New Book List is Coming!

We’re currently compiling a new list of books to choose from for your reviews!  The Young Adult Library Services Association has just released their “Best Books” for 2012.  We’ll have the new list available next week.

But don’t worry – you can still pick from the 2011 list if you wish.  Just keep reading and handing in those terrific reviews!

February is Library Lover’s Month!

February is Library Lover’s Month!  Stop by and celebrate with us!

The Things a Brother Knows by Dana Reinhardt

In the book, The Things a Brother Knows by Dana Reinhardt, a boy names Levi had a brother going into the army for three years.  He was happy because his brother was finally coming home.  He and his family went to the airport to pick him up.  Boaz had refused to get into the car.  When they wee having dinner later that  night, he just showed up at the door.  He was so traumatized by going to war that he wouldn’t come out of his room and he only spoke three words at a time.  Levi gave him his laptop for some time each day, so when he got it back he could check the websites that his brother was going on.
Levi and Boaz started talking again and they started to rebuild the friendship that they had.  Levi went to a party with Zim and Pearl.  When he got to the party, he met a girl named Celine.  They talked about how their brothers went to war and both came back traumatized.  Celine gave Levi her phone number and then the next morning he woke up in the hotel with Boaz.  Zim and Pearl came to his door because it was his birthday.  They gave Levi a birthday gift, but he didn’t have a gift for Pearl though they share a birthday.
Levi played cards with Boaz to keep him active, and after that they left the hotel to go to Washington, D.C.  Because Boaz doesn’t get into cars, they had to walk the 6 day trip.  On the way there, Boaz took his skateboard and went ahead of him so he could call Celine.
Submitted by Justin

Nothing by Janne Teller – 2 reviews!

The novel Nothing by Janne Teller is about the meaning of life.  When Pierre Anthon climbs a tree an yells at the rest of his classmates that life is meaningless, Pierre’s friends become worried.  They decide to make a pile of meanings.  What starts out as a harmless pile of cards and sandals quickly grows into a horrible thing.  When each kid picks for the next, the idea becomes a game of spite filled with dead bodies.  Will the classmates of Pierre admit defeat?  Will life become meaningless?  Read to find out.  I would give this novel 4 stars and recommend it to everyone.
Submitted by Kayla

A kid named Pierre Anthon says that there’s no meaning to life.  Then, he sat in a plum tree and stayed there.  Everyday, he would say mean things to kids about how life doesn’t matter.  The kids start to get scared because they start to think about what Pierre is saying.  They don’t want to believe him.  So to show that life has meaning, the kids build a pile of stuff that they think in meaningful.  They realize that they’ll have to give up more things and they don’t want to.  They have other classmates tell them what to give up.  They give up things such as a praying rug, a cross, a dead body, etc.  My favorite part was when the museum bought their pile of meaningful things because it showed how much work the kids put into it.  I would rate this book 8/10 and would recommend it to a friend.
Submitted by Tanya

Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George

Princess of Glass is about a princess named Poppy.  Poppy is the type of princess who didn’t like going to dances and balls.  Princess Poppy’s family was still invited to dances, parties and balls, but rejected them all.   “But my dear,” Lady Margaret went on.  “Please consider attending the ball even if you don’t dance.  The Thwaites are charming, and their social occasions are the height of fashion.”
Even other people try to persuade Princess Poppy to attend balls.  It took her a while to decide, she never has any happy memories from balls.  Then finally, she actually said yes, that she would go.  Hopefully, this ball would be better.
Then she goes into a princes exchange program that her father and neighbor set up.  She meets a servant named Eleanora.  She has a crush on the same prince that Princess Poppy likes, but who will win the prince’s heart?

Submintted by Melanie

The Dark Game: True Spy Stories by Paul B. Janeczko

The Dark Game: True Spy Stories is a great nonfiction book.  This book talks about espionage; how it developed over the last 300 years and focusing on famous wars like the Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the Cold War.
On a scale of one to ten, this book is a nine.  I highly recommend it.

Submitted by BMG

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

The book Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine is told from the point of view of a child with Asperger’s syndrome.  Her name is Caitlin.  She is dealing with stress to find closure and to find friends.  Recently, her brother died.
This book is a comforting read for realistic fiction or historical fiction because it’s based on the Virginia Tech shootings and the reality of Asperger’s syndrome.  On a scale of one to ten, this book is an eight and a half.

Submitted by BMG

Warriors in the Crossfire by Nancy Bo Flood

Warriors in the Crossfire by Nancy Bo Flood is about two boys named Kento and Joseph who live in China.  They are both training to become warriors to help their families survive.  They meet at night by a cove on the beach so nobody will find them.
One night after there were no soldiers in sight, they took their canoe and went out into the ocean to catch fish.  They were careful not to tip their canoe because they have done it many times before.
Joseph’s father showed him a cave a long way from his home to protect his family from the American soldiers that were coming.  Joseph did not know how he was going to remember how to get back to the cave.  Joseph told Kento about the cave and said that he an his family could come with them when they were attacked.  Kento and Joseph both wondered what would happen if the Americans won the war.  Joseph still thought that it was impossible.

Submitted by Justin

Happy New Year!

The staff of the Deer Park Library would like to wish you a very Happy New Year!

Making resolutions?  Why not volunteer to write reviews for our teen blog?  You’ll get community service credit for each review submitted.

This program is open to Deer Park students grades 7-12.  Call us at 586-3000 for more info.

Service Hours Certificates

As you can see, the reviews keep coming in!  We’re glad that so many of you are taking advantage of an easy way to earn community service hours by doing something you love – reading! 

The second quarter for RMS and the first semester for DPHS ends January 20th.  If you need a certificate stating your community service before then, please contact the Library at (631) 586-3000, ext. 174.

Thank you and keep up the great work!