Time for the Best Books of 2009

Mrs. Wilson and I have again compiled our lists of the best books we have read this year. With the 20 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award nominees for 2010 being so good this year, it has been especially difficult to limit our lists to only 10 books. I hope some of you will have the chance to enjoy some of our choices over winter break. If not, they will be waiting for you here at Lakeview in the new year.

Mrs. Wilson's Favorite Books of 2008

1. Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, by Wendy Mass

2. The London Eye Mystery, by Siobhan Dowd

3. Home of the Brave, by K. A. Applegate

4. Found, by Margaret Peterson Haddix

5. All the Lovely Bad Ones, by Mary Downing Hahn

6. The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt

7. The Naked Mole-Rat Letters, by Mary Amato

8. Regarding the Bathrooms, by Kate Klise

9. Shark Girl, by Kelly L. Bingham

10. Desert Crossing, by Elis Broach

Miss Hagensee's Favorite Books of 2009

1. Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

2. Found, by Margaret Peterson Haddix

3. Nightmare at the Book Fair, by Andrew Clements

4. Masterpiece, by Elise Broach

5. Bearwalker, by Joseph Bruchac

6. This Side of Paradise, by Steven L. Layne

7. The Juvie Three, by Gordon Korman

8. Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie, by David Lubar

9. Dragon Slippers, by Jessica Day George

10. First Light, by Rebecca Stead

Books into Movies

There have been an amazing number of children and young adult books on the movie screen this year. I have a display of some of these books in a nook at the main IMC desk to catch students' eyes as they walk into the IMC. Some of the book/movie connections that we have in the Lakeview IMC collection are: Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling; Coraline, by Neil Gaiman; Cirque du Freak and The Vampire's Assistant, by Darren Shan; Fantastic Mr. Fox, by Roald Dahl, and A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. The IMC is also getting the first three Twilight books and they should be ready for check-out in the new year. Starting later this month is a Richard Gere movie based on the book Hachiko Waits, by Leslea Newman. From picture books the movies have adapted Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, by Judi Barrett and Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak. These books are available at the Ide IMC. What a great opportunity to enjoy both the books and the movies!

Take a Look at These New Books

New books are getting shelf-ready in record time so I have several new ones to tell you about this week.
For science fiction fans we have The Sky Inside by Clare B. Dunkle. In this future world children are genetically engineered and delivered to families like Martin's little sister Cassie was. Every morning the family gathers around the television to vote on matters of national importance. And all live under the protective dome of the suburb HM1. When a stranger appears who takes away the little children, Martin has to decide if he wants to remain in this domed society or if he is willing to break out of the dome and search the mysterious desert land outside for answers.

In Bearwalker by Joseph Bruchac, Baron is the shortest person in his class and a Native American. This combination makes him a target for the class bullies. But when his class goes on a camping trip to the Adirondacks, Baron's knowledge of his Mohawk heritage helps him assist his classmates and teachers survive the evil being known as a Bearwalker and learn the reasons behind its attacks.

With a different solution to bullying in Steve Cousins's Frankenbug, Adam whose interests are insects of every kind decides he will create a monster bug to attack his bully Jeb McCallister. Using the Frankenstein story byMary Shelley and its movie versions as his inspiration, Adam creates a bug using specifically chosen parts from several deadly insects. After several long nights sewing the pieces together, Adam brings his creation to life using lightning bugs. But now can Adam control the monster he has created? This story has some scary parts as well as some humorous parts.

For these and other new books, check out the New Book section along the nonfiction wall in the IMC.

It's Caudill Time!

Next Monday is the introduction to the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award 2010 for all 6th graders. The 6th graders as a class will particiapte in this Illinois state book award for grades 5-8. There are 20 books nominated each year. Each 6th grader will read a minimum of 3 nominees before the end of February to be eligible to vote. All Lakeview votes will be sent to the state committee and the state winner will be announced in March, 2010. This year's nominees are fantastic. Mrs. Wilson and I have read all 20 nominees and we are having a hard time picking a favorite. But we don't get to vote! Only the students do. To see the list of nominees, click on the link on the Lakeview library webpage. There is even a link to an online book talk about the nominees. And I hope to link my mimio presentation as well. If you ever need a good read recommendation, any Caudill nominee since the beginning in 1988 would be a great choice.

