The Great Library Giveaway Spotlight #7

Thank you to everyone who has donated a book for our giveaway.  If you are interested in participating, there is still time to send books – check here for details.  And if you haven’t nominated a library, please do by entering a comment here.  We are only open for nominations open until October 16th so hurry, hurry, hurry!

Three lucky libraries will be chosen at random on October 20th.  Then you will have a chance to determine library will receive a big stack of books!  Here are ten more titles that will be included in the pile:

Bad Kitty for President by Nick Bruel

The votes are in–it’s a Bad Kitty landslide! It’s time to elect a new president of the Neighborhood Cat Coalition! Who will win the election? The candidate chosen by the kitties on the right side of the street or the candidate chosed by the kitties on the left side of the street? When election time rolls around, one candidate (guess who?) will discover that she never bothered to register to vote and the entire election will be decided by a surprise, last minute absentee ballot sent by Old Kitty.

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

“Hope is the thing with feathers” starts the poem Frannie is reading in school. Frannie hasn’t thought much about hope. There are so many other things to think about. Each day, her friend Samantha seems a bit more “holy.” There is a new boy in class everyone is calling the Jesus Boy. And although the new boy looks like a white kid, he says he’s not white. Who is he?

During a winter full of surprises, good and bad, Frannie starts seeing a lot of things in a new light—her brother Sean’s deafness, her mother’s fear, the class bully’s anger, her best friend’s faith and her own desire for “the thing with feathers.”

Imitate the Tiger by Jan Cheripko

Chris Serbo loves to play football. “I’ve played football so many years, it’s instinct to me. . . . I know the rules and I know the chaos. . . . There is nothing more satisfying than hitting someone with all your force. . . . When all else fails, I “know “how to play football.” But Chris Serbo has some problems–and one of them is that he drinks to hide from the other problems. In this powerful story of a high school senior trying to find some hope and meaning in his life, author Jan Cheripko gives us a look at the personal struggles of Chris Serbo as he battles against those trying most to help him: his aunt, his coach, his history teacher, his friends, and even a few enemies.

Louisiana’s Song by Kerry Madden

Livy Two is happy that Daddy is finally out of his coma, but the befuddled man who comes home is not the daddy the Weems family once knew. He forgets their names, he wanders off—he won’t even touch his beloved banjo. Set in Appalachia in 1963, this heartwarming, and heart-wrenching, follow-up to Gentle’s Holler is narrated by the irrepressible Livy Two, and traces the ups and downs of her large mountain family. Shy and awkward 11-year-old Louise (Louisiana) becomes the reluctant hero as she develops a talent for painting, takes care of Daddy, and shows a surprised Livy Two that sometimes the quietest sibling turns out to be the strongest.

Love Puppies and Corner Kicks by R.W. Krech

What?s a girl to do when Mom and Dad announce that the whole family is moving to Scotland for a yearlong teacher exchange? Can you spell d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r? When Andrea gets there, she finds she and her family are living with the principal and she is being pestered by the ultraweird Jasmin. But then she finds an amazing girls? soccer league and a cute boy named Stewart. Will Andrea?s new tough soccer girls accept that she is crushing on a boy from a rival team and not totally devoted to winning a championship? Perfect for fans of Lauren Myracle.

Neversink by Barry Wolverton

Along the Arctic Circle lies a small island called Neversink, whose jagged cliffs and ice-gouged rocks are home to a colony of odd-looking seabirds called auks, including one Lockley J. Puffin. With their oceanfront views and plentiful supply of fish, the auks have few concerns–few, save for Lockley’s two best friends, Egbert and Ruby, a know-it-all walrus and a sharp-tongued hummingbird.

But all of this is about to change. Rozbell, the newly crowned king of the Owl Parliament, is dealing with a famine on the mainland of Tytonia–and he has long had his scheming eyes on the small colony to the north. Now Neversink’s independence hangs in the balance. An insurgence of owls will inevitably destroy life as the auks know it–unless Lockley can do something about it.

Palace Beautiful by Sarah DeFord Williams

When sisters Sadie and Zuzu Brooks move to Salt Lake City, they discover a secret room in the attic of their new house, with a sign that reads ?Palace Beautiful? and containing an old journal. Along with their neighbor, dramatic Belladonna Desolation (real name: Kristin Smith), they take turns reading the story of a girl named Helen living during the flu epidemic of 1918. The journal ends with a tragedy that has a scary parallel to Sadie and Zuzu?s lives, and the girls become obsessed with finding out what happened to Helen after the journal ends. Did she survive the flu? Is she still alive somewhere? Or could her ghost be lurking in the nearby graveyard?

Samantha Hansen Has Rocks in Her Head by Nancy Viau

Ten-year-old Samantha Hansen is a mad scientist. But not the crazy kind—she doesn’t blow stuff up or mix potions or dissect bugs. She just loves science—especially rocks—and figuring out how the world around her works. But there are some things there just isn’t a scientific answer for. Like, why can’t her bossy big sister keep her hands off Sam’s rock collection? And why can’t Sam control her temper? There are some bigger questions, too, like why did her father have to die? And why won’t her mom talk about him anymore?

When Sam’s mom announces a family trip to the Grand Canyon, it’s a dream come true. But it’s also a challenge: If Sam can’t learn to calm down and ignore her irritating sister, she’s going to miss her chance to see one of the world’s biggest rocks and maybe find the answers to some of her questions.

The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein

Zack, his dad, and new stepmother have just moved back to his father’s hometown, not knowing that their new house has a dark history. Fifty years ago, a crazed killer caused an accident at the nearby crossroads that took 40 innocent lives. He died when his car hit a tree in a fiery crash, and his malevolent spirit has inhabited the tree ever since. During a huge storm, lightning hits the tree, releasing the spirit, who decides his evil spree isn’t over . . . and Zack is directly in his sights.

The Lucky Place by Zu Vincent

Cassie finds her inner strength through experiencing heartbreaking events. “The Lucky Place “begins at a horse racetrack, where Cassie, age three, and her brother Jamie, age five, accompany their father on a drinking and betting spree. As she goes with him to make yet another bet, her hand slips out of his and she loses him. When Cassie has been delivered safely home, Cassie’s mother is angry and Cassie vows never to lose Daddy again. But before long, Mama has had enough of Cassie’s father. She introduces Cassie and Jamie to Ellis. Cassie’s father slowly exits from her life as Ellis enters it, eventually becoming her stepfather. Her father continues to pop in and out of her life unexpectedly, while Ellis provides a stable, loving home. Just when life seems pretty wonderful, Ellis is diagnosed with cancer. He takes the family on a summer-long camping trip where he spends time with Cassie. From early childhood to early adolescence, her experiences with both fathers generate conflict and loss and help Cassie discover that her true lucky place is within herself.

*All summaries are from IndieBound

 

Yolanda Ridge