Christmas break begins Friday, December 21, 2012 with a
half-day. It ends on Tuesday, January 1, 2013. Next semester classes start when
we return from break. Have a good break and a Merry Christmas.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Monday, November 26, 2012
Monday, October 1, 2012
Banned Books Week
Banned Books Week is an annual awareness campaign that celebrates the freedom to read, draws attention to banned and challenged books, and highlights persecuted individuals. The campaign was founded in 1982 by First Amendment and library activist Judith Krug. Just a few of the books in the list of banned books includes The Bible, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Diary of Anne Frank, and Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham. There have been many challenged books, but a few well-known ones from the past few years are The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Twilight, and Of Mice and Men.
In the Media Center there is a display of some Banned Books if you want to stop by and check some out.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Short Story Contest
The Media Center is holding a short story contest.
You may enter a short story that you are writing (No more than 5 pages typed), or you may enter five pages from a chapter of a novel that you are writing. All entries will be read by experienced authors.
All entries are due by November 8th.
PRIZES:
1ST PRIZE: Gift certificate to Garden Deli.
2ND PRIZE: Win a free book.
For more information see Mrs. Tipton.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Media Orientation
The Media Center has been doing several orientations with groups of students. Some of the subjects being covered are general policies and chromebook tutorials. Then we have an online catalog tutorial where students log into their Destiny account to access the several features offered through the catalog including checking personal account, creating personal list of resources, creating citation list for resources, and searching for both print and nonprint sources. We also breifly go over the new Destiny application for smartphones and tablets and help any students that have a device to load it. To finish up, we have a scavenger hunt where students must use the catalog to find specific books to get their next clue. Each item requires an answer, and students use Google Drive to type their answers and they learn to share with me at the end of the session. Orientation can be adjusted and revised to meet any additional needs and/or requests. If you would like to bring in a class for orientation, please see Mrs. Tipton to schedule a time.
Literary Festival
135 students from MHHS attended the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival in Burnsville, North Carolina. The students were able to see a variety of young adult writers, including novelists Beth Revis, Stephanie Perkins, and Monika Shroder; graphic novelist Chris Schweizer; poet Joseph Bathanti; and storyteller Sherry Lovett. The students found the festival more interesting than they had anticipated. We hope to visit the festival again next year for it's 8th annual celebration.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Lit Fest Books
The Mountain Heritage High School library recieved a donation of books, written by the young authors of the Literary Festival , from AMY Regional Library. The books are:
Across the Universe and A Million Suns by Beth Revis
Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
My Brothers Shadow and The Dog in the Wood by Monika Schroder
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
We are very excited to have recieved these books. All of these authors will be at the Literary Festival which will be held on September 7th at the Burnsville Town Center. Thursday, July 26, 2012
There's an app for that!
Now you can access the online catalog from your iOs or Android mobile devices! Check your account, renew a book, create personal bookshelves, search for titles, place a hold, and more!
Download the app.
When setting up app, use this URL:
http://destiny.yanceync.net
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Summer Hours
The media center opens today for its first day of the summer schedule.
We will be open every Tuesday this summer from 1 pm - 6 pm.
Monday, April 2, 2012
The Deathly Hallows
Samuel McMahan
A Love Square?
William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, published in 1951, is a funny and lively story of love gone awry. A Midsummers Night’s Dream is set in Athens on the eve of Theseus and Hippolyta’s wedding, the current and future leaders of Athens. In this story there are two sets of characters, The Lovers and The Mechanicals. The Mechanicals are preforming a play for the wedding and not just any play but a tragic love story. Not the best choice for a wedding. While they are trying to pull the play together in time for the wedding our Lovers are, well in love. Lysander is in love with Hermia and she is in love with him, however Demetrius is the one whom Hermia’s father has chosen for her to marry, and poor Helena is in love with Demetrius. With a little help from fate, the King of the fairies, and one mischievous fairy named Puck this love square gets a little mixed up. I liked this book because it brings a bit of magic and some true humor to a great love story, as well as exploring what the meaning of love truly is. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for some laughs and maybe some romance as well.
