Book Notes

Always fun to re-read a favorite. I love the Doll People. Annabelle is a spunky doll, who lives with her doll family in Kate Palmer’s bedroom. One day she discovers her Aunt’s journal. Auntie Sarah has been missing for 45 years. Annabelle hopes the journal will provide a clue to where she lives. But finding Auntie Sarah won’t be easy. Dolls can only move around when the people are fast asleep or out of the house. And even then it’s dangerous. There’s Captain, the cat, and if a person thinks they see you move, you will go into Doll State. Even worse, if you do too much in front of people, you will go into Permanent Doll State.

Will Annabelle rescue her Aunt? Will she make a real friend? Can she avoid Permanent Doll State? Read The Doll People and find out!

We read this book for our last 4th grade book club. Very timely since to movie just came out. The movie covers all five books though. So get reading before you go and see it.

Jared, Simon and Mallory have moved to a new, but very old and creaky home. Jared keeps hearing things in the walls, and strange and unbelieveable things keep happening, like Mallory waking up with her hair tied to the bed! Jared’s mom keeps blaming him, but Jared found something. Proof that he is not the one behind the mischief. Proof that they share their home with magical, and mischievous creatures.

Even though you only meet your first creature at the very end of the book, this one is still suspenseful and fun. A great book for all you fantasy fans.

Anastasia has got to be one of my favorite characters. I love her sense of humor, her family, and how she is a list-maker (I am too!)

This is the first Anastasia story and there are lots more. She is 10 years old, in love with Washburn Cummings, not sure if she likes her teacher and is about to become a big sister for the first time. Something that she definitely does not want to be. Her parents tell her that she can name the new baby-a boy. She thinks of the worst name possible, and writes it down in her journal. But a lot of things have yet to happen to Anastasia before the baby is born. As her list of Things I Love and Things I Hate change, so does Anastasia. A sweet, fun book.

The author wrote this book based on an true story. There was a real dog who did in fact save the lives of a hundred people by swimming out to their sinking ship in a storm with a rope line.

The fictionalized dog in this story, Sirius, is perfectly amazing. He is sweet, and incredibly smart, and his life is in danger. A new law has been passed forbidding all dogs except for sheepherding dogs from the island. If Sirius is found, he will be killed. Maggie has been hiding him for some time, but when the ship flounders off the coast, and Sirius is the only one who can help, what will she do? Risk her dog’s life to save the people on board, or keep Sirius hidden and let everyone drown?

It’s a very sweet story filled with Newfoundland language and stories. And one amazing dog.

This is our January book club pick. Such a sweet story packed into such a small book. I love historical fiction. This is the story of Anna and Caleb a brother and sister who live with their dad on the prairie. Their mom died a long time ago. One day, their father tells them that he placed an add in a newspaper looking for a new wife. Sarah, from Maine responded and she is coming out to visit. Will she like it out there? Will she like them? And most importantly, will she stay?

I’m glad I had the opportunity to re-read this. A lovely book and one that I have always enjoyed.

What a fabulous book! This should have won at least a Newbery honor this year. I was rooting for it to win the Newbery, but alas, it went to Good Masters, Sweet Ladies.

Georgina, her mother and her brother are living in their car. After her father left, they were forced to leave their apartment. The car is temporary, until their mother can earn enough money for them to move into a new home. “Temporary” is taking too long for Georgina, and after seeing a Lost Dog, Reward Offered sign, she decides to take matters into her own hands. She steals a dog to hold on to until a reward is offered. The problem is that she feels like she is doing the wrong thing. And she meets to owner, who loves her dog more than anything. And the dog is a super cutie who misses his house and yard.

This was such a lovely book filled with nice characters and built around a great story. Wonderful for sharing.

I just re-read Frindle for our book club, and I couldn’t believe that it is already 11 years old! This book has been a favorite with so many people. I love Nick, and I really love Mrs. Granger. This is a quick, fun read about a Nicholas Allen who decides to create a new word for pen, and his teacher, who is determined to see the dictionary prevail. A fun, fun story for everyone.

This is the first book that we are reading for our 4th and 5th grade book club. I enjoyed re-reading this. It’s been just long enough that I was starting to forget some of the details.

Do you believe in witches? Could you spot a witch if she were walking past you on the street? Our character’s grandmother can. She knows all about witches and tries to protect her grandson from them by giving him all the facts. However, the facts aren’t quite enough and when the boy is turned into a mouse, he needs his grandmother’s help to stop the witches from turning all the children of England into mice! Will they be able to stop them? Tell us what you think.

Vegetarian vampires living in New York City? You bet. Lexy, Hudson, and Maddie live in Manhattan with their parents. They are not your average school kids either. They are fruit-bat vampires, or they used to be in the Old World. As if being a kid isn’t hard enough, you should try being a kid who’s a vampire!

Hudson is trying to save the planet. Lexy is trying to get Dylan to notice her, and Maddie is convinced that the people across the street are blood-sucking vampires in disguise and must be stopped. And she will stop at nothing to prove it! All this while trying to look and act like a normal human being.

It’s funny and vampire-y and a perfect fall read. Hurry and check it out before Halloween–it may give you a few ideas.

