Press enter after choosing selection
Graphic for events post

Blog Post

PreK Bits - "R" is for ROBOTS

by ryanikoglu

It was Robot time in Ms. Rachel’s Storytime this week.
HELLO ROBOTS … the robots do the work at home until … POP!
“COLOR ROBOTS” … we moved like robots with this rap & rhythm from Harry Kindergarten on youtube.
We danced the "Robo-POkey" with Banjo Betsy.
And in the ... BIRTHDAY BOX … we found a perfect present for a birthday kid.

For more ROBOT reads try these favorites:
ZOE And ROBOT: Let’s Pretend … do robots pretend?
DOUG UNPLUGGED … a robot adventure.
BABY BRAINS And ROBOMOM … an invention to give parents a rest.
NANOBOTS … an accidental discovery.
RALPH MASIELLO’S ROBOT DRAWING BOOK … get out the paper and pencils!
IF I HAD A ROBOT … Oh, the things I would do.
FRANKY … an almost wordless picture book. YOU help with telling the story.
BEEP! BEEP! GO TO SLEEP! … even robots need to sleep.
TWELVE BOTS OF CHRISTMAS … with two turbo doves and a cartridge in a gear tree.
La la la!

Graphic for events post

Blog Post

Love in one day

by Lucy S

The Sun is Also A Star
National Book Award Finalist

In her second novel for young adults, The Sun is Also A Star, Nicola Yoon (Everything, Everything) takes an intricate and varied look at the immigrant experience in America as seen through the eyes of several different characters. The two main players in this story are Natasha, whose parents have lived in New York as undocumented immigrants for 8 years, and Daniel, who was born in America to parents who immigrated from Korea.

At the start of the book, Natasha’s family is on the brink of deportation and Daniel is facing pressure from his parents and “perfect” older brother as he is applying to top colleges. These two experiences, one of trying to stay in the United States, and one of trying to fit in, circle around each other to bring Natasha and Daniel together. Interspersed throughout Daniel’s and Natasha’s chapters are stories and vignettes from background players, including the universe, that round out the diversity of the immigrant experience, of faith and religion, fate, family and the search for one’s place in the world.

Many events that occur on the day that Natasha and Daniel meet seem fated, but could just be coincidence? This is one of the of the larger questions Yoon conveys. Do things happen for a reason or does it just seem that they do because of what we chose to notice? Natasha and Daniel first approach this puzzle from very different viewpoints but learn that they are not so disparate in their thinking after all.

And they discover together that whether or not people change, their eyes can be opened to new ways of seeing. Though these existential questions might generally contribute to teenage angst, Daniel and Natasha are not typically angsty. Worried, yes, but grounded as well. They have the same concerns as most teenagers, as well as larger concerns imposed by culture, family, and citizenship. “For most immigrants, moving to the new country is an act of faith. Even if you’ve heard stories of safety, opportunity, and prosperity, it’s still a leap to remove yourself from your own language, people, and country. Your own history.” Their love story is the best kind, romantic and awkward and thrilling all at once. Their chronicles of immigration and of belonging provide relevance to this romantic tale and show us that much can be accomplished through brave acts.

Graphic for events post

Blog Post

Just Added! New Genre Offerings from Teen Bestselling Authors

by nicole

If you're into Teen lit and looking for something new to obsess over, a couple of popular Teen authors have released (or will soon release!) some brand new titles:

Veronica Roth, author of the dystopian bestseller Divergent, will release Carve The Mark in January 2017, the first in a science fiction duology (because trilogies are so 2012) that calls itself a "stunning portrayal of the power of friendship—and love—in a galaxy filled with unexpected gifts." You'll have to check it out yourself to verify its "stunning"-ness, but readers of Roth's Divergent series will at least be in for something new--this title looks like it will be a much more epic, intergalactic brand of Science Fiction.

