All library books due on...

That's right - it's that time of year! In only a few short weeks we will begin to collect all student library books. Since we check out about 40,000 books a year this can be quite a task.

All student library books are due on or by Friday June 9th.

2017-2018 Battle of the Books Titles

We are so proud of the sixty-six students who participated in Battle of the Books this year! Now it's time to start reading for next year. The first five titles have been released!

Grade 4-6

• Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova (Yen Press, 2015)
• Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman (Square Fish, 2016)
• Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar (Delacorte, 2015)
• Masterminds by Gordon Korman (Balzer and Bray, 2015)
• A Poem for Peter by Andrea Davis Pinkney (Viking, 2016)

                                         Grade 7-8

• Flying Lessons and Other Stories by Ellen Oh (Crown Books, 2017)
• The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (Algonquin YR, 2016)
• One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes (Bloomsbury 2017)
• The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz (Simon and Schuster, 2016)
• We Will Not Be Silent by Russell Freedman (Clarion, 2016)

Reading Without Walls Challenge

Students (and teachers! and parents!)  are being encouraged to participate in the Reading Without Walls Challenge.

To participate you can:

1) Read a book about a character who doesn't look like you or live like you

2) Read a book about a topic you don't know much about

3) Read a book in a format that you don't normally read for fun (a chapter book, a graphic novel, a book in verse, or an audio book)


What book are you going to read?

Congratulations Disney Battle of the Books Teams!!

Both the 4-6 and 7-8 grade teams qualified for the City Finals! 217 teams competed and only the top 15 team in each age group advance to the City Finals. Congratulations!

What I'm Reading Now

Zero Day - Addie Webster disappeared from the governor's mansion 8 years ago. At the beginning of this book, she's escaped from her kidnappers and found her way home - but home is quite different as in her absence her father has become president of the United States. Everything is not quite as it seems... Although it got a bit predictable by the end, I really enjoyed the fast pace of the book.
To Catch a Cheat - To be honest, I didn't finish this one. This is the second in the series and I definitely think I should have started with the first one - The Great Greene Heist. Fun, fast paced, realistic characters - there's a lot here to like. If you like the Randi Rhodes Detective novels I think you might like these as well. There's a lot here that's very realistic to middle school kids, but plenty of movie-type action as well.

Illinois 2017 Monarch Winner!

The official 2017 Monarch winner has been announced...

Congratulations to Gaston!

Interested in seeing the full list of votes? Follow this link.

Illinois 2017 Bluestem Winner!

The official 2017 Bluestem winner has been announced...

Congratulations to El Deafo!

Interested in seeing the full list of votes? Follow this link.