A Mother Daughter Book Club meeting for this book was held April, 14, 2016.
A Books for Boys meeting for this book was held February 18, 2016.
Miranda rated it ★★★★★.
Cathy rated it ★★★★★.
Courtney rated it ★★★.
A combined Mother Daughter Book Club and Books for Boys meeting for this book was held January 14, 2016.
Four children find a magical coin that grants each person one wish. There’s just one catch: the wish only comes half true, leaving the wisher in a big pickle. Even the family cat gets her turn, with disastrous results. Magic and mayhem run amok in this wonderful classic tale.
book 1 in the Tales of Magic series
Vivian rated it ★★★.
Bekka rated it ★★★★★ and said, “Wonderful, wonderful book! One of the all-time classics.”
Miranda rated it ★★★★★.
A Mother Daughter Book Club meeting for this book was held November 12, 2015.
It’s 1953 and 11-year-old Penny dreams of a summer of butter pecan ice cream, swimming, and baseball. But nothing’s that easy in Penny’s family. For starters, she can’t go swimming because her mother’s afraid she’ll catch polio at the pool. To make matters worse, her favorite uncle is living in a car. Her Nonny cries every time her father’s name is mentioned. And the two sides of her family aren’t speaking to each other!
Inspired by Newbery Honor winner Jennifer Holm’s own Italian American family, Penny from Heaven is a shining story about the everyday and the extraordinary, about a time in America’s history, not all that long ago, when being Italian meant that you were the enemy. But most of all, it’s a story about families—about the things that tear them apart and bring them together. And Holm tells it with all the richness and the layers, the love and the laughter of a Sunday dinner at Nonny’s. So pull up a chair and enjoy the feast! Buon appetito!
Newbery Honor 2007
Lorna rated it ★★★★★.
For generations, the Beaumont family has harbored a magical secret. They each possess a “savvy” -a special supernatural power that strikes when they turn thirteen. Grandpa Bomba moves mountains, her older brothers create hurricanes and spark electricity . . . and now it’s the eve of Mibs’s big day.
As if waiting weren’t hard enough, the family gets scary news two days before Mibs’s birthday: Poppa has been in a terrible accident. Mibs develops the singular mission to get to the hospital and prove that her new power can save her dad. So she sneaks onto a salesman’s bus . . . only to find the bus heading in the opposite direction. Suddenly Mibs finds herself on an unforgettable odyssey that will force her to make sense of growing up-and of other people, who might also have a few secrets hidden just beneath the skin.
book 1 in the Savvy series
Newbery Honor 2009
Lorna rated it ★★★★★ and said, “I really liked this book. Very clever and original.”
Miranda rated it ★★★★ and said, “I read this as part of a mother-daughter book group, and the girls had plenty to talk about in wondering what their own savvies could be and how this is somewhat reflected in real life in the various talents individuals have. A great group read, and one that that readers who like a little light fantasy in their books will really enjoy.”
A Books for Boys Book Club meeting for this book will be March 8, 2018, at 6:30 in the Community Room. Book club reading copies will be available for checkout from the circulation desk about a month prior to the meeting.
A Mother Daughter Book Club meeting for this book was held March 10, 2016.
A Library Book Club meeting for this book was held October 15, 2015.
Matilda is a little girl who is far too good to be true. At age five-and-a-half she’s knocking off double-digit multiplication problems and blitz-reading Dickens. Even more remarkably, her classmates love her even though she’s a super-nerd and the teacher’s pet. But everything is not perfect in Matilda’s world. For starters she has two of the most idiotic, self-centered parents who ever lived. Then there’s the large, busty nightmare of a school principal, Mrs. (“The”) Trunchbull, a former hammer-throwing champion who flings children at will and is approximately as sympathetic as a bulldozer. Fortunately for Matilda, she has the inner resources to deal with such annoyances: astonishing intelligence, saintly patience, and an innate predilection for revenge.
She warms up with some practical jokes aimed at her hapless parents, but the true test comes when she rallies in defense of her teacher, the sweet Miss Honey, against the diabolical Trunchbull. There is never any doubt that Matilda will carry the day. Even so, this wonderful story is far from predictable. Roald Dahl, while keeping the plot moving imaginatively, also has an unerring ear for emotional truth. The reader cares about Matilda because in addition to all her other gifts, she has real feelings.
Cathy rated it ★★★★.
Tamara rated it ★★★★.
