Recommended Books for Newly Independent Readers

May 22, 2014July 10, 2014 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

If you have a young reader that is able to read independently (for the most part) and ready to make the change from the more difficult easy readers to chapter books then this is the list to take note of. When a child begins reading fluently their efforts are more automatic and exploring a wider variety of subjects and authors and showing less reliance of the illustrations to glean the meaning of new words and phrases. They are using more expression and taking pauses to coordinate with punctuation and the natural flow of language. Their energy is devoted to understanding, have good command and use of the various comprehension strategies, and can correct their own mistakes most of the time while still being willing to ask for assistance as needed.

Here are some suggestions, including some I brought home for my son this week. As usual, I am sure I missed some perfectly wonderful books for this reading level, and if I missed your favorites please mention them in a comment so others can check them out. If you are browsing our fiction shelves in the children’s room looking for books for these readers, I can give you some quick hints to find even more. The transitional chapter books have a yellow dot sticker on the spine with the call number. This makes spotting one or two when you are browsing with no specific author in mind super easy. Do not rule out books in the Easy Reader or Easy Non Fictionsection at this stage either- some books here do have vocabulary that can help your young reader continue to grow.

Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions by Margaret Musgrove.
Explains some traditions and customs of 26 African tribes beginning with letters from A to Z.

Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House, #1) by Mary Pope Osborne.
Eight-year-old Jack and his younger sister Annie find a magic treehouse, which whisks them back to an ancient time zone where they see live dinosaurs.

Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl.
Three farmers, each one meaner than the other, try all-out warfare to get rid of the fox and his family.

Mrs. Noodlekugel by Daniel Pinkwater.
Nick and Maxine have a new babysitter–the eccentric Mrs. Noodlekugel who lives in the funny little house behind their drab high-rise apartment building along with her feline butler, Mr. Fuzzface, and three myopic mice.

Mercy Watson to the Rescue (Mercy Watson #1) by Kate DiCamillo.
After Mercy the pig snuggles to sleep with the Watsons, all three awaken with the bed teetering on the edge of a big hole in the floor.

The Case of the Lost Boy (The Buddy Files, #1) by Dori Hillestad Butler.
While searching for his mysteriously lost human family, Buddy the dog is adopted by another family and helps solve the mystery of their missing boy.

26 Fairmount Avenue by Tomie dePaola.
Children’s author-illustrator Tomie De Paola describes his experiences at home and in school when he was a boy.

Other titles or series starters that I would recommend are: Ivy and Bean (Ivy and Bean, #1) by Annie Barrows, The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo by Judy Blume, The Beast in Ms. Rooney’s Room (The Kids of the Polk Street School #1) by Patricia Reilly Giff, Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs (Roscoe Riley Rules, #1) by Katherine Applegate, Ruby Lu, Brave and True by Lenore Look, Ellray Jakes is Not a Chicken by Sally Warner, Nate the Great (and the entire Nate series) by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, Snake and Lizard and Friends by Joy Cowley, Wonder Kid Meets the Evil Lunch Snatcher by Lois Duncan, Stinky: a Toon Book by Eleanor Davis, Bink & Gollie, Best Friends Forever by Kate DiCamillo, and The Big Something by Patricia Reilly Giff.

10 Books We’re Looking Forward to in May

May 17, 2014June 3, 2014 / Louise / Leave a comment

So many great books coming out in May, it’s hard to pick just ten!

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 May are:

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Bees by Laline Paull
Delicious! by Ruth Reichl
The Forgotten Seamstress by Liz Trenow
Bird Box by Josh Malerman
Bittersweet by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
Delancey: A Man, a Woman, a Restaurant, a Marriage by Molly Wizenberg
Sixth Grave on the Edge by Darynda Jones
The Blessings by Elise Juska

Linda Reads: Concealed In Death by J.D. Robb

May 13, 2014August 28, 2014 / Linda / Leave a comment

I hesitated to read this book because I was very disappointed in Ms. Robb’s last ‘In Death’ title, Thankless in Death. There have been rumors that her last few books (as J.D. Robb and Nora Roberts) were ghost written and there are arguments galore debating that topic. But Concealed In Death was a great story. It’s true the style of writing is a little different from earlier In Death books. Many comments have been made about the main characters of Eve and Roarke being different. But there have been over 50 stories written about Eve and Roarke and readers should expect that they are getting older, settling down, and wouldn’t have the same dynamic as before.

