Moon Over Manifest

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Moon Over Manifest

by Clare Vanderpool

Call Number:

FIC VAN

Review by Kathleen Isaacs of Booklist (Oct. 15, 2010 Vol. 107, No. 4)

After a life of riding the rails with her father, 12-year-old Abilene can’t understand why he has sent her away to stay with Pastor Shady Howard in Manifest, Missouri, a town he left years earlier; but over the summer she pieces together his story. In 1936, Manifest is a town worn down by sadness, drought, and the Depression, but it is more welcoming to newcomers than it was in 1918, when it was a conglomeration of coal-mining immigrants who were kept apart by habit, company practice, and prejudice. Abilene quickly finds friends and uncovers a local mystery. Their summerlong “spy hunt” reveals deep-seated secrets and helps restore residents’ faith in the bright future once promised on the town’s sign. Abilene’s first-person narrative is intertwined with newspaper columns from 1917 to 1918 and stories told by a diviner, Miss Sadie, while letters home from a soldier fighting in WWI add yet another narrative layer. Vanderpool weaves humor and sorrow into a complex tale involving murders, orphans, bootlegging, and a mother in hiding. With believable dialogue, vocabulary and imagery appropriate to time and place, and well-developed characters, this rich and rewarding first novel is “like sucking on a butterscotch. Smooth and sweet.” Grades 5-8

Lies Beneath

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Lies Beneath
by Anne Greenwood Brown
Call Number: 
FIC BRO

This is not your mother’s mermaid story.  Forget Ariel.  These mer-people are murderous and they are out for revenge.

Meet the Whites, a family of mer-people; sisters Mavis, Tallulah and Pavati and their brother Calder.  Their mother was killed in a tragic accident.  The siblings are sworn to uphold justice for their mother’s death.

That justice is targeted at the human Hancock family; parents Jason and Carolyn and their two daughters, Sophie and Lily.  Jason Hancock has also honored a promise he made to his father; staying away from Bayfield Michigan and staying out of the water.

Will Calder betray his family to protect the girl he has fallen in love with?  How far will his sisters go to avenge their mother’s death?  Lies Beneath will leave you guessing until the last page. 

You Against Me

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You Against Me

By Jenny Downham

FIC DOW

Family is everything, or is it?  What would you do to protect your family?  What happens when your sister is the victim of a violent crime?  What happens when your mother turns to sherry and cigarettes as a coping mechanism?  Who will be there to take care of your younger sister, get her to school, make sure she eats?  And who will see that justice prevails?

One flip of the coin.  What do you do when your brother has been accused of a violent crime?  How far would you go to protect your family?  Who is responsible for ensuring that your brother stays out of jail?  What happens when you fall in love with the enemy?

These questions loom in the well written story of Mikey and Ellie.  Many teenagers might see themselves in the decisions that are made and the dramas that unfold.  Jenny Downham has told a story that will engage High School students and adults alike.  

Prodigal Summer

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Book review by Kristin C.

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

Call Number

FIC KIN

Prodigal Summer is book about the laws of attraction, richly laced with pheromones and complicated relationships all occurring on or around Zebulon Mountain in rural Virginia.

In this book we meet Deanna who lives on the Mountain, a forest ranger who prefers to be hidden away from the world of people she cannot trust.  She cares deeply bout the forest and the delicate cycle of life between predators and prey.  Her life changes drastically when a much younger, handsome stranger named Eddie Bondo suddenly appears one day.

We also meet Lusa, a beautiful and smart city transplant with a brain for science who marries a man from the country and must find a way to integrate into his family and the new life she has chosen, despite unforeseen challenges.

And finally we meet Garnett Walker - a bitter old man who spends most of his life trying to erase the sins of his family.  A religious and fastidious man, he's quite sure that he's living his life the way everyone else should until a neighbor shakes up his world view.

If you've read Barbara Kingsolver before, you'll recognize her style of rotating stories and perspectives in each chapter.  And, if you've read Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, this one feels like a precursor, as her characters speak in a way that support her ideas on keeping things local, farming in a natural way and respect for the intricate connection of all living things.

Powerless

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Powerless

By Matthew Cody

Call Number:

FIC COD

Haven't we all dreamed of being a superhero?  We might not want to wear the cape, but at some point in our lives we have all dreamt of super strength, the ability to fly or to become invisible.  Meet the Supers of Nobles Green.  Seven teenagers who all have some sort of special gift, until....

Until what?  You will have to read Powerless to find out!  Told from the perspective of 'normal' middle schooler, Daniel, Powerless examines what true superpowers might be.  Is it strength?  Is it speed?  Or could it be bravery?  This book should be on the list of every middle school student or anyone who knows a middle school student.  What is your super power?

Arcadia Falls

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Arcadia Falls

by Carol Goodman

Call Number

FIC GOO

Meg Rosenthal and her daughter Sallie have driven through the mountains in search of a new start.  After the death of her husband, Meg finds herself in the position of having to support themselves both financially and emotionally.  She is hoping that taking a teaching position at the Arcadia Falls Boarding School for the Arts will be the lifeline that they are looking for.

