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Friday, November 29, 2013

Divergent trailer

Divergent isn't coming out until April of next year. The trailer looks amazing, though - it's going to feel like a long wait!

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Happy Movember!

We set up this display at the library for November, aka, "Movember" and it's been a lot of fun. The main challenge is finding new books with faces on them to fill up the display when these check out. Oh, and also, not putting handlebar mustaches on every single one, since handlebar mustaches really are the most fun.



Friday, November 15, 2013

Invisible Inkling: The Whoopie Pie War review

Invisible Inkling: The Whoopie Pie War
by Emily Jenkins, illustrations by Harry Bliss
Balzer + Bray
July 2013

Hapless fourth-grade Brooklynite Hank Wolowitz and his invisible pet bandapat named Inkling return in this gently humorous realistic fiction, with just a touch of fantasy elements. 

Although Inkling is an unreliable narrator with a sometimes distant relationship to the truth, readers will accept that he is invisible, not imaginary. In addition to managing the demands of his often cranky, but always funny invisible friend, Hank also navigates complicated school friendships, swimming lessons where he copes with the embarrassment of being ranked a "Neon" (the lowest level) and most importantly, dealing with the mean-tempered food truck lady whose cheap, non-organic treats threaten the success of his family's boutique ice cream shop. 

Pumpkin is one of Inkling’s favorite foods, yet Hank finds himself agreeing to "splat" his hard-won canned pumpkin out the window in order to impress popular kid Joe Patne. Hank also discovers that water renders Inkling visible and is finally able to focus on improving his swimming technique. A diverse cast of characters and believable middle-class urban setting make this tale of the value of true friendship very relatable without being didactic.


I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
This review originally appeared in School Library Journal.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Blue Bloods: Revelations review

Revelations: A Blue Bloods Novel
by Melissa de la Cruz
Hyperion 

October 2008

First line: "On an early and bitterly cold morning in late March, Schyler Van Alen let herself inside the glass doors of the Duchesne School, feeling relieved as she walked into the soaring barrel-ceiling entryway dominated by an imposing John Singer Sargent portrait of the school's founders." 


Another fast-paced, fun installment in the Blue Bloods series, where wealthy New York teens, part of a secret cabal of reincarnated vampires, struggle for answers as they transition into their vampire heritage. Who is the Silver Blood murderer? That's the big question. Evil Silver Bloods prey on other vampires and the students at Duchesne are particularly vulnerable. After the sudden loss of her grandmother, Schuyler Van Alen is forced to move in with the Force family, all the while carrying on a secret affair with Jack Force, much to his twin sister Mimi's dismay. Mimi is planning on marrying her brother (her reincarnated soul mate) and then using her hypnotic powers to mind-trick people into thinking that she was always his wife.

In the meantime, Schuyler's best friend from childhood, Oliver, is head-over-heels for her and his blood bond pretty much makes him her heartbroken slave. I am rooting for Oliver, poor guy. It also turns out that Texas newcomer Bliss is the daughter of Lucifer himself and while sleepwalking has committed many crimes! Interesting stuff.


The Venator investigation continues, quietly naming Schuyler, Bliss, Mimi and Dylan as suspects and the investigation moves to Rio de Janeiro, eventually pulling Schuyler and Oliver from New York to Brazil.

Melissa de la Cruz's take on vampiric reincarnation is unique, but the vampires' incestuous relationships, their easy money (invested carefully over the long term) and their adventurous globe-trotting, in many ways, this series feels like Anne Rice, Jr.


Wednesday, November 6, 2013

TARDIS library display

I'm pretty excited about the upcoming 50th anniversary of Doctor Who - so excited, I decided to put together a Doctor Who display at my library, transforming one of our display cases into a TARDIS. Inside, we put books on time travel, sci-fi, Doctor Who DVDs as well as books about the show. We also included biographies of historical figures featured on the show such as Madame Pompadour, Winston Churchill and Vincent Van Gogh. We included books by famous English authors mentioned on the show - Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens and Shakespeare's sonnets. I even put Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in there, since the Doctor claimed to have read it before it was published.



So far, reaction has been very positive. A lot of Doctor Who fans have asked to take pictures with it, and we also get a lot of questions, "What is that blue box?" Bar none, I think this is one of my favorite displays ever.


Sunday, November 3, 2013

Read in October 2013


This month I read the following the books:

1. Towers of Midnight - Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson
2. Sacrifice - Cayla Kluver
3. Parallel - Lauren Miller


Picture credit: Girl Reading by Henri LeBasque

Friday, November 1, 2013

Nanowrimo 2013

Where do all the books in the library come from? Somebody's got to write them. Somebody could be you! November is National Novel Writing Month - or Nanowrimo for short, where aspiring authors attempt to write a novel in just one month. Here's a message from the official nano site.

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