Boys of Steel Author Visit!

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Marc Tyler Nobleman!

Join us on Wednesday, March 31st at 3:30pm in the John Clarke Children's Program for a visit from Boys of Steel author Marc Tyler Nobleman. No registration is required for this free program. For children ages 8 and up.

Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman

Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, two misfit teens in Cleveland, were more like Clark Kent than Superman. Both boys escaped into the worlds of science fiction and pulp magazine tales. In 1934, they created the superhero, but it was four years before they convinced a publisher to take a chance on their Man of Steel in a new format--the comic book.

April Book Selection

Our April book selection will be Free Baseball by Sue Corbett. We will meet to discuss Free Baseball on Monday, April 26th at 3:30pm in the Children's Program Room.

Angry with his mother for having too little time for him, eleven-year-old Felix takes advantage of an opportunity to become bat boy for a minor league baseball team, hoping to someday be like his father, a famous Cuban outfielder. Includes glossaries of baseball terms and Spanish words and phrases.

March Meeting Wrap-Up

The Book Buddies Book Club met this past Monday, March 22nd, to discuss Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia by Barbara O'Connor. We had a terrific discussion followed by our very own spelling bee!

We began by discussing Bird, her personality and why the other kids at school gave her such a hard time. Everyone thought that Bird seemed like a nice person and even though she was a little bit different the other kids should have given her a chance. We talked about why she wanted to be Harlem's friend and about her relationship with Miss Delphine and why they got along so well. Miss Delphine always sees the good in people and she's a terrific role model for Bird. We spent a lot of time discussing the spelling bee: why Harlem agreed to be Bird's partner and what went wrong.

We talked a lot about one of the major themes of the book, that not everything or everyone is as they seem. You have to look beyond the surface of things to get to the heart of what's truly there. People can definitely surprise you. We uncovered a number of examples of this including Bird's initial idea that Mr. Moody was a mean person which she discovered was entirely untrue and that Harlem and Mr. Moody's apartment wasn't a very nice place to be (later on she says, "That room was the best place I'd ever seen in all my born days."). Another example was that Harlem pretended to be dumb at school but really he couldn't see well and needed glasses. We loved what Bird said about that at the end of the book: "I realized that all those times when he looked like he was glaring at the world out of meanness, well, he was just trying to see is all." The idea that people can definitely surprise you was a theme that we all noticed and enjoyed throughout the story.

During our talk, a few of us were brave enough to try some apple pie. We ate apple pie as a tribute to friendship since it was the dessert that Miss Delphine made for Bird to give to Harlem at the beginning of the book.

Following our discussion we had our very own spelling bee! We broke into two teams and gave our best efforts at spelling words like "appreciate" and "independence." All of our Book Buddies members did very well and everyone left with a prize for participating.

We also spent some time putting together some questions for the author, Barbara O'Connor. I had tried to arrange for a phone interview but our schedules did not allow for that. However, she graciously agreed to accept questions via email! I've emailed her our list of questions and will post as soon as I hear back!

It was a terrific meeting and thanks to all the Book Buddies members who attended!

Meeting Reminder

Just a reminder that the Book Buddies Book Club will meet this Monday, March 22nd at 3:30pm to discuss Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia by Barbara O'Connor. Come with questions and we'll have a great discussion!

Have a great weekend!

March Children's Events

Don't miss our monthly Family Games Day and Saturday Matinee @ the Library!

Family Games Day

Saturday, March 20th

2:30pm - 4:30pm

Lower-level program room

Children ages 6 and up and their families are invited to spend an afternoon playing a variety of card and board games. Games offered include Scrabble, Pictureka, The Game of Life, Guess Who?, and Battleship. Snacks will be provided and participants will have an opportunity to win prizes.

Saturday Matinee @ the Library: Two Brothers!

Saturday, March 27th
2:30pm
Lower-level program room

Two mischievious twin tiger cubs are born in the jungle but are soon seperated and taken into captivity. One is sold off to the circus and the other becomes the pampered pet of the governor's son. They are reunited years later by an explorer who trains them to be sport fighters and inadvertently forces them to fight each other.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Movie

The super popular book Diary of a Wimpy Kid has been made into a movie! The movie opens March 19th and has a great website. Come in to the library and read (or re-read!) the book before the movie is released!

Spelling Bees

In Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia, Bird and Harlem partner up in the spelling bee. Here are some other great spelling bee stories:



I Put a Spell on You by Adam Selzer (2008)

When Gordon Liddy Community School's resident tattletale-detective, Chrissie Woodward, realizes that the adults are out to fix the big spelling bee, she transfers her loyalty to her fellow students and starts collecting evidence. Told through in-class letters, administrative memos, file notes from Chrissie's investigation, and testimony from spelling bee contestants.

Regarding the Bees by Kate Klise (2007)

The seventh graders at Geyser Creek Middle School are preparing for a spelling bee and a horrible standardized test called the BEE, and try to smuggle their mascot--a bee that spells--into the local spelling competition.

Akeelah and the Bee (2006 - DVD)

Responding to a threat by her school's principal, Akeelah decides to participate in a spelling bee to avoid detention for her many absences. Much to her surprise and embarrassment, she wins. Her principal asks her to seek coaching from Dr. Larabee, an English professor, for the more prestigious regional bee. As the possibility of making it all the way to the Scripps National Spelling Bee looms, Akeelah could provide her community with someone to rally around and be proud of.

Children's Series Books

If you enjoy series books, you'll be delighted to know we have a new series section in the Children's Department! Since many series are written by multiple authors, we decided it would be easier to find the books if they were all together in one area and shelved by series title instead of author. In our new section you'll find many series including Warriors, Magic Tree House and the A to Z Mysteries. We set up this new section in the back left corner of the Children's Department where our movies used to be. Stop in today and browse our new series collection!

Author Barbara O'Connor

Barbara O'Connor is the author of our March book selection, Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia. She has a wonderful website and has written many other books for children that you might enjoy:

Me and Rupert Goody (1999)

Eleven-year-old Jennalee is jealous when a slow-thinking black man arrives in her Smoky Mountains community and claims to be the son of Uncle Beau, the owner of the general store and Jennalee's only friend.

Moonpie and Ivy (2001)

Twelve-year-old Pearl feels hurt, confused, and unwanted when her wild, irresponsible mother leaves her with Aunt Ivy in a little country house in Georgia and then disappears.

How to Steal a Dog: a Novel (2007)

Living in the family car in their small North Carolina town after their father leaves them virtually penniless, Georgina, desperate to improve their situation and unwilling to accept her overworked mother's calls for patience, persuades her younger brother to help her in an elaborate scheme to get money by stealing a dog and then claiming the reward that the owners are bound to offer.

Greetings from Nowhere (2008)

In North Carolina's Great Smoky Mountains, a troubled boy and his mother, a happy family seeking adventure, a man and his lonely daughter, and the widow who must sell the run-down motel that has been her home for decades, meet and are transformed by their shared experiences.

The Small Adventures of Popeye and Elvis (2009)

In Fayette, South Carolina, the highlight of Popeye's summer is learning vocabulary words with his grandmother until a motor home gets stuck nearby and Elvis, the oldest boy living inside, joins Popeye in finding the source of strange boats floating down the creek.