This group is for readers ages 12 & Up. The group facilitator is staff member Mack Oliver (writerdancer10@gmail.com).
Upcoming Meeting: Sunday, July 8, 2018 at 5 PM
Upcoming Meeting: Sunday, August 12, 2018 at 5 PM
Upcoming Meeting: Sunday, September 9, 2018 at 5 PM
***PREVIOUS MEETING***
Sunday, June 10, 2018 at 5 PM
***PREVIOUS MEETING***
Sunday, May 13, 2018 at 5 PM
***PREVIOUS MEETING***
Sunday, April 8, 2018 at 5 PM
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Sunday, March 11, 2018 at 5 PM
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Sunday, February 11, 2018 at 5 PM
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Sunday, January 14, 2018 at 5 PM
***PREVIOUS MEETING***
Sunday, December 10, 2017 at 5 PM
*Please note: this book is available in paperback.
Upcoming Meeting: Sunday, November 12, 2017 at 5 PM
***PREVIOUS MEETING***
5 Year Anniversary Party: Sunday, October 15, 2017 at 5 PM
Please note: this is the 3rd Sunday of the month.
***PREVIOUS SELECTION***
September 10, 2017 at 5 PM
***PREVIOUS SELECTION***
Sunday, August 13, 2017 at 5 PM
***PREVIOUS MEETING***
for Sunday, July 9, 2017 at 5 PM
***PREVIOUS MEETING***
Sunday, June 11, 2017 at 5 PM
***PREVIOUS MEETING***
Sunday, May 14, 2017 at 5 PM
***PREVIOUS MEETING***
Sunday, April 9, 2017 at 5 PM
***PREVIOUS MEETING***
Sunday, March 12, 2017 at 5 PM
***PREVIOUS MEETING***
Upcoming Meeting: Sunday, February 12, 2017 at 5 PM
***PREVIOUS MEETING***
Sunday, January 8, 2017 at 5 PM
***PREVIOUS MEETING***
Sunday, December 12, 2016 at 5 PM
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Sunday, November 6, 2016 at 5 PM
**PREVIOUS MEETING***
Sunday, October 9, 2016 at 5 PM
***PREVIOUS MEETING***
Sunday, September 11 at 5 PM
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg.
***PREVIOUS SELECTON***
Sunday, August 14, 2016 at 5 PM
In 1960, thirteen-year-old Sophie slips through a maze into 19th- century Louisiana and finds nothing is as she expected.
***PREVIOUS SELECTION***
Sunday, July 10, 2016 at 5 PM
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Sunday, June 12, 2016 at 5 PM
Her grandfather's dying words lead thirteen-year-old Theodora Tenpenny to a valuable, hidden painting she fears may be stolen, but it is her search for answers in her Greenwich Village neighborhood that brings a real treasure.
***PREVIOUS SELECTION***
Sunday, May 8th at 5 PM
In 1848, a young boy witnesses a rare sight the birth of a bowhead, or ice whale, he calls Siku. Years later, he unwittingly brings about the death of an entire pod of whales, and only Siku survives. For this act, the boy receives a curse of banishment. Through the generations, this curse is handed down: Siku returns year after year, in reality and dreams, to haunt the boy s descendants. Told in alternating voices, both human and whale, Jean Craighead George s last novel shows the interconnectedness of humankind and the animals they depend on.
***PREVIOUS SELECTION***
Sunday, April 10th at 5 PM
The powerful story of one girl's triumphant journey, inspired by true tales of life in Sudan -- now in paperback. Life in Amira's peaceful Sudanese village is shattered when Janjaweed attackers arrive, unleashing unspeakable horrors. After losing nearly everything, Amira needs to find the strength to make the long journey on foot to safety at a refugee camp. She begins to lose hope, until the gift of a simple red pencil opens her mind -- and all kinds of possibilities.
