Murder by Magic tonight!

Authors I Automatically Like!

By Jan Pease

Part of my job for the next month involves looking at books that we put on an automatic order last year to see if we should automatically order them again.   One that I’m definitely adding is Tim Green.  He was a star defensive end with the Atlanta Falcons, earned a law degree, and has worked as an NFL commentator for FOX Sports and NPR.  Mr. Green writes books for adults, including “The Dark Side of the Game,” and   “American Outrage.”  He also writes books for younger readers, “Football Genius,” “Football Hero,” “Rivals,” and others.  His newest book is “Kid Owner,” a kind of Cinderella story about football in which a boy named Ryan suddenly becomes the owner of the Dallas Cowboys.  As Tim Green says, not only is this a dream come true, it might just help Ryan survive middle school. 

Another author that I will keep on automatic order is Kenneth Oppel, well known for his “Silverwing Trilogy” and “Airborn,” among other great juvenile novels.  His new book, “The Nest,”  is really unusual.  One reviewer at amazon.com said “If Stephen King were writing children’s books….”   Several reviewers mention “Coraline,” by Neil Gaiman, an equally haunting and creepy book.    Let me just say that “The Nest” is extremely well-written and will stay with you for a while.    If you don’t like wasps, stay away from “The Nest.” 

Lian Tanner is an author I’d like to see on automatic order.  Her new trilogy, “The Hidden,”  begins with the book, “Icebreaker,” which shows an outstanding bit of world-building.  The Oyster is an ice breaking ship that has been sailing for 300 years on a frozen ocean. The crew has forgotten its original mission, and is divided into tribes based on job function.  The heroine is a girl named Petrel whose only friends are two large, talking rats.  The secrets of this strange ship are revealed bit by bit. My favorite review at amazon.com was from a 10-year old named Tiaki, who wrote: “It was set very well. The way everything happened was very good.” 

I don’t know how three strong writers can work together to tell one story.  Scott Westerfield has teamed up with Margo Lanagan and Deborah Biancotti to launch a new series, “Zeroes.”  The heroes of “Zeroes” (Sorry, I just had to write that) are six teenagers in California who have really unusual powers.  There is an immediate connection to the re-launched “Heroes” show on NBC.  But the superpowers in this diverse group of teens are unusual.  I found myself wondering which viewpoints were written by which author.                                                                   

I have to mention a couple of picture books.  Just in time for Halloween, “The Very fairy Princess: A Spooky, Sparkly Halloween,”  written by  Julie Andrews and  her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, is the perfect book for people who like to play dress up, who like Halloween, and who are princesses.  An epic costume failure lets Gerry, the very fairy princess, save the day. 

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And, do you remember a teacher who was hard on everyone, especially you,  and never, ever  gave a student an A? But you learned more from that teacher than all the others?  Patricia Polacco’s new book, “An A from Miss Keller,” tells a story from her own life, about the teacher who taught her how to “give her words wings.”  It’s funny, but we often learn more from that teacher than all the others.

  I know that I did.   

Free test prep resources online for Minnesotans

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

Do you know a high school junior who is getting ready to take the ACT?  Or someone who is preparing for the ASVAB, the nursing school entrance exam, or even their citizenship test?  The Electronic Library for Minnesota has a new free resource available online to help with all of these tests.

The LearningExpress Library is a test prep database available as part of the Electronic Library for Minnesota, or ELM, which you can access at www.elm4you.org.  ELM is a vast resource for Minnesota residents, made available by the State Library Services agency and Minitex, the resource-sharing network that brings you materials borrowed from libraries throughout the state. 

ELM includes many, many databases that you otherwise could not access for free on the internet.  Now and then you have to enter your library card number to use it, but most of the time the system can detect that you’re accessing it from within the state of Minnesota and will not ask for that. 

On ELM, you can search the Star Tribune, the Wall Street Journal, Consumer Reports, and many other publications.  You can search academic journals that you can use to write a college paper.  Miss those encyclopedia sets?  You can search Encyclopedia Britannica, even choosing the age range of the person using it: from Britannica Learning Zone for second grade and younger, all the way to Britannica Academic for college. 

Speaking of college, the college entrance exam resources in the LearningExpress Library are great free resources for your high school student.  There are sample tests and preparation modules for the ACT, SAT, and PSAT.  I made my high schooler go through some of the short lessons and exercises each time before he took the ACT, and we really think it made a difference.  Taking a practice test can be somewhat painful, but the modules on individual topics are short and manageable.  It’s far, far easier than using a test prep book, and did I mention it’s free?

