What Has Everyone Been Reading?

Two weeks remain in our Summer Library Program. Wow, the summer has flown by! Throughout the months of June and July the staff at the Children's desk has talked with hundreds of kids about the different books that they have read. Here are just a handful of the books that we've seen written down in kids' blue booklets:

What have you or your children been reading this summer? Share some of your favorites here in the comments.

Remember, the last day of the Summer Library Program is August 7. Make sure you visit the library soon to collect your prizes before the program ends! -Ms. Sandy

Guys Read

Are you a boy? Do you have trouble finding great books to read? If so then you need to check out our brand-new book list full of titles that we think will appeal to guys. The list is divided up into different genres to make it easy for you to find exactly what you're looking for. Looking for something funny? A graphic novel? Non-fiction? We've got suggestions for these categories and more.

Here are a few highlights from the list, all taken from different genre categories:

The Knights of the Lunch Table: The Dodgeball Chronicles by Frank Camusso
New kid Artie just wants to ease into his new life at Camelot Middle School without any trouble. But trouble is exactly what he gets when he accidentally manages to get on the wrong side of both the school principal and The Horde, a bunch of brawny dodgeball-playing bullies who rule the school. Things get even stranger when Artie is assigned to strange locker that no one else has ever been able to open and always seems to find what he needs inside. The good news is that he's also made friends with two kids named Percy and Wayne and his science teacher, Mr. Merlyn, seems pretty cool. A modern tale based on the legend of King Arthur, this graphic novel is sure to be a hit.

A Dog Called Grk by Joshua Doder
When Tim is followed home by a dog on the street, he's determined to find out who the friendly stray belongs to. But with a little investigating, Tim discovers that Grk's owners don't live in his town, or even in his country. Max and Natascha Raffifi, Grk's owners, have been kidnapped with their ambassador parents by the evil Colonel Zinfandel and taken to a prison in Eastern Europe! Tim knows he's about to undertake a mission his parents wouldn't exactly approve of. He sneaks out of the house in the middle of the night with Grk, catches a taxi to the airport, then hops a plane to Stanislavia. Together he and Grk will have to break into a high-security prison, pilot a helicopter, and make a nail-biting run for the border in this high-octane, international adventure. Great for anyone looking for a book full of humor and action.

Whales on Stilts by M.T. Anderson
What sort of madman would unleash an army of stilt-walking, laser-beaming, thoroughly angry whales upon the world? Who cares! All that matters is that his dastardly plan be foiled. Lucky for Lily Gefelty, her two best friends are the intrepid stars of their own middle-grade series novels: Jasper Dash (better know as the Boy Technonaut) and Katie Mulligan (beloved by millions as the heroine of the Horror Hollow series). It's going to take all their smarts to stop this insane, inane plot from succeeding.

Don't forget to try listening to audiobooks! Listening to an audiobook is a great way to enjoy a story together with friends and family. Books that we recommend that are available on audio - either on CD or Playaway - are marked on the list itself.

Happy reading! -Ms. Sandy

Sports Book List

Looking for a great book featuring your favorite sport? Get in the game by looking for a book here at the library! We have a brand new list available to help school-age kids find the perfect sports-themed chapter book. Click here to see a full list of the great titles we have to recommend. Here are a few highlights from that list:

Top of the Order by John Coy
Jackson’s parents are divorced and his mother has started dating. Gig’s dad is in the National Guard and has been called up to serve in the Middle East. Isaac's dad wants him to go to a different middle school than all his friends. Diego is the new kid in school, a power-hitter who works with his family on the weekends and can't make every team practice. These four friends lead different lives, but on the baseball field, they're a strong team, the top of the order. In this crucial last year of elementary school, they’re faced with preparing for middle school and dealing with a new member of their team—a girl!

Touchdown Trouble by Fred Bowen
Sam loves football. Most of all he loves the feeling he gets when his team, the Cowboys, are working together, moving closer and closer to the end zone. But Sam's pride in his team begins to fade. In an important game, the Cowboys beat the Giants to remain undefeated, thanks to a touchdown by Sam in the final play of the game. But later, watching a video of the game, Sam and his teammates realize that the winning touchdown was scored illegally. The Giants should have won the game. Now the team is divided. Should they keep quiet or give the Giants the win?

