Check out the new book display!

Over the past two days there have been a lot of Scarborough middle schoolers rushing into the Library hoping to pick up one of the titles listed on the reading list. It is great to see so many of you wanting to get a jump on the assignment. However, I bet you are finding that most, if not all of the books have already been checked out from the Scarborough Public Library. Holy petunia! There is hope!

Let me take this time to remind you to request the book or books you want to read. If you don’t, you are going to have a l-o-n-g wait until the book is on the shelf.

We understand you really want to read the titles listed, but the assignment states that you can read any title written by those authors. So, We made a display of those other books. Why not give them a try.

For example, Rodman Philbrick (The Last Book in the Universe) wrote an equally compelling story in The Young Man and the Sea. It's boy versus nature. Skiff Beaman undertakes a dangerous trip alone off the coast of Maine to try and catch a bluefin tuna. He’s hoping that by selling the enormous fish, he will earn enough money to take care of himself.

Jerry Spinelli has lots of books to choose from. By far his best is Maniac Magee. Jerry Magee becomes legendary in this snappy story that takes a look at race relations.

A don’t ignore A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L’Engle. Vicky Austin, whom we first met in Meet the Austins is spending the summer in Florida to visit with her grandfather, who is dying of leukemia. Vicky is able to find comfort with a pod of dolphins.

These are just a few of the many titles you can find at the Library that will meet the reading list assignment.

Share one of your favorite books written by one of the author’s on the reading list.

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Our very own Mrs. C recommended this book to me, and I have to say, I was not disappointed. From the first page, I could not put this book down. Jennifer Donnelly, who also wrote the acclaimed A Northern Light, weaves a tale that encompasses rock music, the French Revolution, two teenage girls from different centuries, and how it is possible to recover from soul-crushing grief.

Andi Alpers is a 17 year old girl who looks, from the surface, to have everything. She is super smart and a talented guitarist with a Nobel-prize winning father, an artist mother, and a place at an exclusive New York school, but it is clear from the offset that she is suffering. Not just poor-little-rich-girl suffering, but the kind of grief that makes her consider the unthinkable. We soon learn that her younger brother, Truman, died in tragic circumstances and Andi blames herself.

Flunking out of every class except music, Andi is given an ultimatum by her often-absent father: she must accompany him to Paris and finish the outline for a final thesis (about a fictional classical composer) while he completes DNA testing of a preserved heart that historians claim belonged to Louis-Charles, the doomed Prince of France, who was imprisoned during the French Revolution. Once there, Andi finds an old diary written by Alex, a street performer who was a companion to Louis-Charles and who charted her own experiences as well as the terror of living through the Revolution. Andi becomes engrossed in Alex’s story, as do we, and we find out what happens to Alex and the little prince. Through the diary (and with a little help from a cute rapper named Virgil), Andi begins to see her way out of the shadows of grief.

The last third of the book did not have the same appeal to me as the rest of the novel, where Andi experiences a time-slip that seems to come out of nowhere, but the rest of the novel is more than strong enough to pull the reader through. By the end, we learn of Alex’s and the Dauphin’s fate and learn if Andi can be saved from herself.

This book is very dense and detailed but was so engaging that I read it much faster than many shorter books. I would recommend it to readers who are interested in historical fiction, but also edgy stories about teenagers with problems. Music lovers (especially guitarists) are in for a treat, and readers who are already Donnelly fans will be blown away by this book.

The Montmaray Journals, Books I & II

A Brief History of Montmaray: The Montmaray Journals, Book I
and
The FitzOsbornes in Exile: The Montmaray Journals, Book II
by Michelle Cooper

Reading a review of The FitzOsbornes in Exile, the newest book by Michelle Cooper, sent me looking for A Brief History of Montmaray, Cooper’s first book in the series, The Montmaray Journals.

I had shelved A Brief History of Montmaray many times, yet had little interest in reading it. I think it was because of the cover; I just assumed it was another story filled with crumbling castles, vampires, and a long-forgotten mystery. Boy! Was I wrong!

Instead, I stumbled upon a book filled with intrigue and romance. The story is set in 1936 on the remote island of Montmaray, where the last descendants of an impoverished royal family attempt to survive.

Written as journal entries, we are immediately drawn into sixteen-year-old Sophia FitzOsborne’s dilemma: How can she convince her cousin, Veronica, to leave their island home and travel to dazzling London to be presented to society? Both girls are princesses, but Veronica, a year older than Sophia, is determined to stay on Montmaray to continue her research for her massive tome, 'A Brief History of Montmaray'.

Sophia records the day-to-day adventures with Veronica, her younger sister Henry (her real name is Henrietta, but she changed her name because she wanted to be a boy), Rebecca, the often hostile housekeeper who looks after Veronica’s father, John, who is King. Sophia also shares her love for the handsome Simon Chester and her longing to go to London for her debut into society.

Readers will quickly understand that with the instability of a world on the verge of war – Hitler is rising to power – things will quickly change and never be the same again.

Oh, and did I say there is a murder and a mystery!

If you have read, I Captured the Castle by Dodie Smith or A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly, you will absolutely be enthralled by A Brief History of Montmaray. The sequel, The FitzOsborne’s in Exile picks up Sophia’s narrative five days after A Brief History ends.

Happy Reading… Lire Pour le Plaisir!