Only a few days left to nominate for Cybils!

Cybils nominations close on October 15! and in case you need a little jogging of your memory, here are the titles I've been collecting all year.

Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction

• Handle with care by Loree Griffin Burns
• Grizzly bears of Alaska by Debbie Miller (9781570619328)
• Plastic ahoy! by Patricia Newman
• A baby elephant in the wild by Caitlin O'Connell
• About Habitats: Forests by Cathryn Sill
• About Parrots by Cathryn Sill
• Beneath the sun by Melissa Stewart

*Picture Books

• Sleepover with Beatrice and Bear by Monica Carnesi
• Go! Go! Go! Stop! by Charise Mericle Harper
• Nest by Jorey Hurley
• Caterina and the lemonade stand by Erin Eitter Kono
• Sophie Scott goes south by Alison Lester
• Following papa's song by Gianna Marino
• Crocodile who didn't like water by Gemma Merino
• Lost for words by Natalie Russell
• Hannah's night by Komako Sakai

Middle Grade Fiction

• The Battle of Darcy Lane by Tara Altebrando (9780762449484)
• Gold medal winter by Donna Freitas (9780545643771)
• A hundred horses by Sarah Lean (9780062122292)

This week at the library; or, Good-bye vacation, I barely knew ye

At the zoo with my new hood and mitts. And bear.

What's happening; in my head and at the library

• I was on vacation Monday - Wednesday, although I did go in to work on Wednesday for a farewell party for (yet another) staff member who is leaving us. 
• I also started an online class on youth services management with Marge Loch-Wouters. I have already got a whole page of ideas of how I need to fix my planning and goal-setting process for the department. I mean, not that I have one to fix, but to start one!
• Thursday - I came back to 68 (make that 77) holds on my desk, approximately 100 new books, and a grim determination to Make it Through. I wore my turtle earrings. I made calls. I arranged community tours, rescheduled a daycare, called all the schools to see if they'd help me promote the programs I'm doing on an upcoming no school day, called more schools to discuss/schedule outreach, updated my main calendar with all the changes and the staff calendar, since I'll be needed to fill in at the front desk due to the staff member leaving, and planning enough of Friday's program to be able to wing it. Then Messy Art Club.
• THERE WERE BIRDS AT THE BIRDWATCHING STATION!!! and half the seed was gone - I am so thrilled! After a whole summer of nothing (since I *cough* neglected to realize there were little doors that needed to be opened), and then weeks after I opened them still nothing, this was absolutely wonderful!
• Friday - program, then I was on the main information desk for most of the afternoon and continued to deal with the holds, new books, and started up work on the Neighborhoods project again.
• Saturday I went back to the zoo for an early childhood education class on big cats. It's funny because someone (I don't remember who) at ALSC Institute jokingly said something about their zoo advertising early literacy classes, but our zoo does these classes and they're actually really good! Primarily for daycare staff, they were really surprised when a couple librarians showed up, but I got a lot out of the last one and who doesn't like big cats?
• Our town's battle of the books doesn't start until December, but quite a few other towns are showing up. Parents would really like if we had ALL the lists, but I don't see a way to make that happen!

Programs

• Toddlers 'n' Books (2 sessions)
• Books 'n' Babies
• Messy Art Club: Laminated die cuts
• We Explore Favorite Artists: Denise Fleming

What kids are reading and talking about

• Yes, I have ordered all the Minecraft books. Well, all the handbooks anyways. 
• Parent asked for easy readers with just text on one side of the page and illustrations on the other. My hands were covered in grease and I was starting a program in five minutes so I really blanked. Maybe some of Holiday House's I Like To Read series?

Read Scary: Zombies Calling by Faith Erin Hicks

I can't believe I've never reviewed this. It's the first Faith Erin Hicks book I encountered; in fact, I believe it's her first full-length graphic novel. I still love it.

So the story is pretty simple. Joss is worried about her exams, student loan debt and where her life is going. Really, she'd prefer just to watch her favorite zombie films and indulge her obsession for all things British. But when zombies really DO attack, it takes all Joss's knowledge to keep herself and her roommates, Sonnet and Robyn, alive.

When I booktalk this at schools (which I haven't done in a while) I always give it the tagline "armed only with a spork, Joss must defeat the forces of the undead!" heh. It actually has quite a few serious moments; when Joss talks with her friends about where her life is going (or isn't), when they survive the zombie attacks but realize how many people didn't, etc. There are also lots of hilarious, if inappropriate, moments; when Joss and Robyn discuss whether or not, as virgins, they'll survive the zombie apocalypse, and plenty of gore-spattered inappropriate laughs.

