May Meeting: Off to the Races

Our May book, appropriately enough since it was right after the Kentucky Derby, was Grand Theft Horse, a graphic novel by G. Neri and Corban Wilkin.  The book is the true account of Neri's cousin, Gail Ruffu, a horse trainer who goes up against the racing world to save a horse's life -- and nearly loses everything in the process.

Since we couldn't bring a real horse into the library, we had to settle for the virtual world.  Using MERGE Cube headsets and smartphones, bookshoppers got to try virtual horse riding and jumping (getting on the horse was challenge enough!) and other VR games.

I respect everyone's cast iron stomachs -- trying these games out made me pretty woozy.

June's meeting will be our last one for the school year 😢  It has been wonderful getting to know you all, and I hope you will make many visits to the Teen Room over the summer and next fall!  I guess a book about changing one's identity and going into hiding is a good way to end the year?  We'll be talking about Greetings From Witness Protection at our next meet up!

April Meeting: Making Waves

Our April meeting was split into two activities.  Three, if you count eating pizza.  So it was a busy night!

Our book for the month was Nation by the late Sir Terry Pratchett.  It is definitely one of my favorites; I have read it several times now, and it still offers so much to think about.  We discussed what sort of things we would like to keep and what we would do away with if we were starting a nation from scratch.  School seemed to be pretty much off the table.  Fair enough.  Although hopefully there would still be time for learning new things; one can only take so many naps.

Then we had a short feedback session on what people like about Book Shop and what they would like to do next.  Here is a summary (nine participants):

What do you like about Book Shop?
Books = 5
Activities = 6
Pizza = 6
Hanging out = 3
Learning from each other = 1
Other: Fun-ness of it; reading

I like books that are:
Intense
Graphic novels
Mystery
?
Fun
Graphic novels that are not real stories, like Artemis Fowl

I would like to read about:
Fiction = 5

I would like the following activities:
Games = 7
Building = 3
Science projects = 1
Puzzles/problem solving = 3
Drawing = 4
Coding = 2
Writing = 0
Other = Team building
Virtual Reality = 4
Candy = endless votes

We also made some doodles to clear our heads.

For our activity, we talked about what makes waves happen!  Energy transferring from wind or from an earthquake.  To test this, we made waves in a pan of water resting on a table without shaking the pan or the table itself.  Much blowing and pounding ensued.

The next challenge was to construct a barrier to protect a small Lego island.  Sadly, the wave test for this was not captured on video -- my request for next year is for a dedicated photographer/videographer, because I can't even.  We do have some photos of the process though! 

I would say the barriers were fairly effective 😄

May's book is Grand Theft Horse by G. Neri and Corban Wilkin -- see you next week!

March Meeting: Candy Chemistry

Last month's activity was inspired by adroit chemist and amateur detective Flavia de Luce, the 11-year-old protagonist of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.  We had a smaller turnout because of that morning's snow, but a spirited discussion and activity.  Perhaps because we were fueled by the leftover candy...

Using different coated candies, we learned about chromatography, the separation of a mixture into its components.  In this case, we were seeing how the dyes in the candy coatings separated out into different colors.  Would the same colors on different brands of candy (M&Ms, Skittles, and Wonka Fruits) react the same way?  Which colors would be more complex?

First we had to get some dye.  We put drops of water onto a plastic tray and placed the candies on top.

Then we brushed the dyes into coffee filters, labeling each different candy.

Finally, we placed these filters in cups with water, making sure to keep the dye dots above the water line.  The water seeped up the filter, reached the dye, and continued to travel upwards, separating the dyes on its path.

We realized as we were doing this that it was important to leave enough space above the dye dots to really see the separation of the dye mixture.  If we had more time, it would have been great to do this again, but you can try it at home!  Paper towels also work instead of coffee filters, and you can try experimenting with the inks in different colored waterbased markers as well as candy.

Next month we'll be discussing a favorite of mine, Nation by Terry Pratchett.

February Meeting: Curiouser and Curiouser

For February we read Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Randall Munroe.  Using 1,000 most commonly-used words in the English language, Munroe explained the workings of complicated things -- from human internal organs to a nuclear power plant.

