Wednesday, October 27, 2010

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

Cover

Laced with metaphors about maps and treasure, Headley's (Girl Overboard) finely crafted novel traces a teen's uncharted quest to find beauty. Two things block Terra's happiness: a port-wine stain on her face and her verbally abusive father, a failed cartographer who views her as ugly and belittles the collages she creates. A car accident brings her together with Jacob, an Asian-born adoptee with unconventional ideas. Besides introducing her to new pursuits like geocaching, a treasure-hunting game using GPS, Jacob ends up traveling with her when they have an opportunity to visit China together with their mothers. The trip, far-reaching on many different levels, gives Terra a chance to rethink the past and re-map her goals. Taking readers to America's Northwest, then to China and back again, the author confidently addresses very large, slippery questions about the meaning of art, travel, love and of course beauty. All of her characters hold secrets; finding them out will be as rewarding as Terra's discoveries of caches. Ages 12-up. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved From: Reed Elsevier Inc.Copyright Reed Business Information

Rap of the Week

The Week in Rap 10.22.10 from Week in Rap on Vimeo.

SortFix - A new way to search

SortFix - A new way to search

Here's a really cool way to refine your search. You can grab (or remove) words from search baskets to refine your searches and create better results.  A dictionary basket is available to look up unknown words.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

10 X 10 Visual Links to World News

Here's a really cool tool-10x10.   Every hour, 10x10 collects the 100 words and pictures that matter most on a global scale, and presents them as a single image, taken to encapsulate that moment in time. I'm exploring a way to embed it on my website, until then, check out the link below:
10 X 10             

Friday, October 8, 2010

Defying the Diva by Anne D. Love


Here's a good read-l know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I love this one!


Summary
For Haley Patterson, freshman year of high school boils down to having a good time with her two best friends and making a name for herself at the school newspaper. But when Haley reveals one too many juicy details in her gossip column, superdiva and queen bee Camilla Quinn makes sure that Haley's life changes...for the worse. Completely ostracized by everyone at school, including her best friends, Haley finds herself alone and miserable.Reprieve comes in the form of a summer job at an exclusive mountain resort, where Haley forges new friend-ships, snags a cute lifeguard, and learns how to trust again. But her newfound hope is not bought without some heartbreak.As the summer draws to a close, an unexpected confrontation with Camilla forces Haley to face her fears. Will she continue to let Camilla control her life? Or will Haley find the confidence and courage to stand her ground?From the author ofPicture PerfectandSemipreciouscomes an honest, poignant novel about fear, friendship, and fighting back. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

The Week in Rap Oct 7

The Week in Rap - Oct 8th 2010 from Week in Rap on Vimeo.