A New Comment From Danna and Son

Hey, one and all, we have a comment and votes from Danna:

Where are all the comments? Ok, as the secretly lurking adult female librarian, I just could not make a choice for the final two. So I had to turn to my son (age 10) for the final call. His votes:Harry Potter and Narnia. By the way guys, I have had a lot of fun exploring your blog (and many others) as I try to find a manageable way to introduce these to my students! Thanks for the fun!

You're welcome, Danna. We'll do you what we do for any girl (or lady) who writes to us--we'll give you the greatest honor we can bestow and make you an Honorary Guy. Tell your son that he can send a review (or more than one) and get 3 extra points.

BTW, I usually do something different with comments than most blogs. I save them and publish directly to the blog so that everyone can see them. That's why you haven't seen them in the "comments" section. Maybe I ought to change that, though, and put them in both places. Well, I did that today--maybe I'll try that for a while.

Anyway, that's enough 'bout that! We had our first two entries in the Story Tubes today!!! Come on down and do some!!! It'll be fun. (Check out Darth Bill's post from April 5 to find out more)

And keep sending in those votes and reviews! (send them by 9 pm tonight to be counted for the Final Four)

Carl

Vote for the Final Four, StoryTubes & Book Reviews

Can you guide Mr. Basketball through the Sith Basketball Backboard of Terror? Probably, I'm pretty sure (I think I did, or maybe I cheated) you might.
Yes it is I once again, the man of many names. Captain/Darth/007/Ninja/No More Mr. Nice Guy Bill welcomes and thanks you for visiting the blog (Aaaarrrrrrhhhhhhh!!!!!!!). Well the voting for the Boys Rule Boys Read Book Series Tournament has been fast and furious. If you have not voted, as a reminder, you have until April 7th, Monday at 9:00 p.m. to get your votes in. Also keep shooting those 3 pointers. I have a feeling they may have a serious impact on who comes in the top three places of our little contest. I can feel it in me bones, I tell ya!!!!!

Just got the following vote cast by Mace Windu (those darn Jedi):

Harry Potter
Narnia

Har, Har, Har, it will be interesting indeed to see who are the two last books standing to compete for the Championship.

One other contest I would like to mention on this blog is the StoryTubes competition that is going on nationwide.




Rather than me just blab away about the contest, check out the following press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Public libraries partner in national online video contest:
StoryTubes encourages kids to talk up their favorite books on YouTube

April 3, 2008 (Charlotte, N.C.) – From New York to California to North Carolina, kids in grades 1-6 are talking up their favorite books in an online video contest that supports public libraries, including the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (PLCMC). The contest, which runs through April 20, 2008, is called StoryTubes, and your children can join in the fun, too!

Along with your parent or guardian, kids can follow these simple steps to participate:
1. Make a 2-minute or shorter video about your favorite book;
2. Upload the video to www.youtube.com; and
3. Click on www.storytubes.info and send in the link to your uploaded YouTube video using the online contest entry form.

There are four video categories: Hair-Raising Tales; From or For the Heart; Of Heroes and Heroines; and Facts, Fads and Phenoms. When entering, please don’t use your last name in the video. Entries will be evaluated on creativity, content and performance. Parents are encouraged to read the complete contest rules and regulations at www.storytubes.info/rules.

The video becomes part of a national contest!

The deadlines for entries is April 20, 2008. Voting mania will happen each week in May. At the end of each week, one lucky contestant will win $500 in books. The sponsoring organization they choose (school, library or designated organization for home-schooled youth) will receive $1,000 in books.

Bill Corder, a children’s librarian at PLCMC’s ImaginOn is excited about the project. “It’s so much fun to see kids having a blast creating these videos. They get to talk about their favorite books and have their 15 minutes of fame on YouTube. And they have a chance to win a prize. It’s really cool!”

Want help creating your video?
Kids and parents can come to ImaginOn’s Spangler Library on the following dates and times. Library staff will be on hand with all the equipment needed to help create your video.
- Monday, April 7 from 11 - 1 p.m.
- Tuesday, April 8, from 11 - 1 p.m.
- Wednesday, April 9 from 2 - 4 p.m.
- Friday, April 18 from 7- 9 p.m. (during the “Red Read Party” at ImaginOn)
For questions about the video sessions at ImaginOn, call 704-973-2720.

