Ann recommends "The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander

This book is written in verse and is a story about 2 twin teens and their passion for basketball which they share with their father. The teens are accomplished players on their middle school basketball team. Their father was also a very talented basketball player in his youth. He was all set to go pro, but an injury put a stop to those aspirations. However, he shares his love and knowledge of the game by coaching his sons and giving them “basketball rules”. Each rule is a tip to help make them a better player, but are also life lessons to help them navigate complex family relationships, as well as, the joys and tragedies of life.

Appropriate for upper elementary school age children, grades 4-6.

Kate recommends "Love Poems for People with Children"

These short, funny poems explore the joys of family life and the challenges of keeping romance alive while raising children. Many parents will relate to author John Kenney’s topics, from flying with a baby to the grocery demands of a 26-year-old who seems to have no intention of ever leaving the family home.

This book is best for adults, as alcohol, marijuana, sex and disgusting baby diapers are all mentioned at some point.

Family Vacation

This is relaxing

I think to myself

on the first day of our vacation

as I hide

in the men’s room

of a Roy Rogers

at a rest stop

just off bumper-to-bumper I-95

while the kids

continue fighting

with tennis racquets

in the back seat.

And only five more hours to go.

I don’t want to leave this place

I whisper aloud.

Neither do I

says the man in the next stall.

Gretchen recommends "What Rose Forgot"

Nevada Barr, author of the popular Anna Pigeon series, has written an engaging standalone mystery called “What Rose Forgot.”  Rose Dennis finds herself drugged and trapped in an Alzheimer’s unit in a nursing home which no recollection of how she got there.  She manages to escape and enlist help from her 13 year-old granddaughter Mel, Mel’s friend Royal, and her hacker sister Marion to find out why nursing home residents are mysteriously dying.  Barr writes laugh-out-loud moments in the book as the idiosyncratic Rose wildly outwits the villains while the plot of the book underscores the vulnerability of the growing population of seniors.  A great read for adults.

Filippa recommends "Lucky Broken Girl"

This book takes place in the 1960’s and it centers around Ruthie, a young Jewish, Cuban born immigrant to the United States. She is just adjusting to her new surroundings in NY when her family gets into a car crash that leaves her in a body cast for almost a year. While in this full body cast, Ruthie discovers what true friendship is and that she is stronger than she thinks. It’s a beautifully written story that shows the kindness of strangers in a strange world.

Ruth Behar lives in Ann Arbor so is a local writer too! She was born in Havana, Cuba and raised in New York.

Appropriate for school age children.

Connie recommends "The Lightkeeper's Daughter"

I really enjoyed the audio version of this book - available digitally via the CMPL Overdrive app.  For those of you with newer automobiles that do not have CD players in them, or for those who like to listen in general to audio books, CMPL offers many great (and free!) digital options.  Call us for more details!  

The narration in this audio book was excellent!  Although it is fiction, the book was inspired by those who served on the Great Lakes, tending lighthouses during the early 1900's.  The story is complex and moving and will keep you paying close attention throughout the book.

From goodreads.com:

"Though her mind is still sharp, Elizabeth's eyes have failed. No longer able to linger over her beloved books or gaze at the paintings that move her spirit, she fills the void with music and memories of her family—a past that suddenly becomes all too present when her late father's journals are found amid the ruins of an old shipwreck.

With the help of Morgan, a delinquent teenager performing community service, Elizabeth goes through the diaries, a journey through time that brings the two women closer together. Entry by entry, these unlikely friends are drawn deep into a world far removed from their own—to Porphyry Island on Lake Superior, where Elizabeth’s father manned the lighthouse seventy years before.

As the words on these musty pages come alive, Elizabeth and Morgan begin to realize that their fates are connected to the isolated island in ways they never dreamed. While the discovery of Morgan's connection sheds light onto her own family mysteries, the faded pages of the journals hold more questions than answers for Elizabeth, and threaten the very core of who she is."

Lisa recommends "Stomp"

I love books that encourage movement and action as they make reading a fun experience for kids.  Stomp by Ian Aurora is a new book that fits this category.  The listeners are encouraged to stomp and move throughout the book, whether you are stomping and wiggling your fingers or stomping and touching your nose.  For early child educators, this title is a great title for a crossing the midline activity.

Pair this title with From Head to Toe by Eric Carle and Clap Your Hands by Lorinda Cauley and you will have an entire room moving and grooving through story time.

Meghan recommends "Dora and the Lost City of Gold"

If you’ve been on the fence about watching Dora and the Lost City of Gold, I’m here to say “Go for it!’

This recent movie is a live-action reboot of the animated series Dora the Explorer, which ran on Nickelodeon from 2000 – 2009. In it, Dora lives in the jungle with her parents, who are explorers (and professors) searching for Parapata, a lost Incan city of gold. But when her parents get a lead on its location, they go off to find it while Dora is sent to stay with her Tia and Tio (and cousin Diego) in ‘the city’. First, Dora has some trouble assimilating in high school. Next, she stops hearing from her parents on her satellite phone. Then, she’s kidnapped by villains who are hoping she’ll lead them to her parents and Parapata. Unfortunately, Diego and two of her classmates are also kidnapped!

We watched this as a family and my 5-year old enjoyed the action and fart jokes. My 14-year old thought the representation of high school was spot-on, and got all the inside jokes about Dora, including Boots, songs about her backpack and little asides for the camera. I even enjoyed the self-aware humor and light-hearted fun.

Delicioso!