Contact PMS • Directions to PMS • Site Map

pmslibrary@piedmont.k12.ca.us Subscribe to my updates

PMS Home » Faculty » PMS Library »

Archive for October, 2009

Beastly

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

beastly

by Alex Flinn.  p. 304  Young Adult

Attention Twilight fans!   This compelling romance puts a contemporary spin on the Beauty and the Beast tale.  Popular fourteen-year-old Kyle Kingsbury is incredibly good looking, charming, rich, and really mean.  After playing an especially cruel trick on a homely girl,at a dance, a witch casts a spell on Kyle turning him into a beast–making him as ugly on the outside as he has been on the inside.  He only has two years to break the spell or live as a beast forever.  In order to do so, he must fall in true love with someone who will love him back and give him, of course, a kiss!

Connections:  Here are some other excellent versions of the Beauty and the Beast story:  Beast by Donna Jo Napoli; Rose Daughter and Beauty by Robin McKinley.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in New Book Reviews | Comments Off

The City of Ember

Friday, October 16th, 2009

ember1by Jeanne DuPrau  p.270  Grades 5-8

What if the only light in your world came from an electric bulb?  And what if your society was running out of those light bulbs?  This is the situation that faces twelve-year-olds Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow.  Lina discovers a set of instructions that she believes will help her people get out of Ember into a world of light.  Unfortunately, her baby sister has chewed on the paper and only certain words are readable.  Will they provide enough clues for Lina and Doon to find the escape route through the underground pipeworks.  And why are the city officials trying to arrest them?

Connections:  The Books of Ember series also includes People of Sparks,  Prophet of Yonwood and The Diamond of Darkhold.

sparks2

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in New Book Reviews | Comments Off

The Entomological Tales of Augustus T. Percival: Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone

Sunday, October 11th, 2009

petronella1by Dene Low.  p. 196    Grades 5-8

What a funny, frothy farce!  Set in Victorian England, this improbable mystery concerns sixteen-year-old Petronella who is about to have her London debut when her guardian Uncle Augustus swallows a giant beetle and develops an insatiable hunger for all insects.  The story begins at Petronella’s sixteenth birthday party on her large country estate where her uncle swallows the bug, two of her celebrity guests disappear, and we meet the romantic Lord James Sinclair.  Filled with Petronella’s witty observations and banter, lots of slapstick, luscious language,and some romantic possibilities, this books is a delight to read.

Connections:  If you enjoy this book, try the short stories and novels by P.G. Wodehouse such as How Right You Are, Jeeves, Carry on, Jeeves, and Leave It to Psmith.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in New Book Reviews | Comments Off

H.I.V.E.: Higher Institute of Villainous Education

Sunday, October 11th, 2009

hiveby Mark Walden.  p. 309  Grades 5-8

A school for bad kids?!  That’s what H.I.V.E., the Higher Institute for Villainous Education, purports to be.  Kids who appear to have special talents that could be used for evil are kidnapped and brought to this school located on a remote island where adults interested in world domination train the students in various nefarious skills.  The island appears to have no escape, but as soon as thirteen-year-old Otto arrives, he and three of his new classmates begin plotting their get away.  A counterpoint to Hogwarts, at H.I.V.E., technology and brains replace magic and wizardry.

Connections:  Other fast-paced adventures set in special schools include:  David Lubar’s Hidden Talents and its sequel True Talents; James Patterson’s Maximum Ride series; Trenton Stewart’s The Mysterious Benedict Society; and Ally Carter’s I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You.  PMS Library also owns the sequel–H.I.V.E. : the Overlord Protocol .

 hive2

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in New Book Reviews | Comments Off

CYRM Winners for 2009

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Have you read the California Young Reader Medal winners for 2009?

alabama-moon3

Middle School – Alabama Moon by Watt Key

 

 

 

part-time-indian2Young Adult – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Posted in Library News | Comments Off

«
«