Putting the Present and Past in Flames: Suzanne Collins’ “Catching Fire”
“Not only are we in the districts forced to remember the iron grip of the Capitol’s power each year, we are forced to celebrate it,” Katniss Everdeen has just finished the Hunger Games, and is back in District 12. Though she is home, there is no more normality for her, she feels as if she is a stranger to her own life. The arrival seems like a departure for she will be hauled back into the horrid memories of the Hunger Games: “I can’t fight the sun. I can only watch helplessly as it drags me into a day that I’ve been dreading for months.” The day has arrived to go to each district, so that the people of the districts may honor and celebrate her and Peeta, but really it is to see the lifeless faces that have had their loved ones torn away from them because of the games, no…because of the Capital.
This year all the districts come together to celebrate the Quarter Quell, or more so to mourn. The Quarter Quell calls for an even more defiant Hunger Game than all others, but what?
Suzanne Collins fills the novel with unexpected excitement that creates the perfect balance for adventure and politics for young adult readers. Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins, was published on September 1, 2009, bringing a tremendous squeal to the novel, The Hunger Games.
By: Ashlyn Medina
Friday, March 30, 2012
Craving Carvings
Cryer's Cross
Kendall Fletcher is an ordinary OCD girl living in an ordinary farm-town called Cryer's Cross. Nobody ever suspects that a student would go missing, much less two. Every school-day, Kendall gets to class early and straightens the wastebasket, checks the window locks, organizes the markers, and straightens the chairs so that everything is perfect, the only problem this year is that one seat is empty. Tiffany Quinn's seat. Luckily, the seat is filled by the new girl in town Marlena, and an extra seat added for her brother Jacian Obregon. Things go normally, and everything seems to be going normal until Kendall's boyfriend, Nico Cruz, disappears. A search is organized and they conclude the same thing that happened to Tiffany happed to Nico. Days go by, and Kendall notices on Nico's old desk something out of place. She has all the graffiti memorized, how did she not know this? Please. Save Me. She sits at the desk, touching the old looking carvings, and as she reads them Nico's voice echoes in her head. The words change day after day, always Nico saying them, always capturing her attention. When the carvings send her to the abandoned Reform School for Delinquent Boys, she digs up secrets and a history long forgotten, finds out why Nico and Tiffany disappeared, and may bring the same fate upon herself. "Thirty-five, one hundred. Thirty-five, one hundred. We cry to be touched, fear gripping Our scratchy voices."Jonnah Smith
Teammates Matter: The True Meaning of Team
Teammates Matter was written by Alan Williams and Published in 2010. Alan Williams was a low division 1 recruited basketball player coming out of Memphis, Tennessee. Williams decided to take a walk-on position at Wake Forest University. Throughout his four years of basketball at Wake Forest, Williams overcame many obstacles that included a coaching change and his father being diagnosed with cancer that made him question "Is this really worth my time?". Williams continued to work hard and dedicate himself every year to his team and the game of basketball. Although Alan Williams only ended up playing 59 minutes in 120 games, Williams learned a valuable lesson on how to be a teammate and how special it truly is to be a part of a team. Alan Williams truly loved the game of basketball and even through tried times, found fulfillment in unexpected places. I loved this book. Throughout my years of basketball, I have truly understood what it means to be a part of a team. This book hit home with me because I too love the game just like Alan Williams does. I would reccommend this book to anyone who knows what it feels like to be a part of a team and loves the game of basketball.
