How to Vote -- [subtitle: Does music make the man?]

1. Should you choose the candidate of your choice by looking at the websites with voting information on the issues...........like:

California Online Voter Guide
www.calvoter.org

Easy Voter Guide
www.easyvoter.org

Smart Voter
www.smartvoter.org

League of Women Voters of California
www.ca.lwv.org

Project Vote Smart
www.votesmart.org

League of Women Voters
www.lwv.org

Presidential Candidate John McCain
www.johnmccain.com

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama
www.barackobama.com

OR

2. Should you align yourself with the candidate that likes the same music you do?

Blender magazine published a list of top 10 songs from presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. Who do you match up with?

John McCain's Top Ten
1. Dancing Queen by Abba (from Gold Greatest Hits)
2. Blue Bayou by Roy Orbison (from Black & White Night)
3. Take a Chance on Me by ABBA (from Mamma Mia -- The Musical)
4. If We Make It Through December by Merle Haggard (from 20 Greatest Hits)
5. As Time Goes By by Dooley Wilson
6. Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys (from Smile)
7. What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong (from All Time Greatest Hits)
8. I've Got You Under My Skin by Frank Sinatra (from Classic Sinatra-His Great Performances)
9. Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond (from The Greatest Hits: 1966-1992)
10. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by The Platters (from The Magic Touch: An Anthology)

Barack Obama's Top Ten
1. Ready or Not by the Fugees (from The Score)
2. What's Going On by Marvin Gaye (from Every Great Motown Hit of Marvin Gaye)
3. I'm on Fire by Bruce Springsteen (from Born in the USA)
4. Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones (from Forty Licks)
5. Sinnerman by Nina Simone (from The Best of Nina Simone)
6. Touch the Sky by Kanye West (from Late Registration)
7. You'd Be So Easy to Love by Frank Sinatra
8. Think by Aretha Franklin (from The Very Best of Aretha Franklin, Volume I)
9. City of Blinding Lights by U2 (from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb)
10. Yes We Can by Will.i.am



P.S. We do think that you should use method #1.

Man Booker Prize for Fiction

The Man Booker Prize 2008 shortlist has just been announced. The Man Booker Prize (also known as the Booker Prize) promotes the finest in fiction by rewarding the very best book of the year. The prize is considered to be the world's most important literary award and has the power to transform the fortunes of authors and even publishers. Now in its 40th year, the prize aims to reward the best novel of the year written by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations or the Republic of Ireland.

The Man Booker Prize 2008 shortlisted novels are:

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
The Clothes on Their Backs by Linda Grant
The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz

The judging panel had to read over 112 entries and stated that: "The judges commend the six titles to readers with great enthusiasm. These novels are intensely readable, each of them an extraordinary example of imagination and narrative. These fine page-turning stories nonetheless raise highly though-provoking ideas an issues. These books are in every case both ambitious and approachable."

The judges will meet to decide on the winning novel on Tuesday, October 14, 2008.

Hispanic Heritage Month 2008 -- Bilingual Booklist

Hispanic Heritage Month 2008 Bilingual Booklist
Mes de las herencia hispana Lectura Recomendada

Books written by or about Hispanics in the United States. Some titles are available in English and/or Spanish.

Libros sobre y de parte de los hispanoamericanos—algúnos están disponible en inglés y/o español!

GRADES K-4
• Amigos del Otro Lado/Friends From the Other Side by Gloria Anzaldua
• A Birthday Basket for Tia by Pat Mora
• Carlos y la Milpa de Maiz/Carlos and the Cornfield by Jan Romero Stevens
• Chato’s Kitchen by Gary Soto
• Cuadros de Familia/Family Pictures by Carmen Lomas Garza
• Domitila: A Cinderella Tale from the Mexican Tradition adopted by Jewel Reinhart Coburn
• El Cucuy! as told by Joe Hayes, illustrated by Honorio Robledo
• El Desierto es Mi Madre/The Desert is My Mother by Pat Mora
• En Mi Familia/ In My Family by Carmen Lomas Garza
• Estrellita de Oro/ Little Gold Star by Joe Hayes
• Extraordinary Hispanic Americans by Susan Sinnott
• Hispanic Scientists: Ellen Ochoa, Carlos A. Ramirez, Eloy Rodriguez, Lydia Villa-Komaroff, Maria Elena Zavala by Jetty St. John
• I Am Latino: The Beauty of Me by Sandra Pinkney
• Jalapeño Bagels by Natasha Wing
• Margaret and Margarita/ Margarita y Margaret by Lynn Reiser
• Mi Propio Cuartito/ My Very Own Room by Amada Irma Pérez
• New Shoes for Sylvia by Johanna Hurwitz
• Pelitos/ Hairs by Sandra Cisneros
• Qué Montón de Tamales! / Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto
• Los Perros Magicos de Los Volcanes/ Magic Dogs of the Volcano by Manlio Argueta
• Prietita y la Llorona / Prietita and the Ghost Woman by Gloria Anzaldúa
• Snapshots from the Wedding by Gary Soto
• The Spirit of Tío Fernando by Janice Levy
• Tomás y la Señora de la Biblioteca/ Tomás and the Library Lady by Pat Mora
• La Tortillería/ The Tortilla Factory by Gary Paulsen
• Ventanas Mágicas / Magic Windows by Carmen Lomas Garza

GRADES 5-8
• Becoming Naomi León by Pam Muñoz Ryan
• Béisbol en Abril y Otros Historias/ Baseball and Other Stories by Gary Soto
• Call Me Consuelo by Ofelia Dumas Lachtman
• Call Me Maria: a Novel by Judith Ortiz Cofer
• Cool Salsa: bilingual poems on growing up Latino in the United States edited by Lori M. Carlson
• Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs
• Cuba15 by Nancy Osa
• Hispanic, Female and Young: An Anthology edited by Phyllis Tashlik
• Jessie De La Cruz: Profile of a United Farm Worker by Gary Soto
• Local News by Gary Soto
• The Tree Is Older Than You Are edited by Naomi Shihab Nye

GRADES 9 TO ADULT
• Accidental Love by Gary Soto
• American Chica by Maria Arana
• Bendíceme, Última/ Bless me Última by Rudolfo Anaya
• Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez
• La Casa en Mango Street/ The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
• Cien Años de Soledad/ One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
• Cesar Chavez by Michelle Houle
• Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges
• Cómo Agua Para Chocolate/ Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
• Cuando era Puertorriquena (When I Was Puerto Rican) by Esmerelda Santiago
• Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
• Gringo Viejo/ Old Gringo by Carlos Fuentes
• How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents by Julia Alvarez
• Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez by Richard Rodriguez
• In the Time of the Butterflies: A Novel by Julia Alvarez
• Ines del alma mia/ Ines of My Soul by Isabel Allende
• The Line of the Sun by Judith Ortiz Cofer
• Lluvia de Oro/ Rain of Gold by Victor Villaseñor
• The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Ơscar Hijuelos
• Parrot in the Oven: My Life by Victor Martinez
• The Shadow of the Wind: A Novel by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
• Short Fiction by Hispanic Writers of the United States edited by Nicolas Kanellos
• Sor Juana by Octavio Paz
• The Sum or Our Days by Isabel Allende
• When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago
• Yo! by Julia Alvarez