Pioneer and Frontier Life

If you are enjoying Emily's Fortune, here are a few other books about frontier and pioneer life that you might want to read...

The Misadventures of Maude March, or, Trouble Rides a Fast Horse by Audrey Couloumbis
After the death of the stern aunt who raised them since they were orphaned, eleven-year-old Sallie and her fifteen-year-old sister escape their self-serving guardians and begin an adventure resembling those in the dime novels Sallie loves to read.






The Devil in Ol' Rosie by Louise Moeri
Sent into the wilderness of eastern Oregon in 1907 to roundup the family's escaped horses, twelve-year-old Wart struggles against great dangers before gaining his father's respect.







As Far as I Can See by Kate McMullan (My America series)
In her diary for 1856, nine-year-old Meg describes the long, dangerous journey she and her younger brother make from Missouri to Kansas, as well as the new life they find there.







Orphan Journey Home by Liza Ketchum
In 1828, while traveling from Illinois to Kentucky, twelve-year-old Jesse and her two brothers and sister lose their parents to the milk sickness and must try to finish the dangerous journey by themselves.







Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Ingalls family packs up their covered wagon and travels from the big woods of Wisconsin to a new home in Kansas Territory, where wide open land stretches as far as the eye can see. On the prairie, they build a house, meet neighboring Indians, build a well, and fight a prairie fire.







And learn more about pioneers, Montana's frontier life and pioneers and westward expansion.

March Author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor is the wonderful author of our March book, Emily's Fortune. Find out more about her by watching a video interview at Reading Rockets and at the Internet Public Library for Kids. She has written many books for children including:

Cuckoo Feathers (2006)
When two pigeons that Sarah wants as pets move from her Chicago apartment's window ledge to the building next door, Sarah tries to figure out how to get them to come back.

Roxie and the Hooligans (2006)
Roxie Warbler, the niece of a famous explorer, follows Uncle Dangerfoot's advice on how to survive any crisis when she becomes stranded on an island with a gang of school bullies and a pair of murderous bank robbers.

The Grand Escape (1993)
After years of being strictly house cats, Marco and Polo escape into the wonderful, but dangerous outside world and are sent on three challenging adventures by a group of cats known as the Club of Mysteries.

Shiloh (1991)
When he finds a lost beagle in the hills behind his West Virginia home, Marty tries to hide it from his family and the dog's real owner, a mean-spirited man known to shoot deer out of season and to mistreat his dogs.

Alice in Rapture, Sort Of (1989)
The summer before she enters the seventh grade becomes the summer of Alice's first boyfriend, and she discovers that love is about the most mixed-up thing that can possibly happen to you, especially since she has no mother to go to for advice.

March Book Selection

Our March book selection is Emily's Fortune by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. We will meet to discuss the book on Monday, March 12 @ 3:30pm in the John Clarke Children's Program Room. Copies of the book are available at the Children's Desk.

While traveling to her aunt's home in Redbud by train and stagecoach, quiet young Emily and her turtle, Rufus, team up with Jackson, fellow orphan and troublemaker extraordinaire, to outsmart mean Uncle Victor, who is after Emily's inheritance.

Hope to see you there!

February Meeting: Oggie Cooder

The Book Buddies Book Club met this past Monday afternoon to discuss our February book, Oggie Cooder by Sarah Weeks. We had a terrific discussion followed by book trivia and charving!

We spent a lot of time talking about Oggie and what an interesting and unusual character he is and how badly Donnica treated him. We all agreed that Donnica is a very selfish person and that she never had Oggie's best interests at heart even when she was acting as his manager. We thought that Donnica walked a fine line between being a leader and being a bully and that she often strayed into bully territory the way she ordered everyone around.

Most of us thought that Donnica had her 15 minutes of fame as Oggie's manager and that she will never see her dream of fame and fortune fulfilled especially if she continues to act the way she does, putting herself above everyone else.

We thought that Oggie probably would have won the Hidden Talents show if he had gone on it but that he made the right choice by not doing it since he really didn't want to participate at all (in fact he only ended up auditioning by accident).

Following our discussion we practiced charving slices of American cheese into the shapes of the states! Everyone did a terrific job charving states like Florida, Utah, Nevada and Texas.

It was a great meeting and thanks to all the Book Buddies members who came!

Meeting Reminder

Just a reminder that the Book Buddies Book Club will meet this coming Monday, February 13th at 3:30pm to discuss our February book, Oggie Cooder by Sarah Weeks. We will meet in the John Clarke Children's Program Room adjacent to the Children's Department.

Hope to see you there!

Talent Shows and Reality TV

If you've enjoyed Oggie Cooder, here are a few other books about talent shows and reality TV:

The Talent Show by Dan Gutman
After a devastating tornado destroys much of Cape Bluff, Kansas, residents come together as a community to put on a talent show as a fund-raiser.








The Talented Clementine by Sara Pennypacker
Eight-year-old Clementine, convinced that she has no talents, tries to find a way to avoid participating in the class talent show.








Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Talented Pop Star by Rachel Rene Russell
When scholarship student Nikki Maxwell, whose father is the school exterminator, decides to enter the talent show at her expensive private school, her nemesis MacKenzie threatens to reveal Nikki's status to the rest of the school.






Chomp by Carl Hiassen
When the difficult star of the reality television show "Expedition Survival" disappears while filming an episode in the Florida Everglades using animals from the wildlife refuge run by Wahoo Crane's family, Wahoo and classmate Tuna Gordon set out to find him while avoiding Tuna's gun-happy father.

Learn About the States!

In Oggie Cooder, Oggie charves (chew and carves) pieces of cheese into the shapes of states. Learn all about the what the states look like at this interactive website and read more about them with one of these great books:

Go, Go America by Dan Yaccarino (j973 Yak)
A collection of odd facts, including festivals, contests, and laws,about the states of the United States.









Celebrate the 50 States by Loreen Leedy (j973 lee)
Introduces statistics, emblems, notable cities, products, and other facts about the fifty states, United States territories, and Washington, D.C.






Weird U.S.: A Freaky Field Trip through the 50 States by Matthew Lake (j973 Lak)
An introduction to bizarre objects, oddities, and strange sites throughout the United States.

February Author: Sarah Weeks

Sarah Weeks is the fantastic author of our February book, Oggie Cooder. Back in 2008 we discussed her equally wonderful book, So B. It. Find out all about her at her website and watch the Oggie Cooder book trailer.

Read more from Sarah Weeks!

As Simple As It Seems
Eleven-year-old Verbena Polter gets through a difficult summer of turbulent emotions and the revelation of a disturbing family secret with an odd new friend who believes she is the ghost of a girl who drowned many years before.







Pie
After the death of Polly Portman, whose award-winning pies put the town of Ipswitch, Pennsylvania, on the map in the 1950s, her devoted niece Alice and Alice's friend Charlie investigate who is going to extremes to find Aunt Polly's secret pie crust recipe. Includes fourteen pie recipes.






Oggie Cooder, Party Animal
Neither a long list of rules, nor the inability to find the perfect gift--Cheddar Jam--nor being locked in a bathroom with a juggling bear will keep quirky fourth-grader Oggie Cooder from attending neighbor Donnica Perfecto's birthday pool party.