I've got a BONE to pick...

How do you begin to describe Bone?

It's a graphic novel, true. But it's not your typical superhero or "comic" novel. There is comedy, and there are heroes, but there is so much more. "Epic" doesn't even begin to describe it. Think Lord of the Rings meets Star Wars and The Marx Brothers and you might be close. But still...

Bone was originally published over 13 years. The library's copy is the "One Volume Edition", collecting all 55 issues into one volume. It's big, it's heavy, and I wouldn't read it any other way.

Jeff Smith's story centers around three cousins: Phoney Bone (the greedy, conceited one), Smiley Bone (the fun-loving, goofy one), and Fone Bone (our hero), who become lost in The Valley after they are run out of Boneville following one of Phoney's disastrous schemes. While trying to find each other (and the way home), they meet up with a wide cast of characters including the mysterious Thorn, her enigmatic grandmother, and a smoke ring-blowing red dragon who may or may not be a figment of Fone Bone's imagination.

As they make their way through The Valley, they encounter other humans and bizarre creatures who are threatened by the Lord of the Locusts, a dark and menacing figure from the past. Fone Bone is soon drawn into the events around him and finds himself on a hero's journey to help save the world.

Do the cousins find each other again? Can they avoid the Rat-creatures and help save The Valley from an ancient evil? What will happen to Thorn and her grandmother? And what about that red dragon?

Due to its size (1300 pages! -- but believe me, they go fast) and some content that might frighten the younger kids, this book is currently located on the adult side of the library (Call Number: 741.5 Sm), but is certainly suitable for anyone that could handle, say Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith, the Harry Potter movies or The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Even if you don't care for "comic books", I encourage you to give it a try. If you like fantasy (Tolkien, Harry Potter, the Narnia series, etc.), then you are definitely in for a treat.

(If you like this book, there is also a prequel called Rose, but I recommend you read Bone first, lest a very important plot point be spoiled for you.)

Check it out...

Rob&Sara.com

Is it possible to be best friends with someone you've never met?

After submitting a poem to an online message board for teen poets, Sara (or, Sara4348) meets Rob (Robcruise99), a mysterious character whose simple response of "I liked it" sticks out amidst a sea of wannabe critics who tear the poem apart and consequently tear Sara down.

After the initial message board comments, Sara and Rob begin exchanging e-mails. Their e-mail relationship leads to friendship, and friendship to "best"-friendship. As they learn more about each other, we in turn learn more about them. We genuinely begin to care about them, and where their relationship is headed.

Is Rob really a good guy, in spite of all the e-mails that Sara mysteriously begins receiving from others that call his character into question? And what about the fact that he's living in what is basically a juvenile detention center (even if it's called Pine Creek Academy)? What does this mean? Is he even a teenage boy at all?

The two authors, P.J. (Pete) Peterson and Ivy Ruckman, wrote the story one e-mail at a time, spending a year corresponding as their respective characters (Pete was Rob and Ivy was Sara). This lends the story an air of authenticity that might not be there if it had been written by one person.

All in all, this was a wonderful book that will keep you involved until the end... and hoping for a sequel.

Check it out.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog, already in progress...

Seriously, please accept our apologies for the long break since the last post. May is always a hectic month around the library, and this year it was no different.

Well, it was a little different. On May 16th, we lost one of our employees. Circulation Clerk (and blog contributor) Christina (aka "Lister") obtained her Master of Library Science degree in April (YAY!) and accepted a job at a library in Garland in May (Not YAY! for us, but YAY! for her).

We'd like to take this opportunity to publicly thank "Lister" for all of her assistance and enthusiasm -- not just on the job every day, but in setting up this blog and redesigning the "JPL for Kids" Website. Her assistance and input was invaluable, and we know she'll go far in whatever she chooses to do. We wish her all the best.

Well, it's now June, and today is the first day of Summer Reading Club for the kids. While the Club is only for kids who have finished fifth grade or younger, Jo could always use a little extra help, so if you're interested in volunteering to help out, contact Jo here at the library (Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays are best ; if you have to call here on a Tuesday or Wednesday, call in the afternoons after 2:15 or so).

We have a lot of new reviews on the way, so please bear with us and watch this blog for updates. Once things calm down a bit on the Summer Reading Club front, Jo will pipe in with her review of the sequel to Dairy Queen. I know it's no substitute for Jo, but I'll be posting a few reviews myself over the next few weeks or so.

In the meantime, can we possibly make it up to you by including this link to the Official Website (and trailer) for Twilight, coming to a theater near you on December 12, 2008? We thought so.

See you at the library!