Going to school in 1918-1919 at the CIA (now TWU)

Old yearbooks are fascinating.  There are so many photos of campus life, as well as places in town.  Thse photos are from the 1919 Daedalian, which was the school yearbook for the C.I.A., or College of Industrial Arts, as TWU was originally named.

The photo at the bottom was taken during Peace Day, July 19, 1919, on the Square.  I don’t know why they are carrying a library sign, though, but thought, Hey! 

The military had a prescence in town: there were soldiers, a practice flying field (Kelly Field?), and support for the war effort appeared to be strong.  In C. A. Bridges book, History of Denton, Texas From It’s Beginning to 1960, “By the end of the war in November, 1918, so many airplanes were over the town that they were considered common.   If you’d like to take a look at the 1919 Daedalian, stop by the Emily Fowler Central Library and ask at the Genealogy desk.

Aviators over Denton

Peace Day

-Leslie

Peg Leg Peke

Sorry to disappoint all the pirate purists out there, but Peg Leg Peke doesn’t actually have a peg-leg. He broke it and now it’s in a cast, but that’s okay with Peke because he can pretend to be a pirate.  Author and illustrator Brie Spangler’s simple pictures complement the delightful text that engages the reader in a dialogue with our peg-legged puppy friend.  I recommend this book to any 4-6 year-old who loves pirates or who loves playing pretend.

-Dana Zakrzewski

New DVDs you can put a hold on…

1. Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

2. The Love Guru

3. Speed Racer

4. Veggie Tales Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything

5. The Visitor

Alternative Energy As Forseen in 1897

April 16, 1897

   This article is interesting because they predicted – in 1897! – that we would be using cars that run on compressed air.  Well, finally this will be happening.  Popular Mechanics has a new article out on the air-powered car, which will hit the markets in 2009-2010.  It is said to travel up to 1000 miles per fill up.  Both the North Branch & Emily Fowler Library subscribe to Popular Mechanics

It was 1985

 

and the Library seemed to have some pretty creative staff.  I don’t know who drew this, maybe it was a volunteer, but I like it. 

Found in the Emily Fowler archives in the Special Collections Department.

-Leslie

2008 Teens’ Top Ten Nominees

Read any or all of the following books and during Teen Read Week, Oct. 12 – 18th, you can help pick the 2008 Teens’ Top Ten by voting on-line!  Information on how to vote will be available during Teen Read Week, “Books With Bite!”

Before I Die. Jenny Downham.

Tessa, who has terminal cancer, creates a list of ten things she wants to do in the months she has left to live. This fierce and devastating novel explores end-of-life realities with honesty and grace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Betrayed. P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast.

In the second House of Night book, fledgling vampyre Zoey Redbird has accepted her powers and role as Leader of the Dark Daughters. She finally really fits in. But too soon the people Zoey cares about from her old life are in danger, and it looks like the House of Night is killing human teenagers. Betrayal and heartbreak are inevitable for Zoey as her world turns upside down.

 

 

 

 

 City of Bones. Cassandra Clare.

New York teenager Clary witnesses a murder she cannot prove: the victim disappears before her eyes and no one else can see the killers. She discovers she can see supernatural beings that no one else can, and is drawn into the world of the Shadowhunters (teens who kill demons and monsters.) She soon learns that her mother, Jocelyn, is the only person who knows the whereabouts of The Mortal Cup, a dangerous magical item that turns humans into Shadowhunters. Clary must find the cup and keep it from a renegade sector of Shadowhunters bent on eliminating all nonhumans.

 

 

 Daemon Hall. Andrew Nance and Colin Polhemus, illus.

One night, five contestants: scariest night ever! Five writers think they are getting the chance to publish their stories. What they don’t know is that this seemingly friendly competition could lead to their worst nightmares coming true and haunting them forever.

 

 

 

 

 

  Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Jeff Kinney.

Greg Heffley knows he’s not popular, but he tries hard to fit in. He records his observations about life in middle school in his journal (NOT a diary, he says) along with frequent drawings. Realistic and laugh out loud funny!

 

 

 

 

 

 Eclipse. Stephenie Meyer.

In the third installment of “The Twilight Saga,” Bella continues her struggle in determining what life direction to take and with whom. She is pulled romantically in one direction by vampire Edward and in the other direction toward her long time friend Jake who is a werewolf. Decisions must be made as Bella prepares to graduate from high school and move forward in her life as an immortal. Tension is high and charged with emotion as Bella grapples with choices that will result in decisions that will affect her into eternity.

 

 

 

Extras. Scott Westerfeld.

A few years after Tally Youngblood brought down her highly ordered society of Uglies, Pretties, and Specials, popularity reigns supreme. Everyone is doing all they can to get the most buzz. In the midst of the chaos, Aya Fuse is ok with being unknown. But then she meets a secretive clique, and she wants to show the world how cool they are, but doing so would put her in the spotlight – a dangerous place she might not be ready for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Evil Genius. Catherine Jinks.

