Books into Movies

Recently there have been a number of really popular books being made into movies.

• Water for Elephants was brought to life this past April.
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ended the J.K. Rowling series in theatres this past July.
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett was released on the big screen in August. 
• The highly anticipated Breaking Dawn part 1 will be coming out in theatres on  November 18, 2011.
• One for the Money, the first in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series comes out on January 27, 2012.
• Hunger Games fans will have to wait until March 23, 2012 [still time to start and finish reading the trilogy!]

Speaking of The Hunger Games, fans were given a sneak peek a the movie trailer on Sunday's MTV awards - if you missed it, you can watch it here.

So the question is - do you prefer to watch the movie before or after you read the book? Personally I must read the book first.

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New Database - Canada's Information Resource Centre

SPL now subscribes to Canada's Information Resource Centre.  This online toolintegrates the content of 7 directories into a single online Canadian resource. Provides access to over 100,000 Canadian organizations, contacts, facts and figures - all in one searchable screen (with no ads!)


 The database includes the following titles: 

• Associations Canada
• Canadian Almanac & Directory
• Canadian Environmental Resource Guide
• Canadian Parliamentary Guide
• Financial Services Canada
• Governments Canada
• Libraries Canada

You can easily access the Canadian Information Resource Centre from home, work, or within in the Library by clicking here. 

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Stratford Public Library is Closed for Labour Day

Stratford Public Library  will be closed on Monday, September 5th for Labour Day.

We hope everyone has a relaxing day off.

Creative Commons image courtesy of caffeina

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SPL Shelf Life [kids]

These reviews appeared in the Stratford Gazette on August 25th. Written by Sally Hengeveld, Librarian.

Pirates Go to School, by Corinne Demas, 28 pages.

@ SPL:  JP Demas

Indeed, the pirates (and their parrots) are off to school! It’s time for them to stow away their pirate swords and cutlasses, and bring out their backpacks.

And just what do the pirates learn at school? Well, they learn the alphabet and how to write – so that they can make and read treasure maps. They learn math – after all, a pirate must know how to take measurements on his ship and count his gold coins. The pirates do artwork too, so that they can decorate their ship with more than just skulls and crossbones.

When it’s time for Show-and-Tell, the pirates have some fascinating things to show the class: a treasure map, a treasure chest and a piece of pirate gold.

What have the pirates brought for snacktime? An apple, or some crackers and cheese? No, the pirates have packed some slimy squid for themselves – their favourite snack!

Naptime is uneventful … except for the loud snoring noises which are coming from the slumbering pirates!

Later, during recess, the pirates get into a little trouble. As they are playing “Walk the Plank”, the teacher hears them swearing. When she gives them a “time-out”, they decide to mutiny … but change their minds when threatened with “No storytime!”

After hearing some wonderful tales of ships and adventures at sea, the pirates are finished school for the day. As they file onto their school bus, they sing, “Yo ho ho, we’re so cool! We are pirates and we love school!”

Both children who are hesitant and those who are enthusiastic about beginning school in September will enjoy this fun school story.

** Recommended for ages 3 to 6 years.

Louise the Big Cheese and the Back-to-School Smarty-Pants, by Elise Primavera, 32 pages.

@ SPL:  JP Prima

Louise Cheese, about to start a new grade at Tapioca Elementary School, was absolutely determined to get straight A’s this year!

She was a little discouraged when she realized that she had been assigned to a strict teacher, Mrs. Pearl, who had very definite rules of behaviour and rarely awarded A’s to her students. Nevertheless, Louise tried hard. She answered questions in class (often out of turn). She helped in any way she was needed (and wasn’t needed). She wrote neatly (in her opinion) in her notebook, and answered all the questions on her tests (but not always correctly!). Despite all of this, Louise was unable to earn even one “A” from Mrs. Pearl.

Mrs. Pearl would say, “You can do better, Miss Cheese.”

Needless to say, Louise became very discouraged after a while. In fact, she began to wish for a different teacher!

