MARIANNE B. 8 months ago

13-yr-old Rachel and best friend Micah had a mock engagement when they were 6 after Micah told Rachel he loved her. Now Micah tells her he wants a more serious involvement than friendship, but Rachel is sure she doesn’t want that from him or from any other boy.

Financial problems at home escalate with mom’s layoff from the school library, and both parents’ inability to manage their dreams with the reality of living day to day. Rachel and her 8-yr-old sister Ivy are no strangers to extremely thrifty living with rummaging at thrift stores, recycling and re-purposing toys, bikes, and furniture. This summer financial tensions escalate, and the sisters overhear their parents’ heated arguments about money.

To help out, Rachel gets a job working for wealthy new neighbors next door who raise farm animals. She forms attachments to them, and becomes horrified to learn that Lucy the pig will be slaughtered for meat and shared with Rachel’s family.

The arrival of new girl Cybil who says she is gender fluid causes problems between Rachel and Micah as Cybil seeks out Rachel’s company. Rachel is unsure how she feels, but knows that Cybil affects her physically in ways that Micah doesn’t. The family’s beloved farm’s foreclosure and the family’s move into what seems to be a public housing apartment complex is more than anyone can bear. Micah and Cybil promise to be Rachel’s friends forever. Micah understands that Rachel can’t be more than that, and the possibility that Rachel and Cybil can, is a reality.

Slow moving and plodding plot like a long hot summer serves as a device to mirror the increasing agony over the inevitable inexorable toll of poverty. It erupts with the gut-wrenching storm of the move and the painful task of making an ugly apartment a home. This bittersweet slice of life (the family’s farm is Bittersweet Farm) shows a family’s struggle to survive, especially among financially solvent friends. Good characterization, except for that of Ivy and Cybil. The portrayal of Ivy, the pesky younger sister with a penchant for revolting behavior (flatulence on demand, burping, displaying chewed up food, refusing personal bathing and grooming to the point of smelling foul) seems exaggerated. Ivy’s matter-of-fact wisdom beyond her years’ acceptance of an attraction between Rachel and Cybil seems unrealistic and is used to propel Rachel into confronting her own feelings which she feels instinctively unprepared to do. Ivy is irritating and maddening, then suddenly endearing and charming. Cybil is a bit too aggressive for her age as she tries to scout a new conquest in Rachel. These are flaws in a tautly-written novel of loss and the realization that home is wherever the heart is. Rec. Grades 6 and up. Marianne Bucci, Head, Children’s Dept., NER

Action-packed. Adventure. Suspense. Violence. Robbery. For Mature audiences. Awesome Cast.

Takers...they take for a living. Fast-paced cop and robbers film.  Packed with nice actors and gripping scenes.  Exciting chases.  Adult theme and language.  Outstanding fashion statements by the gentlemen. Unexpected ending.

a romantic comedy where Roxanne goes to Charlie for help with a relationship she wants with Chris. Charlie's been helping Chris woo Roxanne.She starts to fall for Chris but when she spends time with him realizes he's not the one who's been writing the letters.  enjoyed this movie.

a story about a woman who worked for a congressman who eventually become a vice presidential candidate. You tells her tales and adventures on her way to working in the white house. A little slow for me at first the got better. Enjoyed  reading this book

Soon to be 12, Celi Rivera, drummer and bomba dancer, feels a special connection to Luna, the spirit of the dancing moon that lives in her heart. Mima, her mother, insists that Celi will have the special Moon Ceremony that celebrates a girl’s menarche to which she will invite all of the female friends and relatives in their circle. Horrified by a public display of what Celi considers to be a private, personal function, she vehemently resists her mother’s plans.

 

 Her anxiety increases when her mutually reciprocated crush on Ivan threatens her relationship with her best friend Magda. Magda reveals that she wants to assume a masculine identity as Marco to co-exist with Magda. Celi is surprised that Magda/Marco’s parents and her own embrace and support that decision through their cultural belief that the spirit of gender duality is sacred. Celi soon begins to understand the importance of the Moon Ceremony that stems from the ancient roots of her Mexica, Puerto Rican, Afro-Caribbean, Native heritage. 

