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Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors
I'm a fan of historical romances but it's getting harder and harder to find the meaty, complicated ones that I sometimes like to sink into. Current publishing trends seem to have veered more towards lighter, sparkly fare (which I also enjoy, don't get me wrong). So in order to get my angsty fix, I decided to delve into the backlist of an author I enjoy.
Arden Maynor was six years old when she wandered away from home in the middle of the night. A terrible storm with flooding rain swept her away without a trace resulting in a massive community search. Days later she was found hanging onto a storm drain grate from inside an old mining tunnel and after a harrowing ordeal, finally rescued. She was horribly injured, dehydrated and unable to recall how she got there.
Wooden train tracks are good for more than just trains, and this story proves it. It's told in rhyme, with a combination of text boxes and word balloons, and illustrated with colorful photos. The train tracks and toy trains themselves can speak, and the tracks prove to the trains that they have lots of different uses. There's a bonus section at the end showing how you, too, can recreate the fun experiences shown in the book. This is a great STEM read that should inspire lots of play and creativity.
Tradition means a lot to Maelyn Jones, especially the annual Christmas gathering with her ‘chosen’ family, along with her parents and brother, in Christina Lauren’s holiday romance In a Holidaze. Gathering at the Park City, Utah cabin has been a constant even through her parents’ divorce, the upheaval of cross-country moves and the shifting relationships. And then there’s Theo and Andrew.
Grab your running shoes - we are off! A little red cat sees an open front door, runs out, and the adventure begins. He is chased by an alligator, then a bear and a chicken - in that order. This nearly wordless book it so much fun on a couple of different levels. Each page has a letter, both the upper and lower case, and a delightful picture the relates to the letter. The reader has to figure out what word is being illustrated. But your job is not done there, you also have to figure out the plot of the book. Plot in an ABC book? Yes, there is a definite story to this book.
What a discussion this book makes. One mention of the Maine Hermit and people are either outraged or enthralled. I'm relatively enthralled, not with the Maine Hermit per se, but with the details shared in this book. There is great investigative writing here, and interesting historical research. The story and details of a man who hid out in the Maine woods for more than 27 years without getting caught or sick or eaten by a bear is a compelling one, to say the least.
Haggis (a Scottish Terrier) and Tank (a Great Dane) are two very imaginative doggy friends. They spend most of their time in a back yard, but sometimes they go on adventures in their minds. In “All Paws on Deck” Tank decides to deck out their little red wagon as a pirate ship. They sail off into a land of make-believe and have many adventures together! The format for this book falls right between graphic novel (there are lots of full-color illustrations with speech bubbles) and chapter book (there are also blocks of text, though never more than a quarter of the space on a page is filled
It's not easy being Chloe Sanderson, especially when she's so hard on herself. It's understandable. She's been taking care of everyone since her mom left when she was in fourth grade. She's working, putting herself through business school, providing for her dad's care in an Alzheimer's facility and trying to keep it together. So much so that she's bound to snap.
Adunni is a fourteen-year-old Nigerian girl who dreams of finishing her education and becoming a teacher. And as she narrates her story in the colloquial English of her small village, you can feel how she yearns. Her mother wanted an education for her as it would be the only way for her to get a "louding voice". That louding voice was meant to arm her so that she could control her own destiny. But the death of her mother has left Adunni at the mercy of a spendthrift father who only sees in her a way to get money to pay the rent.
