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@oshkoshwestread

11/22/63

I just finished reading all 849 pages of Stephen King's latest!!!  Was I intrigued? Yes......the idea of going back and changing history is fascinating.  The main character in 2011 is Jake Epping.  His 1958 persona is George Amberson.  Jake is shown a portal to the past in the back of an old diner.  His mission?  Try to stop President Kennedy's assassination.  I couldn't help but put myself in Jake/George's situation.  Is there anything to the butterfly theory?  Will one tiny change in one place at one time have any effect on the future?  You have to read the book to find out if George is successful.  I guarantee it will keep you reading until the end!!

My new favorite book

There have been lots and lots of new books coming in.  I wasn't able to put down  Dead To You, by Lisa McMann.
Ethan was abducted while playing in his front yard nine years ago.  As the story begins he is sixteen and has just been reunited with his family.  A lot has happened since he was seven years old.  He even has a new sister.  The family welcomes him back with open arms, all except his brother, Blake.  Blake doesn't trust him.  The entire family is trying to put their lives back together. There are many secrets buried in the past.
Did you read The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney?  This book is similar, but definitely for young adult readers.  I couldn't stop reading!

Anya's Ghost

Any book that Neil Gaiman calls "a masterpiece" is one I have to read. Neil is quoted on the front cover of this graphic novel by Vera Brosgol.

Anya is a Russian girl who desperately wants to fit in at her American high school. It's not happening. She is leaving school ---- actually skipping --- when she falls down into an abandoned well. As she lights a match to look at her surroundings she finds a skeleton. Emily tells Anya she was murdered 90 years ago and thrown down the well. She's missed out on a lot of teenage living. Emily's ghostly spirit follows Anya. At first it seems Emily has only good intentions. As she infiltrates Anya's life, her intentions are questionable. It becomes more frightening.

This slightly creepy book will have you cheering Anya on!

The Body Finder

I read this book by Kimberly Dertling over spring break and LOVED it!

The main character, Violet, has always been able to sense dead things. Usually it is an animal ---- a mouse that has been killed by her cat, or an animal from the forest surrounding her home. But now, the "pull" is more than that. At an end-0f-summer party Violet and Jay are canoeing. Violet steers the canoe into a marshy area and discovers a body. Soon there is another body and it is learned that a serial killer is at work.

It is most definitely a page-turner. Not only because you need to know how Violet is going to help resolve the murder mystery, but also because you want to know how the relationship between Jay and Violet will play out.

Rubber Houses by Ellen Yeomans

Do you like novels in verse? Do you know what a novel in verse is? It's a book -- fiction or nonfiction, written like poetry. I just did booktalks and was reminded again how much I like this style.

Rubber Houses is heartbreaking. Kit's younger brother is diagnosed with terminal cancer. How can cancer take a vibrant, baseball-loving 9 year old boy? Kit and her parents try to live without Buddy. The grieving process is shared through the seasons of baseball that Buddy loved. Sad and realistic.......hopefully you won't experience the sadness that this family does.

Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick

Love this new book by a Wisconsin author!!! Love the genre ---- Dystopia! Love the setting --- Upper Michigan. Enough said?

As the book begins there is an EMP ---electromagnetic pulse that kills off most of the world's population. The people who remain, like the main character Alex, have greatly enhanced senses. It turns others into zombies.

Did you like Hunger Games? I bet you'll like this book.

The Glass Castle

This memoir by Jeannette Walls certainly isn't new. The copyright date is 2005. It is one of those books that I've been meaning to read for a long time. I started it last night about 7:30 and read until after midnight. I couldn't put it down.

Jeannette had a childhood unlike mine. She and her family traveled across the United States --- from the deserts of Arizona and Nevada to the mountains of West Virginia. When her dad, Rex, was sober he was a fascinating man -- a great father and teacher. But more often than not, he was drunk and out of work. Mom, Rose Mary, was an eccentric artist. She homeschooled the 4 kids.....but was really most interested in her art.

From the beginning of the book when Jeannette recounts an event when she was 3 years old, I was hooked. She was boiling hotdogs on the stove of their camper/home and she was terribly burned. The dysfunction of the family escalates....no food, terrible living conditions.....yet the kids persevered. You have to read the book!!

The Vow

I know many of you are eagerly waiting for the movie, The Vow, starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum. Here is the book that inspired the true events.

Kim and Krickitt Carpenter were married in September, 1993. Two months later on Thanksgiving weekend, a terrible car accident left both fighting for their lives. Krickett was in worse shape. A massive head injury kept her in a coma for weeks. When she finally woke up she had no idea who her husband was.

It is a tear-jerker.........

Chemical Garden Trilogy by Lauren DeStefano

Fever - Book 2 - is here!!