An New Explanation for Vampires

With all the excitement about the next Twilight movie opening, here's a very different fiction book about vampires. In his book Sweet-Blood, Pete Hautman presents the idea that vampires are created when diabetes goes untreated. Lucy Szado frequents the Transylvania Internet chat room as Sweetblood. Usually it's just a group of young people that discuss all things goth, but Draco claims that he really is a vampire. As Lucy becomes more involved in the goth/vampire world, her life in the real word begins to fall apart include her ability to regulate her diabetes. Now Draco invites her to meet him and enter his strange world. Lucy has some very difficult decisions to make. Follow this disturbing yet fascinating story to see what Lucy decides to do.

How Far Will Reality TV Go?

In Andrea White's book, Surviving Antarctica, Reality TV 2083, the answer is all the way to possible death. In the year 2083 education is controlled by the Department of Entertainment. All learning is done on television. The Department sets up reality survivor shows to educate and entertain students and adults. Now the ultimate challenge is given to 5 carefully chosen children - a chance to recreate Robert E. Scott's 1912 doomed attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole - without any adult help! Newly hired Andrew Morton is on the team that monitors the audio-video feed from hidden cameras and microphones for this Historical Survivor show. But Andrew is forbidden to assist the children or even let them know that there is an adult watching them all the time. Once the children have been dropped off on Antarctica, they will face many dangers and life-threatening hazards - all in the name of entertainment. Is there anything that Andrew can do to save the children and keep his job? Can the children survive the cold, ice, snow and reach the South Pole? This is the suspense book that will keep you reading to find out what happens next.

Scary Books

In honor of Halloween, Mrs. Wilson and I have picked our favorite scary books in the IMC. We hope you will enjoy them, too.

Mrs. Wilson liked: The House with a Clock in Its Walls, by John Bellairs -- Hunters of the Dusk, by Darren Shan (one of the Cirque du Freak series) -- Old Willis Place, by Mary Downing Hahn -- All the Lovely Bad Ones, by Mary Downing Hahn (a Caudill 2010 nominee) -- The Silver Kiss, by Annette Curtis Klause.

I liked: All the Lovely Bad Ones -- The Dollhouse Murders, by Betty Ren Wright -- The Halloween Tree, by Ray Bradbury -- The House with a Clock in Its Walls -- The Silver Kiss.

As you can see we agreed on 3 of the 5 books. We often think alike.

If you prefer a humorous book to a scary one, try Vampire High, by Douglas Rees. Happy Halloween!

Spooky Books for a Dark Night

It's time to get into the "spirit" of the holiday. The IMC has several new books that can help you.

For information books, we have 2 new books - one on haunted houses and one on witches. These books are from a series called The Mystery Library. Each book examines the history, investigations, and mystery of its topic. There are lots of photographs that show people and events. Just the right kind of nonfiction for Halloween.

There are a number of new fiction books that are spooky, scary, or just plain creepy. You may want to look at Bunnicula, an old favorite about a vampire bunny by Deborah and James Howe OR Heck, Where the Bad Children Go, by Dale E. Basge OR Danger in the Dark, by Tom LaLicki, a mystery which features Harry Houdini, the great escape artist OR Shadowmancer, by G.P. Taylor which involves the forces of good and evil OR The Witches of Worm, another old favorite by Zilpha Keatley Snyder about a girl who wants to become a witch OR a new book by Ms. Snyder called The Unseen about a ghostly world OR Death Is a Lonely Business, by Ray Bradbury, a mystery featuring the author himself and many strange events. These and other terrific holiday books are availble in the IMC.

New Poetry Series

We are expanding our poetry collection with new additions from the Poetry for Young People series. These slim, brightly illustrated volumes present poems and excerpts from longer works by such famous poets as Robert Frost, Robert Browning, Edward Lear, Rudyard Kipling, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edgar Allan Poe, and William Shakespeare. These are the type of books that you can dip into at any time. Read a poem here or there --or use the book when your class is studying poetry and impress your teacher. Each book has a short introduction which highlights the poet's life and work. The newest additions are in the New Book section. For the volumes we already have look in the literature section of the non-fiction collection where the call numbers begin with 811 or 821.

Is This the Future?

