The FIVE: Favorite Things About Valentine's Day!

There's a lot to like about Valentine's Day, whether you're single or coupled, young or old. I'm celebrating my top five favorite things -- grab some chocolate hearts and join me!

5. Clifford the Big Red Dog
February 14th is Clifford's birthday, and that alone makes Valentine's Day much more fun. This year, you can send Clifford e-Valentines to your friends and loved ones, and for each one you send, Scholastic will donate $1 to the Clifford BE BIG Fund (the BE BIG Fund supports local volunteer programs)! 

4. Classroom Valentines
The sweetest part of the holiday is getting messages from your friends and family (and the occasional secret admirer) telling you that you're loved. I used to receive awesome Valentine's cards from my classmates featuring everything from Scooby-Doo characters to New Kids on the Block members. They're an easy way to express your personality, and they definitely brighten up a friend's day.

3. The extra credit
In high school, some teachers would give us extra credit just for showing up in something red on Valentine's Day. They tried to keep it secret but word would always spread, so by the time 8th period rolled around, students had borrowed other students' red sweaters and scarves just to lock in those extra credit points. And that, my friends, is how I got an A in calculus.

2. The candy
This one's a no-brainer. From candy hearts to chocolate roses and everything in between, Valentine's Day rivals Halloween and Easter as the biggest candy-giving day of the year. I even like how drugstores turn their Christmas-themed aisles into bright red and pink monstrosities the day after New Year's. Embrace the sugar, because it only comes once a year!

1. The books
Okay, the real reason I did this post was to talk about a new book I just read, and I ended up getting carried away with the holiday! Sabrina James' Be Mine was released in January, and it's the perfect Valentine's Day read. In it, main character Jennifer is plotting a way to win her high school's most romantic couple contest — even though she has no one willing to enter it with her! With her arch-enemy Claudia a shoo-in to be nominated, Jennifer enlists help from her best friend, Violet, in finding the coolest guy in school to pose as her boyfriend. But Cupid ends up taking aim in the most unexpected ways . . . and Jennifer learns what's important when it comes to the holiday. A fun and inspiring read for sure!

What are your favorite — or least favorite! — things about Valentine's Day? Let me know in the comments!

— Morgan, Scholastic staffer

Inaugural STACKS chat recap - celebrities and more

As promised, check out the live chat transcript from January 22. We talked politics, the White House, and even cats and versus dogs!

Scholastic also got a chance to ask some celebrities the same questions about (now) President Barack Obama and his inauguration:

Tiffany Thornton, from the new show Sonny with a Chance	AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig, from the upcoming film Race to Witch Mountain

(We interviewed AnnaSophia, Alexander and Tiffany separately, so they weren't actually in the room together, btw.)

Q: Did you watch the inauguration?

Alexander: I did. And it was incredible.

AnnaSophia: I did! I was so jealous of my mom, though, because she was there. I wanted to go so badly. I was in the school cafeteria and school library. They pulled down some screens and played it over the projectors. It was cool to be watching with my whole school

Tiffany: There were parts of it I missed, but I did watch part of it. I think my favorite part of it was when he wrapped it up by saying, "God bless you and God bless America." I don't know — it just gave me a real tingle.

THE FIVE: Best Places to Read

I was recently thinking about my favorite places to read a good book, so I thought I'd share them with you:

5. Anywhere with good light makes a great place to read, so I always enjoy having the free time in the summer to sit underneath a large tree and read in the sun.

4. I love reading on the subway. I always have at least an hour a day to read on the subway, and I find a good book makes the ride go by quickly. I usually read nonfiction books on the subway because if I get caught up in a good story I sometimes miss my stop.

3. I've always found the floor to be a great reading place. As a kid, I used to lie down next to the dog and read for hours on end, propped up on my elbows. If the book was good enough, I'd read until my arms fell asleep and I had to shift positions.

2. The library at my school had a room with an armchair surrounded by bookshelves. The chair was positioned next to a window that could be opened when it was sunny and warm, letting in a nice cool breeze. I loved reading a good book in the chair, but usually I'd fall asleep after a few chapters.

1. The absolute best place to read books from a long series is in an armchair with a warm blanket next to a large window in the middle of a driving rainstorm. I used to have a corduroy armchair, and I'd read while storms from the Oregon coast beat against my house.

