Join Bookworms, the library’s book club for kids just your age!

WHO? Kids in 4th-6th grade
WHERE? The library's Leake Center
WHEN? 2nd Thursdays from 4-5pm

Read the books before the meeting and have fun talking about them with others! A library staff member leads the discussion. Parents are welcome to read the books too! Refreshments provided.

QUESTIONS? Call 661-5980 and ask for Cara

2012 BOOKS & MEETING DATES

1/12: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. Jacqueline Kelly. 11-year-old Calpurnia Virginia Tate and her curmudgeony old grandfather bond over their interest in the evolution of the species on a Texas plantation at the turn of the last century. Historical Fiction. AR 5.3.

2/9: From the mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. E.L. Konigsburg. Having run away with her younger brother to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 12-year-old Claudia strives to keep things in order in their new home and to become a changed person and a heroine to herself. Mystery. Newbery. AR 4.7.

3/8: The giver. Lois Lowry. Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives. Science Fiction. Newbery. AR 5.7.

4/12: Holes. Louis Sachar. As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself. Mystery. AR 4.6.

5/10: The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. C.S. Lewis. Four English schoolchildren find their way through the back of a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia and assist Aslan, the golden lion, to triumph over the White Witch, who has cursed the land with eternal winter. Fantasy. AR 5.7.

6/7: The thief lord. Cornelia Funke. Two brothers, having run away from the aunt who plans to adopt the younger one, are sought by a detective hired by their aunt, but they have found shelter with--and protection from--Venice's "Thief Lord." Adventure. AR 4.8

7/12: The Westing game. Ellen Raskin. The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an unlikely assortment of heirs who must uncover the circumstances of his death before they can claim their inheritance. Mystery. Newbery. AR 5.3.

8/9: The Giant-Slayer. Iain Lawrence. An epic narrative spun for the residents of a polio ward in 1955 becomes personal for the young storyteller Laurie Valentine. Historical Fiction/Fantasy. AR 4.8.

9/13: The familiars. Adam Jay Epstein. When a scrappy alley cat named Aldwyn passes himself off as a magical animal companion to Jack, a young wizard in training, Aldwyn and his fellow "familiars," a know-it-all blue jay and bumbling tree frog, must save the kingdom after the evil queen of Vastia kidnaps Jack and two other wizards. Fantasy/Magic. AR 6.3.

10/11: The ear, the eye, and the arm. Nancy Farmer. In 2194 in Zimbabwe, General Matsika's three children are kidnapped and put to work in a plastic mine, while three mutant detectives use their special powers to search for them. Science Fiction. AR 4.7.

11/8: Mary Poppins. P.L. Travers. An extraordinary English nanny blows in on the East Wind with her parrot-headed umbrella and magic carpetbag and introduces her charges, Jane and Michael, to some delightful people and experiences. Fantasy/Magic. AR 6.1.

12/13: Hatchet. Gary Paulsen. After a plane crash, 13-year-old Brian spends 54 days in the wilderness, learning to survive initially with only the aid of a hatchet given him by his mother, and learning also to survive his parents' divorce. Adventure. AR 5.7.