Brown Girl Dreaming by Jaqueline Woodson

Who do you think will win the Newbery Award? 

I had a wonderful opportunity to participate in a Mock Newbery training at my library. For the training everyone read 6 books on the Newbery short list, and we voted on who we think would win. 

Can you guess who our pick was?  Ya, it is pretty much Jacqueline Woodson's year! 

Have you had a chance to read this book yet? 

I hope you have. Or I hope I can convince you to put it on your book pile. 

Brown Girl Dreaming  is an autobiography set in verse about Woodson's childhood. 

It is a gem that gives an explanation as to what it was like to grow up under Jim Crow laws, the Civil Rights movement, and general life in the 1960s and 1970s.  Woodson is able to give a complete picture with her experience living in both in South Carolina and New York. It helped to get a sense of how life for African Americans were different. 

To me, this book was refreshing! Even though the book was in verse, the characters were rich & I found the historical context fascinating. 

My only complaint, is that I don't think it has much kid appeal. I think it is an important topic to discuss, but I don't think this is something that I could sell to a tween. 

Sadly, kid appeal is not a factor in the Newbery decision. 

I do think, however, that many adults will enjoy this novel. 

I am torn on who I think the new Newbery will be. I loved this book, but I also found The Night Gardner to be wonderful too. 

I can't wait to see who will win! 

Be sure to tune in ALA Youth Media Awards. 

On February 2nd at 8 am, the award winners will be announced. 

Snicker of Magic by Natalie LLoyd

Happy Birthday Lewis Carroll! 

I am getting ready to do an "Illogical Alice and Wonderland Valentines Day" program, and I am excited to hear that today is this literary giant's birthday.  

Speaking of programming, I am going to switch my focus of this blog more on books.  Being a librarian, I read more books then do programming. To me, being knowledgeable about books is more important. One of my favorite books I read recently was: 

  A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd. 

Age range: 8-12

Pages: 320

Release Date: 02/25/2014

A Snicker of Magic is about a special 12 year old girl name Felicity Pickle. Felicity can see words all around her, and she takes it upon herself to collect these words. It comforts her, because her mother is cursed with a wondering heart. 

The Pickle family does not stay in one place very long. They are always on the move. That is, until Felicity's mother drives Felicity and her sister to her hometown of Midnight Gulch. 

Midnight Gulch just might be as special as the Pickle family. 

The town is rumored to have been magical. Felicity starts to feel at home, and she even makes a friend.

As the town history begins to unravel, however, Felcity finds that her family's curse is connected to the history of the town. Felicity must try and break the curse so she can stay in Midnight Gulch. 

This book is beautifully written, and the book is all about finding your voice. 

I think it could be enjoyed by kids of all ages. I found it to be a charming read. I think it would be great read for readers who enjoyed Because of Winn Dixie by Kate Dicamillo. 

The only thing I had a difficult time with was keeping track of the characters. Natalie does a wonderful job of spotlighting characters and creating a history of the town, but at times I had trouble remembering all of the characters. 

If you do read this book, I would suggest keeping a list of characters to refer to. Or, this might be a great read out loud as a family. That way there are more people to help you remember the characters! 

Overall, I would give this book 5 stars!

Even though I had trouble with the characterization, all of the characters had a purpose. I espcially loved the word play throughout the book. I felt like this novel was origonal and it was filled with  southern charm. Each chapter was like drinking a cup of sweet tea. It is sure to get many awards. I can see it on a lot of state award lists. 

The Night Gardener

I am on a quest to read some of the books on the short list for the Newbery Award. One book on this list is called The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier. I can see why this book is on the short list. It is beautifully written. 





Here is a quick overview. 

~The Story ~

The Night Gardener is set in the Victorian period in England. It is about two orphaned children named Molly and Kip from Ireland. They are separated from their parents on a sinking ship set out to the Americas. Molly and Kip's ship arrives in England and they must find a job and shelter, but no one will hire a crippled boy and his sister. That is, until they receive a job at a place that all the villagers whisper about. As they arrive to the house, they notice the house is built within and surrounding a tree. Both children get a feeling that something is not right, but they have no where else to go. They accept the job to help clean and maintain the grounds of the house for room and board. As they work, however, they begin to notice some strange things. There is a mysterious figure who roams the grounds at night,,,the villages call him the night gardener. The family that Kip and Molly work for are sick, and the doctors do not know what is wrong. Molly and Kip begin to think that the night gardener is the cause of this sickness, but they also begin to notice that the family gets whatever they wish for. As the family receives more wishes, the sicker they become. Molly even makes a wish, and she becomes sick too. Can the Kip and Molly figure out what is going on before it is too late? 


