Polar Bear in Love by Koromo

It's love at first sight when Polar Bear and Little Seal pup meet . . . at least it is for Polar Bear.  Little Seal is positive he's about to be eaten.

Can they overcome this misunderstanding?

Can their love survive?



This was a fun manga to read.  The story works on multiple levels for kids, teens, and adults.  The misunderstandings between the two characters are funny.  In fact, I found myself laughing out loud several times.

Celebrate Diversity!

Today, I'm sharing picture books that celebrate the diversity of those around us.  Here are of some of my favorites . . . .

The Black Book of Colors by Morena Cottin
This title invites readers to imagine living without sight through remarkable illustrations done with raised lines and descriptions of colors based on imagery. Braille letters accompany the illustrations and a full Braille alphabet offers sighted readers help reading along with their fingers.

Looking Like Me by Walter Dean Myers
Jeremy sets out to discover all of the different "people" that make him who he is, including brother, son, writer, and runner.

Green Is a Chili Pepper: A Book of Colors by Roseanne Thong
Children discover a world of colors all around them. Many of the featured objects are Latino in origin, but all are universal in appeal. A short glossary explains the cultural significance of the colored objects featured in this book.

Moses Goes to a Concert by Isaac Millman
Moses and his schoolmates, all deaf, attend a concert where the orchestra's percussionist is also deaf. Includes illustrations in sign language and a page showing the manual alphabet.

Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae
Gerald the giraffe is too clumsy to dance with all the other animals at the Jungle Dance, until he finds the right music.


More Books --
All the Animals Where I Live by Philip Christian Stead
All the Colors of the Earth by Sheila Hamanaka
Around the World in a Bathtub by Wade Bradford
Carmen Learns English by Judy Cox
Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes
The Day War Came by Nicola Davies
Deep in the Sahara by Kelly Cunnane
Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
A Family Is a Family Is a Family by Sara O'Leary
Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors by Kena Khan
I Like Myself! by Karen Beaumont
I, Too, Am America by Langston Hughes
Ian's Walk by Laurie Lears
Julian Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
Last Stop of Market Street by Matt de la Pena
Me Tall, You Small by Lilli L'Arronge
Mirror by Jeannie Baker
Mixed Me by Taye Diggs
My Name Is Yoon by Helen Recorvits
On the First Day of First Grade by Tish Rabe
Stella Brings the Family by Miriam Schiffer
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox
This Is Me: A Story of Who We Area & Where We Came From by Jamie Lee Curtis
Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie
Who We Are! All About Being the Same and Being Different by Robie Harris


Check these and more diverse books out on display at the Arnold Branch through May 24, 2019.

Stories for Sports Lovers

This week, I am sharing chapter books featuring sports story lines . . .

Million Dollar Putt by Dan Gutman
Assisted by his neighbor, Birdie, blind thirteen-year-old Ed "Bogie" Bogard will win one million dollars if he can sink a ten-foot putt in Hawaii's fifth annual Angus Killick Memorial Tournament.

Lu by Jason Reynolds
Lu knows he can lead Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and the team to victory at the championships, but it might not be as easy as it seems. Suddenly, there are hurdles in Lu's way--literally and not-so-literally--and Lu needs to figure out, fast, what winning the gold really means.

Sports Camp by Rich Wallace
Eleven-year-old Riley Liston tries to fit in at Camp Olympia, a summer sports camp where he is one of the youngest boys.

Love of the Game by John Coy
Sixth-grader Jackson has a rough start in middle school, with bullies on the bus, few classes with his friends, and changes at home but some good teachers, meeting a girl, joining a club, and playing football soon turn things around.


More Sports Stories --
Baseball Genius by Tim Green
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
Fantasy League by Mike Lupica
Gabby Garcia's Ultimate Playbook by Iva-Marie Palmer
Guys Read: The Sports Pages by Jon Scieszka
Kickers: The Ball Hogs by Rich Wallace
King of the Bench: No Fear! by Steve Moore
Lizzy Legend by Matthew Ross Smith
The Mighty Dynamo by Kieran Mark Crowley
Peasprout Chen: Future Legend of Skate and Sword by Henry Lien
The Warriors by Joseph Brucach

Check these books out on display at the Arnold Branch through May 17, 2019.

Summer Days and Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins

This short story anthology of romance stories for teens is the sequel to My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories, also edited by Stephanie Perkins.  The twelve short romance stories are written by some of the top authors in teen literature right now.  Here are a few of my favorite stories in the book . . . .

Head, Scales, Tongue, Tail by Leigh Bardugo
Gracie and Eli spend several summers searching for the answers about the sea monster she once saw in Little Spindle Lake.

The End of Love by Nina LaCour
Flora spends the summer auditing a high school geometry class and reconnecting with some old friends.

A Thousand Ways This Could All Go Wrong by Jennifer E. Smith
Annie and Griffin attempt a first date while she learns how to work with an autistic child in her summer camp group.

