Daniel Boone Regional Library

We recently added “Pina” to the DBRL collection. The award winning film played last year at Ragtag and currently has a rating of 95% from audiences at Rotten Tomatoes. Here’s a synopsis from the official website:

PINA is a feature-length dance film in 3D with the ensemble of the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, featuring the unique and inspiring art of the great German choreographer, who died in the summer of 2009. PINA is a film for Pina Bausch by Wim Wenders. He takes the audience on a sensual, visually stunning journey of discovery into a new dimension: straight onto the stage with the legendary Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch ensemble, he follows the dancers out of the theatre into the city and the surrounding areas of Wuppertal – the place, which for 35 years was the home and centre for Pina Bausch’s creativity.

Check out the film trailer or the official film site for more info. For another documentary featuring choreographer Pina Bausch you can check out Dancing dreams.

The 600s could be my favorite area of nonfiction. Traditional descriptions of the Dewey Decimal System identify the 600s as  ”applied sciences” or “medicine and technology.” Basically, this is where you find information on how people make use of science and nature. Books on gardening, parenting, exercise, health, car repair, business management, pets, cooking and more all make their home in the 600s. As a foodie, I love to browse the cookbooks and food memoirs, and here are a few gems I found in a recent stroll through the stacks.

• “Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Journeys” by David Tanis.
  “Time at the table is time well spent,” writes Tanis, chef at the critically-acclaimed restaurant Chez Panisse. Tanis does not give you thirty-minute meals or short cuts. Instead, he encourages you to enjoy the journey of cooking, of using seasonal and local ingredients and treating them with care. His techniques are simple, and his recipes are wrapped in eloquently written personal anecdotes. The first section of the book, in fact, deals entirely with his own intimate kitchen rituals, small bites or meals he makes for himself or how the act of peeling an apple can be like meditation. The meat of the book offers up menus to share with a family or gathering of friends. I personally cannot wait for spring to get here so I can try my hand at asparagus scrambled eggs and fennel soup.
• “Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer” by Novella Carpenter.
  With a name like Novella, you’re kind of destined to be a writer. And as the child of a couple of back-to-the-land hippies, growing vegetables and raising pigs in the abandoned lot next to your inner-city Oakland home might also seem the natural thing to do. Carpenter describes her adventures in ghetto farming in a rollicking, wry style, making this food memoir stand out from the pack of recent books about local food movement experiments.
• “The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food” by Judith Jones.
  If the name Judith Jones sounds familiar to you, chances are you’re a fan of Julia Child (or have at least read and/or watched “Julie and Julia,” the story of Julie Powell spending a year tackling every recipe in “The Art of French Cooking“). Jones is the editor who championed and published Child’s cookbook, and in this memoir, she details her life-long relationship with  cuisine and the major role she played in this country’s food revolution.

Found any treasures while browsing the bottom shelves? Let us know in the comments!

The 600s could be my favorite area of nonfiction. Traditional descriptions of the Dewey Decimal System identify the 600s as  ”applied sciences” or “medicine and technology.” Basically, this is where you find information on how people make use of science and nature. Books on gardening, parenting, exercise, health, car repair, business management, pets, cooking and more all make their home in the 600s. As a foodie, I love to browse the cookbooks and food memoirs, and here are a few gems I found in a recent stroll through the stacks.

• “Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Journeys” by David Tanis.
  “Time at the table is time well spent,” writes Tanis, chef at the critically-acclaimed restaurant Chez Panisse. Tanis does not give you thirty-minute meals or short cuts. Instead, he encourages you to enjoy the journey of cooking, of using seasonal and local ingredients and treating them with care. His techniques are simple, and his recipes are wrapped in eloquently written personal anecdotes. The first section of the book, in fact, deals entirely with his own intimate kitchen rituals, small bites or meals he makes for himself or how the act of peeling an apple can be like meditation. The meat of the book offers up menus to share with a family or gathering of friends. I personally cannot wait for spring to get here so I can try my hand at asparagus scrambled eggs and fennel soup.
• “Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer” by Novella Carpenter.
  With a name like Novella, you’re kind of destined to be a writer. And as the child of a couple of back-to-the-land hippies, growing vegetables and raising pigs in the abandoned lot next to your inner-city Oakland home might also seem the natural thing to do. Carpenter describes her adventures in ghetto farming in a rollicking, wry style, making this food memoir stand out from the pack of recent books about local food movement experiments.
• “The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food” by Judith Jones.
  If the name Judith Jones sounds familiar to you, chances are you’re a fan of Julia Child (or have at least read and/or watched “Julie and Julia,” the story of Julie Powell spending a year tackling every recipe in “The Art of French Cooking“). Jones is the editor who championed and published Child’s cookbook, and in this memoir, she details her life-long relationship with  cuisine and the major role she played in this country’s food revolution.

Found any treasures while browsing the bottom shelves? Let us know in the comments!

As an area teen looking for help applying for college, the best place for you to start is with your high school guidance counselor. Planning for college begins your junior year and your guidance counselor can help you set goals and meet the many required deadlines. Below is a list of links to area high school guidance departments. You’ll find a plethora of contacts and web resources to help you fund your education.

