The best part of it all? The juice that makes the car go. You’re all familiar with it. Ruby, Griffin, and Hailey used it to escape from Vinnie the janitor in Chapter 10. That’s right. Our old friends Diet Coke and Mentos.

They call it the coMet.

Unfortunately, it turns out that the professors running the school weren’t exactly the top scientists of the world, but, well, aliens plotting to take over earth (no big deal). Good thing Amanda and her friends Sanjay, Derek and Evelyn were able to stop them!

Sound like fun? Welcome to STAR Academy by Edward Kay. This past week launched the release of the book’s sequel, STAR Academy: Dark Secrets.

In Dark Secrets, the Academy has been shut down due to the alien incident, and the super-smart foursome are back at their different homes, living in different countries. Amanda has been singled out as Amanda Forsythe who saved the world from space aliens – Junk-food snack companies want to use her in commercials and famous rapper Emcee Squared wants to feature her in his video.

None of that is all too interesting to Amanda. All she wants is for STAR Academy to reopen so she and her friends have a place to study together!

When Bill Snootman (yes, Snootman as in Eugenia Snootman, Eugenia Snootman as in the bully who did everything imaginable to sabotage Amanda and her friends last year!) threatens to sue Amanda for 100 million dollars in damages for contributing to his daughter’s transformation into alien form, Amanda seizes the opportunity.

See, Snootman strikes up a deal with Amanda: if Amanda can turn Eugenia back, he’ll drop the lawsuit. Amanda, brain that she is, has to think fast. If she’s going to uncover how to fix Eugenia, she’s going to need a place to experiment and study – and she’s going to need the help of other child super-geniuses just like her. She convinces Bill Snootman to reopen the Academy – but it’s kind of tough for Amanda to enjoy the school year with this lawsuit hanging over her head. If she doesn’t figure out how to de-alien Eugenia, Amanda and her parents are done for.

And something’s not right at the Academy – why is Professor Thorne so discouraging of Amanda’s experiments to help return Eugenia to human form? Is Amanda really in as far over her head as he thinks she is? And who’s been tampering with the Zero-G chamber? Amanda could have been killed.

Join Amanda, Sanjay, Derek and Evelyn in STAR Academy: Dark Secrets. One thing’s for sure: nothing gets in the way of this fantastic foursome. After all, friendship and genius together must be unstoppable… right?

Here’s how Sports for Schools works: shopping at COLES earns vouchers for your school. The vouchers can then be swapped for sports equipment. Singing the jingle also earns you big vouchers.

Participating schools are getting banners and PR advice to spread the word.

But COLES is getting accused of brainwashing kids for their cause.  Does singing their jingle make kids believe the ads more?  Remember these kids are in grades 1 to 3.

COLES says it isn’t brainwashing, but “community relations.”

Sure, it’s great to earn sports equipment for your school… but isn’t this a bit like – erm – bribery?

What would you do? Would you shop at COLES and sing abut COLES to earn new stuff for your school?

In New York, Next week, The Spam Scam is one of 48 finalists in the Independent Pilot Competition.  And from the 13th to 16th of October, Ruby is part of both First Glance Philadelphia and La Femme Festival.

New York Television Festival
Saturday September 24 – 3:00 p.m.
Location: Tribeca Cinemas
Get tickets

First Glance Philadelphia
Sunday October 16 – 6:15 p.m.
Location: The Franklin Institute
Get tickets

La Femme Film Festival (Los Angeles)
Sunday October 16 – 12-1 p.m.
Location: Davidson Valentini Theater
Get tickets

Each sculpture is left anonymously and is accompanied by a  hand-written noteaddressed to the organization’s Twitter name.

The first was found at the Poetry Library. The note with it read

It started with your name @byleaveswelive and became a tree.… … We know that a library is so much more than a building full of books… a book is so much more than pages full of words.… This is for you in support of libraries, books, words, ideas….. a gesture (poetic maybe?)

The sculpture is of a tree and in front of it are two halves of gold egg filled with strips of paper that contain lines from the poem “A Trace of Wings” by Edwin Morgan.