One day, Louise got her wish. A substitute teacher beamed at the class. She was very different from Mrs. Pearl. Miss Sprinkles didn’t care if everyone talked at the same time or looked out the window. She didn’t care if students doodled in their notebooks or even on their clothes. She had no suggestions or ideas on how the students could improve their work, and she gave Louise an “A” on her poem! It was Louise’s first “A” that year. Louise was delighted … until she realized that everybody in the class had received the same mark.

By the end of the day, Louise truly missed Mrs. Pearl and could hardly wait for her return.

Elise Primavera’s wise, witty school story, with its appropriate ending and its droll illustrations, illustrates the value of earning good marks … and the value of constructive criticism.

** Recommended for ages 5 to 8 years.

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SPL Shelf Life [adult]

This review appeared in the Stratford Gazette on August 25th. Written by Robyn Godfrey, Librarian.

The Darling Dahlias and the Naked Ladies by Susan Wittig Albert

@SPL: FIC Alber

The ladies of the Darling Dahlias gardening club have another mystery on their hands. Their small Alabama town is atwitter with the arrival of a niece of the elderly hermit lady, Miss Hamer. The newcomer, Nona Jean Jamieson, stands out like a sore green thumb in her vibrant scarlet dresses and stiletto heels, but Verna Tidwell immediately recognizes her. She is Miss Lorelei LaMotte, who with her partner Lily Lake are known as Naughty and Nice, a burlesque entertainment team from Chicago. But Miss LaMotte vehemently denies her past, and the Dahlias begin to have their doubts that she is who she claims. The eccentric Miss Hamer was never known to have a niece after all – although she does have a ghost or two in her own closet, as Bessie Bloodworth comes to find out. Along with these intriguing interludes, the Dahlias have their own depression-era worries: Myrna May Mosswell’s friend Violet has left Darling to tend her sickly sister and newborn niece; Bessie’s long-buried past begins to haunt her, and Lizzie Lacy’s hard-won independence from her domineering mother may come to a crashing end when the bank threatens to foreclose on her mother’s home – forcing her to move in with Lizzie. With the Dahlias up to their corn-ears in their own woes, they nevertheless pull together and find a way to cope and survive – and help bring down a certain Chicago gangster almost by accident. Travel back to the 1930’s, to the tight-knit community of Darling Alabama for the latest Dahlia adventure, and pick up a few vintage recipes while you’re there. As for the Naked Ladies? They are a late-blooming lily prevalent in the mid to southern States, lycoris squamigera!

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The Best Science Fiction & Fantasty



Image from the NPR

The National Public Radio has released their list of the top 100 science-fiction, fantasy books of all time – based on 60,000 publicly submitted votes.

Here’s their list. See how your choice ranked, or browse to find a new book to read. Many of these books are available from the Stratford Public Library. Search for the titles in our catalogue - if we don't have it, submit an Interlibrary Loan Request.

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Take the Educators 200 database for a Spin

It's that time of year again.  Parents and students are getting ready for the school year, as are teachers.  The Educators 200 Collection is perfect for teachers and administrators.  It covers the latest technologies, developments, instruction and coaching breakthroughs as well as background information on child health and development. There are over 250 journals included in this database.


Go to the link below and try it out:
http://www.stratford.library.on.ca/databases.htm#arts

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Fall Storytime Registration

Library story time is a great activity for you and your baby, toddler or preschooler.  It’s free, it’s fun and it instills a love for reading in your child at a young age.  It’s also a great way to meet other parents in your area.  Sing songs, read books, dance, jump and play.  Story times are age appropriate.  Registration for our Fall story times begins on September 7th at 10am [phone only - 519-271-0220] with programs beginning the following week.

Our programs are free thanks to the support of the Friends of the Stratford Public Library.