I read the first Katie Kazoo book called Anyone But Me. Katie wishes she could be anyone but herself, and she gets her wish–she becomes her classroom’s hamster!

Katie is in the third grade and has great friends and great family. But will she stop being a hamster and start being Katie again? Read it to find out!

I just finished re-reading this book for our last 4th and 5th grade book club. The last title was “group choice” and the students all suggested titles and voted, and I, Freddy was the winner.

I have enjoyed this book each time I read it. Freddy is funny, clever and resourceful. Being a golden hampster of above average intelligence, he is adopted from the pet store by a sweet, caring little girl named Sophie. However, Sophie’s mom is not a hampster lover and Freddy soon finds himself living with Mr. John, a neighbor. He couldn’t have landed in a more perfect home. You see, Freddy loves to read, and wants to learn to write. Mr. John has a house full of books, a cat who is willing to pull them off the shelf for Freddy to read, and a typewriter. Freddy thinks the typewriter is the perfect means for him to communincate. If only he can figure out how to press down on the keys….

This is such a cute book, originally published in Germany and then translated. There are 5 Freddy books in all, so if you like this one, keep reading!

Here is another terrific animal book. I’ve been on a lucky streak lately with my reading. Angus and Sadie are two Border Collies who are adopted as puppies by mister and missus to live with them on their farm in Maine.

The dogs each have a very specific personality. The writing is third person omniscient, so you know what everyone is thinking, including the dogs. All of their thoughts are in italics. At first they are cute, loveable puppies who get in a lot of trouble. Then they grow up and learn how to be good sheep dogs and good pets. I laughed out loud several times.

I feel a little bad for Sadie. Several time mister and Angus think that she is a slow learner, or not a good sheep dog. She’s actually great at both, she just does things differently. It takes most of the book, but eventually everyone else catches on. The story is sweet and funny, the drawings are perfect. Even the chapter titles are cute. A must read for anyone who likes dogs, farms, Maine or any animal stories.

I just finished reading the sweetest book in the world. Toes is a very unusual cat. He has seven toes on each foot instead of five. His litter mates don’t want anything to do with him, afraid that they will “catch extra toes” so he heads off one night to find a place of his own.

Not only does Toes have double paws, he is extremely intelligent. He can turn on the t.v., he loves to listen to classical music, and he understands almost everything that people say. He winds up a stray cat in Sebastian Crabbe’s house. Sebastian is a very accomplished violin player, and loves having a cat around for an audience as much as Toes loves to listen to the beautiful music.

But Sebastian also has a problem. He would love to play with the Philharmonic, but he doesn’t have the confidence he needs. Toes has a plan though. And despite the fact that he is now up there in years, he will do what it takes to bring the Philharmonic to Sebastian’s house.

Of all the books I’ve read recently, this is one of my favorites. Toes is the sweetest, nicest cat. And his gentle nature makes him friends with mice, a dove, and of course, Sebastian.

What kind of librarian would I be if one of my first posts wasn’t about my favorite books? All children’s titles, of course. Most of these were read so many times that I wore out my paperback copy.

I still have all of those worn-out paperbacks. They have a place of honor next to the clean, hardcover copy.

My all time favorite is The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. I love this book. I loved it the first time I read it and it has yet to be surpassed. Everytime I pick it up, there they are, just the same as they have always been. Kit, Nat, Mercy and Judith and the witch, Hannah Tupper.

This book’s setting is what first drew me to it. 1685 Wethersfield, Connecticut. Katherine Tyler, Kit, is going to live with her mother’s sister after losing her last family member. Having grown-up in Barbados, she is unprepared for the Puritan way of life. She feels out of place until she befriends the widow Tupper, a Quaker, whose religion makes her as much of an outcast as Kit. A great read, romance, historical fiction, friendship all together. My absolute favorite.

Next on the list is Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. I first read it in the 4th grade. I had trouble with the first chapter, it spends a lot of time setting up the story, but by the time you get to chapter 2 away you go. Vermont in the early 1900’s, Elizabeth is sent to live with her Putney relatives. I love them all. Sweet Aunt Abigail, Uncle Henry, and cousin Ann, whose sharp eyes and manners can only just mask her good heart. It’s a great family, a great story with real people. I could talk about this book all day, so just read it and then come in and talk with me about it.

Ramona books by Beverly Cleary. Was there ever a more perfect character than Ramona? Everything about her is wonderful. I love that her family is middle class. Money is always an issue, but even without ipods, xbox, and their own website, they have a great life and a great family. Ramona and Her Father is still one of my favorites. So is Ramona the Brave, and while we’re at it, Ramona Quimby Age 8.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. This is a wonderful book to read in March. We’re right at the same stage as the garden when she first arrived. It’s cold and windy, but by the time you can learn to skip rope up to a hundred, little wick things will be pokin’ out t’ earth. That’s my Yorkshire attempt. Who hasn’t wanted to be like Dicken, or live in a house with so many rooms that you can spend a rainy day wandering around exploring them? Fantastic classic.

I know I am leaving something out. That’s the problem of doing this at work instead of at home. However, with the power of blog, I can go home, check my precious shelves and fill in the ones I missed. I know there are people out there who had favorites, let’s hear about them!