A Celebration of Summer

The vivacious spirit of our devoted school community created a busy and productive academic year in our library.

We had wonderful programs galore! There were Morning Homeroom and Lunchtime Library Open Access periods  which were attended by hundreds of students from all three academies. Classes came to conduct research on subjects across the curriculum, learned how to evaluate websites and use information in an ethical manner, and prepared for various competitions, such as The Ezra Jack Keats Bookmaking Contest. A festive "Poem In Your Pocket Day" was enjoyed by all, and, in May, Elly Berkovits Gross, a survivor of Auschwitz, came to speak with our sixth grade honors classes about her experiences during The Holocaust.

During the long, hot summer months, a host of activities are offered by the neighborhood public library, such as movies, summer reading clubs, and craft programs. Visit The Queens Public Library website www.queenslibrary.org and www.summerreading.org to guide your efforts.

It has been great working with you!

Enjoy your summer vacation!

A Life Of Fear

 

What would you do if you had to spend your whole life in hiding because society could not know of your existence?

 

Twelve year-old Luke Garner faces this situation daily, and is bored and unhappy. The Population Police have decreed that families can only have two chldren, and as a forbidden third child, he can be eliminated if he is discovered. As a "shadow child," Luke must spend his life in total seclusion in the attic of his parents' farmhouse, unable to take part in the world around him.

 

One day Luke notices the face of a girl in the window of a neighboring house where two children already live, and realizes that she is a "shadow child," too. He surreptitiously manages to get to the house, and meets Jen, a daring girl who has a plan to defy the government and bring the shadow children to light.

 

Will Luke get involved with Jen's proposal and risk his life to change his world? What is the price of freedom?

This is the first title in the "Shadow Children" series.

 

Strength From Within

 

How many times have you carefully constructed plans, only to have them drastically change due to an unexpected occurrence?

 

Thirteen year-old Brian Robeson is in a small plane on the way to visit his father. Suddenly, the pilot gets sick and slumps down in his seat - dead of a heart attack. Brian looks at the controls, dials, and switches in the plane, and has no idea what to do. He must  brace himself for the inevitable crash as the engine sputters and dies, due to a lack of fuel. How will Brian survive, alone in the Canadian wilderness, armed with only a hatchet, and his thoughts for company?

 

Be sure to read the sequel to this gripping book Brian's Winter.

Holocaust Survivor Testimony

 

Please join me in welcoming a special visitor to IS 141!

 

On Thursday, May 14, 2015, Mrs. Elly Berkovits Gross will speak with our school community about her experiences during The Holocaust.

 

When Elly was 15 years old, she and her family were sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. Elly managed to survive. Afterwards, she learned that her father perished in a forced-labor camp.

 

Elly Gross has devoted her life to sharing her story with others, so that the world may never forget the horrors of The Holocaust, and  the dangers of turning a blind eye to the suffering of others, and discrimination. She is a mesmerizing speaker who has given presentations in museums and schools throughout the world, a gifted poet and prose writer, and an expressive painter.

Let's come together for an important day of remembrance!

 

                                                             

 

 

 

 

 

A Spring Poetry Extravaganza

Celebrate Poem In Your Pocket Day At The IS 141 Library!

Thursday, April 30th, 2015 is Poem In Your Pocket Day!

Students will select a poem, put it in their pocket, and share it with others throughout the day.

Read a poem to me in the library, Room 320, and receive a prize for your participation.

If you need help finding a poem, just ask.

Let's make the day special!

Spring Into Research At The Library

Get The 411 On Research Skills At The IS 141 Library!

 

Parents...do you ever ask yourselves these questions?

 

How can I help my child with his science project?

 

What is the purpose of citation?

 

How is a bibliography created?

 

What is a credible website?

 

Our school has come up with a way to help you! Let's get a special event underway!

 

Every Tuesday afternoon from 2:20 - 3:00, you may bring your children to our library for assistance with research projects. Investigate our print and online resources. Please be aware that library skills are central to the Common Core Curriculum and essential to success in middle and high school and beyond. A love of books and libraries lasts forever!

 

In addition, our enthusiastic students can also borrow and return books. Let's fill the room to capacity. Books, ideas, and knowledge await.

 

See you there!

Dare To Be Yourself!

 

Teenager "Stargirl" is a unique addition to ordinary Mica High School in a sleepy Arizona town. She serenades fellow students on their birthdays with her ever-present ukelele, has an extraordinary style of dress, carries a pet rat in her backpack, cheers for both teams when she becomes a cheerleader, and performs other good deeds for friends and strangers, alike. Eventually, she becomes the most popular girl in school. Sixteen year-old Leo Borlock, her awestruck classmate, falls head over heels in love with her. However, when Stargirl's unorthodox actions anger the other students, and her popularity suddenly declines, she is shunned, along with Leo. Leo is not sure what course of action to take - if he stops dating Stargirl, his life will return to "normal," yet he will lose the love of his life. What happens when Stargirl, who reclaims her birth name, "Susan," tries to fit in with everyone else? What choice will Leo make?

 

This is an unforgettable story about the importance and power of originality and the fleeting nature of popularity.

 

If you enjoyed Stargirl, by the prolific Jerry Spinelli, be sure to read the sequel, Love, Stargirl.

