February 27, 2008
Digital TV Converter Box Coupons Available Online
On February 17, 2009, all full-power television stations will switch to 100% digital broadcasting. This means that US residents have a year to adjust to this switch. One of the available options to consumers is to purchase a TV converter box. In an effort to keep US households from being left out after the change, the federal goverment is making available up to two $40 coupons per household toward the purchase of the converter boxes. Coupons are not available to pick up at the library, but you may use a library computer to request them online. For more information on the switch to digital and to apply for coupons, please see the TV Converter Box Coupon Program website or call 1-888-DTV-2009.
Posted by Abby at 03:07 PM
Martha Stewart Buys Emeril Franchise
Last week it was announced that Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. bought the rights to the Emeril Lagasse franchise. This includes his television shows, cookbooks and other products. Emeril will still own his restaurants and corporate office.
Tempt your tastebuds at the library with these and other cookbooks by Martha and Emeril:
Posted by Abby at 10:13 AM
New Bluebonnet, Lone Star, Tayshas and 2X2 Book Lists
Each year committees from the Texas Library Association create book lists for children and young adults. These popular book lists are:
The 2X2 Reading List for ages 2 through second grade.
The Texas Bluebonnet Award for third through sixth grade.
The Lone Star Reading List for sixth through eighth grade.
The Tayshas Reading List for high school.
The 2 X 2 Reading List is a project of the Children's Round Table, a unit of the Texas Library Association and is a list of 20 books recommended for children age 2 to grade 2.
Robert O. Bruel. Bob and Otto
Otto the worm is shocked to discover that his best friend Bob is actually a caterpillar who emerges one day as a butterfly.
Matthew McElligott. Bean Thirteen
Two bugs, Ralph and Flora, try to divide thirteen beans so that the unlucky thirteenth bean disappears, but they soon discover that the math is not so easy.
The Texas Bluebonnet Award is a project of the Texas Library Association and is co-sponsored by the Children's Roundtable and the Texas Association of School Librarians, both of the Texas Library Association from suggestions from librarians, teachers, parents, students, and others. Students in grades 3-6 vote in January for the winner.
Barbara O'Connor. How to Steal a Dog
Living in the family car in their small North Carolina town after their father leaves them virtually penniless, Georgina, desperate to improve their situation and unwilling to accept her overworked mother's calls for patience, persuades her younger brother to help her in an elaborate scheme to get money by stealing a dog and then claiming the reward that the owners are bound to offer.
Catherine Thimmesh. Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon
Culled from direct quotes from the people behind the scenes, NASA transcripts, national archives and NASA photos, the whole story of Apollo 11 and the first moon landing emerges.
The Texas Lone Star Reading List is a reading incentive program designed for young adults of Texas, (grades 6-8), who are encouraged to read books from a selected reading list. This list is prepared by the Texas Lone Star Reading List Committee, a part of the Texas Library Association Executive Board and the Young Adult Round Table of the Texas Library Association.
Shane Berryhill. Chance Fortune and the Outlaws
For as long as he can remember, 14-year-old Joshua Blevins has wanted to be a superhero. There's only one problem: he doesn't have any superpowers, but Josh isn't about to let that stop him.
Jennifer L. Holm. Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf: A Year Told Through Stuff
Told entirely through notes, grocery receipts, report cards, bottle caps, newspaper clippings, and other pieces of a young girls life, Newbery Honor winner Holm delivers the story of Ginnys seventh-grade year using all the things that "really" matter.
The objectives of the Tayshas Reading List are to motivate young adults to read more and to enjoy opportunities to become a community of readers in Texas.
Caroline B. Cooney. Enter Three Witches
Lady Mary's life is forever changed when her father, Lord Cawdor, betrays the Scottish king and is hanged as a traitor. Now a ward of Lord and Lady Macbeth, she's trapped in a castle with a power-hungry couple who will do anything to get what they want in this retelling of Shakespeare's tragedy.
