IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK!

I have been offline for the last two months as I recovered from knee replacement surgery. It has been an interesting experience which has taken a great deal of energy out of me. As I prepare to start the new school year I have one more group of books to present to you -- books I have read during my recovery.

From our current collection comes Saving Sky by Jane Stanley. This "What If" story presents an United States that went to war after 9/11. Many shortages of food and energy exist because of the war and enemy bombings targeting energy facilities. But worse, as shortages increase, prejudice against Arabs and Muslims becomes more violent and the government begins to round up and imprison Arab-looking men and boys. Sky and her family are quite self-sufficient and believe in living with the land and nature. When a new friend, Kareem, is attacked at school and then wanted by the government, Sky's family tries to help. This is a strong story of courage in a world going crazy.

From the new books coming soon to our collection are the following four titles. First from John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series comes The Lost Stories, a group of short stories that fill in some of the adventures missing in the book series. This book will be placed in the Fiction section with the other Ranger's Apprentice books, not in the short collection section.

Book Two of the Clone Codes by Patricia McKissack and her family is called Cyborg. This scifi adventure continues to story of Clone Codes but now from the point-of-view of a cyborg, part human, part machine. The society of the series restricts clones and cyborgs from full citizen rights, but Leanna, a clone, Houston Ye, a cyborg, RUBy, an artificial intelligence, and their friends try to fight back using the peaceful demonstration methods of the 1960s civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King, Jr.

A new series, Tomorrow Girls by Eva Gray, begins with Behind the Gates. In a future world again torn apart by war, Louisa and her best friend Maddie, posing as her twin, join a lucky few other girls who are taken to a safe location, a boarding school where they learn survival skills. But the school is hiding a terrible secret that the girls must uncover to save themselves.

Ending with a humorous twist is the second book in Wendy Mass's Twice Upon a Time series. In this series the author looks at classic fairy tales and retells them with a twist. This new book is Sleeping Beauty; The One Who Took the Really Long Nap. In alternating chapters Princess Rose and Prince Charming tell their life stories leading up to and continuing after the famous "true love's first kiss." Since each book in this series stands alone, you can read this one or look for the previous book Rapunzel; The One with All the Hair in the paperback rack.

The new school year is right around the corner. I look forward to seeking many of you next week at the Friday Open House. Please stop by with your Summer Reading Logs and tell me about all the great adventures you have had this summer both in and out of books. See you soon.