Listen up Lemony Snicket fans!

Lemony Snicket has a new series coming out this Fall. It is a prequel of sorts for his "Series of Unfortunate Events". But rather than tell the story of the Baudelaires before we met them in The Bad Beginning, this series is the autobiographical tale of our snarky narrator, Mr. Snicket himself.

The series is called "All the Wrong Questions" and the first book Who Could That Be at This Hour? is due out on October 23, 2012.

For a limited time, the first chapter of the book is available to read online. After that, you can sign up for Lemony Snicket's newsletter to find out more about the new series!

Coming this Fall!

If you want to catch up on the "Series of Unfortunate Events" before October, start back at The Bad Beginning. Stop in the library to pick it up or give us a call and we can put it on hold for you!

Book Trailer Tuesday

KIDS BOOK: Another Brother by Matthew Cordell
Davy the sheep wishes he had time alone with his parents, as he did before his twelve brothers came along and started imitating his every move, but when his wish comes true Davy misses playing with the youngsters.

TEEN BOOK: The Future of Us by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler
It's 1996, and less than half of all American high school students have ever used the Internet. Emma just got her first computer and Josh is her best friend. They power up and log on--and discover themselves on Facebook, fifteen years in the future. Everybody wonders what their Destiny will be. Josh and Emma are about to find out.

ADULT BOOK: Room by Emma Donoghue
To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits. Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.

* You can request any of these books by clicking on the title above to find it in our catalog or give us a call at (609) 654-6113 and we would be happy to put it on hold for you.

Book News for Kids!

It's official - book #7 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series will be published on November 13, 2012. And rumor has it, this book will include a love interest. What color do you think the cover will be for this one?! Miss Danielle guesses PINK!

Another book coming out in 2012 is the third book in the Origami Yoda series. Click here to take a poll on which Star Wars character will get folded in the next book. Will it be Wicket the Ewok, Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, or R2D2? Good luck guessing. May the Force be with you! The real star will be announced on March 29th.

Spring has Sprung!

Spring officially started this week and the weather has us ready to head outdoors. If you are in need of some outdoor activity inspiration, here are some books to get you started:

i love dirt! 52 activities to help you and your kids discover the wonders of nature by Jennifer Ward

This book presents 52 open-ended activities to help you engage your child in the outdoors. No matter what your location—from a small patch of green in the city to the wide-open meadows of the country—each activity is meant to promote exploration, stimulate imagination, and heighten a child's sense of wonder.


The Bumper Book of Nature: A User's Guide to the Great Outdoors by Stephen Moss

When was the last time you climbed a tree? Picked blackberries? Held a snail race? Made maple syrup candy, an old-fashioned quill pen from a bird feather you found, or a plaster cast of an animal track?  If the ­answer is "can't remember" or quite possibly ­"never," The Bumper Book of Nature will inspire you to get outdoors and enjoy the very best kind of free entertainment for you and your family.

Sugar Snaps & Strawberries: Simple Solutions for Creating Your Own Small-Space Edible Garden by Andrea Bellamy

Imagine savoring fresh-picked strawberries on a weekend morning, plucking plump figs from your mini-orchard to quarter and serve at a farm-to-table meal with friends, or harvesting and sautéing the edible stalks of garlic bulbs. If the size of your space is bringing you back to reality, here’s the best part: you don’t need a big backyard to grow your own food. In fact, you don’t need a yard at all.

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall

Isolated by Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons, the blissful Tarahumara Indians have honed the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. In a riveting narrative, award-winning journalist and often-injured runner Christopher McDougall sets out to discover their secrets. In the process, he takes his readers from science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultra-runners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to a climactic race in the Copper Canyons that pits America’s best ultra-runners against the tribe. McDougall’s incredible story will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that you, indeed all of us, were born to run.


If you would like to put any of these titles on hold, just click on the title above and you will be re-directed to the library catalog listing for the book. Or give us a call at (609) 654-6113 and we would be happy to put it on hold for you!

And the Oscar goes to...

Well, we won't actually find out who wins until Sunday, February 26th. But until then, you can catch up on all the nominees here at the library!