In Ninety Minutes, Turn North by Stephanie Perkins
In this sequel to a short story in My True Love Gave to Me, Marigold attempts to get North to consider moving to Atlanta with her for college.

Welcome Spring!!!

This week, I am sharing some of my favorite spring picture books . . . .

The Bunny Who Found Easter by Charlotte Zolotow
A lonely rabbit searches for others of his kind from summer through winter until he finds one special bunny.

Bunnies!!! by Kevan Atteberry
A monster searches everywhere to find the things he loves: bunnies!!!

My Garden by Kevin Henkes
After helping her mother weed, water, and chase the rabbits from their garden, a young girl imagines her dream garden complete with jellybean bushes, chocolate rabbits, and tomatoes the size of beach balls.

Peek-a-Boo Bunny by Holly Surplice
An energetic bunny plays hid and seek with his forest friends.

Who Likes Rain? by Wong Herbert Yee
As a young girl splashes in the rain, she plays a guessing game with the reader about other living things that enjoy a cloudburst.


More Spring Books --
10 Easter Egg Hunters: A Holiday Counting Book by Janet Schulman
Bloom by Deborah Diesen
Bunny's First Spring by Sally Lloyd-Jones
Caterpillar's Dreams by Clive McFarland
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
Cloudette by Tom Lichtenheld
Counting in the Garden by Emily Hruby
Egg by Kevin Henkes
Finding Spring by Carin Berger
The Green Line by Polly Farquharson
Here Comes Easter Cat by Deborah Underwood
If You Plant a Seed by Kadir Nelson
Little Cloud by Eric Carle
Minerva Louise and the Colorful Eggs by Janet Morgan Stoeke
Miss Jaster's Garden by N.M. Bodecker
Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming
Peep and Egg: I'm Not Hatching by Laura Gehl
Puddles!!! by Kevan Atteberry
Shake a Leg, Egg! by Kurt Cyrus
Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi
The Story of the Easter Bunny by Katherine Tegen
Sun Above, Blooms Below: A Springtime of Opposites by Felicia Chernesky
Tap Tap Boom Boom by Elizabeth Bluemle
Ten Seeds by Ruth Brown
Three Little Peas by Marine Rivoal
Wee Little Bunny by Lauren Thompson

Check these and more spring books out on display at the Arnold Branch through April 27, 2019.

Health Is Not Valued 'Til Sickness Comes

This week, I am sharing teen novels featuring stories about illness.  Grab the kleenexes before reading these books . . . .

The Comeback Season by Jennifer E. Smith
High school freshman Ryan Walsh, a Chicago Cubs fan, meets Nick when they both skip school on opening day, and their blossoming relationship becomes difficult for Ryan when she discovers that Nick is seriously ill and she again feels the pain of losing her father five years earlier.

Going Bovine by Libba Bray
Cameron Smith, a disaffected sixteen year-old who, after being diagnosed with Creutzfeld Jakob's (aka mad cow) disease, sets off on a road trip with a death-obsessed video gaming dwarf he meets in the hospital in an attempt to find a cure.

Deadline by Chris Crutcher
Given the medical diagnosis of one year to live, high school senior Ben Wolf decides to fulfill his greatest fantasies, ponders his life's purpose and legacy, and converses through dreams with a spiritual guide known as "Hey-Soos."

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata
Chronicles the close friendship between two Japanese-American sisters growing up in rural Georgia during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the despair when one sister becomes terminally ill.

Pieces of Me by Amber Kizer
After a car accident leaves her brain-dead, Jessica tries to prevent her parents from donating her organs and tissues, but then follows the lives of four fellow teens who are able to survive because she did not.


More Books --
After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick
The Brilliant Light of Amber Sunrise by Matthew Crow
Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider
Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
First Love by James Patterson
Hold Me Like a Breath by Tiffany Schmidt
Life In a Fishbowl by Len Vlahos
The Loose Ends List by Carrie Firestone
Lovely, Dark, and Deep by Justina Chen
Me & Earl & the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder
Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
Somebody Up There Hates You by Hollis Seamon
Zac & Mia by A.J. Betts

Check these books out on display at the Arnold Branch through April 26. 2019.

The Many Lives of John Stone by Linda Buckley-Archer

Stella Park (nicknamed Spark) gets a summer job working on John Stone's archive of historical notebooks at his remote estate in Suffolk, England. 

The job is an odd one where she is simply arranging the notebooks without any context as they are all in a coded cypher. 

The estate is even odder with inhabitants that either seem to despise her or consider her a long-lost family member. 

Will Spark figure out the mysteries surrounding her job and the people she meet that summer?



This is a very interesting book about family, love, and life.  The interspersing of the notebooks between the story of Spark and the mysteries in her life works to build interest in the characters and stories.  I would recommend this for older teens and adults.