Girls: Smart, Adventurous, Funny, Brave, Curious Girls

This week, I'm sharing chapter books featuring girls and their stories.  Here's a few of my favorites . . . .

The Islands of Chaldea by Diana Wynne Jones
Aileen's family of magic makers includes Aunt Beck, the most powerful magician on Skarr, but her own magic does not show itself until a mission for the King and a magical cat help her find strength and confidence.

The Detective's Assistant by Kate Hannigan
In 1859, eleven-year-old Nell goes to live with her aunt, Kate Warne, the first female detective for Pinkerton's National Detective Agency. Nell helps her aunt solve cases, including a mystery surrounding Abraham Lincoln, and the mystery of what happened to Nell's own father.


Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
Escapades of a lucky little girl who lives with a horse and a monkey--but without any parents--at the edge of a Swedish village.


More Books --
The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle by Christina Uss
Astrid the Unstoppable by Maria Parr
The Aviary by Kathleen O'Dell
Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu
Emily's Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary
Georgia Rules by Nancy Turner Stevenson
Gertie's Leap to Greatness by Kate Beasley
May B. by Caroline Starr Rose
Out of Left Field by Ellen Klages
The Turnaway Girls by Hayley Chewins
Unstoppable Octobia May by Sharon G. Flake
The Warden's Daughter by Jerry Spinelli

Check these books out on display at the Arnold Branch through April 12, 2019.

That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E.K. Johnston

In a near-future where the British Empire never fell, the heir to the throne princess Victoria-Margaret is having one last summer before taking up her duties. 

She is spending the summer in Canada as Margaret meeting new friends and being a regular person.  There she meets August and Henrietta who have known almost their whole lives that they were going to marry. 

But in this world, people are genetically matched by computer to make sure they are good matches. 

When Henrietta and Margaret check their genetic matches online, they discover something strange, unsettling, and wonderful . . .

Although this book is set in the near future, it has a very historical feel to it.  I would recommend it to those who enjoy historical romances or those interested in LGBT+ stories.

World Folktales & Fables Week: March 17-23, 2019

This week is World Folktales and Fables week.  So I'm sharing folktales from around the world. Here's a few of my favorites . . . .

The People Could Fly: A Picture Book by Virginia Hamilton
In this retelling of a folktale, a group of slaves, unable to bear their sadness and starvation any longer, calls upon the African magic that allows them to fly away.

Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young
Retells in verse the Indian fable of the blind men discovering different parts of an elephant and arguing about its appearance. The illustrations depict the blind arguers as mice.

One Potato, Two Potato by Cynthia DeFelice
A very poor, humble couple live so simple a life they share everything, until the husband discovers a pot with magical powers buried under the very last potato in the garden.

Anansi Does the Impossible by Verna Aardema
Anansi and his wife outsmart the Sky God and win back the beloved folktales of their people.


More Folktales --
Aesop's Fables by Lizbeth Zwerger
Armadilly Chili by Helen Ketteman
Cinderlily by David Ellwand
Cinnamon by Neil Gaiman
East of the Sun, West of the Moon by Mercer Mayer
The Firebird by  Jane Yolen
Fox Tails: Four Fables from Aesop by Amy Lowry
The Full Belly Bowl by Jim Aylesworth
The Girl of the Wish Garden by Uma Krishnaswami
Hansel & Gretel by Holly Hobbie
The Horned Toad Prince by Jackie Hopkins
Iron John by Marianna Mayer
Jamie O'Rourke and the Giant Potato by Tomie DePaola
Koi and the Kola Nuts by Verna Aardema
Martina: The Beautiful Cockroach by Carmen Agra Deedy
Monster Stew by Mitra Modarressi
Mouse & Lion by Rand Burkert
Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe
The Nightingale by Jerry Pinkney
The Nutcracker by Stephanie Spinner
Ouch! by Natalie Babbitt
Peter and the Wolf by Chris Raschka
The Princess Mouse by Aaron Shepard
The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen
Tom Thumb by Eric Carle
The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Rachel Isadora
The Ugly Duckling by Jerry Pinkney
Urso Brunov and the White Emperor by Brian Jacques

Check out these and more books on display at the Arnold Branch through March 23, 2019.