Fans of the Sci-Fi fairy tale Cinder will be excited to know that in November Marissa Meyer released Heartless, a story from Wonderland history, long before Alice fell down the rabbit hole in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. School Library Journal calls it "an unforgettable story of the evolution of the Red Queen from a young girl who dreamed of true love and freedom to a madwoman best remembered for the phrase 'Off with his head!'" Anyone who's read Meyer's Lunar Chronicles won't be surprised that the author is telling the semi-sympathetic story of another evil queen, but this title trades in the sprockets and cyborgs for some clean-cut Fantasy.

Graphic for events post

Blog Post

Fabulous Fiction Firsts #622 “You're my star, a stargazer too, and I wish that I were Heaven, with a billion eyes to look at you!” ~ Plato

by muffy

Former research physicist Helen Sedgwick's The Comet Seekers * will transport readers to the magical world she creates as her protagonists grapple with the big issues of love, family, freedom, and loneliness. See a recent New York Times review.

Róisín, an Irish scientist and François, a French chef, meet at a research base in the frigid wilds of Antarctica in 2017, there to observe a comet. More than their expressed purpose, they both suffered devastating loss and share an indelible bond that stretches back centuries.

"Sedgwick tackles a centuries-spanning interconnected narrative by placing each chapter within the context of a comet’s appearance in the sky. The sections...that explore Róisín and Liam’s star-crossed romance are the standouts, both quietly moving and delicately portrayed. Uniquely structured and stylistically fascinating, the multilayered story comes full circle in a denouement that is both heartbreaking and satisfying." (Publishers Weekly)

Reminiscent of the works of Amy Bloom and Elizabeth Strout (Booklist) for their intimate stories of family drama; its setting and story line will appeal to fans of Midge Raymond's My Last Continent.

In The Blind Astronomer's Daughter * by John Pipkin, Caroline Ainsworth, accidental stargazer, is grief-stricken when her astronomer father Arthur, throws himself from his rooftop observatory. Having gone blind from decades of staring at the sun and driven mad by unremitting jealousy of William Herschel's discovery of Uranus, Arthur has chosen death.

Unable to remain in Ireland, Caroline heads to London, and reluctantly resumes her father's work, aided only by Arthur's cryptic atlas that might hold the secret to finding a new world at the edge of the sky; while leaving behind Finnegan O'Siodha, an extraordinary telescope-maker and the love of her life.

"This lyrical, philosophical book both frustrates and delights. Its focus on discovery is similar to that in Michael Byers’ Percival’s Planet, and Pipkin’s poetic language will remind readers of Dava Sobel’s essay collection, The Planets (2005). Herschel’s story is also fictionalized in Carrie Brown’s The Stargazer’s Sister (2016). (Booklist)

* = starred review

Graphic for events post

Blog Post

Best Books of 2016

by muffy

Let's start with probably the most anticipated - New York Time's 100 Notable Books of 2016 and the just released The 10 Best Books of 2016.

Well-chosen are The Washington Post's list of this year's best of the best, and I am astounded how similar the 2 lists are.

NPR’s Book Concierge Guide To 2016’s Great Reads lists over 300 titles that the NPR staff and critics loved this year, many of them award-winners.

Speaking of winners, look no further than the ">2016 Goodreads Choice Awards in 20 categories. I should mention that they are the only major book awards decided by readers.

For the fiction reader among us, check out The Huffington Post's the 18 Best Fiction Books of the year; and the Library Journal's best in Genre Fiction (in categories of African American Fiction, Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Romance, SF/Fantasy, Thrillers, and Women's FIction), as well as Graphic Novels.

Publishers' Weekly Best Books 0f 2016 is notable for a list of the Best Children's and YA Books 2016.

Among specific subject lists, check out The Smithsonian's picks for The Best Books About Science of 2016.

Happy Reading.

