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Sassy: Little Sister is Not My Name
Posted on August 13, 2009 by Jennifer in Uncategorizedby Sharon Draper Sharon Draper has won many awards for her fascinating novels for teens. With Sassy, she launches a new series geared toward a younger crowd. Sassy is a feisty 4th grader who is tired of everyone in her family referring to her as “Little Sister.” She is small for her age which makes [...]
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Juliet’s Moon
Posted on August 12, 2009 by Victoria in Historical Fictionby Ann Rinaldi Juliet’s Moon is based on an incident which occurred in the bloody time leading up to Quantrill’s raid on Lawrence, Kansas. This incident is probably very well known in southern states, but little known in northern states. Rinaldi creates a very sympathetic character in Juliet Bradshaw. When Union sympathizers burn Juliet’s family [...]
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First Light
Posted on August 11, 2009 by Children's Department Staff in Adventure, Science Fictionby Rebecca Stead Peter’s dad studies global warming, and when Peter gets to go with him to Greenland, he is understandably thrilled. He’ll be driving dog teams instead of going to school – who wouldn’t want to skip school to learn to drive a dogsled? Thea, on the other hand, has always known about [...]
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The Watsons Go to Birmingham -1963
Posted on August 8, 2009 by Children's Department Staff in Classics, Family Read-Aloud, Historical Fiction, other award winnersby Christopher Paul Curtis Kenny’s family in Flint, Michigan is known as the Weird Watson’s for many reasons. His younger sister Joetta is overdressed in the winter because it’s believed southern folks will freeze solid. Keeny, the narrator, does well in school and wants to please his parents. The older brother Byron, is somewhat of [...]
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From Russia With Lunch
Posted on August 8, 2009 by Victoria in Family Read-Aloud, Humorous Stories, Mysteriesby Bruce Hale The latest installment in the Chet Gecko mystery series is From Russia With Lunch. This series is perfect for middle-grade readers or for a family read-aloud. Parents will enjoy the series’ wry references to the classic detective stories with titles like The Malted Falcon and The Hamster of the Baskervilles. Chet [...]
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The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders
Posted on August 6, 2009 by Children's Department Staff in animals, Humorous Stories, Poetryby Jack Prelutsky I didn’t know about Jack Prelutsky’s playful poems until I joined the Children’s staff here at MPL. He is now a favorite of mine, along with Shel Silverstein. This book is a collection of 28 short poems, in a colorful picture book format with illustrations by Petra Mathers. This book would [...]
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Hatchet
Posted on August 6, 2009 by Jennifer in Adventure, Classics, Newberyby Gary Paulsen I recently reread this classic survival/adventure story, and it is really amazing. Brian Robeson is flying to Alaska to see his dad after his parents’ recent divorce. The final stretch north is in a small bush plane with Brian as the only passenger. When the pilot has a heart attack, Brian [...]
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Strange Birds
Posted on August 5, 2009 by Children's Department Staff in Fantasyby Judith Gilliland Eleven-year-old Anna lives with her overly strict aunt because her parents were lost at sea. To escape from her aunt, Anna has a fort in the Justin Case tree outside her bedroom window. She spends many hours there – hiding, dreaming, and wondering what happened to her parents. After a hurricane, [...]
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Pure Dead Magic
Posted on August 1, 2009 by Children's Department Staff in Fantasyby Debi Gliori Signora Strega-Borgia is looking for a new nanny so that she can return to her witch acadamy and finish learning about magic. When Mrs. McLachlan comes along, she turns out to be a nanny with the perfect balance to handle the Strega-Borgias’ three odd children: Titus, Pandora, and Damp. When she is [...]
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Pretty Like Us
Posted on July 28, 2009 by Children's Department Staff in Realistic Fiction, social issuesby Carol Lynch Williams Beauty feels like she’s never lived up to her name. No one at school understands her or wants to be her friend, so she finds acceptance with her mom and grandmother. Grandma’s famous saying is, “Pretty is as pretty diz (does).” People may be beautiful on the outside, but how they [...]
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