Do You Fear the Undead?

This week, I am sharing some "undead" stories for teens featuring zombies, vampires, ghosts, and other undead monsters.  Here are a few of my favorites . . .

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Nobody Owens is a normal boy, except that he has been raised by ghosts and other denizens of the graveyard.

Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst
After sixteen-year-old vampire Pearl Sange is stabbed through the heart by a were-unicorn, she develops non-vampire-like traits that lead her to save her high school classmates from the Vampire King of New England.

Contagion by Erin Bowman
Responding to a distress call on the distant planet of Achlys, Thea Sadik and her search-and-rescue crew are confronted by a zombie-like outbreak that forces them to uncover a monstrous enemy.

A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge
Kate is an illegitimate daughter of the aristocratic Fellmotte family, and as such, she shares their unique hereditary gift: the capacity to be possessed by ghosts. Reluctant to accept her appointed destiny as vessel for a coterie of her ancestors, she escapes.


More "Undead" Stories --
Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
Croak by Gina Damico
The Dead by Charlie Higson
Die for Me by Amy Plum
Eat, Brains, Love by Jeff Hart
Enclave by Ann Aguirre
The End Games by T. Michael Martin
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
The Greatest Zombie Movie Ever by Jeff Strand
The House of Dead Maids by Clare B. Dunkle 
Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
Just Kill Me by Adam Selzer
Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick
Peeps by Scott Westerfeld
Ruined: a Novel by Paula Morris
Suck It Up by Brian Meehl
This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers
Zom-B by Darren Shan
Zombie Blondes by Brian James
Zombies vs. Unicorns by HollyBlack

Check these books out on display at the Arnold Branch through March 29, 2019.

Save the Date by Morgan Matson

Charlie has been waiting for this weekend forever. 

Her sister is getting married and the whole family is coming home.  This will be the first time in nearly two years that all four of her siblings will be together with her parents.  She's missed the fun they've always had . . . and it will be the last time they'll be together in their house as they're moving right after the wedding. 

She just knows it will be perfect . . .



This story is full of catastrophes, secrets, and blunders.  There is never a dull moment with Charlie and her family.  I would recommend this book to fans of Sarah Dessen or Jennifer E. Smith.

Galloping Good Reads: Horse Stories

This week, I am sharing chapter book stories featuring horses. 

Margret and Flynn, 1875 by Kathleen Duey
In the Colorado Territory in 1875, orphan Margret and her older sister Libby are staying with the kind-hearted Mrs. Fredrickson when Margret finds an injured horse which she nurses back to health and wants to keep, while Libby is too mistrustful of people to think that they might possibly have found a home.

A Horse Called Hero by Sam Angus
Forced to leave London for a new home in the country after their father refuses to join the military during World War II, Wolfie and his brother, Dodo, bond with an orphaned foal that they risk their lives to rescue.

Dream of Night by Heather Henson
Told from their different points of view, twelve-year-old Shiloh, a troubled foster child, Dream of Night, an abused former racehorse, and Jess, a woman who cares for both, find healing by helping one another through their pain.

A Hundred Horses by Sarah Lean
Eleven-year-old Nell must spend spring break in the country with an aunt and cousins she has never met, but while there she meets a mysterious, wild girl with a strange connection to horses and an uncanny understanding of Nell.


More Horse Books --
Astra by Chris Platt
Chancey of Maurey River by Gigi Amateau
Gabriel's Horses by Alison Hart
Horse Tales by June Crebbin
The Island Horse by Susan Hughes
Libby of High Hopes by Elise Primavera
My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara
No Small Thing by Natale Ghent
Rescue by Jessie Haas
The Rose Legacy by Jessica Day George
Wild Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff
Wind Rider by Susan Williams

Check out these books on display at the Arnold Branch through March 22, 2019.