Babytime A special time of songs, lullabies and tickles for parents and their babies. Sessions run for 8 weeks at a time. Ages 8-18 months accompanied by a parent or caregiver.
Wednesday mornings 10:30 to 11am for 8 weeks

Tales for Twos An introduction to the Library, to early literacy and to group activities, with stories, rhymes, tickles and songs. Children must be between 19 and 36 months at the time of registration. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Thursday mornings from 10:30 to 11:00 am for 8 weeks. 

Story Garden Stories, music and crafts, a 45 minute program for Preschoolers (ages 3-5). Parents / caregivers must stay in the building and are welcome to join in the program.  
Thursday mornings from 10:30 to 11:15 am for 8 weeks.

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Back by popular demand...

Stratford Public Library will once again be offering computer classes this Fall.  These sessions are for the most part focused on the novice computer user, starting with Computer Comfort geared for someone who has very little if any computer experience.  There is Internet for Beginners, and Easy Gmail to get participants acquainted with the online world.  Microsoft Word and Excel are also offered, along with 7 other classes. Full program details and dates can be found on the library website.
Our sessions are quite affordable ranging from FREE to $10.  Included in the fee participants will receive an information booklet detailing everything covered in each class.
If you have any questions, call Krista Robinson, Information Technology Development Librarian [519-271-0220 x31]. 

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SPL Shelf Life [kids]

These reviews appeared in the Stratford Gazette on August 17th. Written by Sally Hengeveld, Librarian.

Migrant, by Maxine Trottier, 32 pages.

@SPL: JP Trott

“What would it be like to be a tree with roots sunk deeply into the earth – to watch the seasons passing around you the same way the wind passes through your branches?”

Anna wonders, longingly, what it would be like to have a permanent home, like a tree. Instead, her family is a migrant family, moving north each spring to work on fruit and vegetable farms in Ontario, and departing for Mexico again in the fall. Sometimes Anna feels like a migrating bird, chasing the sun and following the warmth. Sometimes she feels like a jackrabbit living in one abandoned burrow after another, as her family moves into yet another empty farmhouse near the fields where they are working. She longs to stay in one place, in her own bed, riding her own bicycle, playing with her own friends and hearing her own language spoken around her.
Maxine Trottier’s poignant picture book, with its whimsical art, is a tribute to the seasonal farm workers who come to Canada each summer to supply much-needed labour. Some arrive with their families; some must leave them behind. Anna’s family is a low German-speaking Mennonite family from Mexico. In the 1920’s, many such families moved to Mexico to farm and pursue religious freedom. Later, with tough economic times, they found that their own farms couldn’t support them.
The author was inspired to write this story after spending summers in Leamington, Ontario, where she encountered many Mennonites from Mexico working under difficult conditions. For example, they sometimes live in small, shabby houses, often work very long hours, and sometimes lack proper medical attention while they are in Canada.
** Recommended for ages 5 to 9 years.


Missing, by Becky Citra, 178 pages.
@SPL: J FIC Citra

Too many things are missing from Thea’s life right now. She and her father miss her mother, who died four years ago. Thea misses having a real home – she and her dad are always moving now, from one British Columbia town to another, “trying to leave the past behind.” They never remain in a community long enough for Thea to establish friendships and a sense of home. Thea feels the loss of the close companionship she used to have with her dad before the tragedy, and she misses riding the horses which used to be so much a part of the family’s life before her mom was killed by an out-of-control horse.
Now her dad has another temporary job – this time, at a new resort ranch on Gumboot Lake. From their arrival, Thea loves the ranch. She hopes that they might stay there, working with Renegade, an injured horse for which Thea is helping to care. She starts to make friends, like Van, a local boy, and Chloe. She even starts to feel that she is fitting in at school. Then Thea discovers that a mysterious tragedy happened long ago on the ranch, under former owners. She is intrigued – as is Van, whose grandfather was implicated. They begin to work together to clear his name and solve the mystery, and before long, Thea realizes that she has put down roots on the ranch. She cares very much about its future, about Renegade, about Van and his family, and about finding the answers to the mystery.
Can Thea somehow convince her dad that it’s time to settle down, at Gumboot Lake, instead of moving on once again?
This quiet, compelling story, involving a very likeable heroine, perfect for a summer read, was written by Canadian author Becky Citra.
** Recommended for ages 10 to 13 years.

