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MOOCing it up

Back when books were scribed by hand, the most impressive libraries held only a few hundred titles. A diligent reader with sufficient time could take in a significant chunk of everything ever written.

Today, there are roughly three zillion books released in English every year, and all available instantly through our wireless e-readers. So do we tackle all the books that have won prestigious awards? New releases that have earned reviewer stars? The time-worn classics in our favorite niche? The back catalog of our favorite authors? Books that come highly recommended by folks we trust? Books pressed upon us by folks we don’t trust? Books with kick-ass covers that we find in a bargain bin? We need to strategize because there’s no way to read even a fraction of a fraction of everything we want.

As an author, I have to take this task seriously because reading is part of my job. Reading connects me to my peers, gives me a sense of the market, and is a big part of how I sharpen my own writing skills. And reading is fun–I wouldn’t be a writer if I didn’t love books!

These days my reading time is limited, and I’m not a particularly fast reader to begin with, so I have no time to revisit the books I’ve already read. Why should I, when so many new stories are competing for my eyeballs? And especially those books I only read out of obligation, because they were assigned as schoolwork. Because they were true classics. Back when my brain wasn’t yet formed enough to truly appreciate them…

You see where I’m going with this. There’s a whole set of books that are already checked off my list because I have a fuzzy recollection of discussing them in a classroom when I was twelve. In addition, there’s a process of guided academic analysis I no longer undertake because there aren’t any essays, tests, or lectures involved. Those high school English classes that would serve me so well today were wasted on my childhood self!

Thankfully, I’ve made a discovery. The same technology that’s put a bookstore in my backpack has also put a lecture hall in my laptop. There are these things called MOOCs, which stand for Massive Open Online Courses. These college-level courses are offered through the Internet to everyone who shows up. Because they are open to the world and feature quality instruction, each MOOC may have tens of thousands of students. My 9th grade English teacher could barely handle twenty!

The one I’m doing now is Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World, with canned lectures by Professor Eric Rabkin of the University of Michigan.

Most of the readings are things I’ve seen before, and therefore would not have picked up again on my own. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s Dracula were part of my high school curriculum and besides, I’ve seen the movies. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass were books I read when I was ten. But upon rereading, these books turned out to be nothing like I remembered them. And what am I going to get out of a collection of Grimm’s household tales? A lot, apparently, when combined with lectures, online discussion, and a writing assignment. Who knew?

I can’t vouch for any other MOOCs, but this one is worth your time when it starts up fresh again in October. The course is free and most of the books are in the public domain, also available for free. Check it out!

Something Fishy Here

Just in time for light-hearted summer reading!

fishyBook 1 in this new series, says Publisher’s Weekly, is  “heavy on the yuks”. Kirkus calls it a “great boys’ counterpart to such stellar girls series as “Ivy and Bean” .

Here’s the plot:  When bully Bryce Billings bets Fish Finelli that he can’t find Captain Kidd’s legendary long-lost treasure, Fish and his friends embark on a quest to find real-life pirate treasure. Between sneaking into the library to track down Captain Kidd’s map, stowing away on a boat, and trespassing on an island, Fish and his friends have their work cut out for them. But will Fish actually be able to find Captain Kidd’s booty and win the bet? Appropriate for both boys and girls, the Fish Finelli series will inspire readers to use their imaginations, learn about the world around them, and appreciate the bonds of friendship.

Not to mention, keep up their reading skills over vacation! We’re giving away five free copies, so enter your comment below.

 

July New Releases

Bang! Boom! July is filled with fanfare, fireworks and rockets! What better way to celebrate this month than with a new book.  Check out the latest sizzling releases hot off the presses:

 

 


Fans of The Mother Daughter Book Club (Heather Vogel Fredericks) and The Wedding Planner’s Daughter (Coleen Paratore) series will fall in love with the humor, classic charm, and very determined heronine of Lindsay Eland’s sophomore novel.

When you’re the third of six kids, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle, but Sunday Fowler is determined that this summer she’ll find the one thing that makes her stand out from her siblings.

And when she discovers a silver box in the basement of the library her parents are renovating, she might just have found something to gain her the attention she so craves. Inside is a series of letters addressed to “The Librarian” and a manuscript. But who wrote them? With the help of annoying neighbor-turned-new-friend Jude, Sunday is determined to track down the author. And when she unveils this novel to the world, she’ll be famous!

But uncovering this manuscript means stirring up secrets that some people in the town hoped to keep buried. And Sunday must decide if some things — loyalty, trust, friendship — are worth more than her name in the headlines.

 

 

An all-new, mesmerizing adventure from the masterful Gordon Korman!

Jackson Opus has always been persuasive, but he doesn’t know that he’s descended from the two most powerful hypnotist bloodlines on the planet. He’s excited to be accepted into a special program at the Sentia Institute — but when he realizes he’s in over his head, Jackson will have to find a way to use his powers to save his friends, his parents, and his government.

 

 

 
   Wanted: One amazing forever home for one amazing sixth grader.

“My name is Gaby, and I’m looking for a home where I can invite my best friend over and have a warm breakfast a couple of times a week. Having the newest cell phone or fancy clothes isn’t important, but I’d like to have a cat that I can talk to when I’m home alone.”

Gaby Ramirez Howard loves volunteering at the local animal shelter. She plays with the kittens, helps to obedience train the dogs, and writes adoption advertisements so that the strays who live there can find their forever homes: places where they’ll be loved and cared for, no matter what.

Gaby has been feeling like a bit of a stray herself, lately. Her mother has recently been deported to Honduras and Gaby is stuck living with her inattentive dad. She’s confident that her mom will come home soon so that they can adopt Gaby’s favorite shelter cat together. When the cat’s original owners turn up at the shelter, however, Gaby worries that her plans for the perfect family are about to fall apart.


Newbery Award-winning author Richard Peck is at his very best in this fast-paced mystery adventure. Fans of The Tale of Desperaux, A Little Princess, and Stuart Little will all be captivated by this memorable story of a lovable orphan mouse on an amazing quest.

The smallest mouse in London’s Royal Mews is such a little mystery that he hasn’t even a name. And who were his parents? His Aunt Marigold, Head Needlemouse, sews him a uniform and sends him off to be educated at the Royal Mews Mouse Academy. There he’s called “Mouse Minor” (though it’s not quite a name), and he doesn’t make a success of school. Soon he’s running for his life, looking high and low through the grand precincts of Buckingham Palace to find out who he is and who he might become.

Queen Victoria ought to be able to help him, if she can communicate with mice. She is all-seeing, after all, and her powers are unexplainable. But from her, Mouse Minor learns only that you do not get all your answers from the first asking. And so his voyage of self-discovery takes him onward, to strange and wonderful places.

 

 

     The adventure of a lifetime begins between two sofa cushions….

When River, Freak, and Fiona discover a mysterious sofa sitting at their bus stop, their search for loose change produces a rare zucchini-colored crayon. Little do they know this peculiar treasure is about to launch them into the middle of a plot to conquer the world!  The kids’ only hope is to trap the plot’s mastermind when he comes to steal the crayon. But how can three kids from the middle of nowhere stop an evil billionaire? With the help of an eccentric neighbor, an artificially intelligent domino, a DNA-analyzing tray, two hot air balloons, and a cat named Mucus, they just might be able to save the planet.   This clever comic adventure from debut author Henry Clark is a truly original and utterly wacky story about the importance of intelligence and curiosity in a complacent world.