THS Book Club

April Meeting

2010-03-17T16:57:00.004-04:00

Our date for the April meeting is rescheduled to Friday, the 23rd. We will meet during 1ST and 2ND half of Seminar. During 1st half we will discuss The Hunger Games and 2nd half we will discuss This is All

Room change for March Meeting

2010-03-07T12:28:00.001-05:00

We will meet in Mr. Novak's room due to TrigStar testing in the library. Looking forward to a great discussion!!

The Latest

2009-12-02T07:20:00.002-05:00

It turns out that we will not have the opportunity to read a book published by one of our students. However, we did not choose a Stephen King book this year and several mentioned that this is a tradition they would hate to see broken.

We have not yet chosen a book for April. Feel free to recommend a Stephen King title OR put your vote in for one of the titles (listed in a prior post) that we did not choose.

See you in a couple weeks!

Titles for This Year

2009-09-16T15:37:00.002-04:00

Great first meeting! Welcome veteran and new members! To the left of this post, you'll see the titles we agreed to for this year.

I forgot that one of our members, Sami, is supposed to have her book published. If it is out before April, I'd like to recommend that we select this title for that month instead of the ones that were chosen.
If her book is not ready for us, these are the other picks that we liked:

19 Minutes-8 votes
Boy in the Striped Pajamas-8 votes (though we discussed seeing the movie)
Hunger Games--7

Remember that your permission slips must be returned by the Oct. meeting.

Results of our May ballot

2009-05-15T09:59:00.000-04:00

1. No to guest author
2. No to New Moon
3. Yes to Sami's book

4. To receive a senior honors tassel:
must be a member for two years, one of them as a senior

5. For a member to receive a senior honors tassel, he/she must:
attend 5 of the 9 meetings per year

6. Suggested titles
memoirs
Holocaust books
any Jody Piccoult
Stephen King 2 votes
Primo Levi
Janet Evanovich
Darkly Dreaming Dexter
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Angels and Demons
Silence of the Lambs
Red Dragon
19 Minutes 3 votes
I'm Watching You 2 votes
Tweak
Scorpion House
Naked by Sedaris
Last Season
Defiance
Things Fall Apart
Driving with Dead People
Fat Girl
Night
I Heart You, You Haunt Me
Jesus Land
I Have Lived a Thousand Years

TIME SENSITIVE-OTHER NEWS!

2009-04-24T10:31:00.000-04:00

Several of you signed up to help create posters to either 1)promote our club OR 2)the library. These posters will be displayed when 8th graders visit our building in a few weeks.

If you missed the meeting and would like to help, there's still time!

First meeting date for library poster: April 27 during Seminar
First meeting date for book club poster: May 1-2nd half of Seminar.

LAST MEETING NEWS!

2009-04-24T10:02:00.000-04:00

Sad, but true, it's our last meeting for the year! In addition to our wonderful book discussion, several other events will take place:
1. Honors ceremony for our seniors
2. Vote (ballot): How many years or meetings does a member have to attend to receive an honors cord at the end of his/her senior year?
3. Vote (ballot): Sami's book will be published! If it is available next year, should it be one of the titles we read??
4. Suggestions for titles for next year.

Book Fair

2008-11-10T09:51:00.000-05:00

Big thank you to all who helped at the Fair! While sales were a bit of a disappointment, we were able to purchase 24 titles with the money we did earn.

VOTE FOR TWILIGHT MOVIE SHOW TIME!!

2008-11-05T18:09:00.000-05:00

What time should we see Twilight on Nov. 21?
Submit your vote and we'll finalize plans at our meeting on the 21st.

4:45
7:30
10:00

Heads Up!

2008-10-24T14:52:00.000-04:00

What a fun meeting! A big thanks goes out to Randy Andrews--our real live author! Thanks also to our other guests, Ms. Slusher and Mr. Scheick.

Those helping with the book fair: stop in for a very brief meeting during Monday's Seminar (Oct. 27).

Also: Thanks to the English department, you don't have to buy Fahrenheit 451. I have plenty of copies here for you to check out!

