Voteforbooks.com just entered its second phase. Students across America were encouraged to submit their favorite books. Round one of voting begins on September 1 when you vote among the eight finalists. On September 22, the contest heats up as the top four candidates move on to Round 2. On October 13, the two most popular titles face off for a final round of voting. Finally, on November 4, Election Day, the votes will be tallied after midnight. The winners will be announced on November 5, 2008. Here are the eight finalists in each category.

The Lester Public Library continues to provide quality programming that draws in crowds. I hope to be as great as they are!

Fraggle Rock consumed my childhood; my mom used to say, “”FR” is on, don’t turn on the television.” I always knew what she was talking about. A huge FR poster hangs in my classroom and I cannot wait to watch it on the big screen.

Guess what? It’s time to “Dance your cares away/ Worry’s for another day/ Let the music play/ Down at Fraggle Rock!” The Fraggles are back! According to Variety, the Weinsteins are teaming up with Lisa Henson of the Jim Henson Company to bring a live-action, half-human half-puppet Fraggle Rock extravaganza to the big screen.

http://www.library.wwu.edu/14days
Promo video for Western Washington University Libraries 14 days initiative

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Trivia Contest Winners, originally uploaded by ALA - The American Library Association.

I am disappointed in the number of Tony nominated shows I saw this year. Last year I saw all but one of the Best Musical nominees. Oh well…I guess it’s time for another trip to NYC! The nominees are as follows:

Best Play:
August: Osage County
Rock ‘n’ Roll
The Seafarer
The 39 Steps

Best Musical:
Cry-Baby
In the Heights
Passing Strange
Xanadu

Best Book of a Musical
Cry-Baby, Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan
In the Heights, Quiara Alegria Hudes
Passing Strange, Stew
Xanadu, Douglas Carter Beane

Best Original Score
Cry-Baby, Music & Lyrics: David Javerbaum & Adam Schlesinger
In The Heights, Music & Lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda
The Little Mermaid, Music: Alan Menken and Lyrics: Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater
Passing Strange, Music: Stew and Heidi Rodewald Lyrics: Stew

Best Revival of a Play
Boeing-Boeing
The Homecoming
Les Liaisons Dangereueses
Macbeth

Best Revival of a Musical
Grease
Gypsy
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Sunday in the Park With George

Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Play
Ben Daniels, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Laurence Fishburne, Thurgood
Mark Rylance, Boeing-Boeing
Rufus Sewell, Rock ‘n’ Roll
Patrick Stewart, Macbeth

Best Performance By a Leading Actress in a Play
Eve Best, The Homecoming
Deanna Dunagan, August: Osage County
Kate Fleetwood, Macbeth
S. Epatha Merkerson, Come Back, Little Sheba
Amy Morton, August: Osage County

Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Musical
Daniel Evans, Sunday in the Park With George
Lin-Manuel Miranda, In the Heights
Stew, Passing Strange
Paulo Szot, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Tom Wopat, A Catered Affair

Best Performance By a Leading Actress in a Musical
Kerry Butler, Xanadu
Patti LuPone, Gypsy
Kelli O’Hara, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Faith Prince, A Catered Affair
Jenna Russell, Sunday in the Park With George

Best Performance By a Featured Actor in a Play
Bobby Cannavale, Mauritius
Raúl Esparza, The Homecoming
Conleth Hill, The Seafarer
Jim Norton, The Seafarer
David Pittu, Is He Dead?

Best Performance By a Featured Actress in a Play
Sinead Cusack, Rock ‘n’ Roll
Mary McCormack, Boeing-Boeing
Laurie Metcalf, November
Martha Plimpton, Top Girls
Rondi Reed, August: Osage County

Best Performance By a Featured Actor in a Musical
Daniel Breaker, Passing Strange
Danny Burstein, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Robin De Jesús, In The Heights
Christopher Fitzgerald, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein
Boyd Gaines, Gypsy

Best Performance By a Featured Actress in a Musical
de’Adre Aziza, Passing Strange
Laura Benanti, Gypsy
Andrea Martin, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein
Olga Merediz, In The Heights
Loretta Ables Sayre, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific

Best Direction of a Play
Maria Aitken, The 39 Steps
Conor McPherson, The Seafarer
Anna D. Shapiro, August: Osage County
Matthew Warchus, Boeing-Boeing

Best Direction of a Musical
Sam Buntrock, Sunday in the Park with George
Thomas Kail, In The Heights
Arthur Laurents, Gypsy
Bartlett Sher, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific

Best Choreography
Rob Ashford, Cry-Baby
Andy Blankenbuehler, In The Heights
Christopher Gattelli, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Dan Knechtges, Xanadu

Best Orchestrations
Jason Carr, Sunday in the Park with George
Alex Lacamoire & Bill Sherman, In the Heights
Stew & Heidi Rodewald, Passing Strange
Jonathan Tunick, A Catered Affair

