***Our next meeting will be on Saturday, August 6th, 1:30-2:15 p.m.***

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Summer Reading Program

Be sure to stop by the library in June and sign up for our summer reading program! 10 hours of reading = a free, awesome book. I think we have a really good selection this year, so don't miss out! And, FYI, the first ones to turn in their reading log always get the best selection of books. ;)

You can sign up at ANY St. Paul Public Library. Find the location closest to you here.

Summer Reading

With summer vacation coming up, I'm daydreaming about lazy warm afternoons under the walnut tree in my backyard reading books and drinking lemonade. What are some of your favorite summer reads, or what's on your "to-read" list for this summer?

Maud Hart Lovelace Award: The 2011 Winners

Our book club met at the Red Balloon Bookshop on April 25 to hear the winners announced.  The evening included a presentation by Maud herself (an actress from the Minnesota History Center) who told us stories about her life, and a drawing for ten $30 Red Balloon gift cards in honor of the 30th anniversary of the award.  (Some of us won these!  Hooray!)

Both divisions had the same winner:  Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn.  Second place in both divisions went to Found by Margaret Haddix.  Third place Division I winner was The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davis, and third place in Division II was Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf.  You can read more about the award here.



Did you read any of the winners?  What book did you hope would win?  Share your thoughts in the comments!

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Placing our votes!

It's time to vote for our favorite Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award nominees!  Everyone who read at least three of the nominees in Division I or Division II can place a vote for their favorite.

Which one did you vote for and why?  Was it hard or easy to choose?  Post a comment and share your vote.

(If you weren't able to attend our last meeting but would like to place a vote, please post here by Monday, April 4th to let us know!)

Thursday, February 3, 2011

"One-handed Catch" by MJ Auch




It's July 4, 1946. World War II has ended, and life is getting back to normal. But 11-year-old Norm, who has lost his left hand in an accident, wonders whether he will ever be able to play baseball again. It's up to Norm to find the strength to get beyond this roadblock and move on with his life.

(Summary and image from SPPL Catalog)

"No Talking" by Andrew Clements



(Summary and image from SPPL Catalog)

"The Lemonade War" by Jacqueline Davies



With a clever blend of humor and math fun, this funny, fresh, and poignant novel about competing lemonade stands captures the one-of-a-kind bond between brother and sister.

(Summary and image from SPPL Catalog)

"Every Soul a Star" by Wendy Mass



Told from three very different perspectives and voices, this compelling and humorous novel weaves an intricate story about friendship, dealing with change, and discovering one's place in the universe.

(Summary and image from SPPL Catalog)

"Black Duck" by Janet Taylor Lisle




When Ruben and Jeddy find a dead body in an evening suit washed up on the shore, they are certain it has to do with smuggling liquor. It is spring 1929, Prohibition is in full swing, and many in their community are involved. Soon the boys, along with Jeddy's strong-willed sister, Marina, are drawn in, suspected by rival bootlegging gangs of taking something crucial off the dead man. Then Ruben meets the daring captain of the "Black Duck," the most elusive smuggling craft of them all, and it isn't long before he's keeping dangerous company. Inspired by very real accounts of the "Black Duck," a legendary rum-running boat that worked the New England shores during the era, Newbery Honor winner Janet Taylor Lisle has produced a colorful, original work of historical fiction.

(Summary and image from SPPL Catalog)

"All of the Above" by Shelley Pearsall



Based on a true story, this ALA Notable Book tells the delightful and suspenseful story of four inner city students and their quest to build the worlds largest tetrahedron. Illustrations.

(Summary and image taken from SPPL catalog)

"Alabma Moon" by Watt Key




I could trap my own food and make my own clothes. I could find my way by the stars and make fire in the rain. Pap said he even figured I could whip somebody three times my size. He wasn't worried about me. For as long as ten-year-old Moon can remember, he has lived out in the forest in a shelter with his father. They keep to themselves, their only contact with other human beings an occasional trip to the nearest general store. When Moon's father dies, Moon follows his father's last instructions: to travel to Alaska to find others like themselves. But Moon is soon caught and entangled in a world he doesn't know or understand, apparent property of the government he has been avoiding all his life. As the spirited and resourceful Moon encounters constables, jails, institutions, lawyers, true friends, and true enemies, he adapts his wilderness survival skills and learns to survive in the outside world, and even, perhaps, make his home there. In this compelling, action-packed book, Watt Key gives us the thrilling coming-of-age story of the unique and extremely appealing Moon.

