May the Fourth Be With You, Or Happy Star Wars Day!

May 4, 2015April 28, 2015 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

Are you going to celebrate May the 4th with a Star Wars marathon, binge read some great books, introduce the Star Wars universe to the next generation, or some combination of the three? Perhaps you are unaware of the wonders of Star Wars Day. Well, in case you are scratching your head as to why is May the 4th called Star Wars Day? Simply say “May the 4th Be With You” out loud and you’ll hear the pun that triggered the worldwide celebration of the day. Today is the day world over to say “May the Force be with you” and celebrate the beloved Star Wars story that binds our galaxy together.

I am going to celebrate with some great DVD’s and books that pay tribute in some way to the Star Wars legacy. Although, when in doubt it is always best to start with the Original Trilogy and then moving on to the rest.

Movies/Television:

Phineas & Ferb. Star Wars
A couple summers ago in a galaxy far, far away, Phineas & Ferb are happily basking in the glow of Tatooine’s twin suns – until plans for the Death Star accidentally fall into their hands, thrusting them (and Agent P) into a glactic rebellion and an epic struggle of good versus evil. Will Phineas and Ferb be able to resist the Darl Side? Will Stormtrooper Candace finally bust a Rebel? Can Agent P stop Darthenshmirtz from using his Force-powered ‘Sith-Inator

Spaceballs
Science fiction farce in which a space bum struggles to save a princess and keep a ruthless alien race from stealing the air supply from a neighboring planet.

Star Wars, The Clone Wars. The Complete Season One
Jedi knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi battle against evil forces with the help of the clone army.

Lego Star Wars – The Yoda Chronicles
In episode I, Darth Sidious unveils his plan to create a new super-weapon to help him defeat the Republic once and for all. Yoda and his Padawan students must work together and save the galaxy. In episode II, Count Dooku uses his new and improved Clone-a-Matic to create an army of Jek clones. Now substitute teacher Anakin Skywalker must lead Yoda’s Padawan class to victory.

There are more of course, but I wanted to mention the sheer volume of Star Wars related books, even without counting those included in the actual ever expanding Star Wars novel series, easy readers, and Visual Dictionaries. There are unique new looks, and deep study, of the universe that has become such a big part of worldwide culture.

Books:

William Shakespeare’s Star Wars: Verily, a New Hope by Ian Doescher; inspired by the work of George Lucas and William Shakespeare

Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy by James Luceno; consultant, Curtis Saxton; illustrated by Richard Chasemore and Hans Jenssen

ART2-D2’s Guide to Folding and Doodling by Tom Angleberger

Darth Vader: a 3-D Reconstruction Log written by Daniel Wallace; illustrated by Chris Trevas and Chris Reiff

The Strange case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

Star Wars: Incredible Cross Sections

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: Incredible Cross-Sections

Star Wars: Complete Cross-Sections

Book Club Picks for Middle Grade Readers

April 17, 2015April 11, 2015 / 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 bcpaperboy depend 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 junkma bcgrimm n.

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.

Smile 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 Grabenstein bclibrary

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.Fortunately, 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.

On Our Shelves: Great New Books for Children and Teens

April 10, 2015April 9, 2015 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

Every week I spend my off desk hours of work getting new books ready to go on our shelves in the children and teen areas of the library. Along the way I find ones I need to read, favorite authors I did not expect more from quite yet, and many great surprises. I know not everyone loves children’s or young adult literature, or has that same attachment to favorites (old and new) that I do, but for fellow fans and those looking to share recommendations with others I thought it was time to gather up another list of new books from this section of the library that I am excited about adding to our collection.

This is far from all of the great new selections, so feel free to come on in and browse our displays of new materials!

Children’s Fiction

Al istair Grim’s Odditorium by Gregory Funaro

The Courage of Cat Campbell by Natasha Lowe

Magic Tree House Super Edition #1: Danger in the Darkest Hour by Mary Pope Osborne and Sal Murdocca

I Survived #11: I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, 1871 by Lauren Tarshis

The Only Game by Mike Lupica

Young Adult Fiction

The Ruby Circle (Bloodlines) by Richelle Mead

Fairest: Levana’s Story (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

When by Victoria Laurie

Embassy Row #1: All Fall Down by Ally Carter

Frostfire (The Kanin Chronicles) by Amanda Hocking

Woven by Michael Jensen and David Powers King

Firefight (The Reckoners) by Brandon Sanderson

Playlist for the Dead by Michelle Falkoff

As always, there are many more great books entering the collection every day. Swing by the children’s and teen areas and browse the displays of new materials for even more!

Book Club Picks – Fantasy

April 8, 2015March 23, 2015 / Linda / Leave a comment

Is your book club looking to escape the here and now? Try reading a fantasy and discover a new dimension.

Written In My Own Heart’s Blood – Diana Gabaldon – After being presumed dead, Jamie Fraser returns to find that his best friend has married his wife, his illegitmate son has discovered who is father is, and his nephew has decided to marry a Quaker.

The Bone Clocks – David Mitchell – Interweaves six narratives spanning the period between 1984 and the 2030s to chronicle a secret war between a cult of soul-decanters and a small group of vigilantes who would take them down.

The Ocean At The End of the Lane – Neil Gaiman – Presents a modern fantasy about fear, love, magic, and sacrifice in the story of a family at the mercy of dark forces, whose only defense is the three women who live on a farm at the end of the lane.

Fool’s Assassin – Robin Hobb – llegitimate royal and former assassin FitzChivalry Farseer masquerades as a country squire with his beloved wife, but finds himself drawn back to his former life by old allegiances.

Visions – Kelley Armstrong – Estranged from Gabriel when his past comes to light, Olivia Taylor-Jones receives a sinister warning in the form of a murder victim dressed to look like her and struggles to learn the truth about the victim, the role of her new home, and her susceptibility to old enemies.

The Heavens Rise – Christopher Rice – When Niquette Delongpre is exposed to a small parasite deep in the swamps outside of New Orleans, she must come to grips with her mysterious and dangerous new powers to battle against a rising evil.

Innocence – Dean Koontz – Foraging for supplies by night in a beautiful but hostile urban world where strangers would kill him on sight, Addison endures a solitary existence before meeting a quicksilver girl engaged in a dangerous duel of wits with a malicious, well-placed enemy.

The Witch’s Daughter – Paula Brackston – Witnessing the death of her witch mother in the spring of 1628, Bess Hawksmith turns to secluded warlock Gideon Masters for protection and learns formidable powers, including immortality, skills she begins teaching to a new apprentice centuries later.

10 Books We’re Looking Forward to in April

April 3, 2015March 23, 2015 / Louise / Leave a comment

April is typically a month of new beginnings. The snow is gone (we hope), the grass, leaves, and flowers are starting to grow, and plenty of new books are hitting the shelves. Who knows, it may even get warm enough to read outside!

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 April are: