The Seasons

This art print by by Sarah Lazarovic entitled "The Week that Wasn't" of Toronto's seasons sounds eerily a lot like Maine weather, huh?

New Arrivals!

August 1st - August 15th

Librarian's Pick of the Week: Call of the Wild

Title: Call of the Wild
Author: Jack London
Genre: Adventure
Published: 1903
Age: 10+

"Though his massive output is uneven, his best works - particularly "The Call of the Wild" and "White Fang" - have endured because of their rich subject matter and vigorous prose."

Synopsis: Buck, a huge four-year-old Scottish Shepherd-Saint Bernard cross-breed, lived a life of ease at Judge Miller's Santa Clara Valley estate. This is the story of Buck and how he was thrust into the life of a sled-dog in the savage Klondike during the Gold Rush, and how he ran with the wolves. Jack London, born in San Francisco on January 12, 1876, is well known for his stories involving men and animals and their struggles in the environment. Being an illegitimate child, he adopted his stepfather's surname. London had an adventurous life which included being an oyster pirate, a laundromat worker, a seaman and a participating in the 1897-98 Alaskan Gold Rush. His personal life adventures, idealism and belief that the fittest should survive inspired much of his writing. He wrote 50 books in 20 years, the most widely acclaimed being the story of the dog Buck in The Call of the Wild. London died at the age of 40 on November 22, 1916. He was the most successful and best-known writer in America in the first decade of the 20th century.



If you're intrigued, don't forget to check our library's catalog for this book!

Awesome People Hanging Out Together

Charlie Chaplin and Helen Keller

Wes Andersen and Kanye West

Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee

A little something to brighten your day. A fun little tumblr of vintage, rare, and recent photographs of Awesome People Hanging Out Together. How neat! There are lots more, so do stop by!

Dinosaur Superheroes

Dinosaur Superheroes. Cooooooool.

Librarian's Pick of the Week: Looking For Alaska

Title: Looking for Alaska
Author: John Green
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Published: 2005
Age: 14+

Intense, brooding, intriguing. A great novel for older young adults.

Synopsis: Miles "Pudge" Halter is abandoning his safe - okay, boring - life. Fascinated by the last words of famous people, Pudge leaves for boarding school to seek what a dying Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Pudge becomes encircled by friends whose lives are everything but safe and boring. Their nucleus is razor-sharp, sexy, and self-destructive Alaska, who has perfected the arts of pranking and evading school rules. Pudge falls impossibly in love. When tragedy strikes the close-knit group, it is only in coming face-to-face with death that Pudge discovers the value of living and loving unconditionally.

Review: "From the very first page, tension fills John Green's Michael L. Printz Award-winning novel. Miles Halter, 16, is afraid that nobody will show up at his party because he doesn't have many friends. He loves to read biographies and discover the last words attributed to famous people. He's particularly intrigued with the dying words of poet Francois Rabelais: "I go to seek a great perhaps." Miles is leaving his loving Florida home for the "great perhaps" of the same Alabama boarding school attended by his father. Ominous chapter headings (40 days before, 10 days after) reveal that something tragic may happen. At school, Miles is accepted by a brainy group of pranksters led by his roommate and Alaska Young, a smart and sexy feminist. The teen becomes captivated by his new friends who spend as much energy on sex, smoking, drinking, and cutting-up as they do on reading, learning, and searching for life's meaning. As the school year progresses, Miles's crush on Alaska intensifies, even after it becomes evident that her troubled past sometimes causes her to be self-destructive. This novel is about real kids dealing with the pressures of growing up and feeling indestructible. Listeners will be riveted as the friends band together to deal with the catastrophic events that plague their junior year, and rejoice at their triumphs. Jeff Woodman clearly delineates the voices for each character in an age-appropriate, smart-alecky manner, injecting great emotion while managing not to be overly sentimental. This story belongs in all collections for older young adults, especially those who like Chris Crutcher, David Klass, and Terry Trueman." - School Library Journal


If you're intrigued, don't forget to check our library's catalog for this book!

15 Jobs You Never Knew Existed

So, you think your summer job is the worst? Well, scooping ice cream or clearing tables wont seem so bad after you've checked out a few of these 15 Jobs You Never Knew Existed.

(In case your wondering what is going on in the picture above, that poor woman is a professional odor tester for various deodorants. Yikes!)

Librarian's Pick of the Week: Briar Rose

Title: Briar Rose
Author: Jane Yolen
Genre: Fantasy/Historical Fiction
Published: 1992
Age: 13+

"Both heartbreaking and heartwarming, Yolen's novel is a compelling reminder of the Holocaust as well as a contemporary tale of secrets and romance."

Synopsis: Rebecca has always loved listening to her grandmother's stories about Briar Rose. However, the old woman's astonishing and hard-to-believe admission that she "is" Briar Rose sets Rebecca on an unforgettable path of self-discovery that will change her life forever.

Review: Windling's Fairy Tale series has produced several excellent fantasy novels inspired by classic fairy tales. This is one of the series's most ambitious efforts, and only a writer as good as Yolen could bring it off. Yolen takes the story of Briar Rose (commonly known as Sleeping Beauty) and links it to the Holocaust--a far-from-obvious connection that she makes perfectly convincing. Rebecca Berlin, a young woman who has grown up hearing her grandmother Gemma tell an unusual and frightening version of the Sleeping Beauty legend, realizes when Gemma dies that the fairy tale offers one of the very few clues she has to her grandmother's past. To discover the facts behind Gemma's story, Rebecca travels to Poland, the setting for the book's most engrossing scenes and its most interesting, best-developed characters. By interpolating Gemma's vivid and imaginative story into the larger narrative, Yolen has created an engrossing novel. She handles a difficult subject with finesse in a book that should be required reading for anyone who is tempted to dismiss fantasy as a frivolous genre. - Publisher's Weekly


If you're intrigued, don't forget to check our library's catalog for this book!

DIY Project: Tree Lamp

So what do you do with the odd looking branch you found hiking three years ago that you can't bring yourself to throw away? How about a tree lamp?

Anna Laurent says that "making a lamp from a tree branch is easy, inexpensive, and requires few materials. The primary challenge is planning a design, and finding a piece of wood that works—the concept and wood need to be considered together, as different types and shapes of branches offer different possibilities and limitations. After that, your best resources are creativity, and, as always, Home Depot's wealth of accommodating hardware and staff."

So who else is going hiking tomorrow now?

Step-by-step guide here.

New Arrivals!!

July 16th - July 31st