Age

Catalog sorted by age group

Legend Of Spud Murphy

Every kid in town knows about Spud Murphy. Grown-ups think she’s the kindly old librarian, but kids know the truth. They’ve heard all about the gas-powered spud gun she keeps hidden under her desk-make so much as a sound in her library and you could get spudded with soggy potatoes. Laugh out loud and you may never be seen again . . . And now, in a major coup of parental injustice, Will and his older brother, Marty, have been ordered to spend their summer vacation in Spud’s library! Will brothers Will and Marty survive a summer marooned on the carpet of Spud’s children’s section, under the watchful eye of this terrifying librarian? Or will they discover a new interest that surprises even them?

Skinny

Holly’s older sister, Giselle, is self-destructing. Haunted by her love-deprived relationship with her late father, this once strong role model and medical student is gripped by anorexia. Holly, a track star, struggles to keep her own life in balance while coping with the mental and physical deterioration of her beloved sister. Together, they can feel themselves slipping and are holding on for dear life.  This honest look at the special bond between sisters is told from the perspective of both girls, as they alternate narrating each chapter.  Gritty and often wryly funny, Skinny explores family relationships, love, pain, and the hunger for acceptance that drives all of us.

Count Your Way Through Korea

With the Korean numbers one through ten, Jim Haskins introduces young readers to diverse aspects of Korean culture. Describing such things as one ancient building and eight food seasonings, Haskins’s clear text works together with vivid full-color illustrations by Dennis Hockerman to help children explore Korean life.

In the Land of the Jaguar: South America and Its People

South America’s story is as varied as its geography of soaring mountains, scorching deserts, and lush rainforests.  This  book combines an often tragic history with the problems and triumphs of the present. The information ranges from “the Requirement” (a document read out by the conquistadors each time they came upon a new group of indigenous people to justify their actions) to drug cartels, from the hidden and secretive Elders (a civilization that retreated to the mountains to preserve its customs) to Gabriel García Márquez. Includes maps, an index, and bibliography.

The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano

A lyrical biography of a Cuban slave who escaped to become a celebrated poet. Born into the household of a wealthy slave owner in Cuba in 1797, Juan Francisco Manzano spent his early years by the side of a woman who made him call her Mama, even though he had a mama of his own. Denied an education, young Juan still showed an exceptional talent for poetry. His verses reflect the beauty of his world, but they also expose its hideous cruelty.  Powerful, haunting poems and breathtaking illustrations create a portrait of a life in which even the pain of slavery could not extinguish the capacity for hope.

Featured in Volume I, Issue 1 of WOW Review.

Black Juice

A collection of short stories.  As part of a public execution, a young boy forlornly helps to sing his sister down. A servant learns about grace and loyalty from a mistress who would rather dance with Gypsies than sit on her throne.  A terrifying encounter with a demonic angel gives a young man the strength he needs to break free of his oppressor.  On a bleak and dreary afternoon a gleeful shooting spree leads to tragedy for a desperate clown unable to escape his fate. Michael L Printz Honor Book Awards

Everywhere the Cow Says “Moo!”

In English, the duck says, Quack, quack! But in French, the duck says, Kwang, kwang! This book introduces the sounds of a dog, a frog, a duck, and a rooster as pronounced in English, Spanish, French, and Japanese.

There’s No Such Thing as Ghosts!

When we moved to our new neighborhood, I had to promise my mother that I would not go near the strange old house on the corner. People say it’s haunted, she whispered. There is no such thing as ghosts! But if there is, I am going to catch one!