FOR CHILDREN
BOOKS TO BORROW “Island of the Blue Dolphins” by Scott O’Dell, Houghton Mifflin, 178 pages Read aloud: age 9, 10 and older Read yourself: age 11, 12 and older
The girl and her people had lived on their island for as long as any of them could remember. One day they are visited by Aleuts who claim they have come to hunt sea otters, but the Aleuts are dishonest and a battle ensues leaving many of the girl’s people dead. With the departure of the Aleuts, the girl’s people decide they must find another place to live.
Departing on a white man’s ship, the girl sees that her little brother has been left behind. Jumping overboard, she swims to the island while the boat sails away. Not long thereafter, her brother is killed by a pack of wild dogs, and she is left alone. With difficulty, she learns to protect herself from the dogs and to find food and shelter, but her greatest challenge is to learn how to live without the fellowship of other people. To ease her loneliness, the girl befriends several animals.
The girl’s trials, joys, fears and suffering are just some of what O’Dell offers readers in this outstanding novel based on facts about a real girl.
LIBRARIAN'S CHOICE Library: East Lyme Public Library, 39 Society Rd., Niantic Children’s and Young Adult Librarian: Rebecca Scotka Choices this week: “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry; “The Year of Billy Miller” by Kevin Henkes; “Wonder” by R.J. Palacio
BOOKS TO BUY “The Edge” by Roland Smith, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015, 236 pages, $17.99 hardcover Read aloud: age 11, 12 and older Read yourself: age 12 and older
Fifteen-year-old Peak Marcello is a first-rate climber. On his last climb, much to everyone’s astonishment, he failed to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Just prior to that, his mother, also a climber, busted him for climbing skyscrapers in their home city of New York.
When Peak’s climbing friends show up unexpectedly and tell him they’ve promised the sponsor of International Peace Ascent that Peak will be the US representative, Peak hesitates. Peak’s mother, however, has been repeating a mantra, “You make the choices. You own the consequences.” Peak has been itching to get back out there and accepts.
Peak, his mother and the small team is soon on their way, with the final leg of the flight onboard a helicopter that deposits them at base camp in the Hindu Kush Mountains. The action quickly unfolds, and it becomes clear this ascent is not precisely what it was proposed to be. Before the climb actually begins, the group is attacked and most of them kidnapped, including Peak’s mother, and Peak has no choice but to go after them.
“Orbiting Jupiter” by Gary D. Schmidt, Clarion, 2015, 183 pages, $17.99 hardcover Read aloud: age 12 and older Read yourself: age 12 and older
Twelve-year-old Jack tells the story of his 14-year-old foster brother, Joseph, who has recently come to live with Jack’s small, loving family. Joseph hasn’t had an easy life; far from it. His father is abusive; he was incarcerated at a tough juvenile detention center; and Joseph has a daughter that he has never seen — and he will stop at nothing to find her.
Joseph’s cold and rough exterior slowly begins to chip away as Jack and Joseph form a true friendship. But the devastating past that Joseph is trying to leave behind tragically catches up with him, leaving both sorrow and joy in its wake.