The Daughters Take the Stage
by Joanna Philbin
FIC PHI

The daughter of chart-topping pop star Holla Jones, stylish and sensitive Hudson Jones is on the brink of her own musical debut. Hudson has inherited her mother's talent, but she hasn't yet embraced Holla's love of the megawatt spotlight. Can Hudson find a way to perform that reflects her own low-key style? Or will Holla see to it that her only daughter becomes a pop music sensation? (Little, Brown, and Company)

The Glamour of Grammar: A Guide to the Magic and Mystery of Practical English
by Roy Peter Clark

Early in the history of English, the words grammar and glamour meant the same thing: the power to charm. Roy Peter Clark, author of Writing Tools, aims to put the glamour back in grammar with this fun, engaging alternative to stuffy instructionals. In this practical guide, readers will learn everything from the different parts of speech to why effective writers prefer concrete nouns and active verbs. THE GLAMOUR OF GRAMMAR gives readers all the tools they need to live inside the language--to take advantage of grammar to perfect their use of English, to instill meaning, and to charm through their writing. With this indispensable book, readers will come to see just how glamorous grammar can be. (Powell's)

Mr. Lincoln's High-Tech War: How the North Used the Telegraph, Railroads, Surveillance Balloons, Iron-Clads, High-Powered Weapons, and More to Win the Civil War
by Tomas B. Allen and Roger MacBride Allen

Examines how Abraham Lincoln's interest in technology played a role in the outcome of the Civil War; and explains how the telegraph, railroads, surveillance balloons, and other inventions helped the North win the war and rebuild the economy. (TitleWave)

Bloodline Rising
by Katy Moran
FIC MOR in the MSL

Cai, a thief in seventh-century Constantinople, finds himself held captive on a trading ship bound for Britain--the home his father, a ruthless barbarian assassin, fled long ago--where he discovers that his Anglish captors know more about the secrets of his family than he does. (NoveList)

The Civil War: A Visual History
Smithsonian
973.7 CIV

Drawing on Smithsonian Institution collections, this fact-filled and richly illustrated history brings the war fully to life, along with time lines, sidebars on particular issues, chapter introductions, lengthy captions, and detailed maps. The emphasis throughout is on the military. Multiple examples of weapons, supplies, uniforms, camp life necessities, transport, and battle scenes dominate and show the variety, complexity, and prolixity of making war. (Library Journal)

Ranger's Apprentice: The Emperor of Nihon-Ja
by John Flanagan
FIC FLA

In a faraway land, a young warrior must protect an emperor from an uprising and train an inexperienced army, with assistance from his Ranger friends. (NoveList)



Coming Soon -- due in stores (and our library!) on May 3

Throne of Fire
by Rick Riordan

In this exciting second installment of the three-book series [The Kane Chronicles], Carter and Sadie, offspring of the brilliant Egyptologist Dr. Julius Kane, embark on a worldwide search for the Book of Ra, but the House of Life and the gods of chaos are determined to stop them. (Powell's)

Week of April 11, 2011

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
621.3 KAM
Forced to drop out of school when famine hits his village-which has no electricity or running water-a Malawi boy tinkers with scrap metal and builds a windmill that lights a few bulbs and catches the world's attention. (Library Journal)

How to Cook the Perfect Day
Nikki McClure
641.5 MCC
How to Cook the Perfect Day is filled with beautiful images and simple recipes with head notes that inspire dreams of the perfect day, including a picnic rendezvous, afternoon tea, and a midnight snack. The book opens with the suggestion of a morning forage for whatever readers can find (and she doesn't mean foraging in the kitchen cupboard!). A recipe for peaches and waffles follows, a dish the author's husband makes for his family every day. The book includes recipes for a lovely gingerbread cake, a curry potluck, and a celestial apple pie, all topped off with original Nikki McClure artwork gracing every page. (Sasquatch Books)

Nikki will be visiting OES in May and we hope that she will be talking with 6th graders about her paper cut art.

Okay for Now
Gary D. Schmidt
FIC SCH
Fourteen-year-old Doug Swieteck faces many challenges, including an abusive father, a brother traumatized by Vietnam, suspicious teachers and police officers, and isolation, but when he meets a girl known as Lil Spicer, he develops a close relationship with her and finds a safe place at the local library. (Clarion Books)

Our sixth grade students will be coming to the library on Wednesday, 4/6, to search for poems to memorize for our annual Poetry Tea later this month. We have tons of good poetry collections for them to browse through. Here are just a few of the titles:

The 100 Best African American Poems
Nikki Giovanni, ed.

"Award-winning poet and writer Nikki Giovanni takes on the impossible task of selecting the 100 best African American works from classic and contemporary poets. Out of necessity, Giovanni admits she cheats a little, selecting a larger, less round number.

The result is this startlingly vibrant collection that spans from historic to modern, from structured to freeform, and reflects the rich roots and visionary future of African American verse. These magnetic poems are an exciting mix of most-loved classics and daring new writing. From Gwendolyn Brooks and Langston Hughes to Tupac Shakur, Natasha Trethewey, and many others, the voice of a culture comes through in this collection, one that is as talented, diverse, and varied as its people." (Sourcebook Stores)

Hurricane Dancers
Margarita Engle

A novel in verse -- Quebrado has been a slave on captain Bernadino de Talavera's pirate ship for years, but when a hurricane sinks the ship and kills most of the crew, Quebrado escapes to safety and finds acceptance and refuge in a nearby village. (TitleWave)


Opening Days: Sports Poems
Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins

A collection of nineteen poems about various sports including baseball, skiing, karate, and tennis. (Follett Destiny)


The Oxford Treasury of Classic Poems
Selected by Michael Harrison and Christopher Stuart-Clark

Contains a broad collection of poems from a wide variety of well known poets, including Yeats, Bronte, Auden, Kipling, Whitman, Frost, Keats, Milton, and Carroll.