Everybody wins when kids get excited about stories!

Sponsoring publishers are: Simon & Schuster, Scholastic, Eaglemont Press, DK Publishing, Charlesbridge Publishing and Shenanigan Books.

The StoryTubes partner libraries are: Northeast: Middle Country Public Library of Centereach; NY; Southeast: The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County/ImaginOn, Charlotte, NC; Midwest: Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, IL; Northwest: King County Library System, Issaquah, WA; and Southwest: Pasadena Public Library, Pasadena, CA.

Sounds pretty cool to me. You get to be a star on YouTube and could win $500 worth of books!!!! Man I wish I could compete, but alas I'm not quite in the age range (I'm in the 7th grade; okay not really I'm in the 8th(; ). So guys (and maybe some girls) look into this and remember we will be videoing people here at ImaginOn!!!!

Lastly I would like to talk about some really cool books I have read recently:

Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four – All 4 One, 4 For All by Zeb Wells and Kano – The Fantastic Four are back and better than ever!!!!! This graphic novel includes four stories that concentrate on each of our heroes. The first story focuses on everyone’s favorite rock guy The Thing. The Thing and a new friend learn the hard way that true beauty lays beyond one’s outside appearance while battling The Absorbing Man. The second story takes a look at The Invisible Woman. Susan Storm is beginning to feel that she is taken for granted by her teammates. So when Nick Fury approaches her about being a spy for the Government, she faces a dilemma in whether to stay with the FF or leave. The third story puts Mister Fantastic in the cross-hairs of Arcade and along with trying to stay alive; he learns that life is about more than numbers and calculations. The last story pits The Human Torch against Iceman (of the X-Men) as they are co-judges in the Miss Teeny Teen Pageant. Things go from bad to funny as these two guys try to one up the other (funny stuff). This is a fun read, so check it out!!!!!

The Midnight Library: I Can See You by Damien Graves – If you like scary stories, and I mean scary stories, this series is just wicked!!!!! The first story in this book is about Michael who along with his parents has relocated from the city to the country. Michael has trouble making friends, but finally seems to have made some in Stephanie and Jack. They tell him about the house he has moved in which once belonged to old Farmer Axby whose wife and children left him. Farmer Axby eventually went mad and the last time he was seen alive he was out in the fields with an old lantern looking for his children. The whole time screaming: “I can see you!” Well, he must have fallen sometime in the night because there was a massive fire and the only remains of Farmer Axby that were found were his broken lantern and the remains of his burnt coat. Ever since that night the kids in the area play a game on the anniversary of the fire called I Can See You. Stephanie and Jack invite Michael to play this year and he agrees. Maybe that was not the wisest of decisions? This is some super spooky stuff and if you like this story you will love the other two in the book. A word of warning however, these stories do not always have happy endings and, perhaps, could cause nightmares. If you like real scary stories this series and book are for you.

Tunnels by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams – This book rocked and I absolutely cannot wait for the sequel. The main character of the book is 14-year-old Will Burrows who along
with his archaeologist father, Dr. Burrows, shares a passion for digging tunnels into the earth in search of buried historical items. Will’s family is extremely “different” and to say the least dysfunctional. His father is always involved with his work and little else, his mother watches TV non-stop, and his younger sister runs the families finances. Will is an extremely pale boy and picked on non-stop at school. That is until he befriends another outcast by the name of Chester, who is a rather large intimidating boy, and
gets him interested in digging. Life is going pretty good for Will between digging with his father and digging independently with his new friend Chester. That is until Dr. Burrows goes missing and Will finds that right in their basement is a tunnel that leads to a subterranean world populated with people time left behind. This book is full of twist and turns and just when you think you know what’s going on, the book kicks into another gear to throw you for a loop. I would classify this book as a mystery/action book. Whatever you want to classify it as is up to you, just make sure you don’t miss one of the truly great books of 2008!!!!!

One last note, I want to say it is so good to see so many Sith posting lately! It really warms my black little heart so much.