The jokes were the favorite bits for many in the group.  Each explanatory page has a lot of text for using just 1,000 words (maybe because Munroe was restricted to 1,000 words) which could be a bit overwhelming.  Still, like his What If? it is a terrific book for browsing at random.  I'm still not sure whether my new understanding of nuclear power plants makes me feel safer or not.

You can thing-explain for yourself using Munroe's word checker.

Because we were thinking about how things worked, it was an excellent time to come up with questions for the 2019 Cambridge Science Festival's Curiosity Challenge.  The criteria are as simple as that: what are you curious about?  Participants are invited to submit a drawing, an essay, a poem, or a photograph. 

Learn more about the Cambridge Science Festival, which runs from April 12-21, 2019, here.

Here is what sparked curiosity in our group!

In March we will be meeting to talk about The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley.  Chemistry and poisons!  (The pizza is safe, I promise.)

January Meeting: Fantasy Islands!

Our January read was Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya.  
Some Bookshoppers felt that the ending was too sad.  Others thought the story
was too similar to other books they had already read, with a troubled teen and
an absent parent.

We talked about what it was like to visit family members we had never
met before, especially in a place where we did not speak the language.  
We also discussed bullying and how Marcus was seen as more threatening
because of his size, while everyone agreed that Stephan’s bullying with words
was worse.

Our activity was making our own fantasy islands and topographical maps.  
Working in three groups of three, we used salt dough (non-toxic but still not
delicious, y’all) to sculpt islands inside plastic containers.  Then we marked
the outsides of the containers in centimeters added colored water in increments
to see what features remained above water. We outlined these features onto clear
plastic to mark the islands’ topography.  Finally we traced the outlines onto paper
and added place names and other details.

I got this idea from The Oakland Toy Lab via Instructables.  There are more activities
you can try with this project if you follow the link!  I also got a terrific recommendation
from a coworker for a program called Inkarnate if you would like to continue to explore
fantasy mapmaking.

I am sorry I wasn’t able to catch everyone in focus!  My cell phone photography skills
need some work :) Just think of it as a dramatic “action” effect.

Next month we’ll be shifting to nonfiction with Randall Munroe’s Thing Explainer.  
I hear What If was a huge hit last year, so I am really excited to hear Bookshoppers’
opinions on this unusual book. See you on February 4!

December Meeting: Legos and Comic Strip App

We had a smaller than normal group for our December meeting due to some conflicting commitments, but the Bookshoppers in attendance made some awesome creations inspired by our book, Illegal, a graphic novel by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin.

Our book discussion over pizza was somber. This was not an uplifting book, and several people noted the super sad ending and expressed a preference for books with happier endings. It is a fictionalized account of a refugee boy's long and dangerous journey from Ghana to Europe in search of his older brother and sister. We talked a little bit about why it's important to read books like this and how some Bookshoppers felt like they always seemed to be talking about refugees in school and out of school. We also talked about the title and if it's okay to call someone illegal.

After that serious but productive discussion, we split into two groups to recreate scenes from the book using Legos. Interestingly enough, both groups chose to portray the same scene independently. Granted, it's a highly emotional scene toward the end of the book involving an overturned boat, a tragic loss, and a helicopter rescue. Once the scene had been set, each group had an iPad with the free Comic Strip app loaded on in order to take pictures and create a short comic of the scene. There were some frustrating bugs, all the more frustrating because our meeting was almost over by the time each group was happy with the way their scene had come out and ready to start taking pictures. But the app is pretty easy to navigate and allows you to add fun captions and sound effects and filters. Below are some pictures documenting the creative process as well as the final comics.

Mickey's Helicopter

Avery, Amy, and Arsalan's Lego Scene

Avery, Amy, and Arsalan's Lego Scene

Avery, Amy, and Arsalan's Lego Scene

Naseem's Boat Scene

Naseem's Boat Scene

Naseem's Boat Scene

Mickey working on a comic strip

Avery and Amy working on a comic strip

Avery and Amy's Comic Strip

Avery's Comic Strip

Mickey's Comic Strip

Naseem's Comic Strip

Our next meeting will be on Monday, January 7th, and we will be reading Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish, by Pablo Cartaya. Maya will be running the remainder of the meetings for this school year while I am off on maternity leave, but I'll keep checking the blog to see all the amazing things Bookshop is working on!