~Tween you and Me~

This book has incredible imagery. As you read this book, you will become apart of the story. Before you start this novel, make sure to clear your schedule.  You will get lost in its mystery and Auxier's incredible story telling abilities. 

Even though this dark book is not for everyone, it is a great pick for readers who enjoy books by Neil Gainman. Its dark and mysterious nature reminded me Neil Gainman's Coroline. I think this could be a potential read-alike for reader's who enjoy Goosebumps. This book is definitely more scary, but readers who like that style are sure to enjoy it. 

 All in all, the literary style makes this book memorable. I give it 4 1/2 stars! ....because it was legitimately creepy & I will never go near a large tree again. After reading it however, I hope it does get a Newbery Award. It is a rare find. 

I can't wait to read more books by Auxier. He is sure to be an award winner. I know he is in my book. 

Emerald Atlas

I have been AWOL lately, applying to grad schools. I just graduated with my undergraduate degree in history in December. The freedom did not set in until I realized I could take a stack of books home & read whatever I wanted! 

I decided to start with some books that one of my favorite tween patrons recommended to me. Judging by the title of this post, I bet you can guess what I read! That is right, it is The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens. 

 If you get nothing out of this post, please walk away with just this:

Tween you & Me Reader's Advisory Tip- This is a perfect read alike for fans of The Chronicles of Narnia. 

That is correct, if you love Chronicles of Narnia, you will love this book. 


Quick Book Talk 

It is a fantasy book about 3 orphan children.  There is 2 girls and one desperate middle child boy. There names are Kate, Michel, and Emma. Ever since their parents left them mysteriously one Christmas night, they have been moved to orphanage to orphanage. Finally, they are sent to a strange orphanage run by a mysterious man in Cambridge falls. One day, while exploring, Kate and her siblings find a book. They quickly discover that the book has the ability to go through time. The kids are accidentally sent to a time in Cambridge Falls when magic was apart of the real world. While there, the trio run into an evil sorceress. The kids try to escape, but not knowing how to use the book's magic, 
Kate and her sister are separated from her brother, Micheal. Kate must figure out how to go back into time to save her brother & find secrets as to why her parents left those 10 years ago. 

This is the 1st book in a three part series. Each book is centered on a different sibling. Each child will  find a different magical book.  The author John Stephens previously worked on  popular TV shows like the O.C. and Gilmore Girls. So expect it to be amazing! 

What I enjoyed most about this book is the fantasy. It had all of the best fantasy elements. It had magic, elves, and dwarfs. It was plot driven and a wonderful book for any adventure fantasy lover! 

I especially loved the relationship between the siblings. The relationships were strong, but they were changing. It was an excellent example of how relationships grow and develop & how important forgiveness is. 

Overall, I would give this book a 5 star rating!  You should go give it to all of your fantasy loving tweens. :) 

Willy Wonka

Guess who turned 50 this year? 

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl! 

This classic cannot go without celebrating. 

To celebrate, my library hosted a program to give tribute to this guy. 

We hid golden tickets in the library for patrons to find. We had the tickets out all month long. 

When it came time for the program, we golden ticket holders could redeem their ticket for the book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" 

Penguin graciously donated an event kit. (It never hurts to ask!)  By having this donated it helped to bring down the cost of the program to just the cost of the chocolate bars. (We felt like it was needed)

For the actual program we had station set up (I am the station queen) 

1. Life size Candy Land 

I unfortunately did not get pictures. Children on a sugar highs kept me pretty busy, but this is an extremely easy activity. For our program, we just laminated different colors of construction paper. Next, we just placed them in a pattern on the floor. Next, we cut up some construction paper for cards. All the participants had to do was to draw a card, and move to their space.  It turned out something like this: 

The kids loved it! 

2. Invent your own candy station 

With allergies, we are finding it harder and harder to do food related activities. It seems like the only allergy friendly food anymore is  the Dum-Dum. So instead of having kids make real inventions, they played with gluten free foam. It was a pretend game, but it gave the kids an excuse to play with play dough like foam. What could be better! 

3. Trivia

I hung trivia up along the wall for the parents to try out. We also had a table for trivia for the kids. These questions were aimed at being a little easier for them. Both parties had fun.  

Finally. we played the movie. "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" 

The families enjoyed this the most. I am shocked how successfully movies go over. Most of the participants played Candy Land and then went to watch the movie. It was not what I was expecting! 

Overall the 50th Anniversary was a success. 

Maybe I just need to do more book and movie programs! Does anyone else have success with movie programs?