Let's BookTalk: Sweep by Jonathan Auxier

from Goodreads.com

“She and her Sweep had both gone to bed as they always had, nestled against a chimney stack beneath the starry sky. But when the girl woke the next morning, her Sweep was gone” (p. 13).

Nan is an 11 year-old girl in the late 1800s. She is in contracted servitude to work as a chimney sweep, along with four other children ages 7 to 12. Food is scarce, work is dangerous, and there is very little for her to be hopeful for, except that someday her Sweep, original master, may one-day return. All she has left of him is his hat and a piece of char that still feels warm somehow.

The “Devil’s Nudge,” a dangerous method used by master chimney sweeps to get their chimney climbers (child laborers) unstuck from a chimney stack. They light a fire under the stuck child and they either scramble their way to freedom or burn.

One day while cleaning chimneys, Nan got stuck…

###

A Note from Ms. Stimpson: I don’t often give my opinion on a book, as I prefer the reader to discover their own preferences in reading. However, there are not many stories often written as this one. Nor do all stories touch your soul. Sweep is one of those stories, because even in the darkness and despair, hope can make the darkness more grey than it had been before.

Let’s BookTalk: Guitar Notes by Mary Amato

from Goodreads.com

“It’s as if there are six strings inside him, tuned to the same pitches, and when the guitar is strummed it cause his sting to ring out, too” (p. 22).

Tripp is a loner type, who loves to play the guitar. He is an odd character and very often speaks his mind. Lyla is the first chair cellist in the school’s orchestra. She is Lyla Marks, who has perfect grades, perfect friends and everyone adores her; however, Lyla is keeping a deep secret that she feels she cannot share with anyone.

The story mainly takes place at Rockland school. The characters Tripp and Lyla are both going through communication issues with their parent. Both are feeling pressured by their parents to be involved in activities they do not want to do.

Is there ever a time when you “thrum?”

Written by Amanda Baca

Library Educational Assitant

Let's BookTalk: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

from Goodreads.com

“Once upon a time there was a hazel-eyed boy with dimples. I called him Khalil. The world called him a thug. He lived, but no nearly long enough, and for the rest of my life I’ll remember how he died” (p. 442-443).

Starr is a teenager caught between two worlds. One world is where she lives with her family and helps them with their store in Garden Heights; a low income, hardworking neighborhood, facing violence in the streets due to the competing gangs in the area. The other worlds is where she goes to school, Williamson. In this world there are gated communities, suburbs, and what some would call “champagne problems.”

Both her worlds are shattered, when a police officer guns down a childhood friend in her neighborhood during a “routine traffic” stop and all she could do was watch from the passenger side of her friend’s car.

Now, she must make a choice. Silence or Speak Out?

“I always said that if I saw it happen to somebody, I would have the loudest voice, making sure the world know what went down. Now I am that person, and I’m too afraid to speak” (p. 35).

Let's BookTalk: Jennifer Donnelly's Lost in a Book

from Goodreads.com

So, we all know the story of Beauty and the Beast. Belle, a strong and intelligent young woman from a French village, takes her father’s place as a prisoner at the castle of the Beast, a vapid prince who was cursed by an enchantress. They fall in love, go through conflict, overcome the conflict, and then live happily ever after.

Jennifer Donnelly’s Lost in a Book, tells the story of what happened while Belle was a “prisoner” of the Beast, as well as gives us a glimpse of why the enchantress cursed the peace and who she really is.

“Reading became my sanctuary,” Belle continued. “I found so much in those books. I found histories that inspired me. Poems that delighted me. Novels that challenged me…” Belle paused, suddenly self-conscious. She looked down at her hands, and in a wistful voice, said, “What I really found, though, was myself.” (p. 19)

After the Beast gives Belle the library and all its collection, Belle discovers a book within the library that shows her a world of adventure, knowledge, and freedom. However, the enchantress who created the book, Madame …, is more than she seems.

Love and Death are in a competition that has gone on since the beginning of time. Love, believes the Beast can be saved and that Belle will be the one who saves him, through love. Death, knows she is all powerful, because sooner or later, everyone journeys with death. And so, Belle and Beast are caught in the middle of the ongoing game of Love versus Death.

“Love is not for cowards.” (p. 111)

“Something There" from Disney's Beauty and the Beast