OUR TOP TEN READS OF THE YEAR

It is our tradition to name the top 10 books we have read this year. May you find something on our lists that catches your fancy for the new year. Happy Holidays!

Mrs. Wilson’s List

1.    One for the Murphys by Linda Mullaly Hunt

2.    Unstoppable by Tim Green

3.    The One and Only Ivan by K. A. Applegate

4.    Almost Home by Joan Bauer

5.    Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea

6.    Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein

7.    The Doll Bones by Holly Black

8.    The Maze Runner by James Dashner

9.    Divergent by Veronica Roth

10. Rump; The True Srory of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff

Miss Hagensee’s List

1.    Unstoppable by Tim Green

2.    The Compound by S. A. Bodeen

3.    The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

4.    The Royal Ranger by John Flanagan

5.    Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

6.    The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

7.    Bomb; The Race to Build – and Steal – the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

8.    Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper

9.    The Candymakers by Wendy Mass

10. Mr. Lincoln’s High-Tech War by Thomas B. Allen

A CONSPIRACY OF KINGS

I am currently reading A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner which is the fourth book in her series Queen’s Thief. The first book, The Thief, fits a modification of the old saying “it takes a thief to catch a thief.” In this case the saying would be “it takes a master thief to steal a treasure guarded by many traps.” Gen is in prison because of his thievery, but is offered a pardon if he can steal a precious stone from a remote temple of the gods. Gen survives several deadly traps on his way to the prize. I greatly enjoyed this adventure and its sequels, The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia, so when I got a copy of the fourth book I wanted read it before I decided to purchase a copy for Lakeview. I have only just started the book but I can see that you do need to read the previous books to really understand what’s going on. Lakeview has all of the first three books in the series. Maybe by the time you have read those, I will have gotten a copy of book four for Lakeview.

GHOSTLY PRESENCE????

A new book coming to the IMC very soon is Madeleine Roux’s book Asylum. Dan is spending the summer before his senior year on a college campus in a special prep program. The first night his roommate tells him that his dorm was once an insane asylum. While this news is shocking, it doesn’t bother Dan as he picks the classes he want to take. Dan meets Abby and Jordan and together they decide to explore a blocked-off area of the old asylum. Among the dusty relics of the past, the three students find things that link Dan and Abby to the asylum. Then when the murders start, Dan realizes he must somehow get to the bottom of this mystery and find out who the killer is and why he/she haunts the asylum.

NOW THAT IT IS OCTOBER...

I want to talk about some of the books I've read that have Halloween themes. One of most famous monsters of all time is, of course, the Frankenstein monster created by Victor Frankenstein in the classic book by Mary Shelley. But have you ever wondered what Victor was like as a teenager? Kenneth Oppel in his novel This Dark Endeavor takes us into the world of the wealthy Frankenstein family in the 1700s. Victor, his twin brother Konrad, and their cousin Elizabeth find a hidden passage in the mansion that leads to a secret alchemy laboratory and library. When Konrad becomes deathly ill, Victor and Elizabeth try to save Konrad by using information from the alchemy library even though their parents object. Find out what fascinated Victor as a teen and lead him to attempt to recreate life as an adult. Exciting, scary, adventurous, daring describe this new book by the author of the Silverwing books.

This is the first book in a series called The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein. Let me know if you want the IMC to get additional titles in the series. Also I have learned that a movie version is in development. No word yet about when production might start.

A LIVING CASTLE!

In Jessica Day George's book Tuesdays at the Castle, Princess Celie lives with her parents, the king and queen, and her brothers and sister at Castle Glower, which adds rooms or stairways or secret passageways most every Tuesday. When the king and queen are ambushed while traveling, Celie, the Castle's favorite royal, is determined to use her secret knowledge of the Castle's never-ending twists and turns to protect her home and family from the foreign rulers who want to take over until her parents can return. Danger, excitement, and some magic follow Celie and all of her efforts.

This book is another of the Caudill 2015 nominees and will be ready for checkout soon.

TALK ABOUT SICK!

