"Back to School" at the Movies!

The lazy days of summer are quickly coming to an end -- and the kids are heading back to school.  For a change of pace, we're putting the spotlight on a few of the films in the library's collection -- this time featuring some of our favorite "high school" movies.  Grab some popcorn and soda -- and let's head back to the Blackboard Jungle (yet another great movie about high school)!

The Breakfast Club (1985)

 Possibly the best high school movie ever!  Five kids from totally different cliques --  a jock, a nerd, a princess, a rebel, and a loner -- are forced to spend Saturday detention together after committing a variety of misdeeds at school.  This classic coming-of-age film was written and directed by John Hughes, and was filmed on location just down the road at Deerfield High School. 

Dead Poet’s Society (1989)

 

The lives of students at an elite prep school in Vermont are forever changed by an eccentric English teacher and his determination to inspire them through his love of poetry.   Robin Williams scored an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his dramatic performance in the film.  You’ll spot both Ethan Hawke (Before Midnight) and Josh Charles (The Good Wife) among the young actors playing the school boys. 

 The Perks of Being aWallflower  (2012)

  

Freshman Charlie navigates his way through a tough first year of high school with the help of a pair of older students who befriend him, learning important lessons about friendship, rivalries, trust, and loyalty along the way.  Another great coming-of-age story – adapted for the screen by Stephen Chbosky, from his award-winning novel.  Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame shines in her role as a free-spirited senior who takes Charlie under her wing.  

Ferris Bueller’s DayOff  (1986) 

No sooner is school back in session than kids start dreaming of a day off!  For the ultimate ditch-day adventure -- hang out with Ferris Bueller on his infamous day off from school.  Matthew Broderick stars.  The movie was filmed in and around Chicago -- how many city landmarks can you spot?

Grease (1978) 

 

Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta  star in the mega-hit musical that serves as a campy tribute to the 1950’s.  The two play a pair of teenagers who enjoy a sweet summer romance -- but when they return to high school in the fall – their relationship seems doomed when his greaser pals clash with her goody two-shoes friends.   With great songs and choreography, and a wonderful supporting cast, the classic film remains as much fun today as it was in its original release. 

The History Boys(2006) 

The headmaster of a British prep school brings in an enigmatic new faculty member to help a group of eight gifted but unruly boys prepare for their entrance exams to Oxford and Cambridge.   The comedy features the entire original cast of the play from which the film was adapted and is a truly funny look at the British educational system.

The Class (Entre les Murs) (2009)

A dedicated teacher and his colleagues struggle to reach their students in an inner city school in Paris.  Though fictional, the film has the feel of a documentary, and uses real teachers and students to depict what actually goes on in classrooms everyday.  The winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival -- the film also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film in 2009.

Fame (1980)

A high school with a great twist!  Follow the lives of four talented high school students attending the New York High School of Performing Arts -- from their auditions for acceptance to the school through their graduation day.  A great soundtrack really kicks the film into high gear -- with many of the songs written and performed by Irene Cara, who also stars.  The film was remade in 2009 -- but the original is still the best!

An Education  (2010)

 

A British schoolgirl gets an education of a different sort when she sets aside her dreams of attending Oxford after falling for the charms of an older man.  Cary Mulligan shines in her breakthrough role as a naïve 1960’s teen swept off her feet by the equally talented Peter Sarsgaard.  The film scored Oscar nominations for Mulligan as Best Actress, Best Picture and Best Screenplay.

 

Scanning at your library

 

We have a new color printer and scanner for use in the Reference Room. Scanning is completely free and the digital scans can be saved to a flash drive or sent to you via email or to your smart phone. Our printer in the main reference room will now print color pages for $.50/ page and still .10/ page for black and white printing.

All other printing can still be done via print card, but the new system will also accept money with the coin-op tower near the color printer (bills must be $5 or smaller). If you want to load money to your print card, the machine will take coins and bills up to $20.

