A WRINKLE IN TIME

The 6th Grade Book Club chose A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle as it's pick for November.  Madeleine L'Engle was born in 1918 and spent the early years of her life in New York City.  She later moved to the French Alps with her family and attended a boarding school before returning to the United States.  She studied English at Smith College and began her writing career which resulted in publishing over 60 books!

For more information on Madeleine L'Engle and her work, visit http://www.madeleinelengle.com/







The Time Quintet:
1. A Wrinkle in Time
2. A Wind in the Door
3. A Swiftly Tilting Planet
4. Many Waters
5. An Acceptable TIme

The O'Keefe Family Series:
1. The Arm of the Starfish
2. Dragons in the Waters
3. A House Like a Lotus

The Austin Family Series:
1. Meet the Austins
2. The Moon by Night
3. The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas
4. The Young Unicorns
5. A Ring of Endless Light
6. Troubling a Star
7. A Full House

Already finished with the Time Quintet?  Looking for something similar?  Try one of these titles!

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead: As her mother prepares to be a contest on a television show, a 12 year old girl tries to solve a the mystery around a series of notes that she received from an unknown source that seem to defy the laws of space and time.
 
Coraline by Neil Gaiman tells the story of a young girl who goes through a door into another world.  The new world is similar to her own, but also quite different.  She must challenge an enemy in order to save herself and her family.

The Time Hackers by Gary Paulsen follows Dorso Clayman and his best friend as they take a journey through space and time to try and stop the those who are endangering the universe.
 
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis is the story of four children who find their way into the magic land of Narnia.  Once there, they assist Aslan in order to defeat the White Witch who has cursed the land.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster:  This fantasy centers around Milo, a bored child, who comes home to fine a tollbooth sitting in his room.  Milo passes through the tollbooth's gates and embarks on a memorable journey.
 
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JOHN STEINBECK

This month's selection for Book to Movie Club is East of Eden by John Steinbeck.  John Steinbeck was an American author of numerous novels, short stories, and nonfiction.  He was born in 1902 and died in 1968.  During his lifetime, he attended Stanford University, worked as a war reporter for the New York Herald Tribune, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.  For more information on John Steinbeck and his work, visit http://www.steinbeck.org/

East of Eden is set in the farmland of California and follows the intertwined lives of two families: the Trasks and the Hamiltons.  These families helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the rivalry of Cain and Abel.  The 1955 film stars James Dean and Jo Van Fleet and was nominated for four Academy Awards.

If you enjoyed East of Eden, try one of these similar works:

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is the story of the rise and fall of the town of Macondo through the history of the Buendia family.

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel that tells the story of Lyman Ward and his family.

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize that depicts the Civil War and Reconstruction.  It is the story of Scarlett O'Hara and how the war changes her life.

Want more Steinbeck?  Check out some of his work today!
East of Eden
The Grapes of Wrath
Cannery Row
Of Mice and Men
The Pearl
The Red Pony
Sweet Thursday
The Moon Is Down
Travels With Charley
The Winter of Our Discontent

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THE TUDORS

Philippa Gregory's latest novel in the Cousins' War series, The King's Curse, came out a little over a month ago.  This work centers around lady-in-waiting Margaret Pole.  Margaret Pole was the cousin to Elizabeth of York and married to Sir Richard Pole.  For his loyalty, Sir Richard is given the governorship of Wales and the care of Arthur, the Prince of Wales and his bride Katherine of Aragon.  Margaret Pole later becomes a lady-in-waiting to Queen Katherine after Katherine's marriage to Henry VIII.  Margaret is around to see the rise of Anne Boleyn and the deterioration of the Tudor court.  In the end, Margaret must choose between her king and her queen.

The Cousins's War Series:
The White Queen
The Red Queen
The Lady of the Rivers
The Kingmaker's Daughter
The White Princess
The King's Curse

Already read all of the books in the Cousins' War?  Try some of the works below to get your Tudor fix!

Fiction:
The Boleyn King by Laura Andersen
The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
The King's Deception by Steve Berry
Dark Aemilia by Sally O'Reilly
Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles by Margaret George
The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George
Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle
At the Mercy of the Queen by Anne Clinard Barnhill
To Die For by Sandra Byrd
The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory
The Rose Without a Thorn by Jean Plaidy
The Spanish Queen: A Novel of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon by Carolly Erickson


Nonfiction:
The Children of Henry VIII by Alison Weir
Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World by Alison Weir
The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir
Mistress Anne by Carolly Erickson

DVDs:
Elizabeth I: The Virgin Queen
Elizabeth I
Anonymous
The White Queen

Place a hold on these titles by clicking the hyperlink, visiting RockCat, or giving the Library a call at 882-2260.

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THE BOY WHO DREW MONSTERS

I’m working my way through a delightfully haunting book at the moment, Keith Donohue’s The Boy Who Drew Monsters. It was featured in a recent issue of Book Page as one of the featured titles in Anne Rice’s list of horror novels to watch for, and as a horror story fan, I immediately put it on hold. 

Here’s a description of this book from Novelist: 

"Ever since he nearly drowned in the ocean three years earlier,10-year-old Jack Peter Keenan has been deathly afraid to venture outdoors. Refusing to leave his home in a small coastal town in Maine, Jack Peter spends his time drawing monsters. When thosedrawings take on a life of their own, no one is safe from the terror they inspire. His mother, Holly, begins to hear strange sounds in the night coming from the ocean, and she seeks answers from the local Catholic priest and his Japanese housekeeper who fill her head with stories of shipwrecks and ghosts. His father, Tim, wanders the beach, frantically searching for a strange apparition running wild in the dunes. And the boy's only friend, Nick, becomes helplessly entangled in the eerie power of the drawings. While those around Jack Peter are haunted by what they think they see, only he knows the truth behind the frightful occurrences as the outside world encroaches upon them all. In the tradition of The Turn of the Screw, Keith Donohue's The Boy Who Drew Monsters is a mesmerizing tale of psychological terror and imagination run wild, a perfectly creepy read for a dark night. - For readers of Neil Gaiman, Jason Mott, and Audrey Niffenegger.

