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Tanner, Lian. MUSEUM OF THIEVES
Tanner, Lian. MUSEUM OF THIEVESDelacorte, 2010Welcome to the city of Jewel. Jewel is strict society where all children under age 12 must wear long thin silver guard chains until they are twelve years of age. It is the blessed Guardians that keep the children safe in this land by use of strict control. Children who misbehave are made to wear the heavy gold punishment chains. The punishment chains are no stranger to Goldie Roth who is about to be separated from her guard chains now that she is 12 years old. The ceremony is stopped and Goldie manages to escape. She finds safe hiding in the Museum of Dunt; a strange and living museum of history. In the museum she meets Toadspit. a young boy who also ran away , and others including: Olga Ciavolga, Herro Dan, Sinew, “Morg” the Slaughterbird, a Brizzlehoud called “Broo”. In the museum - what lies beyond the “dirty gate”? Will Goldie and her new friends be able to save the people of Jewel? (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award nominee, 2011-2012)
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/31/2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/30/2011
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Wells, Rosemary. ON THE BLUE COMET
Wells, Rosemary. ON THE BLUE COMETCambridge : Candlewick, 2010IL 5-8ISBN 076363722XWho would think that it would be possible to travel through time and space aboard a Lionel model train? But that’s just what Oscar Ogilvie of Cairo, Illinois did. It’s 1931 and the hard times of the Great Depression have hit hard. Oscar and his dad enjoyed many years in their home at the end of Lucifer Street with their grand set up of Lionel trains in their basement.But in 1931, the Hard Times of the Great Depression have hit hard. They have to sell their house and Oscar’s Dad leaves for California. Oscar has to go live with his Aunt Carmen and his young, thumb-sucking cousin Willa Sue. Things in Oscar’s world greatly improve when Mr. Applegate walks by Aunt Carmen’s house carrying “The Fireside Book of Poetry” checked out from The Cairo Public library. Join Oscar on his time travel adventure riding the rails and meeting famous people in his search to find his Dad and his way home. And-- you might just find yourself memorizing the words of the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling. (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award nominee, 2011-2012)
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/29/2011
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Fisher, Catherine. THE DARK CITY
Fisher, Catherine. THE DARK CITYNew York : Dial Books, 2011IL YAISBN 0803736738In a postapocalytic society, what remains of the Order is scattered and they struggle to keep the ancient technology working. They are up against the Watch who are out to destroy them. Relic Master Galen Harn has lost his powers but learns that there may be hope. There are rumors that one of the founders of the Order may still be alive in Tasceron. Along with his apprentice Raffi, he sets off in search of the city of the Makers. This is the first in a 4 part series that is sure to appeal to dystopian fans and fans of Catherine Fisher.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/28/2011
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Duble, Kathleen Benner. PHANTOMS IN THE SNOW
Duble, Kathleen Benner. PHANTOMS IN THE SNOWNew York : Scholastic, 2011IL YAISBN 0545197708When Noah's parents die in an epidemic, he has no one but an uncle he has seldom seen. But the town minister ships him off the to the uncle anyway. Times are hard and there is little money and Uncle James is all Noah has. James Shelley is not living a stable life at the moment. He is in the military and is a member of the Phantoms -- an elite group of skiers training for combat in the Alps. Noah quickly settles in and even learns to ski but he is too young to join up. What will happen when the company ships out to fight in Italy?
