Clockwork Angel - a digital book trailer

Image courtesy of BarnesandNoble.com


Digital Book Trailer by Sheila Dunn

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

A Year Down Yonder

image courtesy of BarnesandNoble.com


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

image courtesy of BarnesandNoble.com


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

image courtesy of www.barnesandnoble.com

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

The Hunger Games

image from www.barnesandnoble.com
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

photo courtesy of shutterhacks c/o creative commons

Great article on library volunteers

Artemis Fowl

cover art courtesy of www.artemis-fowl.com

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

Image courtesy of BarnesandNoble.com


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!