 

This beautifully written tour de force verse novel of a girl’s initiation in becoming a woman captures the anxiety and fear with which many girls approach first menstruation, and it celebrates a girl’s natural entrance into female adulthood. Readers may object to Mima’s frankness in preparing Celi and in encouraging her younger brother and father to observe Celi’s breast development as she wears her first bra. 

 

The Author’s Note, a letter to the reader, explains the origins of the Moon Ceremony and other cultural celebrations of rites of maturation. The author includes the lovely poem, “A Flower Song For Maidens Coming of Age” (Songs of the Dzitbalche 7) translated by David Bowles. Also included is a reproducible chart of the Moon Cycle (My Moon Within) that the reader can use to see how she “connects to the celestial moon,” not solely for charting a menstrual cycle. Truly a lovely, well-crafted novel! Marianne Bucci, Head, Children's Dept., NER

Nia, a 14-yr-old girl born in the slums of Jakarta, Indonesia, cares for a younger brother and an alcoholic father who squanders whatever cash he earns from his food cart business. Nia has to drop out of school because there is no money to continue her education. Her storytelling skills help her deal with the challenges in her life.

When her father disappears for days, Nia must take over his food-cart business to feed herself and her little brother. A tragic bus accident leaves her unharmed. An older shopkeeper rescues her, and tells her to charge more for the food she fries because she is lucky, and her food will bring good luck to all who purchase it. Against her better judgement and needing the money to survive, she does what he tells her. The plan backfires when an angry mob accuses her of stealing and tries to set her on fire.

An elderly woman who tends the cemetery stops the violence . With her aid, Nia realizes that the gentleman who rescued her from the bus accident has negotiated with her father to marry her, move her into his mother’s home to be a servant until she is 16 at which time he will marry her. Nia discovers that her absentee father has a second family with a 19 yr-old wife and their baby.

This is a powerful account of harsh and unsavory life in the Indonesian slums, and the fate of the children, particularly girls, who are born into it. Nia is a strong heroine, one who will appeal to most girls. Good plot and characterization of other characters. A must-read for middle school readers! A portion of the proceeds from this book support Plan International Canada, a member of the global organization dedicated to advancing children’s rights and equality for girls. Marianne Bucci, Head, Children's Dept., NER

 

MARIANNE B. 9 months ago

This powerful tear-jerker epistolary novel novel explores the themes of teen pregnancy, sexual orientation, and a family destroyed by what is perceived as a loss of moral values and resultant grave sin. Cilla. a 16-yr-old from a strict Catholic family, reveals that she is pregnant. Horrified, ashamed, and angered, her parents send her away to live with great Aunt Maureen on her farm until the baby is born.

 Despite Cilla's desire to keep her baby, they decide that the baby will be available for adoption, and that Cilla will enroll in St. Augustine's Catholic School for Girls. Cilla's 7th grade sister Evie write letters to Cilla which are never answered.

 Their parents never discuss their actions, saying only that Cilla's behavior was sinful. Evie cannot understand her parents' behavior, and she begins to question and resent the religious practices and adherence to Catholicism. Adding to Evie's distress is her new friend June's proud declaration of her family's atheism.

 Evie and June soon discover that their close friendship is developing into a mutual sexual attraction. As Evie's fondness for June evolves, her resentment toward Catholicism and her parents grows. In a climactic moment, Evie's parents reveal the heartbreaking truth that Cilla died in labor and that the baby was adopted. Evie cannot forgive them for what she believes is greater sinning than having sex, becoming pregnant, or being gay. Healing begins when Evie's mother reveals that she and Evie's father had been in the same situation as Cilla, but that they suffered a miscarriage. She tells Evie that their faith helped them move forward. This very broken family begins to mend, and Evie tries to discern what her beliefs really are. 

The glaring primary flaw in this novel is its heavily anti-Catholic bias which is couched in the natural and normal questioning of a pre-teen who is suffering from loss, hurt, anger, and confusion over her sexual orientation. The author seems to have imbued Evie with her own personal conflicts toward Catholicism. She uses this as a platform for ridiculing Catholicism to the point of ugly disrespect (descriptive references to the crucifix and Lenten practices among others). 

