Novels told through the eyes of a child

What is so appealing about adult novels told through a young person's point of view?  Maybe it's because I'm past the half century mark myself that I'm drawn to the energy and innocence of these young protagonists.  (Funny thing is, the authors are all adults! I guess we can all tap into our inner child.)  At any rate, here are some of my favorites from the last several years:

7-year-old Elsa

Seven-year-old Elsa is given the task to convey apologies from her recently deceased grandmother, an irascible troublemaker whose escapades included throwing monkey poo at police officers and pelting neighbors with paint balls. When her grandmother was alive, Elsa shared with her a secret code language and an imaginary fantasy land; Elsa comes to realize that these shared secrets are key in decoding some of the mysteries surrounding her grandmother and the very unusual inhabitants of their apartment building.

8 year old Max

Eight-year-old Max is on the autism spectrum. His imaginary friend, "Budo", helps him cope with a bully, but Max's parents are troubled by the existence of this imaginary friend.  Even as they are working with a therapist to try to put an end to Budo's existence, it will turn out that Max will need Budo to save his life...

11 year old Flavia

Eleven-year-old Flavia De Luce is only 11 years old, but she is a whiz at chemistry, with a special interest in poisons.  This charming English mystery series takes place in England in the 1950s.

11 year old Julia

Eleven-year-old Julia's story is set in the near future, when the earth's rotation mysteriously begins to slow.  As nights and days lengthen, the rhythms of nature are thrown off, with ensuing famine, flooding, and catastrophe.  Julia's life as an emerging adolescent seems almost equally devastating, as she experiences first love, dealing with ostracizing cliques, and other coming-of-age struggles.

12 year old Henry

Twelve-year-old Henry Shackleford is mistaken for a girl because of his small frame and curly hair in this National Book Award winner set during the last 1850s,  In this disguise, he accidentally joins the fanatical abolitionist John Brown on his crusade to end slavery, culminating in the failed raid on Harper's Ferry.  McBride injects the narrative with hilarity and lots of colorful dialogue, making a tragic chapter in American history more palatable.

12 year old Peyton

Twelve-year-old Peyton lives in a small town in 1960s Alabama.  The highlight of her days are the meetings of The Losers Club, where she and fellow members Boot and Ernie trade stories of their humiliation.  Peyton's life is thrown for a loop with the appearance of her
wild-child cousin, Nora, whose more radical and progressive racial politics shakes up the small town.  A loving tribute to Harper Lee's classic.

13 year old Frank

Thirteen-year-old Frank and his little brother Jake experience a life-changing summer in 1961 in Minnesota, in another novel that bears semblance to To Kill a Mockingbird.  A series of unsolved murders shake the small town and expose racial tensions with the region's Indian population, and as Frank and Jake eavesdrop on adult conversations, they look to their minister father for answers that are hard to come by.






For more books like these, please see the list, Stories for Adults Told from a Child's POV

What are your favorite novels featuring a child protagonist?

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July 2015 LibraryReads List

by Marina

If you're familiar with Sno-Isle's Best Bets collection you know they have gone through a few modifications over the past 6 years (including a name change from the Explore collection). This past month another adjustment was implemented. Starting in June the titles you see on the Best Bets shelves will be suggestions from LibraryReads, powered by staff in public libraries across the country; think of it as a national staff picks effort. 

Each month the list you see below will be updated with the current picks. All of the titles will be included but many of the release dates will be later in the month so be aware of the potential wait time.

Without further ado, here is the LibraryReads list for July 2015:

You might be a Mariners fan if...

You might be a Seattle Mariners fan if:

• Your baby's fist word is "Boomstick" (after another Nelson Cruz home run)
• You've ever traveled to an Everett Aquasox or Tacoma Rainiers game
• You dream of garlic fries and shiskaberries
• You've willingly gone to a weeknight game in April to see them play a team that wasn't Boston/Oakland/New York and paid $5 for instant hot chocolate
• You aren't discouraged by a 39-45 start to the season. It's totally our year!
• You are discouraged by a 39-45 start to the season. Wasn't this supposed to be our year?
• You still wear an Ichiro Suzuki or Ken Griffey Jr. shirt even though they haven't played for the M's in years
• You took a a vacation day in order to catch a midweek afternoon game in 2012 that also happened to turn into Felix Hernandez's perfect game on August 15th, 2012*
• You've read any of these books:

 *Yes, did miss work in 2012 and catch Felix's perfect game!