In the year 2074, in Pete Hautman's book Rash, people are very, very safety conscious. In the United Safer States of America (USSA) french fries are illegal, football is banned, and outbursts of anger are taken very seriously because people must be protected. Teenager Bo Marsten learns this the hard way. When his temper flares out of control, he is sentenced to three years of manual labor in the Canadian tundra. Now he works in a factory where the warden cares nothing about the safety of his prisoners. If Bo can survive his sentence, he will have to decide what's worse - a society where people are locked up for road rage or a prison where the wrong move could make you a polar bear's dinner.

Great New Books

I have three new books to tell about this week. I just can't wait to drag them out one at a time. So follow along --

Masterpiece by Elisa Broach is an art theft story that starts with a beetle who is fascinated with us humans. Marvin the beetle with his parents and aunts and uncles and cousins live in the walls of an apartment in New York City. When the human boy James gets a pen-and-ink set for his birthday, Marvin just cannot resist the temptation to try them out. And Marvin has talent! His drawings look exactly like long-lost drawings by Albrecht Durer. When Marvin and James get involved with faking some miniature drawings for the Metropolitan Museum of Art to lure art thieves, the twists and turns of this story pop right out.

Blood Red Horse by K, M, Grant is a story of Richard the Lionhearted and the Crusade to free Jerusalem from Saracen control. The horse Hosanna is chosen by Will to be his knight's charger even though the horse is smaller in stature than most chargers. Will and his brother Gavin and their father sail with King Richard to the Holy Land to wage war. When Hosanna is captured by Kamil, a friend of the Sultan Saladin, Will is afraid he will never see his horse again. There are battle scenes, long marches, sea disasters and a peak at what was happening on the home front while all the time the reader is wondering if Will ever gets Hosanna back.

Regarding the Bathroom by Kate Klise is another wildly humorous story like her Rebecca Caudill nominee Regarding the Fountain. In this book you will need to put on your thinking caps because it is NOT a narrative. The story is told through a series of letters, memos, pictures, and newspaper articles. The same class that meet Florence Waters in Regarding the Fountain are back with a story from summer school. Nobody wants to have regular school so their teacher encourages everyone to volunteer for the summer. One student works at the newspaper, one works for the mayor, one works for the historical society, one works for the school principal, and two start their own private investigation agency when the sheriff turns them down. Be sure to enjoy all the puns in this book, especially of people's names. Sometimes you have to say the name out loud to hear the pun. Have fun and you will soon be chuckling.

This One Has Everything

One of the most interesting books I read this summer is Daniel Ehrenhaft's Drawing a Blank, or How I Tried to Solve a Mystery, End a Feud, and Land the Girl of My Dreams. Besides having one of the long titles in the IMC, this book combines a narrative story about a boarding school boy, Carlton Dunne IV, with episodes from Carlton's graphic novel. Through his novel Carlton lives his dreams of high adventure and romance until the day his father is kidnapped. Now Carlton is teamed up with a beautiful Scottish girl Aileen who wants to be an American police officer as they try to locate an ancient Scottish dagger and rescue Carlton's father. Many pages of the book contain footnotes with Carlton's comments, historical facts and fictional details, and even a recipe for bannocks. Like I said this one has eveything! Join Carlton and Aileen as they roam the Scottish countryside with adventure and mystery.

This book and many other new books are displayed in the New Book Section found along the Non-fiction wall.

Deep within the Earth

If you have a yen for digging in the earth, take a look at Roderick Gordon's new fiction book Tunnels. In this book the only common ground for Will and his father is an obsession with archeological digs.When they discover an abandoned tunnel beneath modern-day London, they believe they have the discovery of the century. But then Will's dad vanishes. Now Will with the help of his friend Chester begin a dangerous, possibly deadly, journey under the ground to look for him. You will be amazed at what they find.
You can find this book and many other new books in the New Book section along the Nonfiction wall of the IMC.

Disaster in Pompeii

I have always been fascinated by the history of the Roman city of Pompeii and the destruction caused that city by the eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius. Kathryn Lasky's book, The Last Girls of Pompeii, tells the story of two young girls living in Pompeii just before the eruption. Julia is the daughter of a wealthy family and Sura is her beautiful slave. Julia's life would be perfect except she bears the Curse of Venus - a withered arm. She has little hope for the future because no family would want their son to marry a girl with this curse. Sura's beauty makes her a desireable property who may be sold away from Julia. For both girls the eruption of the volcano causes a major change in their lives.