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SPL Shelf Life [adult]

This review appeared in the Stratford Gazette on August 17th. Written by Shauna Thomas, Librarian.

Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid

by Wendy Williams
@SPL: 594.58 Wil

It's sunny and beautiful, the sand is warm under your feet and the breeze has died just enough that it's getting a little sticky on the beach. You dip a toe into the water - tentatively at first, then you give the ripples a little kick, just to see the sparkle. Next thing you know, you've plunged in over your head. Floating on your back, face warmed by the sun, supported by the cool depths, you think, “this is perfect.” Then, unbidden: “What I can't see below, can't hurt me.” Maybe you scull a little closer back to shore on that thought. Thus is ever was – no one can resist a good sea monster story.
And that's just what Wendy Williams gives us with Kraken. As with so many other popular science books in the last few years, Kraken is a sleek, quick read designed to give the best information - minus the overload - in a good story.
The title is a slight misnomer – Kraken deals also with the octopus, cuttlefish and nautilus, not just squid. The book opens by discussing the veracity of the more particularly terrifying stories of giant squid. Williams takes care to give readers all the creepy squid-attack details before turning to science to find the more truthful proportions of the fish stories. And the science is mighty interesting: Some species of squid really do have razor-like rings in their suckers that can help shred prey as the feeding tentacles draw it toward the squid's gnashing beak; other squid show great skill in problem solving (squid and octopi can take particularly creative approaches to spacial puzzles because they lack skeletons).
Having taken the time to creep out her readers with facts even weirder than squid fiction, Williams moves on to wider territory, like neuroscience. Turns out cephalopods have taught us an awful lot of what we know about the human brain. To find out what, particularly, Williams takes the reader onto ship's decks, into labs and aquariums, and even into the cephalopods themselves. This is to say nothing of the sex life of squid, which is horrifying enough to make The Bachelorette look romantic.
With her knack for narrative nonfiction and her genuine sense of wonder, Williams' Kraken resonates more deeply than readers will expect. This book is recommended to readers who've enjoyed popular science writing like Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. At a slight 200 pages, it packs a lot of juicy information in an entertaining package.

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SPL Shelf Life [kids]

These reviews appeared in the Stratford Gazette on August 11th. Written by Sally Hengeveld, Librarian.

Show Off: How to Do Absolutely Everything, One Step at a Time, by Sarah Hines Stephens and Bethany Mann, 199 pages.

@ SPL:  J 790.1922 Hin

Here’s a book which could be very handy in those last few weeks of summer vacation when your child or teen is wondering what to do. Show Off offers instructions to kids on how do to 244 intriguing and amazing activities - using pictures as well as minimal text - for each step of every activity.

The projects are grouped under six themes: Amaze, Investigate, Create, Explore, Cook and Move. Kids can learn how to tell time using a potato, pour a sand candle, juggle “like a pro”, fossilize footprints, walk on their hands, make chocolate anthills, ink a fake tattoo, screen-print a t-shirt, blow a chewing-gum bubble inside of a bubble, bake a cake inside an orange, make a disco ball using old CD’s, and much more. (To the consternation of parents, some pranks, such as booby-trapping a bathroom and making edible fake vomit, are also included!)

Because the instructions are so concise and easy to follow, an adult’s help isn’t needed for most of the projects.

Some of the activities are quite basic; some are more complicated. Some are outdoor activities and some would be better inside. However, all of them are fun, and kids will actually be learning some scientific principles too – whether they realize it or not! In fact, some of the activities could be choices for science projects later in the school year.

** Recommended for ages 10 years and up.

Disasters: Natural and Man-Made Catastrophes Through the Centuries, by Brenda Z. Guiberson, 228 pages.

