January Book

Our first book of 2012 will be The Star Maker by Laurence Yep. We will meet to discuss this book and have a Chinese New Year celebration on Monday, January 23rd at 3:30pm. Registration is required - to register visit the Children's Desk or call 401-847-8720 ext. 204. Held in the John Clarke Children's Program Room.

With the help of his popular Uncle Chester, a young Chinese-American boy tries hard to fulfill a promise to have firecrackers for everyone on the Chinese New Year in 1954.

Great Reads for Winter Break

We have a lot of wonderful new books here at the library that are perfect for reading over winter break when it's just too cold to go outside. Here are just a few of the new books worth a look:

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver
A mix-up involving the greatest magic in the world has tremendous consequences for Liesl, an orphan who has been locked in an attic, Will, an alchemist's runaway apprentice, and Po, a ghost, as they are pursued by friend and foe while making an important journey.







Amulet. Bk. 4, The Last Council by Kazu Kibuishi
Emily and her friends think they'll find the help they need in Cielis, but something isn't right. Streets that were once busy are deserted, and the townspeople who are left live in fear. Emily is soon escorted to the Academy where she's expected to compete for a spot on the Guardian Council, a group of the the most powerful Stonekeepers. But as the number of competitors gets smaller and smaller, a terrible secret is slowly uncovered--a secret that, if left buried, means certain destruction of everything Emily fights for.



The Dagger Quick by Brian Eames
Twelve-year-old Christopher "Kitto" Wheale, a clubfooted boy seemingly doomed to follow in the boring footsteps of his father as a cooper in seventeenth-century England, finds himself on a dangerous seafaring adventure with his newly discovered uncle, the infamous pirate William Quick.






Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu
Hazel and Jack are best friends until an accident with a magical mirror and a run-in with a villainous queen find Hazel on her own, entering an enchanted wood in the hopes of saving Jack's life.

December Meeting Wrap-Up

The Book Buddies Book Club met yesterday afternoon to discuss Olivia Kidney by Ellen Potter. We had a great discussion and enjoyed a few holiday treats including cupcakes, chocolate and gingerbread cookies.

We liked Olivia as a person and talked about the important relationships in the story, her ability to contact spirits and the many fantastic elements of the story including the glass apartment, the shawl of lizards and Sidi's rainforest apartment.

Everyone really liked the book and many expressed interest in reading Olivia's next adventure, Olivia Kidney and the Exit Academy.

Thanks to all who attended. Have a safe and happy holiday and I hope to see you back in 2012!

Meeting Reminder

Just a reminder that the Book Buddies Book Club will meet on Monday, December 19th @ 3:30pm to discuss Olivia Kidney by Ellen Potter. Due to a scheduling conflict, the meeting will take place in the Stride Room off the lower lobby instead of in the John Clarke Children's Program Room. We will meet in the Children's Department at 3:30pm and walk downstairs together.

Hope to see you all there!

More Books by Ellen Potter

In addition to the Olivia Kidney books, Ellen Potter is also the author of some other terrific books for kids:

Pish Posh (2006)
Eleven-year-old Clara Frankofile sits in her parents' elegant New York City restaurant, Pish Posh, and passes judgement on each customer as a Somebody or a Nobody, but her all-seeing eyes fail to observe the mysterious events occurring right under her nose.







Slob (2009)
Picked on, overweight genius Owen tries to invent a television that can see the past to find out what happened the day his parents were killed.







The Kneebone Boy (2010)
Otto, Lucia, and Max Hardscrabble, whose mother has been missing for many years, have unexpected and illuminating adventures in the village of Snoring-by-the-Sea after their father, who paints portraits of deposed monarchs, goes away on a business trip.








And coming in February 2012: The Humming Room
Hiding is Roo Fanshaw's special skill. Living in a frighteningly unstable family, she often needs to disappear at a moment's notice. When her parents are murdered, it's her special hiding place under the trailer that saves her life. As it turns out, Roo, much to her surprise, has a wealthy if eccentric uncle, who has agreed to take her into his home on Cough Rock Island. Once a tuberculosis sanitarium for children of the rich, the strange house is teeming with ghost stories and secrets. Roo doesn't believe in ghosts or fairy stories, but what are those eerie noises she keeps hearing? And who is that strange wild boy who lives on the river? People are lying to her, and Roo becomes determined to find the truth. Despite the best efforts of her uncle's assistants, Roo discovers the house's hidden room--a garden with a tragic secret.

Olivia Kidney Books

If you are enjoying Olivia Kidney you can continue to follow her adventures in Olivia Kidney and the Exit Academy and Olivia Kidney and the Secret Beneath the City.

Olivia Kidney and the Exit Academy
Twelve-year-old Olivia Kidney and her father move into a Manhattan brownstone that has a lagoon in the living room, hosts visiting strangers in the middle of the night, and is mysteriously close to the spirit world.



Olivia Kidney and the Secret Beneath the City
While preparing for her participation in the princepessa's wedding, adjusting to being a student at a school for the arts, and dealing with surprise visitors at home, twelve-year-old Olivia ventures into the New York City subway tunnels in search of a man who might help her friend Frannie.

December Author: Ellen Potter

Ellen Potter is the amazing author of our December book, Olivia Kidney. Find out more about her on her website and be sure to check out her writing tips for kids!

December Book

Our final book of 2011 will be.... Olivia Kidney by Ellen Potter. We will meet to discuss the book and have holiday snacks on Monday, December 19th at 3:30pm. Copies of the book are available at the Children's Desk. Hope to see you all there!

Twelve-year-old Olivia explores her new apartment building and finds a psychic, talking lizards, a shrunken ex-pirate, an exiled princess, ghosts, and other unusual characters.