Interested? You can find this title in RockCat here. Looking for similar haunting psychological fiction while you’re waiting for The Boy Who Drew Monsters to become available? Try these authors:

1. Brockmeier, Kevin
Reason: Brockmeier and Donohue write fantasy-laced literary fiction which raise questions about our world and the choices we make. Their character centered novels build deliberately, moving steadily toward a compelling conclusion. -- Becky Spratford

2. Hoffman, Alice
Reason: These authors' works are Haunting and Character-driven, and they share: the genres
'Magic realist fiction' and 'Literary Fiction' and the subject 'New England'.

3. Lahiri, Jhumpa
Reason: These authors' works are Haunting, Moving, and Character-driven, and they share: the genre 'Literary Fiction' and the subject 'Identity (Psychology)'.

4. Rachman, Tom
Reason: These authors' works are Moving and Character-driven, and they share: the genre 'Literary Fiction' and the subject 'Identity (Psychology)’.

NOVELIST

This post brought to you by Emily Koel, practicum student at Eager Free Public Library for Fall 2014.

Have you ever finished a book but didn't know what to read next? NoveList is a great website that allows users to search for the next book to read.

At NoveList's home page, you can find a variety of tools that allows you to look for books. First of all, on the main part of the screen there are some popular books with a short list of Read-Alikes underneath each book. On the left of the screen, you can find "Recommended Reads Lists". NoveList provides different lists for adults, teens, ages 9-12, and ages 0-8. Each list provides at least 10 books that NoveList recommends reading. At the bottom of the home page, you can find more links. NoveList provides quick links to such as Authors Read-Alikes, Book Discussion Guides, and Featured Articles. You can also find links to the Professional Toolbox and Help to Use NoveList.

NoveList allows you use the search bar to find what they are looking for. Through basic search, there are four ways to search for books. One way to search is to search for using keywords. In the column to the left of the results, NoveList provides different categories that will help refine your search. You can also search NoveList by title, author, or series. You can also do an advanced search for books that provide many different categories you can use to search for as well as many different limiters to refine your search.

Once you find the book that you are looking for, you can click on the book title and it will take you to a page where NoveList provides information on the book such as the summary, genre, tone, dialogue, and reviews. You can also find a link to goodreads for more reviews. On the right side of the page, NoveList provides a list of Read-Alikes.

Personally, my favorite feature on NoveList is the "Search for More" box that is at the bottom of the page about the book, author, or series you selected. This box allows you to check off one or more of the reasons you liked the book and then search for more books like it. The more reasons you check off, the more refined your search will be for a similar book. I think this feature is better then other websites that allow you to search for new books to read. The "Search for More" box goes above and beyond the usual reasons for liking a book such as genre and subject matter because NoveList also includes reasons like storyline, writing style, tone and location.

So just remember to use NoveList next time you need to find the next book to read. You can link to NoveList or find a link at the Eager Free website under "Resources."

Books to Get You in a Spooky Mood

The trees are getting bare outside, the wind is picking up, jack’o’lanterns are making an appearance on front steps. It’s clearly time for a list of spooky books! Below are some of our favorite ghostly titles for school-age kids.

• Home Sweet Horror by James Preller; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno. After the death of his mother, eight-year-old Liam and his father and sister move to a new house for a fresh start, but Liam soon discovers that the old house is haunted.
• The Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine. Classic kids’ series with spooky mysteries.
• Dial-a-Ghost by Eva Ibbotson; illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. A family of nice ghosts protects a British orphan from the diabolical plans of his evil guardians.
• Ghosthunters and the Incredibly Revolting Ghost (1^st in the Ghosthunters series) by Cornelia Funke. A timid boy named Tom reluctantly agrees to help professional ghostbuster Hetty Hyssop dispel an IRG (Incredibly Revolting Ghost) from an old house.
• Zero to Hero (1^st in the Ghost Buddy series) by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver. When Billy Broccoli moves into his new house, he discovers Hoover Porterhouse, a teenage ghost, is haunting his room, and he helps Billy get in style, stand up to bullies, and conquer his new school.
• In a Creepy, Creepy Place and Other Scary Stories by Judith Gorog; illustrated by Kimberly Bulken Root. A collection of scary stories with unpredictable events and bizarre characters.
• A Newbery Halloween: A dozen scary stories by Newbery award-winning authors. A collection of short stories with a Halloween theme, by such Newbery Award-winning authors as E.L. Konigsburg, Beverly Cleary, Virginia Hamilton, and Paul Fleischman.

IF I STAY

This post written by Emily Koel, EFPL practicum student for Fall 2014.

Recently, the movie adaptation of Gayle Forman's book, If I Stay, was released in theaters.  If I Stay is about Mia, a 17 year-old girl who is a talented cellist. She has a loving family, a great boyfriend, and an amazing best friend. When Mia and her family get into a car accident, Mia is rushed to the hospital and is stuck between life and death. Mia watches as her family and friends come to visit her in the hospital. But Mia has a choice to make: should she live or die? If you read the book or watched the movie and are looking for a similar book to read next, here is a list of other books you may enjoy.

Other Books by Gayle Forman:

• Where She Went (If I Stay Book #2)
• Just One Day
• Just One Year (Just One Day Book #2)

Similar Books by Other Authors:

• Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang
• Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
• The Everafter by Amy Huntley
• Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
• Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
• Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens
• Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
• The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
• The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
• The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider