Monday, March 30, 2015

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

The baseball season starts next week and I can't wait.  Baseball is probably my favorite sport to watch.  I love watching the games.  So this week, I'm sharing some great chapter books about baseball . . . .

Zombie Baseball Beatdown by Paolo Bacigalupi
While practicing for their next baseball game, thirteen-year-old friends Rabi, Miguel, and Joe discover that the nefarious activities of the Delbe, Iowa, meatpacking plant have caused cows to turn into zombies.

Free Baseball by Sue Corbett
Angry with his mother for having too little time for him, eleven-year-old Felix takes advantage of an opportunity to become bat boy for a minor league baseball team, hoping to someday be like his father, a famous Cuban outfielder.

The Desperado Who Stole Baseball by John H. Ritter
In 1881, the scrappy, rough-and-tumble baseball team in a California mining town enlists the help of a quick-witted twelve-year-old orphan and the notorious outlaw Billy the Kid to win a big game against the National League Champion Chicago White Stockings.

Bases Loaded by Mike Knudson
Fourth grade best friends Ray and Graham try to avoid the class bully, have fun with a substitute teacher, and get the attention of the girls they like while concentrating on winning the Little League Championships.


More Baseball Books --
The Batboy by Mike Lupica
The Brooklyn Nine: A Novel in Nine Innings by Alan Gratz
A Diamond in the Desert by Kathryn Fitzmaurice
Extra Innings by Robert Newton Peck
Hothead by Cal Ripkin, Jr.
Mickey & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure by Dan Gutman
One Handed-Catch by M.J. Auch
Rivals: A Baseball Great Novel by Tim Green
Roy Morelli Steps Up to the Plate by Thatcher Heldring
Six Innings by James Preller
Wall Ball by Kevin Markey


Check out these baseball books on display at the Arnold Branch through April 17, 2015.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Bo at Ballard Creek by Fitzpatrick Hill

Bo lives in the secluded town of Ballard Creek, an Alaskan mining town, with her two papas.  They adopted her when her mother left Alaska for someplace warmer.  She loves her life in the cookshed where one papa cooks while the other is a blacksmith for the mining company.  Her best friend is Oscar, an Eskimo boy from the town.  They spend their days visiting the miners and other townsfolk.  It's the perfect life for young Bo.

I loved this book.  It was a little slice of life in the Alaskan wilderness.  It reminded me a lot of the Little House on the Prairie books.  It seems almost timeless in its stories.  You know that it is set in the past without any technology we take for granted.  It is only by one small sentence that you find out it is set in 1929-1930.  This is a great book for boys and girls to read!

Continue reading about Bo and her unusual family in Bo at Iditarod Creek.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Weasels by Elys Dolan

What do you think weasels do all day?

Did you know they're plotting world domination?

Lucky for us, they're having a some equipment malfunctions.



This is a wonderful book for one-on-one readings with kids.
Make sure to take time to read all the speech bubbles for the various weasels.  It will most definitely lead to a laughing fit.

Monday, March 16, 2015

A New Twist on an Old Tale

I love retellings of famous stories.  I love seeing how an author can take a familiar story line and make it completely different with just a few changes.  Here are some of my favorite retellings for teens . . . .

Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey
As seventeen-year-old Jill Jekel and classmate Tristen Hyde work together on a chemistry project, hoping to win a scholarship for her and a cure for his curse, they also uncover family secrets and a chemistry of their own.
(Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)

Avalon High by Meg Cabot
Having moved to Annapolis, Maryland, with her medievalist parents, high school junior Ellie enrolls at Avalon High School where several students may or may not be reincarnations of King Arthur and his court.
(Le Morte de Arthur)

If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince? by Melissa Cantor
When the father of high school sophomore, Lucy Norton, remarries, Lucy finds herself tormented by two bratty stepsisters and a wicked stepmother.
(Cinderella)

Psyche in a Dress by Francesca Lia Block
A young woman, Psyche, searches for her lost love and questions her true self in a modern retelling of Greek myths.
(Greek Myth of Psyche)


More Retellings for Teens --
Black Spring by Alison Croggon (Wuthering Heights)
Cloaked by Alex Flinn (The Princess and the Frog)
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige (The Wizard of Oz)
Enter Three Witches by Caroline Cooney (MacBeth)
The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle (Beauty and the Beast)
The House of Dark Maids by Clare B. Dunkle (Wuthering Heights)
Jake, Reinvented by Gordon Korman (The Great Gatsby)
The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd (The Island of Dr. Moreau)
Man Made Boy by Jon Skovron (Frankenstein)
Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin (The Masque of the Red Death)
A Midsummer Night's Scream by R.L. Stine (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
Pharoah's Daughter by Julius Lester (Moses)
Quiver by Stephanie Spinner (Myth of Atalanta)
Railsea by China Mieville (Moby Dick)
Roses by G.R. Mannering (Beauty and the Beast)
Shylock's Daughter by Miriam Pressler (The Merchant of Venice)
Something Rotten by Alan Gratz (Hamlet)
Splintered by A.G. Howard (Alice in Wonderland)
Street Love by Walter Dean Myers (Romeo and Juliet)
This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel (Frankenstein)
Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson (Peter Pan)


Check out these books on display at the Arnold Branch through April 3, 2015.

Monday, March 9, 2015

Happy Birthday!

Other than Christmas, one of a child's most favorite days of the year is his or her birthday.  Today I'm sharing chapter books featuring birthdays . . . .

The Big One-Oh by Dean Pitchford
Determined not to be weird all his life like his neighbor, Charley Maplewood decides to throw himself a tenth birthday party, complete with a "house of horrors" theme, but first he will have to make some friends to invite.

The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper
On his eleventh birthday Will Stanton discovers that he is the last of the Old Ones, destined to seek the six magical Signs that will enable the Old Ones to triumph over the evil forces of the Dark.

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass
Just before his thirteenth birthday, Jeremy Fink receives a locked box -- set aside by his father before his death five years earlier -- that purportedly contains the meaning of life.


More Books About Birthdays --
The 13th Sign by Kristin O'Donnell Tubb
Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
The Birthday Ball by Lois Lowry
Celia's Robot by Margaret Chang
A Cool Moonlight by Angela Johnson
Ereth's Birthday by Avi
The Ghosts of Gribblesea Pier by Deborah Abela
Happy Birthday, Mallory! by Laura Friedman
Happy Birthday, Sophie Hartley by Stephanie Green
The Misadventures of the Magician's Dog by Frances Sackett
Savvy by Ingrid Law
The Secret Box by Whitaker Ringwald


These books will be on display at the Arnold Branch through March 27, 2015.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Beauty Pop by Kiyoko Arai

Kiri Koshiba goes unnoticed in her beauty-obsessed high school.  The boys in the "Scissors Project", pick lucky girls to get makeovers from otusider, ugly ducklings into beautiful, popular swans.  What nobody knows is that Kiri is a truly gift hairstylist that helps those who the "Scissors Project" refuses to help.  What will happen when Kiri's secret is exposed?

This manga series takes a unique idea of a bunch of boys obsessed with giving makeovers.  This is a story line that I don't think I have ever seen come out of the United States.  I found the story to be light, fluffy, and fun to read.

Monday, March 2, 2015

It's Not Easy Being Green

This year I decided to do a display at the library for St. Patrick's Day.  Since the few St. Patrick's books we have go out so quickly, I decided to instead focus on the color green.  So the display contains books that feature items that are green.  And for the display title I picked one of my favorite characters and songs of all time -- Kermit the Frog's "It's Not Easy Being Green".


1-2-3 Peas by Keith Baker
Busy little peas engage in their favorite activities as they introduce the numbers from one to 100.

The Croaky Pokey by Ethan Long
Frogs sing and do their own version of the Hokey Pokey.

Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London
Rambunctious Froggy hops out into the snow for a winter frolic but is called back by his mother to put on some necessary articles of clothing.

Grandpa Green by Lane Smith
A child explores the ordinary life of his extraordinary great-grandfather, as expressed in his topiary garden.

The House on East 88th Street by Bernard Waber
A family moving into a new house discovers in their bathtub a talented crocodile named Lyle, who soon becomes an important part of the family.

Raisin and Grape by Tom Amico
A young grape and his grandfather, a wrinkly raisin, enjoy spending time together telling jokes and going to the park.



More Books Featuring the Color Green --
Ah Ha! by Jeff Mack
Alberto, the Dancing Alligator by Richard Waring
And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano
Beware the Frog by William Bee
City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems
Don't Let the Peas Touch! and Other Stories by Deborah Blumenthal
Duck and Cover by Jackie Urbanovic
Egad Alligator! by Harriet Zierfert
Emeraldicious by Victoria Kann
An Extraordinary Egg by Leo Lionni
Finklehopper Frog by Irene Livingston
For Pete's Sake by Ellen Stoll Walsh
The Frog Principal by Stephanie Calmenson
A Frog Thing by Erich Drachamnn
Froggie Went A-Courtin' by Iza Trapani
Froggie Went A-Courting by Marjorie Priceman
Froggy series by Jonathan London
The Frogs and Toads All Sing by Arnold Lobel
Gator Gumbo by Candace Fleming
A Girl and Her Gator by Sean Bryan
Good Luck, Bear by Greg Foley
Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Green as a Bean by Karla Kulkin
The Green Bath by Margaret Mahy
Green Beans by Elizabeth Thomas
The Green Line by Polly Farquharson
Green Shamrocks by Eve Bunting
Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator by Mo Willems
How Martha Saved Her Parents from Green Beans by David LaRochelle
Hug Me by Simona Ciraolo
I, Crocodile by Fred Marcellino
Jump! by Scott Fischer
The Kindhearted Crocodile by Lucia Panzieri
Leaf by Stephen King
A Leaf Can Be -- by Laura Salas
Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni
The Little Green Goose by Adele Sansone
The Little Pea by Eric Battut
Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Lizette's Green Sock by Catharina Valckx
Lyle, Lyle Crocodile series by Bernard Waber
The Monster Who Ate My Peas by Danny Schnitzlein
Mortimer's First Garden by Karma Wilson
My Crocodile Does Not Bite by Joe Kulka
My Lucky Birthday by Keiko Kasza
The Mysterious Tadpole by Steven Kellogg
The Pea Blossom by Amy Poole
The Princess and the Packet of Frozen Peas by Tony Wilson
The Princess and the Pea by Lauren Child
Ribbit Rabbit by Candace Ryan
The Snake Alley Band by Elizabeth Nygaard
Snakes! by David Greenberg
The Story Goes On by Aileen Fisher
Sylvie & True by David McPhail
Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson
Ten Little Caterpillars by Bill Martin
Too Many Frogs! by Sandy Asher
Underground Gators by Tina Casey
Verdi by Janell Cannon
Very Boring Alligator by Jean Gralley
The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-To-Be by Mini Grey


These books will be on display at the Arnold Branch through March 20, 2015.