LibGuides: Austin Middle School Library: Home

March Holidays

March 1--National Peanut Butter Lover's Day
March 2--Dr. Seuss Day
March 6--National Oreo Cookie Day
March 9--Get Over It Day
March 12--Daylight Savings Time starts
March 13--National Open an Umbrella Indoors Day
March 14--National Potato Chip Day
March 16--No Selfies Day
March 17--St. Patrick's Day
March 20--Extraterrestrial Abductions day
March 22--National Goof Off Day
March 23--National Puppy Day
March 26--Make up Your Own Holiday day
March 29--National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day

New Nonfiction

Stress Less by Aubre Andrus It can be easy to get bogged down in stress. Luckily there are countless strategies to beat it. When you're feeling anxious or overloaded, the projects in this book can help. Calm down and center yourself with meditation exercises. Boost your mood with a healthy breakfast. Take a break from social media. Relax with some simple yoga poses. Listen to soothing music. Before you know it, you will be less stressed! Your mind - and body - will thank you.
Across the Rainbow Bridge: Stories of Norse Gods and Humans by Kevin Crossley-Holland In a dramatic companion volume to Norse Myths, a Carnegie Medal winner revisits an ancient world of magic, mythology, and mountain trolls. Step back into a sweeping landscape of green glades and glaciers where dwarves, frost giants, and ghosts roam and where gods and goddesses work their magic for Middle Earth, sometimes crossing the great rainbow bridge to come to the aid of humans. Five gripping new tales by Kevin Crossley-Holland plumb Norse mythology as never before, while Jeffrey Alan Love's illustrations give the epic figures bold new life. Eerie, lyrical, and arresting, this must-have companion book to Norse Myths: Tales of Odin, Thor, and Loki is the ideal gift for fantasy and mythology fans as well as newcomers to Viking lore.
The Influencing Machine by Brooke Gladstone A million listeners trust NPR's Brooke Gladstone to guide them through the complexities of the modern media. Bursting onto the page in vivid comics by acclaimed artist Josh Neufeld, this brilliant radio personality guides us through two millennia of media history, debunking the notion that "The Media" is an external force beyond our control and equipping us to be savvy consumers and shapers of the news.
The Very Short, Entirely True History of Unicorns by Sarah Laskow From cuddly pool floats to rainbow-colored toast toppings, unicorns--the darlings of Instagram--have never been more exciting or more popular. Are unicorns real? Their popularity and enduring role in human culture certainly is. How can you win a fight against a unicorn? Why do some unicorns have wings? Why are unicorns often pictured with rainbows? Get answers to these questions and more in this fun look at unicorns throughout history. This four-color, fully illustrated book provides everything you always wanted to know about the myths, science, and history that surround the unicorn, a creature that has grown even more popular in the twenty-first century. With its stylish design and fresh, captivating illustrations, The Very Short, Entirely True History of Unicorns will appeal to readers--children and adults alike--who can't get enough of the world's most elusive animal.
Incredible Jobs You've (Probably) Never Heard Of by Natalie Labarre Do you know what you want to do when you grow up? Why not work as a babysitter . . . for sloths? Or become a farmer . . . of corpses? You might even grow up to be someone who gets paid to actually sleep on the job! From taste testers to dinosaur dusters, there are all kinds of incredible jobs that you've probably never heard of -- and one of them might be just right for you!
It Can Rain Frogs and Fish by Jan Payne; Steven Wilder Earth is a mesmerizing place to live. Weather, climate, and the solar system surrounding it are filled with fascinating phenomena. Many are well known, while others are still hearsay. Through engaging text enhanced by whimsical color illustrations and a fun quiz, readers can test their knowledge of earth science.
Written in Bone by Sally M. Walker Bright white teeth. Straight leg bones. Awkwardly contorted arm bones. On a hot summer day in 2005, Dr. Douglas Owsley of the Smithsonian Institution peered into an excavated grave, carefully examining the fragile skeleton that had been buried there for four hundred years. "He was about fifteen years old when he died. And he was European," Owsley concluded. But how did he know? Just as forensic scientists use their knowledge of human remains to help solve crimes, they use similar skills to solve the mysteries of the long-ago past. Join author Sally M. Walker as she works alongside the scientists investigating colonial-era graves near Jamestown, Virginia, as well as other sites in Maryland. As you follow their investigations, she'll introduce you to what scientists believe are the lives of a teenage boy, a ship's captain, an indentured servant, a colonial official and his family, and an enslaved African girl. All are reaching beyond the grave to tell us their stories, which are written in bone.
Glam and Gorgeous Room by Heather Wutschke A floor, a ceiling, and four boring walls? No more! Get creative, show your room some love, and turn your personal space into your happy place. Show off your style and personality with DIY pizzazz to makeover furniture, create one-of-a-kind decor, and organize your stuff with dozens of projects and ideas to make your room as unique as you are!