Graphic for events post

Blog Post

Lois Lowry's Photographed Life

by mansii

Youth author Lois Lowry has been a long-standing beloved household name for a number of her Newberry winning books, not the least of which are The Giver and Number the Stars. The Giver many might know from its 2014 movie rendition including star actors such as Meryl Streep. Lowry has always been one to write stories that not only capture the imagination but challenge her readers to question, and to hang tight to all the goodness they can find. They are insightful and provocative for both the young and old.

Her newly updated and expanded autobiographical work retains this legacy. Looking Back: A Book of Memories reads like an album. The reader flips through glossy page after glossy page of photographs paired with a short, page-long reminiscence. Each glimpse of Lowrian history is also joined with a quote from one of her books, so we can trace her inspiration for characters and passages. Lowry traces the lines where her personhood is inextricably linked to the stories she has crafted.

In a simple style aimed towards the middle grade audience her novels have been written for, Lowry uses these pages to welcome us into her own family. She points out details and gives backstory, shares personal responses and humorous anecdotes, much like one might pass down stories to a grandchild. She conveys not only her own life, but includes photographs of her parents, children, grandchildren, and even some friends, showing the web through which we form our identity.

Looking Back is not entitled a “Book of Memories” for nothing; Lowry gently asks many questions about the nature of memory throughout these pages, a theme readily seen in The Giver as well. When we see a face but cannot remember a name, what does that do to a person’s identity? Does time’s inevitable morphing of names and details mean that our memories become false? How is our memory influenced by the fleeting moments captured by the camera, even when these moments would be seen differently in light of a bigger picture? One thing becomes clear: memory is a gift, and the small moments of our lives make history.

Graphic for events post

Blog Post

Must-reads for Stephen King fans or newcomers

by eapearce

End of Watch, Stephen King’s spectacular conclusion to the mystery trilogy that began with the Edgar Award Winning Mr. Mercedes, was released earlier this year, shooting to the top of the New York Times Bestseller List. King has revealed that he’s hard at work on his next book, titled Sleeping Beauties, which will be released sometime in 2017, but for King fans who don’t want to wait that long, it’s time to take a trip down memory lane and revisit some of his best earlier works.

Stephen King is one of the most versatile and prolific authors alive today. Although he is best known for his horror writing—stories like Carrie, Christine, Cujo, The Shining and It—are familiar to almost everyone, even if they haven’t read the books, he’s also written general fiction, science fiction and mysteries, including some under pen names. If you’re a long-time King fan looking to reread, or a first timer delving into the often twisted world of King’s work, the following titles will have you turning pages faster than you ever thought you could!:

The idea for 11/22/63 first came to King in the 1970s, but the book wasn’t published until 2011. It tells the riveting story of Jake Epping, a Maine schoolteacher who discovers a “time bubble” that transports him back to 1958. Convinced by his friend that he must attempt to stop the JFK assassination and thus alter the history of the world for the better, Jake embarks on a five-year quest to do just that. But, time is obdurate—as King emphasizes frequently in the book—and stopping the assassination is no easy feat. Part time travel adventure, part love story, part historical fiction, part thriller, 11/22/63 is the ultimate definition of a page turner.

Needful Things, one of King’s slightly lesser-known books, is set in Castle Rock, Maine, where several of his stories take place (The poor residents of Castle Rock have been through a lot). A new shop opens up in town, selling a wide variety of curiosities. In fact, anyone can go into the store and find whatever it is that their heart desires most. But buyer beware—although nothing in the store costs money, there’s a high price to pay for “purchasing” your deepest wants.