Do you have any places that you go to read? Where do you like to curl up with a book? Are there any types of books you like to read in a certain place?

— Rob, STACKS Staffer

Happy New Year from The Splot

Welcome to 2009! Well, almost.

Here at The Splot, we're following in that age-old tradition of making new year's resolutions. Here's how some of us are planning to improve ourselves as soon as the clock strikes midnight. Or, well, maybe starting the next day. Or next week . . . But we'll get around to it -- we swear!

Morgan:

1. Learn to love animated movies. I don’t like talking animals, but I know I’m missing out on some quality films by being stubborn. So in 2009, I vow to watch more animation — and already, I can’t wait for the upcoming Coraline!
2. Run! I have a secret goal to run a marathon some day. But to do that, I need to practice.
3. Visit a new country. Every year, I try to go someplace new — in 2008, it was Ecuador! — and I think in 2009, it will be Greece.

Carly H.:
Take a yoga class.

Karen:

1. Don't wait until the last minute to buy Christmas presents. (Of course, I say that now, but I'm sure I'll forget about this one by the spring.)
2. Be more organized. (Seriously, you should see my closet. It's like a WALL-E world in there.)
3. Keep my Zac Efron shrine neat and tidy. (No, seriously.)

Carly M.:

1. No more losing my voice for more than four days at a time! I can only be a mute for so long!
2. Just say no to my friends when they try to set me up with one of their guy friends.
3. Study, study, study! And when I'm not studying, I should be thinking about studying! (I'm taking the GREs — Graduate Record Examination. It’s all those fun subjects everyone loves: vocabulary, arithmetic, grammar, geometry, etc., etc! NOT!)

Nancy:

1. Learn to write with my left hand and left foot. I’ll save my right foot for next year.
2. Become much more tolerant of a couple of my strongest adversaries in life: onions and laundry.
3. Improve my handwriting (since I’ve been nonstop typing for 10 years, it’s gotten pretty bad). 

Rob:

1. Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro — I'll be training to climb Kilimanjaro for most of the year and, with any luck, in August I'll get all the way up.
2. Learn the banjo — I've wanted to learn the banjo for about a year. This year, I'd like to spend the time to get really good at it.

Jessica:

1. Reacquaint myself with my yoga mat. I used to be a Vinyasa diva, but now I’m miles away from touching my toes.
2. I want to try something new each week — new food, new way to work, new vocabulary word — whatever.
3. I purchase way too many books and then horde them like a little child. I need to make better use of my local library and give away books that I’ve read to people who will love them too.

Brandi:

• Decide once and for all on my top three PASSWORDS to use for 2009 and start my social networking off right!
• Avoid all Styrofoam cups, as they are not biodegradable and that is lame!
• Text my parents more to let them know where I am.
• Update my avatar with all those new background choices!
• Tell all my friends about THE STACKS!
• Spend less time >:-( and more time LOL!

What about you? What are YOUR new year's resolutions?

With wishes for a wonderful 2009,
The Ink Splot 26 team

THE FIVE: Sonja's Top Books of 2008

I tried to make a top five list of my favorite books of 2008, but it ended up being my top six because there isn't one book that I could drop from this list. They are all SO GOOD I couldn't limit myself to just five. So here they are in the order that I read them during the year:

1. Swindle by Gordon Korman

When I interviewed Gordon Korman last year before Swindle came out, he told me a little about it, and he made it sound so good I just had to read it. I was not disappointed. Swindle is the perfect combination of action and adventure, but it is also funny and true-to-life at the same time.

2. Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke

If you've read the Ink-world trilogy, then you know how excited I was for the third book to come out. If you haven't yet read Inkheart and Inkspell, then please turn your computer off right now and start reading. Trust me. I have to admit, though, the beginning of Inkdeath didn't grab me right away. It was so depressing and hopeless with Dustfinger gone. But once I got into it, I got REALLY into it, and — SPOILER ALERT! — even though I was rooting for Farid, I still loved the ending.

3. Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris by R. L. LaFevers

 

I am a huge Theodosia fan. Along with Lyra Belacqua and Hermione, she is one of my favorite girl characters of all time. So when I saw that R. L. LaFevers was signing copies of the sequel to Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos, I got right in line! Want to know what she wrote in my book? "For Sonja, Beware of mummies on the loose!"