What's your favorite baseball book? Do you have a favorite Mariner memory? 

World War One Nurses by Becky

A few years ago my book club said no more World War Two books.  We have not given up on war books.  We have become interested in World War One, especially the medical area.  We recently read In falling snow by Mary-Rose MacColl which is a fictional story of Royaumont Abbey Hospital in France run entirely by women.

Women of all classes came near the front lines as nurses, ambulance drivers and a few doctors.  Many novels talk about British VAD (Volunteer Aid Detachment). However, women came from all over the British empire including Canada, Australia and New Zealand.  Many American women also served including those from the American Red Cross. Australian and New Zealand nurses were at the disastrous Battle of Gallipoli. 

Many of the nurses and ambulance drivers came home but did not quite fit in to regular society.  Two of our most interesting mystery series feature two such women - Maisie Dobbs created by Jacqueline Winspear and Bess Crawford written by Charles Todd.

IF YOU ARE A BABY BOOMER: BOOKS AND MEDIA TO REVISIT

When was the last time you were asked for ID?
My last time was at the Kingdome-double proof I am a baby boomer.

Do you remember card catalogs and no talking in the library?

How about rotary phones?

Getting up to change the channel? Fortunately, I only remember there being 5 or 6.

Books to revisit:

Movies to revisit:

Books for Beachcombers

It's finally summer, though, this year, it has felt like summer for quite a while…  Time to hit the beach!   Give yourself a mini holiday: walk a shoreline, build sandcastles with your kids and splash your feet in tide pools while observing the crabs, starfish and gulls. Take advantage of our rare run of warm weather to enjoy the luxury of endless nearby beach options.  You could set a goal to visit a different beach each week.  Here are a few books that may inspire you to explore the wonders Puget Sound has to offer and get creative with the treasures you find on the sand.  Don’t forget your sun screen!

My tangled reading web

Usually I come up with a blog post theme by looking at what I've been reading and figuring out some way that they can be wrangled into a category.  Problem is, in the last several weeks, I've been reading such a random assortment of books that I can't come up with any theme.  I'm a little bit worried that my book suggestions this week are so disjointed that no matter who you are, you are bound to be offended by one of them.  So:  I decided to draw a chart showing how I stumbled across my reading choices:

Am I the only one with such a random process of finding the next book to read?  Tell me how you chose your latest stack of books.

Summertime Fun!

School is almost out and with it comes summer vacation season. I am sure we have a few readers for whom summer break means fantastical European tours (!), but I would be willing to bet that for most, summer vacation involves sticking much closer to home. Lucky for us we live in such a beautiful place, with such beautiful places to explore!

I grew up camping. The tent-in-the-woods-no-bathroom kind of camping. I have lots of wonderful memories of our weekends in the woods - Rock collecting, river swimming, marshmallow stick hunting. My few bad memories all have one thing in common - RAIN. Waking up in a wet tent is the worst! Maybe this is why I prefer cabining as an adult...

Whatever your outdoor style may be, hiking, camping, cabining, or glamping, we have books to get you in the mood.

Not ready to go outside quite yet? Curl up with a movie!

Celebrating Dairy Life

by Marina

Jersey calf picture from flickr

I’ll admit it. I’m one of those people that’s swayed by a pretty face. Especially when there are big brown eyes involved. Every year I take a trip to the Evergreen State Fair, step foot in the dairy barn and "ooohhh" and "awwwww" over all the pretty babies (and their moms).

