DHS Library News

November 2020

By Alice N. Johnson, Library Media Specialist | ajohnson@dedham.k12.ma.us

Hours: Monday - Friday 7:30am - 2:30pm | DHS Library Website

From the Librarian

Greetings! I hope you all had a restful, relaxing Thanksgiving break. Although we celebrated with only our family of four, we still enjoyed cooking (and eating) all of our Thanksgiving favorites. My son Russ and I even made our first ever pumpkin pie (someone else usually brings one).

I encourage you to a take a few minutes to check out our newsletter and hopefully find some inspiration for a book to read (print, ebook, or audiobook). In my opinion, getting lost in a good book is a perfect activity for all this extra time we're spending indoors and at home these days. Find a story that transports you someplace else or read a book that teaches you something new. We have lots of great titles to explore and we're always ready with a suggestion.

– Mrs. Johnson

"Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are."

- Mason Cooley, American academic & professor emeritus of French, speech and world literature (1927-2002)

I Need a Hero!

Take a look at I Need a Hero! - an interactive virtual book display set up by Mrs. Fares - to explore some of our many books and graphic novels about superheroes.

If you're interested in borrowing any of these titles, please complete the DHS Library Book Request Form.

"Great books help you understand, and they help you feel understood."

– John Green, American author (1977- )

Struggling with what to read next? Pick a book from the book jar!

Ms. Fares has created a digital version of the book jar that typically sits on our library circulation desk.

How does it work? Click on the Book Jar and then choose a color-coded slip of paper to find a book suggestion. If you find a book that you would like to borrow, please complete the DHS Library Book Request Form. There is also an option to offer suggestions for other books to add to the jar.

Try it out!

Giving a book or a ledger vector concept

Borrowing Books!

Reminder: We're offering "curbside pickup" to all DHS students and staff!

Even though you can't browse our shelves right now, you can still borrow our books!

Complete the DHS Library Book Request Form if you are interested in borrowing a book.

If you don't know what you want to read, we can make some suggestions. Once you submit the request, we will be in touch about how, when, and where you can pick up your book.

Have you tried Sora yet?

Our new ebook & audiobook collection is waiting for you to explore.

You can READ or LISTEN to books on your Chromebook, or on a personal device such as a phone or tablet.

Click here to learn more!

"If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking."

– Haruki Murakami, Japanese author (1949- )

Taking a Look at YA Book Covers

It's commonly said that we shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but haven't you ever picked up a book solely based on how it looks? I know I have. I bet many of you can also instantly think of some iconic book covers, such as Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, or The Hobbit. Sometimes the cover design helps define a book.

This article from Book Riot, The Futura is Now: Why YA Cover Design Looks the Way it Does, explores some recent trends in cover design for marketing YA books. A lot of thought and energy goes into making a book look just so. Cover design is definitely used as a marketing tool, and can help determine a book's popularity, but does it also affect how we enjoy a book? It's something to consider.

What are some of your favorite book covers? Share them on this padlet! I've added a few of my current favorites too.

Test your bookish knowledge! Have some fun and try these quizzes to see how many book covers you can identify.

Even if you haven't read the actual book, these covers are pretty darn memorable. Can You Name This Bestselling YA Novel From Just The Cover?
How well do you know the last 60 years of literature? Only A True Bookworm Can Beat This Book Cover Quiz

Feeling Crafty?

Try upcycling an old book to make any of these projects. You could also make a book page wreath to decorate your space.If you don't have any old books available, you can use old magazines, newspapers, or comics for some of these crafts.

These projects make great gifts for the book fans in your life too!

Virtual Office Hours

I will be offering virtual office hours on Wednesdays for anyone who needs library support. Additional information will be shared in an upcoming email. I hope many of you will participate. If you need help, but can't make it to a Wednesday meeting, send me an email and we can always schedule a meeting for another time.

Here are some things I can help you with during the library office hours:

Finding a book to read
Accessing our new ebook and audiobook collection
Answering Chromebook/technology questions
Assisting with a school assignment
Using the research databases
Citing sources / using NoodleTools
Accessing material from the DPL / getting a DPL library card
Saying hello and checking in :)

New Books

A sampling of some of our new books are highlighted below. If you see a book that you would like to borrow, please complete the DHS Library Book Request Form.

A complete list of ALL new books added to the DHS Library this year can be found here.

New Fiction - Four Fabulous Titles

Realistic Fiction / Novel-in-Verse

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In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.

Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…

In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.

Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered.

And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.

--Provided by publisher

Sports Fiction / Baseball

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In this riveting story about baseball and brotherhood, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks finds himself pitching his way out of poverty—one strike at a time. By “a premier author of provocative YA sports novels” (The Bulletin).