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Peter McKintosh, The 39 Steps
Scott Pask, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Todd Rosenthal, August: Osage County
Anthony Ward, Macbeth

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
David Farley and Timothy Bird & The Knifedge Creative Network, Sunday in the Park with George
Anna Louizos, In the Heights
Robin Wagner, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein
Michael Yeargan, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific

Best Costume Design of a Play
Gregory Gale, Cyrano de Bergerac
Rob Howell, Boeing-Boeing
Katrina Lindsay, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Peter McKintosh, The 39 Steps

Best Costume Design of a Musical
David Farley, Sunday in the Park with George
Martin Pakledinaz, Gypsy
Paul Tazewell, In the Heights
Catherine Zuber, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Kevin Adams, The 39 Steps
Howard Harrison, Macbeth
Donald Holder, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Ann G. Wrightson, August: Osage County

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Ken Billington, Sunday in the Park with George
Howell Binkley, In the Heights
Donald Holder, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Natasha Katz, The Little Mermaid

Best Sound Design of a Play
Simon Baker, Boeing-Boeing
Adam Cork, Macbeth
Ian Dickson, Rock ‘n’ Roll
Mic Pool, The 39 Steps

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Acme Sound Partners, In the Heights
Sebastian Frost, Sunday in the Park with George
Scott Lehrer, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Dan Moses Schreier, Gypsy

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Stephen Sondheim

Regional Theatre Tony Award
Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Special Tony Award
Robert Russell Bennett (1894-1981), in recognition of his historic contribution to American musical theatre in the field of orchestrations, as represented on Broadway this season by Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific.

How many nominations each show received:
In The Heights, 13
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific , 11
Sunday in the Park with George, 9
August: Osage County , 7
Gypsy, 7
Passing Strange, 7
Boeing-Boeing, 6
Macbeth, 6
The 39 Steps, 6
Les Liaisons Dangereuses , 5
Cry-Baby, 4
Rock ‘n’ Roll , 4
The Seafarer , 4
Xanadu , 4
A Catered Affair, 3
The Homecoming, 3
The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein, 3
The Little Mermaid, 2
Come Back, Little Sheba, 1
Cyrano de Bergerac , 1
Grease , 1
Is He Dead?, 1
Mauritius, 1
November, 1
Thurgood , 1
Top Girls , 1

Title: Ellis Island (A True Book)

Author: Elaine Landau

Published: 2008

Schu’s Rating: 4 J out of 4

Ellis Island consumes my thoughts. This may very well be one of the best informational text for children.  It is part of the Scholastic  “True Book” series. It opens by informing the reader that everything he/she is about to read is true except for…1. Millions of people had their names changed on Ellis Island because inspectors could not understand them. 2. An immigrant could get sent back across the ocean for having an eye infection. Both questions hook the reader and develop a reading purpose. (Which question is false?)

There is a simple explanation of the steerage section, the area at the ship’s bottom. As many as 2,000 people crowded together. There is a comprehensive chart on page 19 that shares the following information:

*A passenger and his belongings had to fit in a narrow bunk.

*Mattresses were filled with straw or seaweed?

*Floors were often covered in dirt and vomit.

*As many as 300 passengers shared two bathrooms.

*Passengers ate small portions of meat, bread, and potatoes, scooped from large kettles.

*Passengers played cards, sang, danced, told stories, and practiced English.

My students will enjoy the “Getting Around the Island” graphic on pages 24-25. It explains each section of the island. (The island is broken into Island 1, Island 2, and Island 3.) The following sections are discussed:

1.       Baggage and Dormitory Building: Immigrants left their heavy baggage in this building. They proceeded to dormitory bunk beds. The beds held immigrants who didn’t have permission to leave the island yet.

2.       Cafeteria: Here immigrants had their best meal since leaving home. Some tasted ice cream for the first time.

3.       Ellis Island Hospital: Sick immigrants were cared for at the hospital. Three hundred and fifty-three babies were born here. (Ellis Island: Ghosts of Freedom takes you inside the abandonded hospital buildings.http://mrschu81.wordpress.com/2007/11/05/ellis-island/)

4.       Stairs of Separation: Doctors watched immigrants as they climbed the staircase. They looked of signs of illness, such as sweating or shortness of breath. People with these signs had to have a more detailed checkup. Approximately 2% of immigrants were not admitted because of sickness.

5.       Registry Room: Inspectors interviewed millions of immigrants in this room. Immigrants waited, often for hours, for their turn.

6.       The Kissing Post: J This was the last stop for new Americans. Here, they had reunions with relatives already living in America. There were tons of tears and kisses!

Dalton Hatfield is an inspiration!

WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — Everyone who knows 11-year-old Dalton Hatfield sees it. There’s something special about the young man. His mother Vickie says all who come in contact with the Kentucky elementary student look at him and say “He’s going to be something” when he grows up.

The result was a donation that for the most part left the former president, who is known as a great communicator, speechless.

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