Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Dec 2, 2009, 4:38 pm
Crossing Stones Helen Frost Francis Foster Books/FSG 184 pgs. (author notes, library book) Summary Muriel, Ollie and Emma relay the events leading up to WWI when two of their number decide to join th...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Dec 1, 2009, 7:51 pm
"Reading and literacy can not only make us better individuals but it can also motivate us to effect greater changes around us." The Social Justice Challenge leaders Have you seen this? This is one c...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Nov 30, 2009, 6:10 pm
Some of you know that I've been working with two book clubs as we try to determine what the ALA committee will pick as the January 2010 Newbery Award winner. Last year I not only hadn't read ...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Nov 27, 2009, 11:24 pm
Joey Fly, Private Eye: Creepy Crawly Crime Aaron Reynolds Henry Holt and Company 96 p. (author supplied) Summary Joey Fly attempts to solve the mystery of the missing pencil box with the help of his ...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Nov 24, 2009, 4:29 pm
Soccer Sabotage Liam O'Donnell Orca Book Publishers unpaged, Graphic Novel (LibraryThing) Summary Devin is the water boy for an all-girls soccer team. With the assistance of Stewart, the coach&#...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Nov 22, 2009, 9:35 am
Challenges I finished J. Kaye's Support Your Library challenge. I didn't do all the reviews but I have read over 50 library books so far. You'd think it would be easy, me being a librari...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Nov 20, 2009, 5:26 am
Thirsty: A Novel Tracey Bateman Waterbrook/Random House 376 p. (PB, discussion questions) Summary Nina emerges from rehab and decides she needs to start over. She heads home to Missouri dragging her...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Nov 17, 2009, 5:55 pm
The Rock and The River Kekla Magoon Aladdin 283 p. (HC, author notes) Summary 13 year-old Sam is caught between his father, a nonviolent Martin Luther King, Jr. supporter and his brother Stick, and ...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Nov 16, 2009, 11:01 pm
Now and Then Jacqueline Sheehan Avon 384 pgs. (author info) Summary Anna's brother, Patrick, gets into a car accident on his way to pick up his errant son, Joseph. Patrick is now on life support...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Nov 9, 2009, 7:23 pm
Born To Fly Michael Ferrari Delacorte Press 224 p. (lib) Summary All of her life, Bird has wanted to fly. Her dad has been very encouraging and teaches her quite a lot about flying. He gets called ...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Nov 9, 2009, 7:22 pm
Dream Stealer Sid Fleischman Greenwillow Books 96 pg. (lib) Summary Susana is having a great dream about her best friend who's moved away when the dream suddenly disappears and she wakes up. She...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Nov 5, 2009, 7:09 pm
Limelight Melody Carlson Waterbrook/Multnomah 376 pgs (pub supplied) Summary Claudette is 82 years old and feeling every day of it. The IRS has taken all she had leaving her destitute and depressed....
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Nov 1, 2009, 7:07 pm
Tropical Secrets Margarita Engle Henry Holt Books For Young Readers 198 pgs (Author notes included) Summary Daniel's parents get enough money together to send him to America to escape the Holocau...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Oct 30, 2009, 9:36 am
Here's a list of books that I've read so far for two Newbery Clubs. The ones in bold are ones I think have a shot at the Newbery not necessarily ones I like. I'm also adding links to Newbe...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Oct 26, 2009, 9:56 pm
After The Moment Garret Freymann-Weyr Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 328 pg. (HC provided by TLC Book Tours) Summary Leigh only wanted to help his stepsister get through her crisis. His life was on a pat...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Oct 24, 2009, 1:30 pm
Hours: 2.5 Books Read: 0 Pages: 177 Reading Brooklyn by Coim Toibin - We meet Eilis and her family in part 1. Rose, Eilis' sister, teams up with her mother to get Eilis to America. They live in...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Oct 21, 2009, 5:47 am
The Brain Lair is experiencing technical difficulties! My computer has collapsed and I'm waiting to have it fixed and looking to find a new one since my daughter's computer has also died. I&...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Oct 19, 2009, 8:58 am
... -Weyr (TLC book tour) Brooklyn by Coim Toibin (50 books for our Time) The Pigman by Paul Zindel Candor by Pam Bachorz Sorry about the lack of formatting and graphics, I'm on a borrowed compu...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Oct 11, 2009, 3:51 pm
It was an uneventful reading week for me. My reading mojo has not made it's reappearance yet. I'm hoping to get it back in November when my "required" reading list decreases dramatically! Ok...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Oct 8, 2009, 5:50 am
School is in session and The Amazing Dancer has been doing her required reading these past two months. She just finished The Giver by Lois Lowry and now she's reading Little Women by Louisa May A...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Oct 5, 2009, 11:01 pm
The Last Dickens Matthew Pearl Random House p. 383 (HC with notes from the Author) Summary The Last Dickens unravels three tales - Dickens' last visit to America, James Osgood and Rebecca Sands v...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Oct 4, 2009, 6:45 pm
Wow! Hard to believe it's October already. It's been busy at school/work. Lots of booktalks and conferences and planning sessions. I've been so busy doing talks about books that I have...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Oct 1, 2009, 12:00 am
Readin' Fire Kristin Cashore Dial Books 461 pg (ARC) Rdg time: 6 1/2 hrs. (almost straight through) October 2009 Writin' Fire is a human monster, born of a human mom and a monster dad. She n...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Sep 29, 2009, 5:12 am