(Summary and image from SPPL Catalog)

"How to Save Your Tail" by Mary Hanson



How does a cookie-baking Rat named Bob save his tail from being gobbled by two hungry cats? By serving them cookies and telling them fantastic fairy tales about his family, of course. There's the story about great-grand uncle Mustard who upgrades his family to a lovely three-bedroom brick house. (All's well until some wolves with snout-warts show up.) And there's the one about how starving Grandma Lois was forced to take a job spinning straw into gold. (Impossible to do . . . until a hairy chimney troll comes along.) With allusions to classic fairy tales, plus a storytelling rat to rival Scheherazade, this book—which also includes black-and-white illustrations, a family tree, and a map of Bob's neighborhood—is sure to hold both cats and kids captive. From the Hardcover edition.

(Summary and image from SPPL catalog)

"The Hero Revealed" by William Boniface




YIKES! Professor Brain-Drain is on the loose! This supervillain menaces the fine supercitizens of Superopolis, concocting evil-genius schemes and draining everyone's brainpower! (And in this town, there's not a whole lot of that to begin with.) NEVER FEAR! The AMAZING INDESTRUCTO will save the day! He is indestructible! He cannot be harmed by anything! He is the town's greatest superhero! Collect all sixty-four of his trading cards! BUT WAIT! A mystery is afoot in Superopolis. Why is it so hard to get a complete set of the collectible cards? Where is the last card hiding? Who is the real mastermind behind this sinister plot, and what is he planning? Forget the regular superheroes. In a city where everyone is extraordinary, this might just be a job for . . . ORDINARY BOY.

(Summary and image from SPPL Catalog)

"Eleven" by Patricia Reilly Giff



Sam is almost 11 when he discovers evidence that he was kidnapped. He's desperate to find out who he is, and is haunted by dreams of a big castle and a terrifying escape on a boat. Who can he trust to help him solve the mystery?

(Summary and image from the SPPL catalog)

"Deep and Dark and Dangerous" by Mary Downing Hahn




Just before summer begins, 12-year-old Ali finds an odd photograph in the attic. She knows the two children in it are her mother, Claire, and her aunt Dulcie. But who's the third person, the one who's been torn out of the picture? Ali figures she'll find out while she's vacationing in Maine with Dulcie and her fouryear- old daughter, Emma, in the house where Ali's mother's family used to spend summers. All hopes for relaxation are quashed shortly after their arrival, though, when the girls meet Sissy, a kid who's mean and spiteful and a bad influence on Emma. Strangest of all, Sissy keeps talking about a girl named Teresa who drowned under mysterious circumstances back when Claire and Dulcie were kids, and whose body was never found. At first Ali thinks Sissy's just trying to scare her with a ghost story, but soon she discovers the real reason why Sissy is so angry. . . . Mary Downing Hahn is at her chilling best in this new supernatural tale that's certain to send shivers down her readers' spines.

(Summary and image from SPPL Catalog)

"Sloppy Copy Slipup" by DyAnne DiSalvo




Brian Higman, also known as Big Hig, has a problem. He does not have his sloppy copy writing assignment ready to turn in, and his teacher, Miss Fromme, is not one to listen to excuses. But Brian has really good reasons this time. Between the antics of his impossible five-year-old brother and his teenage brother's rock-and-roll band rehearsing at his house, not to mention the fact that his life savings have gone missing, it was impossible to get any homework done over the weekend. It takes all of Brian's imaginative powers and storytelling techniques to prevent him from getting a zero. And it takes some inspiration on Miss Fromme's part to coax Brian into turning his excuses into an actual sloppy copy.

(Summary and image from SPPL Catalog)

"Someone Named Eva" by Joan M. Wolf




Inspired by real events, this fascinating novel sheds light on a little-known aspect of the Nazi agenda and movingly portrays a young Czech girl's struggle to hold onto her identity and her hope in the face of a regime intent on destroying both.

