By Jan Pease
New books brighten up the cloudiest days, and here are
some new books that really shine.
“How to Hug an elephant,” by Henry Winkler, is the sixth
book in the “Here’s Hank” series. Hank
is the kind of kid that’s known for being the class clown. His jokes hide his struggles with dyslexia, and he has a hard time with school, especially subjects like reading, math, and
spelling. One of the interesting things
about this series is that the books are set in a font called Dyslexie that
makes it easier for people with Dyslexia to read. Minor changes in the letters make them more
distinct from each other. For
information about this interesting adaptation, go to dyslexiefont.com.
Cornelia Funke has a new book that is very distinct from
her other novels. “Ruffleclaw” tells
the story of a boy named Tommy who wants to keep the furry red monster he finds
in his bed one night. Unfortunately,
Ruffleclaw drinks shampoo, eats everything in the fridge, and spits, which
makes him a very unsuitable pet. Ms.
Funke usually writes for an older audience, so it will be interesting to see
how her books for younger readers are received. 
Sometimes we are able to add books that are requested by
our young patrons. The “Park Service
Trilogy,” by Ryan Winfield, is a series published by Birch Paper Press. I don’t know much about this publishing
company, but it seems to be closely connected to author Ryan Winfield. We were able to order these through
Pioneerland Library and we’ll have to see.
Libraries usually don’t add privately published books to their
collections, but since different patrons have asked about it, we’ll give the
series a try. This is a “dystopian” series, with teens
placed in dangerous situations. “Park
Service” sounds benign, but it isn’t, and the cut off age for human life is
only 35, bringing an element of “Blade Runner” or "Logan's Run" to the series.
Mike Lupica delivers great sports action for both teens
and older folks. His new book, “Fast
Break” offers a basketball story with heart.
Jayson is a boy who ends up trying to stay out of the foster care
system, so he is living on his own after his mom dies. Caught stealing some basketball shoes, he
finds himself in a foster home, a new part of the city, a different school, and
a different kind of game.
Erin Hunter is the pen name for a group of writers who
keep the series coming. Some of their
fans call them “the Erins.” Their main series are “Warriors” and “Explore
the World of Warriors” “Seekers,” and “Survivors.”
Their new book in the “Warriors Super
Edition series” is titled “Moth Flight’s Vision.” Moth
Flight is a medicine cat and this is her story.
The structure and mythology of the warrior cats is getting more and more
anthropomorphic, one of my favorite words.
Read a book or two, especially one of the later ones in the series, and you
will know what my favorite word means.
Finally, here is a
bit of information for everyone. Santa will visit the library on Thursday, December
3 for a fun late afternoon and evening. Our
Lego building group will meet only once in December, on the 12th at
6:30 p.m., and Beginner Book Club will meet as usual on December 19th
at about 3 p.m. The last Saturday Story
Time of the year will be December 14th at 10:00 a.m., and then we
will take a break from Toddler Time and Preschool Story Time the last two weeks
of December. What does that song say? “Fast away the old year passes!”
