The Brain Lair: Summer Throwdown Guest Post

Stacey from Library Gals Blog

First of all, a huge thank you to Sherry, Kathy, Brian, and Jillian for coordinating both Summer Thowdowns, I have had loads of fun!! Of course, I had to buy a League of Librarians T-shirt! During both rounds of the Summer Throwdown I have read so many great books, it was very difficult to pick my favorite reads. Here they are, in no particular order:

Capture the Flag by Kate Messner

I love a good mystery and this was a great one! I kept hearing about this book on Twitter and I got lucky and won a copy from Mr. Schu! Once I got my hands on the book, I couldn’t put it down until I finished. The four main characters of this book find themselves involved in a mystery at an airport that is snowed in. I loved how Kate Messner incorporated history and art into this story. Now I’m just waiting for her to finish the sequel!

Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead

Once again I hear about this book on Twitter. (I think I spent a lot of time on there this summer.) The main character, Georges, is having a hard time in this book. His best friend has become his ex-best friend, he is being bullied at school, he had to move out of his family home, and his mom is always working at the hospital. Georges just wants something good to happen. Well, he meets his upstairs neighbor Safer and his life changes. When I first read this book, I liked it. But the more I thought about this book I realized what an impact it had one me because I was still thinking about it days and weeks after I read it. I will be finding Stead’s other book When You Reach Me very soon at the library.

The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee by Tom Angleburger

Loved, loved, loved this book!! I think that it is my favorite of the Origami Yoda series. Once again we meet up with the gang form McQuarrie Middle School, except Dwight and Origami Yoda are not there. Everyone wonders what to do without them. After a while Fortune Wookiee makes an appearance and begins to give advice. I have to confess I was late to the Origami Yoda party. What got me to read it was Tom Angleburger’s book Fake Mustache! I’m so glad I read that one because I would have missed such a great series!

Giants Beware! by Rafael Rosado

I place the book on hold at my public library and waited a very long time. But this book was worth the wait. It was another Twitter recommended book. In the past year I have become a big fan of graphic novels. This one is definitely going on my to-order list for this coming year. I loved how the main character was a female. I think that both girls and boys will enjoy the adventure.

Sit In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney

This book was celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Woolworth's lunch counter sit-in. Even though it is presented in a picture book format, I still learned a lot about this historic event. This would be a great book to have in any classroom library. I'm adding a copy to my order this year for my library. I truly loved the illustrations by Brian Pinkney.

One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Wow, what a powerful book. Carley is a frustrated and angry teen that has landed in foster care. Even though, at first, she didn’t know it the Murphys (the foster family) were going to have a huge effect on her life! I had to read this one straight through, because I couldn't stop reading it. I needed quite a few tissues to get through this book especially towards the end. This is one that will stay with me for quite a while. If you have not read this book, run don’t walk to the library and check it out!

Frankenstein by Ludworst Bemonster (aka Rick Walton)

This book is a great parody of the classic story of Madeline. When I was growing up one of my favorite “series” to read was Madeline. I saw it on the shelf in the bookstore and Nathan Hale’s illustrations caught my eye. As I started reading, I started laughing out loud! Always a great sign that it’s a good book! I’ve had to order two copies of this book, one for my library and one for me!

I really had a great time participating in the Summer Thowdown and I read a lot of great books. Hope we do this again!

Happy Reading!!