Friday, May 27, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/27/2011
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Cremer, Andrea R. NIGHTSHADENew York : Philomel Books, 2010IL YAISBN 039925482XCalla and Ren are young werevolves from different packs who are destined to become a couple and begin a new pack. They fight a lot but really do have feelings for each other. Then a human enters the picture. Calla is attracted to Shay and that might just ruin everything for the pack. Especially when Calla risks her own life to save Shay. Calla has never questioned the Keepers until now. She is in love with Shay but betrothed to Ren. She is torn and must find her own solution to this problem. Should she turn her back on her pack and follow Shay? Or should she stick with the plan to marry Ren and start a new pack? This is a Romeo and Juliet story with a werewolf twist.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/26/2011
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Mack, Winnie. AFTER ALL, YOU'RE CALLIE BOONE
Mack, Winnie. AFTER ALL, YOU'RE CALLIE BOONENew York : Feiwel & Friends, 2010IL 5-8, RL 5.9ISBN 0312563310It’s summer now and for 11 year old Callie Boone, everything is going wrong! Her best friend since first grade has dumped her and she gets banned from the pool for breaking the rules.So she is stuck at home with her weird family doing chores. A new neighbor skater boy named “Hoot” moves in next door and seeks her friendship. Callie worries that others will think Hoot is her boyfriend. The summer before sixth grade is all about changes for Callie. Will Callie be able to take the changes and make it through? (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award nominee, 2011-2012)
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/25/2011
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Stanley, Diane. SAVING SKYNew York : Harper, 2010IL 5-8, RL 5.9ISBN 0061239054“My name is Sky Brightman. I live on our ranch in New Mexico. We use solar energy, have gardens and horses. We don’t have internet or television. There are terrorist attacks often in the world now. When there is a terrorist attack, my aunt Pat phones us to let us know. Aunt Pat phoned last week to tell us about the oil refineries and petrochemical plants in Louisiana being destroyed. And in our area too, things have been very frightening and difficult. I have seen people turn on others who appear different or who from different ethnic backgrounds Now, I hear that Homeland security agents in our area are taking citizens away and detaining them in prisons. My family and I decided to help my classmate Kareem and hide him at our ranch. …Read more about what happens in “Saving Sky”. (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award nominee, 2011-2012)
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/24/2011
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14-year-old Chase felt a charge of excitement when he found his first geocache! It had clearly been muggled (tampered with)…the lid was loose, and dirt and leaves had gotten inside. There were lots of treasures in the box…toy soldiers, a strand of beads, some Allen wrenches, a duck call and some other stuff. When Chase pulled out the logbook, preparing to write his entry and leave some trinkets of his own in exchange, he noticed something odd. The last thing recorded wasn’t a log…it was a message: HELP WE NE. What in the world was that supposed to mean? With the help of his GPS, his devoted dog, Dexter, and lots of thinking outside the box, Chase was able to track down the source and help a family in serious trouble… but not without lots of danger and cliff-hanging adventure along the way! (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award nominee, 2011-2012)
Monday, May 23, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/23/2011
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Jennings, Patrick. GUINEA DOGNew York : Egmont USA, 2010IL 3-6, RL 3.7ISBN 1606840533Rufus desperately wanted a dog. Rufus’ dad was full of reasons why he couldn’t have one. They whine, they drool, they lick other dogs, they eat dead things, they have to be walked in all kinds of weather, they stop every two seconds to sniff…the list went on and on. His mom tried to cheer him up by bringing home, of all things, a guinea pig. How lame was that…about as much fun as a pet fern! And he’d be the laughing stock of all his dog-owning friends, with their macho retrievers and Rottweilers. When Fido (he’d named her after the dog he’d never have) escaped from her cage and followed him to school, Rufus tried to pretend he didn’t know her. But Fido was no ordinary guinea pig. What was it about her that ultimately found Rufus’ friends all pleading with their parents to buy them guinea pigs, as well? (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award nominee, 2011-2012)
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/22/2011
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O’Connor, Barbara. THE FANTASTIC SECRET OF OWEN JESTER
O’Connor, Barbara. THE FANTASTIC SECRET OF OWEN JESTERNew York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010IL 3-6, RL 4.6ISBN 0374368503Just as he was drifting off to sleep, Owen heard the faint clatter of the train approaching in the distance. It got louder and louder, and then he heard something else…a thud, the creak of splitting wood, a tumbling sound… something had fallen off the train in the woods! He couldn’t wait till morning, so he could go and explore. Maybe he’d get his buddies, Travis and Stumpy, to go with him…but they had to keep it a secret from bossy, know-it-all Viola next door! The boys couldn’t believe what they found… It was big and red and made of metal. One end was rounded, like the nose of an airplane. It had a small propeller and short, stubby wings. There was an enclosed compartment with large, bubble-shaped windows. On the side of this marvelous, mysterious object, painted in black letters, was a name: Water Wonder 4000. (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award nominee, 2011-2012)
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/21/2011
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Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. EMILY'S FORTUNE
