Spring Break Reads for Kids, Teens and Adults

Spring Break isn't just about having fun in the sun. You can also use the vacation time to curl up with a good book and nurture your children's love of reading.

It just so happens that April 8 to April 14 is also National Library Week. With that in mind, Patch sat down with Malverne's librarians to find out what books they suggest for kids, teens and adults. Here are their picks.

Children's Picture Books - These are great books for adults to read to young kids, suggests Malverne Children's Librarian Marie Drucker.

1. Oh No George by Chris Haughton: "George has very good intentions, he wants to be a good dog," explains Drucker. "But temptations keep getting in his way. It's fun to guess what he'll do next." 
2. Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger: Drucker says this "beautifully illustrated book is all about the color green. All the pages have cutouts so each picture blends into the next."
3. The Duckling Gets a Cookie by Mo Willems: In the newest of his Pigeon books, Willems has the Pigeon wondering why he doesn't get anything he asks for and the cute little duckling does," Drucker explains, adding, "The ending is delightful."
4. A Bus Called Heaven by Bob Graham: A town comes together when they fix up an abandoned bus and turn it into a community center, Drucker says, "but can they protect it when it has to be towed away?"
5. And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano: In this book, illustrated by Erin Stead, who won the Caldecott for A Sick Day for Amos McGee," a boy anxiously waits for spring to arrive. "He has planted many seeds and worries that the Earth won't be green again," says Drucker. "Then suddenly it happens."

Children's Fiction - These titles are all contenders for the coveted Newbery Medal, says Drucker.

1. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate: "This story is told by Ivan, a captive silverback lowland gorilla, and is partially based on a true story," says Drucker, who recommends this book for kids 8 and up. "After being prisoned in a two-bit circus for years, Ivan decides to find a way to get out (and get to a zoo), and in the process, save a baby elephant."
2. Wonder by R.J. Palacio: "The main protagonist of this novel is Auggie Pullman, who was born with severe facial deformities," explains Drucker, adding that the book is best suited for ages 10 and up."After being home-schooled for years, his parents decide to send him to school in the fifth grade. This book shows how he overcomes bullies and self doubt, and how most of those around him grow too."
3. The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine:  This is another great book for those ages 10 (maybe even 12) and up, Drucker suggests. "It's 1958 in Little Rock, Arkansas, and the city is divided over school integration," she says, adding, "Two young girls - Mailee and Liz - learn to fight against racism."

Children's Non-Fiction

1. Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson: "Just in time for the 100th anniversary of the sinking, Hopkinson uses real accounts to describe the disaster," explains Drucker. "The book includes photographs and biographical details." She recommends this one for kids 10 and up, but says adults may even enjoy it.
2. The Camping Trip That Changed America by Barb Rosenstock: "Naturalist John Muir and President Theodore Roosevelt go camping together in 1903 to discuss and experience America's wilderness," says Drucker. "Muir was concerned about too many people ruining it and convinced Roosevelt to establish the National Parks System." This is a book that has a mixed audience, Drucker explains, saying that kids age 8 and up could read it on their own, or adults could read it to younger children.
3. Talk, Talk, Squawk! by Nicola Davies: Drucker describes this title as a "fun, illustrated book about how different animals talk to others of their kind, including using various sounds and scents." This is another one that the 8 and older crowd be able to read on their own, or adults could read it to their children.
4. A Black Hole Is Not a Hole by Carolyn Cinanci De Cristofano: This is "an introduction to the 'extreme gravity zone' we call Black Holes," Drucker says, adding that this topic would most likely cater to an audience that is 10 or older.

Teens - Suggestions from Malverne's Young Adults Librarian Jody Ruggiero for the 12 and up audience.

1. The Watch That Ends At Night by Allan Wolf: This book tells the story of the Titanic through different viewpoints. Although it's fiction, the back of the book contains a collection of cool facts, Ruggiero explains.
2. Somebody Please Tell Me Who I Am by Harry Mazer and Peter Lerangis: When 18-year-old Ben Bright enlists in the Army after 9/11, no one expects he'll be placed in any real danger, but then he is sent to Iraq, where is convoy is caught in an explosion. The blasts put Ben into a coma and when he wakes up, he discovers that he's lost his memory. "Some of the most interesting parts of the book are the ones that take place inside his head," Ruggerio says. As it is a novel about war, she says there is violence in the book but it isn't graphic or extreme. 
3. Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral: This book tells the story of Glory, a girl who loses her mother and is raised by her single father to be a piano prodigy. As a teenager, she disappears and falls madly in love with an artist boy named Frank. Throughout the book, Ruggerio explains, you're constantly asking, "Is this girl making up this story?" The most unique part of the book, is that the entire story is told using beautiful photos, newspaper clippings and snapshots of text messages."This might be the future of Young Adult novels," she adds. 
4. The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth: Set in Montana in the 80s and 90s, this book tells the fictional story of Cameron Post, a 12-year-old girl who is coming to turns with the fact that she is gay. On the same day that she shares her first kiss with a girl, her parents die in a car crash and she is forced to move in with her conservative aunt and grandmother. This coming of age novel has been compared to Catcher in the Rye ... if Holden Caulfield had been a gay girl, Ruggiero says.

Adults - Recommendations from Stephanie Stanton, director of the Malverne Public Library, for adults.

1. New York to Dallas by J.D. Robb: This is part of the best-selling author's "In Death" series but Stanton says it's also a great stand-alone book. In it, homicide detective Eve heads back to Dallas, where she has to deal with one of her most evil villains who has escaped from jail, Stanton explains.
2. The Dutchess Diaries by Jillian Hunter: This novel is part of the Boscastle series, but those not familiar with the previous books will enjoy this story too, Stanton says. Miss Charlotte Boscastle, headmistress of a school for young ladies, writes about her most intimate secrets in her diary, including her fantasies for a certain Duke, but when the book goes missing the story takes some unexpected twists.
3. I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella: Stanton characterizes this fiction book as chick-lit, but says the "feel good" story is "very cute" and will have you "smiling." Set in London, the protagonist, Poppy, has just gotten engaged and is showing off her priceless emerald engagement ring, an heirloom of her fiance's family, to her friends. As they each take turns trying it on, the fire alarm suddenly goes off and the entire audience scatters. Shortly after losing her ring, Poppy's cell phone is stolen, but she finds another in a trash can and leaves this number with the hotel in hopes her ring will turn up. But she runs into some hilarious complications when the phone's former owner, Sam, wants it back. "You'll get the most enjoyment from this story if you listen to it," Stanton says, explaining that the audio book can be downloaded from the Nassau Digital Doorway.
4. Catch Me by Lisa Gardner: Three stories are intertwined in this mystery, which is part of the D.D. Warren series but can stand on its own, Stanton says. In her latest case, Warren is contacted by a woman who wants her to investigate her death. (She thinks she is going to die on Jan. 21, because her two best friends were killed on this same date in years past.)

What books are you and your kids currently reading? Tell us in the comments section below.