Nonfiction Monday: First flight around the world by Tim Grove

In the early 1920s air travel was still a dangerous novelty. When a group of military pilots and mechanics set off to circumnavigate the globe, they met hardships and dangers from hostile nations to severe weather and mechanical issues. However, they survived and completed the flight, becoming heroes not just of the United States but of the world.

Their journey had barely begun when one plane of the group crashed in Alaska, barely surviving their adventure in the freezing cold. Rival fliers faced difficulties of their own and yet another plane from the American group was lost in the dangerous air and water currents off Iceland. However, they finally made it home to become heroes - and usher in a new age of flight.

This book details their flight, including dangers, accidents, and the excitement of seeing new places in an entirely new way. Photographs, first-person accounts, and other source documents fill the book as well. It's a riveting story as you follow the fliers through exhaustion, unfamiliar cultures, and various perils. The story also includes mechanical details and context from the history at the time.

Verdict: This is a fascinating read and even though it's a little more expensive than the average narrative nonfiction, I think it's worth the price. It would be a great title to booktalk for the summer. Recommended.

ISBN: 9781419714825; Published 2015 by Harry N. Abrams; Borrowed from another library in the consortium

This Week at the Library; or, Week 4

I really like this clay turtle. Some definite talent!

What's happening in my head and at the library

• Monday - Closed
• Tuesday
• Great Cardboard Drive-In
• Scramble to get everything done before I'm gone for a couple days! I fled, leaving chaos in my wake. Ok, well not really, but I'm sure it felt a bit like that to the remaining staff...
• Wednesday
• I took a day off, because my mom was visiting.
• Thursday
• Lego Club (Jess and Makenna)
• I took another day off! My staff did Lego Club. I did not enquire too closely into what else happened.
• Friday
• Maker Workshop: Sculpting
• Stuffed Animal Sleepover
• I came in the afternoon to run the maker workshop, see what chaos had eventuated in the past two days, and do the sleepover, with help from my staff. There were 20 people at the sculpting workshop (which I have not written up yet - basically we did Sculpey). We did a mystery for the stuffed animal sleepover - Kevin the Minion was kidnapped by a Laura doll and she tried to ransom him for library cards. All ended well and I got home by 9!
• Saturday
• Well, it was a short but busy day. The entire computer network crashed, so it was a good thing I came in very early to get ready for the day. It came up again after a very long hour and a half and then we had a typical busy Saturday, which was also the turnover date for summer reading (kids turn in their calendars for passes and get the next calendar)

What the kids are reading; A selection

• Do hard things - there's a new edition from Multnomah. Added to order cart
• School house rock
• BFG (need more copies?)
• Magic animal friends - where is Lucy Longwhiskers? Who names these things?
• More recommendations for Riordan fan - devoured Island of Thieves and wants more. Gave them Sarwat Chadda, more Hero.com, Young's STORM, and Pendragon
• Frog and Toad
• Jo Schmo
• Who Was...
• Rush Revere audiobooks
• 2 requests for audiobooks for kids and teens
• lexiles. who needs lexiles in the summer??

Doodle Adventures: The Search for the Slimy Space Slugs! by Mike Lowery

This quirky beginning chapter book isn't ideal for a library collection, but it's so fun I simply must find a way to use it!

You, yes YOU, have been recruited for a dangerous mission. Wait, you aren't the new agent? Too bad, you're in anyways. Fortunately, Carl the Duck (and your own imagination) are here to guide you. Once you've signed the oath (and drawn a cool cat with sunglasses) you're ready to begin. As the comic story progresses, there are multiple pauses where the reader is instructed to draw or write, favorite places or foods, a space suit, bridges, and more. With your help, the mission ends successfully, Carl gets back his top-secret jar (it had peanut butter in it) and you're ready for another mission!

Lowery's cartoon illustrations are wacky and fun and will encourage kids to try their own doodles and comics in the spaces provided and beyond. The book has an orange and blue color scheme and a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor that fans of Captain Underpants fans will enjoy.

