ONE BOOK ONE GLENDALE IS COMING

Our special ONE BOOK ONE GLENDALE for Younger Readers will be coming this Thursday, November 21, 2013.  This year's book is The Aviary by local author, Kathleen O'Dell.  Mark your calendar and join us for an evening with a great children and YA author. 

This book is for readers in 4th grade and up.  

BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY

13 year old Nate Foster is about to make it big. At least, he hopes so. Otherwise, stealing his brother’s fake id and running away to New York City to audition for the Broadway musical version of E.T. will have all been in vain. His only hope of not getting grounded for the rest of his life and having to return to his horrible small town existence as bully bait is to be cast as the lead role. Armed with passion, charisma, wit, and a little bit of naïveté, Nate sets out to conquer New York City and take Broadway by storm.

Better Nate Than Ever by Broadway choreographer Tim Federle is a hilarious story about a kid who will stop at nothing to realize his dreams. It’s a bumpy jouney, but Nate learns a lot about himself along the way. This book will have you howling with laughter and tapping your toes to show tunes as Nate finds himself swept into the crush of the big city, freeloading chips and salsa from every restaurant in Times Square and desperately searching for a place to charge his ancient Nokia phone. It’s a great read for anyone who has ever had a dream and maybe enough courage to chase it.

Grades 5 and up

HOMELESSNESS IS THE NEW VAMPIRE

Lately, I've read three or four books featuring families that fall on hard times and find themselves homeless, struggling on the streets, and ending up in shelters.  So I was curious when the great author Blue Balliett decided to cover this topic in her new book Hold Fast.  

Early and her family live in a small apartment collecting words and poetry when her father isn't off working as a library page (someone who shelves the books).  His love of language is his great connection to his daughter Early and they all fantasize about the day when they will have their own house to fill with their favorite words.  All Early's dreams are shattered one day when her father mysteriously disappears, mean men come and ransack their apartment, and her mother carts Early and her brother off to the homeless shelter.  While her mother does her own detective work, Early tries to unravel the threads cloaking her father's disappearance and keeping a cool head. 

Balliett achieves another poetic masterpiece, and is a great read for grades 5 and up. 

JUNE 2013

NOT A VACATION

LaRue Across America: Postcards From the Vacation by Mark Teague is a hilarious take on a vacation gone awry when two cats join Ike and throws his planned cruise out the window.   Ike, the irate dog, tries every which way, via postcards, to let poor injured Mrs. Hibbins that all is not well with him or the cats and he only has their best interests at heart and she should come and get them as soon as possible.  

Told with a much humor in the illustrations, the pictures tell a different story,  it's a perfect family read-aloud.  Mark Teague creates beauftiful scenic pages in a combination of color and black and white (for the fantasy/dream moments).  Great for readers in preschool and up.  

IT'S THE END...

of our Summer Reading Program, Reading Is So Delicious, but if you haven't had a chance to turn in your  completed reading log, bring it in to the Central Library, Children's Room this week and get your book.  Hope you all had fun reading with us.   

DISCOVERING LOVE WITHIN A FOSTER FAMILY HOME

Carly Conners has known only one kind of life: a difficult and impoverished one.  She was raised by a mother who was involved with different men, and who taught her that crying is for the weak.
Carly is easy going and she learns to live this way of life until tragedy strikes.  Her mother is hospitalized as a result of domestic violence.  
Carly is then sent to live with a foster family, The Murphys. 

The Murphys are picture perfect in Carly's eyes.  They live in a beautiful home, have traditional roles and routines, and they treat each other with lots of love.  Although shocked by their lifestyle at first, Carly later finds that she too deserves a life like the Murphys.  Through the course of the story, she learns that picture perfect families don't always have picture perfect beginnnings.  Lynda Mullaly Hunt brings Carly's touching experience to life in One For the Murphys.

For 5th grade and up.

ZOMBIE JAMBOREE

A review from Mr. B.  of the Grandview Branch: 

Yes, ParaNorman was a movie first, and a DVD well worth checking out from the library. Kimmel has taken Chris Butler’s witty script and turned it into a free-standing, enjoyable comic-adventure horror novel. Seventh grader Norman Babcock (whose favorite movie is Dawn of the Dead) has the ability to communicate with dead souls, animal and human. This amazing talent makes him a prime object of Middle School bad jokes, pranks, and bullying.  But, it comes in handy as the 300^th anniversary of the local Witch Trial approaches, and the spirit of their local condemned witch (an innocent 10 year old girl) returns seeking vengeance. 

Adult fans of horror and comedy-horror (think Scooby Doo) will recognize the traditional elements: ghosts and Zombies both silly and terrifying; a ghostly visit to the trial 300 years ago; the slapstick between Norman and the ghosts; Norman’s classroom bully Alvin; Norman’s glued-to-her-cell phone older sister; Norman’s insistent, persistent, insult resistant over-weight friend Neil; Neil’s “Perfection-in-a-Towel“ older brother; and a host of adults who just don’t understand. Also present are the not very subtle but very well played themes of trust, friendship, tolerance, and acceptance, all in an easy to read, funny, riveting, and sometimes moving adventure package. Read the book; see the movie; share the fun.   ParaNorman by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel.   

Reading Level 4th-8th.