Well take it easy all you out there in Blogland (and remember to get your votes in along with 3 pointers). Peace,

Bill

Another Comment From an Old Friend

Another one of our old friends and faithful witers is cyber kid 303. We got a new post from him today:

I vote for these two: Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia.
A bunch of my friends get together every month for book club and we all just read Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. It's about a kid named Jim who meets Captain Flint, a pirate with a saber cut across his cheek. Flint dies from drinking too much rum and leaves behind a treasure map. Other bad pirates come after Jim and his friends when they go to find the treasure. There are fights with swords, guns and cannons. Eventually, somebody finds the treasure and goes home with it, but I'm not going to give it away! Warning: there's a lot of old pirate language that's hard to understand, but even Jim can't understand it all.

Thanks, cyber kid. I am soooo glad that you liked Treasre Island. That has to rank as one of my all-time favorites. I think it's still the greatest pirate story ever written!! I'll never forget that mystreious stranger coming into Jim's inn, or the time Jim faced a pirate coming at him with a knife and Jim held two pistols at him and said, "If you move any closer, I'll shoot." Did he?? Man, oh, man, you have to read it to find out!!!If you guys read it, be sure tho get a copy with the illustrations (like this one) by the great N. C. Wyeth. (our library system has plenty!)

Well, cyber kid, that was a review, so you get 3 extra points!If you want more points, send in some more. That goes for everyone else, too!

Yo ho ho and looking for more reviews,

Carl

PS Hey, cyber kid, why don't you get the other guys in your book club to write to us? I thnk it would awesome!

And Now, At Long Last, the Return of LORD VADER!

Hey, one and all, we have new comments from an old friend--Mikie, otherwise known as Lord Vader. He's been writing to us for a long time and good to have him back. (I wonder if he knows a five-year-old Sith wrote in yesterday) Let's hear what he has to say:



Dear Mr. Duggin,
Thanks so much for responding to one of my posts. My mom tells me she remembers you from when she watched wrestling and says you are one of the wrestlers she thought was a really good role model. I can't wait for the new Percy Jackson book either. I didn't know the name of it until I read your post. Sorry it took so long to write back, my whole family has been sick off and on for months and I can't go onto any site without my mom to watch what I am doing. I also just finished reading my first chapter book (on my own, the others I've posted about my mom read to me before bed). It was Da Wild, Da Crazy DaVinci by Jon Szeiska. I love Time Warp Trio books, reading them is great and then I can check out the episode I just read on television. I loved Leonardo's tank invention in chapter one. After I read about him in the book my mom took me to some websites about him to look at drawings of his inventions and also some of his art. I didn't know much of his art until I saw the Mona Lisa painting. I also want to know if I can place votes in for books in the series that I have read or if it has to be from the few you have on the blog site.
Mikie (aka Lord Vader)



I'm sorry your family was sick. Hope you didn't get anything bad. Is everyone else doing all right now? I'm glad that you're reading on your own. I'm also glad that your mom took you to some Leonardo sites--we've always believed that reading broadens your world and you just proved it! It also looks like you found out how our contest works:

My vote will be for Harry Potter series, I read some of the others but they didn't make it through. My vote would probably be for the Clone Wars though but I haven't read one of them yet. I plan on picking one up this week to check it out. I loved watching the series on television but I didn't know they had a book series as well. I'm also sorry to see Percy Jackson didn't make the cut, I didn't know about the contest until a little while ago.
Mikie (aka Lord Vader)

Yeah, I'm sorry that Percy Jackson didn't make it, but he couldn't have had a more worthy opponent than The Chronicles of Narnia. I really love those books. I can't wait for the Prince Caspian movie! BTW, Lord Vader, you can still get points by writing reviews! 3 points for each one!!! That applies to everyone else in blogland. Let's do it!!
Carl

A Comment From kris-the-half-blood-dev-the-sith

Hey, everybody, we have a comment from a new friend, kris-the-half-blood-dev-the-sith: (actually, it's from two people--you'll see)



First off I wold like to say that I'm a girl. I read The Lightning Theif and recently The sea of monsters to my little brother Devin ( he is 5 now and can not type). His freind told my mum abot this site and Dev wanted me to type for him. He is amazed with 'Geek'mythology now like me and my mum told him "Great, we have a mini-Kris now..." He made me read it to him three times now and refused to go to bed without annother part in the story. oh an he says HI... ^_^



Thanks, Kris and Dev. We've had girls write in to us before, notably Melanie, our coworker. This is the first time we've had a sister-and-brother-team, though!! For writing to us, Kris, we'll give you the greatest honor we can bestow and make you an Honorary Guy. (We did that for Melanie)

I'm glad Dev likes Percy Jackson. You're the youngest Lightning Thief/Sea of Monsters fan I've known. (Did you see this, Mr. Riordan??) You know that I'm a big fan. Have you read The Titan's Curse yet? Did you know the new Percy Jackson book will be here in about a month!!!! I can't wait!!!