Fans of Hicks will easily see how far her art has come in the past years, but in the simple black and white sketches that make up the art of this book you can still see her distinctive style - wide eyes, expressive faces, realistic body shapes, and lots of wavy lines and gross zombies.

I probably shouldn't have, but I've booktalked this to sixth grade *guilty look*. Nobody has ever complained - either the kids never actually read it, or, far more likely, anything inappropriate just completely passed over their heads. Nevertheless, I don't advise you to tempt fate like I did and I suggest keeping your recommendations for this one at a high school level.

Verdict: I'm not entirely sure this is actually available. Baker and Taylor lists it as available for backorder, but that usually means "you order it and we will laugh and laugh and laugh and then six months later send you a cancellation notice". It is available on Amazon though. There are a lot of zombie books out there and Faith Erin Hicks has come a long way and her later books are more likely to be popular library choices. However, if you want a funny, quick read, I suggest this for your personal collection or as a gift for the zombie-lover in your life (and if you don't have one, congratulations! You have just raised your chances of surviving the upcoming zombie apocalypse)

ISBN: 9781593620790; Published 2009 by Slave Labor Graphics; Purchased for the library and my personal collection

Read Scary: The Cryptids: The Loch Ness Monster by Jean Flitcroft

I'm going to be honest; these books looked like they might be popular from the description, but they're not something I would have taken a chance on purchasing. However, I won a set from the publisher and they are checking out quite briskly. I decided I'd try reading one.

SPOILERS

Vanessa is angry and hurt that her father wants to bring his girlfriend, Lee, along on their trip to Scotland. She feels like he and her brothers are just forgetting their mom and she can't stand Lee. But then she remembers the cryptid research her mom used to do and gets excited about investigating the Loch Ness monster. She's pleased when her dad says no more about bringing Lee, even when they arrive in Scotland. Then she finds out that they're staying at Lee's house, with her relatives. It's an armed truce until Vanessa rebelliously takes a boat out on the dangerous loch and capsizes. When she awakes, she finds that Nessie has saved her and they can communicate telepathically. They have much in common, Nessie having lost her own mother many years ago when she first became trapped in Loch Ness and she tells Vanessa a little about another girl who was lost in her caves and had also lost her mother. Vanessa is found and of course realizes that Lee was the other lost girl and the two start to bond as Vanessa begins to heal from her grief.

If that sounds rather confusing, it's a pretty accurate description of how I felt about the book. Most of it is talking about Vanessa's feelings and reactions, interspersed with trivia about the Loch Ness monster, and then suddenly she falls into the lake and you're not quite sure if she's hallucinating from eating the moss or if she really is having a telepathic conversation with the Loch Ness Monster and working through her grief over her mother. The writing is often stilted and even when it tries to be suspenseful or scientific I was never satisfied with it. I was also very confused by exactly how old the kids are supposed to be. Vanessa seems to be the oldest and a teenager, but then it sounds like her brothers are five years apart, and then it talks about her being sad that her mom won't be there for important parts of her life, like when she gets her period. There's driblets of suspense, but basically the book promises a lot more than it delivers.

This is Lerner's Darby Creek imprint, which is for struggling readers, i.e. a hi-lo book so some of the plot and writing can be attributed to that. However, your only binding choices are paperback or expensive library bound and for $22 a book I expect a lot more. I am very grateful to the publisher for giving me the free library bound copies and they are circulating quite well, numbers bolstered, I suspect, by the quite attractive covers, and it's good to have something to hand to the struggling readers, but I think they're not really going to satisfy the average reader looking for actual scary/suspenseful cryptid adventures.

Verdict: These would be great for kids wanting more "teen" books that are appropriate for younger readers and for struggling readers. Generally speaking, I would recommend these as additional purchases if you have the budget or are looking to expand a hi-lo collection.

ISBN: 9781467726023; Published2014 by Darby Creek/Lerner; I won copies of the trilogy in a publisher's contest; Donated to the library

Read Scary: Read, Read, Read said the Baby: Where's Boo? by Salina Yoon

(This is an edited and republished version of an older review)

A Halloween read for the very littlest ones!