BEST PICTURE
The Artist
     (the DVD is due out in April)
The Descendants
     (check out the book, audiobook, or e-book, the DVD is due out in March)
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
     (check out the book or audiobook, the DVD is due out in May)
Hugo
     (check out the book, audiobook, or audio e-book, the DVD is due out in March)
Midnight in Paris
     (check out the DVD out now)
The Help
     (check out the book, audiobook, e-book, audio e-book, or DVD out now)
Moneyball
     (check out the book, audiobook, or DVD out now)
War Horse
     (check out the book, audio e-book, the DVD is due out in April)
The Tree of Life
     (check out the DVD or Blue-ray out now)

BEST ACTOR
Demian Bichir - A Better Life
     (check out the DVD out now)
George Clooney - The Descendants
     (check out the book, audiobook, or e-book, the DVD is due out in March)
Jean Dujardin - The Artist
     (the DVD is due out in April)
Gary Oldman - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
     (check out the book, audiobook, e-book, the DVD is due out in March)
Brad Pitt - Moneyball    
     (check out the book, audiobook, or DVD out now)

BEST ACTRESS
Glenn Close - Albert Nobbs    
     (the DVD is due out in June)
Viola Davis - The Help
     (check out the book, audiobook, e-book, audio e-book, or DVD out now)
Rooney Mara - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
     (check out the book, audiobook, e-book, the DVD is due out in March)
Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady
     (check out the book, the DVD is due out in April)
Michelle Williams - My Week with Marilyn
     (check out the book or audiobook, the DVD is due out in March)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Branagh - My Week with Marilyn
     (check out the book or audiobook, the DVD is due out in March)
Jonah Hill - Moneyball    
     (check out the book, audiobook, or DVD out now)
Nick Nolte - Warrior
     (check out the DVD out now)
Christopher Plummer - Beginners
     (check out the DVD out now)
Max Von Sydow - Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close    
     (check out the book or audiobook, the DVD is due out in May)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Berenice Bejo - The Artist
     (the DVD is due out in April)
Jessica Chastain - The Help         
     (check out the book, audiobook, e-book, audio e-book, or DVD out now)
Melissa McCarthy - Bridesmaids
     (check out the DVD or Blu-ray out now)
Janet McTeer - Albert Nobbs
     (the DVD is due out in June)
Octavia Spencer - The Help
     (check out the book, audiobook, e-book, audio e-book, or DVD out now)


For a complete list of the nominees, click here.

Book Trailer Tuesday

KIDS BOOK: A Dog is a Dog by Stephen Shaskan
A dog is a dog, right? Not so fast! This lively picture book will keep young readers guessing (and giggling!) from beginning to end.

TEEN BOOK: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Brilliantly explores the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

ADULT BOOK: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.

You can request any of these books by clicking on the title above to find it in our catalog or give us a call at (609) 654-6113 and we would be happy to put it on hold for you.

Winners of the 2012 Youth Media Awards!

This morning the American Library Association (ALA) announced the winners of the 2012 Youth Media Awards. These awards go to the top books, video, and audiobooks for children and teens. You are probably familiar with the Caldecott and the Newbery Medals, but they are just two of the many exciting awards given out. Here is a complete list of the winners, with links to our catalog, so you can request a copy today!

Caldecott Winner

Caldecott Medal - for the most distinguished American picture book for children.
Winner - A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka
Honor - Blackout by John Rocco
Honor - Grandpa Green by Lane Smith
Honor - Me... Jane by Patrick McDonnell   

Newbery Winner

Newbery Medal - for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature.
Winner - Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
Honor - Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Honor - Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin

Printz & Morris Winner

Printz Award - for excellence in literature written for young adults.
Winner - Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
Honor - Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
Honor - The Returning by Christine Hinwood
Honor - Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
Honor - The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

 Morris Award - for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens.
Winner - Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
Honor - Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
                                             Honor - Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard
                                             Honor - Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
                                             Honor - Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Geisel Winner

Theodore Seuss Geisel Award - for the most distinguished beginning reader book.
Winner - Tales for Very Picky Eaters by Josh Schneider
Honor - I Broke My Trunk by Mo Willems
Honor - I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
Honor - See Me Run by Paul Meisel

Sibert Winner

Sibert Award - for the most distinguished informational book for children.
Winner - Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet
Honor - Black & White: The Confrontation between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene 'Bull' Connor by Larry Dane Brimnerand
Honor - Drawing from Memory by Allen Say
Honor - The Elephant Scientist by Caitlin O'Connell and Donna M. Jackson
Honor - Witches!: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer



YALSA Award for Excellence in Non-Fiction for Young Adults - honors the best non-fiction book published for young adults, ages 12-18.