The IMC has another fiction book about Pompeii - The Shadow of Vesuvius, by Ellis Dillon. In this story the eruption catches an artist and his slave in Pompeii a few days before disaster strikes. Both books give an intimate picture of what life was like in the city of Pompeii and how the disaster affected the lives of individuals.

Beyond the Shadow Children

Margaret Peterson Haddix is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. Because of the science fiction theme of Among the Hidden, I was fascinated by her Shadow Children series which she concluded in the seventh book Among the Free. From that book I was lead to Double Identity and The House on the Gulf, both great suspense books. Now the IMC has another her books added to the collection - Escape from Memory. In this suspense-filled story, Kira and her friends experiment with hypnosis at a sleepover. When hypnotized, Kira remembers that she spoke another language, that she was born in another country, that her eccentric mother has been telling her lies about how they came to live in small-town Ohio. As Kira tries to recover more of her memory of who she is and where she is really from, she learns many things that will surprise you. A fascinating adventure story with twists and cliffhangers, Escape from Memory will keep reading reading from beginning to end. To get a complete list of the all the Haddix we have in the IMC, please access the online catalog (I.P.A.C.) from the Lakeview library webpage.

Welcome Back, Readers

I hope you all had a great summer and enjoyed lots of new books. I know I did! In the coming weeks in this blog I will share with you some of the books I read. I hope you will share with me some of the books you read either in person or at this blog.

I predict that you will find lots of exciting new books at Lakeview this year. Be sure to look at the new book section. It is located on the Non-fiction wall with the sign "Check Us Out."

The spotlight this year is on series books. There are so many new series being published every year that I need your help in deciding which series to follow and which ones to ignore. If you can, take a look at the binder called "Sequels and Series List" in the Fiction section. While that list is still growing, it will give you an idea of what series we have started or have some parts. Later in the year I will ask you to sign petitions for the series you want us to continue or fill in missing parts. This will be a chance to let me know what books you want the IMC to buy.

Have a great school year and keep on reading.

Time for the Sequel

I hope many of you have had the opportunity to read Ben Mikaelsen's Touching Spirit Bear, the amazing story of an anger-filled boy who learns to deal with his anger on a deserted Alaskan island and finally is able to apologize to his badly-beaten victim. Well, now there is a sequel -- Ghost of Spirit Bear. In this book Cole, the anger-filled boy, and Peter, the victim, have returned from the island and begin to face life in high school again. Cole tries to keep the best of the island rites and ceremonies that the boys created to help him control his anger now. Peter, whose parents are overly protective, also tries to keep the island image. But now there are bullies in the school who torment Peter causing Cole to feed his anger and makes controling his anger more difficult. Is the magic of the island gone? Or can the decisions made on the island give each boy a chance to make a new life for himself?

For books in series or with sequels, check out the bulletin board behiind my desk. Mrs. Wilson and I have displayed our favorite series. After all, one good book deserves another.

Newest Books in the IMC

It's been so busy in the IMC these last few weeks that I have had very little time to work on new books. There are a number of new nofiction (information) books so why don't I just list them. Then next week you can come to the New Books section and take a look for yourself.

For our 6th grade social students (anad any other interested history students) we have new books on the Middle Ages -

Medieval Society

Science and Technology in the Middle Ages

Places of Worship in the Middle Ages

The Life of a Knight

Life in a Medieval Monastery
Medieval Projects You Can Do!

For 7th grade and other career minded students, we have Career Ideas fo Kids Who Like Art. \This book includes many art-related careers that you may not have considered like Actor, Chef, Interior Designer, Museum Curator, and Photojournalist.

For the persuasive speech topics that 8th grade researches, we now have Standardized Testing in Schools and Drunk Driving. The Drunk Driving book is particularly interesting because if actually assists with writing a critical esaay on this subject. The book contains lot of research and several examples of of the written essays.

