When You Reach Me

When You Reach Me

by Rebecca Stead (Children's New Books)(J Stead)(2009)

for ages 9 to 12

Miranda lives with her single mom in New York City. Lately her best friend Sal and she have become distant. It all started when Sal got punched.

Miranda is forced to seek friends elsewhere and takes on a job at lunch time with two new friends, Colin and Ann-Marie. There Jimmy instructs them not to mess with his plastic novelty toy bank, and she has to count the bread order every day. She also gets to know the boy, Marcus, who punched Sal. Then there is the crazy "Laughing Man" who is always on their street corner, kicking into the street.

Meanwhile she helps her mother prepare to be on a tv gameshow. They practice speed rounds and giving clues so her mother is prepared to play the game with a celebrity partner.

Four mysterious notes show up, one by one-each in a different location. Each offers clues and ask her to pen a letter to write it all down. One claims to need information to help save a friend. One knows the date her mom will be a contestant on the game show. They all seem to allude to things that have not yet happened. The writer says, "I will not be myself when I reach you."

Gradually Miranda ties the clues together with the people she knows as the dramatic climax involving the endangered friend unfolds. After she puts it all together she realizes time is not as solid as she once thought.

This book has several storylines going at once and is highly engrossing. It's won parent's choice awards and is a 2010 Newbery award contender.-SC-

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Chapter Book Chips - "Tumtum and Nutmeg: Adventures Beyond Nutmouse Hall" by Emily Bearn

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Nutmouse. They live in a secret broom cupboard in Rose Cottage. They have a very grand house called Nutmouse Hall. Mr. Nutmouse is called Tumtum and Mrs. Nutmouse is called Nutmeg. They lead quiet mouse lives. Tumtum likes to read by the fire and Nutmeg loves to cook delicious meals and tidy Nutmouse Hall. But one day Nutmeg decides the two human children living in Rose Cottage need some looking after. Arthur and Lucy have lost their mother and their father is a preoccupied inventor who scarecly pays any attention to them. But once Nutmeg and Tumtum start taking care of Arthur and Lucy, their quiet lives turn upside down in a manner they never dreamed of. There is horrible Aunt Ivy who threatens to turn them out of the cottage, or worse. A mean school teacher who wants to take the Nutmouse's friend, General Marchmouse, to the pet store. And a band of pirate rats! Read all three adventures in this warm and cozy book about two very exceptional mice and their friends. A perfect family read-aloud for all ages. -gw-

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XOXOXOXO - Valentine Picture Books

Love is in the air as Valentine's Day gets closer. Cuddle up with your littlest valentine and share a picture book all about love.

My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall
Can love be like the different animals that live at the zoo? Bold, happy illustrations will prove to you it might be true!

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Kiss Kiss by Selma Mandine
A primer on different types of kisses, including the chocolate kind.

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How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? by Jane Yolen
Love, prehistoric style!

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Henry in Love by Peter Mccarty
Henry and Chloe are opposites who find love over a blueberry muffin.

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Amelia Bedelia's First Valentine by Herman Parish
A young Amelia tries to make sense of Valentine's Day, but some confusion results.

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-gw-

Chapter Book Chips - "The Magical Ms. Plum" by Bonny Becker

Springtime Elementary School is just an ordinary kind of school ... or is it? Not if you are a student in Ms. Plum's class. Ms. Plum is the best teacher at Springtime Elementary. She wears sparkly, plum-colored glasses, has plum-colored flowers on her desk. A basket of shiny plums sit there too. And best of all, Ms. Plum has a supply closet. That closet has the usual school supplies, like glue, markers and colored paper. But something else is in that closet, way in the back where it is dark as velvet. Tashala is the first student Ms. Plum asks to fetch some pencils from the closet. But what Tashala comes out with are a handful of pencils and a little pony! But the pony is so small, he only comes up to Tashala's ankle. Throughout the rest of the school year Ms. Plum's students discover other unusual animals in the closet. And each student learns something about themselves and the other kids in their class. A wonderful book for a third grader and a great read-aloud. -gw-

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The Witches Guide to Cooking With Children

The Witches Guide To Cooking With Children
by Keith McGowan (Children's New Books)(J McGowan, K.)(2009)
For ages 9-12


Sol and Connie Blink are new in town. Eleven year old Sol is very intelligent, and his eight year old sister Connie is cunning. They rely heavily on each other and are adjusting to life with their dad and his new wife. Things start to get weird when they notice the neighbor's dog knawing on a human leg bone.


Next their dad leaves them in town and does not come back for them. A friendly but cryptic shopkeeper tries to give them clues to solve the mounting mystery. They spend a lot of time in the library trying to gather information about their new neighbor and find some disturbing facts.


This story has a lot in common with Hansel and Gretel, but it takes place in the suburbs, not the forest. It is a thoroughly modernized version that sometimes explains things from the children's viewpoint, and sometimes through the witch's. It is a quick read that is engaging and amusing, particularly the witch's comments.
-SC-
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Family Movie Matinee, Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 2:00 p.m.

Join us this Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. in the Library Auditroium for our monthly Family Movie Matinee. This month's film is about a boy wizard and is rated PG. All ages are welcome. Children under the age of 10 must be accompanied by an adult. Chase away the January blues by spending the afternoon at the movies here at the Beaverton City Library.
-gw-

More of the Best Picture Books of 2009

Here are a few more of the best picture books of 2009, as chosen by the editors of School Library Journal.
All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon
All the delights of a warm, lazy summer day. A perfect antidote to the winter blues!
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Epossumondas Plays Possum by Coleen Salley
Janet Stevens' illustrations shine in this tale of a baby possum who gets lost in the Louisiana swamp.
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Higher! Higher! by Leslie, Patricelli
A little girl, a dad and a swing. In this spare text, the joy of going Higher! Higher! soars.
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Lousy Rotten Stinkin' Grapes by Margie Palatini
Fox's plans to eat these tasty morsels go wrong, with very funny results.
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Little Chick by Amy Hest
Old-Auntie knows just how to fix things when Little Chick gets frustrated.
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-gw-

Chapter Books Chips - "The Secret of Zoom" by Lynne Jonell

Lenny Loompski knows the secret of Zoom. And so do the orphans Lenny forces to work for him in the mine, extracting the Zoom. Christina is a young girl who has lost her mother in an explosion at the Zoom mine. Christina's father still works for Loompski Labs and he will go to any lengths to protect his daughter from Lenny. But Christina is tired of being shelterd and shut away and she sneaks away from home. She finds a friend in Taft, an orphan who escapes from the horrible orphange Lenny Loompski runs just so he can find more children to work in his mine. But what is Zoom? Can anyone stop Lenny? What is the secret of all the little airplanes that Christina finds. And is her mother really gone? Read "The Secret of Zoom" a first-rate fantasy adventure, perfect for fourth and fifth graders. - gw-

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