By Sam Jack, sjack@newtonplks.org In many homes, the family dinner table can be a scene of conflict—and that’s if kids make it to the dinner table in the first place. How do you make sure your kids eat a healthy diet? And how do you impart a positive attitude toward food and eating, while minimizing…
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This is my current list of favorites. If you ask me next week it could be different. Goosebumps series by R.L. Stein These books kept me up at night as a child and instilled a love of scary stories in me. They might be the reason I’m so weird today. The Silence of…
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—Steve Richards reviews “The Knowledge Illusion” by Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach Imagine a book that upsets your world in a way that is also comforting and encouraging. The Knowledge Illusion by Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach convincingly argues that we don’t know as much as we think we do. Yet that is what enables…
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Last Thursday (4/14) was one of my favorite days in the world of YA literature: YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten nominees were released! Every year teen groups around the country nominate their favorite titles from the previous year. The finalists are released during National Library Week in April, giving teens plenty of time to start reading the…
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Steve Richards reviews The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami. Variously said, history is written by victors, survivors and dominant cultures. Fortunately, contrasting stories may be available from research in many disciplines of science and humanities. Sometimes the evocative and truthful stories are told by historical novelists. The Moor’s Account, by Laila Lalami, is a wonderful example.…
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Steve Richards Reviews The Edge of the Sky: All You Need to Know About the All-There-Is, by Roberto Trotta The Edge of the Sky is a small book about very big subjects. The origin of the universe and particle physics are described in simple words. Really! Author and astrophysicist Roberto Trotta took on this curious task with…
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Nathan Carr, IT Supervisor, reviews an audio book for your holiday travels. Star Wars : The Empire Strikes Back, So You Want to be a Jedi? By Adam Gidwitz; Read by Marc Thompson This is The Empire Strikes Back as I have never encountered it before. This book is written in 2nd person narrative with…
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November is Picture Book Month. Here are three favorites: Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwood A charming take on a classic tale. Cinderella lives in space and dreams of working on rockets. When the Prince has a space parade, Cinderella and her stepfamily are invited, but she can only go if she fixes her broken spaceship.…
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Lost & Found by Brooke Davis This debut novel comes to us from Australia. Brooke Davis brings to life three very alive, very different characters. The story follows the unlikely relationships of an old man Karl the touch typist, Agatha Pantha a widow, and Millie Bird an abandoned seven year old girl as they experience…
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Favorite Quote: I guess that’s the point of it all. No one knows for certain how much impact they have on the lives of other people. Oftentimes, we have no clue. What’s It About? Clay comes home from school one day to find a box addressed to him on his doorstep. Inside he discovers seven…
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