School+Library+Journal

= School Library Journal Blogs =

School Library Journal is currently featuring eight blogs covering a wide range of topics.

[|Bowllan's Blog] by Amy Bowllan  This is a collection of posts concerning diversity in literature. A staple on her blog is Writers Against Racism (WAR). WAR includes a variety of interviews of authors, pictures of people being "caught" reading books by authors of color and a smattering of reviews. Ms. Bowllan includes some posts on timely topics, such as Michael Jackson's death, and guiding questions to lead discussion on those topics. She also posts on a variety of resources that teachers, librarians and parents may find useful.

This is one of the oldest blogs on SLJ, going back to May of 2005, and the sheer number of posts can be overwhelming. WAR posts are titled as such and often include reviews, interviews or video clips. This was an interesting blog and one I can see as being useful when you are looking to expand your collection authors of color.

[|A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy] by Elizabeth Burns  This new blog (July 2010) features reviews of books, TV shows, movies, blogs, and other media for young adults. Elizabeth Burns is a Children's and Teen Services librarian with her finger on the pulse of your everyday teenager. She writes honest reviews of materials that young adults are interested in. She also writes about upcoming events, blogs she follows and asks readers to chime in to help compile lists of their favorites.

In my opinion, if you are looking for well written, in depth reviews of books young adults are interested in, stop here, this blog deserves a look.

﻿ ﻿[|A Fuse #8 Production]by Elizabeth Bird  This blog contains reviews of children's literature, a variety of Youtube clips relating to children's literature and other postings. Review of the Day, Video Sunday, and press releases are just a few of the highlights of this blog. Bird has a great selection of collected reviews and blogs on the sidebar, but no archives of this blog make it the most challenging blog to explore. The wide variety of KidLit that is reviewed is fantastic, especially since she includes materials from picture books to young adult titles. I enjoyed this blog and will visit it again. I do hope that SLJ gets the broken links fixed and archives her older posts to improve the functionality of the blog. The material is worth the effort.

[|Good Comics for Kids] edited by Brigid Alverson    ﻿ Good Comics for Kids is a collaboration of librarians, editors, writers, parents, artists and teens that work together to create all about the world of graphic novels and comics. Posts include reviews of old and new comic titles, creator interviews and roundtable discussions. While comics and graphic novels for all ages are discussed, their main focus is materials for preschool through middle school children. Bloggers share their honest opinions on what they are currently reading as well as what's hot. Reviews are well written and thought out. The editor also includes a number of links listing graphic novels. Before reading this blog I had no idea there were as many comics and graphic novels floating around out there. I shared this blog with my nearly 12 year old son and he was thrilled! Not only were the "cool" Manga books mentioned, but he got loads of other ideas. I can see a trip to the bookstore coming soon! If you are looking for more materials for some of your reluctant readers, that continually check out the same graphic novels, this is a great place to start looking!

[|Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog] by Jonathan Hunt, Nina Lindsay and Sharon McKellan <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">This fun blog takes a lighthearted stab at the seriousness of selecting the Newbery award winners. In all seriousness, it is a review of potential Newbery contenders and the process heeded by both the real and mock Newbery committees. Bloggers seriously review and discuss books they feel warrant Newbery contention and make their picks. Real Newbery contenders and winners are also reviewed.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I really liked the approach these bloggers took. I appreciate the reviews, yet value the humor found in many of their posts.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">[|NeverEnding Search] by Joyce Valenza <span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The NeverEnding Search blog chronicles Joyce Valenza's never ending search for ways to update current practices, professional growth, and strategies to improve libraries and make them THE place to be. She includes information on new and emerging technologies and applications, software and hardware, as well as ideas, brainstorming and a variety of reviews.

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Take the time to read the comments that follow her posts, these are chock full of suggestions. This blog is an incredible font of information to help improve you as a teacher librarian, students, as well as your library. I plan on following this blog, as I am not as tech savvy as I would like to be and maybe, just maybe, reading Dr. Valenza's posts will help me catch up!

<span style="color: #404040; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; text-align: center;">[|Nonfiction Matters] by Marc Aronson <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Marc Aronson's blog is huge! There are over 650 posts, so there is a ton of information included! He covers a variety of topics, mainly centered around the genre of nonfiction. He writes about nonfiction writing, publishing, current events/issues, museums, and emergent technologies. He often includes links to outside sources, especially the New York Times. Guest bloggers bring a complementary voice to this blog, while maintaining its integrity.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I really enjoyed Mr. Aronson's blog and in a world where nonfiction seems to get labeled as dry and dusty, his words brought new life to the genre and to the blogs in SLJ. This is one blog that I bookmarked to read on a regular basis. <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">[|Practically Paradise] by Diane Chen  <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">﻿Ms. Chen's vision of the ultimate school library and how we can build it is the basis of this blog. She writes about everything from technology coaches to book reviews to ALA events and discussions to diversity, conferences,collection development, weeding and censorship. Phew! That's a lot for one blog, but this elementary school librarian has a lot that crosses her mind and she is going to tell you about it. <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">If you are looking for a librarian/blogger that is not afraid to tell it like it is, then this is the blog for you. She certainly gives you something to think about. I only skimmed her blog, but it was intriguing enough for me to bookmark it and save it for future reading. mwm