Review: Salem Witch Haunt by Theresa Sneed

Bess is the descent of a woman hanged during the Salem Witch Trials. She is transported through a rift in time to the actual time of the Witch Trials and can't keep her mouth shut - only to find herself accused. The basic story was interesting and I did like the twist at the end. That said, I did this as a buddy read and both myself and my friend found ourselves wanting to smack some sense into Bess. By biggest issue is how she denied she was in the past for a LONG time despite all that was happening and didn't really seem worried at all about her family and their panic at her disappearance. Though I love time travel books and books about Salem, this one just had a protagonist I disliked Terri

Review: Scary Mary by SA Hunter

Mary has a gift to hear ghosts.  As a result, she is a Pariah in her school given the nickname 'Scary Mary'.  A new boy in town, befriends her and she is excited he seems willing to see past all that.  Then an impromptu seance at his house changes everything.  A malevolent ghost causes all sorts of trouble and Mary is blamed for it.  Now things are worse than ever and Cy wants nothing to do with her.  Yet she feels she needs to do something about the ghost before Cy or his family are hurt.

A quick, fun read.  What I like the most is that Mary is no victim and will fight like a hellcat when she needs to!  The fight against the ghost was quite engaging.

Terri

Review: BeSwitched by Molly Slow

Cathy is a very shy girl who is being bullied by the popular Tiffany.  Surla is a cat - the familiar of a nasty witch for hundreds of years.  She and Cathy switch bodies and Surla uses her confidence to help Cathy make friends and with boys at school.  They worry both about Idis (the witch) retaliating and whether they can switch back.

Thanks to Surla, Cathy gets a date with the popular Craig, who turns out to be a horrible person, playing a terrible joke on her with Tiffany.  Bullying and getting revenge back is a theme.

It is geared toward the younger end of Young Adult, but it is a fun, light read with humorous shenanigans and a bit of justice thrown in.

Terri

Review: Need by Joelle Charbonneau

In Notttawa, High school students receive requests to join

NEED, a new social networking site.  They get to ask for something they need and then they are requested to complete a task and then what they asked for is provided (not always in the way they expect).  Soon all the students are participating and some are getting new iPods and other goodies.  Then the tasks they are asked to do become darker and some kids are dying.

The main character, Kaylee, asks for something that is truly a need (not a want) - a kidney for her sick brother.  What it will take for that to happen is worse than she could have imagined.

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This is a wonderful story told from the point-of-view of many of the teens.  It makes you think of the differences between wants and true needs and what people are willing to do under the cloak of anonymity.  I loved this book.  It made me think while enjoying the ride.

The big question of WHY?  who is behind it, is very unexpected.

Terri

An Interview with Miss Willie

Interview with Miss Willie

MM: Willie give us the backstory on when and how you became the Parsons Public Library Children’s Librarian?

WM: I became the Children’s Librarian in October 2008.

MM: What changes have you seen happen in the children’s library through the years?

WM: The children’s room have two internet computers instead of one internet computer in order for the children to use one of the internet computer they and a parent or guardian must first sign an internet agreement. Also have an education game computer and ABC mouse is install on the internet computers. The children or a parent can check out a Launch Pad Tablet that they can only use in the library. The children room has a music keyboard that they can play. The children’s room has a pet bird named Tweety.

MM: What fall events do you have planned for the children?

WM: Children’s Book and Movie Discussion for ages 8 to 11 we just finish The Chronicle of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis. I do some Family Morning Movies for when the children are out of school. Also did easy knitting with straws.

MM: What are some of the most popular children’s books in the different age groups?

WM: Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russell

Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne

Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park

Thomas the Train by Awdry

Pinkalicous by Victoria Kann

Anything Star Wars

Look and Find Books

MM: Winter is coming up and I bet you have a lot of good things happening for this winter?

WM: Children’s Book and Movie Discussion for ages 8 to 11 we are going to do Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers, and The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. A new club called Bedtime Math’s Crazy 8s Club that will meet once a week after school there will be two age groups K-2^nd and 3^rd-5^th grade. A new program called 1000 books before kindergarten. Will have a couple of family morning movies for when the children or out of school and also some children crafting programs.

MM: Okay for some fun get to know you questions. What is your favorite meal, movies, dessert, holiday, place to vacation and song/s?

WM: My favorite meal which I don’t get to often is T-bone steak, crab legs, shrimp, bake potato, salad, and Texas toast.

My favorite movies are Magic Mike XXL, The Longest Ride, The Avengers, and watching the Rio movies with my nephew.

My favorite dessert is chocolate cake with peanut butter icing but mostly anything that is chocolate.

My favorite holidays are Christmas and the Fourth of July.