Jordan Sonnenblick. Notes From the Midnight Driver
After being assigned to perform community service at a nursing home, sixteen-year-old Alex befriends a cantankerous old man who has some lessons to impart about jazz guitar playing, love, and forgiveness.
Posted by Kathleen at 08:58 AM
February 25, 2008
80th Annual Academy Award Winners
The 2007 Academy Award winners were announced on Sunday, February 24. The nominees for the major award categories are listed below with winners indicated with an *. Check out the previous winners for Motion Picture, Animated Feature, Documentary Feature, and Foreign Language Film.
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Nominees
George Clooney in Michael Clayton (In Theatres)
* Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (In Theatres)
Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (In Theatres)
Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Nominees
Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - Read the Book
* Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men (In Theatres)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson’s War (In Theatres) - Read the Book
Hal Holbrook in Into the Wild - Read the Book
Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton (In Theatres)
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Nominees
Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie in Away from Her
* Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose
Laura Linney in The Savages (In Theatres)
Ellen Page in Juno (In Theatres)
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Nominees
Cate Blanchett in I’m Not There
Ruby Dee in American Gangster - Read the Book
Saoirse Ronan in Atonement (In Theatres) - Read the Book
Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone - Read the Book
* Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year Nominees
Persepolis (In Theatres)
* Ratatouille
Surf's Up
Achievement in Directing Nominees
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Julian Schnabel (In Theatres) - Read the Book
Juno - Jason Reitman (In Theaters)
Michael Clayton - Tony Gilroy (In Theatres)
* No Country for Old Men - Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (In Theatres)
There Will Be Blood - Paul Thomas Anderson (In Theatres)
Best Documentary Feature Nominees
No End in Sight
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime
Sicko
* Taxi to the Dark Side (In Theatres)
War/Dance
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year Nominees
Beaufort (Israel) - Read the Book
* The Counterfeiters (Austria)
Mongol (Kazakhstan)
12 (Russia)
Best Motion Picture of the Year Nominees
Atonement (In Theatres) - Read the Book
Juno (In Theatres)
Michael Clayton (In Theatres)
* No Country for Old Men (In Theatres)
There Will Be Blood (In Theatres)
Original Screenplay Nominees
* Juno (In Theatres)
Lars and the Real Girl
Michael Clayton (In Theatres)
Ratatouille
The Savages
Posted by Abby at 11:36 AM
February 21, 2008
Jane Austen on PBS
Masterpiece starts off 2008 with The Complete Jane Austen on PBS. Productions of her six novels are being shown along with a film biography called Miss Austen Regrets.
Inspired to read one of her novels or listen to the audiobook? Harris County Public Library has them available.
Persuasion (airs January 13)
Persuasion, Jane Austen's last complete novel, is a social satire of England's landed gentry and a romantic tale of love lost and renewed. Having been persuaded 8 years earlier to refuse a poor naval officer, Anne Elliot has resigned herself to a life devoted to her selfish father. Upon Captain Wentworth's return, Anne must endure his courting a rash young girl, and the tumult of emotions that well up inside her upon his return.
Northanger Abbey (airs January 20)
Jane Austen's first novel tells the story of Catherine Morland, the very ideal of a nice girl. But her naive heroine is also in possession of an overactive imagination, fueled by her obsession with gothic novels. When Catherine meets Henry Tilney, she's instantly smitten. But when she's invited to his home, the sinister Northanger Abbey, she learns not to interpret the world through the pages of lurid thrillers.
Mansfield Park (airs January 27)
From its sharply satiric opening sentence, Mansfield Park deals with money and marriage, and how strongly they affect each other. Shy, fragile Fanny Price is the consummate "poor relation." Sent to live with her wealthy uncle Thomas, she clashes with his spoiled, selfish daughters and falls in love with his son. Their lives are further complicated by the arrival of a pair of witty, sophisticated Londoners, whose flair for flirtation collides with the quiet, conservative country ways of Mansfield Park.Written several years after the early manuscripts that eventually became Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park retains Austen's familiar compassion and humor but offers a far more complex exploration of moral choices and their emotional consequences.
