A Library Card is “Elemental”!
Friends of the Library Big Book Sale
Come to find great books at great bargains! Help support the Friends of the Library and the Fondulac District Library with this annual Big Book Sale. Reasonably prices hard backs and paperback books for all ages.
FDL Reads: The Last Tale of the Flower Bride
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride By: Roshani Chokshi
Reviewed by: Susie Rivera Adult Services Specialist
Genre: Gothic, Magic Realism
Suggested Age: Adults
What is the book about? The narrator, otherwise only known as the Bridegroom, is a professor of mythology and lover of fairy tales. One evening he meets a beautiful heiress named Indigo and becomes enamored with her. The couple are married very quickly and Indigo makes the narrator promise not to ask her about her past. But, when a family emergency happens, the newlyweds must travel back to Indigo’s family estate where all her dark secrets eventually come to the surface.
My Review: This book is a classic noir or gothic tale. There is a enigmatic main character, a ominous mansion, and mysterious secrets ready to surface. It takes place in modern times, although historical throwbacks almost make it seem Victorian in some aspects. We get flashbacks from the past that eventually shed light on the events leading up to the end of the novel. The plot twist at the end is surprising but many will see it coming. The clues are there the whole time. Despite being labeled as a fantasy, I would place this in the realm of Magic Realism. The house is personified so much that the reader isn’t sure if it’s really a conscious entity with its own desires. The main characters, Indigo and Azure believe they can slip into a Fae realm and participate in rituals that will grant them “magic.” Overall, the writing is beautiful and the story kept me wondering just how dark Indigo’s past really was.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Mysterious, Gothic, Lyrical
Give This a Try if You Like…The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue by V.E Schwab, Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross, Mexican Gothic Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Rating: 4/5
Story Time in a Box for Back-to-School
Back to school time can mean new routines for the whole family. Sometimes we need help with those routines and that is where a Storytime in a Box kit can help! All of these kits include a few stories related to the theme, a flannel board, and fun games and activities!
Getting Dressed – Work on those self-dressing skills with shoe-tying practice, a sock matching game, and button/snap/zip toy. This kit also includes the super-fun Best Dressed Banana game!
Going to School – This kit helps separation anxiety about going back to school as well as establishing that morning routine.
ABCs – Lots of fun with letter games, puzzles and stories.
If going back to school means that you can not make it to our regular storytimes – there are many other topics that you can check out to make your own story times at home! Click here to view all of our Story Time in a Box Kits!
– Post by Julie Fonseca, Youth Services Assistant
FDL Reads: Anne of West Philly
Anne of West Philly by Ivy Weir and Myisha Haynes (Illustrator)
Reviewed by: Deb Alig, Circulation Assistant
Genre: Middle Grade Graphic Novel
Suggested Age: Middle school (11-14)
What is the book about? Anne of West Philly, by Ivy Weir, is a graphic novel retelling of L. M. Montgomery’s classic children’s novel Anne of Green Gables. If you’re familiar with Montgomery’s plot, you will find similarities in Weir’s adaptation. The characters’ names in the retelling are like the names in the original story, but the characters’ ethnicities are different. The characters in Anne of West Philly are mostly Black and Hispanic instead of White like in Anne of Green Gables. The setting is different too. Montgomery’s story takes place on Prince Edward Island in Canada during the late nineteenth century, and Weir’s retelling takes place in the city of West Philadelphia in Pennsylvania during modern time. Just like Montgomery’s Anne, Weir’s Anne is curious, energetic, competitive, imaginative, sensitive, and smart. But she also has a tendency to get into trouble which makes Marilla, her foster mom, question whether she and her brother Matthew should keep her. In both stories, Anne is good friends with Diana Barry, and she dislikes a popular boy named Gilbert Blythe who competes with her academically. In Montgomery’s telling, Anne eventually develops a crush on Gilbert, but in Weir’s adaptation, Anne develops a crush on a female character. In West Philly, Weir’s Anne attends a school with a STEM program and a robotics club which is very different than the one room school house on Prince Edward Island that Montgomery’s Anne attends. In both stories, the Cuthberts grow quite fond of Anne and choose to keep her as their own.
My Review: I am a fan of the original Anne of Green Gables, so naturally I enjoyed Weir and Hayne’s graphic retelling. The illustrations are detailed, colorful, and bright, and they clearly capture the action that is taking place. The retelling is cleverly based on the original story with the main differences being the setting and the race of the characters. Children who are Black or Hispanic and who live in a modern day city may identify more with the characters in Anne of West Philly than with the characters in Anne of Green Gables. But regardless, the authors of both books, through their stories, encourage young readers to have good values, respectful behavior, kind attitudes, accepting mindsets, and loving hearts.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Surprising, Clever, and Entertaining
Give This a Try if You Like…The Secret Garden on 81t Street, also a graphic novel by Ivy Weir or Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel by Mariah Marsden. The original Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery has been made into musicals, plays, animation, films, and live action TV programs.
Rating: 4.5/5
#FDL: While You’re Waiting to Read Fourth Wing
Rebecca Yarros’ The Fourth Wing is topping the bestseller charts this summer! While you are waiting to get your hands on this romantasy, try one of these similar titles in our collection.
A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire LegrandLady Gemma Ashbourne seemingly has it all. She’s young, gorgeous, and rich. But underneath her glittering façade, Gemma is deeply sad. Years ago, her sister Mara was taken to the Middlemist to guard against treacherous magic. Her mother abandoned the family. Her father and eldest sister, Farrin—embroiled in a deadly blood feud with the mysterious Bask family—often forget Gemma exists. Worst of all, Gemma is the only Ashbourne to possess no magic. Instead, her body fights it like poison. Constantly ill, aching with loneliness, Gemma craves love and yearns to belong.
Suspenseful fantasy, rich worldbuilding, Romantasy
At the Convent of Sweet Mercy, young girls are raised to be killers. In some few children the old bloods show, gifting rare talents that can be honed to deadly or mystic effect. But even the mistresses of sword and shadow don’t truly understand what they have purchased when Nona Grey is brought to their halls. A bloodstained child of nine falsely accused of murder, guilty of worse, Nona is stolen from the shadow of the noose. It takes ten years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist, but under Abbess Glass’s care there is much more to learn than the arts of death. Among her class Nona finds a new family—and new enemies.
Annie and Lee were just children when a brutal revolution changed their world, giving everyone–even the lowborn–a chance to test into the governing class of dragonriders. Now they are both rising stars in the new regime, despite backgrounds that couldn’t be more different. Annie’s lowborn family was executed by dragonfire, while Lee’s aristocratic family was murdered by revolutionaries. Growing up in the same orphanage forged their friendship, and seven years of training have made them rivals for the top position in the dragonriding fleet. But everything changes when survivors from the old regime surface, bent on reclaiming the city.
Action packed, Fantasy Romance, Forbidden love
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction – but assassins are getting closer to her door. Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic. Across the dark sea, Tané has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel. Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa TahirUnder the Martial Empire, those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear. When Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy. There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.
Young Adult, Richly Detailed, Dystopia, Romance Fantasy
-Annotations from the publishers
–Post by Susie Rivera, Adult Services Specialist
#FDL is an update on all things Fondulac District Library and books.