Various reads over break.

William Steig's The Real Thief was a rather brief, fairy tale type book about a goose who guards a castle and is falsely accused of stealing a diamond from the royal treasury. It will circulate because it is worth two Accelerated Readers points and is at a 5.0 level. Call it the Stinker from Space phenomenon.

I'm conflicted about Meg Cabot's Jinx, because it treats drug and alcohol use among teens so lightly. In general, a good mystery with supernatural/occult overtones that will be something that fans of The Princess Diaries will be glad to pick up when forced to read a mystery.

Joyce Sweeney's The Dream Collector was good fun. A girl gives her family books for Christmas that detail how you can makes wishes come true. Each member wishes for something different, and work toward their goals, with sometime surprising results. This title is from 1989, but if there is a copy hanging around in your library, dust it off.

Tomorrow: More dust. We think hard about Rosemary Sutcliffe (whose books have not been off the shelf in some cases since 1980), and Todd Strasser, whose books should be read more.