A Pure Treat this Time of Year -The Graveyard Book

Neil Gaiman's most recent book, The Graveyard Book, is -ehem- a real treat this time of year. Gaiman tells the tale of a young boy whose family is murdered by a mysterious man named Jack. The boy, who comes to be known as Nobody Owens, stumbles into an old graveyard in England where the ghosts that inhabit it  adopt and raise him. The mystery of his family's end is played out in the book's conclusion, leaving room for another Nobody Owens tale, which suits me just fine.

Gaiman's writing has never been better. There is a wonderful playfulness with his words and wording that one cannot miss, and this amidst all the gruesome details of death. This may not seem like a children's read, but it's a matter of perspective. The Brother's Grimm tales don't sound too dandy upon explanation either, but the stories still delight. One of my favorite pieces to this story was Gaiman's explanation for why the ghosts love Nobody so much. He can change still. He has potential to be somebody else, somebody improved. The ghosts are...well dead...and therefore are forever locked into the people they once were. It doesn't hurt that there's a whale of a tale to read here either.

So, forget your age, forget that this is labeled Young Adult literature. Just locate a copy of this book and enjoy the fanciful imaginings of a master storyteller.

"I'm your Density! ummm...I'm your Destiny!"

Sorry, but I simply could not refrain from pulling out that old line from the movie Back to the Future. What I have to write about however has nothing to do with density and everything to do with our new library website, Destiny Quest.

If you've not heard the word about this nifty website from your child, then make a point to investigate it for yourself. Destiny Quest (see links below or head to the Glastonbury Portal) allows anyone to check on the availability of books in the Glastonbury Public school libraries. The search feature works as you'd expect. One can search by title, author name, key words, and so forth. Once a book is located it can be reserved for pick-up. This is about as convenient as it's going to get...well until copies can be downloaded to a portable device -ala Kindle- with some form of student privileges.

There's more than convenience at work with the new online system. Students can see what the Top 10 most popular books are among students. Each book can be easily reference for genre, page total, reading level (very helpful), and year of publication. It serves as a stripped down Amazon also, in that it will make similar book-type/genre recommendations based on the books being reviewed and/or reserved. There's a nice drag-and-drop feature too. Again, making the process of picking, reserving, and getting to a good read so simple. The newest arrivals are listed and special resource lists of books, tailored to the school's curriculum, can be established. I was also recently informed that books on tape (which can be worn like iPods basically) are searchable if you type the key word: playaway.

So what does this all mean? For starters, finding subject and age appropriate books has become much easier. The site is self-contained. If you worry that your child might begin on one site and then CLICK-CLICK-CLICK-CLICK end up somewhere less-than-desired, you can reserves those worries. Also, there should be far fewer excuses regarding having trouble locating books to read.

I reserved and picked-up my first book, Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, last week. My second selection, An American Plague, was not in, but I'm next in line to nab it. Never had to leave my seat, bother the friendly staff, or do what most men tend to do -skip looking up the book number and instead begin wandering up and down the aisles with the firm belief the book will magically appear for me. Half an hour latter I'm usually giving an aw-shucks look to one of the librarians while meekly asking for help. Sometimes, I switch the routine up and pretend to have been inspecting all the books like I'm some form of quality control guy. They don't buy that one often.

If you have the opportunity, thank those librarians, and super-supporting paraprofessionals, in each of the Glastonbury schools who have worked incredibly hard to scan all the books in their collective libraries to make the site as accurate and viable as possible.

These are two links to copy, cut, and paste. The former goes directly to the multiple search page within Destiny Quest, and the latter points you to the Destiny Quest front page, which is nice to look at and user-friendly.

http://gpslibrary.glastonburyus.org/cataloging/servlet/presentadvancedsearchredirectorform.do?l2m=Library%20Search&tm=Catalog&l2m=Library+Search

http://gpslibrary.glastonburyus.org/vopac/servlet/presentsearchform.do?site=102