Thursday, December 19, 2013

Teen Pick of the Week: Going Vintage


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Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt

     When Mallory's boyfriend, Jeremy, cheats on her with an online girlfriend, Mallory decides the best way to de-Jeremy her life is to de-modernize things too.  Inspired by a list of goals her grandmother made in 1962, Mallory swears off technology and returns to a simpler time ( when boyfriends didn't cheat with computer avatars).
The list:

  • Run for pep-squad secretary
  • Host a fancy dinner party/soiree
  • Sew a dress for homecoming
  • Find a steady
  • Do something dangerous
     But simple proves to he crazy complicated, and the details of the past begin to change Mallor's present.  Add in a too-busy grandmother, a sassy sister, and the cute pep-squad president--who just happens to be her ex's cousin--and soon Mallory begins to wonder if going vintage is going to far.


Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!

Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week? Email me!


Monday, December 16, 2013

Small Fry Picks of the Week: The Tree Lady

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The Tree Lady by H. Joseph Hopkins


Meet Kate Sessions, a young woman with a grand passion for trees.  She has guts. She has Vigor. And she has a vision-- a green, leafy vision that will one day transform the city.

A lovely and inspiring picture book that follows the life of American botanist and horitculturalist, Kate Sessions. The true story of how one tree-loving woman followed her passion and love for science and the outdoors when most girls were supposed to keep their hands clean, and changed a city forever.

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Locomotive by Brian Floca

Here are the locomotives, the iron horses, the great machines, pulling their trains behind them.  Here are the crews that make them run, and here is how they do it. And here is a family heading West, hoping to start a new life. It is the summer of 1869, and trains, crews, and family are traveling together, riding America's first transcontinental railroad, still new, just built.

Come hear the hiss of the steam, feel the heat of the engine, watch the landscape race by.  Come ride the rails, come cross the young country!  All Aboard!


Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!

Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week? Email me!



Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Teen Pick of the Week: The Lord of Opium


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Until recently, Matt, the hero of Nancy Farmer's award-winning The House of the Scorpion, was a clone grown from a strip of old El Patron's skin.  Now he is lord of an army of eejits, zombielike workers who are harnessed to old El Patron's sinister system of drug growing.  His country?  The Land of Opium, on the one-time US-Mexican border. Opium is the largest territory of the Dope Confederacy, which ranges on the map like an intestine, from the ruins of San Diego to the ruins of Matamoros.  The rest of the world has been devastated by ecological disaster and is now known as God's Ashtray.  But hidden in Opium is the cure.

Who is and who isn't an eejit, who is and who isn't microchipped, who is and who isn't an enemy or friend make for a tantalizing puzzle Matt must solve in his own unforgettable story of survival.

Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!

Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week? Email me!

Small Fry Pick of the Week: Warriors: The Sun Trail

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Dawn of the Clans
Warriors: The Sun Trail # 1 by Erin Hunter

     Follow the Trail of the Rising Sun.  For many moons, a tribe of cats has lived peacefully near the top of a mountain.  But prey is scarce and seasons are harsh--and their leader fears they will not survive.  When a mysterious vision reveals a land filled with food and water, a group of brave young cats sets off in search of a better home.  But great dangers await them.  In this unfamiliar world, faced with loners and fierce rogues all vying for territory and power, the traveling cats must find a new way to live side by side--or risk tearing one another apart.

Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week? Email me!


   


Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Teen Pick of the Week:The Eye of Minds



The Eye of the Minds by James Dashner

Michael is a gamer.  And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world.  the VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and it's addictive.  Thanks to technology, anyone with enough money can experience fantasy worlds, risk their life without the chance of death, or just hand around with Virt friends. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Why bother following the rules when most of them are dumb anyway?

     But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And recent reports claim that one gamer is going beyond what any gamer  has done before: he's holding players hostage inside the VirtNet.  The effects are horrific--the hostages have all been declared brain-dead.  Yet the gamer's motives are a mystery.

     The government knows that to catch a hacker you need a hacker.  And they've been watching Michael.  They want him on their team.  But the risk is enormous.  If he accepts their challenge, Michael will need to go off the VirtNet grid.  There are back alleys and corners in the system human eyes have never seen and predators he can't even fathom--and there's the possibility that the line between game and reality will be blurred forever.

Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!

Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week?Email me!

Friday, November 22, 2013

Small Fry Pick of the week: Unstoppable


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Unstoppable by Tim Green
Harrison is a foster kid growing up in a tough situation, but he has high hopes and plans for his future. He wants to play for the NFL one day.  He becomes unstoppable. Courage, determination, and even a streak of good luck seem to bring him closer to his chosen goals, but will his luck run out?


Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week?Email me!

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Small Fry Pick of the Week:Other Worlds

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Guys Read: Other Worlds by Jon Scieszka

Fans of Science Fiction and/or Fantasy ages 8-12 can check out this 4th installment of ten stories that  are "guaranteed to take you where no reader has gone before . . ." Some authors included: Jon Scieszka, Rick Riordan ( Percy Jackson series), Rebecca Stead ( Liar & Spy and When You Reach Me), Ray Bradbury, and more!

