Two of our staffers read this book, and they loved it. It has secret societies, an unsolvable puzzle (supposedly), and characters you’ll absolutely adore. Once you get involved in Clay’s story, you won’t want to put it down. We definitely recommend this winner of the Alex Award, finalist for the […]
Recommendations
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This week’s staff pick isn’t an individual work, but the entire collection of Maya Angelou, who passed on this week. Maya was a strong civil rights supporter and voice, and her work has affected millions. She was a truly great literary voice, and will be missed. We have several […]
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko is this week’s staff pick, chosen by one of our superb Children’s Librarians! “In this appealing novel set in 1935, 12-year-old Moose Flanagan and his family move from Santa Monica to Alcatraz Island where his father gets a job as an electrician […]
“Billie Breslin has traveled far from her California home to take a job at Delicious, the most iconic food magazine in New York and, thus, the world. When the publication is summarily shut down, the colorful staff, who have become an extended family for Billie, must pick up their lives […]
In The Sparrow, it’s 2019, and “humanity finally finds proof of extraterrestrial life when a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet which will come to be known as Rakhat. While United Nations diplomats endlessly debate a possible first contact mission, the Society of Jesus quietly organizes […]
In My Father’s Dragon, “Elmer Elevator (narrator’s father as a boy) runs away with an old alley cat to rescue a flying baby dragon being exploited on a faraway island. With the help of two dozen pink lollipops, rubber bands, chewing gum, and a fine-toothed comb, Elmer disarms the fiercest of […]
It’s the end of National Poetry Month. What did you read? Did you keep up with the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-A-Day website? Or did you check out Poetry 180 run by Billy Collins while he was the Poet Laureate? Or maybe you found a new poet or read some of your favorites. Did you […]
For whatever reason, boys (generally speaking) don’t read as much as their female counterparts. Happily, there are a growing number of resources dedicated to finding books for young(er) male readers, like Guys Read, Books 4 Boys, Best Books For Boys, Booksforboys.com, and Read Kiddo Read. Some of them break up […]
Barbara Kingsolver is an amazing writer, and the staff member who recommended her loves all of her work (except The Poisonwood Bible, but try that too). We recommend her work, especially Animal Dreams which is a stand alone novel about a woman returning home to confront her past and her distant […]
To those of you celebrating the holiday, Happy Easter! We hope you have a safe and wonderful day. If you’ll be stuck in the car on the way to Aunt Sally’s, don’t forget to bring something to keep you and your family entertained for the ride, like one of our […]