Verdict: But....you're meant to write in it. A lot. Realistically, this isn't a book you can put in a library. I mean, I wouldn't even buy Battle Bunny because one pencil, crayon, or marker mark will breed more. I have seen it and it is true. However, this is a delightful, silly, and imaginative effort. If you have the funds, multiple copies for a book club would be delightful. Or, possibly photocopying the interactive pages and reading it out loud in a program while the kids follow along. I will definitely be trying this out at some point in the future!

ISBN: 9780761187196; Published May 2016 by Workman; Review copy provided by publisher

The Midnight War of Mateo Martinez by Robin Yardi

I was skeptical but hopeful about this book when it was promoted by a publicist at BEA. I was excited about a book featuring a boy who is Hispanic, but doubtful about the audience for a coming of age story - usually it's girls who go for this genre.

Mateo is having a tough year. His best friend Johnny Ramirez doesn't hang out with him anymore, his parents gave his old trike to his annoying little sister, and, worst of all, he's just seen a pair of TALKING SKUNKS steal the trike! Mateo tries his best to live up to the knights in his books, but it's hard to be brave and noble when he gets blamed for things going wrong and his ex-friend is hanging out with a bully and is now ganging up on Mateo and his new friend and....it's just too much. He'll have to make difficult decisions, navigating friendship, identity, and para-military skunks to get his life back on track.

Mateo is a realistic character in that difficult tween stage - sometimes he acts more like a little kid, not wanting his sister to have his old trike, and sometimes he's got more mature concerns. He reflects on his identify as a Mexican-American, the nature of territories and friends, and his adventures with the skunks bring out thoughts on how people interact - and how wars get started. There's a light, fantastical touch in the talking animals, humor in Mateo's inner dialogue and battles with the furry miscreants, and more serious aspects as Mateo struggles to adjust to changes in his life and relationships and decide which friends deserve his loyalty.

Verdict: I enjoyed reading this and it's a sweet and unique book. I don't think I'll have a wide audience for it, but I do have a set of more sensitive boys around this age who will appreciate it and some careful booktalking may introduce it to a wider audience. It will definitely fill a gap in the collection for books featuring diverse kids and addressing issues of friendship and change for younger tweens. I think I'll use it in book club next year, if I can find enough copies.

ISBN: 9781467783064; Published 2016 by Carolrhoda/Lerner; Review copy provided by publisher at BEA; Donated to the library

Read, Read, Read, said the Baby: Do-Gooders by J. Torres, Justin Magner, and Warren Mucinich

I don't know how I missed that this was a board book - I thought it was a comic book. Well, it sort of is, but in board book form.

Each tall page features a scenario with the kids from the cover - fighting over superhero capes, teasing each other, etc. and then learning to be "good" and play together. They learn to share cookies, solve a fight with a hug and other simple social behaviors. The book ends with a spread showing lots of different do-gooders, all with home-made costumes, painting houses, recycling, helping a cat down from a tree, raking leaves, etc.

The book is a tall rectangle, 10x6 inches, with 10 stiff board pages. It's mildly amusing, but not an ideal board book - the arguments and plot are a little too convoluted for a small child to follow and the pages are busy. From an adult perspective, I wouldn't want to encourage kids to feed a dog chocolate chip cookies!! or give them ideas of naughty things to do, which pretty much any kid will take away from this book. It's also a tad too stereotyped for my taste.

The art is colorful and busy, with a collection of pudgy and enthusiastic children. Only the last spread shows any diversity.

Verdict: If you have a lot of very young superhero fans that are willing to consider non-canon superheroes and parents desperate for role models, this is a perfectly fine addition. If you're looking for beginning comics for your littlest listeners, stick with Jennifer Holm's I'm Sunny and I'm Grumpy.

ISBN: 9781620102503; Published 2015 by Oni Press; Borrowed via inter-library loan

Ella and Penguin Stick Together by Megan Maynor, illustrated by Rosaline Bonnet

This was a simple, sweet book that I fell in love with. These are often midlist titles that make up the bulk of our collections - they don't win awards and may not be outstanding or even memorable, but they create warm memories of reading together and may just be a childhood favorite for a little one.