By: Alex Biggerstaff
The book review of the Son of a Wanted Man
Son of a Wanted Man, written by Louis L’Amour, was published in May, 1984 by Bantam Books. The book begins with Mike Bastian as the main character. Mike was an orphan who was taken in and cared for by a man that went by the name of Ben Curry. Ben was a rancher who went to the life of an outlaw. In the book Ben taught Mike how to fight, hunt, fish, and to be very stealthy in the woods. Ben hoped Mike would take over the gang so he can leave and live a quite life somewhere else and have a family of his own. I really enjoyed this book because it had parts that had fighting and other parts were you got to know the characters better. I would recommend this book to whoever likes western thrillers or just suspenseful books.
By Zach fox
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Kill or Be Killed!
The Hunger Games
The novel The Hunger Games was written by Suzanne Collins, which was published September 14, 2008. This novel is about the Capitol of Panem, where the countries of North America once existed. Every year they host an event called the Hunger Games where two tributes are chosen. One boy and one girl are chosen from each twelve districts, there is only one rule: kill or be killed. When Primrose Everdee is chosen, her sixteen year old sister Katniss Everdee volunteers for the 74th annual Hunger Games. Peeta Mellark was chosen from District 12 too. They will both be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives. Only one person can live!
This book was truly amazing, I absolutely loved it. I would recommend it to everyone, especially young teens. I know it’s kind of full of violence; it’s very descriptive on how the tributes die. But I think it’s something everyone would love to read. It’s a trilogy, so be sure to read the second and third book too.
By: Sierra Huges
Man's Bestfriend
Old Yeller
Fred Gipsons’ novel Old Yeller, which was released in 1956, is a joyful yet sad book about a boy named Travis and a big yellow dog. Travis and his family live in the middle of the wilderness in Texas
By: Spencer Bishop The Girlfriend
The Girlfriend by R.L Stine was released in 1991.
The girlfriend is a story about a guy named Scotty; he is a guy that has the perfect girlfriend, Lora. Lora has to go to Paris Shannon . Shannon, a redhead, is always threatening Scotty that if he leaves her, she will kill him. Scotty is now living a nightmare.
I liked how the author ended the chapter; he ended almost every chapter with suspense. It made the reader want to keep reading more. I liked how Scotty, the main character, told the story. I liked everything about this book.
I would definitely recommend this book to people who like scary books and people who like suspense.
By: Bety Sanchez
The New Moon Rises Through the Twilight
New Moon by Stephanie Meyer, the second novel in the Twilight Series, was published on August 21st, 2006. New Moon is one of the four romantic novels in the series. The novel tells the story about the dramatic lives of the three main teenagers, Bella Swan (human), Edward Cullen (vampire), and Jacob Black (werewolf).
Edward and Bella continue to form their undeniable bond between each other until a near death experience almost takes Bella away from Edward forever. In desperation, Edward makes some harsh decisions that affect Bella in a way that was unimaginable to her friends and family. Bella, after the threat of being shipped to live with her mother, finds an old friend. Bella and her old friend, Jacob Black, find a spark in their friendship; however, Bella discovers a part of Jacob’s life that she never expected.
Soon a misunderstanding brings one of the Cullen family members to Bella’s home. Bella, in a desperate race against time, fights to save her true love, Edward, and protect her friendship with Jacob. What is the news that will turn two families upside down? What happens to Bella and Edward? Will Bella and Jacob remain friends? It is only a matter of time before the “new moon” rises!
This novel’s stunning imagery and teen drama make this novel a favorite with female teenagers all around the world. New Moon will capture the hearts and minds of millions through Bella’s frantic struggle with heartbreak. Females can related to the devastating heartbreak that Bella feels. In addition, readers will be undeniably hooked to the realistic qualities of this vampire love story.
By: Whitney Bowers
A Different Kind of Love!
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks was published in 1996. The Notebook starts out with an elderly man, Noah Calhoun, talking about the life he has lived. Now he lives in a rest home and is very good friends with an elderly woman who he reads to daily. The elderly lady has Alzheimer's and Noah is determined that by reading to her he will help her over come this terrible disease. The story that Noah reads is about a southern solider that has came back to his home town and is restoring an old plantation. This young man begins thinking about a young lady that he was once in love with and how he would love to meet her again.