Lazarus “Laz” Weathers has always been shy, and his issue with stuttering when he speaks hasn’t helped. Stuck in a Seattle trailer park, Laz finds baseball helps him escape from the world of poverty and drugs. When he gets an opportunity to pitch for the rich kids across town, he has a chance to get drafted by the major leagues.

But playing for the other team means leaving behind his family, including Antonio, Laz’s younger brother, who more and more, seems to be drawn to the dark world of the Jet City’s drug ring. Now Laz will have to choose between being the star pitcher he always dreamed of becoming and the team player his family needs.

--Provided by publisher

Historical Fiction / Horror

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On a cold Sunday evening in early 1957, Sarah Dewhurst waited with her father in the parking lot of the Chevron gas station for the dragon he’d hired to help on the farm…

Sarah Dewhurst and her father, outcasts in their little town of Frome, Washington, are forced to hire a dragon to work their farm, something only the poorest of the poor ever have to resort to.

The dragon, Kazimir, has more to him than meets the eye, though. Sarah can’t help but be curious about him, an animal who supposedly doesn’t have a soul but who is seemingly intent on keeping her safe.

Because the dragon knows something she doesn’t. He has arrived at the farm with a prophecy on his mind. A prophecy that involves a deadly assassin, a cult of dragon worshippers, two FBI agents in hot pursuit—and somehow, Sarah Dewhurst herself.

--Provided by publisher

Fantasy Fiction

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Nahoko Uehashi's The Beast Player is an epic YA fantasy about a girl with a special power to communicate with magical beasts and the warring kingdom only she can save.

Elin's family has an important responsibility: caring for the fearsome water serpents that form the core of their kingdom's army. So when some of the beasts mysteriously die, Elin's mother is sentenced to death as punishment. With her last breath she manages to send her daughter to safety.

Alone, far from home, Elin soon discovers that she can talk to both the terrifying water serpents and the majestic flying beasts that guard her queen. This skill gives her great powers, but it also involves her in deadly plots that could cost her life. Can she save herself and prevent her beloved beasts from being used as tools of war? Or is there no way of escaping the terrible battles to come?

--Provided by publisher

New Nonfiction - Four Fabulous Titles

Call #: 070.4 OTI

A former CIA analyst unveils the true history of fake news and gives readers tips on how to avoid falling victim to it in this highly designed informative YA nonfiction title.

"Fake news" is a term you’ve probably heard a lot in the last few years, but it’s not a new phenomenon. From the ancient Egyptians to the French Revolution to Jack the Ripper and the founding fathers, fake news has been around as long as human civilization. But that doesn’t mean that we should just give up on the idea of finding the truth.

In True or False, former CIA analyst Cindy Otis will take readers through the history and impact of misinformation over the centuries, sharing stories from the past and insights that readers today can gain from them. Then, she shares lessons learned in over a decade working for the CIA, including actionable tips on how to spot fake news, how to make sense of the information we receive each day, and, perhaps most importantly, how to understand and see past our own information biases, so that we can think critically about important issues and put events happening around us into context.

--Provided by publisher

Call #: 796.332 BEN

From the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Tiger Woods comes the definitive inside story of the New England Patriots—the greatest sports dynasty of the 21st century.

It's easy to forget that the New England Patriots were once the laughingstock of the NFL, a nearly bankrupt team that had never won a championship and was on the brink of moving to St. Louis. Everything changed in 1994, when Robert Kraft acquired the franchise and soon brought on board head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. Since then, the Patriots have become a juggernaut, making ten trips to the Super Bowl, winning six of them, and emerging as one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world. Today, the team's twenty-year reign atop the NFL stands as the longest in league history. How was the Patriots dynasty built? And how did it last for two decades?

--Provided by publisher

Call #: B GINSBURG.R CAR

Featured in the critically acclaimed documentary RBG

"It was beyond my wildest imagination that I would one day become the 'Notorious RBG." — Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 2019

She was a fierce dissenter with a serious collar game. A legendary, self-described “flaming feminist litigator” who made the world more equal. And an intergenerational icon affectionately known as the Notorious RBG. As the nation mourns the loss of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, discover the story of a remarkable woman and learn how to carry on her legacy.

This runaway bestseller, brought to you by the attorney founder of the Notorious RBG Tumblr and an award-winning feminist journalist, is more than just a love letter. It draws on intimate access to Ginsburg's family members, close friends, colleagues, and clerks, as well as an interview with the Justice herself. An original hybrid of reported narrative, annotated dissents, rare archival photos and documents, and illustrations, the book tells a never-before-told story of an unusual and transformative woman who transcended divides and changed the world forever.

