Have you heard of the I Love My Librarian award?

Nominations for the annual award (presented by the Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times) are open through September 12 and two of your local librarians are vying for your vote. Ed Burns is up against this week's "Patch Picks" presenter, Darlene Hellenberg.

Call it a little "friendly competition" between two of our librarians. 
Cast a vote for your favorite librarian via this link: Ed Burns and Darlene Hellenberg.

Darlene has run the Tween the Pages book club since 2006. Throughout her years of hosting the club, she’s wound up reading a fair number of wonderful novels for children.

These are some of her favorites. (Tween the Pages meets the 2nd Thursday of every month from 6:30 – 8:30 pm. Grades 6-8 are welcome)

Darlene's Tween Picks

The Invention of Hugo Cabret - Brian Selznick
Everyone should read this book. The story is wonderfully layered and full of history and intrigue. The prose is broken up by pages of black and white pencil drawings that Selznick uses to move the story along. The combination is perfect.

Rules - Cynthia Lord
Catherine’s little brother David is autistic and she is always worried about his behavior, especially when they are out in public. She makes up rules for him to follow so he won’t embarrass her. But Catherine must learn that you can’t control every situation and that just being yourself is the best way to find acceptance.

When You Reach Me - Rebecca Stead
Miranda lives in New York City in the 1970’s with her mother. Everything is going along fine until her best friend Sal gets punched for virtually no reason. Sal shuts her out and Miranda is left to navigate the streets without her best friend. Then things take a turn for the mysterious as someone is leaving notes for Miranda; someone who knows everything about her, even things that haven’t happened yet. Miranda has to follow the clues or the unthinkable will happen.

Seedfolks - Paul Fleischman
Kim plants a few lima bean plants in a deserted lot near her home. Her neighbors think it’s strange and don’t understand why she would bother. But then Kim leaves town, and they begin to worry that the plants will die. One neighbor calls another and asks them to water the plants. Then another neighbor decides to plant something, and another, until the deserted plot becomes a garden. This story is about making something out of nothing and making friends when you thought you’d never have any.

Close to Famous - Joan Bauer
Foster and her mom are on the run and a man named Elvis is hot on their tail. When their car breaks down outside of a small town, they must rely on the company of strangers to help them hide out. Foster and her mother quickly become part of the tiny town and make friends with all of the interesting people who live there. Foster hasn’t had a great life but she knows how to look on the bright side of things.