My favorite place to vacation still dreaming of going to Jamaica. Pretty much anywhere I go as long as it’s not in the state of Kansas.

My favorite songs  Still Standing by Monica, Stay Down by Mary J. Blige, Trust and Believe by Keyshia Cole, Successful by Trey Songz, Let Me Love You by Mario, and Suffocate by J. Holiday

MM: Be our tour guide and tell what you like about living in Parsons and southeast Kansas?

WM: Why I like living in Parsons the town is small easy to get around not a lot of traffic and most of all my family is here.

MM: What do you read when you’re not reading young adult or children’s books? As an Adult do you have favorite adult authors whose books you like to read?

WM: No I don’t have a favorite author it just depend on what kind of mood I’m in and what catches my eye at the movement. Right now I’m reading The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Jo Ann Fluke. This is the first book in the Hannah Swenson series that was put up on the Hallmark Movie and Mysteries channel that I start to watch and was unable to watch the rest of the movie so I decide to read the book to see how it ends. So right now I’m hooked on this author and I plan to read the rest of this series.

MM: Do you have some favorite workshops or conferences you like to attend?

WM: I look forward to the summer reading workshops and the summer reading craft workshops these workshops help me to plan my summer reading programs. I enjoy going to workshops and conferences that are gear towards the youth.

MM: Can you share with us some of the themes for 2016?

WM: The 2016 summer reading theme for children is On Your March Get Set Read!

MM: Lastly what are you looking forward to in 2016?

WM: The summer reading program and the Bathtime Math’s Crazy 8’s programs. Mostly just looking forward to have fun with the children and having fun and exciting programs that the children will enjoy.

Review: Hair in All the Wrong Places by Andrew Buckley

Colin moves around a lot.  From one family member to another and now he is stuck in a small town with his grandmother who is nasty to him and where he is bullied and considered a loser.  He decides to run away only things don't go as planned.  He is attacked by an animal and then starts having bizarre memories and hallucinations. His hunger increases and his body is changing.  Turns out he is now a werewolf and this town is nothing like it seems.  

Paranormal creatures and military forces are part of it all.

I really enjoyed this story and Colin's experiences as puberty takes on a whole new meaning for him.  I hope he will have more adventures, the setting is wonderful and there are so many secrets yet to uncover!

Terri

An Interview with Amanda Flower aka Isabella Alan

INTERVIEW WITH COZY MYSTERY SERIES

AUTHOR:AMANDA FLOWER/ISABELLA ALAN

By Pamela James

MM: Amanda, let's begin with your back story on how you began writing mystery series?

Mysteries the novels that I loved to read when I was middle school. I was a huge fan of Sue Grafton when I was thirteen. Around the same time, I decided I wanted to be an author. It was a perfect fit. I still love mysteries best of all.

MM: Today if there were two of you what would the other you be working on?

I would love to write a third novel in the India Hayes Mystery Series. Readers ask for one all the time too. I just haven't been able to find the time to do it, so I would give my clone that assignment.

MM: Where is your favorite place to write?

I write best at home. I have a laptop, so I move all over the house and seem to go through phases as to my exact favorite spot. Right now, it is on the bed in my office. Yes, I have a bed in my office. Napping is an important part of the writing process.

MM: Share with us your writing schedule?

In 2015 my writing schedule has been tight. I'm under contract to write five novels this year. Thankfully, I have turned in all but one.... I have started the last one yet, but that's a minor detail. Because of this, I write wherever and whenever I can. Even if I only have fifteen minutes, I write. Because I also work full time as a college librarian, I have been known to write for eighteen hours on my days off from the library sometimes throwing down as many as 9,000 words. It's a blessing to have so many contracts, but I'm looking forward to a quieter 2016.

 

MM: Plain and simple what has writing a series taught you?

How to fall in love with characters. The best part of writing a series is the fact that I get to know everyone in my books as well as I know my real life friends. The characters and I grow together. When any of my series end, I always miss the characters I left behind even the not so nice ones.

MM: Dead or alive what five authors would you like to sit down and have  conversation with? What would you want to know and would food be involved?

I think I would like to have a tea party with scones, little sandwiches, and tea. My guests would be Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allan Poe, Sue Grafton, Agatha Christie, and Meg Cabot. Kind of an interesting crowd I know, but I love them all for their work. The tea party would be epic!

 

MM: Tell us bout your latest works of mystery?

In October I have three books releasing:

Murder, Plainly Read (which I write as Isabella Alan)

Andi Unstoppable ( the third novel in my middle grade mystery series)
Amish Christmas at North Star (a four book novella collection, I wrote one of the novellas)

MM: What are you looking forward to in 2016?