***PREVIOUS SELECTION***
Sunday, March 13th at 5 PM
A "magical" new series from Pseudonymous Bosh, the bestselling author of the Secret Series, now in paperback! Magic is BAD.As in fake. Cheesy. Unreal. At least, that's what Clay, who has seen one magic show too many, thinks. When words from his journal appear mysteriously on his school wall as graffiti, he never imagines that magic might be to blame. And when the same graffiti lands him at Earth Ranch, a camp for "troubled" kids on a remote volcanic island, magic is the last thing he expects to find there. But at Earth Ranch, there is one strange surprise after another, until Clay no longer knows what to expect. Is he really talking to a llama? Did he really see a ghost? What is the scary secret hidden in the abandoned library? The only thing he knows for sure is that behind the clouds of vog (volcanic smog), nothing is as it seems. Can he solve the riddle of Earth Ranch before trouble erupts? Elusive author Pseudonymous Bosch introduces an extraordinary new series that will have you believing in the unbelievable.
***PREVIOUS SELECTION***
February 14th at 5 PM
While most of her friends obsess over Harry Potter, 12-year-old Sarah Nelson writes letters to Atticus Finch. Her best friend is a plant. And she's never known her mother, who left when Sarah was two. Everything changes when Sarah launches an investigation into her family's Big Secret.
****PREVIOUS SELECTION****
Sunday, January 10th at 5 PM
When a Bandit King comes to steal the magic that Ned s mother, a witch, is meant to keep, it s Ned who protects his community. In another kingdom, lives Aine, the daughter of the Bandit King. But when Aine and Ned s paths cross, can they trust each other enough to make their way through the treacherous woods and stop the war about to boil over?"
****PREVIOUS SELECTION****
December 13, 2015 at 5 PM
An evil force has been awakened from years of sleep and it is up to 14-year-old Edmund, an aspiring sorcerer, and his friends to stop it in the first novel of an epic new fantasy-adventure series.
*****PREVIOUS SELECTION*****
Sunday November 8 at 5 p.m.
**PREVIOUS SELECTION***
Sunday, September 13 at 5 p.m.
From James Dashner, the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series, which includes The Maze Runner—now a #1 movie worldwide—and The Scorch Trials—soon to be a major motion picture from Twentieth Century Fox that hits theaters on September 18, 2015—comes an all-new, edge-of-your seat adventure. The Eye of Minds is the first novel in the Mortality Doctrine series set in a world of hyperadvanced technology, cyberterrorists, and gaming beyond your wildest dreams . . . and your worst nightmares.
Michael is a gamer. And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world. The VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Why bother following the rules when most of them are dumb, anyway?
But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And one gamer has been doing exactly that, with murderous results.
The government knows that to catch a hacker, you need a hacker. And they’ve been watching Michael. If he accepts their challenge, Michael will need to go off the VirtNet grid to the back alleys and corners of the system human eyes have never seen—and there’s the possibility that the line between game and reality will be blurred forever.
***PREVIOUS SELECTION***
Sunday, August 9 at 5 p.m.
Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl's castle. To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there's far more to Howl and herself than first meets the eye.
***PREVIOUS SELECTION***
Sunday July 12 at 5 p.m.
***PREVIOUS SELECTION***
Sunday, March 8th at 5 pm
In Widowsbury, an isolated village where people believe "known is good, new is bad," three outcasts from the girls' school join forces with a home-schooled boy to uncover and combat the evil that is making people disappear.
***Previous selection***
Sunday, February 8th at 5 pm
North America has split into two warring nations. Fifteen-year-olds Day, a famous criminal, and June, the brilliant soldier hired to capture him, discover that they have a common enemy.
***Previous Selection***
In a society that purges 13-year-olds who are creative, identical twins Aaron and Alex are separated, one to attend University while the other, supposedly Eliminated, finds himself in a wondrous place where youths hone their abilities and learn magic.
***Previous Selection***
Sunday, December 14th at 5 PM
A young boy and his Norwegian grandmother, who is an expert on witches, together foil a witches' plot to destroy the world's children by turning them into mice
**Previous selection**
Sunday, November 9th at 5 PM
***DUE TO EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES, KIDS BOOK GROUP FOR THIS MONTH HAS BEEN CANCELLED***
After setting off from the island where he has been leading a solitary existence, thirteen-year-old Martin discovers a village with other children who have been living similarly without any adults, since the grown-ups have all been spirited away.
**Previous selection**
Sunday, October 12 at 5 pm
From the Emmy-winning host of "Survivor" comes a rollicking family adventure series. Jane, Buzz, Carter, and Vanessa, aged nine to 13, are on a sailing trip in the South Pacific intended to help them bond in their newly blended family when a massive storm strands them on a deserted island.