FAFSA Frenzy
This program is sponsored by the Missouri Department of Higher Education and its goal is to assist students and families in completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). As mentioned in an earlier post, this is the mandatory application used by all colleges and universities in determining your eligibility for grants, loans, work-study, and scholarships.

Review the dates and times for this free event which will be hosted at Fulton High School, Hickman High School, and the Columbia Career Center. And don’t forget to bring:

• Your parents’ and your 2012 W-2 forms
• Copies of your parents’ and your 2012 tax forms, if they are ready. If you or your parents have not yet filed your 2012 returns before you attend a FAFSA Frenzy event, be sure to bring any statements of interest earned in 2012, any 1099 forms, and any other forms required to complete your taxes.
• Student PIN and parent PIN. You may apply for your PINs at www.pin.ed.gov before attending the FAFSA Frenzy.

Hickman High School Guidance Department
Learn about the A+ program, local scholarships, and helpful testing info.

Rockbridge High School Guidance Department
This site lists information related to the A+ Program, college visit opportunities, post-secondary information, and scholarships.

Fulton High School Guidance Department
This site provides senior scholarship information, financial aid and college links, as well as a list of educational opportunities and other events.

Hallsville High School Guidance Center
Learn more about available scholarships, financial aid, and career options.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013 • 6:30 p.m.
Columbia Public Library, Friends Room
Director Chad Freidrichs in attendance!

Destroyed in a dramatic and highly-publicized implosion, the Pruitt-Igoe public housing complex has become a widespread symbol of failure amongst architects, politicians and policy makers. “The Pruitt-Igoe Myth” (84 min.) explores the social, economic and legislative issues that led to the decline of conventional public housing in America, and the city centers in which they were built, while tracing the personal and poignant narratives of several of the residents of the notorious Pruitt-Igoe public housing complex in St. Louis. Director Chad Freidrichs will lead a Q&A afterwards. Freidrichs teaches film and video courses in the Digital Filmmaking program at Stephens College and has also directed the film Jandek on Corwood.

Black History Month is a time to celebrate the achievements of African-Americans and the important roles they have played throughout American history. We celebrate Black History Month every February because it is the birth month of both Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, two important figures in the abolitionist movement.

Each year, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History chooses a theme for Black History Month. This year’s theme reflects two important anniversaries in the history of black Americans and of the United States: the Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington. On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which set the United States on the path to ending slavery and inspired many enslaved people to strike for their freedom. One hundred years later, in 1963, hundreds of thousands of Americans marched to the Lincoln Memorial, where Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech. The March on Washington was a vital step toward ending legal segregation in the United States.

In honor of Black History Month, we are showcasing some library materials about the end of slavery and the civil rights movement. In addition to the nonfiction titles listed below, check back next week for a selection of fictional works.

“A Slave No More” by David W. Blight

Wallace Turnage was a field hand on an Alabama plantation. John Washington was an urban slave in Virginia. Both men saw an opportunity to seize their freedom during the chaos of the Civil War, and, later, wrote down their extraordinary stories to share with their children. These two recently-discovered narratives, along with biographies of both men, are collected in this powerful book. Their stories reveal extraordinary courage and self-determination, helping modern readers understand the human face of slavery and the great lengths people went to for freedom.

“Forever Free” by Eric Foner

In “Forever Free: The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction,” historian Eric Foner re-examines many of the prevailing assumptions about a pivotal period in American history. He argues that Reconstruction represented the first effort to form a multi-racial society, which was aborted as a result of racist backlash. And, rather than concentrating on white sources as many historians have, Foner draws on a wide range of documents, including congressional documents, black newspapers, army reports and plantation records. The picture that emerges is not one of black people passively receiving freedom from the Union Army and the Federal Government, but of black people as active agents in ending slavery, winning the Civil War and creating the postwar society.

“Walk in My Shoes” by Andrew Young and Kabir Sehgal

Andrew Young is a politician, pastor and diplomat. He was a leader in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, a congressman, mayor of Atlanta, and ambassador to the United Nations. In “Walk in My Shoes,” Young shares his hard-earned wisdom on civil rights, race, faith, love and leadership with his godson, Kabir Sehgal. His voice is never pedantic, but witty, irreverent and challenging. We should all be so lucky as to have a mentor like Andrew Young, but, in the meantime, we can all learn a lot from this highly enjoyable book.

Image Credits (Clockwise from top left):

• Juneteenth day celebration in Texas. Date: 19 June 1900. Source: PICA 05476, Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.
• Martin Luther King, Jr., half-length portrait, facing left, with left arm raised, at freedom rally, Washington Temple Church / World Telegram & Sun photo by O. Fernandez. Date: 1962. Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c11157
• Crowds surrounding the Reflecting Pool, during the 1963 March on Washington. Photo by Warren K. Leffler.
• Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. U.S. Information Agency. Press and Publications Service. Date: 8/28/1963.
• Thomas Le Mere (1863). By Smithsonian Institution from United States (Abraham Lincoln  Uploaded by Meisam) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
• Portrait of Taylor, a black drummer boy, 78th Regiment, US Colored Infantry, during Civil War. http://images.google.com/hosted/life/1826fa62fa51dd54.html

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.

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.

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!