@ SPL:  J 904 Gui

Kids with time on their hands might also be interested in perusing this intriguing, informative book covering some of the most significant and interesting disasters in recorded history.

Young readers are usually fascinated with disasters, and author Brenda Guiberson has described ten of them – some of them caused by man and some which were events of nature – and she has included archival photographs and lots of detail (some of it quite gruesome). Approximately twenty pages are devoted to each disaster.

Included are events such as the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, the Flu Pandemic of 1918, the 1930’s drought (The “Dust Bowl”) on the prairies and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Most, but not all of the disasters selected for the book, occurred in the United States.  

Guiberson’s book is written in an engaging, easy to read style which helps to bring each event to life for the reader. She describes the causes of each, how they unfolded, how they changed history, and best of all, how survivors managed to persevere and carry on with their lives.

The disasters are arranged in chronological order and further sources of information (both books and websites) are listed at the back of the book.

Teens, preteens and even adults will find this book to be both compelling and enlightening.

** Recommended for ages 10 years and up.

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Summer Read Program Survey

Have you and your family participated in this year's Summer Reading Program? If so, we'd love to hear what you thought of the program. We have a quick survey that can be easily filled out online.  
Remember - your opinion matters!

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Tracking Your Photos

Smart phones are truly amazing gadgets. You can use them as a phone, play games, surf the web, connect with friends, and with of them you can take photos and video. My iPhone for instance takes fantastic photos and I can use really cool apps such as Instagram and Hipstomatic to customize my pictures and make them look retro, black and white etc. One one of the nice things it that the apps can track the location as to where that picture was taken so that I can easily determine where each picture was taken when reviewing my pics at a later date (I take a lot of pictures!). However one of the dangerous things about these apps is that they can track the location as to where that picture was taken. That means when you upload your pictures to social networking sites, flickr, blogs etc anyone who views those pictures can potentially see where that picture was taken. 


Since many of us use our cameras to take pictures of our family and children, this could potentially be a dangerous thing - especially since a lot of people do not take the time to adjust their privacy settings in sites like Facebook (learn how here).  In the past few months there has been a lot of talk about smart phones and locational tracking services - you can read more here or watch this video.  But don't despair! You can easily disable, or review at least the location services for each app on your smart phone - the website I Can Stalk U has easy to follow directions for a variety of phones.  Don't let your smart phone be smarter than you!


~Krista Robinson, Information Technology Development Librarian

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Fly Like Arthur the Hawk!

According to legend, the young (soon to be King) Arthur is turned into a hawk by the Magician Merlin. Merlin is teaching the young Arthur about boundaries.
From the earth, Merlin shouts to Arthur, "What do you see?" Arthur shouts back, "I see rivers and trees."
"No," an irritated Merlin responds and repeats his question. "What do you see?" "I see villages and..."
"Come down," orders Merlin. Arthur, the hawk, returns to earth and becomes Arthur, the young boy. Merlin tells him, "Someday you will know what you saw."
Arthur eventually realized that he had seen a world without boundaries, with limitless possibilities.

Creative children ages 5 - 12 are encouraged to let imaginations fly on all things Camelot.

Draw an original piece of art or write an original piece of poetry about Camelot, King Arthur's court, Knights of the Round Table, etc for the chance to "fly" like Arthur the Hawk!  Contest is open until September 14, 2011.

Full contest rules and entry form available here.

This contest has been brought to you by:
Fanshawe College School of Contemporary Media
Stratford Shakespeare Festival
PCIN Libraries
Perth Arts Connect

See the fun last year's Fly Like Peter Pan winners had "flying" over Stratford!

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SPL Shelf Life [adult]

This review appeared in the Stratford Gazette on July 28th. Written by Shauna Thomas, Librarian.

We Had It So Good by Linda Grant

@SPL: FIC Grant

Since the economic downturn in 2008, there's a sense that quality of life for post-boomers in the West will never quite be what their parents or grandparents enjoyed. Most under 40 have confronted underemployment, dwindling pensions and a wounded public sphere, and there's a whiff of existential trepidation in the zeitgeist. Something's gone off-kilter with our story. We're no longer certain we'll get our happy ending.