Some of our customers will be happy to learn that there are test prep resources on the LearningExpress site for the Accuplacer test, the GRE, and the GED.  And like I mentioned earlier, there are modules for the nursing school entrance exam, the ASVAB, and many other tests.

If you need some guided practice using a computer, the internet, or Microsoft programs, the site has tutorials on those things, as well.  You might need someone who is more familiar with computers to get you started on the site, but then you can watch videos and do some guided practice.  They even have training on Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. 

We are very lucky to have a state library organization that makes these high-quality databases available to all of us.  I encourage you to try out ELM and explore the resources available to you.  

Book Review? Gossip?

By Jan Pease

Sometimes an author can become wildly popular and still be unknown, especially if he or she uses a pen name.  Daniel Handler is a great example of this.  Do you recognize his name? No?   If I say Lemony Snicket, you probably think of two series, “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” and “All the Wrong Questions.”  The fourth book in the “All the Wrong Questions,” “Why is this Night Different from All Other Nights?” has just been published. The title, words that are spoken at the Passover Meal, reflects Mr. Handler’s background.  He is Jewish, although he describes himself as a secular humanist.    He describes the “All the Wrong Questions” as prequels to “A Series of Unfortunate Events.”

Mr. Handler’s odd sense of humor created a scandal at the National Book Awards in 2014.   He stated that Jacqueline Woodson, author of “Brown Girl Dreaming” and a very famous black author, is allergic to watermelon.  This reference to the racist stereotype created a furor. Mr. Handler apologized and donated $10,000 to the “We Need Diverse Books” project. 

“A Shiloh Christmas,” by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, is the final book in the Shiloh Quartet.  It completes the story of Marty Preston, his family, and his dog Shiloh.  I just had to peek ahead to be sure Shiloh is still alive at the end of the book, because he has been such an important character in all four books.  And I just hate it when the dog dies.  Spoilers: Shiloh has a great Christmas!

Michael Grant’s “Gone” series was full of suspense.  I think his “Messenger of Fear” series leans more toward horror.   The main character, Mara, finds out after her death that she is apprenticed to the Messenger of Fear, a being who visits the wicked and offers them a chance for redemption if they play his cruel game.  If they win, they go free.  If they lose, they have to live out their greatest fear.  In “The Tattooed Heart,” the second book in this series,  Mara and Messenger each wear a tattoo that symbolizes the heart of the crime after offering their brand of justice to a criminal, 

I don’t think Donna Napoli is Swedish, Norwegian, or even Danish.  But she is Professor of Linguistics at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.  Her new book, “Treasury of Norse Mythology,” is a collection of stories from the Norse tradition, with gorgeous illustrations by Christina Balit.  The front cover of the book calls the collection “Stories of Intrigue, Trickery, Love, and Revenge.”

I don’t usually mention board books, but we have received a sweet one. A+ for Big Ben, by Sarah Ellis, gives a glimpse of a youngest child who longs for a report card, with comments.  His wise older sister and brother solve the problem by making him a report card of his own, with subjects such as feeding the cat, shoe tying, tooth brushing, whistling, and making us laugh.  A+ for Big Ben reminds us to focus on the things we can do, instead of what we can’t.  

See you at the library!

Meet Award Winning Children's Book Author, David LaRochelle, Saturday, October 3

The new golden age of television

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

Many people say we’re in a new golden age of television.  While this era is characterized by darker adult themes instead of the chipper, family-friendly offerings of the original golden age of the ‘50s, the quality of the writing, acting, and production values are very high.  This new burst of creativity is partly due to the wide variety of ways television shows are distributed.  Beyond broadcast and cable, there’s Netflix, Amazon, other streaming services, web-based series, and DVDs.  Television shows can now appeal to just a segment of the population and still be successful, because there are so many outlets. 

Because people can often watch at a time they choose, people tend to treat TV series like novels now.  If you’re dying of suspense because of how an episode ends, you can keep going, if you’re watching on DVD or a streaming service.  We call it “binge-watching,” but is it really different than not being able to put a book down, chapter after chapter? 

Our library offers many television shows on DVD, something that is especially valued by our rural residents who can’t get cable, high-speed internet, or sometimes even a strong broadcast television signal.  Besides, subscribing to every available television service would be awfully expensive.

