PASSIONATE ABOUT SCHOOL LIBRARIES
How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying)
– Cristina Fernandez –
Katherine Tegan Books
Published 2 August 2022
♥♥♥♥♥
I adored this book. This genius, brilliant, amazing book. I love superhero novels and scramble to get my hands on any I can find. But this is not a superhero book and that’s exactly why it is so brilliant.
New year, new school, new pop-up displays. Some argue that displays fall under the role of the library tech or aide (if you are lucky to have them), however, as a aide or a teacher librarian, I love creating library displays. It’s such a great way to get to know the collection, pull and promote books that need some love, highlight diverse books, new books, important topics or just some favourites.
I am loving the display shelves in my new school library. There are two vertical shelves and one horizontal setup on the library and they make putting up pop-up displays so much easier. Here are a few from the first term this year.
Dear Hero – Hope Bolinger and Alyssa Roat – INtense Publications – Published 28 September 2020
♥♥♥
Cortex and V need a new nemesis. Cortex’s last villain dumped him, and V got a little overeager and took out her hero prematurely. They meet on Meta-Match, a nemesis pairing site for heroes and villains. After throwing punches at each other behind coffee shops and hiring henchman to do their bidding (mostly just getting them coffee), they realize they have a lot more in common than meets the eye. And they may have a lot more hero and villain inside than they realize.
I am always on the lookout for superhero novels. a) they are an awesome mix of action and either fantasy or science fiction and b) they are hard to come by, so I jumped at the chance to read Dear Hero. Dear Hero is written entirely in short messages shared between the two main characters, which makes for a creative novel, if one that leaves the backstory and world building a little unclear.
Cortex is a hero. When his last villain leaves him, he decides to reach out on Meta-Match to find a new one. V is looking for a hero to fight with. She and Cortex begin exchanging messages and then they start to meet to practice their hero villain routine, but when someone close to them is kidnapped, they have to team up.
My main problem with this books comes down to the format. I applaud the authors for giving it a go. Writing an entire book in text messages or DMs would not be easy. It’s creative and quick to read. The problem comes with the reader trying to get an accurate view of the characters, backstory, world and culture. All those things remained unclear. I needed, wanted to know more about the concept of how the hero and villain structure works, why they do what they do, more about the governance of heroes and villains and how they fit into the larger world picture, the pop culture that surrounds it and the world that had been created. Continue reading
The theme for Book Week 2019 is Reading Is My Secret Power. In conjunction with our circulation desk display and our Junior reading room display, I created this interactive display at the back of our Junior reading room.
Here it is before we added the student artwork.
The theme for Book Week 2019 is Reading Is My Secret Power and there are so many ways you could interpret this theme for display ideas. Traditionally, I decorate our circulation desk window (four, large tinted windows that sit behind out prominent circulation desk) with some interpretation of the CBCA artwork. 
This year the CBCA Book Week 2019 artwork has been created by Bob Graham.
Here is my interpretation.
The theme for Book Week 2019 is Reading Is My Secret Power and I have had a lot of fun coming up with different displays to showcase this theme around the library. For our junior reading room, I went with Bookopolis: Home of those with secret powers. It takes the angle of superheroes, something that is eternally popular with our young readers, especially with the release of the Marvel Avengers: The Endgame movie earlier in the year. The display is bright and was very easy to put together.
© 2024 Madison's Library
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑
