Showcase presents Batgirl

Showcase presents Batgirl.— New York : DC Comics, 2007.

548 p. : ill. ; cm.

(Showcase presents Batgirl; Volume 1)

978-1-4012-1367-1

1. Batgirl (Fictional character) -- Comic books, strips, etc. 2. Librarians -- Comic books, strips, etc.

741.5973

Black and white reproductions of stories originally published in DC comic book titles between 1967 and 1975 featuring Barbara Gordon as the Batgirl fills this reprint anthology, with “Over 500 pages of Comics!” “Babs,” the daughter of the Police Commissioner, when she’s introduced in 1967 as the new Batgirl, is the director of the Gotham City Library, a librarian with a doctorate and a photographic memory. On the way to the a costume party she discovers the joy crime fighting, and soon develops a talent as a quick change artist as an aid to her moonlighting career as a vigilante Towards the end of this anthology in 1972 she’s elected to Congress.

The last book in the universe

The last book in the universe / Rodman Philbrick.-- New York : Blue Sky Press, 2000.

223 p.

0-439-08758-9

1. Science fiction.

813.54

Spaz Boy is one of the few people in the Urb who doesn’t use the virtual reality mind-probes to escape from the grim reality surrounding him. The Urb is a civilization destroyed by earthquake and its own shortsightedness centuries ago. Ruled over by gangs, it surrounds Eden; a forbidden Utopia walled off and mined against intruders by its genetically improved residents to keep them apart from the wretched remnant of the rest of humanity. But when Spaz Boy learns that his little foster sister is dying he crashes through all the boundaries of his world to get to her. The Last Book in the Universe is a page-turning chase through the ruins with a powerful message about how we treat people unlike ourselves.

The invention of Hugo Cabret

The invention of Hugo Cabret : a novel in words and pictures / Brian Selznick.-- New York : Scholastic, 2007.

533 p. : ill. : cm

978-0-439-81378-5

1. Méliès, Georges, 1861-1938 -- Fiction. 2. Orphans -- Fiction. 3. Magicians -- Fiction. 4. Railroad stations -- Fiction. 5. Paris (France) -- History -- 1870-1940 -- Fiction.

813.54

The author invites you to imagine yourself in a dark movie theater watching the beginning of a film, and then you are you are swept through a sequence of forty-two pages of wordless illustration before the reader encounters another page of text . Text and illustrations appear alone, bordered in black, one after the other, throughout the book. It’s a mysterious tale of gradual illumination. The viewer and reader follow an orphaned boy living in the walls of a Paris railroad station and his pilfering struggle with an enigmatic old toy seller. Hugo, the boy, steals toys, and in turn Georges, the toy seller, steals Hugo’s notebook. Pleading for its return Hugo encounters the toy seller’s goddaughter, a girl his own age. Gradually they revel her godfather’s hidden past.

The invention in the title is the book. A whopping big black and white five-hundred-thirty-three page picture book that is homage to the earliest silent movies and the man who first used them as a tool of the imagination, Georges Méliès. Méliès, a French magician, realized that the illusions he could perform on stage were small compared to what the new motion pictures could do. The film could make a person disappear simply by stopping the camera while the actor walked off screen. Around this historical figure Sleznick has created a fictional story that evokes the medium in which he worked.

The invention of Hugo Cabret [sound recording] / Brian Selznick; read by Jeff Woodman. -- Unabridged ed. -- New York : Scholastic Audiobooks, 2007.

3 sound discs (ca. 2 hr., 51 min.) : digital ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 videodisc (ca. 30 min. : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in.)

9780545003636

"Bonus DVD features: 30-minute exclusive with the author, illustrations from the book, behind-the-scenes commentary, and more!"--Container.

Produced by Paul Ruben ; executive produced by Cheryl Smith ; original DVD music by Doug Katsaros.

1. Méliès, Georges, 1861-1938 -- Fiction. 2. Orphans -- Fiction. 3. Magicians -- Fiction. 4. Railroad stations -- Fiction. 5. Paris (France) -- History -- 1870-1940 -- Fiction.

813.54

Audaciously, the publisher has also produced an audio edition of the book. In the sound version sound effects are substituted for the pictorial actions sequences in the print edition. Unfortunately, the audio version is not as successful as the print original. Reader Jeff Woodman’s narration of the text makes a satisfying mystery story, but the substitution of background sounds between the reading makes them just an interruption of the story, rather than an integral part of it. However, the CD edition comes packaged with a redeeming bonus: a “making of the book” video disc hosted by the author. It makes a nice supplement to the print edition.