For those fans of Katniss in the Hunger Games, a new heroine has emerged in the book Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien. The story is set 300 years after Lake Michigan has completely dried up and become Unlake Michigan. Certain privileged classes now live in the walled city called the Enclave, while others live in the decrepit villages surrounding the Enclave. Villagers are required to give up up the first three babies born each month to be raised by families in the Enclave. Sixteen year old Gaia Stone helps her mother deliver village babies. Her parents are arrested one night and Gaia bravely attempts to enter the Enclave to rescue them. Will she succeed? Can she trust the son of the high est Enclave official, the Protectorat, or will he betray her and lead her to her death?

Ender’s Game is a science-fiction classic. No, no, don’t run away! It’s more than just aliens and lasers. It’s a timeless tale of grown and human redemption. No, seriously, it is! The beauty of the story of Andrew 'Ender' Wiggins is that it appeals to people of all ages and walks of life.

Set in the not so far future, Ender's Game tells the tale of an earth terrified after two attacks by an anthropoid alien race. The story starts with a bang, with two unseen, unknown military strategists clueing the reader in to the strengths and weaknesses of a character they haven't even met. Shorty we learn that Ender Wiggins is not only a 6 year old, but a third (considered to be a pointless waste of humanity who probably should not have been born; in Ender's case, he was only allowed to be born because the government was harvesting the genetic traits of his family...) A child despised by his peers and loved only by his older sister, Ender is a the last hope of humanity. He has been breed specifically to join other genius children at the Battle School orbiting Earth. Regular studies are eclipsed by fantastic free-fall battles in which these children learn the art of war in the guise of games. Stripped of everything he loves and sent to a place where he is isolated from everyone because of his intelligence, heart and mostly, his scheming educators, Ender struggles to be the person he knows he is inside while the whole world struggles to mold him into a perfect young killer.

 

Card managed to avoid the worst fate of military science fiction, i.e. the extreme political blehhhhhness of most of the genre. The reader is at once drawn in by Ender's inherent goodness and heart, and repelled by the cold, calculated decisions he is force to make to survive with the odds purposely stacked against him. Just rest assured that Ender's Game is a classic in its genre, a winner of many awards, translated into 23 languages, and spoofed on endless web comics.

Looking for a great book to read with your kids? The New Richmond Branch Family Book Club is currently reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. We encourage parents to read to, read with or be read to by their elementary aged children. And this title is super for that!

Like many others I had heard a great bit about the book (Kinney attributes his success to word of mouth recommendations from one kid to another), and decided it was time to pick up a copy. Upon first flip through I was stoked! It’s a cute little book written in journal form, with faux handwriting and cute little comic illustrations throughout. Awesome! The story follows the adventures (and often the misadventures) of Greg Heffley, who is just starting middle school. Greg's mom is making him write a journal, to record his 'feelings.' He thinks this is lame, but is willing to do so (so that later when he's famous, he won't have to bother telling people about his early days). Everyday Greg writes about the life of a regular 6th grader. School bullies, friends that don't understand what it takes to be popular, a family that sabotages his every attempt, horrible classes and a constant grounding from his video games give Greg plenty to write about in what is definitely not a diary. Unlike most juvenile fiction characters Greg is simply a kid. He’s flawed and funny, easy to relate to and understandable. Kids love Greg because they can see themselves in him. (Parents love him for the same reason, but don’t often admit it!)

The amazing thing about Wimpy Kid is that its hard proof that there will always be a demand for traditional printed books. Originally released in 2004, on the website Funbrain.com (where Kinney was working as a game designer), as an attempt to get kids to visit the website during their summer break, the digital version of Diary was issued one entry at a time, like a real journal or blog. Even with the success on a children's educational website, Kinney still didn't intend the book (which took almost 10 years to write) to be for kids. Instead he wanted to write a story that adults could look back on, like their own childhoods, with a sense of the irony of it all (think The Wonder Years and Calvin and Hobbs all rolled up in one with text in the middle).

Even with his story out there for the world to see digitally, demand for the story in traditional book form was so great that Kinney has been on the New York Times Best Seller list for 41 weeks as of November 1, 2009 (that's just for the original book!) and now is at the head of a phenomenon that has swept libraries, bookstores and schools around the world. Sequels, do-it-yourself diaries, movie deals, you name it and Wimpy Kid is doing it!

 

Pick up a copy and join us on Tuesday, February 23 at 5:30 to discuss why this is your new favorite book!

This January the Spinebenders book club at the New Richmond Branch is reading Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. Winner of the 2007 Debut Dagger Award, chosen as Amazon Best of the Month April 2009 and a Borders Original Voices selection, and at the top of several 'best of' lists, Sweetness is sweeping the world with its original and funny take on classic British mysteries.  Flavia de Luce is regretfully only 11 years old and as such unable to do and act as she desires. A child genius with a passion for poison and Bunsen burners, Flavia expects to spend the summer of 1950 in the same manner as every other; ignored in favor of philatelic pursuits by her widowed father, tormented by her uncaring older sisters and generally un-missed as she roams the English countryside on her trusty bicycle Gladys.

 

That is, of course, until she finds a dead bird on her back step. Not all that odd in and of itself, but the bird has the added decoration of a postage stamp impaled upon its beak. It is just the beginning of a series of odd occurrences at the De Luce manor house. Things rapidly escalate when Flavia awakens in the middle of the night to find a man dead in her cucumber patch. Or rather almost dead... Fueled by his dying words and the odd smell that lingers about his body, Flavia sets out on a race against time out to solve the murder before the bumbling local police destroy their only clues. Precocious, observant, bitterly funny and more than a little diabolical, Flavia leads the reader on a great adventure through her post WWII village and the fields beyond.

 

I'll leave you to decide for yourselves, but rest assured, as far as girl-sleuth mysteries go, Flavia would lure Nancy Drew out back and promptly dispose of her with the cunning use of cyanide she brewed herself, with ingredients she stole, after tricking her way into someone's house and picking the lock on their safe with her braces. All with a smile on her small face.