There's nothing like a good book!
We've got over 8000 books in the media center! Here's what I'm reading now. I'll bet you'll enjoy it, too.
Wimpy Kid Strikes Again
It's going to be hard to get one of our copies of Dog Days! All four copies were checked out within 10 minutes of us labeling them and putting them on the shelf. I must admit that I took a copy home and read it the night before. I thought that Jeff Kinney couldn't possibly have written another book as funny as the first three, but I was wrong. This is another laugh-out-loud winner. In the first pages of the book Greg manages to find himself in big trouble when he runs up charges on Rowley's father's account at the country club. His parents insist that he earn money to repay his debt. Greg spends the rest of the summer trying his best to get the money while avoiding anything resembling work. If you get impatient waiting for a copy of Dog Days to be available in the media center, I suggest that you find a way to earn some money and buy your own copy! You'll want to read it again and again. Take a look at the Wimpy Kid website:
I've read lots of historical novels about the Civil War but last night I read Growing Up in the Civil War, a non-fiction book written by a "detective of history". To find out what life was like for children back then, author Duane Damon hunted down clues hidden in paintings, interviewed witnesses by reading their letters and diaries, and got to know suspects by studying old photographs and drawings. (These are all called primary sources.) The result is a sometimes sad, sometimes funny, but always interesting trip back to the Civil War times of children in the North and the South.
I learned about Susan Bradford who had no nice shoes because the war caused a shortage of materials. So her Cousin Rob tanned some squirrel skins and made a pair of beautiful shoes that she could wear with her one and only nice dress.
This math problem was in an elementary school math book in North Carolina: "If one Confederate soldier can whip 7 Yankees, how many soldiers can whip 49 Yankees?"
Carrie Berry, a ten year old girl living in Atlanta in 1864, recalled that "This was my birthday. I was ten years old, but I did not have a cake. Times were too hard so I celebrated with ironing."
The only thing I don't like about this book is that it's too short! I wanted to read more. You can find the book with our other Civil War books in the non-fiction section at Dewey Decimal number 973.7
Did you know that a rat can get flushed down a toilet and live? Did you know that a rat can fall off a five-story building and land safely on its feet? Did you know that rats "fish" by dangling their tails in the water and wiggling them about? Well, I didn't know any of that but now I do because I just finished reading Oh, Rats! The Story of Rats and People by Albert Marrin. This book is full of fascinating information about rats - gross, touching, disgusting, amazing, and almost unbelievable!
Rats can be creepy, but believe it or not, some rats can help people. During the Vietnam War an American prisoner was held in solitary confinement by the enemy. He wasn't allowed to see or speak to anyone for a very long time. One day a rat wandered into his cell. The prisoner was so glad to have company that he fed it from his own plate of food. The rat came back every day and seemed to understand the prisoner when he talked to it. The prisoner was grateful to the rat for relieving his lonliness.
No matter what you think about rats, you will love what you learn about them in this terrific book. Find it in the nonfiction section -- Dewey Decimal number 599.35.
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