**Previous selection**
Sunday, September 14 at 5 pm
In this cross between "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "A Night in the Museum, " and Agatha Award winner uses rib-tickling humor to create the perfect tale for his quirky characters. This edition includes a Q&A, a book list, and a puzzle.
**Previous selection**
Sunday, August 10 at 5 pm
From Edgar Award-winning author Vivian Vande Velde comes a fresh and funny twist on the fairy tale "The Princess and the Frog" in which a princess gets turned into a frog herself!
**Previous selection**
Sunday, July 13 at 5 pm
In a slightly magical world where everyone has a Talent, eleven-year-old Cady is an orphan with a phenomenal Talent for cake baking. But little does she know that fate has set her on a journey from the moment she was born. And her destiny leads her to a mysterious address that houses a lost luggage emporium, an old recipe, a family of children searching for their own Talents, and a Talent Thief who will alter her life forever. However, these encounters hold the key to Cady's past and how she became an orphan. If she's lucky, fate may reunite her with her long-lost parent.
**Previous selection**
Sunday, June 1st at 5 pm
**Previous selection**
Sunday, May 11th at 5 pm
You just can’t keep a good girl down . . . unless you use the proper methods. Piper McCloud can fly. Just like that. Easy as pie. Sure, she hasn’t mastered reverse propulsion and her turns are kind of sloppy, but she’s real good at loop-the-loops. Problem is, the good folk of Lowland County are afraid of Piper. And her ma’s at her wit’s end. So it seems only fitting that she leave her parents’ farm to attend a top-secret, maximum-security school for kids with exceptional abilities. School is great at first with a bunch of new friends whose skills range from super-strength to super-genius. (Plus all the homemade apple pie she can eat!) But Piper is special, even among the special. And there are consequences. Consequences too dire to talk about. Too crazy to consider. And too dangerous to ignore.
**Previous selection**
Sunday, April 13th at 5 pm
Every Wednesday, strange things happen in Max's village. The townsfolk shutter their windows, lock their doors, and hunker down to outwait this plague of peculiarities referred to simply as "the Wednesdays." But Max is too curious for that, and when he accidentally lets the Wednesdays inside, his furious parents cast him out for the rest of the day.
Soon he meets the Wednesdays themselves, strange silver-eyed boy-creatures obsessed with playing pranks. Initially he thinks they're quite fun, but they can also be cruel and dangerous. And then Max discovers a terrible secret: he must put an end to the curse of the Wednesdays...or become one himself.
**Previous selection**
Sunday, March 9th at 6 pm
Everyone in Remarkable is remarkable. Everyone except Jane, that is. While the rest of the town is busy being talented, gifted, or just plain extraordinary, she's never been anything but ordinary. Then Jane finds herself in school with the mischievous Grimlet twins, and her life suddenly gets a whole lot more interesting. And when a strange pirate captain appears in town, setting of a series of adventures that put the whole town in danger, it's up to Jane to save the day. Along the way, she might just find that she can be pretty remarkable after all.
**Previous selection**
Sunday, February 9th at 5 pm
Along the southern coast of England, atop the White Cliffs of Dover, stands a castle. And at that castle’s old keep is an orphanage. Delphi Keep has seen many youngsters come and go through its gates, and Ian Wigby and his sister, Theodosia, are happy to call it home. Life has always been simple at the Keep, and the orphanage safe, until one day, Ian and Theo find a silver treasure box. And within the box, a prophesy. Three thousand years ago a great Greek oracle wrote of a quest. A quest on which the fate of the world depends. A quest that names two children—Ian and Theodosia. Suddenly Delphi Keep is no longer safe. And Ian and Theo, along with a very special group of friends, realize they must unravel the meaning behind the scroll of Dover cavern before darkness falls on the world. And before an unfathomable evil catches up with them.
**Previous selection**
Sunday, January 12th, 2014 at 6 pm *** Please note time change***
"Thirteen is when a Beaumont’s savvy hits—and with one brother who causes hurricanes and another who creates electricity, Mibs Beaumont is eager to see what she gets. But just before the big day, Poppa is in a terrible accident. And now all Mibs wants is a savvy that will save him. In fact, Mibs is so sure she’ll get a powerful savvy that she sneaks a ride to the hospital on a rickety bus with her sibling and the preacher’s kids in tow. After this extraordinary adventure—full of talking tattoos and a kidnapping—not a soul on board will ever be the same."
