Signed by Zelda

Title: Signed by Zelda
Author: Kate Feiffer
Copyright: 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-3331-1

A lot happens everyday in New York City.  In fact there is so much going on that this entire story takes place in just one apartment building!  Lucy, Nicky, Pigeon and Zelda all live in the same building on different floors.  Pigeon (who really is a bird) technically lives outside but he spends so much time on everyone's windowsills he is an honorary resident.

When Nicky's grandmother Zelda turns up missing he doesn't know what to do.  Even stranger, his father doesn't seem to care at all that Zelda is missing.  It takes a new girl from Savannah (Lucy) who has no friends and only one hobby (handwriting analysis) to crack the case. 

Read this book to see what really happened to Zelda, plus learn some interesting facts about decoding your friends handwriting to reveal their true intentions!  Plus Pigeon talks, what could be better than that.

Summer at Forsaken Lake

Title: Summer at Forsaken Lake
Author: Michael D. Beil
Copyright: 2012
ISBN: 978-0-375-86742-2

I admit to knowing absolutely nothing about sailing.  In fact I never meant to pick up a book about sailing, it was a complete accident.  I saw that the library had a new book by Michael D. Beil author of "The Red Blazer Girls" and I decided that I had to read it. In reality the only thing that "Summer at Forsaken Lake" has in common with "The Red Blazer Girls" is that the main characters are both originally from New York City. 

When twelve year old Nicholas finds out that instead of spending the summer in New York City  that he is being sent to Ohio to stay with his dad's uncle he is devastated.  An entire summer with no TV, no computer, and no friends what could possibly be worse? 

Little did Nicholas know he would walk into a mystery that is over 30 years old and involves his father, a girl, a sailboat and some other local characters.  Nicholas also learns that there is more to life than the city and that there is a lot to learn about surviving in the country.  The story culminates with the surprise arrival of a very special person. 

No Ordinary Day

Title: No Ordinary Day
Author: Deborah Ellis
Copyright: 2011
ISBN: 978-0-55498-134-2

Life in Jharia, India is dirty.  Everything is covered in coal dust.  Valli's clothes are never clean, her family doesn't like her, and she never picks up as much coal as the other kids.  Valli is lucky (or so she thinks) she has magical feet that feel no pain.  Life is perfect until she discovers that it isn't

"I'm family too."
Elmma didn't say anything for a moment.
The she said, "No, you're not."
"My mother was the sister of your mother," I said.  "That makes us family."
"Your mother was a sickly woman who died bringing you into the world," she said. "Your grandparents gave my parents money to take you off their hands.  The were neighbors.  Even after they got rid of you they had to move away."
"Why?"
"Your mother shamed her family," Elamma said.  "You have no father."

That was the moment Valli's life became anything but ordinary, the day that she ran away to Kolkata.  There Valli meets a doctor who changes her life by treating her leprosy and curing her magical feet. 

Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School

Title: Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School: We the Children
Author: Andrew Clements
Copyright: 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4169-3907-8

Have you ever wished that your school would be torn down and replaced by an amusement park?  If so you probably aren't alone.  In fact I am sure that thousands of kids would be absolutely giddy at the prospect.  

Benjamin Pratt is not one of them.  In fact he is devastated that his school is being torn down.  It doesn't help that the school janitor made him promise to fight to stop the construction on his dying breath. 

Can Ben fight Lyman the evil janitor, the school board, the town, and just about everyone else who stands in his way.  Can Ben save the school alone or will he need to enlist the help of a few other special kids?

Find out more by coming to our Novel Read Aloud program on Monday afternoons!