YALSA Winner

Winner - The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism, and Treachery by Steve Sheinkin
Honor - Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos
Honor - Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition by Karen Blumenthal
Honor - Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way) by Sue Macy
Honor - Music Was It: Young Leonard Berstein by Susan Goldman Rubin

King Author Award

Coretta Scott King (Author) Award - recognizing an African American author of outstanding books for children and young adults.
Winner - Kadir Nelson, author of Heart & Soul: The Story of America and African Americans
Honor - Eloise Greenfield, author of The Great Migration: Journey to the North
Honor - Patricia C. McKissack, author of Never Forgotten

King Illustrator Winner

Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Award - recognizing an African American illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults.
Winner - Shane W. Evans, illustrator and author of Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom
Honor - Kadir Nelson, illustrator and author of Heart & Soul: The Story of America and African Americans

Belpre Author Award

Pura Belpre (Author) Award - honoring a Latino writer whose children's books best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience.
Winner - Guadalupe Garcia McCall, author of Under the Mesquite
Honor - Margarita Engle, author of Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck
Honor - Xavier Garza, author of Maximilian and the Mystery of the Guardian Angel: A Bilingual Lucha Libre Thriller

Belpre Illustrator Winner

Pura Belpre (Illustrator) Award - honoring a Latino illustrator whose children's books best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience.
Winner - Duncan Tonatiuh, illustrator and author of Diego Rivera: His World and Ours
Honor - Rafael Lopez, illustrator of The Cazuela that the Farm Maiden Stirred
Honor - Sara Palacios, illustrator of Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match





Schneider Family Book Award - for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience.
Winner - Close to Famous by Joan Bauer
Winner - Wonderstruck: A Novel in Words in Pictures by Brian Selznick

Schneider Winner

Schneider Winner

Stonewall Winner

Stonewall Book Award - given annually to children's and young adult books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender experience.
Winner - Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy by Bil Wright
Honor - a+e 4ever by Ilike Merey
Honor - Money Boy by Paul Yee
Honor - Pink by Lili Wilkinson
Honor - with or without you by Brian Farrey




Odyssey Award - for best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults

Odyssey Winner

Winner - Rotters by Daniel Kraus,
narrated by Kirby Heyborne
Honor - Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri,
narrated by JD Jackson
Honor - Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt,
narrated by Lincoln Hoppe
Honor - The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater,
narrated by Scott West and Fiona Hardingham
Honor - Young Fredle by Cynthia Voigt,
narrated by Wendy Carter




Carnegie Medal - for excellence in children's video
Winner - Children Make Terrible Pets produced by Paul R. Gagne and Melissa Reilly Ellard

Alex Awards - for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences.
* Big Girl Small by Rachel DeWoskin
* In Zanesville by Jo Ann Beard
* The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan
* The New Kids: Big Dreams and Brave Journeys at a High School for Immigrant Teens by Brooke Hauser
* The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
* Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
* Robopocalypse: A Novel by Daniel Wilson
* Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
* The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures by Caroline Preston
* The Talk-Funny Girl by Roland Merullo

First Line Friday

KIDS BOOK:
"It says in my baby book that when I was born, my parents couldn’t believe how big and beautiful I was – I weighed nine pounds and five ounces, and I’m convinced that’s why they called me Donahue Penelope Schneider – they wanted a fancy name to match my size.” - No Room for Dessert by Hallie Durand

With virtually no warning, it seems like Dessert’s life story is being written in invisible ink. Nobody in the Schneider house seems to remember she exists. Her school picture hanging on the fridge? Covered. The promise of burritos? Forgotten. And her baby brother doesn’t even know her name. (He calls her “dirt.”) Dessert wants to get back on her family’s radar…but how?

TEEN BOOK:
"The table was sticky, there was a cloudy smudge on my water glass, and we'd been seated for ten minutes with no sign of a waitress." - What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Since her parents' bitter divorce, McLean and her dad, a restaurant consultant, have been on the move-four towns in two years. Estranged from her mother and her mother's new family, McLean has followed her dad in leaving the unhappy past behind. And each new place gives her a chance to try out a new persona: from cheerleader to drama diva. But now, for the first time, McLean discovers a desire to stay in one place and just be herself, whoever that is. Perhaps Dave, the guy next door, can help her find out.

