BOOKS TO BORROW

“Pictures of Hollis Woods" by Patricia Reilly Giff, Wendy Lamb/Random House, 166 pages

Read aloud: age 8 and older

Read yourself: age 8, 9 and older

Twelve-year-old Hollis Woods has lived in more foster homes than she can remember, and she's run away from them all, including the place she loved the most and was offered a home, with the Regans.

Maybe living with Josie, a loving, elderly artist, will be different. Hollis is an artist, too, and this common interest gives Hollis some hope. But Josie is becoming more forgetful, and Hollis knows that if Social Services finds out, they'll take her away from Josie.

Hollis decides to run away, but this time she's not going alone; she's taking Josie with her to the only place she feels is safe - the Regans' summer cabin in New York. It's winter, and the cabin will be vacant.

Filled with a strong sense of family and the need to belong, this Newbery Honor book is outstanding.

LIBRARIAN'S CHOICE

Library: Wheeler Library, 101 Main St., North Stonington

Library Director: Amy Kennedy

Children's Services: Larae Fowler

Choices this week: "Ferdinand" by Munro Leaf; "Butterfly's Treasure" by Schimm Schimmel; "My Father's Dragon" by Ruth Stiles Gannett

AT THE BOOKSTORE

"The Matchbox Diary" by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, Candlewick, 2013, 40 pages, $16.99 hardcover

Read aloud: age 4, 5 and older

Read yourself: age 8 and older

When a young girl visits her great-grandfather for the first time, he tells her to choose whatever she likes the most in his large room and he will tell her the story of that item. The girl chooses a cigar box filled with matchboxes. Each matchbox has its own story, and inside each matchbox is a small treasure. He calls the collection his diary because he couldn't read or write, but wanted to remember his life in Italy and his journey to America and the years that passed until he learned to read and write English.

Gorgeous illustrations perfectly complement this rich story of family.

"peace" written and illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin, Atheneum, 2013, 32 pages, $16.99 hardcover

Read aloud: age 4, 5 and older

Read yourself: age 8

Wendy Anderson Halperin has created a marvelous book that addresses the important question of how we can bring peace to the world. Through her lavish illustrations and wise words, Halperin furthers her message of peace with exceptional quotes from others writers and sages that promote the same.

An extraordinary offering that gently urges readers to think about how we can have peace in the world, this selection should be required reading for young and old. www.greatestbooksforkids.com