It's rare, though, to find a narrative work of art that captures this cultural shift and what it's cost us on a personal level. Linda Grant's We Had It So Good does just that. Ostensibly, this novel gives us the story of the marriage of Stephen and Andrea. It follows the couple from their courtship in the late 60s, through having kids, establishing careers, and ultimately into late middle age. But Grant's eye for detail and narrative genius elevate the novel a notch, allowing it also to tell the story of the sliding shift in Western civilization from anti-materialist hippie ideals into the age of persuasion and mass commodification.

Much of the story's plot is told by Stephen to his kids in a series of mythologizing flashbacks. They're half meant as a vanity project, and half as another boomer attempt to create a solid identity out of a shifting life and community. In order to draw strong parallels between the narrative arc of Stephen and Andrea's marriage and that of Western society, Grant has created a colourful cast of characters who each embody some portion of what's driven society since the '60s. Many of these characters are given narrative rights within the story at some point, and the extra perspectives shed light on how Stephen and Andrea move from being students at prestigious English schools, to communal living, to owning a posh multi-story home in a gentrified London neighbourhood.

This tension between objectivity and myth-building drives the novel. All the main voices in the novel indulge in self-mythologizing, tying their particular story to whatever overarching social narrative best serves their purpose. As the personal narratives' integrity wear with use, a sense of unease besets the reader: If questionable motives and a lack of objectivity warp the most basic life stories, how can we be sure of anything we tell ourselves as a culture?

This sounds grim, doesn't it? In truth, We Had It So Good isn't always so dark, mostly because Grant has such profound empathy for her characters. Readers may not like them as people, but you have to respect them. After all, they're telling your story, too. This gentle handling lends the entire novel a poignant, epic feeling not unlike that evoked by the film American Beauty a decade or so ago. We Had It So Good is recommended to readers of character-driven literary fiction who relish a good family saga. It is especially recommended to those with a fascination for London and California in the 1960s.

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SPL Shelf Life [adult]

This review appeared in the Stratford Gazette on August 11, 2011. Written by Robyn Godfrey, Librarian.


Small Green Roofs: Low-Tech Options for Greener Living By Nigel Dunnett, Dusty Gedge, John Little and Edmund C. Snodgrass
@SPL: 635.9671 Sma

Green roofing is an ever-growing movement (pun intended). Not only visually appealing and environmentally friendly, building a green space on roof-tops has added benefits: creating noise insulation, providing wildlife habitat, managing rainwater, conserving energy, cooling one’s home, and providing local produce, among others. Weather on a city skyscraper or your garden shed, a bus-stop roof or your garage, the scope for greening small surfaces is as large as your own imagination. Think of the reduced smog days if there were green roofs in every neighbourhood and city centre – cities like Toronto would look actually look green from a distance, not muddy brown. In China, small herb and produce gardens are planted atop low building entran

ces, where locals are invited to “cut and come again”. The authors show the results of many successful projects (even in places that get winter snow), outline the steps to design and create green roofs on nearly any surface, and they provide a list of plants that take to green roofing easily. Their passion is certainly clear - to make it easy to get started the authors also provide a sections on design principles, planting styles and types (i.e. ornamental versus edible) plenty of glossy photos to inspire, a list of websites and books for further reading or research, and of course, that hand-dandy index as a quick finding tool. Check out the sections on green-roofing spaces like bicycle-sheds and birdhouses, and on community projects – I smell a Communities-in-Bloom-winning-strategy (pun intended)!

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SPL Shelf Life [adult]

This review appeared in the Stratford Gazette on August 4th. Written by Shauna Thomas, Librarian.


