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Bet your world would go totally cosmic if you had a chance to go to space.  That's exactly what happens to 13-year-old Liam Digby who gets this chance of a lifetime, only some things don't go quite as they are planned ...and are not exactly what they seem. 

See, the thing is, Liam is tall for his age.  Extraordinarily tall.  We mean Off-The-Charts Tall.  Combine Liam's extreme tallness with the fact that he's got facial stubble and you've got yourself an everyday kid who can pass for an adult ... maybe even a dad.  You can see the cosmically comic potential millions of miles away.  I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

Level up with Liam as he goes from dude to dad to totally doomed in a rocket that just might be spinning completely out of control.

Join us for this special Father's Day edition of Guys Read and bring your
           -- Dad  

   -- Older brother / friend / relative
   -- Even your granddad!

Stop by the library and pick up a copy of this out-of-this-world comedy by Frank Cottrell Boyce.  Or download a copy here.  And be sure to join us

Saturday, June 9, 1-2:30pm @ Bothell Library.

(Dad, this one's for you!)

For more information on Guys Read, click here.

Imagine a future - a very unfriendly, post-apocalyptic future - where the world has no remembrance of the past and no sense of the future.  All it has, or seems to care about, is a permanent and claustrophobic present.

In this future, there are no books.  Spaz, the teen narrator, tells us

If you're reading this, it must be a thousand years from now. Because nobody around here reads anymore. Why bother when you can just probe it. Put all the images and excitement right inside your brain and let it rip.

The urban city of this future has been divided into warring territories run by overlords.  Spaz survives by working as a thief-for-hire on behalf of these latch bosses, prying possessions from people who hardly have anything to claim as their own.  One of his missions takes him to the hovel of an eccentric old man named Ryter. As delusional, crazed or idealistic as it sounds, Ryter claims to be writing and reclaiming, piece by piece, word by word, what in fact might be the last book in the universe.

Pick up a copy of this intriguing, fast and furious read at the library and be sure to join us for our next Guys Read session on

Tuesday, April 24, 4-5pm @ Bothell Library.

It will be our last Guys Read session for the school year!  Although we will be hosting a special Guys Read Invitational in June, but more on that next month ...

For more info on Guys Read, click here.

A diabolical villain

A mysterious plague

An eccentric mentor

The perfect circumstances to launch the career of history's greatest sleuth:  Sherlock Holmes.

Pick up a copy of Death Cloud by Andrew Lane  at the library or download the eAudio and join us for our next Guys Read session on
Tuesday, March 27, 4-5 pm

at the Bothell Library

Want to know more about Guys Read?  Check out this introduction.

Henry read that book about that kid who gets stuck in the wilderness with only a hatchet, and it's got him thinking.  What if an author were to write about him and his friends?  What would he say?  I mean, their lives are really pretty....boring.  What they need is Daring Experiences and Grand Adventures! 

Riley wants to know what will happen, besides he's always prepared for everything.  He even brought snacks to their first meeting. 

Reed thinks adventures sound dangerous, and anyway, he doesn't have time to change history because he has to be home by 8:00 on school nights.

But two out of three is a majority, and Henry can be very convincing...

They start off small, only planning to break a world record, but before they are done, the Masters of Disaster will have ridden bulls, faced down vicious wild animals, braved a haunted house and fallen, stomped, even belly flopped into more stinky, slimy grossness than you can imagine.

Pick up a copy of the book at the library or download the eBook and join us for our next Guys Read session on
Tuesday, February 21, 4-5 at the Bothell Library.

Want to know more about Guys Read?  Check out this introduction.

What is it?
This is not your grandma's book group.  Think fun, fast-paced, active book discussion group for guys only.  It's your chance to eat free pizza, talk to other guys who like to read and find about some really cool books.

Who can join?
5th through 9th grade guys.

When does the group meet?
The 4th Tuesday of the month - January through April - from 4-5pm.

What's in it for me?
Have you ever read something in a book that you really wanted try, but were afraid your mom might get angry?  You're not the only one. Join us to explore wild and wacky activities that bring books to life - like building catapults and making fake blood!

