dozens of reasons why middle school's not so bad

More great books to reads from the magic lady, this time:

MIDDLE SCHOOL BOOKS

Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko
All Alone in the Universe, by Lynne Rae Perkins
Among the Hidden, by Margaret Haddix
Bone from a Dry Sea, by Peter Dickinson
Catherine Called Birdy, by Karen Cushman
City of Ember, by Jeanne DuPrau and its sequels
Crash, by Jerry Spinelli
Devil’s Arithmetic, by Jane Yolen
Dovey Coe, by Frances O’Roark Dowell
East by Edith Pattou
Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Giver, by Lois Lowry
The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale
Hattie Big Sky, by Kirby Larson
Holes, by Louis Sachar
Homecoming, by Cynthia Voigt
Hoot, by Carl Hiaasen
Hope Was Here, by Joan Bauer- and other novels
House of the Scorpions, by Nancy Farmer
Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke and its sequel
Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O’Dell
Long Way from Chicago, by Richard Peck and its sequel
The Loon Feather, by Iola Fuller
Lord of the Rings trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
Love that Dog, by Sharon Creech
Miss Spitfire, by Sarah Miller
Monster, by Walter Dean Myers
A Murder for Her Majesty, by Beth Hilgartner
Nothing But the Truth, by Avi
Princess Academy, by Shannon Hale and its companion books
Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind, by Suzanne Fisher Staples
Shadow Spinner, by Susan Fletcher
A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park
So B. It, by Sarah Weeks
Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli and its sequel Love, Stargirl
Stones in Water, by Donna Jo Napoli
Tangerine, by Edward Bloor
The Teacher’s Funeral, by Richard Peck
The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, by Avi
Touching Spirit Bear, by Ben Mikaelsen
The Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman, by Louise Plummer
Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech
The Wanderer, by Sharon Creech
The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963, by Christopher Paul Curtis
Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt
Wise Child, by Monica Furlong and its two sequels
Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle and its sequels

5th grade reads

And still more...

5th Grade Recommendations:

Aurora County All-Stars, by Deborah Wiles, any books by her
Becoming Naomi Leon, by Pam Munoz Ryan
BFG, by Roald Dahl
Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
Castle in the Attic, by Elizabeth Winthrop
Dealing with Dragons series, by Patricia Wrede
Donuthead, by Sue Stauffacher
Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine
Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan
Flipped, by Wendelin Van Draanen
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E.L. Konigsburg
George Washington’s Socks, by Elvira Woodruff
The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson
Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen
Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke and its sequel
Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick
Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert O’Brien
My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George
The Penderwicks, by Jeanne Birdsall
P.S. Longer Letter Later, by Paula Danziger and Ann M. Martin
Redwall series, by Brian Jacques
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor
Sammy Keyes mystery series, by Wendelin Van Draanen
Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo
Trouble Don’t Last, by Shelley Pearsall
Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt
The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare

Buckeye books

In case you like book award nominees:

2013 Ohioana Book Award Finalists Announced
Ohioana will announce the winners in each category near the end of Augus

* not Ohioans – note, books about Ohio or Ohioans need not be authored by an Ohioan.

Fiction

The Coldest Night by Robert Olmstead - Algonquin Books, 2012.

Home by Toni Morrison - Knopf, 2012.

Stay Awake: Stories by Dan Chaon - Ballantine Books, 2012.

The World We Found: A Novel by Thrity Umrigar - Harper/William Morrow, 2012.

Nonfiction 

Biting the Moon: A Memoir of Feminism and Motherhood by Joanne S. Frye - Syracuse University Press, 2012.

The Bluebird Effect: Uncommon Bonds with Common Birds by Julie Zickefoose - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012

Earth Works: Selected Essays by Scott Russell Sanders - Indiana University Press, 2012

The Presidents Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity by Nancy Gibbs* and Michael Duffy - Simon & Schuster, 2012

A Sanctuary of Trees: Beechnuts, Birdsongs, Baseball Bats, and Benedictions by Gene Logsdon – Chelsea Green, 2012

Such a Life by Lee Martin - University of Nebraska Press, 2012

About Ohio/Ohioan  

America’s Other Audubon by Joy M. Kiser - Princeton Architectural Press, 2012

Asylum on the Hill: History of a Healing Landscape by Katherine Ziff - Ohio University Press, 2012

