Ballet Shoes

The book “Ballet Shoes” is a very touching story. When three sisters find what their calling is in life.

Reviewed by Kayleigh

Shiver was recommended by a library staff member, who got the advanced reader’s copy at ALA.  She said it was quick-paced like Twilight, and also featured a supernatural boy and a down-to-earth girl who fall in love.  It is fairly a fast read, especially the beginning and the end.  It drags slightly in the middle, but not too bad.  The story is set in Minnesota and is about Grace, a 17-year-old who, as a child, was attacked by wolves in her backyard.  She would have died, except for the gentle, yellow-eyed wolf who rescued her and got her back to safety.  Grace never forgot that wolf, and through her encounters with him in the woods behind her house, Grace realized that maybe her wolf wasn’t just a wolf.  She was right of course; Sam is werewolf, human in the summer and wolf in the winter.  He has the same yellow eyes as a human, and the same love for Grace as he did several years ago when he rescued her.  But in Shiver, wolves only change into summer humans for so long, and this is most likely Sam’s last year.  What can he and Grace do to stay together now that they’ve found each other?

Reviewed by: Becky, Youth Services Librarian

The Secret Life of Bees

I just read the “Secret Life of Bees” and I loved it!

Reviewed by: Moira

Starclimber
By Kenneth Oppel
2009

This is the third book in the series by Kenneth Oppel that started with Airborn and Skybreaker. I loved Airborn when I first read it. It was like a high seas pirate adventure but in the sky on an airship. It had adventure, suspense, action, and a little romance. Skybreaker was good but I didn’t like it as much as Airborn, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from Starclimber. However it only took me a couple of pages and I was off and running into the unique world that Oppel has created with this series. The book hooked me right away and I didn’t quit reading until the end. Starclimber reunites us with Matt Cruse, the former cabin boy who’s now attending the Airship Academy, and Kate de Vries, the fiesty and brilliant girl who’s more interested in discovering new lifeforms than living her family’s wealthy lifestyle. Matt and Kate are going on a new airborn adventure this time around – they’re traveling in the first attempt at reaching outer space. (Oppel’s series is set in a kind of alternate reality – it feels like it’s in the past, but it is also very futuristic. A time and place where space travel hasn’t happened yet, but it’s completely normal to travel in giant airships.) Going to outer space isn’t so strange, but the way they are getting there is. And you can be sure there are several exciting and action-filled sequences and daring circumstances along the way. If you haven’t read any of Oppel’s books, I’d start with Airborn, then keep reading in this fun adventure series.

Reviewed by: Becky, Youth Services Librarian

I think the book “Twenty-One Balloons” is a great book. It is about Professor Sherman and his wacky adventure. The other cool thing is it is a Newbary award winner.

Reviewed by: Kayleigh

The Chosen One
By Carol Lynch Williams
2009

This book had a lot of great reviews – just look at the back cover and you’ll see all the great authors who enjoyed it – which is one reason I chose to read it. The plot also sounded interesting: 13-year-old Kyra lives on a polygamist compound and has just learned she has to marry her 60-year-old uncle. Kyra also has some secrets, like her clandestine meetings in the dark of the night with the boy she loves, Joshua. And the fact that she has been secretly reading fiction (something that is stricly forbidden) that she borrows from the local bookmobile. This is a short novel – readable in a day – but one that will stick with you. Kyra is a character you sympathize with and cheer for. Her circumstances are extremely frustrating, but she gives you hope.

Reviewed by: Becky, Youth Services Librarian

Three Cups of Tea
By Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin

I think “Three Cups of Tea” is a very heart warming book about the struggles other kids face in other countries, but it breaks down to everyone is the same and deserves a chance at a better life.

Reviewed by: Kayleigh

Simply put, this is an anthology of comics. A very eclectic collection to be more exact. Ranging from drama to comedy, horror to adventure, there is something here for everyone. Each comic is no more than a few pages long, and brings a style and flavor that differs from every other in the volume. Of course, there were some stories that I preferred over others, and some drawing styles that I liked more than others, but seeing something different every few pages is what really made this fun. After…more Simply put, this is an anthology of comics. A very eclectic collection to be more exact. Ranging from drama to comedy, horror to adventure, there is something here for everyone. Each comic is no more than a few pages long for the most part, and brings a style and flavor that differs from every other in the volume. Of course, there were some stories that I preferred over others, and some drawing styles that I liked more than others, but seeing something different every few pages is what really made this fun. After reading so many superhero comics, and manga graphic novels, it was also a nice reminder that a graphic novel/comic didn’t have to contain those aforementioned elements to be enjoyable. If you are a comic geek such as myself, then be sure to take a look at the first of hopefully many volumes in the MySpace Dark Horse Presents series.

The fifth and final book of the Percy Jackson series did not fail to deliver. The final battle is at hand, and Kronos’ army has begun its invasion to Mt. Olympus. While all of the Gods’ efforts are being directed elsewhere, it is up to Percy, Annabeth, Grover and the other demigods of Camp Half-blood to defend Mt. Olympus from the might of Kronos and his followers.

It is always sad for me to see a favorite series come to a close, but Riordan did a nice job of wrapping things up…at least with these characters (you’ll have to read the book to know what that means). As it should be, this book was, in my opinion, the most action-packed of the series and had the most suspense. I felt as if every chapter ended with a cliff-hanger and I had to keep reading. All of the characters make an appearance in one way or another, and many questions get answered. If you have read the other four, then you HAVE to read this one. If you haven’t started the series yet, and are a big fan of fantasy and/or mythology, then you HAVE to read this series. I can’t stress that enough.

Nobody “Bod” Owens is not your average child. His new parents are ghosts, his guardian is neither living nor dead, and he lives in a graveyard. Protected by the graveyard and its inhabitants and taught the ways and abilities of the dead, Bod must try and learn what it means to grow up, while trying to stay alive and out of the reaches of a man who wants him dead. A man who killed his real family. Maybe Bod doesn’t want to stay away from him after all…

I had heard that this book was very similar to “The Jungle Book” had Mogley been raised in a graveyard. Having never read “The Jungle Book,” I can’t really confirm or deny that. Oh well.

The flow of the story was an interesting one. There was an overall plot that encompassed the entire book, but it was also as if each chapter had its own little sub-plot, with Bod aging a few more years in each one. It was odd at first, but I got used to it really quickly.

You’ll definitely want to read this book. Even though there is a definitive horror element, it isn’t really scary. That doesn’t mean though that there isn’t any thrills. If you get a chance check this one out, I’m really seeing it being on this year’s Teen Top Ten list.