(Summary and image from SPPL Catalog)

"Saturday Night Dirt" by Will Weaver




It’s a sizzling summer Saturday, and Headwaters Speedway has suddenly become the place to be. Thanks to rainouts across the state, this small-town dirt track is drawing both big-time stock cars and local drivers. There’s Trace Bonham, whose Street Stock Chevy is acting up in a big way. And Beau Kim, whose “stone soup” Modified has been patched together from whatever parts he could scrape up. And no one could forget Amber Jenkins, a strawberry blonde who has what it takes to run rings around them all. Keeping everyone on track is Melody Walters, who knows that the impending rain might be exactly what they need to keep her father’s speedway afloat—or sink it for good. In Will Weaver’s high-revving novel, the first in the Motor series, a cast of car-obsessed teens and adults are all out to prove themselves, both on and off the quarter-mile track, as they move through their day on a collision course to meet on Saturday night dirt.

(Summary and image from SPPL Catalog)

"Night of the Howling Dogs" by Graham Salisbury



Dylan's scout troop goes camping in Halape, a remote spot below the volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. The only thing wrong with the weekend on a beautiful, peaceful beach is Louie, a tough older boy. Louie and Dylan just can't get along. That night an earthquake rocks the camp, and then a wave rushes in, sweeping everyone and everything before it. Dylan and Louie must team up on a dangerous rescue mission. The next hours are an amazing story of survival and the true meaning of leadership.

(Summary and image from SPPL Catalog)

"If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period" by Gennifer Choldenko



Kirsten's parents are barely speaking to each other, and her best friend has fallen under the spell of the school's queen bee, Brianna. It seems like only Kirsten's younger science-geek sister is on her side. Walker's goal is to survive at the new white private school his mom has sent him to because she thinks he's going to screw up like his cousin. But he's a good kid. So is his friend Matteo, though no one knows why he’ll do absolutely anything that hot blond Brianna asks of him. But all of this feels almost trivial when Kirsten and Walker discover a secret that shakes them both to the core.

(Summary and image from SPPL Catalog)

"How to Steal a Dog" by Barbara O'Connor




"Half of me was thinking, Georgina, don't do this. Stealing a dog is just plain wrong.The other half of me was thinking, Georgina, you're in a bad fix and you got to do whatever it takes to get yourself out of it."

 Georgina Hayes is desperate. Ever since her father left and they were evicted from their apartment, her family has been living in their car. With her mama juggling two jobs and trying to make enough money to find a place to live, Georgina is stuck looking after her younger brother, Toby. And she has her heart set on improving their situation. When Georgina spots a missing-dog poster with a reward of five hundred dollars, the solution to all her problems suddenly seems within reach. All she has to do is "borrow" the right dog and its owners are sure to offer a reward. What happens next is the last thing she expected. With unmistakable sympathy, Barbara O'Connor tells the story of a young girl struggling to see what's right when everything else seems wrong.

(Summary and image from SPPL Catalog)

"Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix




Thirteen-year-old Jonah has always known that he was adopted, and he's never thought it was any big deal. Then he and a new friend, Chip, who's also adopted, begin receiving mysterious letters. The first one says, "You are one of the missing." The second one says, "Beware! They're coming back to get you." Jonah, Chip, and Jonah's sister, Katherine, are plunged into a mystery that involves the FBI, a vast smuggling operation, an airplane that appeared out of nowhere -- and people who seem to appear and disappear at will. The kids discover they are caught in a battle between two opposing forces that want very different things for Jonah and Chip's lives. Do Jonah and Chip have any choice in the matter? And what should they choose when both alternatives are horrifying? With Found, Margaret Peterson Haddix begins a new series that promises to be every bit as suspenseful as her Shadow Children series -- which has sold more than 4 1/2 million copies -- and proves her, once again, to be a master of the page-turner.

(Summary and image from SPPL catalog)

"A Crooked Kind of Perfect" by Linda Urban



Sure that she'll be on her way to Carnegie Hall if only she cold have a baby grand, 10-year-old Zoe Elias's dreams hit a sour note when her dad gives her an organ instead.

(Summary and image from SPPL Catalog)

Friday, January 21, 2011

"The Coastwatcher" by Elise Weston



Hugh and his family spend the summer of 1943 on the South Carolina coast. Day after day, Hugh searches the coastline for signs of German spies. It seems like a harmless way to pass the time--at least at first.

(Summary and image from the SPPL Catalog)