Get ready for Halloween…

 …with some spooky books! Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab is the second book in the City of Ghosts series. Cassidy and her BFF/friendly ghost Jacob explore the catacombs of Paris as Cassidy’s parents continue filming for their TV show Ghost Hunters. While roaming the city, they awaken a ghost that can wreak havoc on Paris. 

Recently added to the Teen section, The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco is dark fairy tale about Tea, who discovers her ability to raise the dead after accidentally resurrecting her favorite brother. Forced to leave her home because of her powers, Tea trains with another bone witch, or asha, and learns to harness her powers. This series is great for readers who enjoy the magic of new worlds and are ready for a suspenseful new fantasy.  

Check out more Creepy Reads on the library catalog. 

And get that costume ready! The Hillview Library hosts Books Come Alive. Dress up as your favorite character or costume inspired by a book. On Halloween, come on by the library before school or at brunch for a picture and a trick-or-treat!

Graduation Speaker Auditions

8th graders! You are invited to apply to be one of our three student graduation speakers! If you haven’t already, please watch this nine minute screencast about the process and see Ms. Piombo or your ELA teacher with questions!

Battle of the Books – Final Round!

You can vote in any category, and you do NOT need to have read a book to vote against it. So, go ahead and vote for your favorite books! Voting ends midnight on Monday, March 25.

All Ages Category:

Teen category:

Battle of the Books Voting! Round 1

First round voting goes until Midnight, Monday March 11.

• You MUST be logged in to your MPCSD account to vote
• Only vote in a bracket if you’ve tried to read BOTH books (finish the one you vote for! Read at least 50 pages of the competition.)
• You may only vote once.
• You may edit your vote later.

Click here to vote!

Battle of the Books!

• Voting Starts in March.
• Vote in as many brackets as you can.
• You must finish a book to vote FOR it.
• Please at least try a book to vote against it (read at least 50 pages).
• Return books quickly so other may read them.
• Find books at your library and on OverDrive!

All Ages Brackets

Teen Brackets

Stay Connected over Break

The Hillview Library may be closing for break, but you still have access to great books and fun activities!

Coming February 26

• Bonus Book Week – All students with clear library accounts may check out up to EIGHT print books over the break!
• eBooks and audiobooks – up to five at a time. Please note that student iPads will lose internet over the break, so download any content to your iPad by the end of day on Sunday, December 23. Or use your personal devices – just about anything that connects to the internet or wifi! Need help? Check out our tutorials under the Reading tab. Try downloading the new Sora app!  (Your password is a six digit # starting with 62 and ending with your iPad passcode.)
• Your public libraries are closed on holidays but otherwise open over the break! Menlo Park Library Events is hosting some cool teen events over break.  Atherton Library has fun events for toddlers and elementary school kids. Lots of crafts and meals going on at the East Palo Alto Library.

Stumped about what to read? Check out our new and updated lists!

Comes out on January 8!

• If you loved One of Us Is Lying, try…
• If You Love Stuart Gibbs, try… (under construction. Find titles and some links in the Notes section of each slide)
• Anne Frank, WWII and the Holocaust. Now updated to include slides on POWs, refugees from other crises, graphic novels and alternate histories.

Contests and Nominations!

Come to the library and try our Book Jumble! One of the students in our Book Squad created this master puzzle of book covers. Guess each book cover and be entered into a drawing for Gift Certificates. Great for yourself of for holiday gifts!
Come up to the library to see the book covers in person, and fill out the google form to enter!

Feeling inspired to create your own book-themed contest? Come join the Book Squad at lunch on Mondays!

Also, you are invited to nominate books for the Best Books of 2018! We’ll take student nominations into account when we create our brackets for Battle of the Books. Please be sure that the books were actually first published in 2018. (HINT: If there’s a movie adaptation, it wasn’t.) . Nominate books in person at the library to get a raffle ticket!

Stumped? Check out:

Goodreads list of YA novels of 2018

Goodreads list of Middle Grade novels of 2018

Family Audiobooks

Planning a long drive for the holidays but not looking forward to all that family togetherness in a cramped space? Head off squabbles by listening to an audiobook. It will give you something to talk about with the kids and may even stave off carsickness! Thanks to the generosity of the Foundation, the PTO and Friends of the Library, Hillview has over 200 digital audiobooks to lend out! Students can listen on their school iPads and virtually any device that connects to wifi or the internet. Download the OverDrive or Sora app. Passwords are six digits, starting with 62 and finishing with the four digit iPad passcode. (Email Ms. Piombo or Mrs. Mathenia if you need help!) You can find more directions and lots of suggestions in this slideshow.

If some of your family members are closer to Rugrats than Riverdale, you might want to try one of the following family friendly audiobooks. But your mileage may vary, so be sure to check out reviews and Common Sense Media if you have an especially sensitive soul in the car. And if all else fails, we have all 7 Harry Potter books….

Mystery & Adventure

All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook

Samantha Spinner and the Super Secret

Better Nate than Never

Unwanteds

Trials of Morrigan Crow

Evil Wizard Smallbone

Sports

Baseball Genius

Jason Reynolds Tracks series

QB1

The Crossover

Go Big or Go Home

 

Overcoming Obstacles

The One and Only Ivan

George

Stars Beneath Our Feet

 

The Rules

The War that Saved My Life

Out of My Mind

 

History and Historical Fiction

Blizzard!

Loving v. Virginia

Elijah of Buxton

The Night Diary

Refugee

Boy on the Wooden Box

 

Humor

Wizards of Once

The Best Man

Loot

I, Funny

How They Croaked

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to another awesome year at Hillview! Come see us for great new books, plus all your favorite Library Events, like:

• Banned Books
• Books Come Alive! Halloween literary-themed dress-up
• Blind Date with a Book
• Battle of the Books
• Book Fair for Summer Reading
• Book Clubs!

New this year, we’re seeking a group of expert readers to form a Book Squad to help us get good books into the right hands. Join our edmodo group with the code zdwrij. (And start thinking of a better name than Book Squad!)

Our first contest of the year will be a survey on the Best Books Ever. Take it in the library on paper or  online.

My biggest book geek moment of the summer? Taking my kids to see the Darkest Minds movie (which was pretty good) and catching the trailer for Mortal Engines! Philip Reeves’ novel was a swashbuckling adventure based on a ridiculous premise (roving, predator cities hunting each other in a postapocalytpic wasteland) with unforgettable characters like Hester Shaw, Tom Natsworthy and Anna Fang. And the people who brought Middle Earth alive are making it, so there’s a good chance they won’t totally mess it up! We’ll know for sure in December, but read the book first!

Summer Reading!

Just because our doors are closed for the summer, doesn’t mean we’re not still your library! We have hundreds of eBooks and audiobooks available on OverDrive. Click the button on the right to get started, or look for help in the reading menu on top.

Having trouble finding a good audiobook? Check out our suggestions!

Need help choosing a summer reading book? Or lost your summer reading forms? Check out our summer reading tab up top.

Also, you know who IS open? The Menlo Park Public Library! Check out their Teen page for info on summer book clubs. Plus, teens who participate in their summer reading program can enter a raffle for event tickets, gift cards, a Kindle Fire, and even a $1000 scholarship!