This is SUCH a middle school book :-D

A spooky story about a power-mad woman who steals children's souls. I liked that it was set against the backdrop of children escaping the London blitz and ending up in a far more dangerous place. The story did get a bit convoluted at times, as the Lady's past dealings with the Magister were brought in little by little. Also, Kat is a clever girl, but seemed to stumble upon magical solutions a bit too easily.

No way this cover looks like it's for a book published in 2016. Hope that means it will be a unique treasure--just getting started....

This is a gem of a middle grade book. Perry T. Cook may have grown up in a prison, but he did not grow up without a family. Connor explores relationships, the fierceness of love, and the power of hope in this uniquely beautiful story about a boy growing up in a minimum security prison. I can't wait to share it with my junior high students.

My goal is to read 130 books in 2017. Starting with this beautiful middle grade story...and a cosy reading companion.

Recommended by a gamer friend who knows I loved Ready Player One. Speaks to the same audience, though this one tends toward the fun, silly side, making it a great read for my Winter Break. Going to give it to my 14 yo son next.

Something fun for Winter Break :)

Behold! This stack of #AllHallowsRead books will be gifted to family and friends soon. Year 3 of doing this!
Amber Fang: The Hunted by Arthur Slade - already given to my friend/fellow librarian
Pretty Little Liars - for the USHL hockey player billeting with us
Rotters by Daniel Kraus - for my 14 yo son
Shirley Jackson's The Lottery: authorized graphic novel adaptation - for my husband
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto - for my 20 yo daughter

How to Get a Librarian who Loves Horror to Buy a Book 101

Illinois Reads 2016 book for grades 6-8. When Emma returns to high school after an accident that causes blindness, the community is rocked by the suicide of a popular girl. Emma gathers teens together to address the issue and ends up confronting her feelings about her sight loss and relationships.

Inspiring memoir of an amazing friendship

July 3rd and the high temperature was about 65 today. And it was rainy. Not sure why I bothered to get dressed, but I enjoying hanging out under a blanket with this book and a cup of hot tea.

Stop worrying about the zombie apocalypse and start worrying about the ants rising up--and finding a way to bring all the other animals with them. A great tale told by a house cat turned warrior.

Have to have a cute kitty nearby when reading Mort(e) to remind myself that some cats aren't as scary as the ones in this book ;-) And my real cat is black and named Salem so...been giving her side-eye since I started reading....

Just a few pages in and all I can say is AWESOME TONE set so far....

Another Andrew Smith book has blown me away! What a beautiful coming-of-age story. Smith has such a way with the teenage boy's voice. And give yourself a treat and listen to the audiobook of this one, because so does narrator Kirby Heyborne.

Incredible memoir. Should be required reading for tweens and teens studying the Holocaust.

Delightful creepy stories for tweets and teens. The art is gorgeous and unsettling. Lots of mouth/teeth imagery, which always gets me.

This is the story of Kirby, a young man that brought a gun to school, killed students and a teacher, and then himself. His story is pieced together in seventeen stories of those whose lives have been affected forever by this horrifying event. Chilling.

A beautiful and important book. Lily is a transgender girl struggling with acceptance, esp. her father's. Dunkin has a bipolar disorder and recently discovered that not taking his meds helps his basketball skills. I love how their friendship develops--uneasily. A must-purchase for my JH libraries.

"We have an obligation to support libraries. To use libraries, to encourage others to use libraries, to protest the closure of libraries. If you do not value libraries then you do not value information or culture or wisdom. You are silencing the voices of the past and you are damaging the future."

"The moment a baby comes into the world, someone decides whether the baby gets a pink hat or a blue hat, based on the baby's body. Not brain. Why can't they put a neutral color hat on the baby and wait to see what happens?"

"Let me get this straight," I said, having swallowed. "You are sending me out in a minivan whose date of manufacture predates the year of my birth, so that I can watch two dragon slayers track down enormous fire-breathing animals, in an effort to prevent me from spending time in the library?"

Re-reading since I love this book so much, and I deserve to start my summer break in an awesome way :)

If people were silent, they could hear the noise of their own lives better. If people were silent, it would make what they did say, whenever they chose to say it, more important.