Place your votes!

If you were not able to come to our March book club meeting, or if you are still working on reading three of the 2014-15 Maud Hart Lovelace Award nominees, you can still place your vote! Stop into any St. Paul Public Library during the month of March to fill out a ballot and put it in the voting box. Just ask the librarian where you can find them.

Also, don't forget the Bookmark Design Contest! Design a bookmark promoting your favorite Maud Hart Lovelace nominee. Winners will receive a $40 gift card to Wet Paint or Red Balloon Bookshop, and will have their artwork made into real bookmarks and distributed throughout Saint Paul! Contest ends March 15 and is open to kids in grades K-8. Pick up an application form at your nearest library, or download it here.

Next Meeting: Saturday, March 7!

Hello, Kid Readers!

Our book club meets this Saturday, March 7, at the Hamline Midway Library from 1:30-2:30 p.m. New members are always welcome! Activities will include:

• Our final discussion of the 2014-15 Maud Hart Lovelace Award nominees. Which ones were your favorites? Place your votes!
• Wheel of Book Fortune: Answer questions about the nominees and win a prize!
• Button making: Make a button featuring the cover of a favorite nominee.
• Kids Book Club blog: Post your comments about your favorite Maud Hart Lovelace nominees here on our blog! (You can do this from home, too; remember to follow online safety guidelines. Do not share any personal information online.)

We hope to see you on Saturday!

~ Caryl & Jean

Aliens on Vacation

We've been reading the Maud Hart Lovelace nominees! Post a comment to share your thoughts on the Division I nominee, Aliens on Vacation by Clete Barrett Smith.

David isn't happy about leaving Florida and his friends to summer with his crazy grandmother in "Middle-of-Nowhere," Washington. Arriving at her Intergalactic Bed & Breakfast, he isn't surprised by its the-60's-meets-Star-Wars decor, but he is surprised by the weird-looking guests. It turns out that each room in the inn is an off-earth portal and his grandma the gate-keeper, allowing aliens to vacation on Earth. Grandma desperately needs David's help monitoring the visitors, shopping for cartloads of aluminum-foil for dinner, and taking rambunctious alien kids, that glow-in-the-dark and look like trees, camping. The problem is, the town sheriff, already suspicious about Granny, is a scout leader camping in the same spot. Will David blow Granny's cover, forcing the B&B to shut down for good, or will the intergalactic police have to intervene?

To learn more about this book, visit Clete Barrett Smith's website.

As Simple As It Seems

We've been reading the Maud Hart Lovelace nominees! Post a comment to share your thoughts on the Division I nominee, As Simple As It Seems by Sarah Weeks.

Verbena Colter knows she’s bad news.

Trouble from the get-go. How could she not be, with parents like hers? Her mother practically pickled her before she was even born, leaving Verbie to struggle with the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome. And her father was just plain mean. Verbie wishes she could be somebody, anybody other than who she is. Enter Pooch, a flatlander boy visiting for the summer. When Pooch and his mom rent the house next door, Verbie takes the opportunity to be someone else entirely. And what starts out as a game leads Verbie into a surprising and heartwarming journey of self-discovery.

To learn more about this book, visit Sarah Weeks's website.

Belly Up

We've been reading the Maud Hart Lovelace nominees! Post a comment to share your thoughts on the Division I nominee, Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs.

Twelve-year-old Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt Fitzroy has murder on his hands and trouble on his tail. He believes that Henry, the hippopotamus at the brand-new FunJungle, has been murdered. The zoo’s top brass claim the hippo went belly up the natural way, but Teddy and his feisty friend Summer McCraken have other ideas. Could the culprit be FunJungle’s animal-hating head of operations? Or is it FunJungle’s owner—Summer’s dad—a man who is much more concerned about money than animal welfare? The deeper Teddy and Summer dig, the more danger they’re in—because when it comes to hippo homicide, the truth can’t be caged!

To learn more about this book, visit Stuart Gibbs's website.

Benjamin Franklinstein Lives!

We've been reading the Maud Hart Lovelace nominees! Post a comment to share your thoughts on the Division I nominee, Benjamin Franklinstein Lives! by Matthew McElligott.

Victor Godwin, a serious-minded boy genius living in Philadelphia, discovers that Ben Franklin never died - he was put into suspended animation, and was hidden away for more than 200 years in Victor's basement! An accident re-awakens Ben centuries before he was supposed to be, and there's a problem - when Ben runs low on energy, he turns into a rampaging monster desperately hungry for electricity! All this while Victor is trying to take first place in the school science fair. But with one of history's preeminent scientists helping out, what could go wrong?

To learn more about this book, visit Matthew McElligott's website.

Breadcrumbs

We've been reading the Maud Hart Lovelace nominees! Post a comment to share your thoughts on the Division I nominee, Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu.

Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. But that was before he stopped talking to her and disappeared into a forest with a mysterious woman made of ice. Now it's up to Hazel to go in after him. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," breadcrumbs is a stunningly original fairy tale of modern-day America, a dazzling ode to the power of fantasy, and a heartbreaking meditation on how growing up is as much a choice as it is something that happens to us.

To learn more about this book, visit Anne Ursu's website.

Ghost Dog Secrets

We've been reading the Maud Hart Lovelace nominees! Post a comment to share your thoughts on the Division I nominee, Ghost Dog Secrets by Peg Kehret.

Each day, sixth-grader Rusty feeds a dog that's left chained in the frigid weather with no shelter, food, or water. When he realizes the dog has been injured, he tries to have Animal Control help - but when that fails, Rusty and his friend Andrew unchain the dog and take it. With the dog in their hideout, the boys face multiple challenges, including Andrew's snoopy sister and the escalating threats of the dog's abusive owner. Even more challenging? The appearance of a ghost dog that appears in Rusty's room, and is trying to lead him to an even deeper secret....

To learn more about this book, visit Peg Kehret's website.

Guinea Dog

We've been reading the Maud Hart Lovelace nominees! Post a comment to share your thoughts on the Division I nominee, Guinea Dog by Patrick Jennings.

Rufus has been dreaming of getting a dog. His best friend has one. His worst friend has one. But his dad has a few objections: They whine. They gnaw. They bark. They scratch. They beg. They drool.

Rufus pays no attention when his mom offers her think-outside-the-box suggestion, because she can't be serious. She can't be.

She can be. And she actually comes home with a guinea pig. And if Rufus's dad thinks dogs are a problem, he won't know what hit him when he meets the Guinea Pig that Thinks She's a Dog. She barks. She bites. She'll eat your homework.

To learn more about this book, visit Patrick Jenning's website.

Kindred Souls

We've been reading the Maud Hart Lovelace nominees! Post a comment to share your thoughts on the Division I nominee, Kindred Souls by Patricia MacLachlan.

Jake’s grandfather, Billy, hears the talk of birds, is eighty-eight years old, and is going to live forever. Even when Billy gets sick, Jake knows that everything will go on as always. But there’s one thing Billy wants: to rebuild the sod house where he grew up. Can Jake give him this one special thing?

To learn more about the author, read Patricia MacLachlan's biography.

Liar & Spy

We've been reading the Maud Hart Lovelace nominees! Post a comment to share your thoughts on the Division I nominee, Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead.

Seventh grader Georges moves into a Brooklyn apartment building and meets Safer, a twelve-year-old self-appointed spy. Georges becomes Safer's first spy recruit. His assignment? Tracking the mysterious Mr. X, who lives in the apartment upstairs. But as Safer becomes more demanding, Georges starts to wonder: what is a lie, and what is a game? How far is too far to go for your only friend?

To learn more about this book, visit Rebecca Stead's website.

My Life as a Book

We've been reading the Maud Hart Lovelace nominees! Post a comment to share your thoughts on the Division I nominee, My Life as a Book by Janet Tashjian.

Summer’s finally here, and Derek Fallon is looking forward to pelting the UPS truck with water balloons, climbing onto the garage roof, and conducting silly investigations. But when his parents decide to send him to Learning Camp, Derek’s dreams of fun come to an end. Ever since he’s been labeled a “reluctant reader,” his mom has pushed him to read “real” books—something other than his beloved Calvin & Hobbes.

As Derek forges unexpected friendships and uncovers a family secret involving himself (in diapers! no less), he realizes that adventures and surprises are around the corner, complete with curve balls.

To learn more about this book, visit Janet Tashjian's website.

Sylvia & Aki

We've been reading the Maud Hart Lovelace nominees! Post a comment to share your thoughts on the Division I nominee, Sylvia & Aki by Winifred Conkling.

Sylvia never expected to be at the center of a landmark legal battle; all she wanted was to enroll in school.

Aki never expected to be relocated to a Japanese internment camp in the Arizona desert; all she wanted was to stay on her family farm and finish the school year.

The two girls certainly never expected to know each other, until their lives intersected in Southern California during a time when their country changed forever.

Here is the remarkable story based on true events of Sylvia Mendez and Aki Munemitsu, two ordinary girls living in extraordinary times.

To learn more about this book, visit Winifred Conkling's website.

Waiting for the Magic

We've been reading the Maud Hart Lovelace nominees! Post a comment to share your thoughts on the Division I nominee, Waiting for the Magic by Patricia MacLachlan.

When William’s father leaves, his mother promptly goes out and adds four dogs and a cat to their lives. William’s sure that nothing can fill the hole left by his father, but the new additions to the family are determined to help. With his sister, Elinor, and his mother, William will learn that “family” can come in all shapes and sizes, because sometimes we find love through magic, and sometimes that magic is all around us.

To learn more about the author, read Patricia MacLachlan's biography.