Halloween Reads for the Kiddos!

The Haunted Library is the start of a brand-new young chapter book series from Edgar Award winner Dori Hillestad Butler! When ghost boy Kaz’s haunt is torn down and he is separated from his ghost family, he meets a real girl named Claire, who lives above the town library with her parents and her grandmother. Claire has a special ability to see ghosts when other humans cannot and she and Kaz quickly form a friendship. The two join forces to solve the mystery of the ghost that’s haunting the library. Could it be one of Kaz’s lost family members?

Monsters at Halloween is by Zanna Davidson. It's Halloween and Billy can't wait for the village Halloween Party. There's just one problem... his Mini Monsters are at the party too! Sparkle-Bogey's in the apple bobbing, Trumpet's in a pumpkin and Gloop's playing 'Guess the Body Part'. Can Billy find his monsters before anyone else does? Or will it be up to Peep to save the day?

Klem and his pals aren't the most popular Grubbins in candy-starved Repugia, but Klem's hoping that will change once he brings a hoard of candy back from the human world. After all, it's Halloween, so there's candy everywhere! Unfortunately, there are also bullies everywhere, ready to steal all of Klem's sweet, sweet loot. Will he and his friends make it out alive, or are they doomed to an eternity of sugar-free torment? From the deliciously magical world of the hit video games Costume Quest and Costume Quest 2, Oni Press presents an adorable Halloween-themed graphic novel by Zac Gorman.

The Halloween Goblin is part of the Pixie Tricks series by Tracey West. A creepy goblin is scaring people all over town! Bogey Bill -- whose favorite holiday is Halloween -- likes to magically change normal things into spooky things. Violet, Leon, and their fairy friend Sprite need to send Bogey Bill back to the Otherworld. But their task gets harder when a pixie named Buttercup casts an annoying hiccup spell on the whole school! Can Violet, Leon, and Sprite trick TWO pixies at once? With engaging black-and-white artwork on every page, kids won't be able to put down this action-packed book! This is an exciting refresh of the popular Pixie Tricks series, with updated text and brand-new art on every page -- perfect for fans of Tracey West's Dragon Masters series.

Mary Pope Osborne has penned a spooky Magic Tree House book with Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve. Every visit to the magic tree house leads to a time-travel adventure! Jack and Annie are summoned once again to the fantasy realm of Camelot. There, Merlin the Magician tells them that the Stone of Destiny has been stolen. The answer to its disappearance lies within a haunted castle. With a young magician named Teddy, Jack and Annie take on the challenge in an adventure that takes them to new heights and places they couldn’t even imagine!

Meet Beak and Ally in the New Juvenile Graphic Novels

 The Beak and Ally series by Norm Feuti consists of four titles:

#1 is Unlikely Friends--Ally the alligator is perfectly happy being alone . . . until one day a noisy bird named Beak lands on her snout. Beak thinks Ally is lonely and needs a friend. He has all sorts of friendship goals in mind, like riding bikes together, going to the movies together, and even solving mysteries together! But when a Long-Billed Party Pooper crashes Beak’s nest-warming party, Ally decides to show Beak something important to her: sticking up for what’s right.

#2 is Bedtime Jitters--Beak & Ally are back, and they’ve got some bedtime jitters! Late at night, the swamp is full of weird noises . . . spooky noises! Like the GUURNT GUURNT! of the horrible Grunty Beast, the CHH CHH CHH CHH of the chilling Chatter Ghosts, and the ZZUMP ZZUMP of the mechanical Zump Monster! How’s Beak the bird supposed to get any rest with all these strange sounds sounding off around him? Thankfully, Ally the alligator has some good ideas about where all the racket is coming from.

#3 is The Big Storm--Ally’s enjoying a peaceful, rainy day down in the swamp until Beak tells her that a big storm is coming. As Ally makes her way home to prepare, she can’t help but notice other swamp critters struggling to get ready for the bad weather. Even though she has a lot to do, she offers them a hand. But before she knows it, the storm is upon her, and she has to take shelter in the first secluded spot she can find. Once the storm passes, Ally returns to find her once beautiful home in utter ruin! Will Ally be able to save her home, or will she be forced to leave the swamp . . . for good?

