Fallen in Love by Lauren Kate - ESSENTIAL

Kate, Lauren Fallen in Love, 200 p. Delacorte Press, 2011.  $16.  Content: G.  Of all of the Valentine’s Days that have passed since Lucinda and Daniel have been on their eternal quest, there has only ever been one where the two of them have been together, knowing each other, and able to love – but it will take Shelby, Miles, Arianne and Roland to make it work.  There is more than one set of hearts involved in this Valentine novella.  

Kate has written a very nice intermediate novel as we all anxiously await summer and the publication of book #4 in the Fallen series.  Your girls will love it.  MS, HS – ESSENTIAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher

A You’re Adorable by Martha Aexander - ADVISABLE

Alexander, Martha. A You’re Adorable Candlewick Press, 1994. $6.99. Content G- BOARD/PICTURE book.  This ABC book is based on a “popular” song from the 1940s,  although I cannot place the song. It’s a cute board book with lots of fun illustrations. PRE-K - ADVISABLE. Shauna, reading teacher.

Vicious Little Darlings by Katherine Easer - PUBLIC

Easer, Katherine Vicious Little Darlings, 310 pgs.Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2011. $16.99. Language-R (66 Swears, 41 "F"s), Sexual Content-PG-13; Violence-PG-13; When Sarah's grandmother sends her to an all girl college for having sex with her current boyfriend, Sarah can't think of anything worse. That is until she finds that her roommate, Maddie, claims she is going to die young, and Maddie's friend Agnes is scarily possessive. Somehow Sarah finds herself caught up with these two strange girls, finding that they have turned into her friends. But now that she is living with these two girls in their own house she finds that they might be even more weird and dangerous than she originally thought. Add a boy into the mix and its easy to tell that Sarah is going to find out what happens when friendships turn for the worse and become the desire to kill. 

A scary thriller, with shocking turns and events, Easer has created a fearful life that sends chills down the spines of all readers. A story that has readers guessing whats next and finding that things are not what they expected them to be. Skillfully written to give warnings that urge predictions that turn out to be right in the most unexpected ways. PUBLIC ONLY. Student Reviewer: KU

Trains Go by Steve Light - ADVISABLE

Light, Steve. Trains Go Chronicle Books, 2012. $8.99. Content G- BOARD/PICTURE BOOK. The shape of the book adds to the fun of it. It’s about 12”x6” so opened it’s 24” long! Each page shows a different type of train along with the sound it makes. This a great book for train lovers, and teachers that want to expose their students to onomatopoeia for the first time. PRE-K, EL - ADVISABLE. Shauna, reading teacher.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