He's Coming!

2008-10-10T09:16:00.000-04:00

Our author, Randall Andrews, will definitely be at our next meeting! Yeah!!!!
Don't forget to bring your permission slips!

Welcome Back!

2008-09-17T17:15:00.001-04:00

Welcome back, everyone! Also a big welcome to our new members! We're glad to have you! Boy, lots of dialogue today about the books we should read for the year. While we didn't decide on all, at least we're set through December.

Be patient with our first book, The Last Guardian of Magic. It starts out a little tough, but does get better. Use this blog or Sami's Myspace link to dialogue about the parts that are confusing. Sometimes it's books like these that lead to the best discussions!

As soon as I know for sure, I'll let you know whether the author will be able to attend our Oct. meeting.

I'm excited to see the volunteers who've signed up to help with our upcoming Book Fair (Nov. 3-7). Thank you! The success of our past book fairs is due to all of you!

Stay in touch!!!

Ms. A

Summer Meeting Time + More

2008-05-07T13:52:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to all our Seniors! We had a great time today honoring you and discussing our last book. The snacks were superub!

We decided to meet during the summer and our first meeting is June 26th at 4:00 p.m. at the public library. Our book is Scavengers by David Morrell. This is the same author who wrote Creepers, the one we read earlier in the year. If you didn't read Creepers, you should definitely read it before Scavenger--it will make more sense.

Other summer meeting times will be set up at the June meeting.

We came up with a list of other titles for future meetings:

Host-Stephanie Meyer
Crank-Ellen Hopkins
Catch 22-Joseph Heller
Hellbent-McGowan
Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas-Patterson
Invisible-Hautmann
Burn Journals-Runyon
World War Z-Brooks
19 Minutes-Jody Piccoult
My Sister's Keeper-Jody Piccoult
Eye of the Dragon-King
The Black Tattoo-Enthoven
A Dirty Job-Christopher Moore

Lowry Book fair results

2008-05-07T13:51:00.000-04:00

Thank you to everyone who was able to help make our Book Fair a success. We were able to buy $300 of books!

LAST MEETING-DATE HAS CHANGED

2008-03-21T14:09:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone!

Please note the date change for our last session. We will meet during the entire Seminar and it's going to be one large food fest! Yummy!
Our agenda for the last meeting is:

1. Celebrate our Seniors
2. Discuss Sandpiper
3. Make decisions about:
-Senior tassel honors (how long should a Senior have been in our club/# of times attended in order to receive tassel??)
-the first book (all books?) we should read next year.

Fun, fun, fun!!!!

BOOK FAIR NEWS

2008-03-21T14:01:00.000-04:00

Thanks to all you of you who signed up to help with the book fair, which runs from April 21-25. If you're not sure what you volunteered for, please check my sign-up list. Remember...there's pizza to all who help on the nights we're open (Apr. 24-25)

Make sure to add your book suggestions to the book fair list!https://thsmedialit.wikispaces.com/Books+you+would+like+to+see

Keep in touch!

Ms. A

Let's talk vampires!!!!!

2007-11-30T16:35:00.000-05:00

So, everyone! What are your thoughts about the Vampire Kisses series? What do you like most about our main characters? What's most irritating? Other thoughts????

OCTOBER 31ST MEETING

2007-10-22T14:27:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone!

I hope you've been enjoying our first book for the year! Check out the link of discussion questions...we have so much to talk about!!!! http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781400095957&view=rg

A couple items I need to mention:
1. Please bring your permission form with you (if you have not already done so). I cannot let you in if the form is not complete.

2. Our membership has really grown this year--that's grrrreat! For those of you who are new, make sure your intentions about joining the Club are honorable. Our meetings are not visiting sessions. Our time is spent discussing our book and planning for future meetings and activities. You are more than welcome to remain with us as long as you respect the purpose of the Club.

3. The last-and best thing I need to mention is a wonderful book fair opportunity that's coming our way. I'll clue you in about it at our meeting.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on the 31st during the 2nd half of Seminar!