Not that I want you to think that I was randomly thinking of cows (although, sometimes . . . uh, well), there is a reason for my sharing. Besides the fact that it gives me the excuse to post a random cute calf photo. June is National Dairy Month! And I’ve put together a booklist of several books I’ve read (or intend to read) that pertain to life on a dairy farm or various guides for owning and running a small scale dairy herd (cows or goats) and what to do with what they produce--milk! I’ve also thrown in a few fiction titles that showcase life on a dairy farm (for better or for worse).

Everyday Heroes

by Marina

Recently I listened to Frozen in Time: an epic story of survival and a modern quest for lost heroes of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff. This book is the true story of three different planes and their crews that crashed on Greenland in November 1942. The book recaps the survival of a B-17 crew for 148 days and the teams of people sent by plane, dogsled and motor sled to rescue them. It is also the modern day rescue mission of the downed Grumman Duck flight team, lost and frozen in the ice and snow of Greenland since setting out on THEIR mission to rescue the B-17 crew in 1942. The men who survived living on the block of ice known as Greenland and their intrepid, relentless rescuers are definitely heroes in my book.

Speaking of heroes, tomorrow is the start of Sno-Isle’s Explore Summer reading program for kids and teens. The theme for children is “Every Hero Has a Story” and I've put together a booklist of items that tell the stories of the every day heroes and heroines around us, both human and animal, past and present.

Who are your heroes? Sing their praises or share their stories in the comments!

Why everyone's listening to books!

There is no denying the rising popularity of audiobooks. Seems like everyone’s listening. Sno-Isle libraries offer free digital downloads through Overdrive, Hoopla and 3M. Overdrive alone offers over 13,000 titles.

A gifted narrator brings the story to life. The right voice for the right book is essential. I particularly enjoy listening to books where the characters have an accent.

Angela’s Ashes: a memoir is read by author Frank McCourt. McCourt  tells the story of his Irish childhood in a lilting Irish brogue.













The Help written by Kathryn Stockett is the story of a young woman who writes a book from the view point of several black maids. Spoken by several narrators with varying southern dialects.

Doc by Mary Doria Russell is a fictionalized account of Doc Holliday's life. Read by Mark Bramhall –you can practically smell the whiskey in his voice. 

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows is written in letters between London and the people of Guernsey Island in 1946.  The five narrators capture the essence of the residents of Guernsey Island.

Samurai and Shoguns in Manga

One of the things I have really enjoyed about reading and looking at graphic novels is learning about different cultures.  I have gone back and read many of the long standing manga series.  Luckily, several are being reissued in omnibuses. 

The Edo period of Japanese history is the topic of many manga series.  Edo was the seat of the shogunate rulers. It was on the site of the future Tokyo.  It is also know as the Tokugawa period for it's founder.  The era ran from 1603–1867.  This was also a time where merchants and their cities gained power. It was a very difficult time to be a peasant. The Shogunate tried for strict isolation, but European influence was already being felt including Christianity.  To find out more about this era, try the subject Tokugawa in our catalog or our history resource World History in Context.

Warriors who worked for the shogunate and the daimyos were samurai and followed the way of Bushido.  Samurai on their own were ronin.  Many of the characters in the manga are ronin.

Our manga covers the whole range of  the era. Characters can be from real life like in Miyamoto Musashi in Vagabond.  They can be hero like Ogami Itto in Lone wolf and cub or on the wrong side of the law like Akitsu Masanosuke in House of five leaves. Ooku is alternative history where women rule, but follow the true history of the shoguns. Usagi Yojimbo, the rabbit ronin is pure fantasy.



Be sure to check our other new graphic novel lists under Books then Booklists.

Posted by Becky

Baking Bread

by Jackie

I have a confession to make. I... don't really go in for New Year's resolutions. In my mind it really just seems like a set up for failure. At least for me. However, this year, I seem to have subconsciously made one: I haven't purchased bread since January. I've been making it all myself. It wasn't something I intentionally set out to do, but it's been far less of a hassle than I would have imagined. I find that I really only bake once every 10 days or so. Most of the time I fall back on the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day recipes because, well, it's so easy and makes a decent loaf. Although their 1.5 pound loaves are laughably small. I generally up them to two pounds so the loaf lasts longer and I bake less. We find the recipe for the American soft-crusted loaf the most practical, but we've enjoyed everything we've made. The pumpernickel was fun to make since it required coffee for that signature color.