Pride and Prejudice (airs February 10, 17 & 24)
Jane Austen's elegant novel reveals her complex view of the human condition. The story centers around the charming and vibrant Elizabeth Bennett, one of five sisters whose family circumstance dictates that they marry well, and the misunderstandings that can result--sometimes hilariously--from hasty judgements.
Emma (airs March 23)
Beautiful, clever, rich, and well-meaning, Emma Woodhouse thinks she knows best. She can't resist orchestrating other people's lives, and convinced that she's not destined to find true love herself, she instead devotes herself to playing Cupid for others. Absolutely nothing goes according to plan, and Emma ultimately discovers that she understands the feelings of others as little as she does her own heart.
Sense and Sensibility (airs March 30 & April 6)
With Mr. Dashwood's death, his wife and two daughters, Elinor and Marianne, must accustom themselves to genteel poverty. When Marianne meets the man of her dreams, everyone expects a marriage; unaccountably, he rejects her, with devastating effect. It falls to Elinor, the sensible elder sister, to pick up the pieces, while harboring a secret longing of her own. In Sense and Sensibility , the warmth between two very different sisters contrasts with Austen's deliciously precise observation of vanity, selfishness and snobbery.
Posted by Kathleen at 08:47 AM
February Kids Newsletter
The February/March 2008 issue of the Kids Newsletter is now available!
The Kids Newsletter is produced every other month and features news about Harris County Public Library children's programming. It also contains interviews with our Children's Staff and new children's materials that we have just added to our collection.
This issue features winners of children's book awards such as the Newbery, Caldecott and Coretta Scott King awards. It also features the Texas Bluebonnet Award reading program and the 2008 winner.
The staff interviews in this issue are with Miss Jane of the Octavia Fields Branch Library and Miss Patty of the Spring Branch Memorial Library.
Posted by Kathleen at 07:02 AM
February 20, 2008
2008 NAACP Image Awards
The NAACP Image Awards honor the "the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in the arts." The 2008 awards were presented on February 14, 2008. A complete list of winners is available on the NAACP website.
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work
Fiction
 Walter Mosley. Blonde Faith
Easy Rawlins comes home from work and finds more trouble on his doorstep in a day than most men encounter in a lifetime. A friend has left his daughter at Easy's house without so much as a note. Clearly this friend, Christmas Black, a veteran of Vietnam, fears for his life and his daughter's.
Nonfiction
Don Cheadle & John Prendergast. Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond
Children's
 Sue Stauffacher. Nothing But Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson
A biography of Althea Gibson, the first black tennis player to ever compete in what is now known as the U.S. Open, and in the Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, England.
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture
The Great Debaters - In Theaters
Posted by Grace at 12:08 PM
February 19, 2008
Author Phyllis A. Whitney dies
American Gothic novelist Phyllis A. Whitney passed away recently. She wrote 73 novels, which included those for children, teens and adults. She was awarded two Edgar Awards for two of her juvenile mysteries, and received the Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement from the Mystery Writers of America in 1988.
Whitney died on February 8th of pnemonia in Charlottesville, Virginia. She was 104.
You can find many of Phyllis A. Whitney's books at the library. Check out these and other titles in our collection:
   
Ameythyst Dreams.
Summoned to the coast of North Carolina by the critically ill grandfather of her former college roommate, Laurie Phillips sets about trying to find out the whereabouts of his granddaughter Patricia, whose disappearance bodes well for the inheritance possibilities of the other relatives. With Patricia out of the picture, who among them stands to inherit the most money?
Daughter of the Stars.