**Previous selection**
Sunday, December 8th at 5 pm
It's spring in the valley and the Moomins are ready for adventure. Moomintroll and his friends find the Hobgoblin's top hat, just waiting to be taken home. They soon realize that his is no ordinary hat.
**Previous selection**
Sunday, November 10th at 5 pm
Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. But one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth, and what follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached.
**Previous selection**
Sunday, October 13th at 5:00 pm
**Previous selection**
Sunday, September 8th at 5:00 pm
**This will also be our selection meeting and is the group's one year anniversary!**
This culinary caper about the Bliss family and their magical bakery blends rich emotional flavor with truly enchanting wit, yielding one heaping portion of hilarious family adventure.
**Previous selection**
Sunday, August 11th at 5:00 pm
Esperanza Ortega lives in a beautiful home filled with servants and the promise of one day presiding over all of Rancho de las Rosas. But tragedy shatters that dream, forcing Esperanza and Mama to flee from Mexico to California and settle in a farm labor camp.
**Previous selection**
Sunday, July 14th at 5:00 pm
When illness strikes and a kingdom's fate hangs in the balance, the love between two princesses--and the love for their kingdom--is put to the test.
**Previous selection**
Sunday, June 9th at 5:00 pm
The beloved heroine of The Year of the Dog and The Year of the Rat returns in a brand-new story which finds her and her family heading to Taiwan to prepare for their grandmother's 60th birthday celebration.
**Previous selection**
Sunday, May 12th at 5:00 pm
In this Junior Library Guild Selection, Broach weaves an intriguing literary mystery full of historical insights and discoveries, as a young girl tries to uncover the connections between a missing diamond, a mysterious neighbor, and a link to Shakespeare.
**Previous selection**
Sunday, April 14th at 5 pm
**This will also be our selection meeting for summer picks**
When 12-year-old Elise, orphaned since age nine, becomes disheartened by middle school, with its bullies, changing relationships, and higher expectations, keys to long-locked rooms and messages from her late father help her cope.
**Previous selection**
Sunday, March 10th at 5 pm
Ten-year-old Willy needs to win the big dogsled race in order to pay the back taxes on his grandfather's farm--but that means beating the huge Indian mountain man, Stone Fox.
**Previous selection**
Sunday, February 10th at 5 pm
The acclaimed short-story author and poet transports readers from the teeming streets of India to the rolling Himalayas, in this lyrical, exotic, and rich middle-grade fantasy.
**Previous selection**
Sunday, January 13th at 5 pm
Harriet, would-be writer and avid observer of life, records everything she sees and hears. But what is she to do after her treasured notebook falls into the wrong hands?
**Previous selection**
Sunday, December 9th at 5 pm
This meeting will also include a holiday shindig and selection meeting.
Now in paperback, the first installment of a Regency era trilogy starring a feisty heroine with a taste for adventure. Twelve-year-old Katherine Ann Stephenson has just discovered that she’s inherited her late mother’s magical talents, and despite Stepmama’s stern objections, she’s determined to learn how to use them. But with her eldest sister Elissa’s intended fiance, the sinister Sir Neville, showing a dangerous interest in Kat’s magical potential; her other sister, Angeline, wreaking romantic havoc with her own witchcraft; and a highwayman lurking in the forest, Kat’s reckless heroism will be tested to the utmost. If she can learn to control her new powers, will Kat be able to rescue her family and win her sisters their true loves? In this charming blend of Jane Austen–era culture, magical whimsy, and rollicking adventure, readers will find a true friend in the refreshingly unladylike Kat Stephenson.
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Sunday, November 11th at 5 pm
Almost everybody who has grown up in Chicago knows about the Thorne Rooms. Housed in the deep inside the Chicago Art Institute they are a collection of 68 exquisitely crafted miniature rooms. Each room is set in a different historic period, and every detail is perfect. Some might even say, the rooms are magic. Imagine—what if on a field trip, you discovered a key that allowed you to shrink so that you could sneak inside and explore the rooms' secrets? What if you discovered that others had done so before you? And that someone had left something important behind? Fans of Chasing Vermeer, The Doll People, and The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler will be swept up in the magic of this classic feeling debut!