The green half circle with the tip of Boo's tail is a cut out - the green is on the very last page. Each page asks where Boo is hiding and shows the end of his tail behind a different Halloween item - a Jack-o'-lantern, cookie jar with a ghost on it, etc. Each time it turns out to be a different creature - a spider, the handle of a Halloween candle, etc. until we finally find Boo dressed up for Trick-or-treat at the end.

The pictures are cute enough, and have that bold, simple outline I look for in board books, but I didn't think the tail theme fit very well into some of them. The cat's face on the cover and the tail end are both fuzzy.

Verdict: This is the kind of cute novelty book that parents will check out eagerly, but it will be forgotten soon and dirty in a few months. If you really have a lot of requests for Halloween board books you might consider it, but otherwise it would make a better gift than a circulating library title. I donated it to one of our circulation clerks whose daughter was obsessed with Halloween and had seen this book at another library and declared it her favorite and they loved it.

ISBN: 9780307978080; Published 2013 by Random House; Review copy provided by publisher; Given away as a gift

Nonfiction Monday: Swamp Chomp by Lola M. Schaefer, illustrated by Paul Meisel

Simple, bold text describes the life in a pond until the last few pages, when an orgy of eating breaks out and the food chain progresses from mosquito up to alligator. I really would have liked more text - it's so extremely minimal that you don't really realize you're looking at a food chain unless you start with the endpapers or until you get to the end. Example, "Mosquitoes flit. Sit./Dragonflies swoop. Dip." It goes like this throughout the book - one page is just sounds, "Simmer Bellow Drone" etc. Some of the text doesn't clearly match the pictures. When it says "Crayfish crawl. Carry." there is nothing shown in the crawfish's claws. "Bullfrogs wait. Lay." doesn't explain if the bullfrog is laying eggs? Or just....laying?

However, the pictures do a good job of showing swamp life. There are lots of animals, many small and hidden, and activities and details in the art to discuss. I have to say, honestly, that Meisel isn't one of my favorite artists; I'm not really a fan of watercolors in general (I don't like Brian Floca much either) but it really does work for this book. Especially in the end, when all the animals jump into chomping action, the pictures are lively (but not scary) and I can see kids getting really interactive with this part.

Verdict: Maybe not a definite first purchase, but if you do any kind of nonfiction for storytimes you'll want to add this. I'm already thinking of ways I can use it as a flannelboard, interactive game, etc.

ISBN: 9780823424078; Published 2014 by Holiday House; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Added to the library's wishlist

This Week at the Library; or, Blink! You missed it again!

Nobody is more surprised than me that our new children's
garden actually has produced a couple pumpkins!

What's happening - in my head and at the library

• I went on vacation again, so this week was only Monday and Tuesday for me. It's a weird, weird sensation to actually take more than one or two days off.

NOMINATE FOR CYBILS!! If you don't know what to nominate, I have a little list!

Program

• Toddlers 'n' Books (2 sessions)
• Books 'n' Babies
• Lego Club

What the kids are reading

• Red dot easy readers - little do the parents and kids know, I have stickered my easy readers with no discernible system. So they are not actually getting leveled books. Mwa ha ha.
• I had a whole list of dragon books ready to recommend to a kid whose mom was bringing him in for this express purpose...and he's into ninjas now. Sigh. He will get into stuff if he's made to start it, so I gave him Fire Within, Nathaniel Fludd, and Island of Thieves.
• One of my voracious readers a couple minutes before closing needed ANYTHING to read - gave her Sam Angus' latest, the one with the horse, and Lisa Graff's Absolutely Anything, then she saw there was a new Land of Stories and grabbed that.

Cleopatra in space: Target practice by Mike Maihack

When I first heard about this title, I was skeptical. Scholastic Graphix usually turns out really popular titles, but every once in a while they go off into "crazy plots" country and this sounded like it fit into that category (think ChickenHare).

I went ahead and bought it anyways, as I was looking for more adventure graphic novels. I handed it to a girl and she brought it back positively gushing about how much she had loved it. "Very well," I thought, "I shall give it a chance."

It was AWESOME. If you're expecting a novel about ancient Egypt, forget it. This is pure action with a great heroine who's full of confidence and enthusiasm.

The story opens with a mysterious chapter featuring a nameless girl fighting off a strange race of furious blue-green aliens for possession of a box. Who is this girl and why is she rescued by a cat on a floating sphinx? Well...that story begins many years ago and her name is Cleopatra...and she's seriously bored. So being mysteriously abducted by space aliens doesn't throw her much - at first. However,e finding out that she's supposed to save the universe is a bit of a downer, since she wasn't very enthusiastic about ruling Egypt either. She's especially annoyed when she discovers she's still going to have to go to *gag* classes! Luckily, there's more hand-to-hand combat involved in this school and it's not long before she's ready for her first mission. But will she survive to pass the course?

