PATRON PICKS: The Search for WondLa

Jordyn's pick:  The Search for WondLa, by Tony DiTerlizzi

 

Synopsis:

When a marauder destroys the underground sanctuary that Eva Nine was raised in by the robot Muthr, the twelve-year-year-old girl is forced to flee aboveground. Eva Nine is searching for anyone else like her, for she knows that other humans exist, because of an item she treasures—a scrap of cardboard on which is depicted a young girl, an adult, and a robot, with the strange word, “WondLa.” Tony DiTerlizzi honors traditional children’s literature in this totally original space age adventure: one that is as complex as an alien planet, but as simple as a child’s wish for a place to belong.

 
Breathtaking two-color illustrations throughout reveal another dimension of Tony DiTerlizzi’s vision, and, for those readers with a webcam, the book also features Augmented Reality in several places, revealing additional information about Eva Nine’s world.  (Barnes and Noble summary)

Jordyn says:  It was exciting!

PATRON PICKS--The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

Kathleen's pick:  The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, by Jon Scieszka

Synopsis:

Now fans of the delightful The True Story of the Three Little Pigs can hear the story read aloud in inimitable style by Jon Scieszka. Side one features a reading of the story accompanied by music, while side two offers a toe-tapping original soundtrack by composer Kurt Hoffman.

Kathleen says:  This was a cute story of the wolf's side of the story.

PATRON PICKS -- Freedom

Liz's pick:  Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen

Synopsis:

Patty and Walter Berglund were the new pioneers of old St. Paul--the gentrifiers, the hands-on parents, the avant-garde of the Whole Foods generation. Patty was the ideal sort of neighbor, who could tell you where to recycle your batteries and how to get the local cops to actually do their job. She was an enviably perfect mother and the wife of Walter's dreams. Together with Walter--environmental lawyer, commuter cyclist, total family man--she was doing her small part to build a better world.

But now, in the new millennium, the Berglunds have become a mystery. Why has their teenage son moved in with the aggressively Republican family next door? Why has Walter taken a job working with Big Coal? What exactly is Richard Katz--outre rocker and Walter's college best friend and rival--still doing in the picture? Most of all, what has happened to Patty? Why has the bright star of Barrier Street become "a very different kind of neighbor," an implacable Fury coming unhinged before the street's attentive eyes?

In his first novel since The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen has given us an epic of contemporary love and marriage. Freedom comically and tragically captures the temptations and burdens of liberty: the thrills of teenage lust, the shaken compromises of middle age, the wages of suburban sprawl, the heavy weight of empire. In charting the mistakes and joys of Freedom's characters as they struggle to learn how to live in an ever more confusing world, Franzen has produced an indelible and deeply moving portrait of our time.

Liz says:  Suburban stories, wryly told, truthfully reported.  You will recognize these people, in your neighbors and in yourself.

PATRON PICKS-- Take the Reins

Jessica's Pick:  Take the Reins, by Jessica Burkhart

 

When Sasha Silver and her horse, Charm, arrive on the campus of the elite Canterwood Crest Academy, Sasha knows that she's in trouble. She's not exactly welcomed with open arms. One group of girls in particular is used to being the best, the brightest, and the prettiest on the team, and when Sasha shows her skills in the arena, the girls' claws come out.

Sasha is determined to prove that she belongs at Canterwood. Will she rise to the occasion and make the advanced riding team by the end of her first semester? Or will the pressure send Sasha packing?  (Amazon summary)

Jessica says:  This is definitely a book for horse lovers.  It's about a girl named Sasha and her horse, Charm, who go to Canterwood Crest.

PATRON PICKS -- Heaven is for Real

Ellie's Pick:  Heaven is for Real, by Todd Burpo (with Lynn Vincent)

Synopsis:

Heaven Is for Real is the true story of the four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and enters heaven. He survives and begins talking about being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn't know what to believe but soon the evidence was clear.

Colton said he met his miscarried sister, whom no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born, then shared impossible-to-know details about each. He describes the horse that only Jesus could ride, about how "reaaally big" God and his chair are, and how the Holy Spirit "shoots down power" from heaven to help us.

Told by the father, but often in Colton's own words, the disarmingly simple message is heaven is a real place, Jesus really loves children, and be ready, there is a coming last battle.  (Amazon summary)

Ellie says:  Fantastic true story.  Faith restoring, uplifting, with lots of promise.

PATRON PICKS -- Deeply Rooted

Kassie's Pick -- Deeply Rooted:  Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness, by Lisa Hamilton

Synopsis:

A century of industrialization has left our food system riddled with problems, yet for solutions we look away from the land — to nutritionists and government agencies, scientists and chefs. In a groundbreaking departure, Deeply Rooted finds answers by looking to the people who actually grow our food.
Hamilton makes this vital inquiry through the stories of three unconventional farmers: Harry Lewis, an African-American dairyman in Texas who plays David to the Goliath of agribusiness corporations; Virgil Trujillo, a tenth-generation rancher in New Mexico struggling to restore agriculture as a pillar of his community; and the Podolls, a modern pioneer family in North Dakota breeding new varieties of plants to face the future’s double threat: global warming and biotech food.
Together, these remarkable characters and their surprising stories make the case that in order to correct what has gone wrong with the food system, we must first bring farmers back to the table.  (Barnes and Noble summary)

Kassie says: I love farms and farming.  The diverse portraits of men and women with small farms making their way in the face of agribusiness encourages me to believe there is still life in old virtues.

PATRON PICKS -- Thirst series (YA)

Paige's Pick:  Thirst series, by Christopher Pike (YA)

From Thirst No. 1:

Alisa has been in control of her urges for the five thousand years she has been a vampire. She feeds but does not kill, and she lives her life on the fringe to maintain her secret. But when her creator returns to hunt her, she must break her own rules in order to survive.

 

Her quest leads her to Ray. He is the only person who can help her; he also has every reason to fear her. Alisa must get closer to him to ensure her immortality. But as she begins to fall in love with Ray, suddenly there is more at stake than her own life.... (Barnes and Noble summary)

Paige says:  I liked it because it's good and it's about vampires.