Daniel Boone Regional Library

Every January the American Library Association hosts its annual Youth Media Awards Press Conference. At this time, authors of children’s and young adult literature are recognized for the amazing works they have published in the last year. We as YA lit lovers consider this the Academy Awards of teen books. And this year’s winners are…

Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults.

• Award Winner: “In Darkness” by Nick Lake
• Honor Book: “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
• Honor Book: “Code Name Verity” by Elizabeth Wein
• Honor Book: “Dodger” by Terry Pratchett
• Honor Book: “The White Bicycle” by Beverley Brenna

William C. Morris Award for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens.

• Award Winner: “Seraphina” by Rachel Hartman
• Honor Book: “Wonder Show” by Hannah Barnaby
• Honor Book: “Love and Other Perishable Items” by Laura Buzo
• Honor Book: “After the Snow” by S. D. Crockett
• Honor Book: “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” by Emily M. Danforth

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults.

• Award Winner: “Bomb: The Race to Build-and Steal-the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon” by Steve Sheinkin
• Honor Book: “Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different” by Karen Blumenthal
• Honor Book: “Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95” by Phillip Hoose
• Honor Book: “Titanic: Voices From the Disaster” by Deborah Hopkinson
• Honor Book: “We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March” by Cynthia Levinson

Alex Award Winners are the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences.

• “Caring Is Creepy” by David Zimmerman
• “Girlchild” by Tupelo Hassman
• “Juvenile in Justice” by Richard Ross
• “Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore” by Robin Sloan
• “My Friend Dahmer” by Derf Backderf
• “One Shot at Forever” by Chris Ballard
• “Pure” by Julianna Baggott
• “The Round House” by Louise Erdrich
• “Tell the Wolves I’m Home” by Carol Rifka Brunt
• “Where’d You Go, Bernadette?” by Maria Semple

Odyssey Award for best audiobook produced for children and/or young adult.

• Award Winner: “The Fault in Our Stars” written by John Green and narrated by Kate Rudd
• Honor Book: “Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian” written by Eoin Colfer and narrated by Nathaniel Parker
• Honor Book: “Ghost Knight” written by Cornelia Funke and narrated by Elliot Hill
• Honor Book: “Monstrous Beauty” written by Elizabeth Fama and narrated by Katherine Kellgren

Pura Belpré (Author) Award honors a Latino writer whose children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience:

• Award Winner: “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
• Honor Book: “The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano” by Sonia Manzano

Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award is given annually to children’s and young adult books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered experience.

• Award Winner: “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
• Honor Book: “Drama” by Raina Telgemeier
• Honor Book: “Gone, Gone, Gone” by Hannah Moskowitz
• Honor Book: “October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard” by Lesléa Newman
• Honor Book: “Sparks: The Epic, Completely True Blue, (Almost) Holy Quest of Debbie” by S. J. Adams

Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience.

• Middle School Award Winner: “A Dog Called Homeless” by Sarah Lean
• High School Award Winner: “Somebody, Please Tell Me Who I Am” by Harry Mazer and Peter Lerangis

Mildred L. Batchelder Award for an outstanding children’s book originally published in a language other than English in a country other than the United States.

• Award Winner: “My Family for the War” by Anne C. Voorhoeve, translated by Tammi Reichel. Originally published in Germany in 2007 as “Liverpool Street.”
• Honor Book: “A Game for Swallows: To Die, to Leave, to Return” written and illustrated by Zeina Abirached, translated by Edward Gauvin
• Honor Book: “Son of a Gun” written and translated by Anne de Graaf

Margaret A. Edwards Award honors an author, as well as a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature. Tamora Pierce is the 2013 Edwards Award winner. Pierce was born in rural Western Pennsylvania in 1954. She knew from a young age she liked stories and writing, and in 1983, she published her first series, Song of the Lioness. She continues to write and even record her own audiobooks. She currently lives with her husband (spouse-creature) and a myriad of animals in Syracuse, New York.

February 2: How to True/False 11 a.m. at Columbia Public Library, free. (via)
February 2:  Third Goal International Film Festival at the MU Student Center, free.  Program features “Kinyarwanda,” “Feast & Sacrifice,” “My Village, My Lobster,” “Hijos de Kennedy,” and “Last Train Home.” Kinyarwanda director Alrick Brown in attendance. (via)
February 5:  ”Battle: Change from Within,” 5:30 p.m. at Ragtag, free. (via)

We recently added “The Boy Mir” to the DBRL collection. The film has played at various film festivals and currently has a rating of 100% from critics at Rotten Tomatoes. Here’s a synopsis from our catalog:

Tracks the irrepressible and lovable Mir from a naive eight-year-old to a fully grown adult. Over the decade, it not only is a journey that follows Mir as he journeys into early adulthood in one of the toughest places on earth, but it’s a film that is unmatched in mirroring and revealing the vitally important story of modern Afghanistan.

Check out the film trailer or the official film site for more info.

In January 1853, Peter Nichols built the first home in what is known today as the town of Ashland in Boone County, Missouri. In celebration of the town’s 160th birthday, Marjory Johnson, Pat Nichols, Larry Rice and myself, all of the Southern Boone County Historical Society, presented images and stories of the town’s early years. Much of the information presented came from W.F. Switzler’s “History of Boone County, Missouri” (originally published in 1882). You can visit the Columbia Public Library’s reference collection on the second floor to browse this book and other county histories.

Here are a few fun facts about Ashland’s history.

