September Girls Read and Guys Read

Every month we have two book clubs for kids here at the Provo City Library! These book clubs are just for kids ages 9-12 and a caregiver. This month, our Girls Read book club will meet September 24 and our Guys Read book club will meet September 26. You can register now, using the library's online calendar.

Girls Read is reading

Fish in a Tree

By Lynda Mullaly Hunt

New York: Nancy Paulsen Books, 2015. 276 pages.

Ally has a secret. Though she is a talented artist and math whiz, she cannot read. Now, in her seventh school in seven years, she plans to follow her normal pattern -- acting out in class to distract her teachers from the truth. It's just, whenever Ally tries to read, the words on the page move around and transform. When she tries to read, she gets headaches from trying to concentrate so hard. And, what's worse, Ally's never had a teacher who believed in her before. Now, she has a new long term substitute teacher named Mr. Daniels, who has a new way of teaching and insists that Ally is smart. This realistic fiction novel is a great back to school story with a protagonist that readers will want to cheer for.

Guys Read is reading

Mark of the Thief

By Jennifer A. Nielsen

New York: Scholastic Press, 2015. 339 pages.

Nic is a slave working in the mines of Ancient Rome, when he is sent into a sealed cavern to search for the treasure of Julius Caesar. What he finds is Caesar's bulla - a magical amulet thought to have given the emperor his great power -- and now that power belongs to Nic. Suddenly, Nic is on the run from powerful men in Rome who will kill Nic to get the bulla. With his sister still enslaved, Nic has to figure out how to get her out and escape with his life. This high-adventure, historical fantasy novel is great for readers who like stories with lots of action. Written by Jennifer A. Nielsen, a Utah-based author, this popular series is an exciting way to start the year in Guys Read!

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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...

National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry

National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry Edited by J. Patrick Lewis National Geographic, 2012, 183 p. Poetry In this beautiful poetry collection, the National Children's Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis, has teamed up with the amazing photographers at National Geographic. The result is 200 poems about animals, all illustrated with stunning nature photography. The poems are well chosen and include rhyming, free verse, and shape poetry. Some of the poems are funny, many are contemplative and all are nicely typeset on top of the full color photographs. One of my favorites is a shape poem about flamingos, with a photograph of a flock of flamingos which seem to be standing the the shape of a flamingo (how did they do that?). Lewis ends the collection with a brief but interesting section about writing animal poetry. This selection is sure to turn any animal lover into a poetry lover.

Review: Fowl Play

Fowl Play By Kristin O'Donnell Tubb New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2024. Fiction 277 pages. Still reeling from her beloved uncle's death, Chloe Alvarez is comforted and confused when at his last will and testament reading, Uncle Will gifts her his African Grey parrot, Charlie. Charlie has a robust vocabulary and loves to make Alexa requests for her favorite songs, but when she starts saying things like, "homicide," and "cyanide," Chloe becomes convinced that Uncle Will may have met his demise by murder instead of a genetic disease, as was previously thought. Ultimately, bringing in her brother, Grammy, and Uncle Frank (and of course Charlie,) Chloe's ragtag and adoring family support her search for answers ---going on stakeouts, engaging in fast pursuits, and searching for clues. But as the suspects stack up and the mystery grows, Chole will learn that the process of death and grieving is complicated, and in the end her Uncle Will's words that, ...

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