The book does lack the depth, excitement, and suspense of other In Death books. It’s a quieter suspense, more thoughtful and introspective, with a lot more focus on the victims. I actually found that a nice change. There were a few twists in the story that gave the book a jolt when needed. All in all, it was a very enjoyable read.

Summary of story:

In a decrepit, long-empty New York building, Roarke begins the demolition process by swinging a sledgehammer into a wall. When the dust clears, there are two skeletons wrapped in plastic behind it. He summons his wife, Eve Dallas immediately—and by the time she’s done with the crime scene, there are twelve murders to be solved.

The place once housed a makeshift shelter for troubled teenagers, back in the mid-2040s, and Eve tracks down the people who ran it. Between their recollections and the work of the force’s new forensic anthropologist, Eve begins to put names and faces to the remains. They are all young girls. A tattooed tough girl who dealt in illegal drugs. The runaway daughter of a pair of well-to-do doctors. They all had their stories. And they all lost their chance for a better life.

Then Eve discovers a connection between the victims and someone she knows. And she grows even more determined to reveal the secrets of the place that was called The Sanctuary—and the evil concealed in one human heart.

Jenn Reads: Shinju by Laura Joh Rowland

April 27, 2014March 24, 2014 / Jenn / Leave a comment

I’m a voracious reader, but my reading skills lately have been the pits. This cold winter weather getting anyone else down in the dumps?

I finally finished a book last night, from the stack of books that have yet to be finished. This particular one, Shinju, by Laura Joh Rowland, was supposed to be done for mystery book club two weeks ago. Ooops.

Shinju follows beginning investigating police office (of sorts, his official title is yoriki) Sano Ichiro in 17th century feudal Japan. Sano, a samurai/school teacher by trade, has been given this position by his supporter, a position he is initially unsuited for. He’s not bad at what he does- no, it’s that he’s a little too good at what he does, especially when things should be better left untouched, as his boss requests.

Sano is supposed to write a closing report on a shinju, or a double romantic suicide. Typically shinjus are when two people of different classes fall in love. Knowing their love will never survive and their families will not accept the relationship, the lovers commit suicide. This shinju looks like a suicide, but Sano is hesitant to close this case- and for good reason. Sano will risk everything: his job, his name, his parent’s reputation, and the lives of others, to solve this case.

The back cover of the book has a quote saying how “exotic” it is, and I suppose for some who are not familiar with the time period, it could be. My senior thesis for my history major in college was on a facet of Japanese history, so this particular era was familiar. For me, reading this book brought me back to my studies and I was thrilled to be immersed in 17th century Edo (now Tokyo). This is a world that is much different than ours, and much different than even 17th century Europe. Led by the Tokugawa regime, the government is a military dictatorship with strict rules. Religion, philosophy, and culture, for the new reader, may seem odd or strange. For several of our book clubbers, how Sano struggles throughout the book to justify his need for revenge and thirst to solve the mystery with his filial piety (extreme devotion to one’s elders, especially parents) and what is expected of him, was weird and unnecessary. But this is something a man of his time would have struggled with, and is realistic.

Many commented that the writing style was a bit elementary, but this is Rowland’s first published work, and will develop further in the series. Is this a masterpiece of mystery writing? No, but it was enjoyable for

what it was. More important to me than the mystery was the setting and time period, which I felt Rowland was spot on with.

Rating: 3 of out 5 stars. Enjoyable, but unnecessarily dense in some places where the plot line could have moved faster. Loved the time period and setting.

See you in the stacks,

Jenn