CET Writes

I originally published this piece February 15, 2017 on Deepstacks - DragonLibrary's blog. Standing on the MetroRail platform in the midwinter gloom, I greet a group of colleagues and giddily ask “Did you go yesterday, or is today your first day? Did you go to any good sessions?” A half hour later, I extract myself from the sardinian quarters of the train, now much too intimately acquainted with my fellow educators gathered from the suburbs, the edge city, and midtown as we make our annual pilgrimage to the convention center. Next week, the daily commuters will happily reclaim their usual personal space and breathe more freely. Reveling in my freedom of movement, I scoot off the platform to encounter the bold banner above the glass doors, reading TCEA2017 Convention & Exposition: The Power of You . The power of me , eh? Mighty as I am on a daily basis, like any heroine, I can still appreciate a quality power-up. Ms Pac-Man bow firmly affixed, I gobbled dow...

I originally published this piece December 6, 2016 on Deepstacks - DragonLibrary's blog. Image by Elena Casagrande Diana rocks slowly in her favorite chair, admiring the last golden rays of the Themyscirian sunset diffracting around the edges of her invisible jet, looking fondly back on her day. Clark, Bruce, Hal, and Orin all dropped by to bring wishes and reminisce about past adventures; even Barry put in a brief appearance, late as usual. Gathering her breath to blow out the 75 star-shaped candles atop the red, blue, and gold sheet cake her granddaughter gingerly placed before her, Diana closed her eyes and silently petitioned Hera: Watch over those loved ones who are not present. With a soft sigh and a quiet smile, our heroine returns her focus to the present, rises, and retires to the warmer interior of her ancestral palace to escape the evening chill, assured that today she was once more victorious. Perhaps, in some alternate continuity, Wonder Woman would celeb...

At the Texas Association of School Library Administrators (TASLA) Workshop on June 14, 2016, I was part of a five-part panel presentation that focused on how campus librarians can become library leaders even though they are not library administrators. This presentation was later featured on TASL Talk s as a series titled “Growing Library Leaders.” Become a Certified Google Education Trainer grew out of my portion of the presentation and was originally published September 8, 2016. On April 10, 2018, it was re-posted on the Round Rock Independent School District's Teaching & Learning Blog Librarians have always been at the forefront of information technology, even if we haven’t always had that reputation. Be it in tablets, scrolls, codices, microforms, or databases, we’ve always gone where the information is in order to find answers. Unfortunately, as mere access to information has taken center stage, school libraries run the risk of becoming a Starbucks-without-the-cof...

"It's 1888, and seventeen-year-old Verity Newton lands a job in New York as a governess to a wealthy leading family, "but she quickly learns that the family has big secrets. Magisters have always ruled the colonies, but now an underground society of mechanics and engineers are developing non-magical sources of power via steam engines that they hope will help them gain freedom from British rule. The family Verity works for is magister, "but it seems like the children's young guardian uncle is sympathetic to the rebel cause. As Verity falls for a charming rebel inventor and agrees to become a spy, she also becomes more and more enmeshed in the magister family's life. She soon realizes she's uniquely positioned to advance the cause" but to do so, she'll have to reveal her own dangerous secret." - From the Publisher This is a fantastic read - a real page turner. Lovers of steampunk and speculative history will find a new heroine in Miss ...

"As apprentice to his father, the second-best medical scientist in the empire, Jonathan leads a quiet life in a remote aerial city until the king arrives, calling on them to find the cure to a plague that has struck the capital city and put the queen's life at risk, but the newly discovered chemical, fantillium, that may help will also put at risk all that Jonathan holds dear." - From Follett Illusionarium is an action-packed page-turner that will keep readers on their toes from cover to cover. Fans of steampunk, adventure, and fantasy will decidedly enjoy this title. Illusionarium b y Heather Dixon  Secondary  Greenwillow Books 361 pp.  Published 2015  ISBN 978-0-06-200105-4 $17.99   Steampunk, Fantasy

Image from mikesplacebook.com At Mike’s Place, the blues bar on the Tel Aviv beachfront, patrons -- both renowned and local -- gather to forget the conflict outside. At least, that's what indie filmmakers Jack and Joshua want to convey in their documentary; however, shortly after filming begins, the bar is targeted in a gruesome suicide bombing. Lovers of realistic and historical narratives will not only find this to be an interesting read but also the ways that the Mike’s Place family copes with their tragedy intriguing as well as heart-wrenching at the same time. Mike's place: a true story of love, blues, and terror in Tel Aviv  by Jack Baxter, Joshua Faudem, and Koren Shadmi Secondary FirstSecon 189 pp. Published 2015 ISBN 978-1-59643-857-6 $22.99

Although he’s a civilian now, Mark finds himself sucked back into war by Jason, his old army buddy, who seduces him away from his staid consulting job with promises of a lucrative military contract for a mining job in an obscure South-east Asian country. Unfortunately, what awaits them is the stuff of nightmares - a civil war led by magical child soldiers with an army of god-warriors. Albeit this text is well executed and visually very impressive, the imagery and plot are disturbing to the extent that I do  NOT recommend it for school libraries. The Divine  by Asaf Hanuka (Illustrator), Tomer Hanuka (Illustrator), and Boaz Lavie (Author) Adult  First Second  160 pp. Published 2015  ISBN  978-1596436749 $19.99 Magical Realism