- Children's Room
- Saturday, April 18, 2020
iRead features the best ebooks and eaudiobooks for children and teens curated by the Children's Room and Teen Center staff.
Check-out these books by one of our favorite authors, Kate DiCamillo, and recommended by one of our favorite librarians, Ms. Leslie:
The Raymie Nightingale Trilogy
This poignant and often humorous trilogy by Newbery award-winning author Kate DiCamillo introduces three girls who become the Three Rancheros, the best of friends. Each face tough life challenges which highlight their vulnerability coupled with bravery, as they struggle to find their place in the world. All three characters are deeply drawn with great skill and nuanced themes of friendship, loneliness, courage, and love are expertly woven throughout each of the books. DiCamillo is a master storyteller who knows just how to get to the heart of everything that matters about being friends, and being human.
Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo
available as an ebook and eaudiobook through Overdrive
Raymie is living through a great tragedy. Her father has left the family for a dental hygienist, and she is determined to win him back. How? By entering the 1975 Little Miss Central Florida tire contest, which she will expertly win with her baton-twirling skills. Trouble is, she does not know HOW to twirl a baton. Her two friends with some baton twirling skills are young Louisiana Elefante, who claims to be the daughter of the famous Elefante trapeze artists, and teen-age Beverly Tapinski, whose father has also left and who often shows up with bruises on her face, the result of an abusive mother. While Beverly could care less about the contest, Louisiana is hopeful she will win the $1,975 prize, as she lives with her grandmother who can only afford to feed her canned tuna fish. The three girls experience profound adventures, among them attempting to rescue Beverly’s dog Buddy, the “dog of her heart,” from the pound. Their relationship with each other, and elderly people along the way, introduce them as characters the reader will care about and love.
Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo
available as an eaudiobook through Overdrive
One night, in the middle of the night, Louisiana’s grandmother wakes her up to insist that they leave town, since “the day of reckoning has arrived.” When they finally arrive in Georgia and settle in at the Good Night, Sleep Tight motel, Louisiana finds herself abandoned by the only parental figure she has ever known. Her grandmother leaves her a note, revealing the heartbreaking news: she is not related to Louisiana at all, and instead rescued her when she was an abandoned baby. Feeling truly lost, Louisiana moves on, finding life’s meaning in the end, and a way to forgive the grandmother who left. “Perhaps what matters when all is said and done is not who puts us down but who picks us up.”
Beverly, Right Here by Kate DiCamillo
available as an eaudiobook through Overdrive
The eldest of the Three Rancheros, 14-year-old Beverly Tapinski takes center stage in this final chapter. After her beloved dog Buddy dies, Beverly makes her way to Tamaray Beach hitching a ride with her cousin. She finds a job bussing tables at a fish place, and she finds a home with Iola Jenkins, in exchange for illegally driving Iola to her regular bingo game nights. Along the way she befriends a convenience store clerk named Elmer who will be attending Dartmouth on a full scholarship, and who introduces her to a different way of looking at life. Her heart grows with the few but meaningful relationships she develops, and she learns the value of being a part of someone else’s life: sometimes just showing up is what matters the most.
Trilogy recommended by Leslie Tetreault | Children and Teen Department Manager
Download and start reading (or listening to) these great titles today.
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