Airball: My Life in Briefs by Lisa Harkrader
Kirby Nickel loves basketball. The only problem is he can’t play basketball. But when an opportunity to meet NBA star Brett McGrew comes up, Kirby knows he has to take a chance and try out for the basketball team. Getting on the team turns out to be easy—the rest of the boys are as supremely untalented as Kirby—but winning in order to be eligible to meet McGrew is a whole different problem. Different and embarrassing. The coach’s radical new plan for success involves the boys playing in their underwear. But if this crazy idea works, Kirby will get to meet his hero—who he secretly also hopes is his long-lost father.



If you like sports but just aren't in the mood for fiction, don't forget that we have lots and lots of great sports non-fiction to check out. Look for books about your favorite sport, or investigate one that you've never tried before - the choice is yours! Just head on over to our catalog and do a subject search for the sport you want to find books about. Try using search terms in this format to get started:

Baseball - Juvenile Literature
Hockey - Juvenile Literature
Soccer - Juvenile Literature

Enjoy! -Ms. Sandy

March Madness for Kids' Books!

School Library Journal's Battle of the Kids' Books is a competition between 16 of the very best books for young people published in 2009, judged by some of the biggest names in children's books. Check it out! http://sljbattleofthebooks.com/
--Ms. Lynn

It's 2010!

Time flies and I can't believe it's already 2010!

Here's a few of my favorite gems that were published in 2009 that you might have missed:

The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had by Kristin Levine.

The last thing Harry “Dit” Sims expects when Emma Walker comes to town is to become friends. Proper-talking, brainy Emma doesn’t play baseball or fish too well, but she sure makes Dit think, especially about the differences between black and white. But soon Dit is thinking about a whole lot more when the town barber, who is black, is put on trial for a terrible crime. Together Dit and Emma come up with a daring plan to save him from the unthinkable. Set in 1917 and inspired by the author’s true family history, this is the poignant story of a remarkable friendshipand the perils of small-town justice.


Also Known As Harper by Ann Haywood Leal.

Harper Lee Morgan is an aspiring poet, which isn't surprising, seeing as how she's named after her mama's favorite writer, Harper Lee. And life is giving her a lot to write about just now. Daddy up and walked out, leaving them broke. Then Harper's family gets evicted. With Mama scrambling to find work, Harper has to skip school to care for her little brother, Hemingway. Their lives have been turned upside down, which Harper could just about handle--if it wasn't for the writing contest at school. If only she could get up on that stage and read her poems out loud...

Powerless by Matthew Cody

Twelve-year-old Daniel, the new kid in town, soon learns the truth about his nice—but odd—new friends: one can fly, another can turn invisible, yet another controls electricity. Incredible. The superkids use their powers to secretly do good in the town, but they’re haunted by the fact that the moment they turn thirteen, their abilities will disappear—along with any memory that they ever had them. Is a memory-stealing supervillain sapping their powers? The answers lie in a long-ago meteor strike, a World War II–era comic book (Fantastic Futures, starring the first superhero, Johnny Noble), the green-flamed Witch Fire, a hidden Shroud cave, and—possibly, unbelievably—“powerless” regular-kid Daniel himself. Superhero kids meet comic book mystery in this action-filled debut about the true meaning of a hero.

Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur

A tragic accident has turned eleven-year-old Aubrey’s world upside down. Starting a new life all alone, Aubrey has everything she thinks she needs: SpaghettiOs and Sammy, her new pet fish. She cannot talk about what happened to her. Writing letters is the only thing that feels right to Aubrey, even if no one ever reads them. With the aid of her loving grandmother and new friends, Aubrey learns that she is not alone, and gradually, she finds the words to express feelings that once seemed impossible to describe. The healing powers of friendship, love, and memory help Aubrey take her first steps toward the future. Love, Aubrey is devastating, brave, honest, funny, and hopeful, and it introduces a remarkable new writer, Suzanne LaFleur. No matter how old you are, this book is not to be missed.

Scat by Carl Hiaasen

Bunny Starch, the most feared biology teacher ever, is missing. She disappeared after a school field trip to Black Vine Swamp. And, to be honest, the kids in her class are relieved. But when the principal tries to tell the students that Mrs. Starch has been called away on a "family emergency," Nick and Marta just don't buy it. No, they figure the class delinquent, Smoke, has something to do with her disappearance. And he does! But not in the way they think. There's a lot more going on in Black Vine Swamp than any one player in this twisted tale can see. And Nick and Marta will have to reckon with an eccentric eco-avenger, a stuffed rat named Chelsea, a wannabe Texas oilman, a singing substitute teacher, and a ticked-off Florida panther before they really begin to see the big picture. That's life in the swamp, kids.

That's all for now -- more to come another time!

Ms. Lynn