Heaven to Betsy and Betsy In Spite of Herself Maud Hart Lovelace HarperPerennial 661 pgs. Summary In Heaven to Betsy, Betsy goes to high school. The summer before freshmen year she visits a family fr...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Sep 27, 2009, 12:40 am
Winners 1. Ghostgirl 1 and 2 - This week I sent out Ghostgirl 1 and 2 by Tonya Hurley to those July 10 winners! Over 2 months late! I sent them first class so they should have them now! 2. Bram Hambr...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Sep 26, 2009, 10:00 am
Dreaming AnastasiaJoy PrebleSourcebooks, Inc302 pgs. (ARC) SummaryAnne keeps having these weird nightmares. She swears these people are real, it's like she's really there. They want her to d...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Sep 14, 2009, 6:12 pm
When The Whistle Blows Fran Cannon Slayton Philomel/Penguin 159 pgs. (ARC) Summary Jimmy tells the history of his family. His father's work with the railroads and how his dad, WP, never wanted a...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Sep 13, 2009, 3:19 pm
Happy Sunday! I hope you are having a great day. Two huge things I want to talk about today - Me dropping the ball on some things and be NOT buying any books for a while! Dropping The Ball Three pla...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Sep 11, 2009, 1:26 pm
Amulet: The Stonekeeper Kazu Kibuishi Scholastic 186 pg, Graphic Novel Summary Emily and Navin move from their house of new things to an old house with nothing. The house is run-down and dirty and t...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Sep 10, 2009, 6:31 pm
Stray Affections Charlene Ann Baumbich Multnomah/Random House 303 pgs., Reader's Guide, recipes Summary Cassandra Higgins loves animals. She grew up rescuing them whenever she saw they needed he...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Sep 8, 2009, 9:39 pm
Bran Hambric: Farfield Curse Kaleb Nation Sourcebooks 430 pgs. (official HC) Summary Bran Hambric has no memory of his life before he was found in a locked vault in the bank at the age of 6. We catc...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Sep 8, 2009, 8:59 am
The Purloined Boy - Book 1, The Weirdling Cycle Mortimus Clay Finster Press Pages - 249 Reading Time: 3.5 hrs Summary Trevor is in an orphanage where he meets Maggie and Epictetus. They tell him tha...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Sep 8, 2009, 5:00 am
... day, just one day, where you could trust more and fear less. Can you imagine your life without fear? My Thoughts I've mentioned ... style and the way he doesn't let things get bogged d...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Sep 6, 2009, 7:46 am
Slowly easing myself back into a life without classes. Trying to make sure I fill the time with something meaningful. I seem to have forgotten what that entails. I'm taking it slow though, in t...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Sep 4, 2009, 6:41 am
Happy Friday! So I thought I was going to be able to post everyday in September but that is not going to happen. So I will stop making promises and just post as often as I can! Anyway, it's Frid...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Sep 1, 2009, 11:01 pm
Waiting on Wednesday is brought to you courtesy of Jill at Breaking The Spine. Check out Jill's blog to find out what she's waiting on. Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse by Kaleb Nation Back...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Aug 29, 2009, 3:01 pm
Blogging It's September! I'm going to try and blog everyday this month. I'm not very good at scheduling posts in advance and really have a hard time with memes. I'll work both those...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Aug 28, 2009, 5:55 am
Fade To Blue Sean Beaudoin Today, August 28, is Sean Beaudoin's birthday! Happy Birthday Sean! My Thoughts I totally loved this book. I read it the day I received the ARC from Little, Brown on Fa...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Aug 25, 2009, 9:40 pm
Back in May I posted about the BEA Galleys that I wanted. Since then, I've received/absconded/begged and/or borrowed my way into all but three of them. Here are the books I'm still waiting (a...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Aug 20, 2009, 6:40 am
Everything Sucks : Losing My Mind and Finding Myself in a High School Quest For Cool Hannah Friedman HCI Teens 221 pgs. Format The book is divided into five parts: Part 1 - age 7 to beginning High Sc...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Aug 18, 2009, 6:40 pm
Diego: Bigger Than Life Carmen T. Bernier-Grand David Diaz, Illustrator Marshall Cavendish Children's 64 pgs. Format This biography of Diego Rivera is written as a series of poems with 14 full-si...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Aug 18, 2009, 6:16 am
Whitney In Charge Diane Carver Summary TV producer Whitney Benson is tired of her older sisters’ attempts to fix her up with every single male they meet. Shannon and Regan cross the line when they ...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Aug 17, 2009, 5:20 am
Thug Lovin' Wahida Clark Grand Central Publishing Summary Tasha and Trae, the hood's favorite couple, are still together following the events of Thug Matrimony. Even with their relocation to ...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Aug 16, 2009, 8:23 am
Welcome Back! Students officially start school on Wednesday. Teachers and staff have our annual welcome back breakfast tomorrow, Monday, August 17, to kick off our new school year. We get together ...
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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Aug 15, 2009, 10:31 am

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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Aug 14, 2009, 5:58 am

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Kathy B. posted an article on The Brain Lair - Jul 28, 2009, 8:16 pm

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