For biography fans, we have new this week: Julius Caesar, Vladimir Lenin, rule of Russia in the 952and Alex Haley, the author of Roots,

For the fiction fans, we have 2 new historical books: Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons, by Ann Rinaldi, about being the first Black women, AND Worlds Afire, by Paul B. Janeczko, a noted poet who tells the story of a circus fire told in verse. Gordon Korman's new book Schooled is about what happens when a boy who is home-schooled by his hippie grandmother all his life has to deal with public school for the firsr time. Finally a donation from Mrs. Foellmers's boys, This Side of Paradise - part scifi, part horror where moving to a perfectly controlled town leads to danger for members of the Barrett family and possible cloning.

That's it for this week. More new books next week.

How to Find New Books

While we are on spring break, you can still find the new books in the IMC by using our online catalog called I.P.A.C. On the Lakeview Library webpage, you use the Outside Lakeview link to the I.P.A.C. As long as there are no power breaks or failures and the network is working, you can search for new books.

The easiest way tp search for new books is to click on the New Items tab above the search window. That method will list the most recently posted books.

If that isn't enough for you, click on Advanced Search and set up the following search:

Click on Mark.

Type the initial of the current month (or any past month within a year) in the first blue box using a capital letter.

Click the button at the bottom of the screen that says Search.

The list that appears is all the books that were posted within that particular month. There are 35 new books posted in March, 2009.

Have fun! Keep reading! See you after spring break!

Scifi in the Distant Future

PJ Haarsma' s book The Softwire: Virus on Orbis 1, takes us into the distance future where humans have a very minor role in the galaxy. When a human sleeper ship arrives at the Rings of Orbis, only the children survive and are forced to work as knud-niks (slaves) to pay for their passage. Soon Johnny Turnbull discovers that he is a softwire, a special gift that allows him to enter any computer system with his mind. Softwires are rare in the galaxy so now Citizens of the Rings are bidding/arresting/kidnapping to get Johnny's ability. Meanwhile Johnny discovers a virus destroying the computer system at Orbis. Can he alert the authorities to this danger before they dissect him to study his power? Can he better the situation for the human orphans with his ability and avoid being kidnapped by a rival business group? And best news of all, there is a sequel coming soon to this library.

A Mystery Within a Mystery

So says the subtitle of the new book The Postcard, by Tony Abbott. Just like the hypnotic cover picture, you are drawn into this story. Jason's family is falling apart. His mom and dad hardly speak to each other. Then Jason's dad leaves for Florida because the grandmother he has never known has died. Now Jason is being sent to Florida to help his dad bury his grandmother and pack and fix up the house for selling. While sweating in the Florida heat, Jason gets a strange phone call telling him to look in the desk. A search of the desk reveals an old postcard stuck in one of the drawers. Now the mystery begins. The postcard was blank except for a typed address. The picture was an old hotel, one that had been owned by Jason's great-grandfather.

With this simple start Jason follows a trail of old postcards and magazine stories over time which lead him to learn about his father's family and to uncover many family secrets.

Freddy the Pig

Freddy is the invention of Walter R. Brooks. Freddy lives on Mr. Bean's farm with his other animal friends -- Jinx the cat, Mrs. Wiggins the cow, Henrietta the hen, and Charles the rooster. What is unusual about Freddy is that he thinks he is human. In his first adventure, Freddy Goes to Florida, Freddy organizes a travel agency for animals so that he and his friends can escape the cold of winter by vacationing in Florida.


The IMC has several other books about Freddy including the newest addition Freddy the Pied Piper. But my personal favorite has always been Freddy the Detective. After reading a book about Sherlock Holmes the famous London detective, Freddy is sure he can solve mysteries, too. He dresses up like Sherlock Holmes and bothers all the animals on the farm looking for a mystery. I couldn't stop laughing at Freddy's crazy ideas. If you haven't yet read one of Freddy's stories, now os a great time. Then watch that smile curl up as you follow Freddy's adventures.

BOOM!

It is the summer of 1949 in Nigel Hinton's book, Time Bomb. For Andy and his friends their world seems to be falling apart except when they are together. Eddie's stepfather beats him; Manny is the target of anti-Semitic comments; Bob has a stutter that his dad considers a weakness; and Andy finds out that his fathers is cheating on his mother. As they travel about the town exploring that summer, the boys find an unexploded World War II bomb. Keeping the bomb's existence a secret, the boys feel they now have power. What happens with the bomb and their friendship will cause the boys to grow up and take another look at their lives.

