Book Review - On the Day I Died

Mike is driving home late one night, and stops to give a girl a lift to her house. She is drenched, and forgets her shoes in his car ... when he drives back to her house to return them, her mother informs him that she has been dead for 50 years and he can visit the cemetery up the street to drop off the shoes. So he does ... and meets a cast of teens that he thinks he might be better off not knowing ...

A very unique and interesting book ... many short ghost stories told by teens - the twist is it is how THEY died! Some are silly and a little out there, and some are downright creepy. Well written, and at the end the author gives detailed information on the true facts that inspired each story (or setting).

You @ the Library

What do you consider a turning point in history? Our local juniors from Roger's High School had to pick a topic they thought was a major turning point in history and build a display about it ... and they are AMAZING!! We put some up in the hallway connecting the two main parts of the library, and people have been commenting on them all night!

Displays will be swapped out every couple of weeks, so be sure to stop by the library and see them for yourself!

Does history repeat itself? As much as we try to learn from past mistakes, do we really?

It's 1969, and Ben Ross teaches high school history in California. While teaching his class about the atrocities of WWII, they watch a film that shows the torment and death the Jews faced during the war. The class is astonished - and a little taken aback. Some cannot believe the devastation and others think that it is in the past, and couldn't possibly happen again. One student asks "Why?". Why did this happen? HOW did it happen? How could thousands of soldiers follow the orders of one little man? How can so many Germans claim not to know what was going on?

In order to help the students understand the answers to these questions, Mr. Ross sets up an experiment for the class. He starts a new movement called "The Wave" ... essentially highlighting Community, Discipline, and Action. The football team joins to try to get more wins and be a more cohesive unit. Kids that are usually social outcasts and unpopular join because they are now equal to all the others and not ostracized. Even Mr. Ross is enjoying the obedience and increased hard work he is getting as a result of his strong leadership.

But two students are a little wary of the whole movement. Is this really as good as everyone is making it seem? Is the greater good of the whole always better than the individual?

Based on a true story!

This is a pretty interesting read about a father that holds his son's 1st grade class hostage, along with the teacher and two 17 year old volunteers that teach French to the kids. Told in alternating viewpoints between the teens (Emery & Jake), the story unfolds dramatically over the course of a few hours.

Enlightening after the Newtown tragedy, it depicts a father that fought for his country in Iraq and has returned to his family with PTSD. The reader gets background information on the soldier's family & war situations, as well as the lives of Jake & Emery.

Touching and a little tense, it definitely brings to question "What would you do?" Jake & Emery find themselves responsible for eighteen 6 year olds and must do whatever they can to make sure they all survive.

Death Cloud by Andy Lane


Young Sherlock Holmes is sent to the country for school vacation because his father has gone to war and his mother's health is fragile. Staying in a castle with a disconnected uncle, a crazy aunt and a frightening housekeeper, he befriends the "hooligan" Mattie and his tutor, Amyus Crowe. When Sherlock and Mattie stumble upon a mysterious "cloud" leaving the scene of multiple crimes, they invoke the ire of the mysterious Baron Maupertuis. What is the cloud, what is the baron hiding and what can young Sherlock do about the weird feeling invoked by Ms. Virgina Crowe?

After a somewhat slow start this mystery takes many interesting twists and turns. I enjoyed meeting each of the characters. The Baron's plot is so masterful and simple it is both wonderful and effective. The only negative is the final fight scene which I found unrealistic and ridiculous.

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Guerilla Positivity

What is it ? Why do it?

All week long supplies will be available for you to make “like notes” (kind words on paper) and decorate them using our craft supplies.  Here’s the guerrilla part.  You then sneak them into lockers, books, pockets etc of the people around you supplying them with a surprise pick me up.

Tape into your creative, supportive side and do something nice for someone else.

The Girl is Trouble

It's 1942 and Iris is a high-school girl smack dab in the middle of New York City - and a German Jew. At school, threatening notes are being left in Jewish students' lockers, and at home she is adjusting to life without her mother (an apparent suicide) and with a father that has lost a leg during Pearl Harbor. Iris is trying to help her father with some light detective work but gets caught up in a heavy case that hits dangerously close to home.

Well written and refreshingly light (even with some heavy topics), this novel is sure to grab your attention from the beginning. A great clean mystery; those of historical fiction will particularly fall in love with the era and the subject matter.

Carter's Unfocused, One-Track Mind by Brent Crawford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Carter provides a unique, and probably more honest than I'd like to believe, viewpoint of the high school male mentality. I like seeing that he has grown some: a mature relationship with Abbey and Amber Lee, applying himself some in school and the like. I also like that Crawford hasn't "grown him up" entirely over the course of one year. He still says bonehead things to the girls and is a total juvenile delinquent with his friends. Literally laugh out loud funny, just ask my co-workers in the break room. Go Carter! Go Crawford!

Teen Movie Event

Take a break on your break.  Watch a movie with your friends. Wednesday, February 20 "So I Married an Axe Murderer" will play in the program room at 3pm.

Pizza, popcorn and soda provided.

Teens only.

Chocolate Making

Today at 5 in the program room TEENS are invited to join Ms. Becky and make your own chocolates. Devour them today or give them to that special someone tomorrow. Yummy!

Supplies, including gift bags, provided.

The Opposite of Hallelujah

So - you're 17 and the sister you haven't seen since you were little decides to return home from her years at a convent. You are a normal teen; you worry about school and grades, friends and boyfriends, and mom and dad are a pain in the butt. Do you welcome her with open arms, or do you deny her existence?

Caro lies. She tells friends first that her sister had died, then tells them she was gone in the Peace Corps for awhile. She doesn't understand her sisters faith in God - they've never been an overly religious family. She doesn't understand why she came home, or why anything had to change. She doesn't even understand why she lies about it. Caro must figure out where she fits into this new family dynamic and if she wants to be a part of her sisters life.

Anna Jarzab has given us a beautifully written and realistic portrait of the upheaval family situations can cause. The reader is sympathetic at times with Caro - and at other times may want to slap some sense into her. While not many may relate to the actual event of having your sister leave the family to become a nun, many teens (and adults) will understand the frustration and ups and downs of dealing with a tight nuclear family, friends, high school and illness. Wonderfully written and well-fleshed out characters make this one a winner!