The Tragedy of Arthur by Arthur Phillips
@SPL: FIC Phill
 

Hipster-lit author Arthur Phillips (The Song is You, Prague) has spent the last decade being lauded for his dark sense of humour and high-brow blend of indie- and pop-culture sensibilities. His new offering, The Tragedy of Arthur, takes his usual media-savvy modus operandi to a new level.


The Tragedy of Arthur isn't formatted as a novel. Rather, it takes the form of a 1st modern edition of a lost Shakespeare play. Phillips carries this conceit to great lengths: The book opens with a pitch-perfect scholarly preface from Random House declaring their excitement at being the first to publish this historic lost work; it ends with a complete edition of Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Arthur. The rest of the book – the bulk of it, really – is Phillips' memoir of how the play materialized in his family and came to be published at all.


Raised in a middle class, middle-American family, twins Arthur and Dana Phillips' childhood defies their perfectly average surroundings, courtesy of a father dedicated to fabricating wonder. Sadly, the dark side of their father's artistic wonder-weaving expresses itself in a tendency to create fraudulent documentation for friends in low places. Soon enough, the senior Arthur faces long-term incarceration.


So when Arthur Sr presents Dana and Arthur Jr with an apparently-genuine 1597 edition of a lost Shakespeare play entitled The Tragedy of Arthur, both siblings are torn between a desire to embrace this latest paternal wonder, and nagging doubts about the play's authenticity. The scientific and emotional evidence mounts for both conclusions, as the introduction/memoir portion of the novel lurches to a close through the many minor tragedies of a truly dysfunctional family.


No one's behaviour reveals to the reader whether the lost Shakespeare play could be the real thing. And because of that, Phillips will achieve what was impossible for many high school English teachers: legions of readers of popular literary fiction will read an entire Shakespeare play – well, an entire play maybe by Shakespeare – just to see if they can tell for themselves. Either way, they'll have a good time reading the play's explanatory footnotes, which reveal an entertainingly snarky battle between Arthur Phillips and a Shakespearean scholar over the play's authenticity.


At the end of the day, we've catalogued the book as fiction, and it's subtitle is A Novel. So it can't be for real, right? There's just enough doubt left out there - seriously, ask Google - that the true believers could be forgiven for going ahead and wishing Shakespeare into the quill. For those others who manage to keep their jaded wits about them through to the end of Phillips' wondrous illusion, The Tragedy of Arthur will raise complicated questions about the intersection of authorship, storytelling and reality that linger long after they think they've closed the book on it.

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SPL Shelf Life [kids]

These reviews appeared in the Stratford Gazette on August 4th. Written by Sally Hengeveld, Librarian.

Summer is a perfect time for kids to discover a new author or a new fiction series, such as the following:


Torn from Troy, by Patrick Bowman, 199 pages.

@ SPL: J FIC Bowma
‘The soldiers reacted instantly. One of them grabbed me by the shoulders and expertly kicked my legs out from under me, dropping me face-down onto the cobbles.”

Alexi, a 15-year-old orphan of Troy, has just witnessed - and survived - the horrific burning of his city by the Greek soldiers under Odysseus’ command. Now he’s been captured by the Greek army. He is given a choice of being killed or enslaved.

Alexi chooses to live.

Forced aboard a ship en route to Ithaca, Alexi and the other captives embark on a long voyage that seems cursed with danger and peril. They must do battle with the fierce Cicones; they fall into the clutches of the bewitching but treacherous Lotus Eaters, and barely endure a grisly encounter with a Cyclops. There are many casualties among the men on Odysseus’ ships. Over and over, Alexi finds that he must face his fears, and at the same time, he must decide who he can trust – and who he can’t – for his own survival.
Torn from Troy is the first title in a new action-filled trilogy, “Odyssey of a Slave”, which retells the classic Greek legend of the Odyssey. Boys will especially enjoy the suspense and the gritty, realistic action. Alexi is a brave, resourceful and likeable young hero, who misses his sister terribly. Did she survive or die when Troy was invaded and burned? This is left as a question for the second book in the series, soon to be published.
** Recommended for ages 10 to 13 years.

