pre-determined goals didn't seem as important as the results of the research.  Over the course of the semester I became more aware that the choice of a researcher's methodology really does affect the type of results and conclusions that are gathered.  Good research is well developed not only by obtaining results and obtaining data but by its very beginning development.