ADULT BOOK:
"As my daughter Sulfia was explaining that she was pregnant but that she didn't know by whom, I paid extra attention to my posture." - The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine by Alina Bronsky

Rosa Achmetowna is the outrageously nasty and wily narrator of this rollicking family saga. When she discovers that her 17-year-old daughter, “stupid Sulfia,” is pregnant by an unknown man she does everything to thwart the pregnancy. But despite her best efforts the baby, Aminat, is born nine months later at Soviet Birthing Center Number 134. Much to Rosa’s surprise and delight, dark eyed Aminat is a Tartar through and through and instantly becomes the apple of her grandmother’s eye. While her good for nothing husband Kalganow spends his days feeding pigeons at the city park, Rosa wages an epic struggle to wrestle Aminat away from Sulfia, whom she considers a woefully inept mother. When Aminat, now a wild and willful teenager, catches the eye of a sleazy German cookbook writer researching Tartar cuisine, Rosa is quick to broker a deal that will guarantee all three women a passage out of the Soviet Union. But as soon as they are settled in the West, the uproariously dysfunctional ties that bind mother, daughter and grandmother begin to fray.



If you would like to put any of these titles on hold, just click on the title above and you will be re-directed to the library catalog listing for the book. Or give us a call at (609) 654-6113 and we would be happy to put it on hold for you!

Best Books of 2011

I don't know about you, but I love lists! And book lists just might be my favorite kind of all. So I love this time of year when all of the "Best Book" lists start to come out. To make sure that you don't miss any of the best books of the year, we have compiled all of the lists right here. Happy reading!

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Good Reads

Graphic Novel Reporter

Horn Book

Kirkus Review

Library Journal

New York Times

Publisher's Weekly

School Library Journal


How do you think these lists stack up? What was your favorite book from 2011?

Local Author Visit This Weekend!

We are excited to welcome Christine Dougherty to the Pinelands Library for a book signing this weekend on Saturday, November 19th from 1:00-3:00PM.

Christine Dougherty was raised in Tabernacle, New Jersey and has since lived in various towns in Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties.

Drawing heavily from the landscape she knows, most of her works have at least some elements of South Jersey. As you read, you’ll realize that some of the locations, although renamed, are your own back yard.

A graduate of Shawnee High School in Medford, New Jersey and Hussian School of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Christine has made her career and home in local towns.

Thrillers with elements of sci-fi and horror, Christine’s works are an entertaining read that will keep you turning the pages until the very last word! Check her books out at www.christinedoughertybooks.com

Did You Know?...

We can help you start a book club!

Did you know that we have a "Borrow a Book Club" service? This convenient service enables you to easily organize a book discussion group for two or more people. We provide you with a canvas bag containing multiple copies of a selected book, as well as discussion questions and other helpful aids for organizing and facilitating a successful book club. You can pick up the bag and drop it off and any of our Burlington County Library System branches. And you get to keep the Book Club bag for 8 weeks. All you need to check it out is your library card! Click here for a full list of the available titles, which includes teen and adult books.

If you would like to reserve a Book Club bag, just stop by the Reference Desk or give us a call at (609) 654-6113.

First Line Friday

KIDS BOOK:

o   “There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.” - The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, the graveyard book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.

 TEEN BOOK:
"On a sunny Wednesday morning in October - a day that would mark the end of one life and the beginning of another - I found out that my next-door neighbor was one of the walking dead." - Rise of the Corpses by Ty Drago

Forced to flee his home and family, twelve-year-old Will Ritter falls in with the Undertakers-a rag-tag army of teenage resistance fighters who've banded together to battle the Corpses.

ADULT BOOK:
"The terror, which would not end for another twenty-eight years - if it ever did end - began, so far as I know or can tell, with a boat made from a sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen with rain." - It by Stephen King

They were just kids when they stumbled upon the horror within their hometown. Now, as adults, none of them can withstand the force that has drawn them all back to Derry, Maine, to face the nightmare without end, and the evil without a name...







If you would like to put any of these horrifyingly good books on hold in time for Halloween, just click on the title above or give us a call at (609) 654-6113.

Book Trailer Tuesday

KIDS BOOK:  Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes: A Story by Jonathan Auxier
Magic, adventure, mystery... this new book has it all!

TEEN BOOK: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
A dark tale... the perfect read for the Halloween season.

ADULT BOOK: The Litigators by John Grisham
This suspenseful courtroom thriller comes out today!

Put your name on the request list for any of these books by clicking on the title above to find it in our catalog or give us a call at (609) 654-6113.