SUMMER PAPERBACK CHECK-OUT BEGINS

Starting Tuesday, May 29th students in grades 5, 6, and 7 will have the opportunity to check out 5 paperback books for the entire summer. Those books will not be due until the day after Labor Day, September 4th. This is a great opportunity for students to keep reading over the summer. In addition we have a Summer Reading Program which begins June 1st. This year's program is called Reading Safari. All students have to do is keep a Reading Log (which we provide) of everything they read from June 1st to August 31st. Everyone who turns in a Reading Log(s) is eligible for prizes. Details of the Summer Paperback Checkout and Summer Reading Program will be on the Lakeview Library Webpage next week. Also next Friday I will start my Summer Blog where I review the books I read over the summer. I have some really good choices saved up. I can't wait to get started!

LEARNING ABOUT OTHER CULTURES

The couple of books I've been reading are about young people in other countries. I find it fascinating to learn about the incredibly different ways people live. In fiction I traveled to Ecuador in Laura Resau's book The Queen of Water and followed the life of Virginia, an Andean native who was taken or given as a young child to be a servant for a mestizos, or Spanish-descended, family. Basically a slave, Virginia cooks, cleans, and cares for the children in this story based on a real person's experience. But Virginia has dreams of going to school, becoming a singing star, and living her own life, not as a servant or a poor Indian. Achieving her goal seems impossible, but she is very determined to make it happen.

In nonfiction I read a memoir by Ibtisam Barakat called Tasting the Sky, A Palestinian Childhood. Ibtisam remembers her family fleeing their home as the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War breaks out. As refugees survival was difficult, but when they went back to their home in an Israeli-occupied area, life was even more difficult. Tucked in among the hard times are family fun and the school experiences. The memoir ends with a poem by the author celebrating the symbol that keep her going through these times.

Now I have moved on to India in Padma Venkatraman's fiction book Climbing the Stairs. Vidya, a member of a free-thinking Brahmin family, lives in British-occupied India during World War II. Her father has joined a freedom fighter group for Indian independence, but hard times lie ahead. when Vidya and her brother are forced to move in with their more traditional relatives. The clash of tradition with modern ways, even in 1941, is very intriguing.

NEW FROM MARGARET PETERSON HADDIX

The author of the popular Shadow Children series (which begins with Among the Hidden) has a new stand-alone book called The Always War. In a possible future, Tessa's country has been at war for as long as anyone can remember. Everyone has made sacrifices to help the war effort. When a local boy, Gideon Thrall, is awarded a medal for courage, the whole town celebrates until Gideon refuses to accept the award. Gideon runs into Tessa and explains that he really didn't do anything worthy of a medal. In fact, he feels he did just the opposite. The two teens end up on a stolen airplane headed for enemy territory where they learn an incredible and terrifying truth about the war -- a truth that will change everyone's life! 

The Always War is available in the New Book Display.