I thought that I was a little weird, but then I looked into the most popular search terms in the library's catalog and it turns out I'm not alone. Bread making was one of the most popular searches Sno-Isle patrons were looking for in 2014. Specifically, "bread" was the third most searched term and "bread machine recipes" the sixth. They were searched for over 15,000 times! We decided to make a list for all of you searching to make your own bread:



I can now lose a shameful amount of time on the King Arthur Flour website (the English Muffin Toasting Bread is amazing for those Midwestern transplants like me who miss that spongy texture) or thumbing through their books.

Wild yeast sourdough success!

But it's the sourdoughs that I really wanted to tackle. All the rest have just been practice. I've been interested in wild yeast starters for a couple years in concept, but other than one failed technicolor disaster, I hadn't fully committed. Wild yeast starters are where you mix an equal amount of flour and water and wait for the mix to become active and bubbly while it sits on your counter for a week or so (you have to feed it occasionally with more flour and water). Sourdough is intimidating. It seems that every book and baker you consult has an entirely different method. I've checked out innumerable books that promise the only way to create authentic sourdough is with complicated sounding brams and sponges, cultures and proofs, pineapple juice, or insulated heating boxes. One loaf of bread by any of these methods will take 3-5 days. That is just completely not a practical timeline for me.

There had to be another way. I really didn't think that the ancient Egyptians were as fussy as, say, The Bread Baker's Apprentice. I finally, improbably, stumbled across a more relaxed approach to the starter in a book called (and this may give you an inkling to how many books I checked out searching for a realistic sourdough approach) Build Your Own Earth Oven : a low-cost, wood-fired mud oven, simple sourdough bread, perfect loaves. I have no intention of building an earth oven, just to make that clear. And then, still not happy about the steps from starter to loaf, I broke down and checked my go-to source: The Joy of Cooking. Yep. It was there on my bookshelf in the kitchen the whole time; see the above photo for proof!

I like to think that I went through all of the practical research so you don't have to. Michael Pollan's Cooked also has a really interesting section (to the bread-inclined academics among us) about yeast and fermentation in bread.

Moroccan Tuna Sandwiches for two!

I used the baguette featured above to make these Moroccan Tuna Sandwiches (based on the amazing one you can get from Sam's Moroccan Sandwich Shop in Seattle). The boule was used for toast and less interesting sandwiches.

Let's see if I can make this bread baking habit last through the heat of summer!

What's your experience with bread making? Do you have a favorite recipe, technique, or book?

2015 Edgar Awards from Mystery Writers of America

by Marina

On April 29, 2015, at their 69th Gala Banquet held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City, the Mystery Writers of America announced the winners (and nominees) in a variety of mystery categories (including fiction, nonfiction and television) for the Edgar Allen Poe Awards.

Here are the winners:

Best Novel
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

Best First Novel by an American Author
Dry Bones in the Valley by Tom Bouman

Best Paperback Original
The Secret History of Las Vegas by Chris Abani

Best Fact Crime
Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood by William J. Mann

Best Critical/Biographical
Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe by J.W. Ocker (on order)

Best Short Story
"What Do You Do?" by Gillian Flynn in Rogues

Best Juvenile
Greenglass House by Kate Milford

Best Young Adult
The Art of Secrets by James Klise

Best Television Episode Teleplay
"Episode 1" from Happy Valley, teleplay by Sally Wainwright (not available in U.S. at this time)

The Armchair Birder

Everyone is familiar with the term “armchair traveler”.  Well, I confess to being something of an armchair birder.  Despite my pleasure in observing the birds drawn into my garden by various tantalizing feeders, cozy bird cottages, strategically placed water basins and a myriad of tempting flowers, what I often crave is immersing myself in a book, reading a great story about someone’s personal relationship with birds.  Here are a few reading selections that may bring out your inner armchair birder: