Monthly Archives: May 2011

Norfolk Public Library’s 17th Annual Literature Festival.

This July 30th is your chance to hear three authors of Golden Sower nominees speak at this Norfolk event. This could be your best chance to meet and listen to the newly named U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis, author of Spot the Plot. Equally exciting will be the opportunity to hear Sarah Prineas, The Magic Thief, and Jen Bryant, Kaleidoscope Eyes. For more information, contact Norfolk Public Library, 402-844-2100. A day full of books and authors – should be great fun!

I recently finished Aliens on Vacation by Clete Barrett Smith. It is his debut novel and the first book in the new “Intergalactic Bed & Breakfast” series. David, nicknamed Scrub, is sent from Florida, where he had all kinds of plans with his best friend, to Washington to stay with his grandmother for the summer before seventh grade. She has a bed and breakfast and he is certain a long boring summer is ahead. He soon learns his grandmother’s reputation as a “crazy lady” is well founded — her visitors are from other planets. Soon Scrub is helping new arrivals to touch up their disguises and trying to keep the prying sheriff, who knows something is off with the place, out of his grandmother’s hair. Humor, sympathetic aliens, and some tension about being discovered will keep readers involved. After all, everyone deserves a vacation, as grandma says. Clever touches, such as the descriptions of the many – very different – aliens add to the fun. Certain to appeal to reluctant readers, this looks like the beginning of a wonderful series.

(Note: I received an electronic galley copy of this book from Disney-Hyperion Books via netgalley. The Nebraska Library Commission also receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers. After review, the print books are distributed free to Nebraska school and public libraries.)

New Authors in 2011.

The Class of 2K11 is a web site with a blog, activities, and book giveaways from some authors whose first books come out this year. Visit their site to learn about them, and also to learn about BookFeast, their book giveaway. The first set of books have already been awarded, but they will also have a drawing on August 31st and December 30th. Visit their BookFeast site for all the details.

I recently finished Sophie Simon Solves Them All by Lisa Graff and it was great fun. Sophie is in third grade, is quite smart, and loves to read big, heavy books on difficult topics (like calculus). Her parents are quite a pair. They worry that she has no friends and call her names that escalate from “sugarplum” and “graham cracker” to “our little pudding pop” and “my darling lettuce wedge.” They want only the best for her. Three students in her class each have a problem, and Sophie may have the solutions. Readers will love how Sophie combines the problems and has an interesting resolution for each. This is an early chapter book with a couple of illustrations per chapter. It’s great to see it is not bad to be smart.

(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers. After review, the books are distributed free to Nebraska school and public libraries.)

As a follow-up to the wonderful, informative, and sometimes unusual things Michael Sullivan talked about during his tour of Nebraska in April, I would like you to know the Library Commission has one copy each of two of his professional titles available for loan: Connecting Boys with Books: What Libraries Can Do and Connecting Boys with Books 2: Closing the Reading Gap. We also have a copy of Stephen Krashen’s book: The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research. (I have that one checked out right now, but if you want it, I can finish it later.)

I am in the middle of reading The Vanishing Violin by Michael D. Beil, the second book in “The Red Blazer Girls” series. The four girls (in seventh grade) live in New York City and attend St. Veronica’s School, and are soon embroiled in several mysteries. This title also contains puzzles and codes to be solved while the team works on a mystery about a missing violin. Humor, a nasty classmate, some typical middle school issues, and (very) light romance will attract readers. Familiarity with the first book (The Ring of Rocamadour) will be helpful. The codes and puzzles add a fun dimension to the story, and the reader is challenged to solve them before the text reveals the answers.

(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers. After review, the books are distributed free to Nebraska school and public libraries.)

Congratulations to La Vista Public Library!

Lindsey Tomsu, Teen Coordinator for the La Vista Public Library, recently learned the library will receive one of twenty Summer Reading Program Grants from the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), funded by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. Lindsey noted that teen participation at the library increased by 510% from the 2009 to the 2010 Summer Reading Program. Wow! The $1,000 grant will be used to provide cultural-related activities for this year’s summer reading program “You Are Here.” Way to go Lindsey!

I recently finished reading Small Acts of Amazing Courage by Gloria Whelan. It takes place in India of 1919. Rosalind, 15, lives with her mother and has had quite a bit of freedom while her father has been away in the British military during World War I and after. She takes a couple of risks to help someone, as she struggles with the idea of a class system and why some people have so much and others so little. She is found out and sent “home” to England to live with aunts she doesn’t know. Gandhi and the possible freedom of India intrigue her. The book gives a good sense of the time and place and also gives readers some food for thought. Good for middle school readers.

(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers. After review, the books are distributed free to Nebraska school and public libraries.)