Reading a Sarah Dessen book is like taking a long stroll with a close friend.  Her characters seem like the girl living next door; someone you know from school. Her newest book, set to be released at the beginning of June, will feel very familiar to her readers.  The Moon and More is set in the beach town of Colby, just like Along for the Ride.

Emaline has the perfect boyfriend and a comfortable life working for her grandmother’s real estate firm in a small beach town. But the unexpected arrival of a demanding film director, and the cute assistant, change Emaline’s outlook. Will she be content attending the local college or should she reach farther? Her mostly absent father is pushing her to attend an Ivy League school, but how can she leave the familiar world of Colby?

This is a great book to take to the beach this summer!

Real Dads: Men Embracing Nonviolence is a moving collection of photos that were taken by amateurs and professionals around Michigan for a 2010 Father’s Day contest. The pictures celebrate dads of many backgrounds who each signed a pledge to be a loving, strong and nonviolent role model. The photos are interspersed with stories of fathers stepping up at critical moments in their lives.

Meier’s book is part of the Local Indie @ KDL collection, housed at the Cascade Township and Kentwood (Richard L. Root) branches. It was created to give independent authors, filmmakers and musicians the opportunity to be added to our shelves and to be featured by staff in order to increase viewers, readers and listeners.

Click here to browse our Local Indie @ KDL collection

If you are looking for your next vacation read, you might want to try some of the current and new books being brought to life on the screen. From classics to science fiction to historical, there is a variety coming to theaters (and TV!) that you can read before you see:

• The Great Gatsby (out now) – a splashy new version of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic
• World War Z (out June 21) – a horror novel by Max Brooks
• Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (out August 7) – second in the Rick Riordan series
• The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (out August 23) – an adaptation of the popular teen series by Cassandra Clare
• Call the Midwife (a TV series on PBS in season 2) – based on the memoir by Jennifer Worth

Hey teens!  Are you looking for a little adventure?  Check out our Adventure booklist, get a jump on your summer adventure.

If You Like Beautiful Creatures booklist provides great suggestions for readers who love the Beautiful Creatures series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.

If you can’t wait for that awesome summer movie, look no further!  Read the book before you watch the movie in our Books into Movies booklist.

Are you ever at a loss for something good to read? Let KDL help you find something great!

First, when you visit a KDL branch, you’ll find ever-changing book displays throughout the building. You’ll also find printed booklists on many topics and for all age levels that you’re welcome to take. Summer Reading @ KDL booklists will be available starting June 1.

Second, did you know that you can look online to find these same booklists, as well as many more? You can even reserve books, music, & movies directly from the online lists.

And third, try KDL Personalized Picks! KDL cardholders can receive personal suggestion lists created by KDL librarians. Fill out this form with your request, and you’ll hear back soon by email.

KDL wants to help you find something great to read, view, or listen to. We hope these suggestions help you to find just the right thing. (And don’t forget that we have thousands of eBooks and eAudio Books available at ebooks.kdl.org!)

Music is a great way to get the wiggles out! It’s great seeing kids get excited about dancing to their favorite songs. Music and movement help young brains build connections, but music can also help kids learn to stop moving!

STOP can be a hard word to teach excited little ones, and all too often it’s a word they really don’t want to hear. Self-regulating is the ability to make your body listen to your brain, and to the requests of those around you. Using Freeze songs is a great way to practice stopping and starting on cue. It can also become a fun way to get young children to pay attention to important words, like “Stop,” “Wait” or “Freeze,” when they become a little too revved up during movement activities, or just day-to-day events.

Some great songs to use include:

“I Can Dance” by Ronno
“Can’t Wait to Celebrate” by Jim Gill
“Bop & Stop” by Merry Music Maker
“Freeze” or “Stop & Go” by Greg & Steve

Any song can be used to play freeze games, though. Fast moving classical songs, or even rock & roll, can be paused for great freeze-song fun!

This article originally appeared in our Early Lit Bits eNewsletter. Read the most recent issue online or sign up to receive this monthly update highlighting early literacy tips and resources for parents and caregivers.

View ten of the most popular Children’s Picture books this month at KDL – click on the link to your Top Ten List!

On May 16 America will say goodbye to good friends and family. We will sorely miss the practical jokes we wish our workplace allowed and the coworkers we wish we had. We will say goodbye to the grossly mismanaged paper company whose employees can best be described, on a good day, as unmotivated. We will say goodbye to an average, mundane American office glamorized by characters we all grew to love.

On May 16, after nine seasons and just over 200 episodes, America will sadly say goodbye to The Office on NBC. Over the past nine seasons spent together we have experienced what I think is the single greatest American love stories of all time (sorry, Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler), some of the best office pranks (stapler in jello anyone?), and careers that were made right before our eyes. John Krasinski has starred in multiple movies and has even expanded his talents into writing and directing; Rainn Wilson is a verifiable funny man; and Steve Carell has become a bona fide movie star. The show was also a leader in providing online add-ons such as the immensely popular digital shorts.

But hopefully not lost is the show’s origin. In 2001 Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant created a 12-episode (and Christmas special) British show titled The Office, which served as the creative inspiration for its American counterpart.

So in preparation of life without new episodes of Dwight’s beet farm or Jim and Pam’s unforgettable romance, run to your local KDL branch and relive some of the moments that helped America fall in love with Dunder Mifflin and Scranton, Penn., or check out the British version and see if you can catch the origins of the characters many of us will never forget.

The use of eBooks is increasing every year, so a new source of free eBooks is always welcome.  OpenLibrary.org is a combination library/wiki site which can be edited by anyone but allows books to be checked out or downloaded for a two-week period. The Library of Michigan is one of many libraries across the globe to allow OpenLibrary.org to scan their collection. Of course, copyright is followed so you will not be able to read the latest Patterson book, but the page does link to WorldCat, which lists libraries that own a physical copy of the book.

Check out the site and tell us what you think in the comments below.

Join millions of readers around the world reading one eBook. As part of Overdrive’s Big Library Read program, we are pleased to offer our patrons unlimited access to the eBook The Four Corners of the Sky by Michael Malone now through June 1. No matter how many KDL patrons are reading this eBook, we will have a copy available for you to download.

The Four Corners of the Sky is master storyteller Michael Malone’s novel of love, secrets, and the mysterious bonds of families. Malone brings characters to life as only he can, exploring the questions that defy easy answers: Is love a choice or a calling? Why do the ties of family bind so tightly? And is forgiveness a gift to others…or a gift we give ourselves?

We encourage you to join this global “library book club!”