The Glass Castle Author is at Siena Heights this month!!!

2007-09-14T15:09:00.001-04:00

Check out the link! Author Jeanette Walls in a free presentation at Siena Heights University, Thursday, September 27, at 7:00 p.m.!

Welcome back, everyone!

2007-09-14T15:05:00.000-04:00

Great to see so many old faces and new ones, too! Just to make it easier for everyone, I put our titles that we voted on into specific time slots. If we want to switch the order around, either mention it here or at our next meeting. Here's to another fabulous year!!

Ms. A

What Do You Want to Read Next Year?

2007-05-16T11:17:00.000-04:00

In order to save us some time at our first meeting next fall, let's spend the summer generating a list of titles that we would like to read together for the 2007-08 school year. Here's a few to start:

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Creepers by David Morrell
Apocalypse by Tim Bowler
Inexcusable by Chris Lynch
Rash by Pete Hautmann
A Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier
Purple Hibiscus by Chiamanda Adichie

What About Next Year???

2007-05-04T16:10:00.000-04:00

Here's something to think about and discuss:

There's a good chance we will not have Seminar next year. If this happens, when should we hold book club?

Ms. A

Thank you!

2007-05-04T16:07:00.000-04:00

Thanks to all of you who participated in the Book Fair! It was fun working with all of you and I'm looking forward to buying some books with the money you helped bring in!

Ms. A

We're watching Fight Club....

2007-04-19T08:10:00.000-04:00

this Friday, April 20th, in the library, after school. Be here by 3:05 with food, drinks, and your permission slip!! Can't wait to see you!

Book Fair + Contest

2007-04-19T07:58:00.000-04:00

Please see me if you'd like to help sell books for the high school book fair from 5-8 p.m. on either April 26 (Thurs.) or April 27 (Friday)

By the way, we have a little contest going! Here's what you need to do:
1. On the flyers you received, write your name on the back of each one.
2. Pass them out to people you know and tell them that if they bring the flyer with them to the book fair and drop it in the contest box YOU have the opportunity to win a really cool prize!
3. I have extra flyers if you need them.

Our last book for the year is....

2007-04-19T07:56:00.000-04:00

A Clockwork Orange. Our meeting is May 16.

Fight Club is on for our April meeting!

2007-03-23T15:07:00.000-04:00

We will decide at our April meeting whether we have enough time to read one more book for the year. Please try not to miss this session!

Volunteers needed for Book Sale during Parent Teacher conferences March 28-29

2007-03-23T12:58:00.000-04:00

If you would like to help sell some books for our Club during parent-teacher conferences on Wed. and Thurs. (Mar.28-29)stop by for a brief meeting during Seminar on Monday, Mar. 26.

Meeting Times Have Changed

2007-02-21T10:18:00.000-05:00

Our February meeting for Pirates has been rescheduled for Wednesday, March 21. Our March meeting for Fight Club has been moved to April 18th. Don't ya love these snow days?????

a pirate's life

2007-02-09T11:38:00.001-05:00

It's pretty easy to see why Nancy would choose a pirate's life vs. her "imprisonment" through marriage. How rotten of her brothers as well as her father to treat her as if she is a form of merchandise that can be sold! I'd run away, too!

Pirates is our book for February!

2007-01-17T12:36:00.000-05:00

It's Movie Time!!!

2007-01-17T11:06:00.000-05:00

We're going to watch V for Vendetta in the H.S. Library after school on Friday, January 26th! Bring food and drinks to share as well as the book! Also bring your coat or a blanket...it can get cold in here!

Stop in by this Friday to pick up your movie permission form.

V is awesome!

2007-01-03T15:08:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year, everyone!
Read a lot of V yesterday and it reminds me in many ways of Phantom of the Opera. These are the similarities I've seen: V and the Phantom are alike because they both hide behind masks, they're a mix of genius and insane, and they "orchestrate" situations that effect many people, often very violently. Like Christine in Phantom, Evey is the lost child looking for a father figure. Also like Christine, Evey is manipulated by V (the Phantom), even though he appears to care for her.