DECLICIOUS CHOCOLATES ARE SPECIAL

The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop by Kate Saunders have  two of my favorite elements, chocolates and cats.  Twins, Oscar and Lily, move into a new home, in a new city that their father has inherited.  Long thought to be dead, their evil great uncle wants to capture the twins' magic in order to continue his diabolical plan to make a chocolate that would make other villains immortal.   Along with a secret sector of MI6, the twins are helped by Caydon, Demera and Spike, immortal cat and rat, to stop their great uncle's evil plans.  

This is a highly improbably story, especially when Demera, the cat, turns into a giant and  binges on McDonald burgers, but a lot of fun nonetheless.  
For readers in 4th -6th grade.  

DON'T LET THE GHOST FOLLOW YOU HOME

In a small town, secrets are hard to keep.  So when Neil and his sister, Bree visit their aunts for the summer, they are almost immediately introduced to Graylock Hall, the abandoned asylum where three children mysteriously died.  People say that the Children's Ward nurse, Nurse Janet, killed them all, but the ghost that follows Neil and Bree home after their visit to Graylock Hall sure doesn't look like a nurse.  And she doesn't seem too friendly towards Neil and Bree, either.  Who is this ghost and what does she want?  

Readers in Grades 6 and up can find out in Dan Poblocki's ghost story, The Ghost of Graylock.

HELP ME I'M STUCK AT SUMMER CAMP!

For those of you who enjoy opening and pulling things out or reading other people's postcards and mail then this is the perfect book for you.  Postcards From Camp:  A Postal Story by Simms Taback is a very funny exchange of mail between a father and son, whose first time at camp is not enjoyable at all.  However, it's only for one week, and Michael is willing to try for his father's sake.  

The illustrations are fantastic and it's a good introduction for start for someone going off to camp.  

To be read aloud to someone or can be read by a 2nd grader and up.  

  

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH A CARDBOARD BOX LATELY?

Erin at Montronse is creating a LIVE ANGRY BIRDS Game this coming Monday, July 8th with her boxes.  

Lessa and Cecile has a refrigerator filled with delicious reads at the Central  Library.  Come check it out.  

SUMMER IS NOT OVER YET!  Think about you can make with a cardboard box.   USE YOUR IMAGINATION!  Send us a picture of your finished product.   

Check out what ,Caine, a boy who became famous for what he made one LA summer on this website:  http://cainesarcade.com/ . 

CHOCOLATE AND MORE CHOCOLATE

A book review by a special guest reviewer, Vikram, age 10:

Charlie Bucket lived with his family in a small cottage.  They were very poor.  For a long time, Mr. Willy Wonka‘s chocolate factory was closed. Suddenly one day, everybody heard the gears and machines in the factory running again and saw little people running around.  Now, Mr. Willy Wonka decided to let five children, finders of a golden ticket, one in each candy bar, come to tour the factory.  After the tour, each child would get a lifetime supply of candy. 

The five children were Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, Mike Teavee and Charlie Bucket.  Augustus Gloop went up some pipes, Veruca Salt chewed some inedible gum and had to be taken away, and Violet Beauregarde got thrown down the garbage chute, until only Charlie and Mike Teavee were left.  

Mike Teavee complained, “I am getting tired." 
"Let’s use the elevator, then,” said Mr. Willy Wonka. 
Once they were in the elevator, Mr Willy Wonka said they could each choose a button and press it.  Mike Teavee chose the television room.  Mr. Willy Wonka explained that you could see chocolate being sent by television.  He said not to go near the lens because they would send you by television and make you very, very small.  After the chocolate had been sent, Mike Teavee  went near the lens and got sent by television, and he was a midget.  The workers, the Oompa-Loompas, grabbed him and had to take him and his parents so they could stretch him and make him tall.  

So, what happened to Charlie?  Read  the book to find out !  CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY by Roald Dahl.  

Recommended for readers in grades   4th & 5th.   The story is further continued in Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.           

WHO WANTS A PET?

a book review by our special guest reviewer Adarsh, age 10:

Mason Dixon is an only child, which gives Mason trouble. His parents insist on getting him a pet to keep him company, but he does not want a pet. He first gets a goldfish, because his friend Brody has a goldfish named Albert.  Mason names his goldfish, Goldfish.  But he feeds Goldfish twice a day instead of once, because he misheard the pet store owner.  So Goldfish dies of overfeeding.  His parents next get him a hamster.  Mason names his hamster, Hamster. But as soon as he and Brody dress the hamster in a homemade pirate costume, the hamster runs away.  They next get him a cat, which sits on his lap, and when he needed to use the restroom, he could not get up because of the cat.  Because Brody’s parents work he comes to Mason’s house and Brody’s allergic to cats.  

So they return the cat and get Mason a three – legged – dog, which he names Dog.  Do you think Mason started liking pets?  Read the book to find out what happens next! 

Mason Dixon by Claudia Mills is recommended for 4^th-6^th grade children.

CHRONICLES OF AVANTIA ADVENTURE

A special mask possesses the power to control the Beasts of Avantia.  But when danger nears, the mask is purposefully broken up and hidden in different places so that the evil warlord does not gain possession of them.  It is now up to two heroic young people and others to retrieve each piece.  Unfortunately, the sibling of one of the two heroes turns towards evil which makes this novel adventurous and full of surprises.

ADAM BLADE delivers a thrilling fantasy story for boys and girls to enjoy. Check out CHASING EVIL, book two in the CHRONICLES OF AVANTIA.  For 4th grade and up.