Henry Mancini: Reinventing Film Music by John Caps.* -  University of Illinois Press, 2012

The Music Professor: A Life Amplified Through Radio and Rock ‘n’ Roll by Jim LaBarbara - Little Miami Publishing Company, 2011

Ohio Jazz: A History of Jazz in the Buckeye State by David Meyers, Candice Watkins, Arnett Howard, and James Loeffler - History Press, 2012

Rust Belt Resistance: How a Small Community Took on Big Oil and Won by Perry Bush - Kent State University Press, 2012

Juvenile

Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson - Nancy Paulsen Books, 2012

His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg: Courage, Rescue and Mystery DuringWorld War II by Louise W. Borden - Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2012

Kite Day: A Bear and Mole Story by Will Hillenbrand - Holiday House, 2012

Last Laughs: Animal Epitaphs by J. Patrick Lewis and Jane Yolen,* - Charlesbridge, 2012

What Happens Next by Colleen Clayton - Poppy, 2012

Poetry

After the Point of No Return by David Wagoner - Copper Canyon Press, 2012

For(e)closure by Mary Weems - Main Street Rag Publishing Company, 2012

A Map of the Lost World by Rick Hilles - University of Pittsburgh Press, 2012

Monks Beginning to Waltz by George Looney - Truman State University Press, 2012

White Papers by Martha Collins - University of Pittsburgh Press, 2012

Special Category: Fiction Set in Ohio or About an Ohioan by a Non-Ohio Author

Clara and Mr. Tiffany: A Novel by Susan Vreeland* -  Random House, 2011

The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier* -  Dutton, 2013

FOR MORE INFO: www.ohioana.org.

it's official, I'm a weird cat lady librarian

I haven't posted any pics of Hemingway in a long while, so I thought I would do that today, because, Tuesdays suck. Hem turned 1 in March, so I guess I can't call him a kitten anymore...according to Purina I'm the owner of a cat.

He's a handsome devil, isn't he?

just give me a reason

...why I can't stay at home in my pjs this morning. I love love love this song. And yeah, maybe I listened to it about 30 times in a row this weekend until I learned all the words. Judge me.

http://youtu.be/jfcTTFuGg6E

train to sleepytown

In Steam Train, Dream Train, Sherri Duskey Rinker and illus. Tom Lichtenheld (Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site) pair up again to give us another book that kids will love. The story is a fun, rhyming adventure ride on a train crewed by animals of all sorts: monkeys stow cargo, bunnies load freight, camels fill the boxcar with bikes, and more!

Like Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site, the story flows smoothly and the pictures are great--what I really enjoyed is the soft hues that Lichtenheld chose for this book, giving it that sleepy, nighttime quality (obviously the story being set at night helps too!). This book will enchant any child who's ever wondered what's inside those train; and as the story winds down the animals themselves prepare for bed, making this an excellent bedtime book! I love this book!

Age: Preschool+

wonders of the deep

Octopus (in Divya Srinivasan's Octopus Alone) experiences the reef world all around her, watching from her cave. One day she decides to escape the busyness of the reef and seek out some solitude. Through her adventures swimming through the vast ocean--complete with run-ins with fish of all types, seahorses, crabs, and octopus-eating eels and a whale!--Octopus realizes that sometimes being alone isn't all its cracked up to be.

1. I love how Octopus is shown different colors, blending in with her surroundings; changing colors when she's scared (great conversation starter with the kiddos).
2. I love that the kids will learn new things: new words like, "Anemone," and things like, "tiny fish ate algae from a big fish's scales, leaving them sparkling clean." You learn that octopus like to eat things like crabs and juicy lobster. :)
3. You see octopus ink! How fun!
4. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that Srinivasan draws and labels lots of different fish in the front of the book: puffer fish, a nautilus, butterfly fish, topshell, domino damselfish, garden eels, sea urchins, squid, spotted drum, fairy basslets, squirrelfish, damselfish, nurse shark, trumpet fish, parrot fish, etc.
5. But most of all what makes Divya Srinivasan stories stand out for me is the artwork. The color are always vivid and communicate the story perfectly. The drawings are beautiful. I love love love her artwork in, Octopus Alone, and also loved, Little Owl's Night.