Ella has stickers and Penguin is thrilled. But they're not ordinary stickers - they're glow-in-the-dark stickers! There's just one problem; they have to go in the dark closet to see them glow! With Ella's help, will Penguin be brave enough to venture into the dark closet and see the stickers glow?

The simple, comic illustrations are delightful and though the story doesn't have any wild excitement or uproarious humor, there's a gentle, sweet feeling to it that will reassure listeners while making them giggle along with Penguin's worries.

Verdict: Perfect for a storytime on the dark or stars, be prepared to break out the glow-in-the-dark stickers to go along with this story!

ISBN: 9780062330888; Published 2016 by Harper; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library

Nonfiction Monday: Welcome to the Pond by Ruth Owen

Of course, now that my school system no longer does the big annual biomes project, all the awesome biomes books are published. Sigh.

This title is part of a new series from Bearport, "Nature's Neighborhoods: All About Ecosystems." It begins with a quick introduction to the idea of a habitat and ecosystem. Pond plants, animals like muskrats and ducks, and insect life are all covered. The book also includes microscopic life, the life cycles of various pond dwellers, and concludes with the babies mentioned previously grown and ready to start a new cycle.

Each page includes numerous tidbits of information, captions, highlighted vocabulary, and lots of cool photographs. Back matter includes a sample food web, picture glossary, brief index, two titles about frogs and dragonflies, and a link to an online resource through the publisher.

Verdict: Even if you have a lot of biomes books (I do) this is a great introduction for younger children or struggling readers. It's a handy overview of the various creatures and life cycles of a pond and will get readers started either on a research project or just interested in the world around them. Recommended.

ISBN: 9781910549667; Published 2016 by Bearport; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library

RA RA Read: Teen Romance: Bad Boys and Tough Girls

This is basically read-alikes for Simone Elkeles' Perfect Chemistry.

Simone Elkeles

• Perfect Chemistry trilogy
• Leaving Paradise; Return to Paradise
• Wild Cards (Better than Perfect); Wild Crush

More Authors

• Susane Colasanti
• When it happens
• Take me there
• Waiting for you
• All I need
• Jennifer Echols
• Going too far
• Forget you
• Katie McGarry
• Pushing the limits series
• Thunder Road series
• Elizabeth Scott
• Bloom
• Perfect You
• Stealing Heaven
• Heartbeat
• Kasie West
• Distance between us
• On the fence
• Fill-in Boyfriend
• P.S. I like you

More Titles and Series

• Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logstead (a little more literary/darker)
• North of Beautiful by Justina Chen
• Tell me a secret by Holly Cupala
• You against me by Jenny Downham
• Stay with me by Paul Griffin (does not have a happy ending)
• Summer I turned Pretty trilogy by Jenny Han
• Hundred Oaks series by Miranda Kenneally (a little lighter, but heavy on sports)
• Wake trilogy by Lisa McMann (tinges of paranormal/thriller)