This spoils what could have been a magnificent novel and a springboard for dialog by stacking the deck against Catholicism. Although I enjoyed the book very much, I was offended by its blatant bias against Catholicism. I recommend that parents and children read this together and engage in the wonderful opportunity to discuss and honestly explore their personal moral values and religious beliefs. Marianne Bucci, Head, Children's Dept., NER

 

 

Will, Violet, Basil, and Kara, students at the Garden Gnome Academy, have the unpopular and unusual teacher, Mr. Butternut, who loves getting garden dirty. The other students have the mysterious and sinister Mr. Thorn who prefers to raise exotic plants. Unusual characters such as a mischievous cat, Wrigley the Worm, naked mole rats add to the misadventures of the 4 students in their quest to learn how to plant a vegetable garden. A confrontation between Mr. Butternut and Mr. Thorn reveals that Mr. Butternut is the legendary Captain Compost. Humorous details in the full-color art, especially the drawing of a carnivorous plant biting its creator, Mr. Thorn, will delight readers. Clear instructions for making a compost bin, seed pots, potting mix, grow light shelf, cold frame, container garden, soap insecticide. Nonfiction within fiction, this will appeal to fans of the Maker Comics Series and to graphic novel readers who want more than a good story! Marianne Bucci, Head, Children’s Dept., Northeast Regional Library.

 

 

Popular CD series of songs by famous rock bands and artists that are re-arranged to be soothing lullaby-type music to lull baby (and others) to sleep. Tinkling bells and xylophones replace the White Stripes’ heavy drums and guitars to provide softer renditions of their amped-up originals. Thus CD, almost meditative, lulled this reviewer into an afternoon nap! Marianne Bucci, Head, Children’s Dept., Northeast Regional Library. 1/26/21

 

 

Sensitive narration of a tender Christmas story by Patricia MacLachlan. Lily & Liam arrive at their grandparents’ farm to spend the week before Christmas. Liam notices that White Cow is sad and lonely. His preoccupation with her condition distresses Lily. Determined to ease White Cow’s loneliness, Liam posts cow wanted notices all over town and he sells his beloved books. With the money from the sale combined with money he and Lily have saved to buy Christmas presents, he has enough to buy a calf destined for the meat market. Grandma is on hand to help facilitate the purchase. A Christmas miracle occurs when several cows arrive at the farm to keep White Cow company on Christmas Eve. Although a Christmas story, this can be enjoyed any time because of its message of love, compassion, and kindness to animals. A true gift indeed! Recommend for ages 7 and up. Marianne Bucci, Head, Children’s Dept., Northeast Regional Library. 2/1/21

 

Aladdin is a live action movie adapted from the original Disney movie, Aladdin. Aladdin is about a street urchin named Aladdin who meets Princess Jasmine, who he falls in love with, a powerful genie, who he befriends, and Jafar, who Aladdin battles. This is a fun movie that brings you old music you grew up with and even new music. When watching this movie, remember it is an adaptation, so it's going to be different than the original Aladdin. The actors, costumes, sets, and music were all wonderful and it was fun to see this story come to life. It doesn't just show you life in another culture, but shows you that you should just be yourself and be careful with what you wish for. I'd definitely watch this again and I recommend it for the whole family to watch!

Recent Fashion Design graduate Sasha (daughter of a rich manufacturer father) finds it hard to get hired in the Fashion Industry due to her inexperience and at times biased views of propspective explorers. In the meantime she spends her trust fund irresponsibly and is forced to return to China to learn a lesson in family, frienship, and finding your way. I enjoyed the movie; it was upbeat, funny, heartwarming and showed the importance of the age old saying: "You can't judge a book by It's cover!"

This book came out in 1998.  It is still relevant 23 years  later.  Maybe even more so.  The author was reporter for the Washington bureau of the Wall Street Journal.  He profiled Cedric Jenkins,  a hardworking, fiercely determined student at a chaotic inner city public high school.  The article won a Pulitzer Prize.  Ron Suskind expanded the article into an immensely readable book.

It resonated with me.  In all the years I have lived in Philadelphia, I have noticed that some of my in-laws, neighbors, acquaintances smirk when they learn of inner city public school students being accepted Ivy League colleges.  Nudge,nudge.  Wink, wink.  Affirmative Action!  My kid isn't the right color.  And on and on.

It reads like a suspense novel.  Will Cedric be accepted by a top school?  If he does pull it off,, how will he survive with dope smoking, partying sons and daughters of one percenters?  What will happen to his deep faith and his love and respect for his steadfast mother?  It's a roller coaster of a ride when we contemplate Cedric's future and the inequities of our nation's higher education.