A second sculpture was left on a display case at the National Library of Scotland.

A third at the Filmhouse which was left on the box office counter.

The note with this one read:

For @filmhouse – a gift – In support of Libraries, Books, Words, Ideas’& All things *magic*.

Others have turned up at Scottish Storytelling Centre and the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Who is making these unbelievably gorgeous and intricate paper sculptures fashioned from books? And why leave them anonymously?

Want to read more about this mystery?  Read more about it in All Things Paper, The Guardian, BBC News or just search Google for “Scottish paper sculpture mystery” to find the latest news.

Do you have a theory?  We’d like to hear about it!

Saturday, Kids First, the Coalition for Quality Children’s Media, celebrated its 20^th anniversary! What is Kids First, you ask?

Well you know when you go to Great Aunt Mary’s family BBQs every year and there’s a large dish of a greenish-brown porridge-like substance that she’s piled on to your plate in mountain-sized portions?

You know Aunt Mary it looks great. I’m just so full!

Well wouldn’t you like to have a taste of it first so you could politely tell Great Aunt Mary, “Thanks, but I don’t like it” instead of having to tell her after you’ve taken a bite and having to hear her mutter angrily to herself about you not telling her before she put the mountain-sized portion onto your plate?

Please don’t put me in your next batch, Aunt Mary! I promise I’ll eat the whole dish!

Now imagine Great Aunt Mary was Blockbuster and that disgusting porridge-like substance is the horrible movie you wasted ninety minutes of your life on.

Okay, horrible metaphor but point is with Kids First you can have a taste of the porridge-like substance before spending $6.75 on a three-day rental…and I’m afraid of my Great Aunt Mary.

If you’re looking for some info on a film before you decide to watch it, or if you’re just looking for a good movie to watch, mosey on over to Kids First and click on their “film reviews” section. The film reviews are categorized by age group and provide a recommended age, price, and synopsis, followed by a review by both an adult and a kid. That’s right – every film, DVD, CD, TV show, and game is reviewed by volunteer parents and children of that age group. Someone you can trust, unlike that awkward teenage Blockbuster employee who picks his nose while he talks to you.

We think Kids First is a great resource for kids and parents alike. Kids – you can find new movies to watch that are recommended by others your age. And parents – well, you can ensure that your kids are safe from any unsafe or harmful content.

So from all of us here at Ruby Skye P.I., we’d like to say Happy Birthday Kids First! Keep fighting the good fight!

Get ready for a whole new kind of storytelling. Check out Inanimate Alice, a digital reading experience that brings together text, sounds, music and images to bring you into Alice’s world.

Alice is growing up in the early years of the 21st century. She has a calling: to become a game animator and designer. As the story progresses, the episodes become more and more interactive, reflecting Alice’s developing skills.You play a part as well – there are puzzles to solve, games to play, and, of course, you’re the one to click the next page.

And don’t forget your creative hat…

As the story progresses, you’ll be encouraged to co-create episodes of your own. Fill in gaps in Alice’s story or let your imagination go wild and create something new.

Have fun!

Here is part of their review:

Move over Scooby Doo and Harriet the Spy. Ruby Skye PI is the new girl in town, and she’s out to solve mysteries in cyber style. This clever, quirky and slickly produced Canadian digital series is fun to watch and will keep viewers on the edge of the computer chair. Ruby (Madison Cheeatow) has a nose for mysteries and knack for trouble, and she has help from little sis Hailey (Marlee Maslowe) and best friend Griffin (Kevin Gutierrez). Each Ruby episode is about five minutes long, with the site offering 12 webisodes which, like the serial mystery stories of yesteryear, keep kids wanting for more. Parents will be happy to know that the kids are realistic and resourceful and not just a mini-fashion or marketing tool stereotype.

Established in 1978, Parents’ Choice Foundation is the oldest nonprofit consumer guide to quality children’s media in the United States.  ”The Foundation’s mission is to provide parents with information to participate wisely in their children’s learning outside the classroom…The Foundation’s purpose is to search out and recommend products that help kids grow – imaginatively, physically, morally and mentally—fairly priced products that are fun, safe and socially sound.”