Are you watching The Great American Read? This an eight-part series “explores and celebrates the power of reading, told through the prism of America’s 100 […]
The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante
This quartet of novels follow the friendship of Elena Greco, and Raffaella “Lila” Cerullo over 60 years, beginning with their childhood in Naples, Italy, in […]
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Have you tried Explora? It’s an easy-to-use database of articles from hundreds of different academic journals, popular magazines, reference works, primary source documents, and news […]
NOBLE Digital Heritage
Interested in local history? Visit this site to see images and other resources documenting the rich social and cultural history of our member communities: NOBLE […]
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Back to School!
The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante
This quartet of novels follow the friendship of Elena Greco, and Raffaella “Lila” Cerullo over 60 years, beginning with their childhood in Naples, Italy, in the 1950s. The first book, “My Brilliant Friend,” will be coming to television soon as an HBO series.
We have the whole series available on OverDrive in both audiobook and ebook editions, and there’s never a wait for the audiobooks!
The Neapolitan Novels on OverDrive
Are you watching The Great American Read? This an eight-part series “explores and celebrates the power of reading, told through the prism of America’s 100 best-loved novels (as chosen in a national survey). It investigates how and why writers create their fictional worlds, how we as readers are affected by these stories, and what these 100 different books have to say about our diverse nation and our shared human experience.”
Great American Read Booklist — Here is a list of Great American Read titles, linked to the library catalog to make it easy to find and request them!
Edgar Allan Poe Awards 2018
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (popularly known the Edgars) are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, honoring the best in mystery fiction, and nonfiction published in the previous year.
Here’s a list of this year’s Edgars, linked to the library catalog to make it easy to find and request them!
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Novel |
Young Adult |
First Novel |
Fact Crime |
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Juvenile |
Paperback Original |
Short Story |
Critical/Biographical |
Library Stories for Children
National Library Week is celebrated April 8-14 this year. Here are some books with stories and poems for children about adventures in the library!
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Margret & H.A. Rey’s Curious George visits the library
Summary:George is lucky to arrive at the library just in time for story hour. But it’s not easy for a little monkey to sit still too long. From selecting books to getting his very own library card, George’s day at the library makes reading fun, -
Jumping off library shelves : a book of poems
Summary:Here is the library, not just as a place that houses books, but as an experience. Fifteen poems celebrate the thrill of getting your first library card, the excitement of story hour, the fun of using the computer, the pride of reading to the dog, and the joy of discovering that the librarian understands you and knows exactly which books you’ll love. The poems, compiled by noted poet and anthologist Lee Bennett Hopkins, pay homage to the marvels of books and reading. Accompanied by Jane Manning’s colorful, imaginative illustrations, this collection lyrically celebrates the magic of libraries. -
D.W.’s library card
Summary:After finally getting her first library card, Arthur’s little sister D.W. tries to check out her favorite book, with humorous results. -
Otto the book bear
Summary:Otto lives in a book in a house but when no one is looking he comes to life to read his favorite stories and practice his writing, until he is left behind and must set out in search of a new home. -
Help! I’m a prisoner in the library!
Summary:Two girls spend an adventurous night trapped inside the public library during a terrible blizzard. -
I.Q. goes to the library
Summary:After going to the library with Mrs. Furber’s class every day of Library Week, I.Q., the class pet, hopes to take out a funny book with his own library card. -
A big surprise for Little Card
Summary:A quirky ode to spirit, identity and the joy of having a library card follows the adventures of Little Card, who delightedly anticipates going to school to become a birthday card only to trade jobs with Big Card and embark on a life at the library, where he struggles to use his exuberant gifts in a quiet environment. -
Librarian on the roof! : a true story
Summary:The story of RoseAleta Laurell who arrived in Lockheart, Texas to be the head of the Dr. Eugene Clark Library. The library was outdated so she spent a week on the library roof to raise money and interest in the library. -
Spiders on the case
Summary:Buster, a walnut orb weaving spider, enlists the help of Jo Beth, one of a family of poisonous but friendly brown recluse spiders, to help stop humans who are stealing from the rare books room of the Boston Public Library, where the spiders live. -
Lola at the library
Summary:Every Tuesday Lola and her mother visit their local library to return and check out books, attend story readings, and share a special treat. Lola loves Tuesdays because that is the day she and her mother go to the library. Everything about the trip is an exciting adventure, from packing her backpack with books and her all-important library card, to storytimes and singing, to choosing new books and the walk home, when they always stop for a special treat. But the best time of all is when Mommy reads her story at bedtime. -
Splat the Cat and the late library book
Summary:Splat becomes a fugitive from the library when he realizes he has an overdue library book. -
Richard Wright and the library card
Summary:Based on a scene from Wright’s autobiography, Black boy, in which the seventeen-year-old African-American borrows a white man’s library card and devours every book as a ticket to freedom. -
Dewey the library cat : a true story
Summary:Abandoned in a library book drop slot in the dead of winter, this remarkable kitten miraculously endured the coldest night of the year. When librarian Vicki Myron found him in the morning, she wrapped him in her arms, nurtured him back to health, and introduced him to his new home – the library. Helping Myron through a difficult time, and inspiring the struggling town of Spencer, Iowa, Dewey gained worldwide fame as a symbol of hope, warming the hearts of all with his tail…or rather, his tale. This middle-grade adaptation of the Grand Central bestseller Dewey features an 8-page photo insert, including exclusive, never-before-seen photos of the Dewey. -
Amelia Bedelia’s first library card
Summary:Amelia Bedelia helps out at the library with her classmates and wonders what kind of book she should borrow when she receives her first library card. -
The secret of the silver key
Summary:Fribble’s birthday present from his grandparents is a letter containing a secret key. Curious as ever, Fribble discovers what the key unlocks, only to find another mystery. Where will it lead him? Only the library can help him solve his case. -
Miss Moore thought otherwise : how Anne Carroll Moore created libraries for children
Summary:Examines the story of how librarian Ann Carroll Moore created the first children’s room at the New York Public Library. -
The library card
Summary:The lives of four young people in different circumstances are changed by their encounters with books. -
Beverly Billingsly borrows a book
Summary:Beverly is thrilled to finally check out a book with her own library card, but when she accidentally keeps the book too long she worries that she’ll have to pay a huge fine or go to jail.
