Skyview Middle School Library

Now, what next?

Before you visit the library, check out this short presentation. It will help you understand how to use the Skyview library!

Skyview Library Procedures

If you’re thinking about joining Battle of the Books this fall, or want to get a jump start on reading the books, you can find them all on Sora! Check out my virtual Battle of the Books page to watch book trailers, and access the titles through Sora. Remember, login to Sora with your regular student ID number and password. Happy Reading!!

There are lots of opportunities to read for FUN and for FREE over the summer. Here’s a list of  several resources for you to enjoy. Don’t forget that Sora now has a very large collection of comic books! Enjoy!

Introducing Teen Book Cloud! It’s a free resource where you’ll find graphic novels, enhanced novels, ebooks, classic literature, videos and audiobooks, all geared toward middle and high school students. Right now, it’s only available through August 2022, so check it out and give me your feedback! This is a SLED resource, which means you’ll have to login. If you don’t know the login information, stop by the library to get it, or call 1-800-440-2919. To see other free summer reading resources, click here.

TIME IS RUNNING OUT!!! It’s been a fun year, but it’s almost time to turn in your library books.

• The last day you can check out library books is this Friday, April 29
• ALL library books are due back to the library by Friday, May 6.

From April 28 – August 10 2022,  SYNC gives you two free titles every week. (See titles here)

How do you get them?

1. Register here and follow the instructions
2. Download Sora from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, or go to soraapp.com in your browser.
3. If you’ve never used Sora before, do this:

• In Sora, tap I have a setup code (at the bottom of the screen).
• Enter this setup code: audiobooksync.
• Enter the email address you used to sign up for SYNC.
• Tap Explore (the binoculars at the bottom of the screen) to see the week’s featured titles [SYNC 2021 starts April 29].

4. If you already use Sora, do this:

• In Sora, open the menu (in the top-right corner).
• Select Add a library.
• Search for audiobooksync and select the library from the results.
• Enter the email address you used to sign up for SYNC

New titles will be available each Thursday at midnight Eastern time (i.e., 12:01am ET). You can access the titles for 7 days, until the next Wednesday at 11:59pm. You MUST download the titles you want when they are available. Otherwise, they’re gone.

Want text alerts so you don’t miss a title?

• TEXT syncya to 866-984-0598 or visit audiobooksync.com

Questions? Visit the library blog, see the librarian or email her at mmiller2@kpbsd.k12.ak.us

Listen to the first chapter of Amari and the Night Brothers, by B.B. Alston. You can find this book at the Skyview Library, and on SORA. Check it out!

Genre: Magical Realism

About this book: Amari Peters has never stopped believing her missing brother, Quinton, is alive. Not even when the police told her otherwise, or when she got in trouble for standing up to bullies who said he was gone for good.

So when she finds a ticking briefcase in his closet, containing a nomination for a summer tryout at the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, she’s certain the secretive organization holds the key to locating Quinton—if only she can wrap her head around the idea of magicians, fairies, aliens, and other supernatural creatures all being real.

Now she must compete for a spot against kids who’ve known about magic their whole lives. No matter how hard she tries, Amari can’t seem to escape their intense doubt and scrutiny—especially once her supernaturally enhanced talent is deemed “illegal.” With an evil magician threatening the supernatural world, and her own classmates thinking she’s an enemy, Amari has never felt more alone. But if she doesn’t stick it out and pass the tryouts, she may never find out what happened to Quinton.

This week I’m highlighting something that’s been in the news! On March 5, 2022, Ernest Shackleton’s ship was discovered almost 2 miles down, at the bottom of the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. Read an article about it here, or watch some videos of the footage of the found ship on YouTube. Many accounts of the incredible story of survival of Sir Ernest and his crew have been written. You can listen to the first chapter of the book – Endurance – Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing. This book is available at the Skyview Library, and also on Sora. To listen to other First Chapter reads, click here.

Genre: nonfiction, adventure, survival

About the book: In August 1914, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton boarded the Endurance and set sail for Antarctica, where he planned to cross the last uncharted continent on foot. In January 1915, after battling its way through a thousand miles of pack ice and only a day’s sail short of its destination, the Endurance became locked in an island of ice. Thus began the legendary ordeal of Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven men. When their ship was finally crushed between two ice floes, they attempted a near-impossible journey over 850 miles of the South Atlantic’s heaviest seas to the closest outpost of civilization. In Endurance, the definitive account of Ernest Shackleton’s fateful trip, Alfred Lansing brilliantly narrates the harrowing and miraculous voyage that has defined heroism for the modern age.

Stop by and see what the library has for YOU!!

There are a lot of new books in the library, including ones requested by students. Haikyu and My Hero Academia, as well as The Medoran Chronicles are just a few examples (click here to view the newest books). If you can’t find what you’re looking for, check out what’s available in Sora (login with your regular ID and password). So many books, so little time!!