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Never Too Old (formerly YARLI) meets the 1st WEDNESDAY of the month to share the diversity, depth, and relevance of Young Adult & Juvenile books. All ages are welcome. For more information, contact beth@lopezlibrary.org |
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A wide range of titles, with just a few examples shown here: |
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Kensuke's kingdom
by Michael Morpurgo
When Michael is swept off his family's yacht, he washes up on a desert island, where he struggles to survive--until he finds he is not alone.
Beth says: "I love Michael Morpurgo's style of writing: descriptive, attentive to the details of the natural world with well-developed characters and plot, and strong themes of friendship, self-growth, and the horrors of war. One of my favorite parts is Kensuke's words of wisdom to Michael: "Life must not be spent always hoping, always waiting. Life is for living." I also love how Kensuke is content with his own company and the company of wild companions, the orangutans. He has his art, his routines, his purpose of protecting the wildlife, and a good place to call home, however humble it may seem."
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My side of the mountain
by Jean Craighead George
A young boy relates his adventures during the year he spends living alone in the Catskill Mountains including his struggle for survival, his dependence on nature, his animal friends, and his ultimate realization that he needs human companionship.
A traditional wilderness survival story that withstands the test of time.
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Alabama Moon
by Watt Key
After the death of his father, Moon leaves their forest shelter home and is sent to an Alabama institution, becoming entangled in the outside world he has never known and making friends, a relentless enemy, and finally a new life.
Jules writes: "I loved my book Alabama Moon [by Watt Key] about a young boy who lived up in the woods with only his Dad for company. He learned survival skills and lost his Dad when he was only 10 years old. He had to learn how to navigate in the world and learned how important it is to have friends. He had some outlandish adventures. I think this book would appeal to young readers too."
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Lost in the river of grass
by Ginny Rorby
When two Florida teenagers become stranded on a tiny island in the Everglades, they attempt to walk ten miles through swampland to reach civilization.
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Where the world ends
by Geraldine McCaughrean
In the summer of 1727, Quill and his friends are put ashore on a remote sea stack to harvest birds for food, and only the end of the world can explain why no boat returns to collect them.
Ingrid loved the island theme and setting, and the history as well as the suspenseful story.
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Child of St Kilda
by Beth Waters
Recounts the experience of moving from the tight-knit society on St. Kilda to the British mainland, exploring what became of the islanders and Norman John Gillies.
This picture book was mentioned because it was set on the same island as the previous book. It is about the last child to live on this Scottish island before it was abandoned due to the remote and harsh condition of life there.
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Paradise on fire
by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Attending a summer wilderness program along with five other Black city kids, Addy, haunted by the fire that killed her parents, is forced to come face-to-face with her past when she must save her fellow campers from a raging forest fire.
Cindy loved that Addy was a mapmaker. The author is a 68-year-old African-American professor living in Arizona.
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The winter horses
by Philip Kerr
Struggling to endure the World War II occupation of his beloved animal preserve, caretaker Max secretly cares for a girl who has gone into hiding in a nearby park, where she bonds with endangered horses that are threatened by Nazi forces.
Set in Ukraine. Cheryl enjoyed the friendship between Max and the girl, who was an artist who drew the Lascaux cave drawings on the walls of her hiding place.
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Island Fire
by Toby Neal
In the very near future, on the tiny island of Lanai, teens from very different worlds must find a way to survive when all technology is destroyed. Bea and Sam, Hawaiian kids isolated by a paranoid, alcoholic father, are thrown together with orphaned big-city pickpocket Nick when a disaster fries all technology. Aided by a mysterious `aumakua dragon that may or may not be Bea's imaginary friend, the kids face fire, plane crashes, gangs, pit bulls, thieves, sharks, hunger, thirst and abuse in a coming-of-age that explores a post-technology world where only the strong and connected survive.
Ingrid read this mostly because she knew the author in Hawaii. She found it engaging and entertaining, but not very well written.
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Dry
by Neal Shusterman
A lengthy California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, turning Alyssa's quiet suburban street into a warzone, and she is forced to make impossible choices if she and her brother are to survive.
Ingrid found this ridiculously absurd at times, sometimes believable at others, and creepy. It is an intense disaster story.
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Take me with you when you go
by David Levithan
"Ezra Ahern wakes up one day to find his older sister, Bea, gone. No note, no sign, nothing but an email address hidden somewhere only he would find it. Ezra never expected to be left behind with their abusive stepfather and their neglectful mother--how is he supposed to navigate life without Bea? Bea Ahern already knew she needed to get as far away from home as possible. As things unravel at home for Ezra, Bea will confront secrets about their past that will forever change the way they think about theirfamily. Together and apart, broken by abuse but connected by love, this brother and sister must learn to trust themselves before they can find a way back to each other"
Written in emails between Ezra and Bea.
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The evolution of Calpurnia Tate
by Jacqueline Kelly
In central Texas in 1899, eleven-year-old Callie Vee Tate is instructed to be a lady by her mother, learns about love from the older three of her six brothers, and studies the natural world with her grandfather.
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When you look like us
by Pamela N. Harris
When his sister Nicole disappears, Jay Murphy must take up the search for her when the police department won't investigate her case.
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Lopez Island Library 2225 Fisherman Bay Rd Lopez Island, Washington 98261 360-468-2265www.lopezlibrary.org |
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