#4 is Snow Birds--Winter is coming! Beak loves the snow, but his hopes are dashed when Ally informs him the swamp stays warm year-round and not much changes. As a matter of fact, the only big change is that it gets a lot more crowded! Beak soon discovers what Ally means when the snow birds arrive . . . Hawaiian shirt–wearing, music-jamming new neighbors who have flown south for the winter. At first, Beak is thrilled when they decide to spend their vacation in his tree—he loves to party! But when the noise gets louder and louder, it’s time for Beak and Ally to take action. Confronting new friends can be hard, but anything is possible when you have your best friend by your side to help.

Spotlight: The Villains Series by Serena Valentino

    Juvenile fiction author Serena Valentino has taken Disney's villains and given each their own book. The library currently has books 2 through 8 of the series.

In The Beast Within, a cursed prince sits alone in a secluded castle. Few have seen him, but those who claim they have say his hair is wild and nails are sharp--like a beast's! But how did this prince, once jovial and beloved by the people, come to be a reclusive and bitter monster? And is it possible that he can ever find true love and break the curse that has been placed upon him?

In Poor Unfortunate Soul, we see Ariel's nemesis in a new light. The tale of the sea king's daughter Ariel is a beloved one of losing―and then finding―one's own voice. And yet this is only half the story. So what of Ariel's nemesis, Ursula, the sea witch? What led to her becoming so twisted, scorned, and filled with hatred? Many tales have tried to explain her motives. Here is one account of what might have shaped the sea witch into a detestable and poor unfortunate soul.

Maleficent gets the spotlight in Mistress of All Evil. The maiden always finds out that she is a princess―a princess who has been cursed by a dark fairy to prick her finger on a spindle and fall into an eternal sleep. Though her three good fairies try to protect her, the princess succumbs to the curse. But the power of good endures, as her true love defeats the fire-breathing dragon and awakens the princess with true love’s first kiss. The two live happily ever after. And yet this is only half the story. So what of the dark fairy, Maleficent? Why does she curse the innocent princess? What led to her becoming so filled with malice, anger, and hatred? Many tales have tried to explain her motives. Here is one account, pulled down from the many passed down through the ages. It is a tale of love and betrayal, of magic and reveries.

Evil is made not born. Book 5 in the wildly popular Villains series is called Mother Knows Best. What of the old witch from Rapunzel, Mother Gothel? Where does she come from? And how does she come across the magical golden flower? Here is one account that recounts a version of the story that has remained untold for centuries . . . until now. It is a tale of mothers and daughters, of youth and dark magic. It is a tale of the old witch.

Throughout the Villains series, the Odd Sisters have meddled in the lives of the Wicked Queen, The Beast, Ursula, Maleficent, and Mother Gothel, changing the course of fate for the greatest villains ever known. Now, it’s time for their reckoning. This latest novel (book 6), The Odd Sisters, by the author of the wildly popular Villains series goes deeper into the lives of the twisted, diabolical Odd Sisters, finally revealing the dark truth about who they are and where they're from. 

In Evil Thing, (book 7) we get a glimpse of the puppy-hating fashionista herself. Cruella De Vil is the perfect villain: stylish, witty, relentless...and possibly cursed. From her lonely childhood, to her iconic fashion choices, to that fateful car crash (you know the one), Cruella tells all in this marvelous memoir of a woman doomed. Even the cruelest villains have best friends, true loves, and daring dreams. Now it's Cruella’s turn to share hers.

Finally in book 8, Cold Hearted, we get to know Cinderella's stepmother a little better. Who is that evil stepmother, that icy lady of the house? How did she become so closed off that, in the face of a child’s grief, she thought only to seek wealth and power for herself and her abhorrent daughters? Before that fateful ball, before the glass slipper and the prince, there was another story―a story of love and grief, of hope and of dreams dashed. It is the story of Lady Tremaine. Even the coldest of villains are sometimes wives and mothers, women who loved and lost and hoped for something grander for their lives . . . once upon a dream.

New Juvenile Series

Author Elizabeth Catanese has written a series of juvenile books based on Greek myths with her Mt. Olympus Theme Park series. Follow six kids on their journeys to a myth-themed amusement park. In this series, the rides bring kids unexpectedly into actual Greek myths where they run into people in need. Each kid fixes the scenario based on his or her own unique skills. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. The Library has the following titles: The Amazing Catapult, The Hunting House, Medusa's Mirror, Pandora's Phone, Pomegranate Passion Cake, and The Spider Drama.

The Goddess Girls is a series of children's books written by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams. The books are based on Greek mythology and depict the younger generation of the Olympian pantheon as privileged tween students attending Mount Olympus Academy (MOA) to develop their divine skills. The series focuses on four primary characters – Athena, Persephone, Aphrodite, and Artemis — as a diverse group of loyal friends. Athena is noted for her intelligence, Persephone is mysterious and kind, Artemis is bold and strong, and Aphrodite is "effortlessly beautiful". Holub writes about Athena and Artemis, Williams about Persephone and Aphrodite. Zeus is represented as the principal of the academy, and many other gods, including Hades, Poseidon, and Ares, appear in the series. Pandora, Medusa and Heracles appear as mortal characters. The series includes deities and characters from other mythological traditions as visitors to the Academy.

Keeper of the Lost Cities is an upper-middle-grade fantasy series by Shannon Messenger. The series tells the story of Sophie Foster, a twelve-year-old high school senior with the ability to read minds. She lives in San Diego until a boy named Fitz Vacker reveals that she is an elf and must leave to go among the elves in the "Lost Cities", a hidden set of cities where elves and other fantasy races live. She has to leave her human family, starts school at an elven academy named Foxfire, and stays with an elf couple who later adopts her. She eventually discovers that she has dangerous and illegal secrets hidden in her mind, planted there by the Black Swan, a rebel group who is later revealed to have hidden Sophie originally in the human world. The main antagonist of the series is the Neverseen, an extreme criminal organization.

Robin Stevens is the author of the Wells & Wong mystery series--also called A Murder Most Unladylike. Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are best friends at Deepdean School for Girls, and they both have a penchant for solving mysteries. In fact, outspoken Daisy is a self-described Sherlock Holmes, and she appoints wallflower Hazel as her own personal Watson when they form their own (secret!) detective agency. The only problem? They have nothing to investigate. But that changes once Hazel discovers the body of their science teacher, Miss Bell—and the body subsequently disappears. She and Daisy are certain a murder must have taken place, and they can think of more than one person with a motive. Determined to get to the bottom of the crime—and to prove that it happened—before the killer strikes again, Hazel and Daisy must hunt for evidence, spy on their suspects, and use all the cunning, scheming, and intuition they can muster. But will they succeed? And can their friendship stand the test?

New VOX Books for Kids

 What are VOX books you ask? Well, VOX Books are the world's first audio books that live in print books. The permanently attached VOX Reader transforms an ordinary print book into an all-in-one read-along. There's no need for computers, tablets, or CDs. Children simply push a button to listen and read. Here are a few of our newest titles:

From beloved author-illustrator Rosemary Wells comes a brand-new story about the inimitable brother and sister Max and Ruby. Max and Ruby’s family is expanding and soon enough nobody will be getting any sleep! Max and Ruby are in for a big surprise. Mama has a baby in her tummy and soon the family will be bigger and better. Luckily Ruby knows all about babies: what they eat, how to bathe them, and where they come from. Ruby tells Max all about it. Soon no one will be getting any sleep, but Max has an idea on how to help!

In A Tiger Without Stripes by Jaimie Whitbread, a young tiger born without stripes wonders why she alone is different. As she grows, her feeling of incompleteness draws her on a quest she hopes will make her whole. Will her efforts to earn her stripes pay off, or will she find a surprising answer to the question that has defined her life?

In this whimsical classic picture book, Tomie dePaola delivers a sweet depiction of a child’s imagination and all the things that go bump in the night. To stay up past bedtime, you’ve got to fight the night. Flashlight in hand, a determined Ronald sets out to battle sleep in this refreshed edition of Tomie dePaola’s spirited 1968 picture book.

French bulldogs Toby and Pinkie learn to live together and form a heartwarming friendship. Toby loves basking in the morning sun, snuggling in a lap in the afternoon, and toasting his tummy by the fireside at night, but somehow his warm spots never last. What Toby wants more than anything is to find something as warm as the sun that never fades or fizzles. Then one day, Pinkie comes along, and she starts hogging all of Toby's favorite places. Toby feels alone and forgotten, and slinks away. . . but Pinkie follows him, determined to prove that she is the something as warm as the sun Toby has been looking for all along.