Black HIstory - Part 3

In the last section of my Black History Month bibliography, I focus on African Americans of the twentieth century and beyond. For the students this is the most recognizable section for the biographies and stories are the ones they know, some even from their lifetime. Among the nonfiction I especially like our book on the Harlem Globetrotters which covers their history and several famous players. I was likely enough to see the Globetrotters in person in college and thoroughly enjoyed the show. Since baseball is my favorite sport, I enjoyed the book Baseball at War; World War II and the Fall of the Color Line. Here you can learn about baseall in the 1940s including Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak, the famous world series between the Yankes and the Dodgers, the career of Jackie Robinson, as well as the effect of World War II on the sport.

In the biography section we have books on famous African Americans from all walks of life - from the political to the entertainment world, from musicians to athletes. In particular I remember the book A Strong Right Arm, the Story of Mamie "Peanut" Johnson. This book was a Caudill nominee a few years ago, but it created a lasting impression with me. Mamie was determined to be a professional baseball player and tried out for every all-male, all-white team until she realized her dream as one of only three women to play in the Negro Leagues. What courage for such a petite lady!

Among the fiction there is no doubt that my favorite book is Willie Bea and the Time the Martians Landed, by Virginia Hamilton. The story takes place in October, 1938, on an Ohio farm. It centers on the eventful radio broadcast of the "War of the Worlds" led by Orson Welles. I have always been fascinated by the panic that resulted from this broadcast and over the years have read and researched a lot. Hamilton in her book shows that the panic was not restricted to the east coast. Even in the midwest people were frightened by the thought that Martians had invaded the earth!

I hope over these last few weeks you have read about some Black History book that sounded interesting and have come to the IMC to check it out. Next week I will return to highlighting our new books.

Black History Part 2

The second part of the Lakeview bibliography for Black History Month is entitled Pre-Twentieth Century. It started out as a Civil War era list but grew beyond the war period itself to include slavery, the underground railroad and blacks of any country up to the twentieth century. Books in this section range from the story of a seventeenth century Spanish slave painter to Jean duSable, the black explorer who is a founder of Chicago to the autobiography of Booker T. Washington.

A couple of the most interesting new nonfiction books in this section are Up Before Daybreak, an overview of the history of the cotton industry in the United States, and The Underground Railroad in Illinois, which traces the abolitionist movement in Illinois and the passengers, stationmasters and conductors in our state.


A fascinating new fiction book is Show Way, by Jacqueline Woodson. In this book Woodson shares her family's tradition of a quilt called Show Way because it was a secret map that "showed the way" for slaves escaping from the South. Woodson brings the quilt up-to-date by showing her daughters their part in the quilt as a continuing family history.

It's Black History Month!

In recognition of this special honored month, the Lakeivew IMC has prepared a bibliography that covers all aspects of Black History through nonfiction, biography, and fiction books. There are links to this bibliography (in two parts) on the Lakeview IMC webpage. Find the section of the webpage for IMC Links and right in the middle of the top row you will find those links.

Part 1 of this list is divided into two section. The first section lists books about Africa, its countries, cultures, famous people, and novels. Here you will find several of the holiday books from the Fiesta series. These books delve not only into the holidays and festivals, but also aspects of the country's culture like languages, food, songs, and religions.

One of the most interesting biographies I ever read is included in this section. At Her Majesty's Request, by Walter dean Myers, is a fascinating story about a young African princess who is saved from being executed by a British naval officer. Brought back to England the girl's story reaches the ears of Queen Victoria who then provides for the girl's upbringing in England. This book is currently on the bulletin board behind my desk and is available for check out.

The second section of the bibliography started out on the American Civil War, but has grown beyond that to include books that cover non-African blacks up to the twentieth century. Part 2 of the bibliography covers non-African blacks in the twentieth century and beyond. I'll describe some of the most interesting books in these sections in the weeks ahead.

Suspense in a Future World

Edward Bloor's new book Taken takes you to the year 2035, a time when the crime rate, especially for kidnapping, is so high that those who can afford it live in gated communities and have security guards accompany their children to school. Unfortunately the security around Charity Meyers has collapsed. On New Year's morning she awakes to find herself alone, strapped to a stretcher, and in an ambulance that is not moving. Fortunately she has been trained at school in how to behave during a kidnapping - Remain calm, don't panic. Don't try to escape and wait for your parents to pay the ransom. If this were a normal kidnapping that would probably work, but nothing about this kidnapping is normal. As the hours pass by without any contact with her parents, Charity begins to realize that she will need to do something!
Be careful when you read this book. The ending is almost a Twilight Zone-type ending - it's not what you or Charity expects. Taken is currently available in the New Book section along the nonfiction wall.

