• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

On the Shelf

Header Right

  • Library Home
  • My Account
  • Contact Us
  • Get a Library Card!

Header Right Social

FacebookInstagramYoutubeMeetupOn the Shelf Blog

Header Right Search

  • Read, Listen, Watch
    • Search the Catalog
    • eBooks and Audiobooks
    • Streaming Movies and Music
    • eMagazines
    • Search MD Libraries
    • Check Out a Hotspot
    • Check Out a Ukulele
    • Suggest a Title for Purchase
    • Recommended Reading
    • On the Shelf
    • Local Newspaper Archive
  • Library Services
    • Get a Library Card
    • Using Your Library Card
    • SMART Card
    • Curbside Pickup
    • Computers and Printing
    • 3D Printing
    • Meeting and Study Rooms
    • Makerspace at Leonardtown Library
    • Donate to the Library
    • Exam Proctoring
    • Notary Service
    • Tell Us Your Library Story
  • Research and Learn
    • All Online Resources
    • Genealogy and Local History
    • Language Learning
    • LinkedIn Learning
    • Cisco Networking Academy
    • Job Seeker’s Toolkit
    • Resources for Grant Seekers
    • Computer and Technology Instruction
    • Homework Help
    • Local Newspaper Archive
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Kids Events
    • Teen Events
    • Adult Events
    • Book Discussions
    • Computer and Technology Instruction
  • Kids
    • Kids Events
    • Virtual Storytime
    • Homework Help
    • Recommended Reading
    • Tumble Book Library
    • 500 by Five
    • Ready to Read
    • Resources for Parents and Educators
  • Teens
    • Teens at the Library
    • Teen Events
    • Homework Help
    • SMART Card
    • Recommended Reading
    • Resources for Parents and Educators
  • About Us
    • Locations and Hours
    • Library Policies
    • Library Administration
    • Board of Library Trustees
    • Strategic Plan
    • Libraries Stand Against Racism
    • Donate to the Library
    • Jobs at the Library
    • Volunteer at the Library
    • Friends of the St. Mary’s County Library
    • St. Mary’s County Library Foundation
    • Community Partners

Middle Grade

Kaleidoscope

December 29, 2021 by Jocelyn Leave a Comment

Kaleidoscope by Brian Selznick
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Kids, Teens

“We stood side by side, holding hands. I thought about an hourglass, where the sand is pouring down from above until the top half is empty. My head felt like the top half of the hourglass, and I could feel everything pouring out – my thoughts, my memories, my past, all the books of I’d read, all the diagrams of telephones I’d memorized, my family, my dreams, my fears. I was dissolving and becoming something new.”

This collection of short stories is a magical and mysterious exploration of loss, loneliness, and longing. Each story is linked by reoccurring themes and motifs, but most notably by the connection between the narrator and his friend, James. With settings that shift over time, space, memory, and dreams, these vignettes interspersed with Selznick’s illustrations form a tapestry examining love, friendship, and the grief that follows loss.

While Kaleidoscope is suggested for young readers ages 9-12, the overarching themes and speculative writing style will also appeal to teens and adults.

Find Kaleidoscope in the catalog here!

Filed Under: New for Kids, New for Teens, Recommended for Kids, Recommended for Teens Tagged With: Friendship, Grief, Loss, Middle Grade, Young Adult

Garlic and the Vampire

November 30, 2021 by Jocelyn Leave a Comment

Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulsen
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Kids

Garlic, an enchanted garlic bulb, lives in a quiet garden with other enchanted vegetables under the care of their friend and mentor, Witch Agnes. Garlic chronically oversleeps and over-worries, but she loves tending the garden and finds her bliss safely in her comfort zone.

Interrupting their idyllic existence, smoke rises from a nearby (and supposedly long abandoned) castle. A vampire has moved in! Garlic, obviously having natural resistance to vampires, is volunteered to investigate and deal with their terrifying new neighbor. She doesn’t know how she could possibly do that – she’s just a little garlic! – but with encouragement from her best friend, Carrot, Garlic overcomes her self-doubt and confronts the vampire. Even with her newfound courage, it doesn’t go exactly the way she expects.

A wholesome and absolutely adorable story, Garlic and the Vampire is a middle-grade graphic novel about anxiety and bravery, believing in yourself, and perhaps most importantly, not judging a vampire just by his teeth.

