Thursday, March 30, 2017

Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede

Eff has grown up her whole life knowing she is the unlucky 13th child.  She's going to grow up to be evil.  The only thing that comforts her is her twin brother Lan, who is the 7th son of a 7th son.  After being bullied by her extended family, Eff moves to the west right on the edge of the unexplored frontier with her parents and younger siblings.  There she enjoys friends for the first time and learning a different style of magic.


This is the first book in an alternative fantastical history series by Patricia C. Wrede.  Eff is a very sympathetic character that quickly becomes someone you care about along with the other main characters.  It was also interesting to see how Eff's world differs from ours, not only with magic but in its political and geographical differences.  I would highly recommend this book to teens who enjoy historical fiction like Little House on the Prairie as well as those who like strong female characters like Graceling or the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce.

Monday, March 27, 2017

Fierce Female Fiction

Celebrate Women's History Month by reading some teen fiction featuring fierce females.  Here are some of my favorites . . . .

Graceling by Kristin Cashore
In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.

Hero by Alethea Kontis
Saturday Woodcutter accidentally conjures an ocean in the backyard and, with sword in tow, sets sail on a pirate ship, only to find herself kidnapped and held captive by a mountain witch with the power to destroy the world.

Legacies by Mercedes Lackey
After her family is killed, Spirit White is taken to Oakhurst Academy, a combination orphanage and school for those with magical powers, where she and her new friends investigate when students start mysteriously disappearing.

Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
Eleven-year-old Alanna, who aspires to be a knight even though she is a girl, disguises herself as a boy to become a royal page, a learning many hard lessons along her path to high adventure.

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
When sixteen-year-old orphan Tessa Fell's older brother suddenly vanishes, her search for him leads her into Victorian-era London's dangerous supernatural underworld, and when she discovers that she herself is a Downworlder, she must learn to trust the demon-killing Shadowhunters if she ever wants to learn to control her powers and find her brother.


More Fierce Female Fiction for Teens --
Assassin's Heart by Sarah Ahiers
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman
Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith
The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress
The Girl of Fire and Thorn by Rae Carson
Impossible by Nancy Werlin
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
Palace of Spies by Sarah Zettel
Prom Dates from Hell by Rosemary Clement-Moore
Revenge and the Wild by Michelle Modesto
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Sorcery and Cecelia, or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer
Terrier by Tamora Pierce
Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee
Vessel by Sarah Durst


Check these books out on display at the Arnold Branch through April 14, 2017.

Monday, March 20, 2017

Alien Encounters & Adventures

This week, I am sharing chapter books featuring aliens.  Here are some of my favorites . . .

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman
While picking up milk for his children's cereal, a father is abducted by aliens and finds himself on a wild adventure through time and space.

Can of Worms by Kathy Mackel
Bullied and unhappy at school, thirteen-year-old Mike, who has always thought that he might be an alien, sends a distress call into space asking to be rescued from the ignorance and cruelty of his life on Earth.

Aliens on Vacation by Clete Barrett Smith
Unhappy at being sent to stay with his grandmother at the inn she operates, The Intergalactic Bed & Breakfast, Scrub discovers that each room is actually a portal to space and the inn's visitors are aliens who are vacationing on Earth.

Space Taxi: Archie Takes Flight by Wendy Mass
On "Take Your Kid to Work Day," eight-year-old Archie discovers that his father drives a space taxi that shuttles aliens from one area of the universe to another.


More Books --
Alien Encounter by Charise Mericle Harper
Alien Feast by Michael Simmons
Alienated by Andrew Auseon
Bongo Fishing by Thacher Hurd
Cakes in Space by Philip Reeve
Escape from Planet Yastol by Pamela F. Service
Froonga Planet by Bryan Fields
Galaxy's Most Wanted by John Kloepfer
Herbert's Wormhole by Peter Nelson
Little Green Men at the Mercry Inn by Greg Smith
The Orphan Army by Jonathan Maberry
Spaceheadz by Jon Scieszka
Willy Maykit in Space by Greg Trine

Check these books out on display at the Arnold Branch through April 7, 2017.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

The Best Man by Richard Peck

Archer Magill has three heroes in his life -- his architect grandpa, his car remodeler dad, and his cool Uncle Paul.  Then during his fifth grade year he meets his fourth hero -- teacher Mr. McLeod.  That's the year his class and teacher become celebrities.  That's the year his life starts to change in big ways and he'll need all four of those heroes to help him through.

This is a simple everyday story of a boy's life.  It is a great book for boys as it focuses on the wonderful role models and heroes he has in his life.  I would highly recommend this chapter book for all boys to read.

Monday, March 13, 2017

It's Not Easy Being Green!