2016 will be an amazing year! I so excited about the debut of my Magical Bookshop Mystery Series. My protagonist solves murders using clues from classic works of American literature. The first novel in the series, Crime and Poetry, releases April 5th. The clues from that novel come from Emily Dickinson's work. I'm writing the second novel now and the clues for that story are from Edgar Alan Poe's works. So you can see why I would want to have tea with the two of them in the previous question.

Here's the blurb for Crime and Poetry:
From Amanda Flower —who writes the national bestselling Amish Quilt Shop Mysteries as Isabella Alan —comes the first in the new Magical Bookshop Mystery series.

Rushing home to sit by her ailing grandmother’s bedside, Violet Waverly is shocked to find Grandma Daisy the picture of perfect health. Violet doesn’t need to read between the lines: her grandma wants Violet back home and working in her magical store, Charming Books. It’s where the perfect book tends to fly off the shelf and pick you...

Violet has every intention to hightail it back to Chicago, but then a dead man is discovered clutching a volume of Emily Dickinson’s poems from Grandma Daisy’s shop. The victim is Benedict Raisin, who recently put Grandma Daisy in his will, making her a prime suspect. Now, with the help of a tuxedo cat named Emerson, Violet will have to find a killer to keep Grandma from getting booked for good...

MM: Are some nominations and awards you would like to tell us about?

I've been nominated for the Agatha Award three times, once for Best First Novel and twice for Best Children's/YA. Each time has been an incredible honor.

MM: What would you like to say to your readers?

Thank you a million times over! I could never write as many books as I do without someone to read them. I've been incredibly blessed by a dedicated readership and I could never thank them enough.
 

MM: Now for some fun questions. What is your favorite meal, dessert, song, television series to binge watch, and favorite place to vacation?

Meal: vegetarian lasagna

Dessert: cupcake and ice cream (can I have two?)

Song: It changes it a lot, but right now.... "I'll Wait" by Sara Groves

TV series: Downton Abbey

Vacation: an island off the Atlantic coast of Florida

MM: Be our tour guide and tell us about where you live and write?

I live in a small town outside of Cleveland. It picturesque with a big white church on the town central circle. I love it.

MM: At the end of a long writing and promotion day. What do you like to do to unwind?

In the last year, I've start coloring using all those fancy adult coloring books you can buy now. I absolutely love it, so I usually color while watching TV, preferably Downton Abbey.

MM: Is there a teacher, friend, mentor, writing group or village you would like to thank for helping make this dream come true?

Sisters in Crime gave me the confidence to try and the boost I needed as a young author. I love my local chapter, Northeast Ohio Sisters in Crime. I'm so grateful to that group. And I have to thank my agent. She's a rock star!

MM: Lastly leave us with a character quote or two that will pretty much sum up what you want to convey to your readers?

"There it was--the empty white bakery box. Just a light dusting of powdered sugar surrounded it on the blond wood kitchen table in my new home in Holmes County, Ohio. A streak of red jelly ran along its side with my fingerprint perfectly preserved in raspberry red. It was a crime scene."  --Angie Braddock, Murder, Plain and Simple


"Browsing customers in brightly colored T-shirts and shorts stared at me open-mouthed. I knew I must have looked a fright. I had driven from Chicago to Cascade Springs, New York, the small town nestled on the banks of the Niagara River just minutes from the world famous Niagara Falls. I made the drive in seven hours, stopping only twice for gas and potty breaks. My fingernails were bitten to the quick, dark circles hovered beneath my bloodshot blue eyes, and my wavy strawberry-blond hair was in a knot on top of my head. Last time I caught sight of it in the rearview mirror it had resembled a pom-pom that had been caught in a dryer’s lint trap. I stopped looking in the rearview after that." --Violet Waverly, Crime and Poetry, release April 2016

Thanks so much for the great interview!

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Magical Arts Friday: An Interview with Julie Kent

INTERVIEW WITH JULIE KENT: PARSONS PUBLIC LIBRARY YOUNG ADULT SPECIALIST

By Pamela James

MM: Julie, give us the backstory on how you came to work for the Parsons Library?

JK: I read the advertisement in the paper for this job and decided this was something I had always wanted to do.  I love the books and the people who come into the library. 

MM: Tell us about how your idea for a coloring day at the library came about? 

JK: I read on a Librarian Facebook page that this phenomenon was very popular in a number of libraries in the USA.  Many of the libraries had discovered that patrons really loved being able to come in and just relax.  I talked to Delores and Jean and they agreed with my idea to start this. 

MM: Do the coloring days stay the same? Explain to us how this works for you? 