4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Ages 12 and up)

THIS BOOK WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE! READ IT! 'Nuff said. Okay, I'll say a little more. It's about a group of teenagers who are forced to participate in a reality TV show where they have fight each other to the death. Warning: you will not be able to put this book down for anything once you start it!

5. Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt (Ages 12 and up)

I think Gary D. Schmidt should win the Newbery Medal. I can't believe he hasn't won it yet. His last book,The Wednesday Wars, was really funny but had some serious undertones. This book, Trouble, is all seriousness. In the beginning of the book you find out that the main character's brother was hit by a car and killed. The person driving the car was a student in their high school, but there is much, much more to the story, including racism, bullying, and a deep secret that doesn't come out until the end of the book.

6. Masterpiece by Elise Broach
This book is just cute sweet fun. It's about a boy and a beetle who get involved in a plot to catch an art thief. I know it sounds a little corny, but this book is actually pretty suspenseful once the thief shows up and they have to stop him. If you liked Chasing Vermeer, I would definitely recommend Masterpiece.

So there you have my favorite books of 2008. Did I miss any of your favorites? Let me know what books you think I should read next!

— Sonja, Scholastic.com Editor

Holidays at The Splot -- Cookie Crazy!

Since moving into my apartment over a year ago, I've only used my stove once — unless you count the times I've thrown cinnamon sticks and apple cider in a pot and heated that up, which I do not. Yet somehow, I've managed to rack up a HUGE gas bill from using my oven all the time. I guess it's my natural sweet tooth; even though the prospect of cooking an actual dinner gives me the heebie jeebies, I really enjoy baking. So, of course, I used the holiday season as an excuse to invite fellow STACKS Staffers and some other friends over to my place for cookie decorating!

Take a look at the results — you might be surprised by what we ended up with . . .

— Karen, STACKS Staffer

Book Review: Ranger's Apprentice -- The Series

Hi everyone,

Since I'm just joining The STACKS, I thought I'd start out by telling you about my favorite series (next to Harry Potter, but that goes without saying). A couple of years ago, I was in a bookstore looking for something to read when I saw a small blue book with a cloaked figure hidden in the shadows. The title was Ranger's Apprentice Book 1: The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan. When it comes to books, I love series and I love fantasy. I took a chance on the book and absolutely loved it. Now, five books into the series, I am absolutely hooked.

Since I don't want to spoil the series, I'll just briefly describe the intro to Book 1 before letting you know exactly why this has become my favorite series. When we first meet Will, the main character, he is an orphan living at Castle Redmont. As a child, he was taken in by the Baron of Castle Redmont and was raised with several other orphaned children. The story really begins as the castle wards are chosen for apprenticeships.  Rejected by the Battle School, Will is instead chosen by the silent and mysterious Ranger Halt. The first books in the series are about Will's apprenticeship and the adventures that come his way.

I love the pacing in these stories. Even though a lot of time is spent on Will's training, there are fascinating descriptions of the world he lives in and plenty of action to move the story along. Each book is more interesting and exciting than the last (when the fifth came out, I read it in one night only to be so frustrated by the cliffhanger at the end that I'm asking a friend of mine to ship me a copy of Book 6 from Australia, where Books 6, 7, and 8 are already released).

Here in the US, the first five books are available. Their titles are:

The Ruins of Gorlan
The Burning Bridge
The Icebound Land
The Battle for Skandia
The Sorcerer of the North

If you are into action, are a sucker for spies or action, and love fantasy series, I highly recommend the Ranger's Apprentice series.

— Rob, STACKS Staffer

THE FIVE: Coolest Fictional Families

Recently, I found myself thinking about some of my favorite fictional families — those moms and dads, sisters and brothers, and close friends of the main characters who influence the tone and plot of a book despite limited time on the pages. Some of them even end up in their own spin-off series (I'm looking at you, Karen Brewer!).

I have a pretty amazing set of relatives, but even so, there are five fictional families in particular that always stuck out to me for being so loving, wacky, and welcoming. In no particular order, I present to you the five coolest fictional families:

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

We recently moved offices at eScholastic so now I have a proper bulletin board to tack things up — here's a picture of what's right in front of me every day (besides my computer monitor).

