13th Annual Poetry Wall

Marshall Public Library is calling for submissions for the 13th annual Poetry Wall!

All local poets of all ages are invited to submit one original poem or one page of original poetry for inclusion in the Poetry Wall. Entries are accepted throughout March and April.

The poetry will be displayed in April in celebration of National Poetry Month. All entries become property of Marshall Public Library and are added to the library collection. Individuals, creative writing groups, and classes are encouraged to submit their poems.

You may drop off your entries on the second floor at the Reference Desk or you may mail your entries to the following address:

Poetry Wall c/o Amy Campbell Marshall Public Library 113 South Garfield Pocatello, Idaho 83204 232-9266 (fax)

For more information, please call Amy at 232-1263 ext. 106.

Amy Campbell, Reference Librarian

John’s Short Reviews of Long Books

Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, & the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright

This book reads like bad fiction. It’s well written. It’s just that I would have trouble believing the actions and choices of the people in the stories if they were characters in a novel. It’s all true, however. The Church of Scientology is a litigious organization and the author, Lawrence Wright, has been very careful only to use sources that he can document. Highly recommended.

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

This book was published in the 1990s. It concerns a wounded soldier who journeys to his love and his home, deserting the Confederate Army once he is sufficiently recovered to leave the hospital. I just read it recently for the first time and am reviewing it because it is the best fictional work on the Civil War, and one of the best works of fiction overall, that I have ever read. It shares its framework in some ways with the Odyssey and looms just as mythically large. The language is beautiful.

John Bickelhaupt, Reference Librarian

Check In @your Library During Teen Tech Week

Check In @ your Library during Teen Tech Week March 10-16 as we celebrate all things “tech” that your library has to offer from computers to databases to CDs and DVDs...and even e-books!

There will be a display of “Old Tech” stuff and a list of five challenges to complete to be entered into a drawing for free books and jump drives.

Follow me for updates on twitter @kayalib and on the YA Blog yanewsmpl.blogspot.com or just come in and pick up a paper copy of the questions for the daily challenges. This is open to youth in grades 6-12. Each correctly answered question will give you one entry into the drawing to be held on Monday, March 18.

From 4:30-6:30 on Monday, March 25, we will sponsor a READ poster workshop! Have you ever wanted to be a celebrity? Here’s your chance to use GIMP (a free photo-editing program) to edit a photo and use our software to put yourself in a READ poster.

For more information about this and other Teen programs, contact Kath Ann at 232-1263 ext. 111.

Kath Ann Hendricks,Young Adult Librarian

Book Awards Announced

The recent ALA Media Awards have been announced. Not only do wehave a new Newbery Award for outstanding contribution to children’s literature but we also have a young adult title which has won the Michael W. Printz Award (I call it the Newbery for teens).

The Newbery Winner is: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

The story of Ivan, a silverback gorilla told from Ivan's point of view, is a charming, soul searching, and inspirational book about a real gorilla that once lived in a circus themed mall in Washington State.

It is written in short sentences and paragraphs because, as Ivan puts it, "Humans waste words. They toss them like banana peels and leave them to rot. Everyone knows that the peels are the best part."

This book will appeal to children and animal lovers alike.

The Michael W. Printz Award is: In Darkness by Nick Lake

15-year old gangster Shorty finds himself trapped in a collapsed hospital after the 2010 Haitian earthquake. To maintain his somewhat tenuous sanity, he speaks his life story to the darkness surrounding him. As he weakens and faces the truth that his rescue may never come, hallucinations parallel with visions of Haitian rebel leader Toussaint L'Ouverture who led a slave revolt and helped force Napoleon and the French out of Haiti two hundred years ago.

Shorty describes his life coming of age in the poorest of slums in a world where daily violence sometimes leads to unexpected humanity.

Both of these books are available for checkout at Marshall Public Library. Many other books have won awards and you can find a complete list at www.yalsa.ala.org.

Kath Ann Hendricks, Young Adult Librarian