Join us for our monthly book club, celebrating Connecticut’s own kid’s book award, for kids in grades 4-6! Books are available for pickup starting November 1 with a special Nutmeg Book Club Kit that includes activities, stickers, bookmarks, and other goodies related to the book!

This month we are reading Chester Keene Cracks the Code by Kekla Magoon. Read the book on your own and then join us at the library for a fun discussion and related activity. Our meeting is on November 22 from 4-5 PM.

About the Book: Chester Keene takes great comfort in his routines. After school Monday to Thursday is bowling, and Friday, the best of days, is laser tag! But most special of all is when Chester gets secret spy messages from his dad, who is always on covert government assignments, which is why Chester has never met him.

Then, one day at lunch, Chester’s classmate Skye approaches him with a clue. They’ve been tasked with a complex puzzle-solving mission. Chester takes their assignments very seriously, but Skye treats it like a big game. Skye proves to be a useful partner and good company, even if her haphazard, free-wheeling ways are disruptive to Chester’s carefully curated schedule.

As Chester and Skye get closer to their final clue, they discover the key to their spy assignment: they have to stop a heist! But cracking this code might lead to a discovery Chester never saw coming.

Nutmeg nominees are chosen by a committee of school media specialists, public librarians, and reading teachers, as well as a small selection of student representatives in the appropriate age range for that reading material. Each spring, students are allowed to cast their votes for the nominee they think should win the Nutmeg Award.

Criteria includes the age of the book, and require that the books be well-written, with strong characterization, vivid setting, striking language, a well-constructed plot, and plausible conclusion. Nutmeg nominees may cover sensitive topics. For more information about how nutmeg books are selected, please see https://www.nutmegaward.org/about/faqs

Essex Library programs are free and open to the public.