And next, faxing!

Her Story

Women making history are the subject of some terrific new fiction and nonfiction reads! Follow their voyages, accomplishments and personal journeys—these books offer a new perspective on history and the women who braved new challenges. 

Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-making Race Around the World   by Matthew Goodman. 

Nellie Bly took risks to become an early investigative journalist in a career open to few women. In 1889, her newspaper The World sent her to circle the globe in 75 days—to outdo Jules Verne’s fictional hero. The Cosmopolitan magazine sent Elizabeth Bisland in the opposite direction, and the two young female journalists, each traveling unaccompanied, raced to arrive back to New York City. Fascinating historical details take you to a time when telegrams, transcontinental railroad, and ever faster steamship travel were making the world a much smaller place.

The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II   By Denise Kiernan

Lured by job opportunities, higher pay, and handsome young coworkers, thousands of talented women—engineers, statisticians, secretaries and janitors—were recruited to work at a Manhattan Project city in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.  The city didn’t appear on any map, workers knew only what was needed to complete their small task, and asking questions resulted in immediate job loss and eviction. As the atomic era begins, the book focuses on the stories of nine women, their lives at Oak Ridge, their commitment to the war effort, and their startling revelation of how their work contributed to ending WWII.

The Aviator’s Wife

by Melanie Benjamin

They were the nation’s first celebrity couple, but Anne Morrow Lindbergh is often overshadowed by her husband’s fame. An accomplished author, Anne Morrow was also the first American woman to earn a glider pilot license, an experienced navigator and one of the first licensed radio operators. As her husband’s copilot, she explored and charted transatlantic routes for the burgeoning airline industry.  In this historical novel, Anne Morrow recounts the more personal story of her life with Charles Lindbergh.

Mom & Me & Mom   

by Maya Angelou

Poignant, poetic, powerful—Maya Angelou tells the story of her relationship with her mother, Vivian Baxter Johnson. The relationship is complicated, reconciliation difficult, and her mother’s pride, love and support has shaped the author’s life and her accomplishments. As Maya Angelou describes in her prologue, “This book has been written to examine some of the ways love heals and helps a person climb impossible heights and rise from immeasurable depths.”

What books featuring women and history are you enjoying?

Word Play

Most of us know that the month of August is named for Augustus Caesar.  But did you know that July is also named for a Caesar: his uncle Julius.  Stories behind the origins of words, idioms, and sayings are often humorous and can give us a glimpse into the past.  How many times have you uttered a well-worn phrase to your children only to have them look at you uncomprehendingly?  For the child who likes to come up with  “Did you know …” at the dinner table, these books could come in handy :

Where Words Come From

Where Words Come From  is an informal history of words and slang such as bagel (from the same German word bouc that means bracelet) and bogus (from  the West African word boko that means fake coin) to white elephant (owned by the King of Siam) and seventh inning stretch (begun by President Taft).

Guppies in Tuxedos provide the origins of common eponyms:  words which evolved out of a name.  We are all familiar with Xerox or Kleenex, but did you know there was a Mr. Guppy and that tuxedos were first worn in Tuxedo Park, New York? (whoops, I guess I am one of those ‘did you know’ types!)

When Blue Meant Yellow focuses on colors, from Shocking Pink to Gunmetal Gray, and includes  a color chart of 191 various hues.

Sometimes it’s not the origin of the word or phrase that sticks in your mind, it’s the use of the word.  Picture books and poetry allow authors creative opportunities to  inventive uses of words.   Since Dr. Seuss revolutionized the learning  to read process with The Cat in the Hat, children have been read clever books that revel in the spoken word, rhyming, punning and other kinds of word play.  Read these books aloud for pun fun.  They are gr8!

Frisky, Brisky, Hippity Hop

Orange Pear Apple Bear 

Wumbers

C D B !

Sheep in a Jeep

E-mergency !

Exclamation Mark !