Adventure

10 Books We’re Looking Forward to in June

/ Louise / Leave a comment

Is it really June already? There are some terrific books coming to our shelves in June that have “hammock time” written all over them.

Every month, librarians from around the country pick the top ten new books they’d most like to share with readers. The results are published on LibraryReads.org. One of the goals of LibraryReads is to highlight the important role public libraries play in building buzz for new books and new authors. Click through to read more about what new and upcoming books librarians consider buzzworthy this month. The top ten titles for June are:

  1. Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave
  2. The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows
  3. The Book of Speculation by Erica Swyler
  4. The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
  5. The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
  6. In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume
  7. The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand
  8. The Precipice by Paul Doiron
  9. My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman
  10. Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship by Robert Kurson

National Trails Day – June 6, 2015

/ Linda / Leave a comment

hiking

June 6th is American Hiking Society’s National Trails Day, the country’s largest celebration of trails.  It’s the perfect time to take advantage of the wonderful hiking opportunities Cheshire has to offer.  The Cheshire Library has a display located on the main and lower levels with trail maps for the various hiking areas in Cheshire.  Come on it, grab a map or two and enjoy some great scenery!  The Cheshire Land Trust will have a two-hour exploration of the Old Farms Reserve and DeDominicis Property on Saturday from 9-11.  They will be meeting at 9:00 am at Old Farms Preserve on Old Farms Road.  For other activities throughout the state, check the Connecticut Woodlands website here.


Hiking Areas:

Boulder Knoll Property – Boulder Road

Casertano Property – Marian Road

Cheshire Park Property – Country Club Road

DeMinicis Property – Old Lane Road

Dime Savings Property – Bordering I-84 and Route 322

Farmington Canal Linear Trail – Cornwall Avenue, North Brooksvale Road, Mount Sanford Road

Mixville Hills Property – Waterbury Road

Quinnipiac Park River Walk – Cheshire Street

Roaring Brook Property – Roaring Brook Drive

Ten Mile Lowlands Property –  Dundee Drive

Discover other hiking areas in and around Connecticut by checking out a book from the library’s collection located downstairs in the Reference area under 917.6.

Hiking the Pioneer Valley

Best Hikes With Kids

50 Hikes In Connecticut

Hikes In Southern New England

AMC’s Best Day Hikes in Connecticut

Short Nature Walks in Connecticut

Guest Post: Download FREE Audiobooks May Through August!

/ cheshirelib / 1 Comment

Children’s librarian Nicole is an avid audiobook listener. Today, she’s taking to the blog to pass along a great opportunity to listen to some free audiobooks this summer!

 

For its sixth year running, AudioFile is making free downloadable audiobooks available for children, teens and adults. The program is geared towards inspiring teens to discover new books and authors, but the books themselves have great crossover appeal for adults (and some children) as well. Starting in May, two free audiobooks are available each week for downloading. The audiobook pairings are “listen-alikes” – a classic and a popular contemporary titled paired by theme.

A detailed list of the free audiobooks (along with listening clips) is available online at http://www.audiobooksync.com/. If you want to make sure you don’t miss any of the titles, you can also choose to receive text prompts when new audiobooks are available by sending the text message “syncya” to 25827.

Whether you’re new to audiobooks, or you’re a long-time fan, this is definitely an annual event that you don’t want to miss out on! And if you’re new to downloading audiobooks, have no fear – staff members at Cheshire Public Library are available for personal one-on-one tutorial sessions to help you along the way. Call Cheshire Library at 203-272-2245 to make an appointment.

 

Check out the great titles that AudioFile is making available to the masses this season!

 

 

May 21-27

X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz & Kekla Magoon (read by Dion Graham)

Here in Harlem by Walter Dean Myers (read by Muhammad Cunningham, et al.)

 

May 28-June 3

The Ring and the Crown by Melissa de la Cruz (read by Jennifer Ikeda)

Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan (read by Eloise Oxer & Paul English)

 

June 4-10

A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty (read by Fiona Hardingham et al.)

Dracula by Bram Stoker (read by David Horovitch and a full cast)

 

June 11-17

The Living by Matt de la Pena (read by Henry Leyva)

The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger (read by Richard M. Davidson)

 

June 18-24

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein (read by Sasha Pick)

Anne Frank Remembered by Miep Gies & Alison Leslie Gold (read by Barbara Rosenblat)

 

June 25-July 1

Monster by Walter Dean Myers (read by a full cast)

Lord of the Flies by William Golding (read by William Golding)

 

July 2-July 8

Echoes of an Angel by Aquanetta Gordon & Chris Macias (read by Robin Miles)

Buddha Boy by Kathe Koja (read by Spencer Murphy and a full cast)

 

July 9-15

The Explorers Club by Neil Benjamin (read by Carson Elrod et al.)

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne (read by Michael Prichard)

 

July 16-22

Crows & Cards by Joseph Helgerson (read by MacLeod Andrews)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (read by Robin Field)

 

July 23-29

March by Geraldine Brooks (read by Richard Easton)

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (read by Christina Ricci)

 

July 30-August 5

Courage Has No Color, The True Story of the Triple Nickles by Tanya Lee Stone (read by JD Jackson)

John Ball’s In the Heat of the Night by Matt Pelfrey (adapt.) (read by Ryan Vincent Anderson et al.)

