Stay where you are and then Leave -John Boyne

Genre:  historical fiction

Reading difficulty: medium/hard

Overview:

This is a story about  Alfie,  a boy who is trying to get along while his father is off fighting the First World War.  Life changes for Alfie when his father and most of the men he knows sign up to join the army in 1914.  His mom goes to work and he decides to do his part by shining shoes.  He discovers information about his father and has to make some tough decisions.  This is a more serious story about life in the First World War.  It might be a good idea to talk with your family about some of the major events of WW1 before reading this story.   I am always very interested to see what children's lives were like in other times,  so I was very interested in this book. I thought the way the author wrote was easy to read, but had a lot of language and vocabulary we might not be familiar with in 2016.  There were parts that were suspenseful and I even cried a bit!  But overall,  it had a happy ending.   What did you think?  

The Secret of Grimm Hill by Laura DeMeulemeester

Genre:  suspense, supernatural

Reading difficulty: easy/medium

Overview:

This is a fast-paced book about Cat Peters,  a girl who is starting a new school in a new town and is having trouble fitting in.  She thinks that the answer to her problems is to win a scholarship to the private school on the hill, Grimoire.  She decides to try out for a chance to compete in the big soccer game and win the scholarship. At first, everything seems to be going great.  But things get more and more strange until Cat is forced to admit that all may not be as it seems at Grimoire.  

I really liked this book because it was suspenseful right up to the end.  The characters are also interesting and there is some humor as well.  What did you think?  

Looking Forward to a New Year in the Library!

We have had great year in the Library this year!  I would like to acknowledge all our library volunteers,  but especially Mrs. Schrader and Mrs. Cruikshank who have been so consistent in their commitment to the Library!  We have new furniture, rugs, books and two new computers.  We have been culling old, outdated or undercirclulated books.  We have had contests, special speakers, artists, authors and even owls visit Fairview Library this year.  We have held a bake sale and raised over $500 for orphaned wildlife in our area.  We have also had a flood, water damage and computer glitches. :(  I have been very proud of everyone who has brought back overdue books.  I am looking ahead to the coming year with anticipation! Over the summer,  we will continue to work on streamlining our collection of non-fiction books, as well as getting ready for a new season at school and reading the new batch of books for Bookfest.   Over the summer,  I will send out a short overview of each of the Bookfest books, as I read them.   These will appear on the main posts of this blog. Have a great summer and happy reading!
Ms. Neufeld