Allie Nelson, a now engaged young woman takes a brief vacation back to her hometown to get away from the rush and fuss of the city and workplace. Then one day she bumps into Noah, her old high school boyfriend and lifetime love. By seeing Noah for the first time in years she begins to realize that she doesn’t love her fiancé as much as she thought she did. But soon she would find out that on this brief vacation she begins a journey that she would find her future.
This book is a wonderful love story; Nicholas Sparks is a wonderful romantic novelist and really knows how to bring out the loving yet conflicted side of each character. In the Notebook the characters are well rounded and you feel like you have known them your whole life. The plot is in the coastal part of North Carolina
The Notebook is a great book that is for almost all ages, from teenagers to older men and women. It has a great story line and wonderful characters that just come alive. This story is very heart touching and funny, and I would recommend it to anybody that loves romantic novels but also does not mind to cry every once in a while. This book is one of the best I books I have ever read.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
What Secerts Will Be Exposed This Time?
The Betrayal
The Betrayal published in 2003 by Beverly Lewis is the second book in the “Abram’s Daughters” set. When Leah Ebersol gets engaged to her childhood beau Jonas Mast, her father is less than thrilled. He has always wanted Leah to marry there neighbor and friend Gideon Peachery or for short Smithy Gid. When a deep dark secret about their aunt Lizzie comes out will it tear Leah and Jonas apart or will they have a stronger relationship because of it? When Jonas gets an offer of a carpentry appertenship in Ohio
I love this book. It is the best one in this set so far. I would recommend this to anyone who likes mysteries or romance.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Evil Among Us
Miranda Twiss’s Novel The Most Evil Men and Women in History, which was published in 2002, describes the personal and political lives of those people considered by society as the most evil people in history some of the people discussed in the book include Adolf Hitler and Attila The Hun.
The book is well written and very vividly describes the actions and lives of the world’s most evil people. The author does an excellent job of describing the childhood and adolescent years of these people, which I believe permits the reader to analyze the book in a way that allows them to determine whether or not these people were all mentally ill or fueled to commit these evil acts by greed, corruption and power.
I believe this to be a very good book and would recommend it to anyone interested in understanding the mental inner workings of the most evil people in history.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Blood Curdling Love
Twilight
Twilight was written by Stephanie Meyer and was published on October 5th 2005. Twilight tells a dramatic love story between two teenagers. The catch is one is human and the other is vampire. Edward (vampire) and Bella (human) fall in love and face a love that is even more complicated than normal high school relationships.
From the start there was an undeniable chemistry between the odd high school couple. Edward, the lead vampire in the novel, struggles with his love for Bella and his thirst for her blood. Bella, the lead female, sees no wrong in her love with a vampire. As they struggle through their love they discover many things about each other that will mold their relationship.
Twilight is a new guilty pleasure that female teenagers around the world will not be able to get enough of. This book creates an escape to hectic high school life. Edward and Bella share a whirl wind romance that is sure to get hearts pounding. It is extremely easy to fall in love with this new couple!
By:Whitney Bowers
Sports Beyond Race
Glory Road: My story of the 1966 NCAA Basketball Championship and how one team triumphed against the odds and changed America
By Don Haskins with Dan Wetzel
In the novel Glory Road, Don Haskins tells the story of how he coached the 1966, first all black men's basketball team to win the NCAA Championship. With the help of Dan Wetzel, Don Haskins expresses his own opinions and struggles about the road to changing American sports as we know it.
Don Haskins coached at Texas Western University , now known as the University of Texas at El Paso Texas
Don Haskins’ witty remarks and brutal honesty make this book well worth reading. His opinion of the players and interviews with the players themselves also make the book a great read. If you like sports, a great story line, and reading about events that forever changed American sports, then this book is for you.