 

August 6-12

Under a War-Torn Sky by L.M. Elliot (read by Elizabeth Wiley)

The Old Brown Suitcase by Lillian Boraks-Nemetz (read by Sofia Newman)

2016 Nutmeg Nominees Announced

/ Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

NUTMEG-LOGOThe Nutmeg Nominees for 2016 have been announced! The Nutmeg Children’s Book Award is the “Children’s Choice” Award for Connecticut.  The goal of the committee is to encourage children in grades two through twelve to read quality literature.

Check out this long list of nominees! How many have you already read, and who do you think should win?

The Four Levels of Nutmeg:
Elementary Award: Grades 2-4 (15 nominees each year)
Bowling Alley Bandit by Laurie Keller
Dare the Wind: The Record-Breaking Voyage of Eleanor Prentiss and the
Flying Cloud by Tracey Fern
Digby O’Day: In the Fast Lane by Shirley Hughes
The Flying Beaver Brothers and the Evil Penguin Plan by Maxwell Eaton II
Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman
Gone Fishing:  A Novel in Verse by Tamera Will Wissinger
Jedi Academy by Jeffrey Brown
King for a Day by Rukhsana Khan
Marty McGuire by Kate Messner
On a Beam of Light:  A Story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne
Pigsticks and Harold and the Incredible Journey by Alex Milway
Play Ball, Jackie! by Stephen Krensky
The Secret Chicken Society by Judy Cox
A Splash of Red by Jennifer Bryant
Waiting for the Magic by Patricia MacLachlan

Intermediate Award: Grades 4-6 (10 nominees each year)
The Blossoming Life of Violet Diamond by Brenda Woods
Elvis and the Underdogs by Jenny Lee and Kelly Light
Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage
The Great Trouble by Deborah Hopkinson
The Illuminated Adventures of Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo & K.G. Campbell
Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
One Dog and His Boy by Eva Ibbotson
Pie by Sarah Weeks
Winterling by Sarah Prineas

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Teen Award: Grades 7-8 (10 nominees each year)
Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Counting by 7’s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Golden Boy by Tara Sullivan
I Have a Bad Feeling About This by Jeff Strand
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Reboot by Amy Tintera
The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
Shadow on the Mountain by Margi Preus
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

High School Award: Grades 9-12 (10 nominees each year)
Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick
If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Out of Nowhere by Maria Padian
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay
This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales
Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
Winger by Andrew Smith

Who do you think should win?

The 2015 winners will be announced on May 15th!

Book Club Picks for Middle Grade Readers

/ Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

Book clubs are starting to pop up in libraries and schools for readers of all ages. While book clubs are a great way to encourage reading and picking up books outside a reader’s comfort zone, they are about much more than the books being read. Book clubs are about fostering a sense of community, creating or strengthening relationships, and shared experiences.

If your middle grade reader is interested in joining, or starting a club of their own (or perhaps a parent and child book club is more your speed) they might be at a loss as to what books the group will read next. It is a common issue with adult book groups, so I am sure it happens with younger readers as well. Here are some suggested titles to add to the list of possibilities. Some are tried and true titles that you might have enjoyed at their age, and others are newer books that are simply wonderful. your selections will bcpaperboydepend quite a bit on the interests and maturity of those in your group, but this can help get the selection process started.

Paperboy by Vince Vawter
Taking over a friend’s newspaper route in 1959 Memphis, an 11-year-old baseball enthusiast struggles with a speech disability while attempting to communicate with customers, a situation that turns dangerous when he has a confrontation with a thieving local junkmabcgrimmn.

A Tale Dark & Grimm (A Tale Dark & Grimm, #1) by Adam Gidwitz
Follows Hansel and Gretel as they walk out of their own story and into eight more tales, encountering witches, devils, warlocks, kindly strangers, and other helpful folk as they take charge of their own happily ever after.

bcsmileSmile by Raina Telgemeier
Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. But one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth, and what follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabensteinbclibrary
Twelve-year-old Kyle wins a coveted spot to be one of 12 children chosen to stay in the new town library–designed by his hero, the famous gamemaker Luigi Lemoncello–for an overnight of fun, food and games, but in the morning, the kids find all the doors still locked and must work together to solve secret puzzles in order to discover the hidden escape route.bcmilkFortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman
When a father runs out to buy milk for his children’s breakfast cereal, the last thing he expects is to be abducted by aliens, and he soon finds himself transported through time and space on an extraordinary adventure, where the fate of the universe depends on him and the milk–but will his children believe his wild story?

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Still looking for more ideas, or some great middle grade novels to read? Here are even more:The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood,  Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai, Inkheart (Inkworld, #1) by Cornelia Funke, One For The Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Matilda by Roald Dahl, A Wrinkle in Time (A Wrinkle in Time Quintet, #1) by Madeleine L’Engle, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1)  by Roald Dahl, Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt, A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, The Giver by Lois Lowry, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg, The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall, Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff, Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1) by L.M. Montgomery, Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper, The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1)  by Philip Pullman, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, Hokey Pokey by Jerry Spinelli, Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff, The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1)  by Trenton Lee Stewart, Endymion Spring by Matthew Skelton, My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath, Doll Bones by Holly Black, Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick, The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate,Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee,The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald, The City of Ember (Book of Ember, #1) by Jeanne DuPrau, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Harry Potter, #1)  by J.K. Rowling, One Crazy Summer (Gaither Sisters, #1) by Rita Williams-Garcia, and The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.