Hey Batta Batta Swing: The Wild Old Days of Baseball by Sally Cook

Sorry to break the news, but I’ve never been a fan of baseball.  Now that you know, I guess you wouldn’t be surprised if I told you I didn’t know much about the game.  Well, I didn't but I do now, at least about the old days, thanks to the entertaining book Hey Batta Batta Swing: The Wild Old Days of Baseball by Sally Cook.  Did you know that in the early days they didn’t have team uniforms, they all wore heavy wool flannel, like something you’d wear in winter, but their socks were different colors.  The Chicago team wore white socks which is why they’re now called the White Socks.  Okay, that’s not news, not even for me, but the Dodgers got their name because the fans had to dodge trolley cars to get to the stadium.  Oh, and the guys didn’t like wearing numbers on their shirts because they thought it was a form of ranking best to worst and it made them feel like prisoners. Oh, and players could be traded just like today, but for one guy the asking price was a bag of oysters and for another guy it was a bag of prunes! So whether you like baseball or not, this book is as fascinating as it is funny.

Book review posted by Steve Browne, Youth Technology Librarian

The Last Rider: The Final Days of the Pony Express by Jessica Gunderson

The Last Rider: The Final Days of the Pony Express by Jessica Gunderson

Matt Edgars longs for his life the way it used to be when he lived in Kansas and helped his dad with the horses and the farm.  Since his dad had died, he and his Mom moved to San Francisco, but as he got older, he eagerly watched for ways to fill his life with new adventures.  When he saw a poster advertising for boys his age to become riders on horseback to carry the mail between San Francisco, California and St. Joseph, Missouri, he was thrilled to get a job as a Pony Express Rider.  He worked hard getting the mail delivered, with the added challenges of wild animals, dangerous snakes, and desert heat -- even keeping ahead of someone who was setting fire to the Express stations!  Delivering President Abraham Lincoln's Inaugural Address took seven days and seventeen hours -- the fastest piece of mail delivered by the Pony Express riders.  If you like historical fiction, you'll enjoy this story about the last days of the Pony Express, which helped make quick communication possible between the new Western States and the East before the telegraph was invented.

Strong Man: the Story of Charles Atlas by Meghan McCarthy

Strong Man: the Story of Charles Atlas by Meghan McCarthy

Over one hundred years ago Angelo Siciliano traveled on a steamship from Italy to Ellis Island in New York.  Even though Angelo didn’t know it, he was destined for great things.  Angelo was a smaller kid so growing up in Brooklyn, New York was tough!  He was teased and beat up by bullies.  Even as he grew older, Angelo was harassed and humiliated by others.  He decided it needed to stop, and after seeing a statue of Hercules, he came up with a plan!  Angelo decided to start lifting weights.  The weight lifting didn’t work so well, but a lion at a zoo gave him a new idea.  Angelo came up with own fitness routine.  As he exercised, he began to grow stronger and stronger until he was as strong as an OX!! 

Once his friends started noticing his new muscles, they commented that he looked like the statue of Atlas holding the heavens on his shoulders.  From that time on Angelo, whose nickname was already Charlie, became known as Charles Atlas.  Wanting to show his body off, Angelo became a strongman at a Coney Island sideshow. What famous feats did Charles Atlas complete? How did the world react to him?  Come check out Strong Man to find out!

Book reviewed by Renee N., Youth Services Library Assistant

Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf by Judy Sierra

Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf by Judy Sierra is a clever book about manners.  The characters are from fairytales and the setting is the library!  B.B. Wolf gets invited to the Annual Storytime Tea at the Library.  Crocodile encourages him to go and consults a book on etiquette to help him get ready.  While at the tea, B.B. Wolf forgets what he is supposed to say if he burps and quickly consults the computer catalogue, types in the word E-T-I-Q-U-E-T-T-E, finds the book and looks through the pages to find the magic words, “Excuse me.” It is fun to look at the illustrations and see references to other fairytale characters.

