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Moon Over Manifest
Clare Vanderpool
Ages 8-12

This year’s Newbery winner is indeed a winner. It’s the story of a young girl named Abilene, who has been “riding the rails” during the depression with her father.  It is 1936 and she has been sent to stay with her father's friend in Manifest, Kansas.  Abilene wants to know more about her father, including why he left her in Manifest in the first place.  She'll find the truth in a box of mementos hidden in some floorboards.

Although Abilene is the main character of the book, Moon Over Manifest is just as much a story about Jinx, a 13 yr old who blew into town in 1917 and changed it forever.  Jinx is working with a con man until someone is killed and they are run out of town.  He ends up in Manifest, a town where mine owners and many immigrant groups are at odds with each other.  When a piece of land becomes available that the mine owner needs to expand, the townspeople have to learn to work together.

Read this book to find out how Jinx devises a way to earn the money to pay for the land, how unexpected help arrives from an unlikely source, how the mementos in Abigail’s box are explained one by one, and how the last of them, a skeleton key, unlocks the deepest secret of all.   (Get your tissues ready!)

 

May 5, 2011
Mrs Fry
Let's Do Nothing!
Tony Fucile
Ages 4-8

What do you do when you've done it all? You do nothing! Frankie and Sal try to do nothing by being statues, redwood trees, and tall buildings. They soon find that by doing nothing, you are actually doing something. The illustrations are what makes this book so humorous!

Apr 4, 2011
Anonymous
Anything But Typical
Nora Raleigh Baskin
Ages 9-12

NT= Neurotypical. Jason Blake is not NT. He was diagnosed with ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder). He knows what he needs to do and how to act to blend in with all of the NTs in the world. Jason's brain works differently- almost as if he speaks a different language. Most pre-teens worry about fitting in, and Jason is no different. He has the same worries but struggles to express himself in the same way. This book is beautifully written and gives us NTs a humorous but enlightening peak into the life of someone with autism.

Apr 4, 2011
Anonymous
Interrupting Chicken
David Ezra Stein
Ages 4-8

When bedtime rolls around for Little Red Chicken, he wants Papa to read him stories. Papa agrees to read, but only if Chicken promises not to interrupt. Like any child who has memorized their favorite stories, Chicken can't help but tell the stories himself! Papa suggests that Chicken read him a story, and it successfully puts someone to sleep. This book won a 2010 Caldecott Honor Award for its remarkable illustrations.

Apr 4, 2011
Anonymous
Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little
Peggy Gifford
Ages 8-12

Moxy Maxwell needs to read Stuart Little for a summer reading assignment. Moxy Maxwell just doesn't have time. She has water ballet, needs to clean her room, and even has to plant a peach orchard. How is a girl supposed to read Stuart Little when there are so many other things to do? This young procrastinator is down to the wire and finds that when she gets down to business, she actually likes her book and can't stop reading it! This book was a quick read, with short chapters and photographs taken by Moxy's brother, Max.

Apr 4, 2011
Anonymous
The Lemonade War
Jacqueline Davies
Ages 8-12

Jessie and Evan normally get along great together- as far as brothers and sisters go. That all changes just days before school starts in September. Evan got a note from the school that dissolved his friendly attitude towards his sister. Let the lemonade war begin! Rather than work together as a team, Evan and Jessie start their own stands and compete to see which stand makes the most money. This book offered great ideas that will make anyone want to have a lemonade stand this summer.

Apr 4, 2011
Anonymous
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda
Tom Angleberger
Ages 9-12

Question of the year: Does Origami Yoda have magical powers? Kids at McQuarrie Middle School seem to think so, but 6th graders Tommy just isn't sure. He really needs to know if this girl Sara- likes him. Dwight made an Origami Yoda finger puppet who gives advice. Should Tommy trust Yoda's advice or is it just Dwight pretending to be Yoda? You be the judge by reading students' stories about how Yoda helped them. There are even instructions on how to make your own Origami Yoda (that may or may not have magical powers and offers advice to your friends...)

Apr 4, 2011
Anonymous
Kimchi & Calamari
Rose Kent
Ages 9-12

Joseph Calderaro is worried. His teacher assigned a report where students write about their heritage. Should he write about his adopted Italian family, or about his home country of Korea? Joseph knows little about his adopted mom and he's afraid that the topic will anger his dad. What's a kid to do? This is a funny story that sheds light on the troubles adopted kids feel, in the search to find who they really are.

Apr 4, 2011
Anonymous
Pinkalicious: Pink Around the Rink
Victoria Karr
Preschool-Grade 2

For those lovers of Goldilicious, Pinkalicious & Purplicious  we now have Pinkalicious: Pink Around the Rink  for beginning readers.  Pinkalicious is disappointed when she is given white ice skates.  She uses her “candypink” marker to color them pink and then daydreams about being a beautiful graceful skater.  But when she goes skating with the family she keeps falling over and over again each time leaving a trail of pink on the ice that is coming off her skates.  Pinkalicious becomes tired, upset and discouraged.  At the end of the book her parents have a nice surprise for her.  If you enjoy this reader you might want to check out Pinkalicious: School Rules.   

Apr 4, 2011
Barb
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
Mo Williams
Preschool-Gr2

It may not be a well-known fact, but pigeons are quite persistent creatures when it comes to driving public transit. Mo Williams’ Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! is a picture book that interacts with the reader as the unrelenting title bird begs and pleads for permission to drive the bus, even though the friendly bus driver has given us explicit instructions not to let the pigeon at the wheel. This book is followed by Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late and The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog.

Apr 4, 2011
Liz

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