I saw the movie before I read this book and noticed the similarities during the movie. Once I finish the book, I want to see the movie again!

What's happened to our online discussion of Seven?

2006-12-26T16:33:00.000-05:00

V is for January!!

2006-12-26T16:24:00.000-05:00

Votes have been tallied, so if you have not already started, now's a great time to read our next choice: V for Vendetta. Hope everyone is enjoying their time off!

Seven and our meeting date

2006-12-05T17:35:00.000-05:00

Just found out that there will probably be a holiday concert scheduled for the same day as our next meeting, so I don't think we'll be able to meet. If something changes, I'll let you know.

Instead of meeting in the library, why don't we use our blog to discuss Seven? Derek can still lead the discussion and we can start the discussion anytime, since it'll be online.

I don't believe we voted on which of our books to read after Seven. Should it be Twilight or V?

Please submit your vote and I'll post the results.

Whichever one we choose, we should start reading over Break to be ready for our Jan. meeting.

Ms. A

Twilight it is!!

2006-11-27T09:28:00.000-05:00

The final tally is for Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, so add it to our reading list for this year!

Let's get those votes in!

2006-11-15T15:15:00.000-05:00

Here's some titles that were mentioned at our last meeting. If you have others, add them to this list so we can vote by next Wed.

Twilight-Meyer
Alice in Wonderland-Carroll
The Glass Castle-Walls
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time-Haddon
Abarat-Barker
The Kindness of Strangers-Kittle

Does the end justify the means

2006-11-13T15:22:00.000-05:00

My comment is partially based on someone else's thought from a prior post. I don't think anyone will deny that Carrie is definitely a victim of horrific abuse; not only by her mother, but by virtually everyone else who has ever come in contact with her. Does this abuse justify the total havoc that Carrie creates, courtesy of her TK ability, on most of the student body and the entire town?

I was trying to imagine how the story might have developed had Carrie not "erupted" after the events at the prom. For instance, she might have developed individual plans-of-revenge for each person she felt wronged her and gone about her destruction in a more subtle manner. Looking at it from the psychological/medical point of view, had she lived, she might have become a "lab rat." You know, labeled insane and then institutionalized so that her TK ability could be better studied and documented. This could be much worse than anything she experienced in h.s.!

In some ways, I think King gives Carrie the easy way out in this story. She learns about her TK ability, but never learns how she might use it constructively. She's never punished for her actions, and she's never given the chance to become something better than her mother or how her classmates view her.

TK-real or fake?

2006-11-10T11:33:00.000-05:00

In this story, King presents TK powers as an ability that is accepted by the scientific and medical community. What's your vote? Can someone really have TK?

what if?

2006-11-08T20:09:00.000-05:00

Did you pick up the hint that Tommy was kind of attracted to Carrie? If the pig blood prank had not happened do you think there might have been a chance for them? Would the people who know them "allow" it to happen?

girls locker room

2006-11-02T16:36:00.000-05:00

Wow! The whole locker room incident packs quite a punch, eh? This has to be one of the worst incidents of bullying I've ever read. If you'd been in the room when this happened, would you have participated, even if you didn't want to, just so you'd be "like everyone else," or would you be brave enough to run and get help? Would you come to Carrie's defense? King's reaction of all the different girls in the room, including Sue and the teacher, really made me think about this.

Oops-Correction about Seven

2006-10-31T23:54:00.000-05:00

Hopefully, you haven't ordered Seven yet because I gave you the wrong author name. The book we want to read is by author Anthony Bruno.

Welcome to the club, book lovers!!!

2006-10-31T15:03:00.000-05:00

I'd like to welcome all of you (returning and newbies) to our most excellent book club. I sure enjoyed our discussion of Black Dahlia and I'm looking forward to some great discussions in our blog and at our meetings. Please remember to: 1)turn in your permission slip and 2) follow the rules for appropriate behavior on a blog (check out the link-has some great tips!).

Here's to a superb year! Let the fun begin!