The James Logan Courier

By Sandra Gonzales and Julie Sevrens Lyons
San Jose Mercury News (MCT)

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A moderate, but powerful earthquake — the strongest since the 1989 Loma Prieta temblor — struck San Jose on Tuesday night, shaking homes and apartments and other buildings, sending many rattled residents pouring from their homes. Early on, only minimal damage was reported.

The quake, which happened on the Calaveras Fault, hit at 8:04 p.m. PDT, lasted about 30 seconds and measured 5.6 on the magnitude scale, according to a preliminary estimate from the U.S. Geological Survey.

LUNCH: Spicy Chicken Salad with Cheddar, Tomatoes, and Ranch Dressing, Milk, Fresh Fruit, Fun Chips
Main Cafeteria Pizza: Vegetarian with Bell Peppers, Mushrooms, Fresh tomato, and Olives

ACTIVITIES:
Wrestling practice starts next Monday. All first year wrestlers will meet in the Mat Room next to the Weight Room right after school. You must have your paperwork completed.

Any girls interested in playing softball must attend a meeting today in the P.E. Classroom at 3:35 sharp.

Note: Each week, The Courier spotlights books newly arrived, or expected to arrive, in the James Logan Media Center.

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
From the publisher:
Last year, Annabel was "the girl who has everything"—at least that’s the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf ’s Department Store.This year, she’s the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong. Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling.With Owen’s help,maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.

In this multi-layered, impossible-to-put-down book, Sarah Dessen tells the story of a year in the life of a family coming to terms with the imperfections beneath its perfect facade.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service (MCT)

Here are the best-sellers for the week that ended Saturday, Oct. 20, compiled from data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide.

(Reprinted from Publishers Weekly, published by Cahners Publishing Co., a division of Reed Elsevier, USA. (c) 2007 by Reed Elsevier, USA)


HARDCOVER NONFICTION
1. Becoming a Better You. Joel Osteen. Free Press, $25
Last Week: -; Weeks on List: 1
2. I Am America (and So Can You!). Stephen Colbert. Grand Central, $26.99
Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 2
3. Deceptively Delicious. Jessica Seinfeld. Collins, $24.95
Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 2
4. Clapton. Eric Clapton. Broadway, $26
Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 2
5. Come On People. Bill Cosby & Alvin F. Poussaint, M.D. Thomas Nelson, $25.99
Last Week: -; Weeks on List: 1
6. The Age of Turbulence. Alan Greenspan. Penguin Press, $35
Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 5
7. The Secret. Rhonda Byrne. Atria/Beyond Words, $23.95
Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 42
8. My Grandfather's Son. Clarence Thomas. HarperCollins, $26.95
Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 3
9. The Intellectual Devotional: American History. David S. Kidder & Noah D. Oppenheim. Modern Times, $24
Last Week: -; Weeks on List: 1
10. The Nine. Jeffrey Toobin Doubleday, $27.95
Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 5

By Sarena Bains, Courier Staff Writer

Graduation is approaching for Kyle, Jason and Nelson, and this time it is full of difficult decisions. Each has come a long way since meeting each other at a gay youth meeting at the beginning of senior year.

Jason, is a star basketball player, and wants to come out to his team but is too afraid that he will lose his scholarship from Tech. Jason may be going to Tech, so Kyle wants to go to Tech to be with him. Kyle is afraid of losing Jason when they leave for college. Nelson, who has been out and proud for years now, is worried that he may have contracted the HIV virus from his boyfriend. Each decision these boys make has benefits and consequences. These three boys will each be in charge of their own decisions they are making in their life's.

By Sue Nowicki
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

MODESTO, Calif. — Halloween. The name comes from an early Christian festival on Nov. 1 — All Hallowmas or All Saints Day — and thus, the night before is Hallow's Eve or Hallow E'en, as it's called in Ireland.

In old English, the word "Hallow" meant "sanctify." It's the same word used in the familiar Lord's Prayer: "Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name."

Like some other holidays, this one contains a mix of Christian and pagan rituals, marking the end of the harvest season and the initiation of winter. But unlike other holidays, this one draws the ire of many evangelical Christians because of the overwhelming emphasis on costumes of witches, ghouls, ghosts, bloody and violent masks and other fierce characters. In "Star Wars" language, it would be all about the "dark side of the force."

By Abhishek Saluja, Courier Book Reviewer

Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson, is about a normal boy in the 18th century who receives a twist in his life when a pirate named Billy Bones arrives at his parents’ inn; the pirate stays at the inn for months and during this time Jim Hawkins’ life goes through irreversible changes. His father dies and Jim Hawkins is uncomfortable with the pirate’s presence; his feeling of discomfort escalates when another pirate arrives at the inn and the two begin to argue and fight.

Soon after this argument Billy Bones suffers from a stroke and dies; Jim Hawkins and his mother become nervous and concerned. Billy Bones was a mysterious captain; while alive he hinted to Jim that he had a treasure chest. Jim and his mother hastily prepare to leave the inn, fearing the enemies of Billy Bones may raid the inn; they rummage through Bones’ belongings to take what he owes them, and while searching they find a package.

Read Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, one of 58 of his works available free from Project Gutenberg.

From wikipedia:
Laura Maria Caterina Bassi (31 October 1711 – 20 February 1778) was an Italian scientist, the first woman to officially teach at a college in Europe.

Biography
Born in Bologna into a wealthy family with a lawyer as a father, she was privately educated and tutored for seven years in her teens by Gaetano Tacconi. She came to the attention of Cardinal Prospero Lambertini who encouraged her in her scientific work.

Read more about Laura Bassi at hypatiamaze.org.