BOOKS TO BORROW

"Horace and Morris but mostly Dolores" by James Howe, Atheneum Books, 32 pages

Read aloud: age 4 and older.

Read yourself: age 7 and older.

Horace, Morris, and Dolores do everything together. They are the best of friends, but one day Horace and Morris decide to join a boys' club, the Mega-Mice, and Dolores is left out. Downhearted, Dolores goes on her way, alone.

Not long after, Dolores comes upon a girls' club, The Cheese Puffs. Although she doesn't really want to do anything without Horace and Morris, she joins the club and spends day after day doing things she doesn't enjoy. Horace and Morris aren't having as much fun as they thought either. All three really miss each other, but is it too late to be friends again?

LIBRARIAN'S CHOICE

Library: Westerly Public Library, 44 Broad St., Westerly, R.I.

Library Director: Kathryn Taylor

Head of Children's Services: Helen Mochetti

Children's Librarian: Krystal Laharty

Selections: "Tom's Midnight Garden" by Philipa Pearce; "Shooting the Moon" by Frances O'Rourke Dowell; "Kitty and Mr. Kipling" by Lenore Blegvad

AT THE BOOKSTORE

"Kindred Souls" by Patricia MacLachlan, Katherine Tegan Books, 2012, 128 pages, $14.99 hardcover

Read aloud: age 7 and older.

Read yourself: age 8, 9 and older.

Jake's grandfather, Billy, is 88 years old. They are kindred souls and spend a lot of time together, especially walking around their farm on the prairie.

One day, Billy comes up with a plan - he wants Jake to build him a small sod house, like the one he grew up in. Jake thinks it's a crazy idea; after all, he's only 10, but when his grandfather falls ill and is hospitalized, Jake is determined to build the house.

"The Lions of Little Rock" by Kristin Levine, Putnam, 2012, 298 pages, $16.99 hardcover

Read aloud: age 8, 9 and older.

Read yourself: age 10, 11 and older.

Marlee is painfully shy and doesn't talk much outside of her family; because of that, Marlee doesn't have many friends. Marlee has additional worries when her brother moves away to college, her sister moves out of the bedroom they've always shared, and Marlee starts a new school. When Marlee meets Liz, the two become fast friends, and Liz helps Marlee overcome her fear of speaking. When Liz suddenly stops coming to school, Marlee is hurt. She's also scared; the rumor is that Liz was passing as a white girl when she really is black. In Little Rock in 1958, racial tensions are high, but Marlee is determined to find a way to remain friends with Liz.