Biographies of “First Women”
From the first woman to walk in space to the first woman to win an IndyCar race, here are some inspiring biographies of “first women.”
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Danica Patrick
Summary:This title introduces readers to Danica Patrick, NASCAR and IndyCar Series auto racer. Patrick’s life story is examined from her childhood in Illinois, to her years in England racing Formula 1 on her way to becoming the first woman to win an IndyCar race and the first woman to win pole position in a NASCAR race. -
Madeleine Albright
Summary:Focuses on the accomplishments of the former United States ambassador to the United Nations who became the first woman to serve as Secretary of State. -
Frances Perkins : first woman cabinet member
Summary:President Franklin Roosevelt assigned this well-known progressive activist the job of putting Americans back to work during the darkest days of the Great Depression. -
Brave Harriet : the first woman to fly the English Channel
Summary:The first American woman to have received a pilot’s license describes her April 1912 solo flight across the English Channel, the first such flight by any woman. -
The Jerrie Mock story : the first woman to fly solo around the world
Summary:In this biography for middle-grade readers, Nancy Roe Pimm tells the story of Geraldine "Jerrie" Mock, the first woman to fly solo around the world. In her trusty Cessna, The Spirit of Columbus-also known as Charlie-she traveled from Columbus, Ohio, on an eastward route that totaled nearly twenty-three thousand miles and took almost a month. Overcoming wind, ice, mechanical problems, and maybe even sabotage, Mock persevered. -
Storm Run : the story of the first woman to win the Iditarod Sled Dog Race
Summary:In 1985, Libby Riddles made history by becoming the first woman to win the 1,100-mile Iditarod Sled Dog Race. An inspiration to children and adults everywhere, this is a compelling first-hand account of the Arctic storms, freezing temperatures, loyal sled dogs, and utter determination that defined Riddles’s Iditarod victory. -
Amelia Earhart
Summary:A biography of the aviation pioneer who was the first woman to fly alone across the Atlantic. -
Who says women can’t be doctors? : the story of Elizabeth Blackwell
Summary:An introduction to the life and achievements of the first American female doctor describes the limited career prospects available to women in the early nineteenth-century, the opposition Blackwell faced while pursuing a medical education, and her pioneering medical career that opened doors for future generations of women. -
To the stars! : first American woman to walk in space
Summary:Shares the story of renowned astronaut and distinguished scientist Kathryn Sullivan, describing how she defied the conventions of her childhood to pursue interests previously limited to boys and how she became the first woman to walk in space.
NOBLE Top 25
“Girls,” one observing and getting involved in a shocking event and another missing, top the list of the most popular items in the collections of NOBLE libraries over the past five years.
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins was the most popular title, being borrowed and accessed almost 12,300 times. Close behind at number two was Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn at just under 11,700 loans and downloads since 2012. Both are suspenseful contemporary novels dealing with relationships possibly gone seriously wrong, one from the viewpoint of an observer, the other the story of a spouse attempting to prove his innocence in a disappearance.
Coming in third is the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, set in occupied France in World War II, a tale of morality and survival focusing on a German boy and a blind French girl.
The most popular title for younger readers, coming in at number six overall, is Wonder by R.J. Palacio, about a ten year-old with facial abnormalities attempting to cope with middle school after being home-schooled in his early years. Also popular with younger library users at number ten overall is Divergent by Veronica Roth, the first in a series of young adult dystopian novels set in post-apocalyptic Chicago.
Most popular among nonfiction titles was Daniel Brown’s The Boys in the Boat at number 17 overall, the story of a working class American rowing team and their success in beating more elite American and British rowing teams and going on to defeat Germany in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Coming in second among nonfiction books at number 21 overall is I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai.
Perennial favorites the Hunger Games series placed two titles in the top 25, at 16 and 22 as did the Harry Potter series, at numbers 18 and 23.
The totals combine uses of all formats of the title — print, downloadable ebooks and audiobooks, CDs and DVDs — in the 28 member libraries of NOBLE. All the titles and many more are available at your local library.
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Book Recommendations
Looking for a good book? Try NoveList Plus, an online service helps you find the next book in a series, fiction or nonfiction titles based on subject, genre or mood, read-alikes for your favorite authors or books, reading group guides and more. You’ll need your library card to use this from home.
NoveList Plus — “Find your next great read”
March is Women’s History Month
Women’s History Month celebrates women’s contributions to our shared social, cultural and political history. Women’s History Month has been observed since 1987 when a Congressional Resolution expanded Women’s History Week to a month-long celebration, which includes International Women’s Day on March 8th.
This year’s theme is: “Nevertheless, She Persisted: Honoring Women Who Fight All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.”
Biographies of “First Women” — From the first woman to walk in space to the first woman to win an IndyCar race, here are some inspiring children’s biographies of “first women.”
Irish American Heritage Month
March is Irish American Heritage Month, celebrated to honor the achievements and contributions of Irish immigrants and their descendants, first celebrated in 1991. March was chosen to coincide with Saint Patrick’s Day.
- Irish Tales for Children — Recommended stories with an Irish theme, linked to the library catalog to make it easy to find and request them
- Ireland and the Irish — A collection of eBooks and audiobooks that you can check out from the NOBLE Overdrive collection using your library card.