Meeting on November 7th, 2013

Barbara was host to this meeting of the gang of four - Barbara, Bronwyn, Kat and Yvonne.

The owl service by Alan Garner

Winner of both the Guardian Award and the Carnegie Medal.
It all begins with the scratching in the ceiling. From the moment Alison discovers the dinner service in the attic, with its curious pattern of floral owls, a chain of events is set in progress that is to effect everybody’s lives.
Relentlessly, Alison, her step-brother Roger and Welsh boy Gwyn are drawn into the replay of a tragic Welsh legend – a modern drama played out against a background of ancient jealousies. As the tension mounts, it becomes apparent that only by accepting and facing the situation can it be resolved.

The peculars by Stefan Bachmann

Don't get yourself noticed and you won't get yourself hanged.
In the faery slums of Bath, Bartholomew Kettle and his sister Hettie live by these words. Bartholomew and Hettie are changelings--Peculiars--and neither faeries nor humans want anything to do with them.

The grey king by Susan Cooper

Following a serious illness, Will is sent to stay with his uncle in the wild, bleak mountains of Tywyd. He is troubled by vague memories until he meets the mysterious Bran - and suddenly Will knows the task that lies ahead. With Bran's help, Will set outs to find the golden harp and awaken the six sleepers who must join the final battle between the Dark and the Light. But Will is about to encounter his most terrifying opponent yet: the Grey King.

The Boy on the Wooden Box: How the Impossible Became Possible . . . on Schindler's List by Leon Leyson

Leon Leyson (born Leib Lezjon) was only ten years old when the Nazis invaded Poland and his family was forced to relocate to the Krakow ghetto. With incredible luck, perseverance and grit, Leyson was able to survive the sadism of the Nazis, including that of the demonic Amon Goeth, commandant of Plaszow, the concentration camp outside Krakow. Ultimately, it was the generosity and cunning of one man, a man named Oskar Schindler, who saved Leon Leyson's life, and the lives of his mother, his father, and two of his four siblings, by adding their names to his list of workers in his factory - a list that became world renowned: Schindler's List.

Meeting on October 10, 2013

This meeting was held in De Poste, with Barbara, Kat and Yvonne.  Bronwyn is await with her family.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupâery

An aviator whose plane is forced down in the Sahara Desert encounters a littleprince from a small planet who relates his adventures in seeking the secret of what is important in life.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour bookstore by Robin Sloan

The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a San Francisco Web-design drone--and serendipity, sheer curiosity, and the ability to climb a ladder like a monkey has landed him a new gig working the night shift at Mr.Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. But after just a few days on the job, Clay begins to realize that this store is even more curious than the name suggests. There are only a few customers, but they come in repeatedly and never seem to actually buy anything, instead "checking out" impossibly obscure volumes from strange corners of the store, all according to some elaborate, long-standing arrangement with the gnomic Mr. Penumbra. The store must be a front for something larger, Clay concludes, and soon he's embarked on a complex analysis of the customers' behavior and roped his friends into helping to figure out just what's going on. But once they bring their findings to Mr.Penumbra, it turns out the secrets extend far outside the walls of the bookstore.

Meeting on 19 September 2013

With Barabara and Bronwyn at Barbara's home

Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

A journey through a land where Milo learns the importance of words and numbers provides a cure for his boredom.

The Light Princess by George McDonald

It's a well known fact that a new-born princess will often be subject to a curse, especially if her royal parents neglect to invite an important magical relative to the christening. But never has there been a curse as charming (and hilarious) as that which befalls the Light Princess. Deprived of gravity, she can't take anything or anyone seriously. Even worse, she's apt to blow away on the first stiff breeze! Can even a handsome prince bring her down to Earth? One of the most acclaimed literary fairy tales of all time, George MacDonald's profound and witty story floats into bubbling new life in this lovingly crafted full cast reading.

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

When Ivan, a gorilla who has lived for years in a down-and-out circus-themed mall, meets Ruby, a baby elephant that has been added to the mall, he decides that he must find her a better life.

Meeting on 13 August 2013

The Freedom Merchants by Sherryl Jordan 

Set in Ireland in the 1600s, this book is about the white slave trade that went on on the Barbary Coast (which was the Northern Coast of Africa), at the same time as the slave trade of Negros to America. Over 1 million white Christians were captured by corsair pirates, and sold in slavery to Muslim masters in the Mediterranean. The pirates captured slaves from as far north as fishing villages in England and Ireland, and even from Iceland. This story is about 13-year-old Liam, whose life is changed because of these pirate raids

Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret by Judy Blume

On the cusp of maturity, young Margaret Simon moves with her family from New York City to Farbrook, New Jersey. There she falls in with a clique of friends, Nancy, Gretchen, and Janie, who form a secret club to talk about boys and puberty. However, Margaret's newfound friends cannot understand why she doesn't go to church or join the Y. But what they don't know is that Margaret has her own very special relationship with God.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which book paper burns. Fahrenheit 451 is a novel set in the (perhaps near) future when "firemen" burn books forbidden by a totalitarian "brave new world" regime. The hero, according to Mr. Bradbury, is "a book burner who suddenly discovers that books are flesh-and-blood ideas and cry out silently when put to the torch." Today, when libraries and schools in this country and all over the world are still "burning" certain books, Fahrenheit 451 remains a brilliantly readable and suspenseful work of even greater impact and timeliness.

Commentary on a Ramona book by Beverley Cleary

What Ramona book did you read?

Tell us what you though of it, and whether you liked it.  Should these books be on library shelves rather than in the Stack?

Commentary on Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

The book is an autobiography from the point of view of the titular horse, named Black Beauty. 

The first part of the book deals with Beauty's birth in a meadow, his time spent as a foal with his mother and the advice she gives him to behave well to be treated well. Then he is sold to the Squire Gordon who is a horse lover and cares very well for his animals. Here he meets the grooms John Manly and James Howard who are loving, neat and efficient. Beauty spends the better part of three years here and makes friends with the other horses: Ginger, Merrylegs and Sir Oliver. 

This idyllic life ends with the beginning of the second part where Beauty is sold, along with Ginger to Earlshall Park. The life is harder there and the painful bearing rein is used on the horses. A riding accident causes his knees to be ruined and he is sold as a job horse to a new master who cannot take the trouble of rearing a horse and sells him again. Next, Beauty is sold to a hardworking cab driver called Jerry. On the runs in the streets he meets his friend Ginger who is miserable due to the harsh treatment meted out to her and subsequently he watches her corpse being carted away a few months later. Jerry falls ill and Beauty is sold again. 

The horse then passes from one master to another, most of whom overwork and mistreat him till at last he is sold to the Blomefield family for whom his old groom Joe Green is working. Green recognizes Beauty and he lives out his last days in peace and happiness.

Commentary on The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The novel tells of the troubles of a wealthy young girl, Sara Crewe, who is sent to an oppressive London boarding school during her father’s campaign in India. Thanks to Capt. Crewe’s money, Sara is treated as a little princess until, one day, word comes of her father’s tragic death. Miss Minchin, the school’s greedy headmistress, wastes no time in putting the now-penniless Sara to work for her room and board. It is only through the friendship of two other girls, her own resolute nature, and some astonishing luck that Sara eventually finds her way back to happiness. (Summary from wikipedia.org)