Friends of the Library

The Friends of the Library gathered on October 27 for a Halloween cupcake decorating contest. It was impossible to choose just one winner -- and we ate a lot of cupcakes!

2011 Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award

If you are looking for a great book to read, check out this year's list of 22 titles nominated for the Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award. The award is given each year to the author of the book voted most outstanding by participating students in grades nine through twelve in Illinois. Want to participate? All you have to do is read four of the 22 titles, and you will be eligible to vote! Voting takes place in the HF Library in late February. To learn more about each book, see the slide show below.
Slide show created by Illinois librarian Naomi Mellendorf and the Illinois School Library Media Association.

Lincoln Award 2011

View more presentations from Naomi Mellendorf.

HF Reads -- "Other Times, Other Places"

We'd like to announce the four new titles we've chosen for this year's HF Reads program.
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History, by Art Spiegelman
The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson
Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague, by Geraldine Brooks

Tell Us What You're Reading this Summer!

We hope you take time to read a few good books this summer, and while you're at it, we invite you to share your thoughts by posting a comment on the library blog.  HF's Summer Reading Program makes summer reading even more fun.  Our theme this year is Read On the Wild Side.  Want to participate?  Here's how!

• Sign up in the HFHS Library and get your Reading Log.
• For every three books you read over the summer (up to fifteen), you get to choose one free prize book.
• When you turn in your Reading Log, you will be awarded a certificate of participation you can submit to your Reading or English teacher for extra credit in the fall. Reading Logs can be from HFHS or a public library.
• All participants will be entered in a drawing for special prizes! 

HFHS Summer Reading List

Looking for a great book?  Check out our Summer Reading List.  Included are recommendations from current freshmen for our incoming freshmen, Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award titles, this year's HF Reads selections and many more great books.

New! Book Trailers from HF Readers

Thanks to Mrs. Perisin's class for creating awesome video book trailers using Animoto and lots of imagination!   They definitely make us want to read these books.  Check them out by clicking on the links to open a 30 second student-created video.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians-The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson and the Olympians-The Lightning Thief

1234

1234

I Know What You Did Last Summer

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

THE COLDEST WINTER EVER

THE COLDEST WINTER EVER

Upstate by Kalisha Buckhanon

Upstate by Kalisha Buckhanon

Notre Dame Coaches

Notre Dame Coaches

Percy Jackson and the Olympians-The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson and the Olympians-The Lightning Thief

Lunchtime Book Discussion, February 18

Thanks to Rico's for great pizza, and to our special guests AnneMarie and Laura -- ace librarians and booktalkers from the Glenwood-Lynwood Public Library.  Thanks to everyone who came and enjoyed the company of fellow readers!   Mark your calendars for our next get-together, Friday, March 19.

Snapshot Day at HF

On February 10, 2010, the Illinois Library Association invited all Illinois libraries to gather statistics, photos and comments to create a "snapshot" of just one day in the library.  Here's what a typical day looked like at HF.

Libba Bray's GOING BOVINE wins the 2010 Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature

 The Michael L. Printz Award is given each year by the American Library Association for a book that exemplifies literary excellence.  Here's a description of the plot from the publisher's web site:

All 16-year-old Cameron wants is to get through high school—and life in general—with a minimum of effort. It’s not a lot to ask. But that’s before he’s given some bad news: he’s sick and he’s going to die. Which totally sucks. Hope arrives in the winged form of Dulcie, a loopy punk angel/possible hallucination with a bad sugar habit. She tells Cam there is a cure—if he’s willing to go in search of it. With the help of a death-obsessed, video-gaming dwarf and a yard gnome, Cam sets off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted America into the heart of what matters most.
Believe us when we say that this description doesn't even begin to describe what is going on in this wonderful book. You'll want to read it, then re-read it to pick up everything you missed the first time.  

New Database -- ProQuest Historical Newspapers

Looking for a great primary source document for your history paper?  Go right to the HF Library database page and check out our new subscription to ProQuest Historical Newspapers.  You can search the full text of four major newspapers --  The New York Times, Chicago Daily Tribune, The Wall Street Journal and The Chicago Defender -- in full page digital images, dating back to their original editions.  View a two-minute demonstration video.