The Public Library of Brookline

New Books

• Kepler’s Dream by Bell.  While her mother undergoes a radical cancer treatment, eleven-year-old Ella stays with her father’s mother in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  She learns about grammar and family history, and helps investigate the theft of an extremely rare book from her grandmother’s library.  This is a very nicely written book, with a funny and lively narrator.  Touching with a bit of adventure as well.
• Small Medium at Large by Levy.  After being hit by lightning, twelve-year-old Lilah, discovers that she can communicate with dead people, including her grandmother, who wants Lilah to find a girlfriend for her divorced Dad.  And if that’s not enough, her Dad’s new love might just be her crush’s mother!  In this case, judge a book by its cover, and title.  This is a great summer read with a feisty narrator and a funny supporting cast.
• The Unfortunate Son by Leeds.  Luc, a youth born with one ear and raised by a drunken father in 15th century France, finds a better home with fisherman Pons, his sister Mattie, and their ward Beatrice, that daughter of a disgraced knight.  Even after being kidnapped and sold into slavery in Africa, he remains remarkably fortunate.  A page-turning adventure about luck, family and fortune.
• Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass by Freedman.  Lincoln and Douglass were born poor.  Bother were self-educated, and both rose to prominence by their own efforts.  Despite their differences and the fact that they met face-to-face only three times in their lives, Lincoln and Douglass forged a friendship based on mutual respect and understanding.  Their exchange of ideas influenced the course of the Civil War and left its mark on race relations in America forever.
• Barnum’s Bones by Fern.  Right from the start Barnum was an unusual boy.  He had an unusual name, an unusual way of dressing, and a very unusual hobby: fossil hunting.  He went to work for the American Museum of Natural History building up their dinosaur collection, but he longed to discover a new species himself.  Then, starting in 1902 and taking months of digging and more months of fitting bones together he discovered the world’s first Tyrannosaurus Rex!  This is a great nonfiction story of perseverance and hard work!
• Citizen Scientists by Burns.  You don’t need to be a scientist to take part in real scientific experiments.  Just get out into a field, park or your own backyard!  Through your own observations you can build scientists’ knowledge about the environment.  When scientists were trying to find out where monarch butterflies went in the winter, who helped find the answer?  Someone just like you!
• Pirate Princess by Bardhan-Quallen.  Princess Bea isn’t like other princesses.  She prefers pirate ships over tea parties and the salty sea over silly dolls, but what’s a landlocked princess to do?  When Captain Jack offers Bea a place aboard his ship it’s a dream come tur!  Or is it?  Enjoy this new fun picture book full of girl power!
• The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by Joyce.  Morris Lessmore loved words.  He loved stories.  He loved books, but every story has its upsets and one day everything in his life, including his own story, is scattered to the winds.  Now it’s up to the power of story to save the day!  A beautiful written version of the Oscar-winning animated short.  Pick this one up if you haven’t done so already because it’s beautiful and powerful.  A book that is truly for book lovers.

Happy reading Brookline, we’ll see you soon!