Hayley's Children's Book Reviews

It is no fun to be sick at home feeling yucky with nothing to do. That is exactly what happens in the book Llama Llama Home With Mama by Anna Dewdney. Llama Llama stays home from school because he isn’t feeling so well. Soon Mama Llama is sneezing and sniffling too. Who is going to take care of Mama Llama? This book is perfect for anyone not feeling well, who needs a little cheering up.

When winter doldrums come to the zoo, the animals chase them away by putting on a zoozical. A zoozical is a song-and-dance extravaganza performed by the animals in the zoo. Since winter weather is keeping all the kids from coming to the zoo a zoozical seems like a perfect fix. Kids will love the singing, dancing, and adventure in ZooZical by Judy Sierra. When all the animals in the zoo get along as friends and pool their talents together, it’s a magical night.

Have you ever heard of a cat that likes water? Splish, Splash, Splat! by Rob Scotton is about a cat named Splat who thinks water is scary and wet and it makes him soggy. Splat is having a bad day. First his mom tells him he is going to have a play date with Spike, someone who will break his toys. Then she tells him he is going to start swimming lessons at school. What will happen when Splat figures out that he and Spike both do not like water and will this help them become friends? Find out in this fun book that shows kids when you face your fears you might be surprised at how much fun you can have.

Book Chat: I Remember Nothing

I Remember Nothing and Other Reflections by Nora Ephron

*****

"This is witty and wonderfully irreverent and validates the feelings of women of a certain age. The reflections include losing things, absolutely forgetting important moments in life, and the sense that life is passing by. It is a series of short but smart chapters and some just include lists like 'What I Won't Miss - dry skin, Fox, Joe Lieberman, mammograms;' and 'What I Will Miss -  my kids, fireworks, the dogwood, twinkle lights.'" -Elma Broadfoot

Book Chat: Sea of Thunder

Sea of Thunder by Evan Thomas
*****
"This book, written on the World War II Naval campaigns in the Pacific, is one of the better books on the subject. Thomas provides a sweeping overview from 1941-1945 on the naval war in the Pacific and the result is a page-turner that covers both the facts of the war and the motives that drove the American and Japanese into battle." -Peter Cook

Book Chat: Room of Marvels

Room of Marvels by James Bryan Smith


*****

“This is a wonderful book to help heal the heart after the death of a loved one. It is an easy read but definitely makes you think about life, death, and life after death. I bought a copy for a friend of mine whose husband just died.” –Mary Anne Maupin

Teens' Top Ten Nominees, Part VII: Vampires and Werewolves

Okay, so maybe last week’s realistic drama titles aren’t your thing. Maybe you wanted to hear more about Paranormal Romance. You’re not alone: most of the titles nominated for the Teens’ Top Ten this year have paranormal characters. If you didn’t see anything you wanted on the other blog post, perhaps you’ll find a title here.

Hex Hall and Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins
It’s unusual for two books from the same series to be nominated to the list in the same year, but it’s happened for the first two books of the new Hex Hall series by Rachel Hawkins. The series follows sixteen-year-old witch Sophie after she is sent to a reform school for delinquent witches and faeries, or Prodigium, when a botched spell at her normal school attracts too much attention from her human classmates. As the series unfolds, Sophie learns more about her mysterious powers, her family’s dark secrets, and her supernatural classmates. A third book is scheduled for release in March of 2012.

Red Moon Rising by Peter Moore
In a world where vampires are the social elite and wulves are second class citizens treated like criminals, half-vamp Danny likes to pretend his other half is human. Unfortunately, it’s not true: his father is a wulf. As Danny grows older, it’s getting harder to hide his half-wulf heritage. If anyone finds out, he’ll be forced to live as an inmate at a government compound during each full moon, but living as an unregistered wulf is illegal: if he’s caught, his punishment will be even more severe.

Blessed by Cynthia Leitich Smith
In this exciting sequel to Tantalize and Eternal, Quincie would like to run her restaurant in peace, but dying and becoming a vampire kind of messes up your schedule. As Quincie tries to clear her werewolf boyfriend of murder charges and stop an evil vampire overlord from ending the world, her newly hired waiter turns out to be an angel with plans of his own. Quincie’s soul is at stake… no pun intended.

That’s all for this year’s Teens’ Top Ten nominees! Voting closes this week on Friday, September 16th. The winners will be announced during Teen Read Week in October. Remember, all of these titles and more are available at the Andover Public Library.

Hayley's Children's Book Reviews

Did you ever have trouble keeping your hands to yourself when you were in kindergarten? Harry, in Kindergators Hands Off, Harry! written by Rosemary Wells, understands just how hard that is. Miss Harmony and Harry’s classmates teach him about how to respect personal space and how to use his hands to help people not hurt them. This book is perfect for reading at home or sharing with a classroom full of kids.

Jim Arnosky’s Thunder Birds is a great resource for kids to learn about nature’s flying predators. Nature is full of many large, powerful birds. Thunder Birds is a collection of birds that hunt prey or catch fish. Giant fold-out pages are filled with magnificently detailed illustrations along with many interesting facts and characteristics about each predator. The inner explorer in kids and adults will come alive as they read through this informative book.

Have you ever had fun throwing your friend a surprise party? In Happy Birthday Hamster by Cynthia Lord, Dog has a big surprise for his friend Hamster. They go shopping all day on Hamster’s birthday but Dog doesn’t seem to remember his best friend’s birthday. Is there a big surprise for Hamster when he gets home? Read this fun book with rhyming verse and see if Hamster is surprised or disappointed.

