Reading - The First Phone Call from Heaven

The First Phone Call from Heaven by Mitch Albom

One morning in the small town of Coldwater, Michigan, the phones start ringing. The voices say they are calling from heaven. Is it the greatest miracle ever? Or some cruel hoax? As news of these strange calls spreads, outsiders flock to Coldwater to be a part of it. At the same time, a disgraced pilot named Sully Harding returns to Coldwater from prison to discover his hometown gripped by "miracle fever." Even his young son carries a toy phone, hoping to hear from his mother in heaven. As the calls increase, and proof of an afterlife begins to surface, the town—and the world—transforms. Only Sully, convinced there is nothing beyond this sad life, digs into the phenomenon, determined to disprove it for his child and his own broken heart. Moving seamlessly between the invention of the telephone in 1876 and a world obsessed with the next level of communication, Mitch Albom takes readers on a breathtaking ride of frenzied hope.

Reading - Judy Moody Declares Independence

Judy Moody Declares Independence by Megan McDonald A junior fiction

Hear ye! Hear ye! Everyone knows that Judy Moody has a mood for every occasion, and now a visit to Boston has put our famous third grader in a revolutionary mood. When Judy meets an English girl named Tori at the Tea Party ship, she is gobsmacked to learn how many liberties her British friend enjoys — her very own phone, private loo, and pounds of allowance. When a day of cheerfully doing her chores doesn't earn Judy Moody more rights, and staging a revolt in the form of a tea-throwing Boston Tub Party has her dad reading the riot act, Judy is forced into temporary retreat. Who would guess that a real-life crisis involving her brother, Stink, would finally give Judy a chance to show her courageous quick thinking - -and prove her independence, once and for all?

Reading - Judy Moody was in a Mood

Judy Moody was in a Mood by Megan Mcdonald A junior fiction.

"Judy Moody was in a mood. Not a good mood. A bad mood. A mad-faced mood." To start, Judy Moody doesn't have high hopes for third grade. Her new desk won't have an armadillo sticker with her name on it. Her new classroom will not have a porcupine named Roger. And with her luck, she'll get stuck sitting in the first row, where Mr. Todd will notice every time she tries to pass a note to her best friend, Rocky. An aspiring doctor, Judy does have a little brother who comes in handy for practicing medicine, a cool new pet, and a huge Band-Aid collection.

Reading - Chickenfeed

Chickenfeed by Minette Walters

A body is found in a chicken run . . . Based on the true story of the ‘chicken farm murder’ which took place in Blackness, Crowborough, East Sussex in December, 1924. Norman Thorne was found guilty of the murder of Elsie Cameron, but even at the time of his execution there were doubts about his guilt. Still swearing his innocence, Norman Thorne was hanged on 22 April 1925.

Reading P.S. Longer Letter Later

P.S. Longer Letter Later by Paula Danziger and Ann M Martin

Elizabeth and Tara*Starr are totally different. Tara*Starr wears glitter and sequins, loves to be the center of attention, and is the only child of young parents who are taking a long time to grow up. Elizabeth is shy and quiet, hates being the center of attention, and lives in a house in which possessions are more important than feelings. So of course they're best friends. Now that Tara*Starr has moved away, the girls continue their friendship through letters. Then life changes for both of them. While Tara*Starr family settles down, Elizabeth's falls apart. Their letters chronicle these events, and the realization that they can depend on each other and on themselves.

Reading - Theodore Boone: The Abduction

Theodore Boone: The Abduction by John Grisham

When Theodore Boone's best friend, April, disappears from her bedroom in the middle of the night, no one, not even he, who knows April better than anyone - has answers. As fear ripples through his small hometown and the police hit dead ends, it's up to Theo to use his legal knowledge and investigative skills to chase down the truth and save April.

Reading - Judy Moody Around the World in 8 1/2 Days

Judy Moody Around the World in 8 1/2 Days by Megan McDonald

Judy Moody is one of a kind, and she likes it that way. Enter Amy Namey, another third-grader with a name that rhymes! She just might turn out to be Judy's worst enemy - or a new best friend. Meanwhile, Judy's old best friends, Rocky and Frank Pearl, are M-A-D that Judy's thinking more about Amy Same-Samey and the My-Name-Is-A-Poem Club than about them. How can they work together on a class Around-The-World project if they won't even talk to each other?

Reading - Jake Cake: The Pirate Curse

Jake Cake: The Pirate Curse by Michael Broad

'I'm Jake Cake, and these are my adventures. They're all true, but I bet you don't believe me. After all, have you ever been cursed by a ghostly pirate? Has an alien ever abducted your granny? Or have you ever been tricked by a genie? Stuff that happens to me is unbelievable!'

Reading - Scissors Paper Stone

Scissors Paper Stone by Elizabeth Day

Charles Redfern is in a coma. As he lies motionless in hospital, his wife Anne and daughter Charlotte are forced to come together to confront their relationships with him - and with each other. Anne, once regarded as beautiful and clever, has felt herself disappearing for years, paling beside her husband's harsh brilliance. Anxious to fit in with the expectations of the people around her, she keeps her disillusionment buried inside, mechanically attending the endless round of drinks parties and dinners in her keenly social neighbourhood, and trying to ignore the guilt that trails behind her like a shadow. Charlotte, battling an inner darkness that threatens to overwhelm her, is desperate to prevent her relationship with not-yet-divorced Gabriel from disintegrating through her own self-sabotage. As the full truth of Charles's hold over them emerges into the light, both women must come to terms with the choices they have made, and the uncertainty of a future without the figure that has dominated them for so long.

Reading - When You Were Here

When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney

Danny's mother lost her five-year battle with cancer three weeks before his graduation-the one day that she was hanging on to see. Now Danny is left alone, with only his memories, his dog, and his heart-breaking ex-girlfriend for company. He doesn't know how to figure out what to do with her estate, what to say for his Valedictorian speech, let alone how to live or be happy anymore. When he gets a letter from his mom's property manager in Tokyo, where she had been going for treatment, it shows a side of a side of his mother he never knew. So, with no other sense of direction, Danny travels to Tokyo to connect with his mother's memory and make sense of her final months, which seemed filled with more joy than Danny ever knew. There, among the cherry blossoms, temples, and crowds, and with the help of an almost-but-definitely-not Harajuku girl, he begins to see how it may not have been ancient magic or mystical treatment that kept his mother going. Perhaps, the secret of how to live lies in how she died.