Island Trilogy by Gordon Korman

Six difficult teenagers are sent by their parents to a help program called Charting a New Course. The teens will crew a boat on a one month journey across the Pacific Ocean under adult supervision. The four boys and two girls are angry or indifferent to this program until the storm hits, the boat capsizes, and all the adults are gone. Now the teens have to work together to survive. And that's only Book One: Shipwreck! Book Two is called Survival and Book Three is called Escape. Korman has written an amazing tale of survival and growing up. The IMC has this series in 3 paperbacks on the Paperback Rack if you can find them. They're almost always out! And we have just added a hardcover book which has all three books in one.

A Blast from the Past

How did people in the 1950s view space travel? In Eleanor Cameron's book, The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, it was child's play! David's father finds a want ad in the newspaper asking for a small space ship built by a boy or two. David and his friend Chuck build such a ship and meet the mysterious Mr. Bass as their adventure begins.

Today we know that space travel is not so easy, but when I was growing up anything was possible. Take a look back and enjoy the idea that there is a small planet between the Earth and the Moon that is very hard to detect. And believe that it is possible to travel to this tiny planet and save the inhabitants' civilization with something as ordinary as a chicken. Suspend belief and enjoy the adventure!

On the Lighter Side

The IMC has just added 2 books from the Time Warp Trio series by Jon Scieszka. You may remember the author from his off-beat style in books like The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs and The Stinky Cheese Man. The Time Warp Trio books are aimed at older readers and take a light hearted look at various time periods in history.

In It's All Greek to Me, the trio is about to go on stage in a school play on Greek myths when they are warped through time to -- ancient Greece, Mount Olympus to be precise. And they are in the middle of a feud between the gods and the goddesses and the monsters.

In See You Later, Gladiator, the trio is just wrestling when they are transported to ancient Rome and land in a gladiatorial school preparing warriors to fight in the Colosseum. Will the guys survive to return to present day?

These books, which tie in with the 6th grade social studies curriculum, can be found on the New Books Shelves along the wall of the non-fiction section. Come and enjoy.

Like Father, Like Son

In Sharon Creech's Replay, we meet Leo, known as Sardine by his family. Leo has dreams of performing on Broadway, even though he only has a small part in this year's school play. Though most of this story is about the play (including a copy of the script at the end of the book), Leo adds another layer to the story when he finds a journal his dad wrote when the dad was Leo's age. In the journal Leo sees a different person from the father he knows now. Life seems to replay itself!