Teens can read and review three books, receive a paperback for free

Image credit: Sonoma County Library

As an avid reader, one of the activities I enjoy is reviewing the books that I read. So I’m glad to spread word of an opportunity for teens through Sonoma County Library: read and review three teen books and receive a book for free!

“Read Three, Get One Free” is a teen book-review-and-reward program available at all Sonoma County Library branches. (I first learned of this program when it was available at the Rincon Valley Library. On behalf of teen readers, I’m appreciative that this is now a system-wide library program.)

Seventh- through 12th-graders can select a free paperback book for every three teen books they read and review. Review forms can be downloaded, or picked up at any SCL branch. Free paperbacks will be distributed while supplies last.

New books for SRCSA classrooms

Productive finish to my week as we enter spring break at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts: New textbooks arrived on Friday, courtesy of Santa Rosa City Schools. By end-of-day, I’d cataloged these resources and delivered them to educators.

‘Rogue’ by Lyn Miller-Lachmann

Autistic representation matters to me in fiction, and the fact that this book’s author is, herself, on the autism spectrum made it even more appealing to read.

I found a lot to relate to with Kiara, the protagonist of this book. Like her, I struggled with making friends in school. I would pin my hope on new arrivals to the school, people not yet indoctrinated to the “norm” that I was to be ostracized and shunned — only to have them abandon me once they figured out that I was the kid no one liked.

Kiara’s desperation to make friends makes her vulnerable to bad influence.

A new boy, Chad, is forced by his parents to help them manufacture drugs. They set him or his little brother to keep look-out for them, hours at a time, in the park, even during extreme weather.

Shelf-end signage in SRCSA library

There are metal frames on shelf-ends in the library at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts. Those metal frames are just the right size to hold an index-card. So, today, I composed navigational signs for each set of shelves. The signs display book-type and the span of labeling to be found among books on those shelves. My hope is that customers find it easy to navigate among bookshelves in the library, when trying to zero in on a location for the book that they might be looking for.

‘Autism and You: Learning in Styles’

As a person on the autism spectrum, I find it refreshing to find this subject addressed directly to the person who has autism, in this case, the student with autism.

(So many books are written addressing how others can cope with us, so I purposely seek to showcase books that are written for an autistic readership.)

With concise, clear language, Autism and You: Learning in Styles explains learning styles and preferences, and also helps identify environmental factors that might influence the student’s ability to learn. It’s a quick read, easily digestible, but worth returning to sections as-needed to put its information into practice.