Junior Readers Book Club

Readers in grades 2 and 3 and their parents are invited to join us from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm, Wednesday, October 28 for a discussion of It's Halloween, You 'Fraidy Mouse by Geronimo Stilton

Product Description from Amazon
It's Halloween on Mouse Island, and it seemed like everyone was out to get me, Geronimo Stilton! My cousin Trap kept pulling scary pranks on me. And then my sister Thea told me I had to write a book about Halloween in less than one day! Before you could say boo, my nephew Benjamin had dragged me to a graveyard to do research. There I met a very spooky mouse who -- yikes! -- tried to lock me up in her coffin! Oh, how would a 'fraidy mouse like me ever survive the year's scariest holiday?

High School Book Club

Join us from 7-8pm, Wednesday, October 14 for a discussion of Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie.

From School Library JournalStarred Review. Grade 7–10—Exploring Indian identity, both self and tribal, Alexie's first young adult novel is a semiautobiographical chronicle of Arnold Spirit, aka Junior, a Spokane Indian from Wellpinit, WA. The bright 14-year-old was born with water on the brain, is regularly the target of bullies, and loves to draw. He says, "I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats." He expects disaster when he transfers from the reservation school to the rich, white school in Reardan, but soon finds himself making friends with both geeky and popular students and starting on the basketball team. Meeting his old classmates on the court, Junior grapples with questions about what constitutes one's community, identity, and tribe. The daily struggles of reservation life and the tragic deaths of the protagonist's grandmother, dog, and older sister would be all but unbearable without the humor and resilience of spirit with which Junior faces the world. The many characters, on and off the rez, with whom he has dealings are portrayed with compassion and verve, particularly the adults in his extended family. Forney's simple pencil cartoons fit perfectly within the story and reflect the burgeoning artist within Junior. Reluctant readers can even skim the pictures and construct their own story based exclusively on Forney's illustrations. The teen's determination to both improve himself and overcome poverty, despite the handicaps of birth, circumstances, and race, delivers a positive message in a low-key manner. Alexie's tale of self-discovery is a first purchase for all libraries.—Chris Shoemaker, New York Public Library Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Teen Book Club

Lake Forest Library's Teen Book Club will meet from 7-8 pm, Wednesday, October 7 for a discussion of Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5–8—Somewhere in contemporary Britain, "the man Jack" uses his razor-sharp knife to murder a family, but the youngest, a toddler, slips away. The boy ends up in a graveyard, where the ghostly inhabitants adopt him to keep him safe. Nobody Owens, so named because he "looks like nobody but himself," grows up among a multigenerational cast of characters from different historical periods that includes matronly Mistress Owens; ancient Roman Caius Pompeius; an opinionated young witch; a melodramatic hack poet; and Bod's beloved mentor and guardian, Silas, who is neither living nor dead and has secrets of his own. As he grows up, Bod has a series of adventures, both in and out of the graveyard, and the threat of the man Jack who continues to hunt for him is ever present. Bod's love for his graveyard family and vice versa provide the emotional center, amid suspense, spot-on humor, and delightful scene-setting. The child Bod's behavior is occasionally too precocious to be believed, and a series of puns on the name Jack render the villain a bit less frightening than he should be, though only momentarily. Aside from these small flaws, however, Gaiman has created a rich, surprising, and sometimes disturbing tale of dreams, ghouls, murderers, trickery, and family.—Megan Honig, New York Public Library Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.