"I'm Looking for a History Book..."

It's that time of the year when you, Schenley High School students, are asked to read a book featuring American history. You can read fiction or non-fiction, and you can read about any aspect of American history you choose. There are just two considerations to make when choosing your book:

1. it has to be 150 pages


2. ideally, it's going to be about something you're interested in!

Sound like a difficult assignment? When hundreds of your classmates are all searching for the same thing, it definitely can be. Thankfully, we offer a few ways to uncover the books that will be fun and informative.


Non-fiction

You can find many books on history through our LibraryThing catalog, where we've been inputting new books for the last year and a half (please make sure you click on the link to our suggested style). Through a few searches, you'll get a good feel for what we have available. Searches such as American history, United States history, and US History will give you a good idea of what's available, though if you don't find exactly what you're looking for, try a search for just plain history, where you might find a book that's slipped through the cracks (you might also want to take a look at often-overlooked memoirs). If you find a book you like, click on the link that says, "Find this in the catalog!" That will tell you what libraries have it, and whether you should expect to see it on the shelves.

If you're looking to expand your selection, you can browse around our catalog for all subjects starting with United States -- History. This will connect you to the whole gamut of literature the library has to offer (from the most academic to the very basic) and help you focus on a specific time period.


Fiction

Searching our LibraryThing catalog for historical will show you the latest fiction taking place in history (though keep in mind they aren't limited to America). We also offer a service called Novelist, which is one of the best tools available for you to search out fiction.

Browsing through historical fiction is as easy as checking the box marked "Teens" and searching for "historical fiction."



Since that includes historical fiction from all over the world, you might want to try a couple of other searches, including "historical fiction and america" or "historical fiction and united states." However, to get the full range of what Novelist offers, try searching for historical fiction and a specific event.



Other libraries may have already done the work for you, including great suggestions from the Plymouth District Library, the Beaverton City Library, and the Madison Public Library.

All that's left is going back to our catalog and making sure we have the book you're looking for.

150 Pages?

When you are looking at an item in the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's online catalog, pay careful attention. You'll be able to see how many pages the book contains, so that you don't waste time searching for anything less than your minimum. For example, the record for Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers, you'll notice that's 309 pages full of Vietnam War fiction.



When you're searching Novelist, you can use the "Advanced Search" link to only search for books that will meet your requirements.



Good luck, Schenley, and happy searching. Remember, you can always stop by the library and get help from any of our librarians.

~Joseph
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Main - Teen

Happy Day of Silence 2008!

When it comes to silence, you might think the library has the market cornered. But for every "Shh!" from a mean librarian is a middle or high schooler who doesn't feel like they can express who they are because they don't want to be harassed about their sexuality or gender.

That's why GLSEN is now promoting the Day of Silence, an opportunity for teens to work together to create a silence that is impossible to ignore (for more info, visit the Day of Silence webpage). This year's Day of Silence was today, April 25th.

In honor of the Day of Silence, I'd like to share with you some of the books featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, allied, and altogether awesome characters that I'd read recently.

Touching Snow, by M. Sindy Felin
When Karina's brutal stepfather almost beats her half-sister to death, Karina needs to make a choice between what's easy and what's right.



Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend, by Carrie Jones
Belle and Dylan were the perfect couple. But one night, Dylan utters the words Belle never expected to hear: "I'm gay." Now Belle gives herself seven days to redefine what love means and move on with her life.



Tale of Two Summers, by Brian Sloan
Hal and Chuck are best friends who've never been apart--that is, until Chuck gets into a prestigious summer theater camp at a university on the other side of Maryland. How will Hal and Chuck pass the time? By discovering sex, love, and friendship in unexpected places--and blogging about it all.



Parrotfish, by Ellen Wittlinger
This funny and heartwarming book features Grady, a transgender teen who navigates family, friends, and budding romance upon coming out.



Happy Day of Silence!

~Joseph
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Main - Teen

Finding Books in Multiple Voices

Finding books based on what they're written about is easy, but finding books based on how they're written can be tough. Just today, a teen was asking about books from multiple points of view. I knew a few off the top of my head, such as Alex Sanchez's Rainbow Boys, Brian Sloan's Tale of Two Summers, and David Levithan's The Realm of Possibility, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List (the latter two co-written by Rachel Cohn), and Alex Flinn's Fade to Black. After that, I was stumped. So here's what we did:

A Google search for teen books multiple perspectives got me a Great Booklist from the Brookline Library and an excellent livejournal post.

The website LibraryThing (we even have an account for our new books) lets you search by "tags," which are descriptive words and phrases. Putting together "tag mashes" of multiple narrators, teen and multiple perspectives,teen gave me a couple of nice lists.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh also provides access to a great way to find fiction, called Novelist (have your library card ready). Try this "boolean search" in the "Search Our Database" tab: