 Wait Till Helen Comes
by Mary Downing Hahn Sandpiper 1986, 192 pgs, Scary/Suspenseful Molly and Michael get a new little step sister Heather, when their mother remarries. They move to an old church in Maryland where Heather is always trying to get Molly and Michael into trouble making herself the favorite. This becomes Molly and Michael’s least concern when Heather has made a new friend on the property that Heather claims her new friend will take care of Molly and Michael, when she should have been concerned about herself and the plans that her new friend has for her. This was and still is one of my favorite books from childhood. I still remember picking it up and looking at the cover like what is this about and then reading it and going wow that’s a good book. Mary Hahns writing style is easy to follow and builds an imaginable image of where these kids live and where they are at. This story of a blended family and how they end up bonding is amazing and I love it! Available on Overdrive -Missy
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Have you ever had trouble matching your reader with a book? Or are you looking for a book for yourself? If you haven’t heard of Novelist, let me introduce you to it. Novelist is a database that is accessed through our webpage and Lili.org database. After verifying your city and zip code, this works for Pocatello as well, you can search for Novelist or you can use the alphabet keys and hit N. Through lili.org there are two options for Novelist, there is Novelist Plus K-8, which is geared towards grades K-8, and then Novelist Plus which is for all ages. I will be talking about Novelist Plus. I am the first to admit that I hadn’t looked at Novelist due to the fact that I use other platforms to look for books. It never hurts to have more than one platform to look at but I have learned that I do like Novelist more than others because there are some important key differences with this one.
Novelist has information for the Accelerated Reader (AR) program and the Lexiles that opens up in another window. That information is accessed by going to the “How do I” link and choosing “Find books by grade or reading level.” There are so many different options for how to look for books through this site. You can check out the videos on our youtube channel that will help walk you through accessing the database and doing some basic and advanced searching. I would highly recommend browsing through this site and taking advantage of what it has to offer. Missy  Shifting Shadows
by Patricia Briggs Ace. 2015. 464 pgs. Urban Fantasy If you like Patricia Briggs or Urban Fantasy in general this is a fun collection of short stories set in the Mercyverse. Patricia Briggs compiles some of her short stories and brings greater depth to certain characters. It also includes scenes that did not fit into the story flow of her other books. I really loved this book because I love that it gives backstory to some of my favorite characters. I have always enjoyed behind the scenes and deleted scenes in movies and I love how she brings these elements to the stories and characters that I love. Personally, my favorite stories in this collection are Roses in Winter and Redemption. They both add depth to my favorite characters and I really enjoy them MEH  The Hero and the Crown
by Robin Mckinley Greenwillow Books. 1984, 256 pgs. Young Adult Fantasy Aerin is the princess in the land of Damar. She has always been awkward and clumsy and the nobility at court have never turned down an opportunity to undermine her. Due to the rumors about Aerin’s mother being a witch from the north there has been a lot of suspicions about her role in the royal family. Aerin goes through this phase of learning how to prove herself to her and her people. During the story Aerin really grows and it is beautiful to watch. I loved this book it is now one of my favorites even though it took me well over a decade to bring myself to finish it. I started by reading the Blue Sword which is one of my favorites and this book compiles the history of the legend of Lady Aerin. This book was absolutely delightful and takes you on the emotional highs and lows as Aerin faces obstacles in her life. -available on Overdrive MEH Hey y’all. Life is so crazy right now. But did you know we have some crazy awesome database resources? Now I know what you are thinking “Databases, meh I don’t need that”. Kay but really though these data bases are so much fun and so useful! So I am going to give you guys a list of 10 of my favorite databases.
Overdrive/ Libby: This is my absolute favorite app/ database. This is by far the app that I use the most there are so many books that you can check out and we are constantly buying more so that you have more books to choose from. Personally, my favorite thing about this app is the audiobooks I am constantly listening to audiobooks so I can get other things done at the same time. Also did you know that the audiobooks have a feature so you can speed up the narrators. There are some of the narrators who read so slowly. I listen to all my audiobooks at 1.25 speed. Consumer Reports: This app is so useful I use it all the time when I am considering buying electronics or appliances. And guess what it is free! Normally it is so expensive to use this site and its information, but we get to use it with our library card information for free. Chilton Library: This website is so useful for so many different car issues. You can look up the make and model and year of your car and then have access to the Chilton manual. This is great for all of you mechanically inclined people who have the talent to fix things yourselves. Free Driving Tests: For everyone who is a teen/ has a teen at home did you know you can access practice driving exams from your house and then you don’t have to pay for the exam multiple times. Then your driving students get the opportunity to practice and get acquainted. Lili.org: Now this database is literally thousands in one so the following databases are found through this link. Novelist: This database is literally the best thing ever. If you need book recommendations and cannot get ahold of one of our amazing librarians, because lets be honest we love to give book recommendations, you can type in your favorite book, author, or book series and it will give you read-alikes based off of that information. Tumble Books: Do you have littles at home who need to read? This is a wonderful database of free children’s books. During this COVID-19 outbreak it is free for us to use. Another reason it is great, it also has all of the AR book information on the site so you don’t have to go looking for it on your own. Teen Book Cloud: Basically a Young Adult library you can read online. During this COVID-19 outbreak it is free for us to use. It is so much fun, all you need is a browser to read the books. It has so many fun titles and is World Book Kids: This site is amazing all the time but especially when everyone is home. It takes the wonderful information of the World Book Encyclopedia and it simplifies it so children are better able to understand the information presented and if you have anyone who needs to resources for a report it includes the citation information. World Book Student: This site is an awesome resource for students who are working on their reports. All of the sources have been verified and they include more detailed information . |
AuthorsLooking for some inspiration on what to read next? Who better to ask then the people who work around books for a living!? Each month we will post a "staff picks" blog post written by one of our staff members. These posts will vary in genre, theme, age appropriateness, etc. If you have any requests on a genre or age category you would like to see, submit a comment here and we will get it on the list! Archives
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