 
Click on the image to see a larger view.

Of course, a shrine to Harry Potter:

1. Daily calendar tear-out, from Wednesday, July 18, 2001 (courtesy of Amanda, the HP board moderator)
2. Harry glasses (glass not included)
3. My favorite Harry and The Potters postcard
4. Chamber of Secrets poster
5. More Harry and the Potters postcards
6. "Dairy Potter and the udder of the Phoenix" bookmark (ironic, considering I don't drink milk!)
7. My Power of Potter Pledge Certificate from last summer

And Other Fun Stuff:

a. Cute Zimmer Twins stickers
b. A tribute I made to one of my favorite Japanese cartoon characters, Doraemon
c. Code - what websites are made of!
d. Email I got from my boss once. Funny part of the email: "When you are not online- people start to worry :)"
e. WORK! (inspiration)
f. "Jollyship the Whiz-Bang" is a play that a bunch of us Stacks Staffers went to
g. Cartoons exemplifying my <3 of the Internet
h. Zac Efron (calms my nerves on a bad day)

This is just part of my desk space (there are quite a embarrassing number of Zac photos posted) and since we just moved in I'll be adding more! (during my lunch breaks, of course).

— Nancy, STACKS Staffer

THE FIVE: Most Memorable Sports Scenes

Be warned: I'm not much of a sports fan. Every four years I get my fix during the Olympics, and that tends to hold me over until the next one rolls around. But even I have to admit that there are some books that make me see how exciting, monumental, and awesome sports can be in a person's life. Here, I submit my top five most memorable sports scenes:

5. Slam! by Walter Dean Myers
Basketball? Check. Back story? Check. The multiple-award-winning Myers tells the story of a teenager nicknamed Slam who transfers to a new school and a new basketball team. Slam's skills in the final championship game shine and ultimately lead his team to victory. I was on the edge of my seat during the game scenes — check out this exciting passage: "There were nine seconds left when the ball came across the mid-court line . . . The ball was on my palm over my head with my elbow pointed toward the rim and my wrist cocked. Somebody grabbed my shirt at the waist as I started the shot. It felt like my shoulder was coming out of the socket as I felt myself being pulled down. The next think I knew I was on the floor and Nick was on top of me screaming and pounding me with his fists. We had won!"

4. Kristy and the Walking Disaster by Ann M. Martin
Poor Jackie Rodowsky. It can't be easy being nicknamed "the walking disaster!" In Book 20 of The Baby-sitters Club, Kristy decides tocreate a baseball team for a group of misfit kids, including the town's very own walking disaster. In the first official match-up, Kristy's Krushers face off against Bart's Bashers, whose polish and skill are intimidating. After a tough game, including a disaster at the refreshment stand, the Krushers succumb to the Bashers, 16–11. But the team is thrilled, and Kristy helps remind them what sports are really all about: teamwork and trying your best.

 

3. Players in Pigtails by Shana Corey

This is a fictional account of the absolutely true story of the young women who played professional baseball during World War 2 — the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. When Katie Casey hears about the tryouts, she can't believe her dream is about to come true! Even though everyone tells her girls shouldn't play baseball, she tries out and makes the team. In this scene, it's the opening game of the new women's league, and the crowd is teasing the players — but Katie doesn't care: "She stepped up to the plate and looked out at the stands. She'd been waiting her whole life for this. The pitcher threw the ball, and Katie swung . . . CRACK! The ball sailed up, up, up into the air. Katie took off running. 'It's a grand slam home run!' shouted the announcer. The crowd went wild! And Katie cheered right along with them because for once, no one was asking what good baseball was to a girl. They were too busy talking about how good GIRLS were at baseball!"

2. Twilight (for ages 12 and up) by Stephenie Meyer
You haven't played baseball until you've played it with vampires. In Twilight, Edward brings Bella to one of the Cullen family's favorite family outing locations — an empty field outside of town — during a thunderstorm. It all makes sense once the vampires begin to play. As they hit the ball, "the crack of impact was shattering, thunderous; it echoed off the mountains," imitating thunder. Bella is riveted — "it was impossible to keep up with the speed at which the ball flew, the rate at which their bodies raced around the field." Of course, those of you who read Twilight know that the game is eventually interrupted, but while it lasted, I couldn't put down the book.

