READ ALL THINGS STAR WARS IN OCTOBER!

What do a princess, a scoundrel, and a farm boy have in common? There's at least one thing: a desire for adventure.  Unfortunately, deep within the Galaxy an evil Empire is gaining control over different star systems and killing off the galaxy's great peace keepers- the Jedi Knights.  

What roles will the princess, scoundrel, and farm boy play in this struggle?  Will they find ways to get along after their paths merge? Andrea Brackenberg's junior novelization of Star Wars: A New Hope is a welcome addition to the sci-fi genre.  She provides such interesting insight to each of the key characters' thoughts as they move through key scenes in the story.  Both humorous and memorable, this is best for 4th grade and up, or for budding Star Wars fans.  

For 4th grade and up.

SECRET TO IMMORTAL LIFE IS A JELLYFISH?

Is the jellyfish the secret to immortal life? Ellie's grandfather, a scientist, sure thinks so because he's now a thirteen year old living with her and her mom!

Pick up The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm at any branch to find out more about this year's One Book One Glendale for Younger Readers. Play our scientists  hunt and come listen to Jennifer Holm talk about her latest book on Tuesday night, November 10, 2015 at 7p.m. at the Central Library.  

ONE BOOK AND JENNIFER HOLM

This is our One Book One Glendale... for Young Readers November 10, 2015 at 7p.m. We're very excited to have Ms. Holm come to Glendale to talk about her book.  Please join us on Tuesday at the ARC across the parking lot from the Central Library. Click on the book cover to read our review of her book.  

IT’S RAINING, IT’S POURING…

A book review by Theresa from the Children's Room: 

The story is set sometime in the future though not too far off. It takes place in England which not all that different than the United States. But in this time and place in a world not very different from ours the rain has turned deadly. All water is now poisoned due to some inert bacteria brought to our universe on the back of an asteroid and now awake and multiplying in the earth’s water supply. 

In the world Virginia Bergin creates in her novel H2O the reader meets 15 year-old Ruby and her friends having a party which for many of them would be the last one of their lives. With radio broadcasts warning the dangers of any contact with water running in the background the awful truth soon is revealed—contact is fatal, it’s contagious and there is no cure. Through luck and some skill Ruby manages to be one of the very few survivors. After the deaths of her mother, brother and step-father she is left on her own and does quite a bit of floundering as the challenges she must face to survive are significant. Does she make it, does the earth survive this calamity? Only the reader knows if it’s time to start carrying an umbrella. 

For grades 5-8.

RICKY RICOTTA AND MIGHTY ROBOT ARE BACK!

These new republished versions pairing Dav Pilkey and illustrator Dan Santat are amazing!  I really like them both separately, but together, they are a mighty force of fun.  I am in love with Ricky Ricotta and his Mighty Robot again.

In the first installment,  Ricky and Mighty Robot find each other after some bullying action by Ricky's schoolmates and a fight against the evil Dr. Stinky, who built Mighty Robot!  

In the fight against the Voodoo Vultures from Venus, Ricky and his Mighty Robot beat them off with some spicy chocolate chip cookies and send them back to Venus!   

More hilarious and updated adventures are coming our way soon.

For readers in 2nd-4th grades. 

INTERGALACTIC CLONES?

THE TWINNING PROJECT by Robert Lipsyte has a little bit of something for every Tween. There's bullies getting beat up, football and band practice, families that don't get along, meddling teachers. Tom and Eddie are twins, living on different Earths, 50 years apart. Sound confusing? On Earth 1, Tom spends his time moving from school to school after he avenges the many underdogs being picked on by school bullies. Tom just hasn't been very happy since his Dad allegedly died, and he is surprised to hear his intergalactic twin is having the same kinds of feelings. Eddie isn't quite the rebellious type, though. He is more of a goodie two-shoes, even if it means it goes against his own beliefs to follow authority. 

If you can get past the chapters switching back and forth between characters, you are really going to enjoy this mysterious science fiction story! 

For grades 6 and up.

July 2014 

ROBOT AND HUMAN RELATIONS

The Robot Wars have been over for several months, and the former United States is now divided into different districts. Trout St. Kroix awaits his father's return. In desperation, he asks a friend to make a plea to the public on the Net for any information regarding his father. An unexpected turn of events occur, and Trout finds that he has endangered himself and his older brother. When his brother is captured, Trout makes an adventurous journey to the Bot District where he learns more about his father's whereabouts. Will Trout ever see his brother again?

J.V. KADE write a suspenseful sci-fi story that will have readers cheer for Trout and for the robots. Click on the link BOT WARS and reserve a copy today. 

For 5th grade and up.

A LOOK AT THE FUTURE

For the past three years, Elissa's life had changed drastically. At one time, she had been a popular and spoiled teenager living the perfect life but now she was a sick one. Unexplainable bruises, disturbing visions and pounding headaches kept her apart from the rest of the kids in school. Doctors and medical tests had not solved the problem either until finally she was scheduled to have an operation on her brain to burn out the problem. However, before that could happen, Elissa follows one of her visions and discovers a girl who turns out to be her twin. Because of this meeting, a government secret is revealed forcing the two girls to have to flee for their lives and take off across the galaxy in an exciting and suspenseful science fiction tale in Imogen Howson's Linked. 

For grades 5-8.

KEEP CALM AND TIME TRAVEL

Lee Jones and Joan Lee are opposites in name and personality, but they are also BFFs.  They do everything together - even without knowing.  The night before their 8th grade trip, their parents both tell them they're getting divorced - right after dinner and just before dessert.  After this horrible news, the next morning, they discover that instead of going to California Dreaming, the BEST amusement park ever, their 8th grade trip will take place at a Fort.  The fort sounds like a horrible field trip until they fall asleep in the fort's lighthouse and wake up in past San Francisco - 1863 to be exact.  On their way to trying to figure out how they got to 1863 and how they're going to get home (or if they even want to live in a world with divorced parents and separate high schools), they befriend another time traveler, Samuel Clemens, who teaches them a thing or two about getting around the Wild West.

Lewis Buzbee's middle-grade novel Bridge of Time is perfect for 6th through 8th graders looking for adventure and excitement with a little SciFi and Historical Fiction thrown in.

LAST MAN STANDING

When Fisher was born, he wasn't an infant.  And he didn't come out of his mother's womb.  Nobody held him and hugged him, or welcomed him into the world.  He was alone.  And a teenager.  And he was born in a survival pod.  Fisher is  the last human on Earth in a distant future from ours.  His ancestors tried to preserve as many species of animal and plant as the Earth deteriorated due to climate change and other man-made issues.  For Fisher, his main objective is to survive.  Along his journey he meets a custodial robot and a pygmy mammoth and together they figure out what it means to survive and what it means to be the last human on Earth.

Join Fisher in this post-apocalyptic tale of survival.  The Boy at the End of the World by Greg van Eekhout is perfect for lovers of science fiction and adventure in grades 5 and 6.

A TIME TRAVELING HOUSE WITH BASEBALL INCLUDED

A review of 13 Hangmen by Art Corriveau from Mr. B at the Grandview Branch of GPL.

Here’s a novel about baseball, time travel, murder, and history. Oh, and not just regular Dan Gutman baseball and trading card time travel, but the kind based on the theory that all of life past and present is happening all at once in parallel universes. The events at 13 Hangmen Court, Boston, are triggered by the death of amateur detective Tony’s great uncle, Zio Angelo. As his 13th birthday approaches, Tony inherits Zio Angelo’s 200 year old decaying house with the stipulation he sleep in Zio Angelo’s old bedroom. The room, Tony discovers, is a portal to parallel universes.

As 13-year-old boys appear and disappear, it becomes apparent to Tony that all the boys are living in the room at the same time, but in their own universes. The 13-year old boys include Tony; his great-uncle Zio Angelo who at 13 is friends with rookie Red Sox player Ted Williams; a run-away slave on the Underground Railroad; Paul Revere’s silversmith apprentice, and others. Together, as the portal allows, they solve a 200 year old mystery, save the house from demolition by the health and safety department, and solve the murder of Zio Angelo.

This well written, well researched, multi-leveled historical adventure may not be for every 13-year-old, but those willing to tackle it will not be disappointed. Maybe someone will send a copy to Tim Burton – it’s ripe for a film version. 

For readers in grades 6th- and older.   

SCIENCE FACT OR FICTION?

When a lowland gorilla is acquired by a research lab he becomes the main subject of a study being done to investigate the possibility for an ape to acquire speech. They did not use similar methods that other researchers had tried such as teaching the animal sign language. In this case a radical new method was tried and a very delicate surgery was performed grafting new vocal cords into the animal. This was successful and Ortega began to acquire language.

At the age of eleven, he was sent to school with human children and this is where the story begins. Fitting in as a new kid is always difficult but when you are a large gorilla it is even more so. In Ortega by Maureen Fegus, the author tells an unusual story of animal who has to fit into a human world and while it is a work of fiction, similar stories are taking place in laboratories around the world. Good idea or ? You, the reader, will have to decide. For grades 5-8.

If you liked Ortega, then you also might also like My Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel. This one's about a chimpanzee raised with a family with human children. The chimp is treated as if he were the youngest brother and included in all family activities. But as it turns out family life is not so easy nor is acceptance of a human/chimp hybrid. For grades 5-8

DR. BONES HAS A NIECE!

When Tory finds an old dog tag while dodging angry primate dirt bombs, she becomes intrigue with its owner. One thing leads to another, Tory and her friends are running late night undercover missions to root out the truth behind the disappearance of 16 year old science nerd from the 1960s.

Virals by Kathy Reichs is a new series from the author of the Dr. Temperance Breannan books (and the Bones television show). This series feature her niece living on a University owned island off the coast of South Carolina. It's an action-packed, science fiction, murder mystery novel with bits of romance and lots of suspense. Perfect for mature 6th-10th grade readers.

ALIEN BUNNIES FROM MALLOW

What would you do if evil, sugar-addicted seven-foot-tall rabbits from another galaxy invaded your summer camp?

a) SCREAM.

b) Hide your candy.

c) Say, "there's no such thing as evil,sugar-addicted seven-foot-tall rabbits from another galaxy."

Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies by Andrea Beaty is super silly! Rabbits from another planet are looking to take over the human population, but first they must prepare by stuffing themselves with sugary treats, like marsmallow. They land near a summer camp and soon they take over the bodies of the camp counselors. The only ones who can save the earth from these fluffy alien horrors are twins, Joules and Kevin.

A true story for 5th - 8th grade readers. Really. Well, it could happen.

NEW BEGINNING CHAPTER BOOK SERIES

If you like Star Trek, and all things space and science fiction, then you will love Julian Rodriguez. This boy believes he is from outer space disguised as a human boy and sent to Earth to learn how humans live. He's on an undercover mission and must live with these two "parents".

Not so fast, Julian. You've got to go to school, eat your oatmeal and take out the trash. Alas, Julian, you are just a boy.

Julian Rodriguez: Episode one: Trash Crisis on Earth by Alexander Stadler

For readers in 2nd & up.