By: Alex Biggerstaff
Batman's First Steps
Batman: Year One is a graphic novel written by Frank Miller and illustrated by David Mazzucchelli that was published in 1987. The story is told through the narrative thoughts of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and Bruce Wayne. Like the title suggests, this is the first year that Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City Chicago
I’m not a big fan of graphic novels, but I love Batman and would recommend this book to anyone who likes suspense, and of course, Batman. In addition to the suspense, I found myself laughing more that a few times at some of the things the characters said and did.
Mat Sigmon
My review on the book Motor City Muscle by Mike Mueller
The title of the book is Motor City
by Zach Fox
A Rememberance of True Love
The book A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks was published in 1999. This book is narrated by Landon Carter, 57 year old man of Beaufort , North Carolina
This book is a wonderful book; it is a love story that is also a life lesson for each reader. It teaches you to look at the person in side and not to judge people on how they look or what they do. It follows the old saying, “Never Judge a person till you have walked a mile in their shoes.” The characters are very realistic and the book is well written. I would recommend this book to both teenagers and adults. It is an eye opening, tear-jerking situation between love and death. Once you have read this book you will never forget it. It is an amazing book that I think everybody should read at least once in their life.
Forbidden Love
The Covent by Beverly Lewis that was published in 2002 is a wonderful book. It tells about how a girl and her three sisters live in an Amish community in Lancaster County Pennsylvania. There are secrets in the family that have been hidden for 16 long years. Leah and Sadie Ebersol are two of the sisters that are main character. Sadie keeps sneaking out at night and Leah doesn’t find that strange because Amish courting is done at night and in secret. But is Sadie sneaking out to see a young Amish boy or are her and her best friend, Naomi sneaking out to see English boys? When Sadie finds herself in a very bad situation will her dear sister Leah and their Aunt Lizzie help her, or will they let her fend for herself? Is her sin bad enough to be shunned for or will the church forgive her? Or does she even want to be forgiven? Read the book and find out for yourself.
I like everything about this book. It had great characters and a great plot. There is a little suspense in some parts of the book and other parts make you cry. There is also romance in the air all through the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes romance and forbidden love.
By: Julie Burleson
Monday, February 27, 2012
A True Hero's Tale
“That mighty protector of men meant to hold the monster till its life leaped out, knowing the fiend was no use to any one…”
Beowulf is a hero from Geatland who travels to Herot to help rid King Hrothgar of a terrible monster. Just as he thinks it is all over and he has won another challenge arises, this one much harder than the fist. Beowulf faces many challenges and battles and performs heroic deeds through out this tale. I enjoyed the story and overall theme of heroism that is evident this book. I also enjoyed the historical elements that a strewn throughout the story. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good story about a true hero and his heroic deeds in service to others. Translated by Burton Raffel and published in 1963, Beowulf is and epic poem and a piece of classical literature that has survived more than twelve centuries and will continue to thrive with its powerful theme and message.
By: Tori Mast
Another Zombie Story?
Carrie Ryan’s novel The Forest of Hands and Teeth, released in 2009, is about a girl named Mary who lives in a post-apocalyptic world. Her brother is a Guardian and spends his days making sure the wall protecting their town is not broken into by the Unconsecrated, her father is an Unconsecrated, and her mother is in desolation and despair. And in the mix of all this, she shuffles a love triangle; the one she loves and the one who loves her. Mary is a deep character who thinks deeply, and her thoughts are easy to relate to. “I realize that sometimes death comes before you expect it. That while we are rarely prepared for our friends, family and loved ones to die, we are never prepared for our own deaths. Never prepared to reconcile our own regrets.” My favorite character is Mary, because she is so easy to understand and how she takes things, strong and willed. Carrie Ryan brings words to life in this novel; it is hard to stop reading once started. If you are one who likes a good romance, some science fiction, action, and suspense, this is definitely a good book.
Jonnah Smith
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