Veterans Day

Yesterday was Veterans Day in the United States. This holiday is a time for us to "honor all who served" in the military. War has a large presence in the literary world, many classic books have been written about both the glory and the horror of battle. The library has quite of few of these titles, and here are some general recommendations:

For younger readers a picture book called The Blue and the Gray, by Eve Bunting, has two young friends remembering the American Civil War. Good fiction books for adults on the Civil War include Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier and The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara.

Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes is a Newbery-award winning book for middle readers based during the American Revolutionary War. Sarah Bishop, by Scott O'Dell and The Pox Party, by MT Anderson are two other books written about that era.

If you prefer non-fiction works, They Marched into Sunlight, by David Maraniss, is a great read about different fronts in the Vietnam War. This work is recommended for older readers. For middle readers, Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers, is a fiction book about one young man's experience in the same war.

Please come to the library to find other books about war and veterans.

Latin@ books for all!

Here are two great blogs that focus on Latin@ characters and experiences:

Latina YA

Cuentecitos

Check them out and see what they have to say. If you like the sound of any of the books in these blogs, please recommend them to Ms. Hanneman and we can purchase them for next year!

Also, if you're interested in what the library already has, here are a few titles to get you started:

Esperanza Rising, by Pam Ryan (we have it in Spanish and English)
Crazy Mixed-up Spanglish Day, by Marisa Montes
Party Girl, by Lynne Ewing
Honey Blond Chica, by Michele Serros
Haters, by Alisa Valdez-Rodriguez

There are a bunch more titles in the library, come see what we have!

A new Star in our book universe

If you're interested in historical fiction, you should check out a slim volume among our new books, At the Sign of the Star, by Katherine Sturtevant. Based in 17th century England, Meg, the daughter of a London bookseller, would rather spend her time in her father's shop than learning how to cook and sew. She plans on inheriting her father's business one day, until he remarries and puts her future in doubt.

If you like strong girl characters with a bit of rebellion, historical fiction or want to read about London in the 17th century, this would be a great book for you. There is also a sequel called A True and Faithful Narrative.