A new nonfiction book takes you into the history if infectious diseases. In Pandemic Survival, It's Why You're Alive by Ann Love and Jane Drake, you learn about viruses, bacteria, and parasites and how they affect the human body. You learn some of the weird cures that have been tried. You learn about the beliefs concerning diseases in the past and how long it took for people to accept what scientists learned about diseases, how to cure them, and how to prevent and control them. While some parts of this book are gross, especially when describing symptoms, you will become fascinated by this history of disease that reaches back to ancient Greece and Rome and comes forward to today. 

You can find this book in the Blogged Books display area on top of the Fiction Section.

CAUDILL NOMINEES 2015

The last of my summer reading and the first of my new school year reading are the 2015 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award nominees for 2015. It looks like another great group of nominated titles. The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook by Joanne Rocklin tells the story of Oona, her younger brother Fred, and Zook (short for Zucchini) their cat. Zook is at the vet's and very sick. To help calm Fred's fears that Zook will never come home from the vet's, Oona develops stories about Zook's first four lives, saying that Zook is currently in his fifth live out of nine total. Oona learned her storytelling skills (she calls them whoppers) from her dad who died when Fred was a baby. Her stories also help her deal with the fact that her mom has a boyfriend. This funny and sad animal story is also a sad and funny people story.

This book will be available for checkout by the end of September. Watch the New Books shelf for it.

MORE SUMMER READING

Yes, I have a few more of my summer reading books this week. One is a book already in the IMC collection and the other is new and still getting ready for the shelf.

The older book is Paranormalcy by Kiersten White, a book I have been wanting to read. Evie lives with and works for the ALCA (American Paranormal Containment Agency) because she has the ability to see through the glamour of creatures like vampires and shape-shifters. Her job is to track down these creatures and contain them in a way so that they cannot harm humans. Life is treating pretty well until Lend, a shape-shifter, sneaks into Agency headquarters. Evie finds herself falling for Lend which becomes a big problem when headquarters come under attack by unknown paranormals. Can Evie save her friends at headquarters and be with boy she really likes?

The Darkest Path by Jeff Hirsch is a dystopian story set in a future United States that is torn by civil war. Part of the country wants to maintain the social and political system we have today, the other part follows the Glorious Path, one man's vision of how the country should be. Into this armed conflict come Cal and his younger brother James. Cal does not like the direction the Glorious Path is taking to win the war and wants to take James, escape, and return to their home in the traditional US. But James agrees with the Glorious Path and stays. Cal is now on his own as he tries to avoid the armies of both sides and find his way home.

Lastly, I wanted to read The Giver by Lois Lowry again before I went to see the movie version. I'm very glad I did! Some things in the movie were the same as the book and some details were different. I even heard dialog in the movie that came right out of the book. I loved the visual representation of Jonas's city in the movie. Some other movie items I wasn't sure why they were changed from the book. Still, I think the movie and the book are great and should both be enjoyed.

KIDS IN UNUSUAL SITUATIONS

I still have a few of my summer reading books to tell you about so I will start this school year's blog with two of them. In Wendy Mass's book The Candymakers, four children visit a local candy factory as contestants in a candy making contest. Logan grew up in the candy factory because he is the candymaker's son. Miles is a shy boy whose parents hope this contest will make him forget a tragic event in his past. Daisy is fascinated by the factory, but often disappears --why? And finally, Philip comes dressed in a suit and is always scribbling in his notebook -- what's that all about? Yet somehow these four children are intertwined, become friends, and solve a mystery. There are many descriptions of delicious-sounding candies that will make your mouth water for a taste.

Gordon Korman's Ungifted is a 2015 Caudill nominee. In Korman's usual style he combines realistic situations with humorous twists. Donovan is the ungifted student who through a twist of fate escapes serious trouble at school by getting transferred to the Academy of Scholastic Distinction, a special school for gifted and talented students. Donovan knows he is in the wrong school but terrible discipline awaits him if he returns to his old school. The other students in his class soon figure out that he doesn't belong, too, but they recognize that his coming from a regular school allows them to learn about real life. Finally the teachers realize that Donovan is in the wrong school and they begin the process to send him back. Despite all this confusion, Donovan makes friends, helps the gifted students with their robotic competition, and learns that he needs to change his ways. You will smile and chuckle as you follow Donovan's adventures.

