Sonny's House of Spies

Its a hot hot summer in the 1950's and Sonny will be starting high school in the fall. He has begun wondering about things in ways he never wondered before. Why did his Daddy vanish 7-years-ago? Why did Uncle Marty have a letter from daddy hidden in a drawer in the donut shop? Was he in love with Nissa the beautiful light skinned negro daughter of the his family's maid? Why were Mamby and othe blacks treated so unjustly? He suffers from nightmares and in daytime when thoughts and feelings get intense he faints. There are plenty of funny momments in this story like Sonny trying to explain about Men, Women, and babies to his 7-year-old brother and his relationship with his older wilder irreverent sister. She's exactly the kind of sister I would have liked to have had!


JDW

Tending to Grace By:Kimberly Newton Fusco

This novel keeps you guessing throughout the book. The story unravels till the
bitter end. All throughout the story, you feel like Cornelia the young girl, who is the major personality left with her maiden Aunt will eventually be a run away child. She is left on a farm, which is foreign to her by her Mother, and promises the young girl to return one day.

Cornelia is bright, and is a good reader,which helps a lot for her Aunt does not know how. Agatha, the Aunt, eventually learns to love Cornelia, and they become close friends. In fact towards the end of the novel,Cornelia, and her Aunt, share a secret about Aunt Agatha on a hike that many people in the town did not know. This secret turns out to be a tear jerker for the reader of the book.

LD. 9-20-04

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kaadohata

The title of this book is a Japanese word meaning glitttering or shinning. This novel is very different, because it portrays a Japanese family's struggle in Southern Georgia, and how they make a living to survive in life. The two daughters Lynne, & Katie do not appreciate what their parent's had to sacrifice in order to put food on the table. For me, the key to the story was when Lynn the older sister became seriously ill.

The other emphasis on the family was when their Mother had a baby boy. His name was Sammy. Lynn the older sister, eventually dies, and Katie and Sam are left to cope. I want to share with anyone who reads this novel, this Japanese family through their struggles, had to eat for supper a can of sardines, and white rice for their meal.

LD.

Things Change - Patrick Jones

Johanna is your typical high school junior. She gets good grades, her parents love her, and she is on student council. She feels that she always has to be perfect, and that has led her to become an outcast in high school. That is until she starts going out with Paul, who is also on student council and popular. Soon she is hanging out with the popular kids, and spending all her time with Paul. She pushes Pam, her only real friend, away. Her grades begin to drop, and she disobeys her parents. What people don't know is that Paul is hitting her every time he gets mad. She covers up the bruises by wearing long sleeves. Eventually Johanna talks to Pauls last girlfriend, and gets the real story about Paul. After hearing that she finally decides to break up with him for good. Will he change after his experience with Johanna, or will he continue his abusive ways.
This book takes you on a journey from being a nobody to being somebody, but in this case Johanna has a price to pay to keep Paul happy. This is a page turner and you won't want to put it down until you are done.

Tom Burnham

WRITING CONTEST

We're sponsoring our second annual writing contest for teens in grades 7-12. Entries are due on October 17th. Pick up complete information at the library

Translations of Beauty By: Mia Yun

This is a story that delves into the true meaning of beauty,family,home, & race. This novel demonstrates the ties that bind all families, but also writes abbout the pitfalls of the American dream.

The book relates how twin sisters have a unique relationship from South Korea-to growing up in Queen's,N.Y. The book takes the reader to Italy to find Inah the twin sister. This novel is really about immigrant children growing up in America.

There are other characters in the book, but the twins are the main personalities throughout the novel. Their are family relativees in between.

L.D.

Splintering by Eireann Corrigan

Like the glass that shattered when the knife waving intruder, foaming at the mouth breaks into mimi's apartment so do the lives of mimi, her sister, brother and parents splinter after the trauma is over. This story is written in the new popular free verse form and its very sketchy but you do get a sense of the emotions the characters are experiencing.

Story Time - Edward Bloor

George and Kate are promised the best education when they attend Whittaker Magnet School, which is in the same building as the library. The schools curriculum is based on beating standardized tests of other states, and the teachers are named only by the subject and grade they teach, like Science 6 or Math 8. The classrooms are dreary and windowless. The students are seated by how well they do on tests, from highest to lowest. The parents favor their own children over the others. There is also a librarian who only speaks in nursery rhymes. But behind all of this there is a demon being let loose on the faculty and staff of Whittaker Magnet school. Who is doing it and why? Does it have something to do with what happened ten years ago in the library, when an adult and ten children were possessed by a demon during story time. When the First lady of the United States comes to visit everything comes out into the open, and there are no more secrets. Bloor combines the state of education in todays schools with mystery to write an exceptional novel. This is one book that will not disappoint the reader.

Tom Burnham