Lovable monster siblings Natalie and Alphonse are back with big plans in a second surprisingly touching tale in which Natalie is ready to learn how to read. Natalie and Alphonse REALLY like books. Picture books with Dad, scary stories with Mom, and especially stories they remember or make up themselves. So when it’s time for Natalie to learn to read, she thinks it will be exciting — she can have all the stories in the world now, and even read them to Alphonse. But when Natalie gets her first reading book, the letters look like squiggles and it isn’t even a good story; it’s just about a cat that can sit. “I do not like books anymore!” Natalie declares. But she still wants to make up stories. With Alphonse’s help, can she find a way to turn a love of telling stories into a love of reading stories? With her one-of-a-kind voice and wonderfully droll artwork, Daisy Hirst captures the familiar frustration of struggling to learn something new — and the particular pride that comes when you finally succeed.

New Series In the Children's Department

In Debbie Michiko Florence's My Furry Foster Family series, eight-year-old Kaita Takano has one dog, a miniature dachshund named Ollie. But there's never just one animal in the Takano house. Kaita and her family foster animals rescued by a local animal rescue group. They bring them to medical appointments, teach them manners and tricks, and help the animals find new homes. Kaita loves animals, but sometimes the zoo in her house gets out of control! It can be hard to say goodbye when the animals find forever homes, but Kaita is happy for them and excited to welcome a new foster animal to her family.

In Mr. Kazarian, Alien Librarian: The Black Hole Bandits by Steve Foxe, Mr. Kazarian has a problem...his evil cousin, Kronkhold, is threatening to consume the galaxy with his new device, a black-hole generator. Mr. K's four favorite students are in the library researching Albert Einstein when they see Mr. K heading out on his mission to stop Kronkhold. What better way to learn about black holes and Einstein's theories than to ride along? Oh, and hopefully help save their home in the Milky Way. Bravely facing Kronkhold and his space-pirate flunkies, Mr. K and the students get a little too up close and personal with a black hole and must outwit the evil scientist to save the galaxy and themselves! Science fiction packed full of space facts!

Book 2 of the Mr. Kazarian, Alien Librarian series is called The Asteroid Excursion. Screech! Some major interference is coming through on Walden's hearing aid. But it's not the local radio station--it's a cry for help from the alien colonists called Arrok! Their home has been blasted apart by an asteroid. Can Mr. K and his students help? Will the same thing happen to Earth? And will the citizens of Arrok demand that Dani stay and serve as their leader? There's never a dull moment in Mr. Kazarian's spaceship . . . er, "library"! A science-fiction graphic adventure with lots of actual science--and lots of fun!

Authot Steve Covey teaches children how to be happy in his series 7 Habits of Happy Kids. Immerse yourself in the world of 7 Oaks and join Pokey, Allie, Jumper, Sammy, Lily, Sophie, and Goob as they learn the importance of being yourself, planning ahead, staying organized, finding your strengths, listening, working together, and valuing friendship. This set includes seven books in the 7 Habits of Happy Kids series: Just the Way I Am, When I Grow Up, A Place for Everything, Sammy and the Pecan Pie, Lily and the Yucky Cookies, Sophie and the Perfect Poem, and Goob and His Grandpa.

Everyday Sign Language is by Bela Davis. This series introduces young readers to very simple American Sign Language words that they can use in their lives. Each page features a new sign within a everyday situation a child might be apart of. The opposite page has a bright, fun image as well as an illustration of the sign created by an in-house designer and simple, step-by-step directions. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Abdo Kids Junior is an imprint of Abdo Kids, a division of ABDO.

The Book Or The Movie?

While movies and television allow the beloved characters from literature to come alive and flourish if put into the hands of the right actors, writers, directors, and producers; the opposite is true if the wrong sort of people get their hands on our favorite stories. Ever since the advent of motion pictures, there has been a heated debate. Is the book or the movie better? The following books have been made into motion pictures that are currently available in theaters. I'll let you decide which is better, but you'll have to read the books to make your choice.

"Middle School: the Worst Years of My Life" is a series of juvenile books by the ever-popular James Patterson (Alex Cross novels). Rafe Katchadorian has enough problems at home without having to worry about the oppressive rules laid down by the principal of his middle school. With the help and encouragement of his best friend, Leonardo the Silent, Rafe has decided it will be his mission to break as many of the school rules as he can. The two have even made a game of it: Chewing gum in class, 5,000 points! Running in the hallway, 10,000 points! Pull the fire alarm, 50,000 points! When all of this rule-breaking begins to catch up with him, Rafe must decide whether or not he can face up to the rules, the bullies, and what is really bothering him.

"Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children" is the first book in a Young Adult series by Ransom Riggs. Haunting photographs help tell the story of sixteen-year-old Jacob who has suffered a terrible tragedy. His beloved grandfather was attacked and Jacob finds him barely alive. With his dying breath, his grandfather compels him to seek out the orphanage where he spent his childhood. Jacob manages to convince his parents to let him go, but what he finds there he doesn't fully understand. As he explores the rooms and hallways, Jacob comes to believe that these children may have been quarantined on this island because of their peculiar abilities; and even, perhaps, because they were dangerous. Local history says that the children were killed when the Nazis dropped a bomb on the house, but what Jacob finds leads him to think otherwise. Are the peculiars still alive? You'll have to read it to find out!

Finally, for the adults, we have "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins. Rachel's life now is full of monotony. She takes the same train everyday with the same people who have the same conversations. Her only bit of respite is the young couple she sees having breakfast every morning--she calls them Jess and Jason. They remind her of how her life used to be before her divorce. One morning however, she witnesses something shocking. It is only a split second before the train moves on. Rachel doesn't know what to do, but she goes to the authorities anyway. Soon, the authorities begin to question her sanity as well as her motives while Rachel becomes more and more entangled in the lives of those involved. Has she done more harm than good? You decide.

Halloween is here!

We've reached the end of October and what better way to enjoy it than a few stories to go with the season?

Here are a few suggestions :

Easy Reader

• A Ghost in the Toy Box by Fay Robinson
• The Haunted Hamburger and Other Ghostly Stories by David LaRochelle
• Pup and Hound Scare a Ghost by Susan Hood
• Spooky and the Ghost Cat by Natalie Savage Carlson
• Whooo's Haunting the Teeny Tiny Ghost? by Kay Winters

Juvenile

• The Berenstain Bears and the Galloping Ghost by Stan Berenstain
• Cowboy Ghost by Robert Newton Peck
• Jeffrey's Ghost and the Fifth-Grade Dragon by David Adler
• Never Hit a Ghost, With a Baseball Bat by Eth Clifford
• The Tightwad's Curse and Other Pleasantly Chilling Stories by Margret Rettich

Young Adult

• Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
• The Ghosts of Kerfol by Deborah Noyes
• Lights Out by R.L. Stine
• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
• The Revenant by Sonia Gensler

Adult

• A Catered Halloween by Isis Crawford
• Death of a Neighborhood Witch by Laura Levine
• The Ghost and the Dead Deb by Alice Kimberly
• The Sin Eater by Sarah Rayne
• Vampires, Bones and Treacle Scones by Kaitlyn Dunnett

Could You Run the Maze?

The Maze Runner is a juvenile novel by James Dashner that centers around a group of boys trapped in a garden-like prison surrounded by four hundred foot grey walls that open and close on four sides at dawn and dusk. Beyond these walls there is a maze that has to be solved before the boys can escape to the unknown. The story opens with "Thomas" inside a dark room that is moving. The top opens and there are faces peering down on him. Apparently, this happens once a month--a 'greenbean' comes out of the elevator shaft in the middle of the garden. There are no adults, no girls. The boys come to the maze with no real knowledge of who they are or where they come from. They must survive with what they have and what few supplies they receive every week. Thomas decides he has to become a Runner--one of several boys who go out each morning, run through their section of the maze, mapping it in their heads, and returning each night and sketching out what they learn. The maze is familiar to him somehow. The maze is not without dangers, however, there are these half-metallic, half-organic creatures called Grievers that inhabit the maze. Mostly, they come out at night, but if they catch you they inject you with a toxin that causes you to go through an extremely painful process that causes you to see your past and you gain some knowledge of what is going on in the world, but not everyone sees the same things. This dystopian future is a fun, quick read and is the first book in a series. Some of you may have seen previews for a movie with the same title--it is based on Dashner's series. The strong female leads of series like The Hunger Games & Divergent are wonderful, but sometimes, the boys need a strong role model, too--one that uses his brains over his brawn. I highly recommend giving this series a try. The library only has the first book of the series, but it is worth checking into.