Book reviewed by Barb M., Youth Programming Assistant

No Talking by Andrew Clements

Two whole days without talking--at school and at home--do you think you could do it?  Only answering questions with a maximum of 3 words?  In No Talking by Andrew Clements, Dave comes up with this idea after reading that Mahatma Gandhi did not speak at all one day each week.  Gandhi believed this was a way “to bring order to his mind.” Dave’s idea turns into a contest between the talky boys and girls in three fifth grade classes, known by the teachers as “The Unshushables.”  The principal, teachers, and parents all react to the silence in different, surprising ways.  This book is about language and thought…and the power of words. After reading it, you might choose your words more carefully.

Book reviewed by Mary Lou H., Youth Services Library Assistant

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart.  Just the title makes me want to find out more.  I don't like being left out of a good secret, and neither does gifted orphan Renyie Muldoon, the hero of this post's book.  He takes a test at the urgings  of his tutor only to find out that he has been recruited by a narcoleptic genius to infiltrate an isolated school.  He, along with three other talented children, must attend the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened and find the cause of hidden messages being broadcast around the world by its strange founder, Mr. Curtain, all without anyone catching onto their secret mission or being brainwashed. 

Book reviewed by Keary D., Youth Collection Specialist Librarian

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil. E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil. E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg is considered a classic by many and is also a Newbery award winner from the 1960’s.  I'd heard it was a story about two kids who run away from home in an unusual way.  I was intrigued.  So I picked it up and found out that the story is just as clever and cute as I’d hoped, and the characters are realistic and lovable.  Claudia Kincaid, a 12-year-old straight-A perfectionist, does not want to pull off that "old-fashioned kind of running away... in the heat of anger with a knapsack on [your] back," so instead she arranges to run towards something.  So she recruits her brother, Jamie, mostly because he has money saved up, and they go to a large, comfortable, beautiful place- the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  Between keeping their residency a secret and trying to solve the mystery of a controversial statue, the two have plenty to keep them busy.  This book kept me guessing ‘til the end!

Book reviewed by Erin E., Youth Programming Librarian

Thunder From the Sea by Joan Hiatt Harlow

Thunder From the Sea by Joan Hiatt Harlow takes place in Newfoundland in 1929.  Thirteen-year-old orphan Tom Campbell has just found a much longed for home on Back O' The Moon Island with fisherman Enoch Murray and his wife, Fiona.  Tom is shy and nervous when he first arrives at their home but is overjoyed when he rescues a dog during a storm at sea and is allowed to keep him.  He names the dog Thunder.  Tom and Thunder really start to feel like part of the family until the Murrays find out that Fiona is pregnant.  Then to make matters worse, a mean neighbor and his son think Thunder should belong to them.  What will happen when the sea captain, the original owner of Thunder, comes to the Island?  Will Tom get to keep him?  Will Tom even be staying on the island once the baby is born?  I’m not telling.  Read Thunder of the Sea to find out!

Book reviewed by Julie D., Elementary School Liaison

Standard Hero Behavior by John David Anderson

What do you do when your town is going to be attacked by goblins, trolls, and other creatures, and you find out the town’s hero is a fake? Well, Mason Quayle, in Standard Hero Behavior by John David Anderson, decides to go on a quest for a hero, maybe even become one himself. Mason is joined in his quest by his best friend Cowel, a quill salesman. Along the way they meet all sorts of possible heroes and unusual characters, including a man who sword fights in his sleep, the daughter of two heroes, a werewolf hit man, an attractive young witch, and some angry pixies. Mason also finds out what happened to his hero father, who disappeared on a quest many years ago. Does Mason find a hero? Is the town saved from the goblin attack? Read the book and find out!

Book Reviewed by Keary D., Youth Collection Specialist Librarian

The OK Book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Litchenheld

Does it seem like you try to do a lot of different things but can’t seem to do all of them very well? You can swim, but you are not the best. Maybe you play baseball, but not really well. Perhaps you can flip pancakes, catch bugs, even blow bubbles with juicy bubblegum, but still need a lot more practice. Well, I think that The OK Book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Litchenheld is just the book for you !  This is a simple yet clever picture book that teaches that we all are OK at a lot of things, and that it’s OK to not be perfect.  Just have fun doing whatever you do, and keep on trying your very best.  One day you will see that you are amazingly good at something, and it's good to be OK at just about everything else.

Book reviewed by Darice C., Library Assistant