St. Patrick's Day is coming up this week which means parents and teachers are wanting books for the holiday to read to their kids.  Unfortunately, there are not a huge amount of books about St. Patrick's Day and they are usually already checked out.  So this week, I'm sharing some of my favorite books about the color green  . . .

Good Luck Bear by Greg Foley
When Bear's friend Mouse tells him that finding a four-leaf clover means one is lucky, the little bear searches for one, despite the discouraging words of other animals.

Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni
A little blue spot and a little yellow spot are best friends, and when they hug each other they become green.

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

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

Turtle Island by Kevin Sherry
A giant turtle's loneliness ends when a boatload of animals is shipwrecked and makes a temporary home on his shell. But when they decide to sail for home, will the turtle be alone once more?


More Picture Books About the Color Green --
Alberto the Dancing Alligator by Richard Waring
Beware of the Frog by William Bee
Duck and Cover by Jackie Urbanovic
For Pete's Sake by Ellen Stoll Walsh
A Frog in the Bog by Karma Wilson
Froggy Plays in the Band by Jonathan London
Gator Gumbo by Candace Felming
A Girl and Her Gator by Sean Bryan
Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Green as a Bean by Karla Kuskin
The Green Bath by Margaret Mahy
Green Beans by Elizabeth Thomas
The House on East 88th Street by Bernard Waber
How Marth Saved Her Parents from Green Beans by David LaRochelle
Hug Me by SImona Ciraolo
I, Crocodile by Fred Marcellino
Jump! by Scott Fischer
The Little Green Goose by Adele Sansone
Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
The Little Pea by Eric Battut
Lizette's Green Sock by Catharina Valckx
Lyle, Lyle Crocodile by Bernard Waber
My Snake Blake by Randy Siegel
The Mysterious Tadpole by Steven Kellop
The Pickle Patch Bathtub by Fran Kennedy
Ribbit! by Rodirgo Folguiera
Suddenly Alligator by Rick Walton
Sylvie & True by David McPhail
Underground Gators by  Tina Casey
Verdi by Janell Cannon
Very Boring Alligator by Jean Gralley
The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli


Check these books out on display at the Arnold Branch though March 31, 2017.

Monday, March 6, 2017

Murder, Mayhem & Mystery

This week, I am focusing on books for teens that include murder, mayhem and mystery . . . .

The Golden Day by Ursula Durbosarsky
Set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, follows the chilling stories of eleven school girls who struggle to identify a mysterious poet in the aftermath of a teacher's innocence-shattering disappearance.

Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig
Flynn's girlfriend is missing, and people are suspecting him of knowing something, so he struggles to uncover her secrets as he must also face the truth about himself.

Fake I.D. by L.R. Riles
An African-American teen in the Witness Protection Program moves to a new town and finds himself trying to solve a murder mystery when his first friend is found dead.

The Invisible by Mats Wahl
A Swedish teenager is assaulted and killed, but returns as a ghost to find his killer.

The Caged Graves by Dianne K. Salerni
Returning to her hometown of Catawissa, Pennsylvania, in 1867 to marry a man she has never met, seventeen-year-old Verity Boone gets caught up in the a mystery surrounding the graves of her mother and aunt and a dangerous hunt for Revolutionary-era gold.


More Books --
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Deadly Design by Debra Doktor
Extremities: Stories of Death, Murder, and Revenge by David Lubar
Eye of the Storm by Kate Messner
The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry
The Madman's Daughter by Megan Sheperd
The May Queen Murders by Sarah Jude
Mister Death's Blue-Eyed Girls by Mary Downing Hahn
The Morgue and Me by John C. Ford
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
Playing in Traffic by Gail Giles
Project Cain by Geoffrey Girard
Seraphina by Rachel Harman
A Taste for Monsters by Matthew Kirby
Three Truths and a Lie by Brent Hartinger
Unlovely by Celeste Conway
Vango: Between Sky and Earth by Timothee de Fombelle


Check these books out on display at the Arnold Branch through March 24, 2017.

Thursday, March 2, 2017

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

Once a year, the youngest baby in the Protectorate is taken and left in the woods for the witch.  The witch steals the baby and eats it . . . .

Once a year, a witch finds an abandoned baby in the woods and rescues it.  She takes it to a loving family on the other side of the forest . . . .

One year, Xan the witch discovers a baby girl that steals her heart.  That year, Xan falls in love with the baby and feeds it moonlight enmagicking her.  This is the year that everything starts to change . . . for Xan, for the baby, for the forest, for the Protectorate, for the world.


I have loved all of Kelly Barnhill's books.  They are very sophisticated original fairy tales for children.  So I was looking forward to reading her latest.  Then it was declared the winner of the Newbery Award and I immediately checked it out.  I absolutely loved this book.  It's probably my favorite Newbery winner since The Invention of Hugo Cabret.  The characters capture your interest while the plot twists keep you reading.  This is a great read for all children and teens.