The art has a lot of purples, greens, and reds. It's exciting, easy to follow, colorful, and attractive. It does have a certain cinematic sameness about it in comparison with most other graphic novels for this age group, but there's nothing wrong with that - the story is the thing and the art supports it very well, with enough of a recognizable style for kids to ask for more.

Verdict: Fans of Zita the Spacegirl will be thrilled with this new heroine. With plenty of action, adventure, mystery, and a side dish of friendship and school woes, expect this new series to fly off the shelf!

ISBN: 9780545528429; Published 2014 by Scholastic Graphix; Purchased for the library

Thrive Thursday

Still time to leave links! I'll continue adding to the round-up through the end of the week

Awesome School-Age Programs for All Libraries!

SPOOKY FUN FOR HALLOWEEN

And, from myself, we've had quite a few family and school-age programs at my library this month, including...Fall Festival - this introduced my after school clubs as well as some fun games and prizes

Our gracious founder, Lisa at Thrive after Three, offers a fun Halloween scavenger hunt and the fun continues with Room on the Broom Bingo!

If you're looking for some dress-up ideas, why not try Meg's Pirate Party at Miss Meg's Storytime? Ahoy me hearties, here be books!

ART

Carol Simon Levin has a great program on early Egyptian art and civilization. Mummies anyone?

We Explore programs - I'm doing these currently with preschool and toddlers, but little do they know they are merely the testing ground - these are going to become my outreach offerings and I already have a whole school of first graders signed up to come for We Explore Favorite Artists in October!
We Explore Favorite Artist Lois Ehlert

SCIENCE

Mad Scientists Club at my library started back up again with Mad Scientists Club: Cardboard Engineering

I've also started a new We Explore series - Nature! (my colleague does science for the toddlers) We Explore Nature: Birds

Angie at Fat Girl Reading has not one science program, not two, but an ENTIRE WEEK of ScienceFest programming!

OTHER COOL STUFF, INCLUDING BOOK CLUBS

Dana at Jbrary has a plethora of games for International Game Day. It's a bonanza!

Ms. Kelly has their latest American Girl Club meeting - Kaya!

Tweenbrarian has a lunch book club with, appropriately, Lunch Lady! Pizza and justice is served!

Tweenbrarian also has some great ideas for Star Wars Read Day

What do you do when things don't turn out as you expect? Check out The Neighborhood Librarian's Family Day trials and how she coped.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle month at erinisinire....ok, I am not a big fan of TMNT but I want this!

For serious fans, Librarian Out Loud has an entire club based around Dr. Who. The Whovians. Wow. I...watched a couple episodes once? It was ok?

Greetings from somewhere: The mystery of the gold coin by Harper Paris, illustrated by Marcos Calo

This is a new beginning chapter series from Little Simon. They've done some really popular series, especially Critter Club. I wasn't as impressed with this series.

Twins Ethan and Ella are shocked and dismayed when their parents tell them they're moving away from their hometown next week to travel the world with their mother's new job. Their archaeologist grandfather gives Ethan a gold coin and Ella a journal as goodbye presents. But right before they're about to leave, the gold coin disappears! The twins work together to solve the mystery and decide they really are excited about traveling after all.

This is the opening of the series, so it's mainly set-up of the characters and their identifying quirks. I'm guessing that future titles will feature different cities with interesting travel information, as well as the mysteries. However, I really wasn't into this as an opening. The mystery and the methods the kids use to solve it isn't bad, but the traveling plot was so completely unbelievable and unrealistic. Telling the kids a week in advance that they will be traveling the globe, being homeschooled, and who knows if they're ever coming back? In fact, I can't believe they'd be going on this trip at all. It's hard to really develop characters in a beginning chapter book, but this felt like a very random premise, trying to set apart yet another simple beginning chapter mystery series.

The black and white pen illustrations on most pages are attractive and the text is simple and in a large font, so the layout of the book is very attractive. I'm just not convinced that the plot is any good.

Verdict: If you need more beginning chapter book series and don't have to be too picky, it's fine to add this one - some kids might like the mystery/travel aspect. But if you only have the budget for a few series, I'd pass on this one.

ISBN: 9781442497184; Published 2014 by Little Simon/Simon and Schuster; Borrowed from another library in my consortium