"Were they all lying? Misleading me for their own purposes?..." Lacey Elliot has been a woman without a past since the day her mother whisked her off to Charlottesville, refusing for thirty years to speak of her father, her family, or her history. But when Lacey intercepts a desperate letter from an aunt in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, Lacey sees her chance to confront the past that has terrified her mother and to fill in the gaps in her own life.
Dream of Orchids.
Laurel York has dreamed of this reunion with her father, the famous writer Clifton York, for years. And when she follows him down to the exotic Florida Keys, both love and evil meet her in the form of handsome Marcus O'Neill, who welcomes her, but her two suspicious stepsisters do not. Then there is Clifton York himself, the strange man they all love, and the secret buried treasure that has lain undetected for years. Only the prize orchids waiting in the greenhouse hold the key to a life that Laurel has only dreamed about--or a nightmare that can only end in murder...
The Singing Stones.
Despite her misgivings, child psychologist Lynn McLeod returns to Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains to help ten-year-old Jilly, her ex-husband Stephen's child. But what she finds at the secluded household are more questions. And the danger that threatens both Stephen and Jilly soon closes tightly around Lynn. And all the while, the soft, hypnotic sound in the wind--the eerie yet beautiful music of the Singing Stones--lures Lynn into a realm of mystery, murder, and dormant passion. And, perhaps, to the key to her own destiny....
Posted by Abby at 01:27 PM
February 06, 2008
Historical Documents Exhibit at HCPL Branches
Four Harris County Public Library branches will display the Historical Documents Exhibit created by the Harris County District Clerk's Office. The exhibit features copies of court cases and other historical documents that are archived in the District Clerk's Office.
District Clerk Theresa Chang will give presentations at four different branches on the following dates:
LaPorte Branch Library
Thursday, February 7 @ 1:00 PM
600 South Broadway
LaPorte, TX 77571
281-471-4022
Evelyn Meador Branch Library
Thursday, February 7 @ 4:00 PM
2400 North Meyer Road
Seabrook, TX 77586
281-474-9142
Northwest Branch Library
Thursday, March 6 @ 10:30 AM
11355 Regency Green Drive
Cypress, TX 77429
281-890-2665
Cy-Fair College Library
Wednesday, April 9 @ 10:00 AM
9191 Barker-Cypress Road
Cypress, TX 77433
281-290-3210
The exhibit will remain at the branch for the entire month following the District Clerk's presentation.
Posted by Abby at 04:16 PM
February 05, 2008
Down Girl and Sit: On the Road Wins Texas Bluebonnet Award
Lucy Nolan’s book Down Girl and Sit: On the Road is the winner of the 2007-2008 Texas Bluebonnet Award with 19,248 votes. The Ghost’s Grave by Peg Kehert with 15,830 votes and Marion Dane Bauer’s The Blue Ghost with 15,738 were neck and neck for second and third place. The number of students who “got out the vote” this year was 151%2,107!
Lucy Nolan. Down Girl and Sit: On the Road
A dog who thinks her name is Down Girl goes on a car ride to the beach, goes camping in the woods, and reluctantly pays a visit to the vet with her master, Rruff.
The Bluebonnet Award is a project of the Texas Library Association and is co-sponsored by the Children's Roundtable and the Texas Association of School Librarians, both of the Texas Library Association from suggestions from librarians, teachers, parents, students, and others. Students in grades 3-6 vote in January for the winner.
Posted by Kathleen at 08:37 AM
February 04, 2008
Well Red @ HCPL
Friday, February 1st was National Wear Red Day. Harris County Public Library employees joined the American Heart Association's fight against heart disease by wearing red to work. National Wear Red Day is part of the AHA's Go Red for Women movement.
The American Heart Association is working to raise awareness of the number of women affected by cardiovascular disease and to empower women to reduce their risk.
The library has a number of resources for both men and women that can help you learn more about heart disease and what you can do to prevent it. Check out our Find It! Guide on heart health and take a look at some of the books in our collection.
