Mary Ann!  Mary Ann!  The White Rabbit spent most of Alice in Wonderland wondering where his missing maid had gone.  He even mistook Alice for his missing helper (we all look alike, you know).  Well what do you think happened after the Alice Monster went home?  In this fantastic graphic novel written by Tommy Kovac and illustrated by Sonny Liew, Mary Ann returns to the White Rabbit's house only to find that the Alice  Monster has caused a huge stir.  Soon enough she and the White Rabbit are on the run from the Red Queen (the Rabbit for Treason and Mary Ann for an assault on the royal skull).  If you prefer to peek through the Looking Glass, this story is for you.

Rick Riordan has written a great series of books about a half-mortal half-god hero named Percy Jackson.  He is a teenager who lives in New York with his Mom and leads a pretty normal life, right up until "mythical" creatures start trying to kill him.  Now his story comes to the screen in The Lightning Thief (also the title of the first book).  With any luck the whole series will make it to the screen; this is the first book only.  Due in theaters on Presidents Day (February 15, 2010).

By now you may have heard us talking about The Big Read Door County 2010 book, My Antonia by Willa Cather.  Her character Antonia Shimerda homesteaded with her family in the late 1800's in Nebraska.  And you thought being a teenager was tough now.  For a look at what it was like in Wisconsin at that time, check out Michael Lesy's 1973 book Wisconsin Death Trip.  Filled with photos and newspaper clippings that date from 1885-1900, this book makes the past shockingly real.  

Kristin Cashore has created a stunning fantasy world for us in her two recent books; Graceling and Fire. 

Graceling takes readers inside the world of Katsa, a warrior-girl in her late teens with one blue eye and one green eye. This gives her haunting beauty, but also marks her as a Graceling. Gracelings are beings with special talents—swimming, storytelling, dancing. Katsa's Grace is considered more useful: her ability to fight (and kill, if she wanted to) is unequaled in the seven kingdoms. Forced to act as a henchman for a manipulative king, Katsa channels her guilt by forming a secret council of like-minded citizens who carry out secret missions to promote justice over cruelty and abuses of power.

She is the last of her kind...  It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. In King City, the young King Nash is clinging to the throne, while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. War is coming. And the mountains and forest are filled with spies and thieves. This is where Fire lives, a girl whose beauty is impossibly irresistible and who can control the minds of everyone around her.

Read these books if you love a fantasy world and characters you can really lose your self in.

Libraries in Baileys Harbor, Egg Harbor and Sturgeon Bay are participating in the Milwaukee Bucks annual Read to Achieve Program for kids in 3rd to 10th grade.  The Reading Challenge runs from January 2nd to February 13th 2010.

This program is all about the pages read; at 125, 250, 375 and 500 pages read, kids earn a sticker on their reading record, which you get when you sign up at the library.  At 500 pages read, kids recieve an order form for a free ticket for one child (adults must buy a ticket at a reduced price for each free child ticket).  The tickets are good for one of two Milwaukee Bucks home games in March.  

Kids who choose to read 750 pages or more get an "overtime sticker" and are entered into raffles for an autographed basketball, or participation in the Halftime High Five Tunnel, Kourtside Kids, or Recognition On-Court.