One TV miniseries available at our library is HBO’s Olive Kitteridge, which is based on Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name.  The book is really a collection of related short stories about a small town in Maine, tied together by retired teacher Olive.  My book club at the library read this within the last couple of years and found plenty to talk about in this quietly profound book.

In the miniseries, Olive is played by Frances McDormand.  She just won the Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a limited series or movie.  Her co-stars Richard Jenkins and Bill Murray also won Emmys for lead actor and supporting actor, respectively, and the show won the Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries, as well as the awards for directing and writing. 

The Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series went to HBO’s Game of Thrones. This fantasy series is based on George R.R. Martin’s book series A Song of Ice and Fire.  Peter Dinklage won the supporting actor Emmy for playing Tyrion Lannister, and the show won the awards for writing and directing, among many others.  Unfortunately, the season that just won the awards won’t be available on DVD until March!  The library does have seasons one through four.

The release date for season four of Veep on DVD has not even been announced yet. Our library does have seasons one through three.  The fourth season just won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, yet another win for HBO.  Julia Louis-Dreyfus won the lead actress Emmy for playing President Selina Meyer, Tony Hale won the supporting actor Emmy, and the show won the award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series.

Uzo Aduba won her second Emmy for playing Crazy Eyes on Orange is the New Black, a Netflix original series based on Piper Kerman’s memoir of the same name.  This time the series competed in the dramatic series category instead of comedy due to a change in Emmy rules.  The library has seasons one and two, but season three is not yet available on DVD.

The library also has the Emmy-winning TV movie Bessie and nonfiction series The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, as well as the documentary Citizenfour, which won an Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. 

As the sun starts going down a little earlier, bring home an interesting series or movie and enjoy the character development and complicated storylines that characterize the best of today’s television.  

What! James Patterson Writes Children's Books?

By Jan Pease

When I think about author Richard Paul Evans, I think of books such as “The Walk,” or “Miles to Go,” or“The Christmas Box.”  However, he also writes a young adult series in a very different genre. “ Michael Vey: Storm of Lightning” is the fifth in a series of  books about a boy with amazing electrical powers.  These books are very popular, especially with boys who enjoy reading about strong characters who experience lots of action.

When I think about the author James Patterson, series such as the “Alex Cross” novels or “Women’s Murder Club” mysteries come to mind.  He has also published  popular young adult and juvenile books: the “Maximum Ride” series, “Witch and Wizard” series, the “Middle School” series,  The “I Funny” series, and others.  I really don’t know how he does it.  He has also introduced a series about a treasure-hunting family, the Kidds, who have incredible adventures.  The books in the series are “Treasure Hunters,”  “Treasure Hunters: Danger Down the Nile,”  and “Treasure Hunters: Secret of the Forbidden City.”  They are highly illustrated in black and white, full of silly jokes and plot twists.  This is a fun one!

When I think about the Bible, I think about, well, the Bible, the Jewish and Christian Scriptures.  We just received a most interesting version, “The Unofficial Holy Bible for Minecrafters.”     I have never played “Minecraft,” a video game that is popular world-wide, but I’ve seen young gamers fascinated by it.   "The Unofficial Holy Bible for Minecrafters" is a respectful re-telling of well-known Bible stories with illustrations straight from the world of “Minecraft.”  I wasn’t sure we needed this, but we have it and I think fans of “Minecraft” will love it. 

 Finally, I don’t know what to say about a series of graphic novels I added to the library collection because of a request from a young person.    I didn’t look into “Lucky Luke” very thoroughly, not a good idea.  The books present a funny look at the Wild West in the USA as envisioned by the     cartoonist, Maurice De Bevere, better known as Morris.  Morris worked with Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Davis, and Wally Wood, all of “Mad Magazine.”  “Mad Magazine” has been an equal opportunity offender since 1952, so it might be expected that the series is part tribute to the mythic American west, part parody, and full of western stereotypes.  The “Lucky Luke” series is a Belgian comic book originally written in French, later translated into English and published in Great Britain.  Lucky Luke is “the man who shoots faster than his own shadow.”       

Here is my problem with “western” stereotypes.  I’ve been weeding the collection to get rid of books that give an inaccurate view of Native Americans, not in an effort to be “politically correct,” but in an effort to bring the collection up-to-date and to portray other cultures fairly.  The “Lucky Luke” comics bring the 1970’s stereotypes roaring back!  However, somehow I’m not as offended when he takes on the French Canadians in “The Beautiful Province.”  So much for fairness.

Get hooked on a series.  You’ll be glad you did.