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Comforting Children’s Books: The Year We Learned to Fly and Lost in the Clouds

23 Mar

The Year We Learned To Fly
By: Jacqueline Woodson
Illustrated by: Rafael Lopez

The author of The Year We Learned to Fly, Jacqueliene Woodson, shares with the reader that if you just close your eyes, your imagination can take you out of the darkest places. One of the illustrations in the book displays the generations before us who overcame their struggles by just using their imagination. This book is an excellent read for children who are struggling with a change in their environment, or even stuck in the house on a rainy day. This book lets the reader know that their imagination can be utilized any time they want to escape their reality. This book is available to borrow at our Main and Grand Street Branch. You can also read a previous blog about Woodson’s popular middle grade memoir in verse Brown Girl Dreaming.

Lost In the Clouds
By: Tom Tinn-Disbury

Lost in the Clouds is the perfect book to read to a child who is grieving or is dealing with a loved one passing away. The book is from the perspective of the child character in the book, Billy. The illustrations in the book show Billy talking to a cloud and developing a relationship with the cloud that he believes is now his mom. The book shares the daily emotions Billy and his dad are faced with while grieving the death of his mom. Toward the end of the book, Billy learns that whenever he is feeling sad, he always has the support of his loved ones including his dad. This book is now available at our Grand Street Branch.

Written By:
Vanetta Rivera
Library Assistant
Grand Street Branch

A Fresh Look at a Classic Series: Harry Potter

27 Oct

It might be hard to believe but I had never read the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling before. Even though I read everything I could get my hands on growing up, this book never came on my radar until the movies came out!

So if you don’t know, the Harry Potter series is a Children’s Fantasy series about an 11 year old orphan Harry Potter who finds out he is a wizard and starts going to a mysterious school for young wizards called Hogwarts. 

It’s a fun series and I can understand why it’s so popular, especially amongst people who read it as a kid. It will make you wish for an owl telling you that you’re actually a wizard to show up at your window and whisk you away to adventure. As an adult, personally I can’t imagine myself being obsessed with the series but it was a very enjoyable read and I finished the series easily. I still don’t understand why people love Snape and Malfoy so much. To be honest, I found them pretty horrible and don’t feel like they really redeemed themselves in the end. Maybe it is because of how they were portrayed in the movies and by such great actors but in the book, not so much.

The series is appropriate for ages 10 and up for sure. It is a great story filled with magic, mystery, danger, great friendships, found family and a relatable set of heroes. 

If you would like to check out the books, we have it at the library and it can be ordered through our catalog and you can check out the ebooks and audiobooks through Hoopla accessible with your library card through the Hoboken website or Hoopla app!

Thanks for reading! 

If you would like to watch the video version of this review and more, follow the Library’s teen instagram page @Hobokenlibraryteens!

If the description of pasties and other treats in the novel made your stomach rumble, you can also read a past review of theUnofficial Harry Potter Cookbook here.

Written by:
Asha Mobiley
Teen Librarian