Matteo Alacrán was created to be an organ donor for El Patrón, but he is spared this fate thanks to El Patrón’s death and his assisted escape from Opium, a country between the U.S. and what was once Mexico. Matt has now returned to his nation and taken the reins of power as the new Lord of Opium. With its borders closed, the country’s drug supply is piling up and imported resources are running low. Global nations are growing aggressive waiting for their drugs, while others want the natural resources only Opium can supply them.

Fall Audiobook Preview
By Sue-Ellen Beauregard

We salute National Audiobook Month by featuring this preview of upcoming titles, slated for release from June through December 2013. The titles are organized under adult and youth subheadings, with adult titles further grouped under fiction and nonfiction and more specialized genres. TBA indicates “to be announced.” The information is supplied by the audio distributors.

Adult

The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion. By Fannie Flagg. Read by Fannie Flagg. Nov. 10hr. Books on Tape, CD, $40 (9780385367196); DD, $85.50 (9780385367202).

He Reads: Librarians
By David Wright

Was it ever common to call people like me “male librarians,” as it once was to refer to “male nurses”? The days of any profession being that bound up with either gender seem to be thankfully retreating into the past. Why, then, did I take “guybrarian” as my Facebook and Twitter handle, potentially irking both men and women on the right side of history? Masculine insecurity? One pretty safe generalization about us guybrarians is that we aren’t shy about owning and celebrating our profession, as seen in these varied titles by and about male librarians. Let the mansplaining begin!

Some years ago, two men working in neighboring library systems in South Los Angeles published warts-and-all accounts of the daily pageant of weird and wonderful that is life in an urban public library.

She Reads: Librarians
By Kaite Mediatore Stover

The world labors under two delusions regarding lady librarians. We are either the timid, bespectacled spinster (see Mary Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life) or we’re the wild ’n’ crazy, bun-loosening fantasy babe (see most stag films from the 1960s).

Actually, we’re somewhere in between; a cross between smarty singleton Bunny (see Desk Set) and hipster fashionista Mary (see Party Girl). We can be kidnappers, ghostly readers, radicals, camel jockeys, and wartime heroes, even if we sometimes need a killer makeover. Very like the librarians in the books listed below.

On the surface, the profession appears predictable bordering on tedious . . .

Unpacking a Standard: With Biographies
By Julie Green

Great biographies are not only introductions to fascinating subjects, they also provide wonderful opportunities to really think about the authors’ choices: what details did they choose to include, what connections did they choose to make, and what concepts did they choose to explore? By sharing the following noteworthy biographies and classroom suggestions, teachers can address these questions while implementing CCSS.ELA-Literacy RI.1.3–RI.6.3. Visit www.booklistonline.com/commoncore for an extended version of this article.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.3. Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.