Keeping Secrets

When Jennifer Jones was ten years old, she was convicted of murdering her best friend and was sentenced to seven years in prison for this terrible crime. Upon her release at the age of seventeen, she forges a new identity and slowly begins to rebuild her shattered life which now includes a  job, a boyfriend, and acceptance to a local university. As Alice struggles to rejoin the society which she has left behind, and ponders a reconciliation with her neglectful mother, the press is always one step behind her, trying to find the whereabouts of the child-killer Jennifer Jones. How long can Alice keep her secret and avoid exposure? In Looking For JJ by Anne Cassidy, readers must ask themselves: Can a person really change? Is it possible to "start over" with memories of past trauma always forcing themselves to the forefront? 

April Showers & Poetry Prowess!

Thursday April 14th is “Poem in Your Pocket” day, when teachers will stop you randomly and ask you to read the poem that you have in your pocket. After you recite it, you will be given a card to redeem in the library for a treat -- and be entered in a drawing for the grand prize. The more cards you collect, the more chances to win!

P.S. Need a poem? Try the 808.81 section of the library to browse poetry collections!

Survival Saga

In 1846, a group of settlers who eventually came to be known as The Donner Party, left their home in Illinois in search of a better life in California. Unfortunately, their dreams of  prosperity quickly turned into a nightmare. Their faulty and ill-advised decision of  following a supposed shortcut mapped out by a shady character named Lansford Hastings, which added more time to their journey and cost them more than they could have anticipated, in addition to infighting and bad luck, caused the group to be trapped in the Sierra Nevada Mountains by an insurmountable snowstorm where they were forced to resort to horrible means to survive. The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown, a compelling and gripping read, chronicles the ordeal of twenty-one year-old Sarah Graves, a new bride, who chose to follow her husband and family on this perilous journey. When the party became hopelessly trapped, Sarah and a small group fashioned snowshoes to walk out of the mountains and find help for the stranded party. This is a vivid depiction of an infamous and never-to-be-forgotten event in history