If you are sick and tired of reading – or even just hearing about – teen novels centered on vampires, zombies, suicide, and alienation, here’s a fresh and extremely worthwhile alternative: The Summer I Learned to Fly, by Dana Reinhardt.

The star is Drew Robin Solo, sometimes known as Birdie, a cautious and loner-ish adolescent trying hard to separate from her ADD mom who runs a trendy cheese shop in a sleepy town on the California coast. Drew has a pet rat, her dead father’s Book of Lists, and a big crush on Nick, the surfer guy who works at the cheese shop. The sweet, steady, engaging action of this novel takes place the summer Drew is going into eighth grade. When Drew meets enigmatic Emmett Crane in the alley behind the cheese shop, her life changes subtly and enormously, as she moves swiftly towards more confidence and the first real friendship of her life.

I couldn’t put this coming-of-age novel down until all 216 pages had been flipped. Now I’m eager to read Reinhardt’s other books, The Things a Brother Knows, How to Build a House, Harmless, and A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life.

As all AADL locations are closed monday for our annual staff training day, we're taking the opportunity to roll out some upgrades to aadl.org. In the process, aadl.org will be unavailable most of the day Monday. We've set it up so that nothing is due on Monday, so take a day off from managing your AADL account and relax as we implement some long-awaited new features! You can get a sneak peek at http://usability.aadl.org, or as always don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns before or after the upgrades. Thanks for your patience, and thanks for using the Library!

American Idol returned to television this week with the first rounds of auditions for season 9. It's hard to believe the show has been on for that long! I only started watching a couple years ago, but Idol is strangely addicting, and no matter how many times I'm told that it's silly, that it's rigged, etc., I just can't turn the TV off. Not in the American Idol spirit yet? Get prepared for this new season (minus Paula, plus Ellen, and said to be Simon's last!) by checking out the latest albums from past Idol winners and contestants:

Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson: All I Ever Wanted
Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood: Play On
Season 5 finalist Chris Daughtry: Leave This Town
Season 8 runner-up Adam Lambert: For Your Entertainment

And if you’re feeling nostalgic for the “good old days”, here are a few lesser-known Idol contestants you might recall: Bo Bice, Fantasia, Kimberley Locke, Elliott Yamin.

The extraordinary story of an unsung hero of the Civil Rights movement, Claudette Colvin, is told in this informational and inspirational book that is a National Book Award nominee.

Welcome Precious is a poetic tribute to life and its wondrous pleasures by award winning author Nikki Grimes. The illustrations by Brian Collier are stunning.

Imagine the grace and creativity of three recent University of Michigan's Department of Dance graduates. Now add the joy and spontaneity of children in grades Kindergarten through Third. A perfect recipe for a splendid afternoon with Adventures in Movement at the Traverwood Branch on Monday, August 10 at 2:00 pm. I can't wait to join in the fun with Jumping Off the Bandwagon!

Ali wants to be a master calligrapher like Yukat, a famous calligrapher who went to a high tower to practice when the Mongols attacked Iraq. As bombs fall upon Iraq once again, Ali like Yukat uses calligraphy to escape the horror of war. Readers experience how Ali feels when the word WAR flows from his pen but the word PEACE struggles to get on the page. A compelling and heatbreaking look into the life of a child of war.

4th of July is "Independence Day".
Celebrate "Independence" by learning personal stories of people who have stretched the definition of civil liberty in US history.
Our Children Can Soar
Madame President
Elizabeth Leads The Way
American Heroes: Robert Smalls
River Of Words: Story Of William Carlos Williams
Boy Named Beckoning:True Story of Dr. Carlos Montezuma

Ms. Rachel is doing FARMS this week in Preschool Storytime and Baby PlayGroups.
For the youngest children:
Farmer Doogie has plenty to do each day.
Follow a Hen on her walk around the farm in Rosie's Walk.
Sing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" along with Victor Johnson in the CD Country Blues for Kids.
For kids who like more of a story:
The farm is a noisy place in Too Much Noise.

Young @ Heart is a DVD title being passed around in my family from Washington State to Dallas to New Hampshire. It provides great perspective on living life! In view of this film, pop song lyrics take on completely new meanings....