Find Garlic and the Vampire in the catalog here!

Filed Under: New for Kids, Recommended for Kids Tagged With: Adventure, Cozy, Middle Grade, Vampires, Witches

Kiki’s Delivery Service

November 3, 2021 by Jocelyn Leave a Comment

Kiki’s Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Kids

It is witch tradition that at thirteen a young witch leaves her home to find a town in need of magical services. Half-witch Kiki hasn’t fully mastered her magical abilities yet, but she also never runs from a challenge. Flying on her broomstick (one of the few magical things Kiki actually is pretty good at) with her black cat, Jiji, Kiki decides to stay one full year in the seaside town of Koriko. At first she’s met with some skepticism by the locals, but determined and lovable Kiki quickly finds her footing.

Kiki’s Delivery Service is a wholesome and warmhearted coming of age story. Originally published in 1985, it was later adapted into the animated movie of the same name by legendary director Hayao Miyazaki in 1989. The newest translation was published in 2020 with new beautiful new cover art and illustrations by Yuta Onoda. Families looking for a book to read aloud together will love its episodic chapters, but I wholeheartedly recommend Kiki’s Delivery Service to any witch in need of a cozy read.

Find Kiki’s Delivery Service in the catalog here!

Filed Under: Recommended for Kids Tagged With: Cozy, Fantasy, Magic, Middle Grade, Witches

Alone

August 25, 2021 by Jocelyn Leave a Comment

Alone by Megan E. Freeman
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Kids, Teens

After waking up in a town evacuated while she slept, Maddie has to learn to survive on her own. At only twelve years old, she weathers harsh climate, natural disasters, illness, looters, and wild animals. Remembering her dad’s advice to “stay put” during a crisis, Maddie scavenges nearby houses for food and supplies, soon also finding the neighbor’s Rottweiler, George, who becomes her constant companion. With only George and the books she’s able to pilfer from her local library to keep her company, brave and determined Maddie perseveres in the hopes that one day her parents will come back for her. In simple but powerful verse, she often heartbreakingly remembers her life “before,” worries about her loved ones, and wonders when – and if – she will ever see them again.

Alone is a middle-grade novel in verse and Megan E. Freeman’s debut. At 400 pages, it manages to be incredibly fast-paced and keeps its momentum until the last page. Reminiscent of Hatchet, Island of the Blue Dolphins, and the I Survived series, Alone is a story about the internal struggle of isolation, but also, survival, courage, family, and hope.

Find Alone in the catalog here!

Filed Under: Recommended for Kids, Recommended for Teens Tagged With: Adventure, Middle Grade, Survival

Primary Sidebar

On the Shelf Home

 

Welcome to On the Shelf! Find reviews and recommendations for books, movies, music, library resources, and more. All posts from the Kid’s Book Blog have been brought over to On the Shelf, so your old favorites are still here!

Subscribe so you don’t miss a post!

Recent Posts

  • Chunky
  • Light of the Jedi
  • The Guest List
  • The Passover Guest
  • The Silent Patient

Categories

Tags

Adventure African American Animals Audiobook Award Winner Bears Bedtime Being Different Birds Book Cats Classic Clothes Colors Counting Dogs Emotions Family Fantasy Fiction Food Foreign Culture Friendship Go Green History Holidays Humour Interactive Jobs Libraries or Books Mice Monsters Music Mystery Nonfiction On the Farm Picture Book Rhyming Romance School Seasons Things That Go Tough Stuff True Stories Weather

Archives

St. Mary's County Library

Monday – Thursday: 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Friday – Saturday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday: 1 – 5 p.m. (Lexington Park Library only)

 

Friends of the St. Mary’s County Library

St. Mary’s County Library Foundation

Locations

Charlotte Hall Library
37600 New Market Rd., Charlotte Hall, MD
301-884-2211

Leonardtown Library
23630 Hayden Farm Ln., Leonardtown, MD
301-475-2846

Lexington Park Library
21677 FDR Blvd., Lexington Park, MD
301-863-8188

Quick Links

  • My Account
  • Search the Catalog
  • eBooks and Audiobooks
  • Streaming Movies and Music
  • Search MD Libraries
  • Online Resources
  • Events
  • Meeting Rooms
  • Mobile Print Service
Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Accessibility
FacebookInstagramYoutubeMeetupOn the Shelf Blog