Businesses

Farmer’s Corner was the first business established in Ashland. Owned by D.M. and A.M. Burnam, this general mercantile was located on the southeast corner of Broadway and Main. The most well known store on the north side of Main was called The Trade Center, started by Lawrence Bass, Joseph Waters Johnston, a Mr. Brooks and a Mr. Harris in 1881. The Trade Center sold everything a rural family would need to take care of farm and home, and its great success was due in part to its location–less than one block south of the stockyards where farmers brought their livestock for sale.

Churches

The Methodist Episcopal Church was Ashland’s first established church and was built  in 1854 on the south side of Broadway. The Ashland Baptist Church was established in 1879 with its house of worship being constructed in 1880. The Christian Church was started in 1881 and built its first building in 1882, just west of the Ashland Mill Company. The mill pond was used for baptisms in the early days of the church. Ashland’s first black church appears on a 1922 Sanborn Insurance Map, but the exact year of its establishment is unknown.

Social Life

Churches and service clubs, along with their auxiliaries, provided this rural community’s social opportunities. Service clubs included the Masons who formed in 1858 and built the Ashland Lodge No. 156, Patrons of Husbandry (formed in 1873) and the Ashland Order United Workmen (1880). The Ashland Debating Society formed in 1875 and would orate on the streets of town. Hot topics included the US Centennial Celebration, politics and the importance of church. July fourth was a very big day in Ashland when political candidates did their stumping. This continued well into the 1950s.

Further Reading

For more Boone County history, see the list in our online catalog of resources for historians and genealogists.

Images courtesy of Larry Rice and the Southern Boone County Historical Society.

Be sure to register online by Friday, February 8 if you plan to take the March 9 SAT exam. If you would like to know more about testing costs, locations, and resources to help you prepare, check out our SAT Test Prep guide. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to our blog updates for regular email reminders of upcoming SAT and ACT registration deadlines!

We recently added “Detropia” to the DBRL collection. The film played at the True/False Film Festival in 2012, and currently has a rating of 84% from critics at Rotten Tomatoes. Here’s a synopsis from our catalog:

Detroit’s story has encapsulated the iconic narrative of America over the last century: the Great Migration of African Americans escaping Jim Crow; the rise of manufacturing and the middle class; the love affair with automobiles; the flowering of the American dream; and now, the collapse of the economy and the fading American mythos. With its vivid, painterly palette and haunting score, sculpts a dreamlike collage of a grand city teetering on the brink of dissolution.

Check out the film trailer or the official film site for more info.

February is a happening month at the library for music lovers. We have the usual Story Times, with songs for the youngest listeners/singers. And at the Columbia Public Library, there’s the usual first Sunday Tunes at Two. In addition to these, we have a plethora of concerts and music-related programs:

• Listen to Free Music Online
  Wednesday, February 6, 6:30 p.m., Columbia Public Library. Registration required. (Call 573-443-3161.)
• African-American Music and Musicians Thursday, February 7, 6:30 p.m., Callaway County Public Library in Fulton. No registration required for this discussion.
• Words From the Drum With Kunama Mtendaji
  There are four choices for attending this all-ages program. Kunama Mtendaji will perform three times on Monday, February 18 – once in Fulton (10 a.m.) and twice in Columbia (2 p.m. or 6:30 p.m.) and Tuesday, February 19 in Ashland (3:30 p.m.) No registration required.
• Bob Bovee and Gail Heil Concert
  Thursday, February 21, 7 p.m., Columbia Public Library. Adults and teens.  No registration required.
• Old-Time Fiddlers in Missouri
  Monday, February 25, 7 p.m., Columbia Public Library. No registration required for this combination book discussion/fiddle session.

While you’re at the library for a program, make sure to take the time to look through the extensive CD collections available at all branches. We own over 17,000 titles, so you’re likely to find something to suit your taste. Regulars might notice that music CD browsing has become easier with the completion of the relabeling and reorganization project. (You’ll find CDs by the Beatles under “B” in Pop Rock instead of at call number 782.42.) We also own many concert DVDs, running the gamut from Yo Gabba Gabba to Soul Train to Weird Al Yankovic to Wagner. If you need earbuds or headphones to facilitate your listening experience, we sell them at our check-out desks.

For those who are interested in making music, we have instructional DVDs and books. Struggling with hammered dulcimer? Help is here. Aspiring female R&B singer? We have a book for you.  Been meaning to figure out that harmonica your grandfather gave you for Christmas?  You don’t have to wait; you can “Play Harmonica Today!”

Did you know that $1 billion is awarded in athletic scholarships each year? I promise, that is not a typo. A majority of student-athletes plan to attend either NCAA Division I or II universities. In order to be eligible for an athletic scholarship at one of these institutions you must complete the following units during your high school career:

• 4 years of English
• 3 years of math (Algebra 1 or higher)
• 2 years of natural or physical science (including one year of lab science if offered by your high school)
• 1 extra year of English, math, or natural or physical science
• 2 years of social science
• 4 years of extra core courses (from any category above, or foreign language, comparative religion or philosophy)

As you can tell, your future success is determined more by your academic achievements than by those earned on the playing field. In order to participate in NCAA Division I, II or III athletics, you must register with the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse. The clearinghouse evaluates your academic record for eligibility as a freshman student-athlete. Please note that it costs $70 to submit your name to this online pool, though fee waivers are available. To learn more, download the “2012-2013 Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete.”

What if you plan on playing at an NAIA college or university? Sports scholarships still abound at these institutions. You can read all about them in “Peterson’s Sports Scholarships and College Athletic Programs.” This guidebook lists contact information, program details, and other important tips regarding the recruitment process.