This week at the library; or, Week 3

What's going on in my head and at the library

• Monday
• Open Garden (Jess/aides)
• Read with Pearl
• Tiny Tots (Pattie)
• We had to re-evaluate the open garden program - the garden has not gotten to the point where we can safely offer a program. So now it's "come help Ms. Jess with the garden" time!
• Tuesday
• Toddlers 'n' Books (2 sessions) (Pattie)
• Storywagon: Great Scott
• We had 165 people at Storywagon. I am re-evaluating our summer programs and outreach. I realize that's a weird reaction, but this is the thing - more than half of those people were school groups. Do we need to gear our offerings more towards school groups? We could do this, easily, with a few small changes. Do we need to change the way we do outreach? Summer reading registration is, I am fairly sure although I have not counted, down. I think the community is changing - more people in school, daycare, on vacation, in sports, etc. and we need to change with it or our summer programs will die. Or it could just be the weird schedule the school had this summer and if we stick with a reliable starting date regardless of the school, all our problems will be solved....Lost track of time and went home late.
• Wednesday
• We Explore Favorite Artist Il Nung Sa
• Good program, busy all afternoon.
• Thursday
• Books 'n' Babies (Pattie)
• Mad Scientists Club: Mixing Magic
• This summer is just so...discombobulated! I want to hide in my office and do collection development! Making vast amounts of slime for two hours cheered me up, not least b/c I got to watch my staff help out and they simply loooove slime. Mwa ha ha ha.
• Friday
• 1st and 2nd grade field trip
• Maker Workshop: Carpentry
• The kids are doing an "Explore Elkhorn" class - I took them on a tour of the library from the oldest part to the newest, talked about how things change, and we even visited the basement! They wrote and drew pictures about the library yesterday, today, and tomorrow and then got to play in the puppet theater, sign up for summer reading, and explore the children's area.
• I had a good group for carpentry. It was a very long day. My feet hurt. We talked about glue, pre-drilling holes, etc. but I wanted to keep it as simple and hands-on as possible and encourage the kids to problem solve and plan on their own. Also, I did not have time for all that. I am working to keep these truly "maker" activities, not just crafts the kids put together. Did the kids get frustrated and need help? Yep. I am ok with kids being frustrated - I find myself frequently swooping in to alleviate the slightest waiting, impatience, or frustration and that's just not healthy. There were a few things I would change - our hammers were too big and I think a different kind of nails would have worked better and also a workbench instead of sitting on the sidewalk in the sun! - but overall I think it was successful.
• Argh, I simply cannot get the board book circulation up! It was always averaged around 400, but last December it dropped to 200 and I haven't been able to get it up over 300 again. I need to brainstorm this.

What the kids are reading: A selection

• Read-Alikes for Angleberger's Rocket and Groot book - some questioning turned up DK Adventures superhero books were what they wanted.
• Most reluctant reader I have ever had has been hooked on Dragonbreath. SCORE.
• I wonder if we really need that many Cupcake Diaries books and then they get checked out in giant armloads and other kids come in and are very sad they are all gone.
• Adults are starting to look for Harry Potter.

Have Fun Anna Hibiscus! by Atinuke, illustrated by Lauren Tobia

Digging through the archives...

In her fourth adventure, Anna Hibiscus is finally taking her long-awaited trip to Canada, to stay with her maternal grandmother. Anna thinks she is completely ready and her family is sure they've given her all the things and advice she will need, although her mother looks a little worried over some of their advice!

But when Anna arrives and meets Granny Canada, it's not quite what she expected. She couldn't possibly have imagined such cold, and everything is dull and gray. Her granny lives alone, a big shock for Anna who is used to living with a big family and many relatives. Worst of all, Granny Canada has a dog. Grandfather warned her that people in cold countries have dogs inside their houses, but Anna didn't believe him. Dogs are filthy, sick animals that bite. How could you have such a thing in your house? And just when Anna thinks she may have met some new friends, who will teach her to play in the snow, they tease her and say she's not good at skating because she is from Africa.

However, with the help of Granny Canada and her own optimistic spirit, Anna overcomes all difficulties. She learns to love the snow and cold, to be friends with Qimmiq the dog, and to change the prejudices of the Canadian children she has met. Soon, Anna will be just as sad to leave cold Canada as she was to leave her beloved Africa - but she'll be taking a new friend back with her!

This is another wonderful addition to the story of Anna Hibiscus. We've seen her world from her point of view - now we see a whole new culture through her eyes. The prejudice of the other kids may seem simplistic, but it's a very simple age - and their responses are completely believable. It's a look at a culture most children are familiar with from a very different perspective and plenty of warm and happy adventures are included.

Verdict: This is a wonderful series to add to your series collection. After a while, most beginning chapter series seem to run together, but never Anna Hibiscus. Every story keeps the strength and familiarity of the characters while opening up a new world to the readers. Highly recommended.

Revisited: I love these so much. But, sadly, I simply cannot get them to circulate. These type of slice-of-life beginning chapter books only seem to be of interest to parents looking for read-alouds for their young children and no matter how much I try to promote these, they simply don't circulate. I haven't weeded them, but it's probably only a matter of time. Hopefully they will find a happier home in other libraries.

ISBN: 9781610670081; Published March 2011 by Kane Miller; Review copy provided by publisher; Purchased for the library.