Skip to main content

February Girls Read/Guys Read

Did you know that we have two parent/child book clubs every month at the Provo City Library? They are for children ages 9-12 and a caregiver. This month, they will meet February 26 (girls) and February 28 (guys). Preregister is available under the Kids Corner/Program Registration tab on the library website. We have two great books to discuss this month:
Girls
By Richard Peck
Dial Books for Young Readers, 1998. Fiction.

During the Great Depression, Joey and his younger sister Mary Alice take a yearly trip from their home in Chicago to visit their odd Grandma Dowdel and her sleepy small town. The quickly learn that Grandma's life is not so quite after all, and it certainly isn't boring. This episodic novel is told through surprising and hilarious stories that bring one of the greatest characters of children's literature (Grandma Dowdel) to life. This book was the only book selected to receive a Newbery Honor in 1998, meaning it basically came second only to...

Guys


By Louis Sachar
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. Fiction

This perennial favorite novel won the Newbery Award in 1998 and has remained remarkably popular since. This is the story of Stanley Yelnats, whose whole family has had bad luck his whole life ever since his family was cursed because of his "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather." Stanley's luck officially runs out when he is sent to a boy's correction camp called Camp Green Lake where there is no lake and the boys are made to dig holes in the desert all day. But as he digs, Stanley discovers more than he bargained for in the hands of a missing buried treasure, an old legend, and his first real friend.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Faker

Faker By Gordon Korman New York: Scholastic Press, 2024. Fiction. 214 pages. 12-year-old Trey is used to starting over at a new school -- he has the routine perfectly memorized: make new friends, introduce his dad to the wealthy parents of his new friends, and "Houdini" themselves out of there before they get caught running their latest scam. Trey's dad is a master con artist, and Trey has just been promoted to full-partner. Their new scheme for the next big score brings them to the affluent suburb of Boxelder, TN where Trey's dad has cooked up a fake electric car company for investors to buy into. The only problem is that Trey is starting to grow tired of moving around and never putting down roots, especially after forming a fast friendship with Logan and developing a crush on Kaylee, a socially conscious girl in his class. As Trey longs for a normal life, is there any way he can convince his dad to get out of the family business? Gordon Korman is a perennial favorit...

Review: Ruthie Rose's Big Idea

  Ruthie Rose's Big Idea Written by John Schu Illustrated by Holly Hatam Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2025. Picture Book. Some books just reach out and touch your heart and heal your soul. This is one of those books for me! Ruthie Rose wakes up one day with a beautiful idea. Because the idea is so big, she knows she will need a lot of help from people at her school. Fortunately, there are many faculty members and students ready and willing to help Rose with her idea. This story, and the accompanying artwork feel so joyful, hopeful, and inspiring. The artwork is completely captivating. I can picture so many kids and grown-ups reading this book and feeling a spark of creativity enter into their minds. I think it could give kids the courage they need to plan and implement their own "big ideas."  I loved that no one saw Ruthie's ideas as too big, too hard, or too much. They shared her vision, and each of them individually did their part to contribute in helping it co...

Dragon Run

Dragon Run by Patrick Matthews Scholastic, 2013.  336 pgs.  Fantasy      Al Pilgrommor is excited for Testing Day, when he will receive his rank, a tattooed number on the back of his neck, and a path forward to his future occupation and life.  He feels confident because his parents were fours on a scale of seven, but he is worried for his friend Wisp who doesn't have much of a chance of scoring above a two at best. But when Al is scored a zero, he not only has no prospects, he may lose his life as the dreaded Cullers are unleashed to kill him and his family to purify the land's bloodlines.  Al's world is ruled by dragons--the lords and supposed creators of humankind--so he thinks that even if he survives, he will have to make his living as a beggar or thief. But when Al sticks up for his Earther friend in front of Magister Ludi, he is drawn into the struggle of a secret organization hoping to destroy the Cullers, and perhaps the dragons them...