I spoke Sunday at Waverly United Methodist.  I love speaking and I love speaking there because that was Frank's first charge.  My lesson was called "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and I started out by singing the Judy Garland song acapella.  I love singing that song....it reminds me of my mom.  My scripture text came from 1 Peter 3:18-22 and my speech went something like this:  "I remember a summer day that began bright and sunny, but muggy and uncomfortable. The weatherman predicted storms, but when one looked outside, it was hard to believe it would happen. But that was the way weather was in South Florida…..glorious one minute and storming the next.  By 3o’clock in the afternoon things had changed drastically. The air was so humid you felt you would drown just walking through it. The sky in the West was turning ugly. Huge dark clouds were rolling in and soon the sun was totally obliterated. It was almost as dark as night, but it was late afternoon. Suddenly the clouds burst and huge drops of rain began to fall. Lightening flashed through the heavens and the house seemed to vibrate with each crash of thunder. The rain was so heavy you couldn’t see the house across the road. Rivers of water ran down our driveway into the street causing the storm drains to back up. There was a loud crack and our power went off. Oh well, no more electricity for awhile. We sat in darkness waiting for the storm to pass over. Little by little the rain began to let up, the clouds lightened and the sun came out, it’s rays glistening in the light rain that still fell. “Look! Over the house across the street. Do you see it?” Sure enough, there it was…a rainbow. We went outside, standing in the drizzle to see it better. As we watched the colors became brighter and brighter. It was beautiful. Then just as we thought it couldn’t get any better, a second rainbow appeared over the first gradually darkening in color like the first. I remember a sense of well being flooding over me. Everything was going to be alright now. We had God’s promise and it was good.  I am sure each of them probably had a similar story somewhere in their memories....just as I am sure each of you does. To this day I look for a rainbow whenever it is raining and the sun is shining. There is a sense of comfort just in seeing it. I get so excited when there it is, that beautiful arch across the sky. It seems to have no beginning, no end. It just is. I know for a fact that if you try to go find the end of the rainbow, no matter how far you travel, you will have to keep going. The end will never appear.  The rainbow for me will forever be a sign of hope. We see them everywhere and always in conjunction with a promise. That’s what the rainbow is, a promise, a reminder between God and man forever!  You know, if anyone needed a promise or two, it was Noah! Can you imagine being told by God to build an ark, gather your family and two of every kind of living creature, get in and close the doors and wait. Then it starts to rain and it keeps it up for 40 days and 40 nights. That would be like if it started to rain on March 5th and didn’t stop until April 15. You think tax day is bad!! That’s a long time to never see the sun shine. But that’s exactly what Noah endured. He obeyed God’s commands. He built the ark(even when everyone thought he had lost his mind), he gathered his family and all the creatures and he floated around aimlessly over the waters as they rose high above the earth. You have to wonder if he ever gave it a thought that he might die on this boat.  Can't you just hear him?  God is a god of promises. We know that because we have the Bible to tell us. Noah learned that by living it. That rain did stop and the sun did reappear and the water subsided so that eventually the doors of the ark could be opened and Noah, his family, and all the creatures could step out on solid ground. If that were the end of the story, man would forever live in fear that God would do this again to get rid of all the evil in the world. Considering the state our world is in today, this would be a good time for a flood don’t you think? But that’s not what will happen. I am not a predictor of the future. I am a reader of the Word of God and in it I find this promise: “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you – the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you – every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth. This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come; I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” How many more ways does God have to say it? That rainbow in the sky that we see today is a sign of God’s promise to us never to destroy all of life again. BUT, there is more. There is yet another reason why the rainbow is a sign of God’s grace to us.  Look at I Peter 3:18-22. Peter sums it all up rather nicely as he talks about Noah and his family being SAVED from a sure death. You and I too have been SAVED from a sure death in this way: Christ died for our sins. He did it once and he did it for ALL mankind. That’s each of us there today. Christ is the perfect one, the perfect sacrifice. Only an exchange of the righteous for the unrighteous would suffice. So Jesus did what he had to do. He went to the cross in his perfection to pay for us in our imperfection. Peter explains it further this way:   “[…in the days of Noah], only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also – not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand – with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.” 
That rainbow in the sky is more than a promise that God will never send a flood again. More importantly, it is the reminder of our baptism through water, our salvation in Jesus Christ, AND our promise of eternal life.  Oh, and one more thing about a rainbow! Have you ever seen one on a bright sunny day picture perfect day? No? You haven’t and you won’t either. Do you know why? It’s because a rainbow appears in the sky at the end of a storm. It’s after the thunder and the lightening are all over and the rain is beginning to subside and the sun comes out. That’s when you see a rainbow. You have to weather the storm first. It’s not much different in our walk with Christ. We see the greatest riches of our God after we have weathered the storms of life. When things are going good and life is easy, the rainbows just don’t appear. BUT, when we go through difficult times, when our faith is tested and we keep our trust in God, that’s when we really see the full effect of his grace, mercy, and love. That’s when we see and experience the riches of living a life founded in him. That’s when we see our rainbow.What’s at the end of the rainbow? When I was a child I always believed that there was a real black pot with gold coins in it…..and that there was always a leprechaun looking for this pot of gold….and you may laugh…..but at the end of the rainbow there really is a pot of gold.  Not the black cauldron I imagined as a child…but yes, it exists all the same and is symbolized in the riches we have in Jesus Christ! The only flood you and I will ever see is the flood of God’s grace and the riches of his kingdom bestowed upon us forever! You may never look at a rainbow in quite the same way again! I know I didn’t.

Hey, It's Okay Tuesday!

I got this idea from Glamour magazine. They have a section called Hey, It’s Okay and will list a bunch of things to be okay about. You're welcome to join in and do something like this on your blog. Doesn't have to be on a Tuesday either. Just make sure you link up and that the post you link up with is an Hey, It's Okay post.

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To be amused that on the forum I post at, some people were saying they don’t allow the word fart to be said in their home because it’s crude. Maybe we’re a crude family because we say it all the time. And have farting contests.


To be ready for Cadbury Cream Eggs!


To have been a little surprised that Jennifer Lopez was A) at the Oscars to begin with and B) that she showed her nipple to all of America.


To think the Reeses Peanut Butter Egg tastes the best out of all the shapes.


To wish people would go the speed limit when driving. I seem to always be stuck behind someone going 10 under.


To love the Shamrock Shakes that McDonalds has out now.


To can’t believe that my son is turning TEN on Friday.


To sometimes be embarrassed that I watch those Real Housewives shows. Most of the ladies on there are ridiculous.


To have been excited to see these in the store:

Yes. They are delicious!

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews –ESSENTIAL FOR PUBLIC ONLY

Andrews, Jesse Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, 304 pgs. Harry N. Abrams, 2012 (March). $11.17. (Language-R (Swear count: I gave up after 100 and some are too creative to categorize, Violence-PG; Sexual Content-R)
Greg is a high school senior who has survived and thrived on a complex set of social rules –that include skirting the edges of all the social groups. Greg loves films and has been making his own for years with his friend Earl. He hates all the films they have made and no one else is allowed to see them. When Greg’s mom forces him to reacquaint himself with a girl named Rachel, because she has leukemia, he has to start breaking all his rules.
That is a pathetic description of a wildly entertaining book that is one of my new all time favorite books. I will be buying all books by this author. It went beyond accurately portraying a main characters world view –I felt like I was in Greg’s head –and it was a fun place to be. It was: laugh out loud, read excerpts to friends, relive and laugh some more, downright FUNNY. Did I mention that it was whitty and interesting and unique? I could go on and on, but the bottom line is that it’s probably not appropriate for most school libraries. But that being said –I think it a must have for public libraries!
HS – ESSENTIAL FOR PUBLIC ONLY Reviewer: Stephanie MLS graduate.