And for the non-other worldly crowd . . .

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Flora & Ulysses  by Kate Dicamillo The Illuminated Adventures!

Grades 4-6. Flora is a superhero obsessed girl, not to mention a natural born cynic who happens to befriend a zany squirrel. Both experience quirky adventures and try to avoid Flora's mother.  Discover a new and fun phrase you will adopt in no time: Holy unanticipated occurrences! If you liked the Mercy Watson series, try it!


Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week?Email me!

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Teen Pick of the Week: The Chaos of Stars

The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White

Isadora's family is seriously screwed up. Of course, when you're the human daughter of Egyptian gods, that comes with the territory. Isadora's sick of living a life where she's only worthy of a passing glance, and when she's offered the chance to move thousands of miles away, she jumps on it. But as much as Isadora tries to keep her new world and old world apart, she quickly realizes there's no such thing as a clean break when it comes to family.

Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!

Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week? Email me!

Friday, November 8, 2013

Small Fry Pick of the Week: Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle

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 Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle by Chris Raschka

Chris Raschka, author or the wordlessly precious and evocative A Ball for Daisy, once again inspires readers to respond to his characters with empathy and joy using simple watercolor illustrations.  In his new picture book, a young girl starts to learn how to ride a bike. Readers follow her from her first moment of excitement at choosing the "perfect" bike to the nervous anticipation while watching all the other people ride; the trials and tribulations of training wheels and, the inevitable falling down, getting up, and falling down again.

Facial expressions are subtle but convey so perfectly what those feelings are that every little kid has when taking the first bike ride. A perfect title to share with your little peddler.

Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!

Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week? Email me!

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Teen Pick of the Week: Ender's Game

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Once again, the Earth is under attack. An alien species is poised for a final assault. The survival of humanity depends on a military genius who can defeat the aliens. But who? Ender Wiggin is a brilliant, ruthless, cunning, a tactical and strategic master, and a child. Recruited for military training by the world government, Ender's childhood ends the moment he enters his new home: Battle School. How will Ender perform in real combat conditions? After all, Battle School is just a game. Isn't it?

Showing in theaters tomorrow!

Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!

Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week? Email me!

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Small Fry Pick of the Week: Miss Maple's Seeds


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                                                       Miss Maple’s Seeds byEliza Wheeler
“Never forget that even the grandest of trees once had to grow up from the smallest seeds.”

Miss Maple nurtures her seeds as if they were her own children.

If you’re looking for an imaginative picture book reminiscent of an old fairy tale and have a nature lover in your midst, check this title out! Miss Maple’s Seeds is filled with whimsical watercolors that provide a delicate presentation of seasons, with gentle winds carrying seeds in harmony with the natural world, and the changing seasons. Each winter,  Miss Maple tends to the seeds she rescues in the Spring.  This delightful, caring character scouts out seeds to rescue, brings them back to her home ( in a tree) and feeds new life into them. A great visual, and lovely reinforces the importance of compassion in general, care and thoughtfulness of nature.
Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!

Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week?Email me!

Small Fry Pick of the Week: The Waffler



[Cover]           
 The Waffler by Gail Donovan

Waffle: to go back and forth on a decision; to waver.  A crisp cake of pancake batter baked into squares in a waffle iron.

Monty is a waffler--he can never make up his mind, which always gets him into trouble.  

When each student in his 4th grade class is assigned a kindergarten buddy and 
some kindergartners get left buddy-less, Monty takes them under his wing. But when his teachers find out, they give him an ultimatum: choose one buddy, or have none at all.

One thing Marty does know, this stinks!  Will he be able to finally stop                                              waffling and do the right thing, before everything spins out of control?

Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!

Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week?Email me!

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Teen Pick of the Week: The Wells Bequest

The Wells Bequest by Polly Shulman

When a miniature time machine appears in Leo's bedroom, he has no idea who the tiny, beautiful girl riding it is. But in the few moments before it vanishes, returning to wherever--and whenever--it came from, he recognizes the other tiny rider: himself! His search for the time machine, the girl and his fate leads him to the New-York Circulating Material Repository, a magical library that lends out objects instead of books.

Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!

Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week? Email me!

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Teen Pick of the Week: A Midsummer Night's Scream

A Midsummer Night's Scream by R.L. Stine
It was a horror movie that turned into real horror: Three young actors lost their lives while the cameras rolled. Production stopped, and people proclaimed the movie was cursed. Now, sixty years later, new actors are venturing onto the haunted set. In a desperate attempt to revive their failing studio, Claire's dad has green-lit a remake of Mayhem Manor, and Claire and her friends are dying to be involved.

Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!

Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week? Email me!

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Coming Soon!

Teen Pick Thursdays and Small Fry Fridays!

We will be posting our favorite pick of the week for teens and for younger children alternating from week to week. We also love suggestions so if you have any recommendations please feel free to email aboivin@ocln.org.