The Endangered Species Act of 1973

38 years ago today, President Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act of 1973. This act provides for the conservation of ecosystems that are necessary for the survival of threatened/endangered species of fish, wildlife, and plants.

Find out the endangered species in your state by clicking here.

Or check out a book to learn more about endangered species. Here are a few options that you can reserve right now:

Endangered Species by Sean Sheehan

Endangered Species by Cynthia A. Bily

Endangered Species : Protecting Biodiversity

Endangered Animals of Antarctica and the Arctic by Marie Allgor

Animals on the Edge : Science Races to Save Species Threatened With Extinction by Sandy Pobst

Almost Gone : The World's Rarest Animals by Steve Jenkins

Amphibians In Danger : A Worldwide Warning by Ron Fridell

A Most Dangerous Journey : The Life of an African Elephant by Roger A. Caras

Face to Face With Elephants by Beverly and Dereck Joubert

Bengal Tiger : In Danger of Extinction! by Richard Spilsbury

Chimpanzee Rescue : Changing the Future for Endangered Wildlife by Patricia Bow

Top 50 Reasons To Care About Giant Pandas : Animals in Peril by Mary Firestone

Sea Otter Rescue : The Aftermath Of An Oil Spill by Roland Smith

Great White Shark : In Danger of Extinction! by Richard Spilsbury

Biodiversity edited by Louise I. Gerdes

Happy Birthday, Avi!

Happy Birthday, Avi!

Avi (who's name is really Edward Irving Wortis) was born on December 23, 1937, making him 74-years-old today. Avi was born in New York City and grew up in Brooklyn with parents and his twin sister, Emily. He's written more than 70 books for children and young adults and has won both Newbery Honor awards and a Newbery Medal.

To learn more about Avi, check out his homepage.

Or reserve a copy of one of his books below:

Nothing But The Truth

Something Upstairs : A Tale of Ghosts

The Barn

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

Iron Thunder : The Battle Between the Monitor and the Merrimac : A Civil War Novel

The Good Dog

Or take a look in our OPAC for more books by Avi!

Mo Willems Holiday Gifts

With Hanukkah starting last night and Christmas just 4 days away, Mo Willems has given us a few fun, printable gifts for everyone on his blog!

There's a Pigeon bookplate (just click to enlarge, print, fill out, and enjoy!) and the Holiday Knuffle Bunny Desk Bunny (with detailed instructions included). So cute!

To get your Mo Willems gifts, click here.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

The 2012 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has selected five books as finalists for the 2012 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults, which honors the best nonfiction books written for young adults between Nov. 1, 2010 and Oct. 31, 2011. This is the 3rd year YALSA will be giving this award and it will be named at the Youth Media Awards on January 23rd of this year.

The 2012 finalists are:

Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom and Science written by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos

Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition written by Karen Blumenthal

Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way) written by Sue Macy

Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein written by Susan Goldman Rubin

The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism, & Treachery written by Steve Sheinkin

Be sure to check out one or more of the awesome novels. Or read more about the finalists here!

You can also check out the 2010 and 2011 winners.

Holiday Gift Guide: Young Adult and Middle Grade Books

The New York Times has released several 2011 holiday gift guides. Among them is Notable Children’s Books of 2011, which is broken down into Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Picture Books.

Here are a few of the highlights:

Between Shades of Gray. By Ruta Sepetys.
This haunting novel exposes the horrors of Stalin from the perspective of a 15-year-old Lithuanian girl, evacuated to a camp in Siberia. A “superlative first novel,” Linda Sue Park wrote in the Book Review.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone. By Laini Taylor.
“A breath-catching romantic fantasy about destiny, hope and the search for one’s true self,” according to our reviewer, Chelsey Philpot, this high-speed adventure involves love between angel and demon.

Level Up. By Gene Luen Yang. Illustrated by Thien Pham.
Smart, hilarious and affecting, this graphic novel tells the story of an aspiring gastroenterologist and video game enthusiast struggling between realizing his father’s dreams and understanding his own ambitions.

Okay For Now. By Gary D. Schmidt.
The lead from “The Wednesday Wars” returns in this tragicomic story about a struggling middle grader. Our reviewer, Richard Peck, read this book “about the healing power of art and about a boy’s intellectual awakening” through “misting eyes.”

Seriously, Norman! Written and illustrated by Chris Raschka.
This humorous first novel by picture book author Raschka describes life from the perspective of a less than stellar student. “Reading it is a visual, loopy, absurdist experience,” Meg Wolitzer, our reviewer, said.

Wonderstruck. Written and illustrated by Brian Selznick.
Telling the story of a boy who searches for his father in New York and the tale of a deaf girl in 1920s Hoboken, Selznick weaves the two into a seamless story that “teaches a respect for the past and for the power of memory to make minds,” Adam Gopnik wrote in these pages.

For the complete list of notable books, click here.