We’re celebrating National Gaming Week 2011 next week in the NOCCA Library. We’ll have board games ready to play throughout the day all week long, culminating in a Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament on Thursday. Our library will join thousands of others across the country and even internationally to appreciate and support the educational and recreational value of board and video games.

Libraries are a place to read, learn, and, yes, PLAY! When we are all involved, your library can be more than just a place to study or check out books; instead, your library becomes a place to meet with friends and join in on fun and often unexpected activities.

Schedule of events:
Monday-Thursday Visit the NOCCA Libary to play our board games with your friends. Games will be available from 11:00 am-6:30 pm. You can stop by at lunch, before class, or any time before the Library closes.
Thursday Along with board games, we’ll have a Wii to play Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The Wii will be set up to play Thursday, 12:45-1:15pm and 3:15-3:45pm in the Library.
Friday Veterans’ Day and School Holiday

We hope you’ll join us throughout the week!

Every week in the NOCCA Senator John Breaux Library, we post a new question to the Library’s white board. Students are asked to express their opinion and to explain their statements. We hope the white board provides an opportunity for students to discuss issues relevant to them and their school and to respond to one another about their beliefs.

Last week, we asked which author the students would give an award, and this week’s hot button issue is whether test scores and teacher performance are related. We invite students to discuss these questions and future questions here on the Bookblog and via @mentions on Twitter!

We want your book reviews!

What have you read recently, and what did you think about it? Tell us, and your review may end up in the front window of the NOCCA Library!

Here’s what to do:

• Find a book to read or think about once you’ve read this year.
• Check out these review tips.
• Submit your review here in the comments.
• Visit the NOCCA Library to see your review!

Last week, our students chose one banned book to add the the Library collection. The vote was close, but the winner is Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison.

In 2009, this book was relegated to the limited access area of the Maplewood Middle School Library in Menasha, WI, after a parent raised concerns. While board members chose to retain the book, any student wanting to read or check out Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging had to receive parent approval.

What do you think about the Maplewood Middle School decision? Is restricting access to a book the same thing as censoring that book?

Have you already read Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging? Do you agree that Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging should be restricted to those with parent approval? Why or why not?

If you haven’t already had the chance to read Louise Rennison’s Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging, stay tuned! We will have it in the NOCCA Senator John Breaux Library soon!

Louisiana Teen Readers’ Choice begins today at NOCCA|Riverfront and is an opportunity for high school students across the state and at NOCCA to honor a single book. Students who read two books (of ten) will vote for their favorite in January, and the winner is announced Spring 2012.

The ten books are:

• Laurie Halse Anderson. Wintergirls
• Brian Boyle. Iron Heart: The True Story of How I Came Back from the Dead
• Jennifer Brown. Hate List
• James Dashner. The Maze Runner
• Tanita S. Davis. Mare’s War
• Gayle Forman. If I Stay: A Novel
• Kami Garcia. Beautiful Creatures
• Paula Morris. Ruined
• Maggie Stiefvater. Shiver
• Todd Strasser. If I Grow Up

Until the winner is announced, this blog is a place for book discussion and recommendations. Which book are you reading now, and what do you think of it? Which book should your friends at NOCCA read next?

If I Grow Up by Todd Strasser

DeShawn lives in the Frederick Douglass Projects, ruled by the notorious Douglass Disciples. DeShawn grows up fast helping to support his family and will soon be shouldering the responsibility of fatherhood. DeShawn is smart and sees college as his way out of his situation, but the Disciples want to use his smarts for their own empire.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Grace lives for the winters when she can see her wolf, her guardian wolf. He is always there watching with those hauntingly familiar yellow eyes. Sam is torn between two worlds but Grace is his constant. If only Grace would notice Sam. This gripping werewolf tale is the first installment in The Wolves of Mercy Falls series.

Ruined by Paula Morris

Rebecca Brown’s father just dumped her on her Aunt Claudia in New Orleans so he can work for six months in China. Rebecca resents the move but makes a friend while strolling through the cemetery across the street. Before long Rebecca realizes her friend, Lisette, is not what she seems. Lisette is the tormented victim of a murder that took place over a hundred years earlier. Rebecca becomes entangled in this page-turning tale filled with voodoo curses, death, betrayal, and mystery.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Normal, boring, uneventful, dead is the perfect chronology of a perfectly flawed existence. Ethan Wate, growing up lonely and detached in a small southern town, expects nothing more…until he meets the darkly alluring Lena Duchannes. The monotony of his existence comes to an abrupt end as they discover the historical and supernatural ties that bind them.  Supernatural forces threaten to destroy everything they think they know. The authors weave a tale that first draws you into the sweat-stained bosom of a southern town then flings you into the sour darkness of secrets and uncertainty. This story will appeal to fans of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight. For readers who can’t get enough, there will be a sequel.

If I Stay: A Novel by Gayle Forman

After being severely injured in the car accident that killed her parents and brother, Mia floats above her broken body observing her grandparents’ and boyfriends’ pain. As her body lies in a coma, Mia recalls the idyllic life she had with her family. Should she fight to live and experience the pain and love of life, or should she let go and join the family she has lost? Readers will be drawn into Mia’s story and anxiously turn the pages to discover what Mia’s ultimate decision will be.