1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
I couldn't possibly leave out the most exciting sports scene I've ever read! You may have heard of it — the Quidditch World Cup? Witches and wizards from around the world — a hundred thousand ofthem, to be exact — camped out (after arriving via portkey, of course)to watch Ireland battle Bulgaria in a tournament for the ages. The chase for the golden snitch is always exciting, but even more so when veela and leprechauns are serving as mascots and the Weasley twins are taking bets from participants. The celebration, though, ends up being dramatically cut short when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named makes his presence known. But overall, the Quidditch World Cup tops my list of favorite sports scenes.

What about you?

— Morgan, Scholastic Staffer

HSM3: Ink Splot 26 Goes to the Movies!

Unless you've been living in a hole, then you know that last Friday was a very big day for high schools, musicals, and Zac Efron fans everywhere: the opening of High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Over the weekend, the movie was #1 at the box office, earning $42 million in the US and $40 million internationally. Hello, that's enough money for Troy to fix his sorry little truck about a zillion times over!

So, were you one of the brave souls who fought the crowds to secure a spot on opening night? You can bet that your dedicated bloggers — Nancy, Karen, Carly H., Carly M., and Morgan — were there!

The five of us met in the office lobby after work and speed walked our way to the closest movie theater. As we got within a block of our destination, we noticed that a group of middle school aged girls were overtaking us, and we actually started to run a little bit.

Once inside, we were herded into line amongst a multitude of eager fans. Somehow we found ourselves in the middle of a big group of kids and parents who had all come together, with little red graduation caps and EHS megaphones in tow. While we waited, a few of them popped open a laptop and huddled around it to sing along to the soundtrack.

Then the theater doors opened and the stampede began. With so many of us, we knew that finding seats together would be futile, so we split up and scattered ourselves around. Unable to exchange glances or see each other's reactions during the movie, this blog entry is not just a way to tell you guys about our experiences, but also to share them with each other!

So here goes  — and BTW, SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!

THE FIVE: Nightmare Book Settings

Sometimes I think it would be so cool if I could live inside a book. Life would be perfect and I wouldn't have to worry about anything. But actually, I can think of a few books that I definitely would not want to live in. Imagine what a nightmare it would be to wake up inside one of these books:

	5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins In Collins' new book for ages 12 and up, it's the America of the future and 16-year-old Katniss has to compete in a fight to the death with 23 other kids on live TV. That's 23 other kids all trying to kill you on live TV! You win this twisted reality game show by being the only person who doesn't die. It's a great book, but I'll stay here in the peaceful present, thanks.
	4. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer When a meteor hits the moon, at first, it's only annoying because it's all Miranda's teachers talk about. But soon it starts to cause major catastrophes on earth like volcanoes, tsunamis, and drought — changing Miranda's life forever. The scariest thing about this book is that it feels totally real. Like, I want to start stockpiling food and water in case of emergency.
	3. All the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling I know Hogwarts seems really cool and I would love to be friends with Ron, Harry and Hermione, but to be totally honest, I would never want to live there. Too much scary stuff happens. Seriously, imagine having classes every day with those teachers: Snape, Umbridge, Mad-Eye Moody. Or going to the bathroom in your school and finding a giant troll who wants to kill you. And Voldemort? Forget it! That dude scares me silly! I love the books, but I also love my safe Muggle world.
	2. Running Out of Time by Margaret Haddix Peterson OK. Imagine you are living your normal life thinking it is 1840, but then your mother tells you that it is really the 1990s and you live in a historical theme park where people pay to watch how you live without cars and electricity. What?? And not only that, but Mom wants you to sneak out and find a doctor because people are getting sick and dying in this village without modern medicine. If you can't find help all your family and friends will die of this disease. Oh, and if the theme park owners catch you, they will kill you because they don't want anyone to ruin their "experiment."
	1. The Girls by Amy Goldman Koss When I was in 7th grade, one day for no reason at all, my friends just stopped talking to me — forever. It was awful. I eventually made new friends and forgot about those losers, but for a while it was a living nightmare going to school every day. This book describes that exact situation, and believe me I do not want to re-live that experience again!

What about you? Any book setting that YOU think it would be a nightmare to inhabit?

— Sonja, Scholastic.com Editor