My Heart, My Heart – Poem by Lauren Faulkner

My heart, my heart

Was all my own

But then one day you came

To start, to start

Calling my phone

Now I won’t be the same

Blue skies, blue skies

Are all I see

Even on rainy days

Your eyes, your eyes

When they’re on me

Leave me in such a daze

Your hand, your hand

When it’s in mine

Helps me out when I need

To stand, to stand

And not to whine

With you my soul is freed

CV teams dominate at the Battle of the Books By Riley Ivol

On Monday, March 7, 2011 Central Valley sent two teams to the annual Battle of the Books held at Hanson Library.  The Knights Who say Ni, made up of CV seniors William Milne and Wendy Xie, Quigley seniors David and Lisa Furdich, and junior Riley Ivol.   The Feather Followers were made up of juniors Jordan Dinsmore, Audree Yuran, sophomores Liz Hogue, Hayleigh Evans, and freshman Torie Frye.  The competition took place at the Sewickley Academy’s Hanson Library. 

Up against twelve teams CV’s two teams dominated the scoreboard and tied for second place.  After a tie breaker round, the Knights took second followed by the Followers in third.  The two teams were only beaten by the Nerds with Words from Cornell. 

These two teams spent several months poring over the eight books chosen for battle.  They spent their lunch hours, after school hours and little free time reading and preparing for this night.  William Milne hoped to at least place, possibly win in his last year as a battler and Wendy Xie was experiencing her first ever battle.  After two rounds, the Knights were feeling down, after being disqualified from a question for forgetting a word, they felt that their chance of placing was shattered.  When the two tied teams were announced, there was an uproar!  Two CV teams in the school’s first year tying for second was unheard of! 

If this sounds interesting to you, come check out next years teams!

Author Visit was a HIT! By Riley Ivol

 If you didn’t know by now, on February 24, we had a virtual author visit with Jennifer Brown.  More than forty of our students attended the conference including members of the Library club, Anti-Bullying Team, the gifted students, and several students who chose to participate. 

We met with Mrs. Brown in our library at the end of 3^rd period, speaking with her via skype, for a half hour meeting.  Despite the serious undertones of her books, Mrs. Brown was witty, sarcastic and prone to breaking out into random laughter.  She was patient with all of our students, and answered all our questions to the best of our abilities. 

It was such a pleasure to speak with her, especially after reading her book Hate List; she even gave us a sneak preview of her new book Bitter End!  Check back into the library to catch a copy when it comes out!

Our new look…

We have new shelves, and new books too.  Stop in and check us out!

Battle of the Books

 Anyone interested in joining a Battle of the Books team?  It is not too late!  We are short a few players and would love to have you participate.  See Mrs. Donehoo now if you are interested before the slots fill up!

Hate List by Jennifer Brown – Book Review by Riley Ivol

Have you heard about Hate List? 

Hate List is the daring new novel that explains how a school shooting happens in the eyes of the shooters girlfriend, and her life after surviving the ordeal.  This book takes you into the life of Valerie Leftman, whose boyfriend; Nick Levil shot students and teachers and then killed himself last year.  Forced to return to her senior year at school, Val must come to term with her guilt of the shooting and the looks she receives everyday because to everyone, the shooting is her fault.  The shooting started because of her Hate List. 

The Hate List started out as a joke, a way to vent frustrations on everything and everyone that hurt Val including people, things and ideas, like her parents failing marriage.  Nick however took it too far, and used this list to target the people he planned to kill.  Valerie is forced to live her senior and see the pain Nick has caused not only in the victims, but their friends, the survivors.  While trying to evaluate her life and where she stands, she befriends her worst enemy, a girl whom she hated, but saved during the shooting and they realize they aren’t that different.  The book explains the life of the bullies, the bullied, their friends and how life goes on even after the worst of tragedy.    

This book is a new fresh concept and despite the sharp, depressing background, it opens your eyes to what bullying can do in a teenager’s life in all different perspectives.  I think this book is a must read to anyone curious or who needs a new book in their life.  If you are part of the gifted classes, anti-bullying committee, library club or simply interested, go get a copy from Mrs. Donehoo.  If you end up liking it, we are planning on having an author conference via Skype so stay tuned for more information!

Off to my piles of books,

Riley

New Books by Riley Ivol

2011 is here for all of you following library blog!  Though it’s a bit late, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s.  As a bit of an update (if you didn’t notice yet) the library has new books in stock so check them out!  There’s something there for everyone.  If you’re into fantasy try out the City of Bones trilogy by Cassandra Clare while its there.  I and a couple other blog writers give it four to five stars in all categories.  More of a sci-fi lover?  Try out the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness.  It’s got aliens, dictators and a dystopian world, what’s not to love?  For our history lovers out there, Annexed by Sharon Dogar is the story of Anne Frank from Peter’s point of view, Anne’s love interest.  Or check out Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly the author of the ever popular A Northern Light.  Whatever your preferred genre, you can find something here.

Welcome back CV!

Now that everyone is back from Thanksgiving break, its time to curl up with a good book and a few leftovers!  If you’re reading this, you probably have some interest in books, the library or the blog.  Lets start with the blog.  We’re reopening this blog for a new year so keep us on your email lists and task bars.  We’re going to be talking about books, football,(wow was it COLD on Saturday!) art and giving our fellow students some recognition in all these categories.  As this is just the first new piece its full of fluff, so check back soon for another article!

The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice – A Book Review By Taylor Maravich

The Vampire Lestat written by Anne Rice is the second book in the vampire chronicles. It focuses on Lestat’s life before he ment Louis. Lestat had a hard childhood, he wanted things that other people found foolish. Yet, he managed a task that many thought impossible and was rewarded with a friendship. Lestat and Nicolas travel to Paris where Lestat’s life takes a drastic change and he can’t go back to how things were. He must learn to deal with pain and loss. His curiosity leads him to question and ponder the mysteries of his new life. He learns many secrets not known to many. I would give this book 5 stars. I could barely put it down.

I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak – A Book Review by Taylor Maravich

I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak is about a guy named Ed Kennedy. He is an average guy. He is a taxi driver who doesn’t seem like he’s going anywhere in life. All he has to do is play cards with his friends, one of which he is hopelessly in love with. Yet, one day he gets a playing card in the mail with a list of tasks to do, after he stops a bank robbery. The tasks are rewarding but, tend to put him in dangerous situations. After he finishes one card he gets another til a card leads  him to his own address. Ed always thought he was the messenger sent to help people, but it was also to help him. It showed him that he isn’t useless, that he can accomplish whatever he puts his heart into. He is the message. I think that more people should realize this. The characters in this book were relatable too and I had a positive feeling when I finished reading it. I would give it 3 stars.