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To celebrate National Poetry Month...
A review of Guyku by Bob Raczka

 In honor of National Poetry Month, join the fun and check out a creative collection of haiku, especially for boys! In Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys by Bob Raczka and Peter H. Reynolds, we read through the seasons as boys catch grasshoppers, make zipping and clanking bikes, and wait expectantly for snow days. Illustrations are sparse and match the text of each haiku. Many will make you smile, such as: “If this puddle could/talk, I think it would tell me/to splash my sister,” or, “I ...read more

Reviewed by Tracy on April 5, 2013 | 0 comments

Love at first sight
A review of And the Miss Ran Away with the Rake by Elizabeth Boyle

 How do you find love when you live in a village that has been cursed? A village where the ladies have no prospects and no possibility of traveling to London to find a husband. Elizabeth Boyle’s wonderful new Regency series “Rhymes with Love” tells the love stories of a group of friends who come from such a place. The first love story was detailed in Along Came a Duke, the story of Miss Tabitha ...read more

Reviewed by Kathy K. - Central on April 4, 2013 | 0 comments

The woman who sounded the warning
A review of On a Farther Shore: The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson by William Souder

 A little over fifty years ago, there was a revolution in American culture. Its lead instigator was a scientist, and the weapons were words—or rather, a book called Silent Spring. At first glance, author Rachel Carson seemed like a mild-mannered government worker, a woman who excelled at teasing out hard facts from scientific works and converting it into elegant prose. She had already climbed the bestseller lists with her eloquent depictions of ocean and beach ecologies, winning the ...read more

Reviewed by Katie H. on April 3, 2013 | 0 comments

Baseball Fans: Opening Day is Here
New Baseball books

Hey baseball fans opening day is here, so why not check out some of the new baseball books that are out or coming out. 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read Before They Die by Ron Kaplan American Jews & America's ...read more

Reviewed by Kathy K. - Central on March 29, 2013 | 0 comments

It’s about pickles, not pranks. Yep. Really.
A review of PICKLE by Kimberly Baker

 The first thing you need to realize about pickle making is that it is serious business. Pickling has a long and illustrious history in the food preservation industry. Pssst! Are all of the grown-ups gone? They are? Great. Then we can let you in on a secret. The League of Pickle Makers is really a cover for the newest club at Fountain Point Middle School—the P.T.A. (Pranks and Trick Association). The club was started by me, Ben Ruiz, and we only do pranks that are funny or fun and not mean. If ...read more

Reviewed by Carissa - Alicia Ashman on March 29, 2013 | 0 comments

Let's whittle our wardrobes down to 10 items! Who's with me?
A review of Lessons from Madame Chic: 20 Stylish Secrets I Learned while Living in Paris by Jennifer L. Scott

 The Huffington Post recently published an article about the 10-Item Capsule Wardrobe and at the time I read the article I thought, no way, man! I can't do that and I don't want to! Then I read about the idea again in the book Lessons from Madame Chic written by The Daily Connoisseur blogger, Jennifer ...read more

Reviewed by Molly - Central on March 28, 2013 | 0 comments

One necklace to bind them
A review of And Then She Fell by Stephanie Laurens

 What would you do if you inherited a magic necklace that is supposed to help you find your true hero, the love of your life? Would you put it away, disbelieving its power or would you wear it and see what happens, particularly if it got results and would then be passed down? Henrietta Cynster falls in the former category until her younger sister Mary badgers her to wear the necklace. Mary believes in the power of the necklace given to the Cynster women by a Scottish deity and she has her ...read more

Reviewed by Kathy K. - Central on March 27, 2013 | 0 comments

A divided soul in the South
A review of Cane by Jean Toomer

 One of the dangers of getting into any novel is the temptation to associate the narrator of the story with the author. But in the case of Cane, it is especially difficult not to think of the experience of its creator, Jean Toomer. Born in 1894 to a family equally divided between black and white, Toomer spent much of his life shifting back and forth over the color line, marrying into white families while also teaching at a segregated school in rural Georgia. (He also briefly attended ...read more

Reviewed by Katie H. on March 26, 2013 | 0 comments

Experience an amazing new graphic novel
A review of Anomaly by Skip Brittenham and Brian Haberlin

 Anomaly is a deliciously huge new graphic novel -- a title that very likely could shake up readers the way the first Star Wars transfixed movie goers. With strong characters and a wealth of fabulous aliens and special effects, it takes you away to other worlds. A sprawling, epic tale with gorgeous art and an interesting story, accompanied by some mind-blowing technological enhancements, I found Anomaly impossible to put down. Actually, it is pretty hard to ...read more

Reviewed by Barbara - Alicia Ashman on March 25, 2013 | 0 comments

Another winner from Libba Bray
A review of The Diviners by Libba Bray

 The latest offering from supernatural master, Libba Bray, is sure to thrill fans of her last series. Set in 1920s New York, The Diviners follows seventeen year old Evie O’Neill who has been banished from her hometown in Ohio after a party trick has unintended consequences. Evie, a quintessential flapper, is thrilled with the arrangement, planning her days around shopping and movies and her nights around glamorous speakeasies. The only drawback is living with her uncle, the stuffy ...read more

Reviewed by Jill O on March 22, 2013 | 0 comments
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