Cheri's Book Picks

What if the winning submission for a 9-11 memorial comes from a Muslim? This novel by Amy Waldman, is making ripples in the book world. The Submission takes place two years after the WTC buildings fall to the ground. Over 5,000 architects and artists anonymously submit their interpretation of what the memorial for the victims should be, and a jury of a select few picks the winner. When the envelope is opened, the winner is Mohammad Khan, an American Muslim. Viewpoints from survivors, families of the dead, the media, and the artist all clash in this portrait of a broken city. This is a piercing and personal look at the juxtaposition of how we should feel about freedom of speech and expression, and how we actually do feel about it when faced with this kind of an issue.

The book Reluctant Hero by Michael Benfante takes us back to September 11, 2001. This is a true account of a sales manager for a telecommunications company on the 81st floor of the WTC North tower. He was working at his desk when the first plane struck 12 floors above him. He helped gather stunned employees and get them moving down the stairs. On his way down, he and a co-worker met a woman in a wheelchair on the 68th floor. They spent the next 96 minutes carrying her down the stairs and out of the tower just moments before it fell. Michael Benfante shares this compelling and emotional story and allows the reader a look inside his experiences.

Kate White’s The Sixes is a thriller set in a college town. Combine bodies washing up on the shore, a deadly but secret society of girls, and a police investigation that leads to the discovery of a serial killer, and you have a potboiler. Nasty pranks turn deadly, and there are disturbing revelations about the ‘quiet’ little town .

The book Mice, by Gordon Reece follows a mother and daughter who, after living most of their life afraid of almost everything, find themselves in a situation where they are forced to kill an intruder. The daughter Shelley suffered emotional and physical abuse from school bullies that led to her being set on fire. After she withdrew from school, she and her mother move to an outlying area, and their goal is to ‘disappear’. When threatened, they find they have more courage than most. A very interesting read, with lots of twists and turns.

Book Chat: Sister Mine

Sister Mine by Tawni O’Dell

****

“'Sister Mine’ is a third novel by Tawni O’Dell set in a Pennsylvania coal county. This book does a good job of portraying people in the coal mining industry and small town coping. The characters seemed real. The story had good flow. Sister Mine is gritty, tragic, and deadly funny. It’s written well and I would recommend it.” –Mary Evans

Teens' Top Ten Nominees, Part VI: Drama

Magical fantasy realms are not to everybody's tastes. Some people want serious literature about serious topics: death and dying and forbidden romance and real world issues. Unfortunately, readers often have to wade through a lot of trashy fiction in order to find the good stuff. These Teens' Top Ten nominees are great for those readers who don't like a lot of fluff in their books. Keep in mind that some topics are better suited for mature readers.

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
Shy and quiet Lennie has always lived in the shadow of her outgoing older sister, Bailey. When Bailey dies unexpectedly, Lennie struggles with her grief as well as with the attention her family’s tragedy brings. Meanwhile, Lennie must now decide between two boys in her life: Toby, who was Bailey’s boyfriend, understands Lennie’s grief in a way that other people can’t, but Joe, the new boy in town, helps Lennie forget her grief and live her own life when she’s with him.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Spoiled rich girl Samantha dies in a car accident, never knowing how her own behavior affects the people around her, but then she is forced to relive the last day of her life every day for seven days. As she repeatedly moves through her last day, she comes to understand how her choices impact others and exactly what she stands to lose by her death.

I Am J by Cris Beam
J thinks of himself as a boy but is biologically a girl. Family and friends believe this is a phase he will outgrow, but as J becomes a teenager he only grows more uncomfortable with his feminine body. When his loved ones don’t understand his request to begin testosterone treatments, he runs away to enroll in a school for gay and transgender teens. Will he find the love and acceptance he seeks there?

All of these titles and more are available at the Andover Public Library. If you enjoy these titles, don’t forget to access the Teens’ Top Ten page and vote for your favorites. Voting is open until September 16th.

Cheri's Book Picks

Gabriel Allon, an art conservator and sometimes Mossad agent, is drawn once again into the world of espionage and intrigue. In Portrait of a Spy by Daniel Silva, Gabriel works to stop deadly bombings by a network of terrorists whose efforts desire to bring down the United States and free world. Incredibly well written, as always; the book you won’t be able to put down.

The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown by Paul Malmont is a blend of a true episode in WW II history, and an imagined cast of science fiction novelists and comics artists. Included are Isaac Asimov, L. Ron Hubbard, Robert Heinlein, Nikolai Tesla, and others. Working together in a covert military lab, these gentlemen are tasked with creating weapons based on scientific fiction technology—ray guns, weather-control, force fields etc. Oddly enough, they have difficulty in actually making this happen. It’s a funny and fast trip back to the future filled with POW! and BAM! The characters are well developed with their individual oddities…who would have thought?

The new book, Queen Elizabeth I by Margaret George is an incredible read, even if you’re not a historical fiction fan. It covers her court during her later years. There are glimpses of her early reign, but as she grew older, many in her court began to squabble over who will be her heir. Elizabeth was a woman of fierce intellect, desire and quite proud of her position, known forever as ‘The Virgin Queen’ of England. William Shakespeare, Kit Marlowe, Sir Walter Raleigh and others are an influence to the court and to the queen. Royalty from Spain, France, and Italy vie for attention, and bring drama to the book. Masterfully researched, Ms. George brings the queen to life.