Are You Charmed?

When the television series Charmed about the three witch sisters was on the air, I became a big fan. While witchcraft was the underlying theme of the series, it was the relationship between the sisters that kept me interested. They were like real people -- sometimes friends, sometimes enemies. One day in the book store I found a Charmed novel with new adventures of the Halloway sisters. I read it and wanted more. Over time I purchased several of these books. When I finished reading them, I realized that they were not books that I wanted to keep on my bookshelf forever, so I donated them to Lakeview. At first it was just one book, The Legacy of Merlin. (Merlin is another of my favorite characters.) To my surprise the book was seldom on the library shelves. It was so popular that I decided to donated the rest of the titles I had. Now there are five titles in Lakeview's collection and one more on the way. Of these books only one, Charmed Again, is a novelization of an actual television broadcast and therefore, unsuitable for books reports. All the other titles, which you can find by searching the I.P.A.C. for Charmed as a series, are original novels and can be used for book reports. I hope you will enjoy the further adventures of Prue, Piper, Phoebe (and Paige) as much as I do.

Once Upon a Time in a Kingdom Far, Far Away

There seems to be a trend in Young Adult literature to bring back the familiar fairy tales, myths, and folk tales in new versions or variations. The series, Once Upon a Time, of re-told fairy tales has become very popular here at Lakeview.

One of our newest books is Fairest, by Gail Carson Levine, best know for her book, Ella Enchanted. In Fairest we meet Aza who was given by the fairy Lucinda the gift of a mysterious magical mirror. Aza never looks in the mirror because she knows she is not the fairest in the land. However, even in a land of singers, Aza's voice is extraordinary and she has learned how to do several magical things with her voice. Aza is drawn to the castle and Prince Ijori who is captivated by her. But the vain Queen Ivi would do anything to remain the fairest in the land, including blackmailing Aza into using her magical voice powers. This all leads to a power struggle within in the castle where Queen Ivi seems to be winning and becoming all powerful. I am sure that some of this sounds familiar from the classic fairy tales. How order, and goodness, is restored in the kingdom is the tale of Fairest.

Favorite Books of 2008

Sorry we missed publishing this list last year (2008) but there was no school on the last Friday before winter break due to a snowstorm. So I decided to hold the list for the first blog of 2009. Once again Mrs. Wilson and I have read a lot of great books over the past year. It was extra hard to limit our lists to only ten, especially since the Caudill nominees are all so good this time. But we have narrowed our lists and ranked them with #1 as our favorite of 2008. If you have a top ten list and would like to share it with us, please do. We would love to know what your favorites are.

Mrs. Wilson's Favorite Books of 2008

1. Alabama Moon, by Watt Key (Caudill nominee 2009)

2. A Dog's Life, by Ann A. Martin

3. Rules, by Cynthia Lord (Caudill nominee 2009)

4. Gossamer, by Lois Lowry (Caudill nominee 2009)

5. Hattie Big Sky, by Kirby Larson (Caudill nominee 2009)

6. The Brimstone Journals, by Ronald Koertge

7. Shakespeare Bats Cleanup, by Ronalad Koertge

8. Here Today, by Ann A. Martin

9. Angel of Death, by Alane Ferguson

10. Private Peaceful, by Michael Morpurgo

Miss Hagensee's Favorite Books of 2008

1. Alabama Moon, by Watt Key (Caudill nominee 2009)

2. The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schnidt

3. Life as We Knew It, Susan Beth Pfeffer (Caudill nominee 2009)

4. Icecore, by Matt Whyman

5. Notes from a Midnight Driver, by Jordan Sonnenblick

6. Rodzina, by Karen Cushman

7. Hattie Big Scky, by Kirby Larson (Caudill nominee 2009)

8. Code Orange, by Caroline B. Cooney

9. The Green Glass Sea, by Ellen Klages (Caudill nominee 2009)

10. The Looking Glass Wars, by Frank Beddor