Welcome Back to School!

YAY! it's a new year and i'm so excited to see all the new kids coming to MHMS...welcome 6th graders AND welcome to any transferring 7th and 8th graders!

MHTV will be advertising for applications for the new crew soon.. a big part of the interview process of hiring new MHTV crew is did the student listen and follow directions as given on the MHTV show? did the student follow directions, fill out the application fully, get a parent and teacher signature, and turn it in on time? these are all things we examine before we choose which kids to audition. last year we had almost 100 kids working with MHTV..it's a vital part of the murray hill middle school community. how do we do the TV show every day and how is it a best practice of technology integration? check out our News@School Live! webpage!

So? What did you think of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?

miss jones here.....this is a snippet from my reading journal about reading the HP&theDH ..the LAST HP Book this summer:
"well, i'm 500+ pages into the book...i intentionally didn't start reading it till i got to the beach yesterday but now that i'm here at the beach and reading full time...on the balcony looking out over my beloved atlantic ocean

i'm not *racing* through it....i'm savouring it
it's the last one...i still can't get over that i'm a little annoyed right now with where the book is going (too much camping!) and the mistakes i see my characters making...the connections they don't get... but i suppose that's the same when reading any kind of mystery book...."don't do that!" i want to scream..."don't go in there!..look behind you!" and all that stuff....
anyway.....back to the balcony
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update: monday, 5:31pm
just finished, took me about 24 hours to read with a little sleep and dinner in there.....yeah, i cried..what a wus! but it was great....yeah, human people make mistakes because they are umm essentially human! great book! lessons to be learned about bravery, loyalty, and love and yes, i'm going to re-read it starting now"
so....did YOU read it?? what did you think? were you happy with the outcome? what about the epilogue? your comments and thoughts are very much wanted! Oh! and btw, i bought 4 copies of the book AND the Book on CD for the media center!!!!

The Harry-est Town in America: Laurel, MD=43!

43.	Laurel, Maryland
	Last Week's Rank: 41

Amazon.com's Harry-est Town in America promotion features which towns in America, on a per capita basis, are pre-ordering the most copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows from Amazon.com.

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Miss Jones says: this is amazing! ~ Laurel, MD is 43 out of the country! in the top 100! that so ROCKS! i have pre-ordered my copy from Amazon...for the last 4 books...all arrived on the day promised from a hard working UPS gentleman....then i read it pretty much non-stop till the end......WONDERFUL! and don't worry...MHMS Media will have the new Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by the time y'all come in for Media orientation!!!!!!!!

Books for the Beast! YA Lit Conference for TEENS!

Check it Out!
Enoch Pratt Free Library: Books for the Beast conference this October.

9am-4pm, Saturday October 7th, 2007
Roland Park Country School, 5204 Roland Ave, Baltimore, MD 21210

Participants attend 2 genre discussion sessions (morning & afternoon) & choose 2 of the
6 available themes when they register. This year's themes are Fantasy / Sci-Fi,
Historical, Multicultural, Non-Fiction, Real Life, Suspense / Horror. There are 5 books
to read for each session, & the Library can get them for students.

In addition to the 2 sessions, there are also 2 presentations (author & illustrator).
This year's author is Gail Giles (Shattering Glass), & this year's illustrator is Marc
Siegel who will talk about graphic novels.

There are 50 free places for Middle & High School students, register EARLY now and then have fun in October!

N2 BKS: Summer Reading@HCL

John Jewitt, Teen Specialist from the Howard County Libary came and presented the exciting and NEW summer reading program to our kids today it's called: N2 BKS!
From the website: "Get in on the action!

Teens can win prizes! For each hour you spend reading, book review you write, N2BKS coupon you complete, or library program you attend, you will earn five book bucks. Collect rewards for 50, 100, and 200 book bucks earned throughout the summer. Earning 200 book bucks makes you eligible to compete in a finisher's auction!
Sign up at our Savage branch library's information desk, and receive your first five book bucks as a starter prize!"


Wanna copy of the HCL summer teen booktalk list? Visit my homepage to download the PDF and happy reading!

Listen to the Mr. Jewitt's podcast by clicking below:

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Summer Reading Incentives: 7th Grade Poster Display ROCKS!

The talented kids of Mrs. Lewis' 7th grade Reading class created some really outstanding 3-D posters about favorite books to read this summer! This display is outside the Media Center and is definately worth a closer look! If you can't come by...here are some pics! Way to go kids! And Way to go Mrs. Lewis!

Karen Luddy Speaks to MHMS & Podcast

Author Karen Luddy visits our Media Center and speaks to a lucky group of 75 kids about her book Spelldown and about having your own voice...in writing...and in life.

She read exerpts from the book, related amusing anecdotes from her childhood growing up down south, and signed copies of her book that publisher Simon & Schuster and rep. Mr. Charles Young kindly donated to our kids and to the Media Center.

Our Murray Hill students listened raptly and contributed to a lively discussion of "voice" in literature and in their lives and about the writing process.
It was a lovely visit from a talented, funny, and kind author who spent an afternoon getting to know our kids!
Thanks to everyone who made this special Media Event possible!

Please listen below to her podcast greeting and message:

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To see all the pictures from the event, please see our Digital Photo Gallery on