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. EMILY'S FORTUNENew York : Delacorte, 2010IL 3-6, RL 5.4ISBN 0385736169When 8-year-old Emily Wiggins suddenly became an orphan, she and her pet turtle, Rufus, wondered where they could go. Her kindly neighbors, the Misses Ready, Aim and Fire, arranged for her to take the stage to Redbud to live with an aunt-by-marriage. Emily remembered Aunt Hilda as having a kind face and arms that hugged her tight. However, Miss Catchum, rounder-up of orphans, strays and roustabouts, had other ideas. She got a big bonus for every child she placed with their closest blood relative: in this, case, Emily’s cold-hearted Uncle Victor. He had the eyes of a weasel, the growl of a bear, and a gold tooth that gleamed when he smiled, generally at the sight of someone else’s money. How the ding dong dickens will Emily and Rufus escape the clutches of Miss Cathcum and Uncle Victor and arrive safely in Redbud, with her fortune intact? (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award nominee, 2011-2012)
Friday, May 20, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/20/2011
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Spratt, R.A. THE ADVENTURES OF NANNY PIGGINS
Spratt, R.A. THE ADVENTURES OF NANNY PIGGINSBoston : Little, Brown, 2010IL 3-6, RL 6.2ISBN 0316068195After repeated applicants had declined to take the job, Mr. Green was desperate to hire a nanny (as cheaply as possible, of course)…desperate enough to hire the smartly dressed pig who now stood on his doorstep. Her only credentials, his three children subsequently learned, were that she had been repeatedly blasted from a cannon during her years with the circus.The children soon fell madly in love with Nanny Piggins. She had an insatiable urge to stuff herself and her charges with all things chocolate, and she thought it a barbaric practice to force children to go to school… especially in those awful, unfashionable uniforms. She was confident in the notion that her employer’s money was better spent taking the children to amusement parks and the beach. Her showdown with Headmaster Pimplestock marks only the first of many hilarious escapades distinguishing her career as nanny to the Green children, who couldn’t believe their luck. (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award nominee, 2011-2012)
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/18/2011
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Peirce, Lincoln. BIG NATE : IN A CLASS BY HIMSELF
Peirce, Lincoln. BIG NATE : IN A CLASS BY HIMSELFNew York : Harper, 2010IL 3-6, RL 3.1ISBN 0061944343Nate Wright is having his worst school day ever. Everything goes wrong as he accumulates one detention after another.After eating a fortune cooking containing the message, “You will surpass all others”, Nate forms a plan that includes setting the record for consuming cafeteria green beans, and catching the eye, and heart, of the “popular girl”, Jenny. As each antic backfires, Nate’s miseries increase.If you loved “Diary of a Wimpy Kid’”, you’re going to love Big Nate, and Peirce’s comic strip characters are a delight. So how does Nate’s day end? Read it and laugh! (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award nominee, 2011-2012)
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/17/2011
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Gidwitz, Adam. A TALE DARK AND GRIMM
“Once upon a time, fairy tales were awesome. I know, I know. You don’t believe me. I don’t blame you. A little while ago, I wouldn’t have believed it myself. Little girls in red caps skipping around the forest? Awesome? I don’t think so.But then I started to read them. The real, Grimm ones. Very few little girls in red caps in those.Well, there’s one. But she gets eaten.You see, there’s another story in Grimm’s Fairy Tales. It is the story of two children—a girl named Gretel and a boy named Hansel—traveling through a magical and terrifying world. It is the story of two children striving, and failing, and then not failing. It is the story of two children finding out the meanings of things.(But) before I go on, a word of warning: Grimm’s stories—the ones that weren’t changed for little kids---are violent and bloody. And what you’re going to hear now, the one true tale in the Tales of Grimm, is as violent and bloody as you can imagine.Really.So if such things bother you, we should probably stop right now.You see, the land of Grimm can be a harrowing place. But it is worth exploring. For, in life, it is in the darkest zones one finds the brightest beauty and the most luminous wisdom.And, of course, the most blood.”A Tale Dark and Grimm----not for the faint of heart. (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award nominee, 2011-2012)
Monday, May 16, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/16/2011
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For Claire Boucher, life is all about skating on the frozen cow pond and in the annual Maple Show right before the big pancake breakfast on her family’s maple farm. But all that changes when Claire is offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—a scholarship to train with the elite skaters in Lake Placid.Tossed into a world where competition is fierce and some of her fellow skaters are mean girls on ice, Claire wonders how her sweet dream come true could have such sharp edges. Should she give up? Or can she find the strength to stand up to the people who want her to fail—and the courage to decide which dream she wants to follow? (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award nominee, 2011-2012)
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/15/2011
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Is this what the future holds? Clean streets, no illnesses, a controlled life? Arranged marriages? Cassia is looking forward to her Match. It is a day when she gets to dress up and the family get a wonderful meal at the ceremony. As she watches the screen while the other eligible girls are informed of their matches, she wonders who she will be matched with. Probably a boy from another village. Girls don't get to meet their matches until after the ceremony. But when her name is called, she is matched with Xander -- her best friend. Is this a good thing? Everyone agrees that this is a good match. And she already knows him and likes him so that should be great. But when she opens her viewscreen, it is not Xander she sees.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/14/2011
