AND THE WINNER OF THE EVERGREEN TEEN BOOK AWARD IS . . . .

Congratulations to this year's winner: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancy!!

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender.

 http://www.the5thwaveiscoming.com/books

TIME TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE!

VOTE HERE ONLINE

9th Grade Honors English: Good books to read!

Did you know we have an English Wiki?

The 9th grade Honors English class recently read books and wrote reviews on our CHS English Wiki. You can find the link on the CHS Libary webpage or click here. I wanted to do something with their book suggestions and eventually came up with this book trailer.

AUTHOR VISIT: DEVRI WALLS!

 Devri Walls came on Feb. 29th to speak to several English classes. We had a great time listening to her inspirations and how she became an author of fantasy books for young adults. I think the classes really enjoyed her talk, I know I did!

Mrs. Walls described the design process of her book covers and how she works with a Photoshop artist to come up with the branded covers of her book series. She also went over all the related careers in the book industry including book agents, copy editors, publicists, digital artists and photographers.  Mrs. Walls has a acting and musical background, and even though she wouldn't sing for us, she kept everyone's attention with her animated talk.  Mrs. Walls visited several high schools in the area that week.

During 1st and 4th blocks Mrs. Walls met with several student writers and went over their work. Here she sat with junior Elyssa Corbaley and goes over Elyssa's latest story. The students really got a lot out of her suggestions and comments. 

Devri admitted, "I really loved the way you altered the set up and let me sit down with the kids. I was so nervous at first but it worked beautifully and I have to say it was one of my favorite parts of the week. Hopefully the students enjoyed it as well." 

I hope we have the chance to have Devri Walls visit our school again.

AVID speaker: Mr. Bart Vandegrift

We has the privilege of hearing Mr. Bart Vandegrift, the Chelan County Court Commissioner today, for the AVID speaker of the week. Mr. Vandegrift has been an appointed judge for the juvenile and family court for the past 17 years. I really liked his words of wisdom that he presented today:

1. If you're not a genius, work harder.

2. Make friends with inspirational people.

3. Get out of your comfort zone.

4. READ READ READ 

(and no, I didn't pay him to say that!) He encouraged the students to read everything they enjoy and then try something new. Wow, I couldn't have said it better. 

We have an author coming!!

I have some exciting news: on February 29th Devri Walls, a YA fantasy author from Idaho, will be here to share with some of our English classes. I have purchased five of her books and they will be available after she speaks.

Here are her books. The Wings of Arian, Wings of Lomay, Wings of Tavea and Wings of Nestor are all in the Solus Series.  The Wizard's Heir is a stand alone title. I hope you get to hear her, she should be very interesting. She visited Quincy High School last year and they enjoyed her so much they invited her back this year. She added more high schools in our area on her tour. If you are a writer, be sure to speak to Mrs. Gemeinhart so you can be a part of a group of student writers who spend some time with Devri Walls.

The 5th Wave - Official Trailer #1 (Chloe Grace Moretz & Nick Robinson)

On Friday, January 22, 2016, the movie based on Rick Yancey's popular book, The 5th Wave, will be released and should be popular to CHS students as this book has been heavily checked out since we got our first copy in 2013. Watch the trailer for a glimpse of this tension filled movie:

The 5th Wave is also one of the Washington State Evergreen Teen Book Award nominees for this school year. If you read at least two of the nominees, you qualify to vote for your favorite. I predict The 5th Wave will be a big contender for this year's award. Watch for ballots in March to vote.