However, when a young student dies mysteriously on their first night on campus, Meg realizes that she might not be strong enough to see this through.  With the flora of the region being just as much of a character in this story as the people, Goodman spins a tale of love, family, trust and art. 

Grab a quilt and a cup of tea and delve into a mystery that will leave you questioning up to the last page.  Arcadia Falls asks the questions that nag at all of us.  Who are we?  Where do we come from?  And what makes a family?  Enjoy!

Clockwork Angel - a digital book trailer

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Digital Book Trailer by Sheila Dunn

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

A Year Down Yonder

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A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck 
Call Number FIC PEC

Trying to fit in at a new school is hard enough, but in 1937, Mary Alice is sent from Chicago to live with her Grandma in rural Illinois.  Clutching only her transistor radio and Bootsie the cat, Mary Alice wonders how she’ll survive.

Mary Alice’s first lesson is how to deal with a bully.  But her education doesn’t end there.  Grandma Dowdel also teaches Mary Alice about gossips, vandals and people who think that they are better than others. 

Peck’s vivid prose takes you right into the school room with Mary Alice as she befriends Ina-Rae and first meets Royce McNabb.  You can smell the cherry tarts that Grandma bakes for the DAR’s tea in honor of George Washington’s birthday.  Shiver as Peck has Mary Alice describe the cold in Grandma’s house during the winter and laugh out loud at all the surprises he has in store for the reader.

Small town living might have a thing or two to teach this city girl.  Will Mary Alice survive all of the disasters, natural or otherwise, that this small town has to offer?  Will she stay to live with Grandma after her parents get back on their feet?  Read A Year Down Yonder and guffaw your way to the answers to these questions.   

People

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People by Peter Spier
Call Number 155.2 SPIER

There are over 4,000,000,000 people on this earth.  That is a lot of people.  And we all live on just seven continents!  Some of us are short and some of us are tall.  Some of us are wide and some of us more narrow.  We come in a rainbow of colors.

With all of our differences, we are mainly the same.  We come with two ears, two eyes and one nose.  We celebrate with our friends and families.  We live in shelters and enjoy eating food. 

In Peter Spier’s book People, readers of all ages can get a glimpse into what makes us one people and what sets us apart.  How we are the same and how we are different. 


Spier's illustrations portray the world of people in all of their many distinctions, allowing the reader to feel a part of the many cultures that this Earth embraces.  Take a trip around the world and get to know your global neighbors in People by Peter Spier.

The Shadow Collector's Apprentice

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The Shadow Collector's Apprentice by Amy Gordon
a digital book trailer
Call Number
FIC GOR

The Hunger Games

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The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Call number FIC COL


The Hunger Games: Age Appropriate?
By Dorothy H.  5th grade


Parents are depriving their kids of The Hunger Games!  Parents probably think it's too gory.  I've read the books and I've seen the movie.  The movie is more vivid but the book gets your imagination flowing.  It gets these really gory thoughts in your head.  Your thoughts start to seem real.  The movie is more graphics and special effects than your thoughts.  This message is not that our world is full of murderers, but that our world is broken and needs to be fixed.  It's like Michael Jackson's Earth Song, it's very emotional and makes you feel like your life is imperfect.


Parents should let their children see this movie or read the book because it makes you want to be a better person.  So, you don't have to end up fighting your friends.  I would suggest parents allow their children to see the movie because it doesn't make you feel like it's real.  Either way, parents should review the book/movie before you let your child see or read The Hunger Games.





Hunger Games Personality Quiz

Library Volunteers Article

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Great article on library volunteers

Artemis Fowl

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Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Call number: FIC COL


You asked me to read it and I did!  The first adventure of one of your favorite characters, Artemis Fowl.  


Twelve years old.  Genius.  Comes from a family known for criminal activity.  Millionaire.  Lives in mansion with a butler.  What's not to love?  Throw in a complete underground community of fairies and other mythical beings and you have a novel full of action and adventure.


Now I can explain leprechauns!  Will we meet Holly Short again?  Will Artemis discover what happened to his father?  Will Artemis have to go to school?!  Read the Artemis Fowl series for the answers to these questions and some ground shaking adventure with the People!

Delicious Links

Delicious links

Mrs. Haas' Roasted Broccoli Recipe

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

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The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall
Call number: FIC BIR


We first met the Penderwick family while they were on vacation on the grounds of Arundel, an estate owned by Jeffrey and his mother, Mrs. Tifton.  In The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, the family of four sisters, a dog named hound and their charming father are back home.


After a visit from Aunt Claire, the girls discover that it is time for their father to start dating.  None of the girls want their father to be lonely, but at the same time, none of them is wanting a step-mother either.


Join the girls and Mr. Penderwick through this mad-cap adventure that includes the "Save Daddy Plan", a run-in with "the Bug Man" and other mishaps.  The Penderwicks on Gardam Street will have you feeling like you live there with Rosalind, Jane, Skye and Batty.  Will the girls save Daddy?  You'll have to read it to find out!