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Summer Learning Online with Your Hoboken Library Card for Adults, Kids and Teens

19 Jul

We have great online learning resources for our Hoboken Residents. Now is the perfect time to work on something new or strengthen skills whether you are a kid, teen, or an adult!

Language Learning with Mango
Traveling this summer and need to learn a new language fast?  Want to improve your English? Access Mango through the Hoboken Public Library and Start Language Learning Today! Mango utilizes its engaging interface, and easy, intuitive interactive tools to deliver practical conversational skills and valuable cultural insight for new languages. Lessons include strategically placed memory-building exercises to help users remember what they are learning in addition to critical thinking exercises, which help them to intuitively understand the language and adapt it to similar conversations. Increase your vocabulary with Mango curated vocabulary cards or by creating your own vocabulary cards. Mobile Aps available. Access in the Library without a Library Card or Access from Home with your Hoboken Public Library Resident Card. See a great in depth post about Mango previously posted in our blog.

Life Long Learning with UniversalClass
Learn Something New This Summer. Knowledge is Power. Continue Your Education with UniversalClass!
UniversalClass offers over 500 hundred online Continuing Education classes which include lessons, exams, assignments, discussion boards and actual assessments of your progress.  All courses are self-paced; you can learn when you want on your own time and do not need to be online at a specific date.  You will receive grades and feedback regarding your performance including earning a certificate documenting your Continuing Education Units, contact hours, and course completion. Build your online portfolio and share your achievements with others! Courses include everything from Excel, Essay Writing, Baking, and more. Whether you are looking to learn for career advancement or self-fulfillment there is a perfect course for you!  Sign in with your Hoboken Resident Library Card and start learning today.

Miss Humblebee’s Academy
Is the special child/children in your life starting Preschool or Kindergarten this fall? Miss Humblebee’s Academy is an award-winning, online kindergarten-readiness solution for children ages three to six. The program lays the foundation for a lifetime of learning success, building strength in core subject areas: language and literacy, math, science and social studies, art and music, social and emotional learning, and fitness. The curriculum is based on standards from the U.S. Department of Education, Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework, Common Core State Standards, and research from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. This program was developed to help provide educational support for young children in a fun and safe learning environment. Children receive encouragement from Miss Humblebee and the instructors in the video lessons, helping them to develop greater confidence in their abilities. Miss Humblebee’s Academy evaluates children’s comprehension of the concepts taught and sends caregivers reports that keep them informed about their child’s progress and performance on completed lessons.

HelpNow
Teens, tweens and kids can sharpen their math, science, and writing skills and avoid the Summer Slide with HelpNow from Brainfuse. Read lessons, watch videos, and take practice tests. Plus you can even access live online help from tutors from 2 PM to 11 PM every day or send a question and receive an expert reply within 24 hours! A writing lab provides online writing assistance. The Language Lab can provide assistance to those learning Spanish and there is even Chess Tutoring to sharpen your cognitive skills. HelpNow is a great resource for the young people in your life, but it also has resources for adults including High School Equivalency Preparation, US Citizenship Test Prep, Microsoft Office Help, and Career Resources including resume assistance.

Posted by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

Tags: , , ,

Finding Family in Unusual Places: The Only Purple House in Town and Divinity 36

12 Jul

I’m always enjoy a good “found family” story where characters find their place amongst others who often themselves have felt like misfits or outcasts. Speculative Fiction often puts a spin on this when characters don’t just feel different, but may be aliens or supernatural such as with Divinity 36 and The Only Purple House in Town.

The Only Purple House in Town
by Ann Aguire
I had previously enjoyed and written about Aguire’s novel Witch Please, the first in her Fix-It Witch Series. Although The Only Purple House in Town is set in the same world as Fix-It Witch, the central couple have other supernatural lineage. Iris Collins was raised by a family of psychic vampires, but believes she lacks any special abilities herself. Eli Reese has made a small fortune creating popular apps, but a late bloomer, most days he’d rather shift and fly free in his avian form then interact with other people. Eli and Iris met briefly in their youth before Eli moved away, but they bump into each other again as adults while Eli is fixing up his grandmother’s house for sale and Iris just inherited a purple Victorian, which she is renting to make ends meet. Sparks fly when Eli moves in; it seems Iris just might discover her hidden self and Eli might find a reason to stay in human form. They are joined in the restoring the old purple Victorian by several quirky humans and one witchy roommate. Although the core couple are straight, several LGBTQ characters are also featured and the growing suspicions and hatred towards the supernatural community seem paralleled to the rise of prejudice in our own society giving the book a timeliness. A meddlesome neighbor adds some drama and Eli and Iris have a few early misunderstandings to overcome but this low stakes cozy supernatural romance will make an enjoyable beach read. This gentle read will appeal to fans of TJ Klune’s novels. I received an early copy of The Only Purple House in Town from Netgalley and the publisher.

Divinity 36
by Gail Carriger
Gail Carriger is my favorite author; her work is unique, funny, insightful, and overall charming. She started off in the Steampunk Genre including the Adult Parasol Protectorate and the YA Finishing School series, but has recently begun crafting Science Fiction. Much like her Fantasy has mostly been confined to the interconnected Parasolverse, her individual Science Fiction is set in the larger world of Tinkered Stars. Divinity 36 is her first in the Tinkered Starsong Trilogy, about a crudrat refugee barista, Phex, who is selected to become a musical and literal “God” by an alien race who can make transcendent color from the songs and dances that the pantheons they create perform. At first Phex is unable to relate to many of his fellow contestants and feels closer to the more alien of them than the Sapiens who appear physically similar to him and yet are often repelled by the fact that he comes from a world where people are genetically engineered. Slowly though he finds friendship with others including my favorite character, the cuddly flying insectoid Berril. The novel is marketed as YA and has minimal violence and no sex so again a good choice for those looking for a gentle read for adults as well, especially those looking for new adult works. I look forward to the other books in the series that will be released later in the year (the next one, Demigod 12, comes out August 1). If you enjoy speculative fiction with a musical focus, check out my blog post on Catherynne M. Valente’s wacky Eurovision inspired Space Opera and my post on Spellsinger by Alan Dean Foster. You can also listen to another of Carriger’s YA stories set in the same universe, Crudrat, that gives more insight into the Wheel, the place where Phex grew up.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

Tags: , ,

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