 

 

Against All Odds

When we think of survival stories, visions of plane crashes in the wilderness and disasters at sea come to mind. However, Slake's Limbo by Felice Holman is an unusual addition to the genre, because the setting is the labyrinth of the New York City subway system and its tunnels.

 

Thirteen year-old Aremis Slake has faced alot of hardship in his young life. He lives with a neglectful aunt, has no friends, and is ignored in school. Unfortunately, he is small for his age, and is the target of bullies in his neighborhood. When they chase him, Slake always finds refuge in the subway and rides around until his world becomes habitable once again.

 

One day, things go particularly badly for Slake. First, he is pursued by bullies who take his sweater. Afterwards, he runs into a park and climbs a tree, where a park attendant threatens to call the police. Out of options, Slake runs into the nearest subway station, and remains in the tunnels for 121 days.

 

How does Slake survive and turn an unusual environment into a home? Does he ever come out of his subterranean lair?

 

This is a classic novel about homelessness, courage, and endurance.

 

 

 

A Voyage To Disaster

Here is the definitive book for Titanic enthusiasts and novices alike!

 

Award-winning, prolific author Deborah Hopkinson (Shutting Out The Sky) skillfully interweaves engaging, fact-filled text with high quality archival black-and-white photographs (telegrams, newspaper articles, etc.) to relate the unforgettable story of RMS Titanic, which, on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York, hit an iceberg and sank in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. Tragically, 1,496 people lost their lives in this catastrophic maritime incident. Deemed "unsinkable," Titanic was the largest ship and technological wonder of her time, and boasted features such as a gymnasium, spectacular first-class staterooms, and numerous elegant restaurants. This well-researched volume utilizes survivor and witness accounts - Captain Arthur Rostron of the rescue ship, Carpathia, Violet Jessop, a stewardess, Thomas Andrews, the ship's designer, a 9-year-old-boy, and a science teacher - to enable readers to experience the sinking from multiple perspectives. The author presents the ship's launching to its demise, the rescue of 712 survivors in lifeboats picked up by the Carpathia, and the discovery of the shipwreck on the ocean floor by marine scientist, Dr. Robert Ballard.

 

Other special features in this book are a glossary of nautical terms, a Titanic chronology, facts and figures, and a comprehensive bibliography.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ghostly Secrets

The prolific Betty Ren Wright (The Dollhouse Murders) has crafted another intriguing story that deftly mixes the supernatural realm with an engaging and sensitive coming-of-age story in which a young person, Christina Cooper, must rely on her own ingenuity and strength to find her own place in a situation where she feels uncomfortable, and forge a relationship with an uncle who prefers to remain solitary.

Independent and resourceful ten year-old Christina Cooper is not thrilled at the prospect of spending the summer with her Uncle Ralph in a foreboding house in the woods, while her parents are at a conference in Alaska. Clearly, Uncle Ralph prefers his own company, and Christina is left to her own devices. As she tries to find activities to fill her time, she discovers an unexpected, yet welcome visitor - a small boy who seems to appear and vanish before she can determine who he is. Convinced that the child is a ghost, she conducts some research into the background of the house, and discovers that two murders occurred there thirty years ago. Could this be the connection she seeks? When a malevolent presence manifests itself in the attic, Christina joins forces with her skeptical uncle to solve the mystery behind these events and set the past to rest.

This award-winning book will keep readers turning the pages until the very end. If you like ghost stories, I can also suggest Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn or Down A Dark Hall by Lois Duncan.




 

 

A Portrait Of Courage

 

                                              

"He who saves a life saves the world entire."

                                                                  -The Talmud, the book of Jewish law

 

Alot of people mistakenly think that when terrible events occur, there isn't anything one person can do to change the situation. However, during the Holocaust, one of the darkest times of human history that resulted in the destruction of six million Jews, there were heroic individuals who remembered their humanity, came forward to save others, and made a difference that the world wouldn't forget.

 

Oskar Schindler is one such hero. Schindler was a German businessman who sheltered over 1200 Jewish workers in his munitions factory and saved them from the Nazis who were determined to kill them. He constructed deals with the Nazis, used the fortune that he made in business (war profits), and took enormous risks to help his workers. Even though many of the laborers had no useful skills, Schindler fooled the Nazis into believing they were essential. The list of Jews in this factory was known as "Schindler's List." He was later honored by the government of Israel for his actions. 

 

This heartfelt and moving memoir, The Boy On The Wooden Box, honors Schindler's courage, compassion, and heroism, and was written by Leon Layson, one of the youngest people on "Schindler's List." Layson, whose given name was Leib Lejzon, describes his family's life in pre-World War II Poland, the commencement of the war, and the oppression and persecution that began after the Nazi invasion. He describes his eviction form his home, transport to the Podgorze ghetto in Krakow, and concentration camps, and the circumstances that led to his job in Schindler's factory which required him to stand on a wooden box to reach the controls on the machine he had to operate.

 

This is an unforgettable portrait of Oskar Schindler, an extraordinary, yet contradictory man - member of the Nazi party, war profiteer, rescuer, hero - who put his own life in danger to help others, and of Holocaust survivor Leon Layson, who was saved because Schindler valued human life at all costs.