Darth Bill will be pleased to know that we have a young sith reading our blog. In fact, Dev may be the youngest sith ever!!

Keep writing to us,
Carl
PS--have you looked at our March Madness of Books Contest?

Fianl Four Madness!!

Hey, gang, we've got some exciting things going on with the March Madness contest. We received the prizes today from UNCC. As you know, one of them is an autographed T-shirt from the UNCC 49'ers Men's Basketball team. Here's a picture from the front:

And here's the back with all the autographs:

Another prize is the autographed poster:
I know, the autographs are hard to see because of the light reflecting on the poster, but, trust me, they really are there. I've seen them. The other prize is a paperback copy of your choice of any one of the books there were featured in this tournament.

Soooo---Bill and I were grateful to the good people at UNCC for donating this cool stuff but we looked at that shirt. I had asked for a boy's medium size T-shirt but then we realized that if an older guy won the contest, why, that shirt might not fit!!! Soooo---Bill and I decided to change the way we'll give the prizes. Here's the new awards:

First Place Winner will get to choose between the T-shirt, poster, or book.

Second Place Winner will choose between the two items left and

Third Place Winner will get the remaining prize.

All right? We apologize if this causes any major trauma or heartbreak to anyone, but we're trying to be as fair as possible. And if you've really got your sights set on a particular prize, then make sure you vote AND send in some reviews!! Every one you send gets you 3 points!!! So, the more you send, the better your chances!!!OK??? Let's hear it!! Remember, you have until 9:00 pm on Monday, April 7 to get those votes and reviews in!!! Just Do It!!

Speaking of voting, here is our first vote for the Final Four. It's from our friend Anonymous:

Here are two picks!

Harry Potter

Chronicles of Narnia

This has been fun! : )!

Yes, it has been fun and we're looking forward to even more fun!!

By the way, have you seen that our friends at the Guys Read blog are doing a March Madness tournament of their own? Take a look. You might even want to vote. I did. Go back and look at the posts from last week. I made a shocking confession in their comments section. I'd tell you what it is, but it's dinner time and I'm hungry! So I'm gone! Gotta go to their blog if you want to find out--hahahaha!!! (you can get there from the Links on the left-hand side of this page)
Need a sub sandwich now!!!
Carl

Back From the Beach

And, man, did I have a good time! North Myrtle Beach is a really cool and fun place. How fun is it? Check this out: This place is so much fun that the food seasons itself! And no one cares what you look like:

Of course, there is always some one trying to spoil the fun. The evil Sith Emperor sent his Killer Seagulls after me...

...but look, I'm not afraid. Even as they swooped in to attack, I stood firm and laughed in the face of danger because I had my secret inter-dimensional, ultra-sonic, hyper-phasic weapon handy......in other words, I had some leftover french fries to throw them.

Well, enough of this. I did get to finish the second Barnstormers book before I left and it was fantastic!!! It's called Game 2: The River City and continues the story from Game 1: Porkopolis (see the post from March 20) The Payne family has moved from to Louisville, Kentucky, the River City with their baseball team, the Travelin' Nine, to play another exhibiton game and raise money. Strange things start happening again in the middle of the game, but the Payne kids realize that those weird things are connected with their father's baseball, which really is magic. If they learn to use the ball, the team could win. Can they do it? And why does their Uncle Owen tell them to "Beware the Chancellor" and "Don't let him find out about the baseball"? Could it have something to do with the "great danger" he warned them about? And why do mysterious people suddenly appear and then are gone when the kids try to talk to them? Mystery, suspense, sports, magic--this book has it all!! Go read it!!

There's some exciting things to tell you about the March Madness of Books contest, but I'm too busy right to write about it now.
Stay tuned, keep writing, and send in those 3-pointers!
Carl