Sophie Flack. BUNHEADS

Hannah is living out her dream dancing for the prestigious Manhattan Ballet company. Ever since she was a little girl, she's sacrificed and worked diligently to work her way up to this point. She's enjoyed every minute of it. Her daily life consists of rehearsals and multiple perfomances, as well as yoga and pilates workouts. She lives and breathes for her dancing career. She is is currently dancing in the corps de ballet, meaning she isn't a soloist, so she works even more diligently hoping to be promoted to star.

One rare night off, Hannah visits her cousin's West Village restaurant to eat dinner where she meets handsome Jacob. She falls for his verve and his excitement about exploring everything the world has to offer. He wants to learn Italian to watch Fellini movies without subtitles. He's majoring in philosophy and art history and ecology.

Jacob and Hannah hit it off right away, but Hannah has a strict schedule and she has to cancel on Jacob often. Jacob is patient, but Hannah realizes that he won't wait on her forever. She must decide what her true priorities are before it's too late.

I've always been fascinated by the world of ballet. I took ballet briefly as a young girl (didn't we all?), but I don't really remember much. I've always considered it such a beautiful art. But I realize the strength involved too. Ballet dancers are a curious combination of strength and beauty. I love the details about being a dancer that this book offers. The author was a dancer for nine years with the New York City Ballet, so this is an accurate account of the daily life of a dancer.

Intellectually, one knows that being a dancer takes a lot of work, but to read about the day to day schedule of a ballet dancer is something different. I realize now how much these dancers really give up to live this life. Also, the toll that the schedule takes on their bodies is enormous, particularly considering that they do not nourish themselves like an athlete would. They actually try to do so much on so little food. It's amazing and a little frightening.

I really enjoyed the book. It's a well written, fascinating look into the inner workings of a ballet company. For more about the author check our her website here.

TeenBookCon! This Saturday

TeenBookCon is this Saturday! It's a FREE Teen Book Festival with an amazing array of authors. There will be 27 authors! The list includes Orson Scott Card, Holly Black, Lauren DeStefano, Michael Grant, Maggie Stiefvater and Lisa McMann. Check it out by clicking the link below.

TeenBookCon via kwout

Laini Taylor. DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE

"You were true to her, even if she was not to you. Never repent of your own goodness, child. To stay true in the face of evil is a feat of strength."

DAUGHTER OF SMOKE & BONE is one of the best fantasies I've read in a while. Laini Taylor is truly a gifted writer. Let me tell you right up front that my review won't even come close to doing it justice. But I'll forge ahead anyway.

Karou is a mystery to those around her. She attends art school, most of the time. But she tends to disappear from time to time, and she returns from these trips with injuries or illnesses. Her best friend has learned not to ask her about the details of her mysterious personal life.

What her friends at school don't know is that Karou was adopted as a baby into a family of chimaera, or what one might call monsters. Her father figure, Brimstone, is an interesting combination of lion, ram and dragon.

Although Karou has already moved out to her own apartment, she still visits Brimstone and his chimaera friends often at his shop. When she disappears on those mysterious trips, she is collecting odd items for Brimstone, who needs them for his sorcery. He's not forthcoming about what he does with these rare items. In fact, he's not forthcoming about a lot of things. Karou's own history is a mystery that she wonders about often. Then Karou meets an intriguing, beautiful angel named Akiva, who nearly kills her.

Karou discovers that she and Akiva are enemies on the opposite sides of a war between the chimaera and the angels. But Karou also feels an unusual connection to Akiva. Perhaps he can help unlock the mysteries of her past.

This is an original fantasy complete with fascinating characters, epic battles, and a fiery romance. The writing is exquisite. Laini Taylor has created a rich world that is pure perfection down to the tiniest detail. I was so delighted to see that this will be a trilogy!

You won't be able to put this one down!

Check out the author's website here.

And one of the trailers:

EasyBib Mobile Apps for iPhone & Android

Many students have discovered a great new tool for creating citations. NoodleTools works great when you have a longer, more involved research project. But if you simply need a citation, EasyBib is the quickest way to obtain one.

On the website, you can enter in the information about your book or simply enter the ISBN. EasyBib will return a list of books for you to verify your choice. Then the citation will pop up, already filled it. At this point you verify and select "create citation." It works with all types of sources.

EasyBib: Free Bibliography Maker - MLA, APA, Chicago citation styles via kwout

In addition to the online version, EasyBib has a mobile app for iPhone and Android. The app is super nifty because you can scan your book's ISBN with your phone! Then it will create your citation. You can then send you citation to your online EasyBib account for later printing or you can email it to yourself. 

Following are the links to the mobile apps:

 

iPhone mobile app

Android Mobile app

Be sure to let us know how you like EasyBib, particularly if you have created an account and enjoy the notecards and outlining features. If enough students find it useful, we may consider purchasing a school subscription to unlock more features. 

Enjoy creating citations more conveniently!

Soundzabound - New Music Database!

We have a new database available for student projects called Soundzabound. You can download music to use in your projects, websites, slideshows, videos or other projects for school. Soundzabound is easy to use and has a large variety of music to choose from.

If you aren't sure about why using royalty free music is important, especially when using music online, peruse the great articles that Soundzabound includes in their digital citizenship section here.

Check it out! You'll need our username and password. Look for it in the same location you would look for our other passwords. If you're not sure where that secret location is, please see us in the library.