The Stand is one of King’s most epic works—the full version clocks in at 1153 pages. The riveting story opens with a patient who escapes from a biological testing facility unknowingly carrying a strain of super-flu that ultimately wipes out 99% of the world’s population in just a few weeks. The few that remain are terrified and in need of someone to lead them. The two leaders that do emerge are polar opposites: one an elderly woman who urges the survivors to create a peaceful community in the American West and the other the mysterious “Dark Man” who has evil intentions and delights in chaos. As both leaders begin to gather power, everyone left on earth will have to choose who follow—and that decision in turn will determine the fate of all of humanity. Although reading The Stand is no easy feat, if for nothing else than the sheer length of it, as the New York Times Book Review says, it has everything: “Adventure. Romance. Prophecy. Allegory. Satire. Fantasy. Realism. Apocalypse. Great!”

Graphic for events post

Blog Post

PreK Bits - "T" is for Toys

by ryanikoglu

Ms. Rachel brought Toy Stories to Storytime @ Malletts Creek Library.
“I Can Take Care Of My Bear” … I’ll show you how.
"A Tooty-Tah" was our action rhythm AND it practices the "T" sound too!
PLAYTIME? … Nope! “Bedtime!" for Gorilla.

For more toy stories try these favorites:
The LINE UP BOOK … when Sam wants to line up his toys from his room to Mom.
TOY BOAT … takes a solo adventure on the high seas.
The MARVELOUS TOY … a boy gets a toy that his father got when he was young.
The "Marvelous Toy" is a song by Tom Paxton and is recorded on the CD GOOD MISCHIEF by Gemini.
The TOY FAIRY … where did the toys go?
HENRY And LEO … a Boy and his toy get separated.
BETTY BUNNY WANTS EVERYTHING … and the rule is “You can get one thing.”
LIVING WITH MOM And LIVING WITH DAD … a sweet reassuring story with precious toys in both homes.
TOO MANY TOYS … and which one to keep? By David Shannon.
TOO MANY TOYS! … with an action plan. By Heide Deedman.

Graphic for events post

Blog Post

Family Books for All!

by evelyn

We have two new beautiful picture books celebrating diverse families.

A Family is a Family is a Family, written by Sara O’Leary and with illustrations by Qin Leng, is a wonderful meditation on how many different kinds of families there are. The narrator is a young girl who is nervous to tell her class about her family because they are different than other families. However, after each of her classmates describes their unique families, she feels comfortable talking about her own foster mom. The illustrations in this sweet book show all different families as they explore, play, eat, and most of all, love each other.

Home at Last is the last book by renowned children’s book author Vera B. Williams. Finished posthumously, with illustrations by Chris Raschka, this lovely book tells the story of Lester, whose adoption day has finally arrived. Although he already feels that he, Daddy Rich, and Daddy Albert are a family, he is nervous to sleep in his own bed at his new home. Luckily, their dog Wincka jumps in to help out. This book is great not only for adopted kids, but for any kids struggling with change or getting used to sleeping in their own big kid bed.

Want to find more great picture books about families? Take a look at this list!

Graphic for events post

Blog Post

How to Make Dinner Without Making Dinner

by mansii

I've always admired those folks who cook on the weekend and it lasts them an entire week. However, whether rightly or wrongly, I've always assumed this type of cooking revolves around casseroles and frozen entrees prepped in advance. For me, the joy of cooking is all about making things elegantly and fresh. From stove to palette.

That's why Food 52's brand new collection A New Way to Dinner: A Playbook of Recipes and Strategies for the Week Ahead hits just the right spot. These recipes take advantage of seasonal produce, and model a system that pairs individual components of dishes made on the weekend in new ways to make entirely different, fresh meals each night of the week--with hardly any additional effort.

But, this is not just a book of recipes. Each meal-planned week includes a comprehensive grocery list, an explanation for how the entire week will come together (including desert!), and suggestions for using excess ingredients in the future. It really does teach a whole new life style where dinner is ready right when you get home from work, while remaining 100% fresh from the kitchen--no freezing or left-overing required.

If you are already familiar with Food 52, you won't be surprised by the quality and tastiness of these recipes, along with their sensibility for a modern aesthetic. If you are new to Food 52, AADL has a variety of cookbooks from them you will not want to miss. You can find them here.