Fourteen-year-old Cadel Piggot studies subjects like infiltration, misinformation, and forgery at the Axis Institute for World Domination. As he learns diabolical new skills, he meets a girl who makes him reconsider his turn to the dark side.  Suspenseful and thrilling, readers will want to see if Cadel can or will subvert his teacher’s machinations.

 

 

 

 

 Genesis Alpha. Runes Michaels.

Brothers Max and Josh have much more in common than simply playing the roleplaying game, “Genesis Alpha.” Josh was born so his stem cells could be harvested to save his older brother Max’s life. But role-playing changes to rolereality when Max is accused of a violent murder and Josh wonders if he knows his brother at all. “Genesis Alpha,” simply a game, but what has it to do with Max and Josh’s reality?

 

 

 

 

Glass. Ellen Hopkins.

This sequel to Crank finds Kristina one year later with a baby and mortified by her post-baby body. Speed helps her lose the weight, but it also makes her lose her reclaimed life. The spiral into hopeless addiction to meth is even faster this time. It is not just her life being affected. She has her baby to think of…doesn’t she? This brutal examination of meth and its effects is written in free verse.

 

 

 

 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. J.K. Rowling.

Who will be left standing in the seventh and final book? Harry, Ron, and Hermione or Lord Voldemort? Voldermort is ruthless in his pursuit of the trio, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione have honed their magical skills in the past six years and are ready for battle. Well plotted, the magical, mental, and physical challenges will bring readers to a climax never imagined.

 

 

 

 

Ironside: A Modern Faery’s Tale. Holly Black.

It’s not easy being an urban faerie, and changeling Kaye just made life harder on herself. Drunk on faerie wine, she made a declaration of love to her boyfriend, Roiben, newly crowned King of the Unseelie Court. Now she can’t see or speak to him again until she brings him a faerie that will tell a lie. Kaye and her best friend begin this seemingly impossible quest with little hope, but everyone knows that getting there is half the fun.

 

 

 

 

Jango. William Nicholson.

In this sequel to the epic fantasy Seeker, we return to Anacrea, where Seeker of Truth, Morning Star and Wildman are undergoing training to become Nomana, or Noble Warriors. Seeker discovers his innate power and enters a strange state he calls “jango.” His power threatens to overwhelm his judgment, as his fellow novices are called toward their own adventures. Time is running out as the Nomana face new threats from many directions, but the three must try to discover their individual destinies, even as they work together to protect Anacrea.

 

 

Jinx. Meg Cabot.

Unlucky Jinx hopes that moving in with her aunt and uncle in New York will help her escape the bad luck that caused her so much trouble in her hometown. But it isn’t to be. Her bad luck is actually a curse, and avoiding magic doesn’t seem to help. Jinx’s glamorous cousin Tory and her coven of Uptown witches feel threatened by Jinx’s gift. Jinx must learn to control her power to turn the curse to her advantage and stop Tory before she causes too much damage.

 

 

 

The Luxe. Anna Godberson.

Gossip Girl meets Age of Innocence in this lushly-detailed period piece. Four teenage girls weave a web of catty gossip, lies, backstabbing and secrets in late nineteenth-century Manhattan. This tangled web includes not one but two sets of star-crossed lovers; an upstairs/downstairs romance; a scheming social climber; a bitter servant girl; and oodles of money, all set in a Edith Wharton via Hollywood vision of Old New York.

 

 

 

Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports. James Patterson.

Max and her flock of winged, genetically engineered teens have been literally stamped with an expiration date. Additionally, they are split apart and spread around the world, hiding or captive to their worst enemies. The whitecoats (scientists) are at it again, tinkering with the usual way of things. How will the flock manage to defeat a “re-evolution” plan to engineer a superior human raceand save the world?

 

 

 

 

Penelope. Marilyn Kaye.

Penelope Wilhern has everything including a pig-like face, a terrible family curse.  Penelope deals with the superficial aspects of her life as well as dealing with her meddling mother and looks for adventure outside of her protected life to find happiness in the most unexpected places and ways.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saving Zoë. Alyson Noël. 

Echo feels pressured to match up to her sister, Zoë, especially after her sister’s brutal murder. Her parents are staggered, as is Echo, but life continues to move on. Her freshman year at high school starts embarrassingly and things look grim until Zoë’s former boyfriend shows up with Zoë’s diary. Turns out that Zoë had gone places and done things that Echo was not aware of. As Echo explores Zoë’s life through her diary, she begins to reexamine her own.

 

 

 

  Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow. Jessica Day George.

The lass, the youngest child of nine, is so rejected by her mother that she isn’teven named. But in return for wealth for her family, the lass agrees to spend a year in the home of an enchanted great white bear. Will she survive the year?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sweet Far Thing. Libba Bray

 

The third book and final book in the Gemma Doyle trilogy wraps up all the loose ends. Gemma is continuing to both grow in power and come under attack in “the Realms,” the magical world she and her friends visit. While the late 1800’s finishing school she attends with her friends is attempting to shape them into proper ladies, forces far more strong are shaping Gemma in the Realms. Gemma also continues her relationship with Kartik, a magician from the Realms. Some characters will die, while others will change their destiny.

