Welcome to Aurora Public Library’s blog. A place where our library staff share their thoughts, insider knowledge and overall love of all things book and community.
Feel free to comment on posts, re-blog and enjoy. To ensure a civil and focused discussion, comments will be held for a brief period before being published.
How to Paint a Watercolor (Without Using Watercolors)
by Stacy
Library Assistant Stacy provides a tutorial on how to paint with your homemade watercolors! Follow along - or create your own painting - and show us your art in the comments!
Supplies:
- Thick paper
- Homemade watercolors (click here for the tutorial on how to make your own!)
- Clean water
- Paint brush, sponges or Q-tips
- Sharpies & fine-tip Sharpie or pen
- Table salt
Pax Discussion Questions - Chapters 12-22
In this club we read middle grade fiction appropriate for ages 6-12, but anyone is welcome if you enjoy children's literature! I will be posting discussion questions weekly based on the book we are reading and I will also provide activities that relate. Please comment on the discussion questions so we can stay connected through reading!
May's book is "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker! Available instantly through hoopla digital as an eBook and an eAudiobook.
Discussion Questions - Chapters 12 - 22
- Why did Vola move into her grandfather's house? Why has she stayed so long?
- What does Vola do for Peter, other than help his leg? How is Peter helping Vola?
- How is the war affecting each character? Pax, Bristle, Runt, Peter & Vola?
- Why does Peter believe Pax is still alive?
- How do you think the story will end?
Share your answers to the questions below in the comments and tell us what you think of the book so far!
This week, read the rest of the book for our final questions and activity next Monday, May 25!
APL Reader's Corner with Tessy & Justine
**Video may contain spoilers**
Join APL staff each week for a discussion of some of their current reads! Each week they will discuss a book from a different genre. Join the discussion live on at Facebook.com/AuroraLibrary each Friday at 1 p.m. (MST) and leave your thoughts in the comments below!
The next discussion will be at 1 p.m. on May 22, 2020 on our Facebook page and will feature "All Out: the No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages" by Saundra Mitchell (available instantly on hoopladigital.com).
Other upcoming titles, all available instantly from hoopla digital, include:
- May 29, "A Princess in Theory: Reluctant Royals #1" by Alyssa Cole
- June 5, "The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet" by Becky Chambers
- June 12, "The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest" by Melanie Dickerson
- June 19, "Fire Logic" by Laurie J. Marks
Review of "The Winter People" by Jennifer McMahon
by Nicole S.
After moving to Colorado earlier this year my friends back in Wisconsin still wanted to keep in touch and what better way than a book club! Thanks to technology I have been able to virtually attend the meetings and we catch up and of course talk about what we thought of the books we picked for the meeting. I decided to also share my thoughts of these books to the awesome readers like you!
The first book we kicked off for our 2020 book club was “The Winter People” by Jennifer McMahon. I am a big fan of thriller/suspense novels so I was very pleased to find a thriller/ghost story novel on our list of books.
Jennifer McMahon is a New York Time’s bestselling author of works like “Promise Not To Tell” and “Island of Lost Girls”. The majority of her books could be categorized under thriller/suspenseful fiction with some elements of paranormal activity.
“The Winter People” takes place in West Hall, Vermont, which seems to be a place where strange happenings occur. It all seems to start with a woman named Sara Harrison Shea. In 1908, she is found dead behind her house not long after the tragic death of her daughter, Gertie. Then, in present day with 19-year-old Ruthie who happens to live in Sara’s old farmhouse with her mother Alice and younger sister Fawn. One day Alice vanishes without a trace. While Ruthie and Fawn try to gather clues about their mother’s whereabouts, they happen upon a copy of Sara Harrison Shea’s diary. The story jumps back and forth between the diary entries in 1908 and present day where similarities may come to pass and history may be doomed to repeat itself.
I greatly enjoy narratives like this that jump back and forth. At first it may be a little hard to keep track of all the characters in play in the story but once you get going you find it easier to sort out the events in 1908 with Sara, her husband Marty and their daughter Gertie, and present day which includes Ruthie and Fawn. McMahon does a great job of weaving the separate stories but ultimately entwining them. Add in the chilling ghost stories and the missing people and you get hooked. I found myself wanting to keep reading Sara’s diary entries more than Ruthie’s accounts in present day because that seemed to be where the real story is.
You feel for these characters, especially Sara, due to the loss of her child, Gertie. You sympathize with her actions and justify her means of coping with the sudden loss. The story twists and turns because you wonder whether ghosts really exist in this town and if it’s “cursed.” However, the one flaw I found was that the ending seemed to be underwhelmed. The story wraps up rather quickly and the decisions made by some of the characters didn’t seem to be realistic. All in all, if you enjoy multiple narratives from different points in time with a thriller and suspense feel to it – this is your book! If you have read "The Winter People," tell us what you thought of it in the comments!
Also, if you enjoy the Vermont setting like McMahon seems to, check out her other novels, “The Invited” and “The Night Sister”.
Click here to view McMahon's works and place a hold with your library card.
Check back for my next review of our second book club pick, “Into the Water” by Paula Hawkins.
Library Assistant Stacy demonstrates the second method for making watercolor art - without using watercolors! Stacy shares how to give new life to your old markers by making watercolors with them! Tune in next Wednesday for Stacy's video showing how to use these new colors to create art!
Supplies:
Dried washable markers
Jars or Cups
Water
|