Award Winner

Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan

Winner of the 2017 Stonewall Book Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature, Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor marks Rick Riordan’s return to the world of Asgard. Picking up right after their triumph at the end of the previous story, Magnus Chase and company must now retrieve Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, before the giants invade and destroy Earth. So overall, just your average day really.

   
Submitted by Sam O. on Sat, 2017-02-11 15:25
The Hammer of Thor   
Adventure    Award Winner    Fantasy    Friendship    LGBTQ+    Magic   
Think Library    Teens    Kids    Reviews   

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

Winner of the 2017 Newberry Medal, The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill is a must read for any fans of fairy tales and fantasy. Barnhill weaves together pieces of many genres, creating a story reminiscent of classic fairy tales, yet at the same time all its own. The many elements this story explores are difficult to adequately explain, but let it suffice to say that at its heart, The Girl Who Drank the Moon is a story about the power of love and family (both born and chosen) and illustrates the very best that fairy tale and fantasy storytelling has to offer.

   
Submitted by Sam O. on Wed, 2017-01-25 12:59
The Girl Who Drank the Moon   
Adventure    Award Winner    Staff Picks    Fantasy    Magic   
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Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Death has been defeated and world peace achieved. With the guidance of Artificial Intelligence, humanity has ushered in a utopia…. mostly. In Scythe, Neal Shusterman posits that AI has evolved into an omniscient (and omnibenevolent) force called the Thunderhead, through which the world has achieved a true and lasting peace. The Thunderhead controls everything, but unlike many dystopian works, this is a miraculous and profoundly beneficial event. The only power that the Thunderhead does not possess is the ability to take life.

   
Submitted by Sam O. on Tue, 2017-01-24 16:00
Scythe   
Adventure    Award Winner    Staff Picks    Coming of Age    Sci-Fi   
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Mister Roberts (1955)

Mister Roberts (1955), starring Henry Fonda, is based on the stage play by Frank Nugent. Fonda, who starred in the Broadway play, reprised his role as Lieutenant Douglas Roberts for this film, with an A-list of players supporting him. Jack Lemmon also stars as Ensign Pulver, a role which won him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor; James Cagney as Captain Morton and William Powell as "Doc" round out the cast. Sadly, the film also ended the longtime friendship and working relationship between Henry Fonda and director John Ford who, in a fit of anger, reportedly sucker punched Fonda in the mouth.

   
Submitted by Keith C. on Tue, 2015-08-04 11:47
Mister Roberts [Motion picture : 1955]   
Award Winner    Classics    Comedy    TV & Movies    History   
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Winner of the 2015 Rosie Award: The Loners by Lex Thomas

The Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award winner for 2015 is The Loners by Lex Thomas! Indiana high school students read 25 nominated titles and voted for their favorite. Honor titles are Every Day by David Levithan and Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry. 

The Loners is the story of a group of teens in an extraordinary situation, "When a virus deadly to adults infects their high school, brothers David and Will and the other students soon break into gangs that fight each other for survival and the hope of escaping their quarantine." Check it out if you like dystopias, adventures, or stories of survival!

The list of nominees for the 2016 Eliot Rosewater award are also available. Start reading now and then vote for your favorite! You could help decide next year's winner!

   
Submitted by Becky F. on Sat, 2015-05-09 10:35
The Loners   
Award Winner   
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My Cousin Vinny

Imagine if you will traveling across the country with your best friend and stopping for snacks at a small town gas station.  Shortly after you leave you, glance in the mirror to see and hear the flashing lights and the siren of a police car.  You are about to be charged with the cold blooded murder and robbery of the proprietor of the gas station you just left.   Your only hope for freedom is your eccentric cousin Vinny, a New York lawyer who has yet to win a case. 

   
Submitted by Keith C. on Thu, 2015-02-26 12:38
My Cousin Vinny   
Award Winner    Comedy    TV & Movies   
Think Library    Sights and Sounds   

Man Booker Prize Awarded to Australian Novelist

The Man Booker Prize winner for 2014 was announced on Tuesday. Richard Flanagan, a popular and highly-regarded Australian novelist, won it for his book The Narrow Road to the Deep North, a historical novel set during WWII.

It’s about the construction of the Thai-Burma railroad, known as the Death Railway. For an odd bit of symmetry, Flanagan’s father, who worked on this railway during World War II, died on the very day that Flanagan finished his book.

If you follow book news, you already know that this is the first year that American authors have been allowed to compete for the Booker, and two Americans made the short list: Karen Joy Fowler (We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves) and Joshua Ferris (To Rise Again at a Decent Hour).

   
Submitted by Dory L. on Thu, 2014-10-16 14:17
The Narrow Road to the Deep North: A Novel   
Award Winner    Fiction    History   
Reviews    Think Library   

Carnegie Award Winners Announced

Since 2012, the American Library Association has chosen a best book for adult readers in both fiction and nonfiction that were published in the U.S. in the previous year. Drumroll!! This year's winners are The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin and The Goldfinch by Donna Tart.

Both books have received excellent reviews. The Bully Pulpit focuses on the great friendship between Roosevelt and Taft that was severely tried when they ran against each other for president in 1912. It also vividly describes the muckraking era in American journalism, so far removed from our journalism today, but having left a great influence on it.

The Goldfinch, reviewed here previously, tells the story of a young boy's sense of loss after being bombed in a museum and losing his mother. In the craziness after the bombing, he grabs the small painting of the title--a 13 and 1/4 by 9 inch work by the Dutch artist, Carol Fabritius, that was painted in 1654. Theodore's life spins out of control and he keeps this painting for years. It's a novel about art, relationships, and how circumstances can change the course of a life in a single moment.

   
Submitted by Dory L. on Wed, 2014-07-09 12:53
Andrew Carnegie Award Medals for Excellence    The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism    The Goldfinch   
Award Winner   
Reviews    Think Library   

Show Me a Story! (Why Picture Books Matter)

“Before they read words, children are reading pictures. In picture books, the illustrations work in concert with the text in a way that is unique among art forms.”

In the forward to Show Me a Story! Why Picture Books Matter: Conversations with 21 of the World’s Most Celebrated Illustrators, award-winning author and illustrator David Wiesner explains why we celebrate National Picture Book Month in November (actually, MCPL Children’s Services Librarians celebrate them year-round! Here’s more from Wiesner about why we love picturebooks…):

   
Submitted by Lisa C. on Mon, 2013-11-25 23:17
Show Me a story! Why Picture Books Matter: Conversations With 21 of the World's Most Celebrated Illustrators   
Award Winner    Picture Book   
Kids   
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