 

 

 

Tamar. Mal Peet.

If your name was on a box given to you after your secretive grandfather’s death, would you open it immediately? Of would you be afraid of what it might hold?  Tamar waits a bit to open her box, then is plunged into her grandfather’s world of resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied Holland during WWII. She and her cousin must delve deeply into the clues left by her grandfather to find the truth of what happened years ago. Love, passion, mystery, and tragedy all play out masterfully against the backdrop of WWII.

 

 

 

Twisted. Laurie Halse Anderson.

Tyler Miller is invisible in his high school career until a rebellious grafitti prank lands him in a summer of hard labor. Now he has muscles, and he’s looking good to the ladies, including Bethany Milbury, sister of his main tormentor and daughter of his father’s boss. Life seems to be taking a nice turn for Tyler until he is charged for a crime he didn’t commit. The reader follows Tyler as he tries to turn his twisted life into one of which he can be proud.

 

Unwind. Neal Shusterman. 

In the future, being a troubled teen means something worse than being sent to a boot camp to get straightened out. Abortion is illegal, but when a child is between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, a parent may choose to retroactively “abort” the child through “unwinding,” in which their body parts are harvested for use by other people. Connor, Risa and Lev, who are all scheduled to be unwound, are literally running for their lives: if they can evade capture and survive until the age of 18, they will be spared a terrible fate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vampire Academy. Richelle Mead.

Two best friends, one a pure vampire and one a half-blood vampire, are captured and returned to the private school they escaped from two years ago. But things have changed since they left and there is now danger to add to the drama that resides in the halls of St. Vladimir’s Academy.

 

 

 

 

 

Wicked Lovely. Melissa Marr.

Everything would have been okay for Aislinn – her relationship with Seth, her normal life – except for the fairies noticing that she was one of the few humans with “the Sight.” She begins to be “tracked” by fairies that have noticed her unwanted gift of seeing the normally invisible fairies. Now Keenan, the fairie Summer King, believes Aislinn is the bride he has been seeking for nine centuries…and he won’t take no for an answer because summer itself might die.

 

James Van Pelt: Summer of the Apocalypse

Eric is now 75 and the last in his community of the “Gone Timers”.  There is no one interested in the Gone Times, except for his grandson and another boy, Rabbitt.  His own son disagrees with his ideas of reclaiming the old knowledge and would rather hunt and scavenge.  Feeling restless and alone, Eric decides to take a hike to see what the rest of the world is like now.  He hasn’t taken a peek since he was 15, when the world of modern civilization ended, wiped out by a plague.

The book switches back and forth in time, between his 15th year and the present time.  And at one time, his older self crosses paths with his younger.  There is little to be said for the end of our civilization, it is now a wasteland and has quickly been forgotten by both the people and the land.  The older Eric sets about on his journey and on his first night out, finds himself awake on a table of rocks, surrounded by a curious wolf pack with whom he joins in song. 

This is a coming of age story, as well as one about fathers and sons.

-Leslie

Gryffindors Teen Fantasy Book Club

We just finished reading and discussing the Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony Diterlizzi and Holly Black.  What I found very interesting about the books were how the illustrations worked in so well with the story.  Many times the illustrations at the beginning of the chapter foreshadow the events in that are about to occur.   Tony Diterlizzi dedicates all five novels to Arthur Rackham, famed children’s book illustrator from the Victorian era, who inspired Diterlizzi’s art.  Look for both Tony and Holly Black as characters in the illustrations of one of the books.  (They are reading magazines in the foreground of the picture.)

Our next meeting is Tuesday, August 19, at 7:00 pm at the Emily Fowler Central Library.  We will discuss Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.  If you’ve seen the Disney movie, you only know half the story.  Join Alice for a series of nonsensical adventures with a white rabbit, a mad hatter, a garden full of talking flowers, and a life-size game of chess.  With its unforgettable characters and mind-bending logic, this timeless story has enchanted generations of readers and inspired artists of every kind, including the makers of The Matrix! 

For more information on the Gryffindor’s Teen Fantasy Book Club contact me at 940-349-8718.

Stacey

New DVDs you can put a hold on…

1. 88 Minutes

2. Deception

3. Made of Honor

4. Street Kings

5. What Happens in Vegas

A View into the Past: 1959-60

I have been looking through the old high school yearbooks that we have here at Emily Fowler, looking for particular views of the old high school.  Pictures of local businesses are, of course, throughout the yearbooks, and I just happened to have a more current photo of the one that is below.  Not much has changed with this business and I sure am glad.  It is from the 1960 Denton Bronco.

And this is the business today, well, in 2006:

-Leslie