NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER!

TRUE BELIEVER by VIRGINIA EUWER WOLFF is written in verse and is about a fifteen year old inner-city girl who is trying do do the right thing at all times in order to get a better life. However, time shows her that it is really difficult to always to the "right" thing since life can throw things in your way in the most unexpected way. She realizes that at times doing the right thing is not really as important than doing the things that you truly believe in. This is a coming of age story that is written so beautifully that you would wish there was more to read.

This is the second novel in a trilogy. The first one is called MAKE LEMONADE and this can also be checked out from our library.

For grades 7 and up.

TOYS ARE PEOPLE TOO!

Sting-ray, Lumphy and Plastic are three toys that live in a nice house with a sweet little girl to take care of them. There are many things they have to learn about living with humans. They get very nervous when the little girl puts them in the bottom of a dark sack and it starts bumping around, not to mention the thought of the scary machine in the basement that's supposed to make them clean. Even though they aren't used to the human world, they feel very loved. If you are just starting to read chapter books, TOYS GO OUT by Emily Jenkins is a great one! For 2nd graders and up.

THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

The Library will be closed on Thursday and Friday and will re-open on Saturday, November 24th.

Happy Thanksgiving.

TO GIVE OR NOT TO GIVE

This has been one of my favorite books of all time. I am not sure if now I like this book as much as I liked it before. Since as we grow our perceptions of things change in our lives as much as the tree changes in this particular story. The story is about a boy and a tree. The tree loves the boy unconditionally and it literally gives everything that it can offer to the him. However, the boy is not as gracious as he should have been. He only remembers the tree only when in need of something. If you are in the mood to read something really sad than this book is for you. THE GIVING TREE by SHEL SILVERSTEIN is one that you will enjoy only if you are in a super happy mood, since after reading it you might not be as cheery as you might have wanted.

For grades four and up.

21st CENTURY LITTLE WOMEN

When you're in middle school, friendships come and go like the passing of day to night. What's even worse is parents all of a sudden decide to become VERY embarrassing! Put the two together and you get THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB by Heather Vogel Frederick. Emma and Jess are best friends. They used to be friends with Megan until she joined up with the "popular" girls. And Cassidy has just moved into town with the force of a tornado. When the moms decide to start a monthly book club, the girls aren't thrilled at the prospect of being forced to spend time with one another. But as they read through Little Women together, they begin to notice themselves in the characters of the book they are reading, and they begin to see each other in new ways as well. A surprisingly enjoyable book that strays from the typical pre-teen girl theme in many ways. Great for 5th graders and older.

BEYOND WORDS THERE ARE...

Now here is a book that you can 'read' without really reading it. Confused already? Well, don't be because there are simply no words in it. It is a wordless book that is so satisfying and amazing that if there were words in it, they would have been just a mere distraction. You will go on to this visual journey feeling a bit confused in the beginning but once you realize what is on the other side, things would start to make sense to you. I do have to admit that it is not an easy book to 'read' since you need to look beyond to speculate the many points of views and perspectives that surround the characters and how they see things from the infinite sides of things. How can the other side have so many sides? ISTVAN BANYAI who has created a really cool book called THE OTHER SIDE is on the children's side of the library and you can check it out because it really is worth the 'read' :)

For grades third and up.

ONE WEEK AND COUNTING

Cythnia Kadohata, award-winning author of WEEDFLOWER, will be at the Central Library on Thursday, November 15 at 7 p.m. She will be talking about her book, answering questions and signing personal copies as part of the One Book/One Glendale...for younger readers program.

This event is free and open to all.

Glendale Public Library / 222 East Harvard Street / Glendale, CA 91215

For additional information, please call (818) 548-2034.

IS YOUR TURKEY CHICKEN?!?!

In this funny story called A Hoboken Chicken Emergency by Daniel Pinkwater, a young boy named Arthur is sent to get the Thanksgiving turkey. Unfortunately there aren't any, so he's sent home with a huge, living chicken. Arthur grows attached to the chicken and many adventures take place as he tries to prevent the chicken from becoming Thanksgiving dinner. If you find yourself laughing at books like Captain Underpants or Junie B. Jones, you are really going to giggle at the crazy, silly things that happen to Arthur in this book! Ages 6-10.

TIME TRAVEL TO THE FUTURE!

It's 1995. Three adventurous boys set out on a typical field trip to the museum. They innocently try making their day more interesting, when suddenly...out of the blue...they end up 100 years in the future! They encounter annoying robots, anti-gravity flying discs and accidentally run into their granddaughters which could alter their futures forever! Exciting and fast-paced, good for boys and girls, 2095 by Jon Sciezka is another hilarious installment in the Time Warp Trio series. If you like this, try some others in the series like THE NOT-SO-JOLLY ROGER, YOUR MOTHER WAS A NEANDERTHAL, and DA WILD, DA CRAZY, DA VINCI! There's even Time Warp Trio in comic book style! For grades 3 and up.

THE THANKFUL TURKEYS

'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey

A Thanksgiving field trip to Farmer Mack Nugget's turkey farm takes a turn for the worse when the children see an ax and realize what will happen to their new foul friends.

A twist on the traditional 'Twas the Night Before Christmas with some fun and irreverant puns.

Great read-a-loud for everyone from preschoolers and up.

THE TRAVELS WITH SIENNA

Here is a fun and cool book that you will read about the African-American history. The book is written in a journal and scrapbook format which makes it very refreshing and interesting to look at. You will enjoy reading this book because the facts are presented in a fun way and you would think as though your own friend is telling you about their trip and will genuinely be interested. At the end of the book you will find all the names and the addresses of all the places that Sienna travels with her family. You never know, maybe you too might want to go to these places. SIENNA'S SCRAPBOOK: OUR AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE TRIP is written by TONY TRENT PARKER and the illustrations are done by JANELL GENOVESE.

For grades third and up.

FUNNY FOX SHOWS OFF!

Sometimes animals seem a lot like humans. In the book FOX BE NIMBLE by James Marshall, the human-like character is Fox, and he has three chapters of funny happenings. Fox really thinks he's hot stuff. But apparently not everyone knows just how great he is, so he makes a point of showing everyone! First he must babysit for the Ling children who are hard to keep still and end up getting Fox on the evening news. Next, Fox injures himself falling on a skate and makes a big deal out of it, even though he wasn't very hurt, just because he is such a show off. He finally puts his antics to good use as the baton-twirling leader of a parade. This is good for 1st - 3rd graders who are almost ready to read chapter books, but aren't ready for anything too long.