Publisher: Paramount Home Video
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/28/2004
UPC: 00841887051361

Not for ourselves alone: The story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony is a Ken Burns film chronicling the forty year friendship of these two remarkable women who spent their lives fighting for the birthright of every woman – that of equality and her right to vote. I knew their names but little else. Watching this documentary, the adversities, the hardships and their own personal struggles, each willing to make the sacrifices necessary so that we women could vote today, gave me a sense of pride and indebtedness to these two whom I did not even study about in school. I have taken voting for granted and yet women have only been given this right since 1920.

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 4/29/2008
ISBN: 9780805079036
ISBN-10: 0805079033

After seeing the Burns film, I saw this new children’s picture book biography by Tanya Lee Stone, Elizabeth leads the way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the right to vote. She emphasizes Stanton’s perseverance and never giving up but rather standing up for what she believed. The story begins when Elizabeth is 11 years old in her father’s law office learning firsthand how laws forbade women the right to own property, earn wages or have legal rights over their own children even after their husbands die, leaving them destitute. She thought cutting the laws out of the law books would solve the injustices. Her father urged her to talk to her legislators when she grew up. She did-for 50 years.

Publisher: Holiday House
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/1/2003
ISBN: 9780823416899
ISBN-10: 0823416895

Tom Birdseye’s Attack of the mutant underwear finds 5th grader Cody Lee Carson leaving his old self behind and starting a new school. He is going to keep a journal of this transformation into the new Cody—“very cool, confident, popular and smart.” Unfortunately, before the first day of school starts, a classmate sees him in his underwear.

Publisher: HarperTrophy
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 8/1/1998
ISBN: 9780064407236
ISBN-10: 0064407233

In Elizabeth Levy’s My life as a fifth-grade comedian, a joke begins each chapter, but it isn’t so funny when the principal threatens to send Bobby to the School for Intervention when he stops doing homework--unless he can organize a school wide “Laugh-off” between the teachers and the students.

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 6/26/2007
ISBN: 9781416909835
ISBN-10: 1416909834

Andrew Clements presents another challenge in No talking. This time it is the 5th grade class dubbed “the Unshushables” -boys vs. the girls, a no talking contest for 48 hours where students are only allowed to answer teachers’ questions with a 3 word response and otherwise, silence. This is all Dave’s idea, when he does a report on India and learns that Gandhi didn’t speak at all one day a week to bring order to his mind.

Publisher: Columbia
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/2/2003
UPC: 00827969035320

This album is a modern version of the music put out in the 1960’s. Very 60’s soft girly group-esque with guitar and a lot of noise. I really enjoy listening to it. Where are my pedal pushers and red lipstick when I need them?

Publisher: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 1/1/2008
UPC: 00043396250789

This is the story of Dewey Cox, singer, songwriter, legend in this Johnny Cash-esque mock-umentary. This spans Dewey’s life from first talent show to Hall of Fame induction, from his first child to his to 22, from his first hit of weed to Viagra. This is a heartwarming story of striving against the odds and how to properly use a machete. Dewey is played by John C. Reilly who does his own singing and is marvelous. The music impersonates Johnny Cash, Elvis, Bob Dylan, The Beatles and more. With such hits as “Lets Duet” and “Let me hold you (little man)” you won’t stop laughing until the film ends. The soundtrack is also available so you can take a little Dewey with you when you hit the road.

Publisher: Warner Home Video
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/16/2008
UPC: 00883929024322

This show is fantastic! The first season is only 9 episodes long due to the writers strike, but it is definitely worth seeing. Ned can bring people back to life with a touch of his finger, although I can’t imagine touching dead people would be all that fun. But with this magical touch come rules. He can bring them back to life, but he has one minute to make them dead again or else someone in close proximity will die instead and if he leaves that person alive he can never touch them again, which comes as a hardship with his girlfriend, Chuck. They have to kiss through plastic wrap or she will die, again. This show is quirky, funny, weird, smarmy, acidic and looks beautiful.

