Education & Learning

Books in the Scientists in the Field series focus on working scientists - what it is like to be a scientist as well as on the actual research work they are doing.  The writing is excellent, the photography breathtaking, the research projects wide-ranging and fascinating and the book production outstanding.  Most importantly, they are really powerful with children and teens.  Just hand one to a kid and you’ll see what I mean.

As do all avid readers, I have favorite books and authors that I reread. I understand the pleasure of revisiting titles, especially classic works that I might have read at too young an age. I’m also partial to the power of the spoken word; audio has transformed more books than I can count. Listening to titles I’ve already read enhances the pleasures of rereading and my appreciation of the books. After all, novels by Austen, Dickens, and many others written before the twentieth century were frequently shared aloud.

Lockdown: Escape from Furnace
By Alexander Gordon Smith

Cheating Death: The Doctors and Medical Miracles That Are Saving Lives against All Odds

By Sanjay Gupta

Ask a Librarian!

Librarians can be the most valuable asset when looking for homework help. For instance, the Skokie Public Library in Skokie, Illinois, has a link on its teen homepage that lets users ask a librarian questions regarding an assignment. And even if the librarian doesn’t know the answer, someone will be able to point you in the direction of a virtual or on-site resource that can.

Top 10 Sports Books: 2009
Recommended by Bill Ott

Major sports dominate the top 10 this year, but there’s also long-distance running, a book made from a very hip Web site, and a treatise on “the art of living dangerously.” Eligible titles were reviewed in Booklist from September 1, 2008, through August 2009.

We Shall Remain

From PBS

An Official Selection from the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, this documentary explores Native American history in depth, touching upon monumental events and people, including the arrival of the Mayflower, Tecumseh, the Trail of Tears, Geronimo, and the seize of Wounded Knee in the 1970s. The five-episode film is narrated by Benjamin Bratt and features reenactments.

Wake

By Lisa McMann

The Twitter Book

By Tim O’Reilly and Sarah Milstein

This is a helpful guide for people getting started on Twitter. It provides user-friendly tips for setting up a professional profile, tracking your tweets and Twitter etiquette.

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom

By Margarita Engle