VlogBrothers: John Green on his books' covers

Do you LOVE John Green?  I do!  Did you know he and his brother have a YouTube channel called VlogBrothers?  Love it!  here's John Green talking about how he feels about the cover art on his books.  He is one fast talker!

The Mortal Instruments: The movie

Fans of The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, take a look at the cast list for the upcoming movies.  I must say, every single person on this list is extremely good looking.  One of my favorite choices is Jonathan Rhys Meyers to play the role of Valentine.  He is the perfect combo of beautiful and sinister.  Clary will be played by Lily Collins, who was in The Blind Side and Mirror Mirror.  The film is scheduled for release next August!

St. Catherine of Siena Fun Fact #2

Den heliga Katarina
retrieved from Wikimedia Commons

As a child, Catherine was such a delight that her family and neighbors nicknamed her Euphrosyne, pronounced you-FROZ-ee-knee.  The name is from Greek mythology.  Euphrosyne was one of the three Graces, the Goddess of Joy, a daughter of Zeus, and symbol of beauty and grace.  That's high praise for a little girl, and quite a mouthful too!

McDermott, T.S. The Lives of the Dominican Saints.  New York: The Dominican Fathers of the Province of St. Joseph, 1940. Print.

Senior Religion Research Project

The senior religion classes have launched their annual year-long research projects!  This week in the Library, seniors are brainstorming topic ideas related to social justice, human rights, and women's issues.  Next week they will refine their topics and begin to figure out how to connect what they are studying to the lives of our beautiful Tologs.  As many of you remember from last year, this project includes surveys designed to collect data from you, the students of Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy.  The seniors will use the results of their surveys, along with their research, to draw conclusions about their topics.  So far, students have been discussing issues like: women in sports, the portrayal of women on TV, the impact of sibling relationships on young women, young women's views on dating and marriage, women in the criminal justice system, and many other exciting topics.

St. Catherine of Siena Fun Fact #1

courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum,
retrieved from Wikimedia Commons

Did you know St. Catherine of Siena was a twin?  According to The Lives of the Dominican Saints (full citation below), St. Catherine had a twin sister named Jane who died when she was just a few days old.  The twin sisters were born on March 25th, 1347.  Their mother Lapa was unable to nourish them both, so kept Catherine for herself and gave Jane to a friend to raise.  Poor Jane died only a few days later.  Check it out!

Stay tuned for more St. Catherine of Siena Fun Facts!

McDermott, T.S. The Lives of the Dominican Saints.  New York: The Dominican Fathers of the Province of St. Joseph, 1940. Print.

Just Call Me Flintrid

Yesterday I received this magazine renewal notice:

I'm thinking Flintrid S Heart should be the Library's mascot.  Perhaps we need a creative art student to come up with a character/avatar for Flintrid.  Any takers?

Wattpad - read and publish online

Yesterday I was introduced to my favorite new website for reading, Wattpad.  Wattpad is a site on which authors of all kinds publish their work.  Some of these writers are previously published, well-known, critically-acclaimed authors.  One of these is my favorite author of all time, Margaret Atwood, who is serially publishing some of her new poems using Wattpad.  Other writers here are just like you!  They write fan fiction (including lots of One Direction fan fiction), short stories, poems, novels, and more.  If you are a writer or a reader, you will love Wattpad!

New Music and Fashion Mags

This year we're updating our periodicals to include more recrational reading choices.  Two of my favorite new magazines in the Library are Spin and Nylon.  Come take a look!



Spin magazine is an alternative music publication that features college bands, alternative music, hip-hop, and more.




Nylon features pop culture, fashion, art, beauty, design, travel, celebrities....you name it.



Search Smarter, Search Faster

Aaaaand, we're off!
As you learn about your new classes for the year, my guess is that most of you will find that one or more of your teachers asks you to write a research paper or two (Oh NO!).  Here are a few links to various tutorials/slideshows that will help you get started.

Developing a Research Topic
This slideshow will help you think of topic ideas and narrow these ideas into a good research question.

Developing a Search Strategy
This tutorial will remind you how to develop a list of key search terms and use online tools to begin searching for material.

Search Smarter, Search Faster
The video below will help you when it's time to search the databases on the Library's web page.

A New Year, A New Babe, A New Library Life

BEFORE

AFTER

Welcome back Tologs!  It has been quite a summer around my house, as you may imagine.  (For those of you who don't know or don't remember, I had a baby at the end of the last school year.  His name is Gordon, his is perfect, and we had a beautiful summer getting to know one another.) Now I am back and ready to get at this new school year with all of you fine young ladies.
While you may or may not have made use of the Library's many services last year, I hope we will be seeing a lot of one another this school year.  Here's just a quick reminder of all the FHSA Library offers:

• great books to read for fun (with all your spare time, I know, I know!)
• help with research assignments, short and long
• help finding information of all sorts, online and in print (yes, we have books!)
• help with citations
• access to laptops, printers, and copiers
• a meeting place for group projects
• silent study space during Enrichment
• friendly service with a smile :)

Keep an eye on this blog for research tips, book recommendations, and more Library news throughout the year.