 Kathy Kastan. From the Heart: A Woman's Guide to Living Well With Heart Disease
After undergoing emergency bypass surgery at age forty-two, Kathy Kastan found her world shifting in unexpected ways. Everything--her sense of well being, her relationships, her daily routine, even her body image--seemed to change. Doctors could help her recover physically, but she had to find new ways to recover emotionally and recreate a happy, healthy life.
 Daniel Levy and Susan Brink. A Change of Heart: Unraveling the Mysteries of Cardiovascular Disease
A Change of Heart is a detailed account of the revolutionary Framingham Heart Study-which, over the years, has provided conclusive evidence that cardiovascular disease is largely the result of measurable and modifiable risk factors. Here is a clear-eyed and intriguing assessment of the achievements of this study and of its continuing importance to our health today.
 Ed and Jo Beth Young. 365 Days of Total Heart Health: Transform Your Physical and Spiritual Life
Convinced that there is a link between our physical and spiritual health, Young offers individuals help and hope for revolutionizing both. This unique 365-day devotional serves up a daily spiritual reflection accompanied by Scripture, a spiritual heart health tip, and a physical heart health tip.
 Julius Torelli. 7 Life-Saving Heart Disease Tests That Your Doctor May Not Give You
The latest scientific research has revealed that cholesterol levels are not the definitive indicator of heart disease risk. In fact, there are six new lab tests and a CT scan that can reveal much about the state of the heart and cardiovascular system. Dr. Torelli explains what the tests are, what they reveal, and how to get them.
 Otelio S. Randall. The Encyclopedia of the Heart and Heart Disease
Randall, director of the Preventive Cardiology/Hypertension Program at Howard University, explains terms and concepts related to the heart and heart diseases in this encyclopedia for general readers, students, and healthcare professionals. Some 900 entries provide current information on subjects such as preventative measures, surgeries, procedures, symptoms, lifestyle implications, and treatments.
Posted by Abby at 03:07 PM
Elijah of Buxton Wins O'Dell Award
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis has won the 2008 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction.
In 1982, Scott O'Dell established the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Scott O'Dell established this award to encourage other writers--particularly new authors--to focus on historical fiction. He hoped in this way to increase the interest of young readers in the historical background that has helped to shape their country and their world.
Christopher Paul Curtis. Elijah of Buxton
In 1859, eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, which is a haven for slaves fleeing the American south, uses his wits and skills to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family's freedom.
Posted by Kathleen at 11:57 AM
February 01, 2008
New Titles Catalog Lists Updated for January
The New Titles Cataloged in the Past 30 Days have been updated for January 2008.
The lists are in PDF file format and require the free Adobe Reader to view. We hope you enjoy the new format. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions about this change please use our Feedback Form.
Posted by Grace at 05:17 PM
Our Space Newsletter for February/March
The Feburary/March issue of Our Space: People & Books @ HCPL is now available.
The current issue features a staff interview with Janet Gibbons, circulation assistant. The customer interview is with Eileen Houston, a West University customer and local author. Two book lists are featured, one on chick lit and one on nonfiction and memoirs featuring love.
While each newsletter is available to read on our website, you can also subscribe to this newsletter or any of the other topical newsletters we offer by email or RSS Feed.
Posted by Grace at 04:35 PM
Thank You Bear Wins Zolotow Award
Thank You Bear by Greg Foley won the 2008 Charlotte Zolotow Award.
The Charlotte Zolotow Award is given annually for outstanding writing in a picture book published in the United States in the preceding year. Established in 1998, the award is named to honor the work of Charlotte Zolotow, a distinguished children's book editor for 38 years with Harper Junior Books, and author of more than 70 picture books.
Greg Foley. Thank You Bear
Despite the criticism of others, a bear finds the perfect gift for his mouse friend.
Posted by Kathleen at 11:34 AM
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