Who's Your Favorite Super Hero?

Paul Merklein

Be One...
Thursday, August 15th
Hey kids! Summer reading season has been in full swing since June 22 and you have been digging in and exploring your super hero reader powers since then. As of now, we're just over the half-way mark to the back-to-school finish line so prepare to start celebrating your accomplishments!

Meet Paul Merklein @ 2:00 p.m.
Join us in the library Community Room for a family program led by our guest super artist. Combining dynamic art, comedy and audience participation, the "Amazing Artist" and "Magic Marker Wizard" will draw famous faces, including super heroes… and people right from the audience! Who will he draw next? Be there and be brave! Click to register.

Meet Paul Merklein @ 3:30 p.m.
If you are a tween or teen, or a parent with an interest in helping your artistic tween or teen kid explore their interest in drawing, join us in this afternoon program. Our guest instructor will no doubt inspire students to use their imaginations, discover their super powers, and have fun drawing! Click to register.

Cool Video... Cool Merklein...

Summer Reading Season 2013

Super Hero Alias Word Search Courtesy of the
TX State Library & Archives Commission

Let the Fun Begin!
Summer reading season @ your library officially opened today, June 22; sort of like shopping after Thanksgiving or opening day of fishing season... but with books!

Though we'll Dig Into Reading this summer, kids ages 6-12 will also be invited to read with a bit of superhero flair! In this spirit, and though we'll highlight many different types of  'superheroes' throughout the summer, here's a quick list of books featuring classic comic book heroes and their arch nemeses:

Batman by Ralph Cosentino -- Batman : Super-Villains Strike by Michael Teitelbaum
Batman vs. Joker adapted by N.T. Raymond
DC Super Heroes Storybook Collection -- Joker on the High Seas by J.E. Bright
Lex Luthor and the Kryptonite Caverns by J. E. Bright -- Superman by Ralph Cosentino -- Superman in the Fifties -- Superman in the Sixties -- Superman in the Seventies -- I Am Wonder Woman by Erin K. Stein
Sword of the Dragon by Laurie Sutton -- Wonder Woman : the Story of an Amazon Princess by Ralph Cosentino -- The Amazing Spider-Man : an Origin Story adapted by Rich Thomas and Jeff Clark
Green Lantern : Fear the Shark by Laurie Sutton -- Guardian of Earth by Michael Dahl
The Light King Strikes by Laurie Sutton -- Savage Sands by J.E. Bright
Flash! Master of Mirrors by Laurie Sutton -- Shell Shocker by Scott Sonneborn
Black Manta and the Octopus Army by Jane Mason

Just for Fun
A great and artful send-up of Superman's life from one of our favorite (parental caution) YouTube channels.

Debut Fiction

Attention Getters
Summer's a great time to kick back and read a popular author's inevitable bestseller. It may also be a great time to step off the treadmill and try something a little different.

Here's a quick list of debut novels and if the raves are any indication, one or more just might break through. Give 'em a try.

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham
The hilarious story of a struggling young actress trying to get ahead--and keep it together--in New York City.
The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani
Exiled to an equestrian boarding school in the South at the height of the Great Depression for her role in a family tragedy, strong-willed teen Thea Atwell grapples with painful memories.
We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
A young African girl negotiates life in Zimbabwe and America.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
The over-the-top story of three super-rich, pedigreed Chinese families.
Note to Self by Alina Simone
The author takes on our Internet-age obsessions.
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
A love story in Chechnya during the war with Russia. Pair or compare: The English Patient or The Tiger's Wife.

The Blood of Heaven by Kent Wascom
A preacher's son flees the hardscrabble life of his itinerant father, falls in with a charismatic highwayman, then settles with his adopted brothers on the rough frontier of West Florida. In a word? Epic.
No One Could Have Guessed the Weather by Anne-Marie Casey
Women's fiction with a New York backdrop.
The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison
A chilling psychological thriller about a marriage.

The Execution of Noa P. Singleton by Elizabeth Silver
A death row inmate receives an offer of help from an unlikely source: her victim's mother. Sounds like a great pick for John Grisham fans.
Southern Cross the Dog by Bill Cheng
An epic literary debut in which the bonds between three childhood friends are upended by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.
Eleven Days by Lea Carpenter
A story about a woman's son, missing from a Special Operations Forces mission.
Big Girl Panties by Stephanie Evanovich (July)
Ahh; summer romance.

It's Never Too Early for a Summer Read

A View from the Beach: Sears Park

Ninety Degrees In the Shade...
Though it is still spring, the recent temps reminded us of the joys of summer : relaxation, time with our families, and a great book or two ready to read. We offer a quick list of high-buzz (mostly) women's fiction titles you might like to add to your summer reading list and your trusty tote. The list includes new and forthcoming titles, plus a few greats you may have missed along the way.

Revenge Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
Fast forward eight years after Andy quit her job working for Miranda...

The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls
From the author of the Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses.
Ladies' Night by Mary Kay Andrews
High caliber contemporary romance from a local favorite.

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
The third novel by an internationally acclaimed author. The author's first novel, The Kite Runner, is a perennial entry on high school summer reading lists.

All That Is by James Salter
A sweeping story of love and betrayal by a PEN/Faulkner Award winner.

The Late Lamented Molly Marx by Sally Koslow
A breezy novel whose main character happens to be, well... dead.

Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld
Heavy buzz about the latest from the author of The American Wife. (June 25)

Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams
True love prevails in a novel set in Rhode Island, 1938, year of the infamous hurricane.

TransAtlantic by Colum McCann
Literary fiction from the National Book Award-winning author of Let the Great World Spin.

No One Could Have Guessed the Weather by Anne-Marie Casey
A debut novel featuring four women living the Manhattan life. (June 13)

Best of Us by Sarah Pekkanen
Four college friends on a luxury vacation + unspoken conflicts + a looming hurricane.

Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand
Attend a wedding in Nantucket as conceived by the author of Summerland. (June 25)

The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell
A police stenographer is accused of murder in 1920s Manhattan.

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
Rosemary and Fern; we'll leave it at that. Explore new territory with the author of The Jane Austen Book Club.

The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane by Kelly Harms
Meet two Janine Browns, same-name winners of a dream home in Maine. (July 9)

The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman
A woman writes about what a modern man thinks about women, love and sex. Have fun watching the early thumbs ups and thumbs downs before release of this debut novel. (July 16)