BoTW: Maximum Ride: School's Out Forever

It's been nearly four years since I first read James Patterson's Maximum Ride: the Angel Experiment. I liked that book for a number of reasons including its action-packed plot, short zippy chapters, and interesting characters. It didn't hurt that the main characters had wings like birds and could fly at speeds approaching 200 mph.

School's Out Forever is the sequel to that pulse-pounding first book, picking up exactly where the last left off. Max and company desperately want to find their biological parents. Pursued relentlessly by Ari and the other Erasers, the flock finds themselves constantly on the run, with few clues on how to pick up the trail of their real parents.

Come for the teenagers with wings and super-strength. Stay for the tightly wound action and snappy narrative.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a great turkey break. We'll see you in the library next week!

New Arrival!

Scat is the latest book by Carl Hiassen. The book is about two students who try to track down the mysterious disappearance of their biology teacher, Mrs. Bunny Starch.

You can find the book in the fiction section, FIC HIAASEN.

Library Tip of the Week

The Book Fair has arrived! Check with your language arts and reading teachers to find out when your class will be visiting the fair. Each grade level has a day assigned to them:

8th Grade - Wednesday, November 18th
7th Grade - Thursday, November 19th
6th Grade - Friday and Monday, November 20th and November 23rd

Tuesday morning, November 24th is the make-up day for anyone that missed their assigned day.

Don't miss Sabercat Family Night Wednesday, November 18th from 6 pm to 8 pm!

We will see you at the Book Fair!

BoTW: The Thief Lord

Cornelia Funke is a German author with an impressive resume of outstanding young adult fantasy, including Inkheart, Indeath, and Igraine the Brave. The Thief Lord is one of her lesser known books about a gang of orphan thieves living in Venice, Italy. You need to read the book to find out who the "thief lord" turns out to be, a mystery highlighted by the beautiful Italian setting and air of intrigue and adventure.

New Arrival!

This week's new arrival is Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko, the second book in the Moose Flanagan series. The book is the sequel to Al Capone Does My Shirts, the story of a teenager who finds himself living on the famous prison island, Alcatraz.

Library Tip of the Week

The Book Fair arrives at the library next week! Check with your language arts and reading teachers to find out when your class will be visiting the fair. Each grade level has a day assigned to them:

8th Grade - Wednesday, November 18th
7th Grade - Thursday, November 19th
6th Grade - Friday and Monday, November 20th and November 23rd

Tuesday morning, November 24th is the make-up day for anyone that missed their assigned day.

Wednesday, November 18th is Sabercat Family Night! Come visit the Book Fair between 6 pm and 8 pm.

Check with Mr. Thomson if you have any questions!

BoTW: Crash

At first glance, you might think that Crash by Jerry Spinelli is just a book about middle school bullying. As you read, however, it slowly dawns on you that the book is really about issues closely related to the bullying the main character commits: fear, friends and family, and death.

Don't read Crash expecting a blatant condemnation of bullying. It's true that Crash undergoes a character transformation that forces him to rethink how he treats his Quaker neighbor. But Crash is as complex a character as the many reasons for why he bullied in the first place. The book is a great examination of teenagers and what makes them do the things they do.

New Arrival!

This week's new arrival is Best Friends and Drama Queens by Meg Cabot, part of the Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls series.

Library Tip of the Week

The Book Fair is coming to the library! The Fair starts November 18th and runs through November 24th. Feel free to visit the Book Fair before school at 7:15, after school until 3:15, and between passing periods, but don't be late to class or miss your bus! You can also visit the Book Fair during class if you get a pass from your teacher.

See you at the Fair!

BoTW: The Compound

The Compound by S.A. Bodeen is one of the stranger Lone Star books I read this past summer. The book is about a domineering father who saves his family from a nuclear attack by fleeing to a underground shelter he spent millions of dollars to build.

The book has a great premise, but the plot became quickly unbelievable. And you can see the ending coming a mile away, which sucked a lot of the tension out of the story. However, I'm still recommending the book because I think most teenagers will enjoy the macabre nature of the story, especially the depiction of six years of living in a state-0f-the-art bomb shelter.