Skip to main content

January 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 January 28 (girls) and January 23 (guys). Preregister under the Kids Corner/Program Registration tab on the library website. We have two great books to discuss this month:

Girls

By Kelly Barnhill
Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Young Readers, 2016. Fiction.

Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They don't seem to know that the witch in the forest, named Xan, is a kind and generous witch who is confused why the people don't want their babies. Each year, she saves the babies - feeding them starlight and finding them happy homes across the forest. One year, she accidentally feeds the rescued baby moonlight instead of starlight and gives the baby magical abilities. This baby, Luna, lives with Xan, Fyrian (a Perfectly Tiny Dragon), and a swamp monster named Glerk. To protect her from herself, Xan buries Luna's magic deep inside until her 13th birthday when it begins to pour out. This is a fantastical and epic coming of age story set in a lush, marvelously described world. The winner of the 2016 Newbery Medal and a book on the 2019-2020 Battle of the Books List, this magical story is an instant classic.


Guys

By Laura Ruby
New York, NY: Walden Pond Press, 2017. Fiction.

Three brilliant children (Tess, Theo, and Jamie) are distraught to learn that the historic Morningstarr building in which they live is set for demolition. Tess, Theo, and Jamie live in an alternate New York City built by the Morningstarrs - genius architects and engineers famous for their innovative buildings, technological advancements, and *maybe* a mysterious puzzle known as "The Cipher." Rumor has it that the Morningstarrs left clues to solve the Cipher all around New York and whoever solves the puzzle will discover an amazing treasure. The three kids are determined to solve the puzzle and use the money to save their beloved apartment building. A mystery that feels both historical and totally new, this series opener creates an inviting steampunk-inspired world for its protagonists to inhabit.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

Review: A World Without Summer

A World Without Summer: A Volcano Erupts, a Creature Awakens, and the Sun Goes Out Written by Nicholas Day Illustrated by Yas Imamura New York: Random House Studio, 2025. Informational. 294 pages. In 1815 on a small island in Indonesia, Mount Tambora erupted. The blast was the largest in human history, and one of the deadliest. Though it couldn't be understood at the time, the deadly blast half a world away would lead to catastrophic famine in Europe, prompt westward expansion in America, and inspire the novel Frankenstein  by Mary Shelley. The global climate disaster following the explosion also led to inventions like modern meteorology and the early invention of the bicycle. The people living at the time couldn't have seen how everything was connected, but this fast paced narrative assures that readers will. As he did in 2024's Sibert winner The Mona Lisa Vanishes, Nicholas Day does an impressive job of weaving together different historical events into one single, compell...