--Provided by publisher

Call #: 940.54 PUR

A never-before-told story of Virginia Hall, the American spy who changed the course of World War II, from the author of Clementine.

In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: "She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her."

The target in their sights was Virginia Hall, a Baltimore socialite who talked her way into Special Operations Executive, the spy organization dubbed Winston Churchill's "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare." She became the first Allied woman deployed behind enemy lines and--despite her prosthetic leg--helped to light the flame of the French Resistance, revolutionizing secret warfare as we know it.

Virginia established vast spy networks throughout France, called weapons and explosives down from the skies, and became a linchpin for the Resistance. Even as her face covered wanted posters and a bounty was placed on her head, Virginia refused order after order to evacuate. She finally escaped through a death-defying hike over the Pyrenees into Spain, her cover blown. But she plunged back in, adamant that she had more lives to save, and led a victorious guerilla campaign, liberating swathes of France from the Nazis after D-Day.

Based on new and extensive research, Sonia Purnell has for the first time uncovered the full secret life of Virginia Hall--an astounding and inspiring story of heroism, spycraft, resistance, and personal triumph over shocking adversity. A Woman of No Importance is the breathtaking story of how one woman's fierce persistence helped win the war.

--Provided by publisher

New Graphic Novels - Four Fabulous Titles

Fiction / Superheroes

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Book 1 (Issue #1-5) - The world fell in love with her in the movie. Now, the Black Panther's techno-genius sister launches her own adventures - written by best-selling Afrofuturist author Nnedi Okorafor and drawn by Eisner-nominated artist Leonardo Romero! The Black Panther has disappeared, lost on a mission in space. And in his absence, everyone's looking at the next in line for the throne. But Shuri is happiest in a lab, surrounded by gadgets of her own creation. She'd rather be testing gauntlets than throwing them. But a nation without a leader is a vulnerable one - and Shuri may have to choose between Wakanda's welfare and her own.

--From the Publisher

Fiction / Animals

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Gail Ruffu was once a respected racehorse trainer known for her unconventional training methods. Then she became part owner of the Thoroughbred Urgent Envoy, and everything changed. The co-owners of Urgent Envoy pushed her to speed up her training methods, and eventually made her let them race him too early, until he developed a hairline fracture.

One more race would kill him. Gail had to act.

So on Christmas Eve, Gail stole her own horse. A modern-day outlaw at fifty-three, Gail learned the law at night while living out of her truck in order to move the horse to safe havens, evade private investigators, and take on a powerful Los Angeles attorney determined to crush her in court. As she stood up for the humane treatment of animals, she also took on the system that could crush them.

In this gorgeous combination of words and pictures by G. Neri, the acclaimed author of Yummy, and brilliant newcomer Corban Wilkin, a pioneer who established precedent for those still fighting for humane racing is brought to life in a must-read for horse lovers everywhere.

--Provided by publisher

Nonfiction / Elections & Voting

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Coinciding with the 2020 US presidential election, Drawing the Vote, an original graphic novel, looks at the history of voting rights in the United States and how it affects the way we vote today. Throughout the book, the author, Tommy Jenkins, identifies events and trends that led to the unprecedented results of the 2016 presidential election that left American political parties more estranged than ever. To balance these complex ideas and statistics, Kati Lacker’s original artistic style makes the book accessible for readers of all ages. At a time when many citizens are experiencing challenges and apathy about voting and skepticism concerning our bitterly divided government, Drawing the Vote seeks to offer some explanation for how we got here and how every American can take action to make their vote count.

--Provided by publisher

Fiction / Romance

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In Pumpkinheads, beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author Rainbow Rowell and Eisner Award–winning artist Faith Erin Hicks have teamed up to create this tender and hilarious story about two irresistible teens discovering what it means to leave behind a place―and a person―with no regrets.

Deja and Josiah are seasonal best friends.

Every autumn, all through high school, they’ve worked together at the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world. (Not many people know that the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world is in Omaha, Nebraska, but it definitely is.) They say good-bye every Halloween, and they’re reunited every September 1.

But this Halloween is different―Josiah and Deja are finally seniors, and this is their last season at the pumpkin patch. Their last shift together. Their last good-bye.

Josiah’s ready to spend the whole night feeling melancholy about it. Deja isn’t ready to let him. She’s got a plan: What if―instead of moping and the usual slinging lima beans down at the Succotash Hut―they went out with a bang? They could see all the sights! Taste all the snacks! And Josiah could finally talk to that cute girl he’s been mooning over for three years . . .

What if their last shift was an adventure?

--Provided by publisher

Make today so AWESOME yesterday gets JEALOUS!

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