Anagrams, Palindromes and Oxymorons

Punished! is a book filled with word play. Logan must complete three quests in order to stop his incessant punning and the quests involve anagrams, palindromes and oxymorons.

Here are a few other books overflowing with word play that you might enjoy...

Double Trouble in Walla-Walla by Andrew Clements

It's an ordinary morning in Walla Walla until Lulu, her teacher, the school nurse, and the principal are all infected by a word warp which makes them reduplicate everything they say.

Born to Drive (Otto Undercover #1) by Rhea Perlman

After thwarting bad guys to win the Yazoo 200 race, with the help of his trusty racecar and his eccentric Aunts FiFi and FooFoo, Otto Pillip receives a note from his long-lost parents inviting him to join the secret family business. Includes words spelled backward, anagrams, and palindromes.

Cat's Eye Corner by Terry Griggs

When Olivier is invited to spend the summer with his eccentric grandfather and his even more eccentric third wife, Sylvia de Whosit of Whatsit, at their strange old mansion, Cat's Eye Corner, he knows that he is in for a real and true adventure. And, Olivier is not disappointed, for on his first morning at Cat's Eye Corner, his step-step-stepgramma sets him off on a scavenger hunt to keep him amused. As Olivier forages in and around the seemingly ever-changing mansion in search of all the items on his list, he acquires various odd friends, including a witty fountain pen and a resourceful dragonfly. Together they find all of the items, stop the nasty Mr. Mirrific from rewriting the dictionary and other literary classics, and generally have a grand adventure. (School Library Journal Review)

Casey Farm Chicks

Our Casey Farm chicks have hatched!  Visit the library and meet our new feathered friends or watch them via our webcam!

2013 Edgar Award Winner

The winners of the 2013 Edgar Awards were announced on May 2nd in New York City.  And the winner for Best Juvenile Mystery went to... The Quick Fix by Jack D. Ferraiolo!  Check out the complete list of nominees and winners.

The Quick Fix

When the star of the basketball team is blackmailed, it is up to Matt Stevens, the lone voice for justice in corrupt Franklin Middle School, to uncover who is behind the scheme--Vinny "Mr. Biggs" Biggio, his deputy Kevin Carling, or perhaps the scheming Thompson twins.

Author David Lubar

David Lubar is the fantastic author of Punished!, our May book club book.  He has written many books for children including the Nathan Abercrombie series and many Creepy Tales. He has also written books for young adults including his very popular Hidden Talents and True Talents.

Attack of the Vampire Weenies and Other Warped and Creepy Tales (2011)

Thirty creepy stories about warped technology, revengeful ants, sadistic gym teachers, and other terrifying things. Includes author's notes on how he got his ideas for these stories.

My Rotten Life (2009) - Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie #1

Tired of continually having his feelings hurt by popular students and bullies, fifth-grader Nathan agrees to try an experimental formula, Hurt-Be-Gone, and becomes a half-dead zombie, a condition which, he soon discovers, has some real advantages.

May Book

Our May book will be... Punished! by David Lubar. We will meet to discuss the book on Monday, May 20th at 3:30pm in the John Clarke Children's Program Room.

Copies of the book are available at the Children's Desk or can be requested through the Ocean State Libraries Catalog.

Registration is required. If you would like to join Book Buddies (for readers in grades 3 - 6) we would love to have you! To sign up, call the Children's Desk at 401-847-8720 ext. 204 or email me at cgould@newportlibraryri.org.

Hope to see you all in May!

April Meeting Wrap-Up

The Book Buddies Book Club met yesterday afternoon to discuss our April book, King of the Mound by Wes Tooke.  We had a terrific discussion followed by a couple of baseball-themed activities.

We began with our lightning trivia round in which everyone did very well remembering the details of the story.  Following that we spent a few minutes going over some background details to help us gain a greater understanding of the historically true aspects of the book.  I wanted to make sure everyone understood what Polio is, the disease that Nick suffers from in the story.  I found a terrific website to help us with a basic understanding of the symptoms and its status today.  From there we briefly discussed the history of baseball and the negro baseball leagues, including Jackie Robinson's break into Major League Baseball and what became of the great pitcher, Satchel Paige.

We started our discussion of King of the Mound by talking about Nick and his relationship with his father.  Nick's dad isn't very nice to him throughout the story, calling him a "cripple" and telling him that he is a "fool" for thinking he'll ever pitch again.  We couldn't really understand a parent being so mean to their child but thought that their relationship did grow a little bit by the end of the book when he's dad came out to see him pitch again for the first time since his hospital stay.

We talked about Nick's job working for Mr. Churchill, the nickname he's given by Satch (hopalong) and his friendship with Emma.  We all appreciated how much Emma supported Nick in his baseball dream, building a pitching mound for him and encouraging him to get back with his old teammates,

We were shocked by the racism that was so prevalent in 1935 and that the African-American baseball players were not allowed to sleep in the hotel when the team traveled to McPherson, Kansas.  We all thought that Nick and his dad did the right thing by sleeping in the cornfield with the African-American players because it demonstrated that they are a team and should be treated equally.

Nick often felt that it was hard to understand the actions and motivations of the adults in his life and in the world and we agreed that sometimes it can be hard to see why adults make the decisions they do. 

Many of us did not realize right away when they were reading that King of the Mound is actually historical fiction, set in 1935.  It wasn't until some of the details emerged (especially the cost of things and how much baseball players were paid) and the segregation and racism became apparent that we knew we were not reading a book set in present day. 

We all really enjoyed King of the Mound and would definitely recommend it to our friends.  As one club member put it, "it's not your average baseball book - it's better."

Following our discussion we did a baseball word search and made baseball key chains.

We had a great time and I thank all the Book Buddies members who attended for coming!

Meeting Reminder

Just a reminder that the Book Buddies Book Club will meet on Monday, April 29th @ 3:30pm to discuss our April book, King of the Mound by Wes Tooke.  We will meet in the John Clarke Children's Program Room for snacks and book discussion. 

Hope to see you there!