Blog Entries

First, you take Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. Add in the flavor of Victoria and The Rogue by Meg Cabot with a heavy dose of Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke. Sprinkle in a little of Will and Elizabeth from The Pirates of the Caribbean and voila! Olivia Twist by Lorie Langdon is formed!

To survive her harsh childhood in London's underworld, Olivia is raised as Oliver and finds friendship in a group of street urchins, led by Jack, the Artful Dodger. Tragedy separates the childhood friends, but fate brings them back together as Olivia and Jack reunite in the realm of polite London soc...

The Other Side of the Sky (originally published as The Story of My Life: An Afghan Girl on the Other Side of the Sky) is the true story of a young girl's life, starting in war torn Kabul and ending up as a refugee in the United States. Farah Ahmedi loses a leg stepping on a land mine and half of her family when a bomb hits her home. Ahmedi travels to Germany for rehabilitation and returns to Afghanistan seeing her childhood home through different eyes. When the opportunity comes to relocate to the United States as a refugee, she is excited to go. With the help of a few who reached...

Roots by Alex Haley

When I was in 10th grade, we were asked to study the works of a great American author and defend its inclusion in the school’s curriculum. I studied Alex Haley and subsequently read Roots. 10 years later, I still advocate for its inclusion in every teen reader’s library of must-reads. Roots is a book that I have read only once and still remember vividly. To this day, passages of text and detailed descriptions have remained ever present in my mind. This absorbing, intense, emotional, moving, sometimes graphic and always memorable saga of Alex Haley&rsqu...

Attention 6th-12thgraders! If you print and fill out this survey between February 1-28, you will be entered into a raffle to win a brand new copy of X: A Novel (Ilyasah Shabazz)! Return the completed form to the Zauel Reference Desk. Winners will be notified March 1.

Name:                                                     &nb...

I have a confession. I do not normally read graphic novels. I have a second confession to make. I read a graphic novel… and it’s seriously great! For fans of beautiful art, coming of age stories and female empowerment, read Pashmina! History students, first and second generation Americans, travelers, dreamers, read Pashmina! If you don’t fit any of the above categories… read Pashmina! Nidhi Chanani’s debut novel is a sweet story of a teenager named Priyanka who finds a magical pashmina scarf that connects her to her Indian heritage in fantastic ways. As Priya...

Fans of Across the Universe and The Mixed-Up Files of Basil E Frankweiler are encouraged to read the story of Bets and her mysterious friend “Miss E”. History, mystery, conspiracy and fun are woven together into this delicious tale that, I must admit, I consumed in one sitting! Elizabeth aka “Bets” is a teenage girl in 1967. She is a new girl, an army brat and a young adult about to embark on a series of changes in her life. When given an assignment to identify important figures of American history, Bets notices an incredible likeness between a defiant spunky aviatri...

Vincent and Theois a well-researched presentation of the special bond shared by the Van Gogh brothers. Inspired by their letters, Heiligman recreates Vincent and Theo’s lives from birth to death by using their very own words and sentiments. At just about 400 pages, this book is a bit slow to start. The shorter, almost fragment- like sentences scattering the early pages make for an interesting read that builds anticipation, but borders on driving the reader crazy by wishing that something would happen! However, if the reader hangs on, they are in for quite a treat. Vincent and Theo&rsq...

Young adults, ages 14 to 20, join us at Hoyt Library 

on Saturday, April 22 @ 10am!

Register Today

989-799-9160

May and Libby become best friends in fifth grade.  They invent a fictional character they name Princess X and spend hours writing and drawing stories about her.  Tragedy strikes a few years later when Libby drowns.  May’s parents get a divorce.  She and her mom move out of state.  Every summer May travels back to stay with her dad.  The year she is sixteen, she finds a sticker with a picture of Princess X.  How could it even be possible?  She investigates and finds a website with the stories she helped write, along with new ones.  Did someo...

Fun was had by all who attended Zauel Library's Harry Potter Open House last month!