Publisher: Robert Hale
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/28/2007
ISBN: 9780709082019
ISBN-10: 0709082010

Helena goes to find her aunt, the housekeeper, at Stormcrow Castle. What she finds is that her aunt, her only living relative, goes to visit a sister that doesn’t exist. Helena walks into a mystery full of secret passageways, masquerade balls and suspicious characters. I really enjoy gothic novels that were mainly published in the sixties. This is a fresh look at gothic novels with an unconventional plot twist fitting to a novel published in 2007.

Gena Showalter’s new series Lords of the Underworld is great (although I can’t help thinking of South Park episode Season 4 Episode 51 every time I say Lords of the Underworld.) The premise for the series is that back in ancient Greece the Gods had a troop of warriors. One day the Gods took a box with all the evil beasties inside it and gave it to Pandora to guard. The warriors got angry that the box was not entrusted to them so they opened it. As punishment each of the warriors has a demon from the box living inside them: disease, disaster, misery, doubt, hope, defeat, lies, secrets, wrath, promiscuity, distrust, violence, death and pain and each of them is going to find a special lady. I can’t wait for Disease to get his own book; that should prove interesting. For now there are three books out: Darkest night #1, Darkest Kiss #2, and Darkest pleasure #3, but don’t read too quickly, the next book in the series is slotted for 2009.

Publisher: HQN Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 5/1/2008
ISBN: 9780373772469
ISBN-10: 0373772467

To silence the voices in her head, Ashlyn Darrow arrives in Budapest where she, seeking help from men rumored to have supernatural abilities, is drawn to their most dangerous member, Maddox, who is trapped in a hell of his own.

First Chapter  

Publisher: HQN
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 6/1/2008
ISBN: 9780373772322
ISBN-10: 0373772327

Anya, goddess of anarchy, has never known pleasure or love, until she meets Lucien, the incarnation of death, but their relationship is threatened when the gods order the merciless Lord of the Underworld to claim Anya.

First Chapter  

Publisher: HQN
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 7/1/2008
ISBN: 9780373773107
ISBN-10: 0373773102

Reyes, a possessed man bound by the demon of pain and forbidden all pleasure, is drawn to Danika Ford, a mortal woman on the run who has eluded the Lords of Underworld for months but who cannot forget Reyes's searing touch.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 8/1/2003
ISBN: 9780375815676
ISBN-10: 0375815678

This book by Jarrett J. Krosoczka is a perfect spooky story to read aloud to a group of children for Halloween.  Annie was warned not to go into the old Montgomery mansion, but she is not scared of spiders or bats. Annie finally proves her courage when despite numerous warning signs; she opens the mansion door to find a frightful surprise!

Publisher: Laura Geringer Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/1/2005
ISBN: 9780060522681
ISBN-10: 0060522682

A perfect book for older school age children looking for that oh-so-slightly scary Halloween read aloud story.  Algernon Graeves is looking for that perfect costume that is just scary enough.  The illustrations in this picture book may be too scary for young children, but just perfect for older elementary children looking to be spooked for Halloween. 

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/9/2005
ISBN: 9780374320911
ISBN-10: 0374320918

Fifteen-year old Liz Hall is killed by a taxi and finds herself in a place like Earth but totally different.  She finds herself in Elsewhere, a place where people who have passed on begin to age backwards.  Elsewhere seems perfect, there is no sickness and you can’t get any older, but Liz wants to get older, get her driver’s license, go to college, get married, and do so much more.  This is a thoughtful and humorous book about death, grieving, and change for older readers.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/1/2005
ISBN: 9780060766184
ISBN-10: 0060766182

Tom Ward is a son of a seventh son, and he is apprenticed to the village Spook, where he will learn to rid local towns of ghouls, boggarts, witches, and all sorts of spooky beings.  A great book filled with suspense and scary descriptions that will have the bravest of young readers going to sleep with the lights on.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 7/15/2008
UPC: 00025195037952

Christina Ricci stars as Penelope, a young woman who was born with a curse placed on her – she was born with the face of a pig.  Her mother terrified of the publicity of a pig-faced daughter, fakes Penelope’s death, and when she is older begins to look for a blue-blood bachelor to break the curse.  This movie, not your typical romantic comedy, ends with a Halloween bash filled with pig-faced girls.

Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 7/8/2008
ISBN: 9780345496881
ISBN-10: 0345496884

Sure, the Napoleonic Wars were exciting … but they would've been even more interesting if the aerial corps were made up of talking dragons. If you like your alternate histories to be indulgently silly but seriously researched at the same time, you should start reading the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik – which, incidentally, was recently optioned by Peter Jackson. The newly published Victory of Eagles is Book 5 in the series and continues Novik’s pattern of writing consistently exciting battle scenes and more than enough character development to make sure the plot matter to the reader. Anglophiles and dragon-lovers ought to grow fond of the dry Captain Laurence and his book-loving dragon companion, Temeraire.

First Chapter  

Publisher: First Second
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/4/2007
ISBN: 9781596431010
ISBN-10: 1596431016

Publisher: Hyperion
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 3/25/2008
ISBN: 9780786838189
ISBN-10: 0786838183

Publisher: Paramount
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 1/15/2008
UPC: 00097368892446

I consider Avatar: The Last Airbender to be the best American cartoon series for children to come out since I-don’t-know-when. There are four nations, each with their own martial art style and control over one of the elements: air, water, earth, and fire. When the Fire Nation attacks the other three lands, only 12-year-old Aang can master all four elements and defeat the Fire Lord’s army to restore balance to the universe. The show wears its anime influences on its sleeve (Studio Ghibli, anyone?) but the story, characters, and universe are uniquely their own. The series just finished its run on Nickelodeon and is set to be reincarnated on the big screen by M. Night Shyamalan, so pick up the first of the DVDs to follow along.

Publisher: DAW Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 3/27/2007
ISBN: 9780756404079
ISBN-10: 075640407X

Ah yes, the hero’s journey. The book is framed as an autobiography about Kvothe, a legendary hero who sees himself as a failure. Despite his world-weariness in telling it, Kvothe’s personal history is equally fascinating at all segments. His stories of childhood with a travelling theater troupe, days as a street urchin in the city, and admission into university are compellingly told and rich with digressive details. The first book in this trilogy is mostly a coming-of-age tale with hints of sword and sorcery to come, though probably not in ways we expect if the series continues to avoid well-worn plot devices. If you read and decide you love the book, make sure to follow the author’s very entertaining and frequently updated blog to learn more about him and his work.

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 2/12/2008
ISBN: 9780375836060
ISBN-10: 0375836063

This book has the most magical illustrations, the porcelain doll faced characters are sweet and fragile. There is a delectable surrealism that beckons the reader inside the wondrous world of this story set in a snow globe.  

Publisher: Repnet Llc
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 3/4/2008
UPC: 00616892945529

“Friendship has no religion” as two women working at the same school in New York find similarities in their lives when their families begin the process of arranging a marriage for them within their respective cultures – a Muslim Arab and an Orthodox Jew.  Traditions and modern living are intermingled just as these two women from opposing cultures blend their common experiences and form a fearless friendship.

Publisher: Hyperion
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 4/22/2008
ISBN: 9781401323189
ISBN-10: 1401323189

Just who will you be?: Big question, little book, answer within by Maria Shriver. In essence, this book is a graduation speech/poem that this famous author gave at her nephew’s graduation, and contains a little about her own journey to redefine herself after her husband became governor.

Publisher: Miramax Home Entertainment
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 2/12/2008
UPC: 00786936731927

Ever since I encountered Mr. Darcy (the Colin Firth version of course) I have been a huge fan of Jane Austen, so it was interesting to see the telling of the writer’s life in this film.  I came to realize as I watched that Mr. Darcy = Tom LeFroy = James McAvoy = Mi amiga’s favorite actor du jour! I may even have to give a listen to the soundtrack from this movie too!

Publisher: Scholastic Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 5/1/2006
ISBN: 9780439847018
ISBN-10: 043984701X

I recently had the opportunity to see the author of this book and hear her read it - how cool is that?! It looks like another little picture book for kids, but it is written with the intention for parents and packs a big punch. In this small package of a book is a list of 10 things, a clear and simple list of how to create a home filled with harmony and how to prepare a child for true success.  It is a mini-manual for every parent with young children!