JK:Currently we are coloring each Wednesday afternoon for an hour.  We tried several time frames for the program and this is our current program.

An hour seems to be enough for most people to get started on a picture.  They take them home to complete. 

MM: Has anyone completed a colored piece?

JK: We have several pictures that were colored and brought back to us to post. We plan on offering holiday inspired pictures to color and then post as a sort of holiday decorations. 

MM: Do you think you will have a coloring contest?

JK:Our plan is to have a coloring competition soon.  We haven’t decided exactly what that will entail so far.  I have been thinking that it might be fun to do this in December.  We haven’t ironed out the details as yet.

MM: As a young adult specialist for the library: what does this entail?

JK: My job has spanned from Young Adult programs to Tech Tip programs for Adults.  My basic duties include purchase of books and movies for YA, and planning monthly programming for YA usually in the form of a movie or craft program.  During the Summer Reading Program, I plan and usually complete the craft programs that are done for that session. We have had beading crafts, origami, made terrariums, duct tape wallets and other craft items.  I am usually at the Reference Desk during the day, checking books in and out and answering questions for patrons. 

MM: What programming do you have planned for the library? 

JK:We often help patrons access their e-books and audio books on tablets and phones by helping them to download the programs and set them up.  In addition we have had programs on the new Sierra program card catalog, Encore, that is used to find, place a hold, and renew books from home on your computer.  We show patrons how to use this program and it gives them a lot of control over their checkouts and can even offer a way to track the books they want to read and the ones they have already read.

MM: I know you work with a lot of talented ladies. Have any of your coworkers colored a picture?

JK:Several of my co-workers have taken pictures home to complete.  They are some pretty creative people.

MM: Tell us about the different designs and styles you have for patrons to choose from and since this has started what will come next for 2016?

 JK: We have several books that we ordered from Dover Publishing that are adult coloring books.  We also have gotten many pictures from Pinterest and have a coloring account on Pinterest for the Library.

At the coloring sessions, patrons can request a certain subject; today one wanted celestial pictures with the moon and stars, and another one wanted complex pictures of animals: Lions, Elephants and Gorillas. 

MM: Okay now for some fun questions. What is your favorite meal, dessert, books to reread, song, movies and drink?

JK:  I love going out to eat in Joplin at Hu Hot.  This restaurant does stir fry with ingredients that you pick out.  They always have vegetables, lean meat, eggs, and sauces to complete your meal.  This is a buffet-type restaurant so you can go through the line as many times as you want. 

Desserts are really my downfall.  I love chocolate French silk pie, tiramisu, ice cream and cheesecake. That about covers desserts lol.

I have always loved Janet Evanovich books because they are mindless and funny. I am a fan of John Grisham books, J. A. Jance books too.  As far as young adult books, my very favorite is Mike Mullen’s Ash Fall series.  I can re-read them and love them. I also love books that keep me thinking.  Mysteries fit into that category.

I love quiet music: Enya, Native American flute music by Coyote Oldman.  I also love Bruno Mars.  Actually I love most music.  Different genres for different moods.

Currently my favorite movie is Pitch Perfect. I have seen it many times.  I like the music it in.  I also am a fan of The Hunger Games movies, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings movies and of course, Harry Potter movies. 

I love coffee drinks.  I usually have one cup of coffee when I get up in the morning and may have a dessert type coffee when I eat lunch at Remnant Café here in Parsons.  I am fond of the Butter Beer drink (Harry Potter drink). 

MM: If you could sit down with any five authors dead or alive who would they be and what would you want to know?

JK: I really like James Patterson as an author.  I believe he has the whole author thing figured out. He puts out (with another author) a book every month or two.  He also has become a noted children’s author, writing books that young kids and young adults find entertaining.   I think I would just like to spend some time talking about his writing and how he started.  I would love to write a book too so think this might be very helpful.

Janet Evanovich is another author I think would be interesting.  I would be interested in finding out where she got the very funny characters in her Stephanie Plum series.  Do these people really exist ??

Dana Stabenow writes books about Alaska and the Native American tribe members who live there.  I like hearing about the tribal customs and the lifestyle. 

Mike Mullen writes YA books. His series beginning with Ash Fall is a big favorite of mine.  His story begins with the super-volcano in Yellowstone exploding and how the people affected handle the problems that occur.  I really enjoy these books.  They seem very plausible to me and the problems the people face are real.

MM: Lastly, what do you want to say to your patrons about the coloring days?

JK: The Color Your Stress Away program is a lovely way to handle stress.  It is nice we are giving adults permission to color.  Most of them have felt guilty about doing something they may have thought was childish.

JK:  Thanks for giving me an opportunity to tell you about our programs and a bit about myself.