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Buyea, Rob. BECAUSE OF MR. TERUPT
Hopefully we have all known a teacher like Mr. Terupt. That teacher who just gets us. For these 5th graders in Vermont, he is just what they need. We follow the students through one school year and get to know them and what their lives are like. We meet the prankster, the new girl in town, the shy child, the girl who won't stand up for herself. When tragedy strikes Mr. Terupt, the children must cope with what happened and decide for themselves what to do. Each chapter is narrated by one of the children which makes the story more authentic.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/12/2011
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Foster McFee is on the run. She and her mother have had to pack up in the middle of the night and leave to get away from her mother's abusive boyfriend. All she can take is a pillowcase filled with mementos from her late father. And her determination to succeed in spite of her severe learning disability. When they stop, they find themselves in a small town in West Virginia. Living in a borrowed trailer, the two find the community welcoming and their hopes rising. Foster begins to do what she loves most -- bake. Her dream is to have her own cooking show on the Food Network but for now, her baked goods are selling like crazy at Angry Wayne's Bar and Grill while her mother pursues her dream of becoming more than a back up singer. Another wonderful story by Joan Bauer.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/11/2011
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Whipple, Vicky. THE LITTLE WEED FLOWER
I have a neighbor who spends hours on his garden. He has lots of different flowers and plants and the yard is gorgeous. I love walking by and looking at the beauty. In this book, a little flower is growing in a weed patch and longs to join the garden tended by the gardener. Instead she is living surrounded by weeds.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/10/2011
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Two sisters tell there parents they were going to a friend's house to play but they lied. They decided to go to the magic pond in Bluebell Wood. At least that is what Chrissy said. And do you know what they found there? A blue Bog Baby. Have you ever heard of a Bog Baby? Well come along to the magic pond and see if you can find one too.
Monday, May 09, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/09/2011
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Willis, Jeanne. DELILAH D. AT THE LIBRARY
Have you ever imagined you are from another place? Maybe you are really a princess from a far away country but you are just living here until you go back. Well, that's what Delilah D. likes to believe. And she loves to tell everyone about her home that lies somewhere between Jafrica and Smindia. When she goes to the library, she feels she needs to tell Library Anne about the ways libraries work in her homeland.
Saturday, May 07, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/07/2011
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Schwartz, Marcia. LOBO AND THE RABBIT STEW
Lobo is a wolf whose favorite food just happens to be rabbit. On the full moon, Lobo spies a fat little bunny down in his burrow. And Lobo is determined to lure the rabbit out so he can become Lobo's dinner. Can the little rabbit outwit the cuning wolf?
Friday, May 06, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/06/2011
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Snyder, Betsy E. SWEET DREAMS LULLABY
"The day is done, it's time for bed./let peaceful moments fill your head./so cuddle up and snuggle in,/and let your happy dreams begin." And now the baby bunny starts to drift off to sleep. Along the way, she dreams of the world around her and quietly drifts off to sleep.
Thursday, May 05, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/05/2011
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Spinelli, Eileen. TODAY I WILL : A YEAR OF QUOTES, NOTES, AND PROMISES TO MYSELF
Eileen and Jerry Spinelli have given us a lovey advice book. They have shared a quote a day to get through the year. The quotes are from children's literature and the Spinellis go on to expand on the quote and offer advice to children. Fans of the Spinellis and of the Chicken Soup books will find a new friend in this book.
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/04/2011
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Schertle, Alice. AN ANACONDA ATE MY HOMEWORK
Have you ever made an excuse for not doing your homework? The most common one is that the dog ate it. Well, Digby is the master at excuses. When his homework isn't done, he tells his teacher about what happened on the way. First there was the raptor that scooped him up. Then he faces crocodiles, a tiger an elephant and an anachonda among other things. Will his teacher believe his story?
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/03/2011
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Armstrong, Kelley. THE RECKONING
Do you think Chloe,Tori, Simon and Derek are just your ordinary teens? Think again. They are all genetically altered supernaturals. And they are on the run. The Edison Group, a top secret company, had taken them prisoner but now they have escaped. Chloe is a necromancer who can summon the dead. Simon is a sorceror, and Derek is a werewolf. And now they must figure out where to go and who to trust. This is the final installment in the Darkest Powers series.
Monday, May 02, 2011
Today's Podcast 05/02/2011
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Alvarez, Julia. HOW TIA LOLA LEARNED TO TEACH
Tia Lola is back. Well, she never really left. A sequel to How Tia Lola Came to (Visit) Stay, Tia Lola is getting involved in the community of Bridgeport, Vermont. She has volunteered to teach Spanish in the elementary school. At first, she isn't so sure she wants to do this. After all, she never even finished school in the Dominican. But she is a natural born teacher and soon she is the favorite of the children. What will happen when her visa expires?