BIRDS, MAGIC, AND MYSTERY

Kathleen O'Dell's book The Aviary presents a most unusual situation. It starts as a story about an old lady dying in a rundown mansion cared for by a young girl, her mother, and a housekeeper. Mrs. Glendoveer, the old lady, was married to a magician who performed all over the world and was struck with tragedy when her six children were kidnapped. Five of the children's bodies were recovered, but the youngest boy Elliott was never found. That would be enough mystery for one book, but there's more. Clara, the young girl, is frightened by the five birds in the aviary who were supposedly part of the magician's act. One day when Clara actually speaks to the birds, they surprisingly talk to her. As Clara learns more about Mrs. Glendoveer's children from the birds and snooping around the old mansion, she realizes that she may also be learning about her missing father. This mystery with a touch of fantasy slowly reveals the unusual circumstances that occurred almost fifty years before.

While not a brand-new book, this one does appear on the Anderson's Mock Newbery list and I've been waiting to find time to read it.  It was worth the wait.

ACTION AND HIGH ADVENTURE

The first book in David Gilman's Danger Zone series is The Devil's Breath. The action starts right in Chapter 1 as Max Gordon is out on an evening run in the woods near his boarding school when someone starts shooting at him. Barely missing this assassination attempt Max returns to school only to learn that his father is missing somewhere in Africa. Trying to find his father, Max evades other death attempts, tries to survive in the desert on foot, learns of a Bushman prophecy with him as the savior, sneaks into the stronghold of the dangerous Shaka Chang,and tries to fly an airplane to safety with no flying experience except on a flight simulator on his computer. Each thrilling chapter will keep you reading to the very end.

CREEPY NEW BOOK

Three middle school friends, Zach, Poppy, and Alice, find themselves on a strange quest from a ghost who appeared to Poppy in dreams. A creepy, bone-china doll known as the Great Queen must be buried in the ghost's hometown for the ghost Eleanor to rest. As the three set off on this adventure, nothing seems to go right. Poppy believes that the doll contains Eleanor's ground-up bones. A passenger on the bus the teens take claims to see Eleanor. As the trio gets closer to their destination, Zach starts to see Eleanor in his dreams. If the teens fulfill their quest, will ghostly Eleanor let them go? Three teens who enjoyed playing make-believe games for years, now have a real-life adventure in Holly Black's new Newbery Honor book, Doll Bones.

COUNTING BY 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

This is a book of oddballs starting with the main character Willow. Willow doesn't fit in. This little girl is a genius about many things, but is considered odd by her schoolmates. And school is boring! Then tragedy strikes when her loving parents are killed in a car crash. With no next of kin Willow is lucky enough to find a temporary home with the family of her best friend, a highschooler named Mai. Mai's family are oddballs, too. Mother Patti operates a nail salon and considers the color red is lucky. The family lives in a garage behind the shop. Mai's older brother,Quang-ha, a troublemaker at school, has the same inefficient guidance counselor as Willow -- Dell Duke. Yet somehow all of these people come together create a new life for Willow and themselves. An amazing story of change and family that is destined to win awards.

THE MYSTERIOUS HOWLING by Maryrose Wood

This is not a new book, but one that I have wanted to read since last year. It was worth the wait. Set in the 1800s the story follows Miss Penelope Lumley as she gets her first job as governess to three feral children, children raised by wolves but now recovered and returned to human society by Lord Frederick of Ashton Place. Unfortunately Lady Constance, Lord Frederick's young wife, is terrified by the children. With Lady Constance's first Christmas Ball is coming up, Lord Frederick insists that the children be part of the party. Miss Lumley has trained then well in the social graces and all is fine until a squirrel is let loose in the ballroom and the children go wild chasing it destroying the party and most of the manor house. Just when a mysterious howling is discovered by Miss Lumley and the children in the high attic, the book ends making the reader eager to learn more. I call this pulling a Tarzan because Edgar Rice Burroughs did the same thing at the end of his first Tarzan forcing readers to buy his next book. I am asking students to tell me if they want the library to buy more books in this series called The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place.