 Cloudy with a Chance of Boys, by Megan McDonald, 260 pages.
@ SPL: J FIC McDon 

Why is figuring out boys just as difficult as predicting the weather? Lately, questions about boys are always on Stevie Reel’s mind.

The middle sister in a family with three girls, Stevie’s never been very interested – or even at all interested – in boys. But things are starting to change now: her friends at school are beginning to pair up and one of the boys in her science class (“Wire Rims”) is interested in her. Stevie hasn’t a clue if or how she should respond.

Stevie’s sisters aren’t much help right now. Her older sister is preoccupied with her “crush”, Scott, and Stevie’s younger sister much prefers frogs to boys.

It had all started one night when the three sisters looked at the stormy sky and wished for something “amazing” to happen to each of them. Joey, the youngest, wished to see a rare blue tree frog. The oldest, Alex, aspired to a kiss from her new boyfriend. Stevie merely wished that something amazing would come along for her … but she certainly didn’t expect the “something” to be a boy!

Girls will breeze through this funny, entertaining story and the other titles in the new Sisters Club series, written by Megan McDonald, author of the popular Judy Moody books. (The first book, Rule of Three, is available at the Stratford Public Library, and subsequent titles are forthcoming.)

** Recommended for ages 9 to 12 years.

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SPL Shelf Life [Kids]

These reviews appeared in the Stratford Gazette on July 28, 2011 Written by Sally Hengeveld, Librarian


Young Fredle By Cynthia Voigt
Read by Wendy Carter
Book on CD @ SPL: J FBCD Voigt

Fredle, a friendly young mouse, lives behind the kitchen cabinets of a country home. When he is discovered by one of the owners, he is suddenly forced to leave his safe, cozy home and family.

In the outside world he encounters both adventure and danger as he discovers sunshine, rain, lawnmowers, raccoons, birds, snakes … and field mice (who, apparently, are much different from house mice!)

Although Fredle longs for home, he also enjoys his newfound feelings of freedom and space. When he is finally able to return home, he has a choice to make. Does he really want to give up his freedom for the safety of his old home – or can he have both?
Cynthia Voigt is the accomplished author of many children’s and teen books.

Young Fredle, her newest title, is a gentle fable about fearing the unknown while enjoying the magic of discovering new things and experiences.

The story of Fredle is intended for ages approximately seven to 11 years, but the whole family would likely enjoy this appealing and wise animal story.
Young Fredle is also available as an online audio book and as an online ebook (please visit http://www. stratford.library.on.ca/downloadlibrary.html).


Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing 

Written and read by Judy Blume

Book on CD @ SPL: J FBCD Blume

Written in 1972 (and reprinted many times), Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, the first of Judy Blume’s stories about Peter and Fudge, has long been a children’s favourite.

Fourth-grader Peter Warren Hatcher’s relationship with his rambunctious two-year-old brother, Farley Drexel (“Fudge”) certainly has its ups and downs.
In Peter’s opinion, he’s on the receiving end of most of the downs because Fudge, being the younger brother, always seems to get his own way. (As the story unfolds, however, Peter realizes that his parents actually do not let Fudge away with everything.) Nevertheless, Peter prefers to spend time with his pet turtle than with his little brother.
From the temper tantrums that he throws at the worst possible times to smearing his mashed potatoes on the wall, Fudge always manages to make Peter’s life – and that of his parents – interesting, to say the least! (In fact, as a hint as to what happens later in the story, Judy Blume first thought of writing this book after reading a newspaper account of a young boy eating a pet turtle…)
Adding to Peter’s distress (and the book’s humour) is Sheila Tubman, one of Peter’s classmates, whose family lives in the same apartment building. The two are often at odds – Peter thinks that Sheila is a bossy know-it-all.
Written for ages seven to 11 years, the whole family will laugh again and again at this hilarious story.
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing is also available as an online audio book. (Again, please visit http://www.stratford. library.on.ca/downloadlibrary.html)

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