Ann's Pick
Charotte's Web
by E.B. White
As is my fall tradition, I have just finished reading Charlotte's Web to my second grade class. There are many reasons for coming back to this book year after year. The lives and times of the Arables, Zuckermans, and their barnyard friends are simultaneously nostalgic, entertaining, and timeless. The story is a commentary on the value of loyalty and friendship. The book ends with a tribute containing lines that are among my favorites in literature: "It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both."
Jan’s Pick
Otis and the Puppy
by Loren Long
Otis and the Puppy is a comforting story of friendship and overcoming fears that features Otis the tractor. This wonderful book illustrates friendship and explores nighttime fears. The colorful illustrations make it a delight for both young and old. It would make a great bedtime read, especially for those children who tend to be fearful of the dark. In my opinion it’s destined to be a classic!
Jen’s Pick
The Winter of the Robots
by Kurtis Scaletta
Seven feet of snow, four science-fair nerds, one creepy junkyard. Get ready for the ultimate robot battle! Jim is tired of being the sidekick to his scientific genius, robot-obsessed, best friend Oliver. So this winter, when it comes time to choose partners for the science fair, Jim dumps Oliver and teams up with a girl instead. Rocky has spotted wild otters down by the river, and her idea is to study them. But what they discover is bigger—and much more menacing—than fuzzy otters: a hidden junkyard on abandoned Half Street. And as desolate as it may seem, there's "something" living in the junkyard. Something that won't be contained for long by the rusty fences and mounds of snow. Can Jim and Rocky—along with Oliver and his new science-fair partner—put aside their rivalry and unite their robot-building skills? Whatever is lurking on Half Street is about to meet its match.
I have loved every book Kurtis has written and this is no exception; in fact, I think it's his best yet. This middle grade novel does a great balancing of "normal", everyday life for 7th graders and mixes in mystery, robots, and tension. I'm having trouble getting much else done—it's one of those books where I say to myself, "Ok, I'm going to read ONE chapter" and then I read six. I may have trouble finishing it because my 12-year-old daughter picked it up when I wasn’t looking and now she’s hooked too!
It’s Book Fair time!
Jen is busy ordering books for the Nevis book fair next month. Here are some of the titles she’s excited about:
11 Birthdays
by Wendy Mass
It's Amanda's 11th birthday and she is super excited—after all, 11 is so different from 10. But from the start, everything goes wrong. The worst part is that she and her best friend Leo, with whom she's shared every birthday, are on the outs and this will be the first birthday they haven't shared together. When Amanda turns in for the night, glad to have her birthday behind her, she wakes up happy for a new day. Or is it? Her birthday seems to be repeating itself. What is going on?! And how can she fix it? Only time, friendship, and a little luck will tell…
Ages 8-12
13 Gifts
by Wendy Mass
After Tara steals the school mascot in order to make friends with the popular crowd and is caught, she finds herself in a heap of trouble. Her parents decide she must go stay with her aunt, uncle, and bratty cousin in Willow Falls. What Tara doesn't know is that this charmed town has something big in store for her on her 13th birthday.
Ages 9-12
Finally
by Wendy Mass
Mass delivers once again with this humorous, touching, and abundantly charming novel about a girl who has been waiting her whole life to turn 12.
Ages 8-12
*The Birthday series by Wendy Mass comes highly recommended by my most trusted young readers.
The Captain Underpants Super-Silly Sticker Studio
by Dave Pilkey
Captain Underpants fans can design their own personal tributes to the waistband warrior with 12 sheets of hilarious stickers (some even glow-in-the-dark). This is an epic sticker-iffic experience. You'll laugh! You'll cry! You'll color! You'll... stick!
Grades 3-5
Geronimo Stilton Cavemice #3: Help, I'm in Hot Lava!
by Geronimo Stilton
Geronimo Stilton's ancient ancestor Geronimo Stiltonoot is back in another prehistoric adventure! Stiltonoot and his family are off to find a cure for Grandma Ratrock's aches and pains. She's heard that a remedy hides in a legendary valley, and Geronimo isn't even sure it exists. Little does he know that getting there will be an adventure among geysers, volcanoes, and rivers of molten lava!
Ages 7-9
Thea Stilton and the Spanish Dance Mission (#16)
by Thea Stilton
We especially like the Thea Stilton books because they provide a strong female role model for girls! In this book, the Thea Sisters are visiting friends at a lively festival in Spain when the theft of a precious fan turns their trip into an investigation! They end up hot on the trail of a secret treasure… but they're not the only ones searching for it.
Ages 7-9
Wild Born (Spirit Animals #01)
by Brandon Mull
We’re grateful to the customer who recommended the books of Brandon Mull to us! Enter the world of Erdas, where every child who comes of age must discover if they have a spirit animal, a rare bond between human and beast that bestows great powers to both. A dark force has risen from distant and long-forgotten lands, and has begun an onslaught that will ravage the world. Now the fate of Erdas has fallen on the shoulders of four young strangers.
Ages 8-12
The Wolf Princess
by Constable, Cathryn
Abandoned in a blizzard in the wilds of Russia, Sophie Smith fears for her life. But just like in a fairy tale, a princess comes to her rescue: the beautiful, exotic Anna Volkonskaya. At first, Sophie is enchanted by Princess Anna's stories of long-ago royalty, of white wolves and gray diamonds. But when the princess takes a particular interest in her, Sophie grows concerned. Ages 8-12