Austin Catalog

Looking for a specific book? Check our library:

Austin library has a collection of ebooks available for students. See Mrs. Collins for passwords.

Austin students can also download ebooks and audio books from the district ebook collection.

Students will need their student ID number and a password.

(See Mrs. Collins if you need these.)

March Featured Authors' books

Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson James Patterson returns to the genre that made him famous with a #1 New York Times bestselling teen detective novel about the mysterious Angel family . . . and the dark secrets they're keeping from one another. On the night Malcolm and Maud Angel are murdered, Tandy Angel knows just three things: 1) She was the last person to see her parents alive. 2) The police have no suspects besides Tandy and her three siblings. 3) She can't trust anyone-maybe not even herself. As Tandy sets out to clear the family name, she begins to recall flashes of experiences long buried in her vulnerable psyche. These memories shed light on her family's dark secrets, and digging deeper into her powerful parents' affairs proves to be a disturbing and dangerous game. Who knows what any of the Angels are truly capable of?
Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo Winner of the 2014 Newbery Medal. Holy unanticipated occurrences! A cynic meets an unlikely superhero in a genre-breaking novel by master storyteller Kate DiCamillo. It begins, as the best superhero stories do, with a tragic accident that has unexpected consequences. The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, but self-described cynic Flora Belle Buckman, who has read every issue of the comic book "Terrible Things Can Happen to You!" is just the right person to step in and save him. What neither can predict is that Ulysses (the squirrel) has been born anew, with powers of strength, flight, and misspelled poetry -- and that Flora will be changed too, as she discovers the possibility of hope and the promise of a capacious heart.
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas When magic has gone from the world, and a vicious king rules from his throne of glass, an assassin comes to the castle. She does not come to kill, but to win her freedom. If she can defeat twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition to find the greatest assassin in the land, she will become the king's champion and be released from prison. Her name is Celaena Sardothien. The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. And a princess from a foreign land will become the one thing she never thought she'd have again: a friend. But something evil dwells in the castle-and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying, horribly, one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the source of the evil before it destroys her world.
Flush by Carl Hiassen You know its going to be a rough summer when you spend Fathers Day visiting your dad in the local lockup. Noah's dad is sure that the owner of the Coral Queen casino boat is flushing raw sewage into the harbor-which has made taking a dip at the local beach like swimming in a toilet. He can't prove it though, and so he decides that sinking the boat will make an effective statement. Right. The boat is pumped out and back in business within days and Noah's dad is stuck in the clink. Now Noah is determined to succeed where his dad failed. He will prove that the Coral Queen is dumping illegally . . . somehow. His allies may not add up to much-his sister Abbey, an unreformed childhood biter; Lice Peeking, a greedy sot with poor hygiene; Shelly, a bartender and a woman scorned; and a mysterious pirate-but Noah's got a plan to flush this crook out into the open. A plan that should sink the crooked little casino, once and for all.
The Tough Coughs As He Ploughs the Dough by Dr. Seuss Drawings, essays and writings of Dr. Seuss.
Green Witch by Alice Hoffman In this powerful, lovely sequel to Green Angel, Green must learn the stories of a number of 'witches' and free her true soul mate from a prison as she grapples with life, love and loss in a post-disaster world.
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry A Newbery Medal Winner. Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think of life before the war. It's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching through town. When the Jews of Denmark are "relocated," Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family. Soon Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission to save Ellen's life.