Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match

Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match

By: Monica Brown

Illustrated by: Sara Palacios

Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match was a MD Black-Eyed Susan nominee in 2013-2014. 

Little girls love to mismatch! Marisol is no exception, but she takes it to unusual lengths. She writes in cursive and in print, she brings peanut butter and jelly burritos to lunch, she likes to play soccer-playing pirates and she speaks spanglish. One day on the playground, Ollie says to Marisol that she couldn't match even if she wanted to! Marisol takes this as a challenge and comes in the next day with matching clothes. She plays just a pirate at recess and eats a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on mushy white bread. Marisol's teacher asks her if she is okay and at the end of the day gives Marisol a note explaining that she likes Marisol just the way she is. Marisol learns that it's okay to be different. It's important to be YOU!

Maybe Something Beautiful by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell

Maybe Something Beautiful

By F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell

In a drab, gray world, Mira draws beautifully colorful pictures and hands them out to people in her community until one day she meets a man. This man was a muralist and with his brush he spread colorful sunshine throughout the city. Neighbors, family, friends all joined in with the muralist and Mira and the music played and the city came alive with color! It brought the city together and made the people happy. 

Maybe Something Beautiful by F. Isabel Campoy is based on a true story of downtown San Deigo, CA. Rafael and Candice Lopez came up with the idea to color their community in effort to bring people together through art. Rafael was an artist and his wife, Candice, was a graphic design. Together they invited their whole community to come up with the concept of the Urban Art Trail. They painted murals and benches and utility boxes...and transformed their neighborhood into something beautiful. 

Here are few links to checkout:

Maybe Something Beautiful website

Rafael Lopez talks about an upcoming mural in Chicago

Here are some pictures of the Urban Art Trail in San Diego and a picture of Rafael Lopez. Notice how things like Port-o Potties and junction boxes are painted!

Helen's Big World: The Life of Helen Keller

Helen's Big World: The Life of Helen Keller

By: Doreen Rapport

Illustrated by: Matt Tavares

October is World Blindness Awareness Month

Has there ever been a more celebrated advocate for the blind than Helen Keller? Helen Keller was not born blind. In fact, she was a perfectly healthy baby until she became sick at 19-months old. Her sickness left her in a dark world that she didn't understand and a world that she fought against.  Alone and afraid, Helen raged against her new, dark world. Helen's parents didn't know how to help her until Annie Sullivan came into her life. Annie Sullivan had been legally blind, but after several operations she was able to see again, but her eyes were weak. Annie worked with Helen and brought light to her world and gave her words to communicate with those around her. 

Helen's Big World was a MD Black-Eyed Susan Nominee in 2014-2015 and is a wonderful picture book about the life of Helen Keller. It is also a wonderful book to teach kids that there is no boundary to your dreams and with hard work and dedication, you can accomplish anything.

Blackout by John Rocco

Blackout

By John Rocco

2012-2013 MD Black-Eyed Susan Nominee

Life can get pretty busy sometimes and it's hard to just stop and take a break until...the power goes out. When all of the power in the city goes out one hot summer night, folks break out of their homes and abandon everything and are forced to take that moment to be with neighbors, to dance, to sing, to be with each other and to see the lights in the sky! Sometimes when one thing fails, there is something marvelous that can be born. Blackout is a great reminder to us all to off the "lights" and take that time for family.

The Library Dragon by Carmen Agra Deedy

The Library Dragon

By Carmen Agra Deedy

Miss Lotta Scales was a real dragon. She guarded the books at Sunrise Elementary School. Maybe a little too well. The kids were not allowed to check out any books and story time was a thing of the past. Soon, no one went to the library until...Molly Brickmeyer. What happened next made the scales drop off Miss Lotta Scales one-by-one until all that was left was Miss Lotty, librarian extraordinaire. 

Seven and a Half Tons of Steel

Seven and a Half Tons of Steel

By Janet Nolan

Illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez

Wow! This is an amazing book about a beam that was taken from the wreckage of  the Twin Towers after they collapsed. This beam was melted down and molded into the bow of the USS New York. Construction of the Navy warship was halted due to Hurricane Katrina, but the workers made a camp at the shipyard and building continued until the USS New York was placed in the water and started it's journey home to New York. From New York, the mighty ship sailed into the Atlantic only to return in 2011 to it's home port for the 10th anniversary of 9/11. 

For those of us who were a part of this American tragedy or who watched helpless on televisions around the world, this book is a reminder of that fateful day, but a solid lesson that there are good, strong things that come out of the even the worst situations. 

Just a forewarning, have tissues handy!

School Supplies

Every year Edgewater Books collects school supplies for kids that are less fortunate. This year they had some surplus  left over so below are the items that they need:

#2 Pencils
Crayons
Elmer's Glue
Individual sanitized wipes

You can drop them off at Edgewater Books at 131 Mitchell's Chance Road.