Book 1 ended as Rhine and Gabriel escaped the mansion. Now their story continues.

Rhine is as determined as ever to reach Manhattan and find her twin brother, but many obstacles are in the way. They are taken captive by Madame, an old woman who captures girls and sells them. Vaughn, Rhine's father-in-law, has an uncanny way of finding Rhine.

The book certainly does not resolve anything.........but you are left wondering whether Rhine will survive Vaughn's most recent experiment.

Coming Soon........

Have you noticed the Hunger Games window outside the library? Thanks to Katie for all the creative touches!!

We have several new "Hunger Games" themed books for overnight checkout. Are you hungry? Check out the Hunger Games Cookbook. In the Hunger Games Movie Companion you can see the fashions in the Capitol. Effie really does have bright pink hair. We even have a parody, Hunger Pains, for checkout.

The trivia contest is coming soon. Listen to announcements for more details. You can win movie tickets and posters.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Did you see the movie or read the book, Seabiscuit? Laura Hillenbrand is the author of that book as well.
Unbroken is a true World War II story. Louis Zamperini was a teammate of Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics in Munich, Germany. He was a superb runner and was thought to be the first person who would break the 4 minute mile mark. His running career was cut short by the war.
Louis left college in California to become a member of the U.S. Army Air Force. He was sent to a base on the Hawaiian Islands and became a gunner on a B-24 bomber. His plane was shot down. Louis was one of three men who survived the water crash into the Pacific Ocean. As he and 2 crewmates floated for over 47 days they became living skeletons. One man died. Finally, an island loomed. Unfortunately it was Japanese occupied. Louis was captured. For several years he was a Prisoner of War, traveling to several camps.

The Japanese were brutal in their treatment of POW's. I find it hard to believe Louis survived, but he did. Starvation, torture.....it was all in the realm of the Japanese mistreatment of soldiers. It really is an incredible story of survival and one that will stick with me a long time.

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25

I loved this new book by Richard Paul Evans. As I read his bio on the inside back cover I found it interesting that he also wrote The Christmas Box. The two books are nothing alike!

Michael Vey is the main character. Fourteen years ago he was born in a Pasadena Hospital as were many other children. Mysteriously many of the babies died, but seventeen survived with special powers. Michaelhas an electric power. He can "surge" electricity from his body. The "doctors" in charge of the research project have hunted down all these kids. They want to harness their power to control the world.

Evil prevails. Michael's mom is kidnapped to lure him to the facility. A showdown between the kids and "Hatch" prevails. The books leaves you hanging. I guess I'll have to wait for the sequel to see what will happen:(

You Against Me by Jenny Downham

Did you read the book, Before I Die? Jenny Downham is also the author of that book.

Mikey's younger sister, Karyn, claims to have been raped by Ellie's older brother, Tom. Mikey and Ellie meet....Mikey for the purpose of getting revenge for his sister. Neither of them intended to start a relationship with each other, but that is exactly what happens. It's complicated. Adding to the confusion Ellie supplies a written statement to the police stating that her brother didn't do anything wrong. It's definitely "he said/she said".

In some ways the book reminded me of Romeo and Juliet. Ellie is from a wealthy family and Mikey's family struggles to make ends meet. Read the book and see the outcome.

Trapped by Michael Northrop

The cover of this book reminds me of what January in Wisconsin should look like. Tattawa High School is pictured amid falling flakes of snow and huge drifts. This January looks more like November --- no snow here.

The day the blizzard started school was released early. After school events were canceled. Somehow seven kids ended up left at school. Pete and Jason were going to work on a shop project. Others were waiting for rides that never came. A teacher went for help and never returns. Cell phones stop working. Slowly the students realize they are going to spend the night in school.

No one ever expected the blizzard to last a week. The power goes out, there is no heat and they have to scavenge for food in the school cafeteria. The weight of the snow collapses part of the roof. Read the book and see what happens to Scotty and the rest of the kids.

Vacation Reading!

Wow.....I did lots and lots of reading over break.....now to get busy and write about it!

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio is a true story written by Terry Ryan about her mother. I find it interesting that the subtitle is: How my mother raised 10 kids on 25 words or less.

Terry, the author, really did grow up with 9 other brothers and sisters! She lived in the average size town of Defiance during the 1950's and 1960's. Her father was an alcoholic who never brought home much of a paycheck that he didn't drink up first. The only way that mom could feed everyone was by using her gift of writing. Mom, Evelyn, entered all kinds of "jingle-writing" contests to try and her money or prizes to keep her family fed and clothed. And.....she was very successful. I chuckled when I read the chapter where Evelyn won a 10 minute shopping spree in a grocery store. I laughed at the idea of her "prize closet". Evelyn has a positive spirit that is hard to put down.

In 2005 this memoir was adapted into a movie.