Action. Adventure. Suspense. Violence. Thriller. Fast-paced. Revenge. Psychotic. Drug use.

Denzel Washington, Ice T and John Lithgow performs memorable roles in this action paced film. There are some nail biting scenes and a exciting unexpected ending. I recommend this movie if you like cops verses bad guy movies.

A few years after the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd travels through Texas reading newspapers aloud to paying customers entertaining with news of the world.  Back in the day, this was a real job.

He's an elderly widower who has fought in 3 wars.  His livelihood as a printer has been upended by the war so he scrapes by giving readings to live audiences from town to town.  He's set in his ways and his bones ache.  With reluctance, he accepts 50 dollar gold piece to deliver a ten year old former Kiowa captive to her German relatives 400 miles away.

Once their journey begins, danger lurks at every turn.  They must evade Kiowa and Comanche raiding parties, bandits and 3 sinister men, who have dark designs on Johanna, the former captive.

The Captain and the 10 year old are an interesting match.  At first there is no trust between them.  He is cranky, weary and set in his ways.  She is cranky, wiley and stubborn in Kiowa ways. Together, they form a delicate alliance as they make their way south to an uncertain future.    

This slender novel was nominated for the National Book award in 2016.  This month you can see it on Netflix,starring Tom Hanks, as Captain Kidd. I'll be happy if it is half as good as the book.

This show kept me on my toes because I wanted to see how they was going to find the truth out about Liz Bancroft. From very first episode she was doing dirt. I just don't see how she didn't get caught sooner. She was getting away with murder like literally. It was like wow!!!

I liked the relationship between Scott & Bailey. They look out for eachothers backs. DCI Bailey seems really selfish and makes alot of poor decisions in her personal life without thinking about how it affects other people. DCI seems more mature and reserved. My favorote character is Gil she is the Senior Investigating Officer.(SIO) But she knows how to solve crimes like the back of her hand she is very much so by the book. The first season seems more about the cast than the crimes. You can see how be being too busy with your job can negatively effect your family.But I could not stop watching the show.

Comedy. Hilarious. Funny Characters. Memorable Moments. Romance.

Bill Murray is very entertaining. This movie is from the '90 but the message is still the same.  In reality if you could actually re-live the past and get a chance to correct some wrongs life would be so much different for lots of people.  I think this is a positive movie and worth watching.  The characters are funny and memorable.  Family can watch together.

HOW THE KING OF ELFHAME LEARNED TO HATE STORIES by Holly Black is a YA novella that is following The Folk of the Air series. This novella reveals a deeper look into Cardan and shows his life before THE CRUEL PRINCE and life after THE QUEEN OF NOTHING. You will see familiar scenes from The Folk of the Air trilogy told from Cardan’s point-of-view. Each chapter has beautiful artwork illustrated by Rovina Cai, which brings the characters and faerie world alive. I loved

The Folk of the Air series and I was excited to pick this novella up as I missed the characters and this world. In the beginning of the trilogy, Cardan was an unlikeable man, but ended up becoming a lot more likeable throughout the series. I only knew a little bit about Cardan’s childhood, and it was interesting to see how he became the way he did. At some points reading the novella, I was intrigued. However, there were some pages where I was kind of bored. I didn’t get the excitement I did when I read the trilogy. The artwork was very beautiful and really captured the story well. I did like how the story started and ended, but there were just times where I felt myself skimming the pages. I think I was spending more time trying to remember every little detail from the trilogy.

All in all, if you enjoyed The Folk Air series, I recommend reading this as you will be excited to be introduced to all of your favorite characters again. Just remember that it mostly focuses on Cardan and his childhood, and you’ll notice that Holly Black’s writing is still fun, creative, and will take you on an adventure.

Funny. Family Movie. Kid Friendly. Feel Good Movie. Good Ending.

When you wake up with gum in your hair....you can kinda guess what kind of day it going to be.  From the very start of this day to the very end it was a total disaster (not just for Alexander but for the whole family). The two-year old even has a bad day. But, somehow they have to manage to make it through.  This movie was fun to watch. The family's interactions are hilarious. This is a movie that the family can enjoy watching  together.  I recommend it to Tweens.