Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein

       

  OK. This may be listed a a book for 9-12 year-olds and the reviews say for Grades 4-7, but this really is a book that everyone can enjoy. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library is a must-read for all of you that love the library (even if you don't want to admit it!).

Luigi Lemoncello is an eccentric billionaire that has made is money designing state-of-the-art games. In order to give back, he has decided to build the ultimate, most awesome library ever in his former home town. Twelve lucky kids are chosen (by essay, of course) to spend a full night at the library playing games and just having fun. But the following morning, there is a twist...you can either leave at noon and go back to your regular, boring lives or...

You can try to escape and have a chance at winning the ultimate prize!And risk the consequences.

Think you know what you would choose?

Join in the fun by reading this entertaining novel.

Karen

Mockingjay Part 2

Full length trailer released today!

In theaters November 20th.  Check out part 1 or read the series!

Paper Towns - Movie Premiere

Paper Towns hits theaters tomorrow!

Have you checked out the book yet?

Everything Leads to You

Emi Price is set to embark on her last summer before college (before her best-friend Charlotte leaves her and sunny L.A. for school in Michigan); she's scored an amazing (close to almost too amazing to be realistic) internship with a production company designing rooms for actual movies and her older brother Toby is leaving her and Charlotte his apartment for the summer. Toby's only condition for the apartment is they must do something great with it while he's gone, which leaves Emi at a loss. Luckily she has enough to keep her busy between work and the mystery of Clyde Jones's (a legendary actor in old Hollywood westerns) long lost daughter and granddaughter. In the midst of locating the actor's family Emi's ex-girlfriend (the ex part has been variable over the past year) gets her a job as a production designer on an independent film. As the mystery unravels (and Emi begins to fall hard for Clyde's granddaughter, Ava) and work begins Emi has to take some risks and face some not-so pleasant realities. While Ava (and her best friend Jamal) make a good counter point to Emi's and Charlotte's mostly charmed lives, things still come a little too easy for Emi (for starters, it would have been nice to see Emi do a little more grunt work and not just get handed the job of production designer at 18, before even attending one film class). Overall though Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour was an entertaining (if predictable) summer romance.

Learning a Language?

Want to improve (or brush up on) your Spanish (or French or German) language skills over the summer? Check out these apps and online sources.

Duolingo

A free app (available for Apple and Android) and website that allows users to practice a chosen language through writing, identifying, speaking, and listening with short lessons.

Hello Talk

An app, available for Apple and Android, for students to practice language skills. Also has a social networking component that allows users to connect with native speakers. 

iMendi

A website for reviewing vocabulary.

LangMedia

A website that offers resources in a variety of languages. While the purpose of this site is mostly for languages that are not widely offered in schools you can find resources (including videos) for Spanish, German, and French.

Forvo

A database of pronunciations spoken by native speakers. 

Lingua.ly

An extension that helps you learn a new language while browsing the internet.

Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Globe_of_language.png

Kissing in America by Margo Rabb

Following her father's death Eva has taken to reading romance novels, much to the chagrin of her women studies professor mother (although their relationship has been strained for a variety of reasons since his death). While immersing herself in fictional romances Eva has never had a boyfriend in real life (along with her best-friend Annie, who assures her they'll have plenty of time for that once they get to college). Then Eva meets Will, who starts attending after school tutoring with her and who she connects with him on a variety of topics, but mostly on the fact that they both have family tragedies in their past. When Will abruptly moves to California Eva is desperate to get across the country to see him, only problems are an over protective mother, her own fear of flying, and a general lack of money. Then she finds a reality TV show/scholarship contest that her friend Annie would be perfect for, and that plus a bus trip would solve two of her three problems, now just to convince the over protective mother. Kissing in America is a great summer read about love, friendship, and family that has depth in its characters and storyline.

If you liked this book:
Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
A Sense of the Infinite by Hilary Smith

Lisa

Red Queen Sequel Cover Reveal

The cover for Glass Sword (sequel to Red Queen) by Victoria Aveyard has been released.

Set to be released on February 9th of 2016!