Cool!  What do I do?  How can I start?
Come to the meetings!  If you have time, read one or both of the books we have suggested for the month.

• You don't have to register.
• You don't have to do anything.
• Just. Show. Up.

What if I haven't finished reading the book?
Come anyway!

What if I haven't even read the book?
Come anyway!  Fun will still be had.

What if I have a hard time finding the books?
Email Mie-Mie at ywu@kcls.org.

Wait!  I still have questions.
Email Mie-Mie.

 Tuesday,

December 27, 2pm

@ Bothell Library

Read the book,

see the movie.

This is not your

little sister's

Peter Pan!

If you've ever wondered how Peter Pan became fearless leader of the Lost Boys and subsequently one of the greatest icons of all time, pick up the cleverly imagined prequel, Peter and the Starcatchers, by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. These two prolific authors found themselves posed with the question, How exactly did a flying boy meet a certain pirate?

As Barry and Pearson tell it, Peter is an orphan, the ringleader of a motley crew of orphans from St. Norbert's Home for Wayward Boys.  And he is the de facto leader of said motley crew because he is the oldest - or least says he is - and  he can spit the farthest and these two things alone make him their undisputed leader.

When the boys from St. Norbert's join the crew of the good ship Never Land, then the adventure truly begins. What with the shouting, stomping, shenanigan-making and name-calling ... along with a super mysterious glowing box of cargo ... the fun almost never ends. Did we mention there are pirates?

This month, we're exploring Civil War fiction, so choose a book and defend its honor!  Come at 4pm on Tuesday, November 22nd prepared for battle.

Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith, Winner of the Newbery Medal in 1958
After Jeff Bussey leaves his Kansas farm to join the Union Army, he experiences the hunger, thirst and endless marching through devastated farmland as well as the horror of battle. 

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick, 2010 Newbery Honor Book
Homer Figg's evil uncle sold his brother into the Union Army, leaving Homer with no choice but to rescue him.  Thus begins this rip-roaring adventure across the country, from events that are merely improbable to utterly outlandish. 

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, Classic
This is war up close and personal as seen through the eyes of Henry Fleming.  Based loosely on the Battle of Chancellorsville (May 2-6, 1863), where an estimated 24,000 men died in just a few short days.

How I Found the Strong by Margaret McMullan
In the spring of 1861, Shanks Russell is all fired up to join the Confederate Army.  The only problem is that they don't want him.  He's too young, too skinny and too weak.  So when his Pa and his older brother go off to war, he is left behind to watch war ravage his home and his family.
Check out the book's website for facts, faces, weapons and food from the Civil War.

Sounds cool!  What do I do?  How can I join?
Come to the meetings!  If you have time, read one of the books we have suggested this month.
You don't have to register. You don't have to do anything. Just. Show. Up.
 
What if I haven't finished reading the book?
Come anyway!  Fun will still be had.

What if I have a hard time finding the books?
Email Mie-Mie at ywu@kcls.org.

Wait!  I still have questions.
Email Mie-Mie.

As Halloween draws ever nearer, are you in the mood for a deliciously creepy story?

Then look no further than the story of Eddie Fennicks who finds himself in the dying and desolate town of Gatesweed where rumors of an author's disappearance thirteen years ago commingle with strange happenings ... fiendish dogs with red-rimmed eyes and gaping mouths ... shadows that not only loom, but quiver and chase ... grating sounds that could be the sound of a stuck fence or ... a gremlin's knuckles scraping the ground.  In other words, things that go bump in the night.

When Eddie comes to realize that these frightening creatures are real-life incarnations from the missing writer's books, he knows he must not only face down these nightmarish terrors, but also attempt to solve the mystery of how this author vanished without a trace.

Join us for a spooktacular Guys Read session on Tuesday, October 25, from 4-5pm.  Pick up a copy of The Stone Child at the Information Desk ... before they're gone!

Sounds cool!  What do I do?  How can I join?
Come to the meetings!  If you have time, read the book we have suggested for the month.
You don't have to register. You don't have to do anything. Just. Show. Up.
 
What if I haven't finished reading the book?
Come anyway!  Fun will still be had.

What if I have a hard time finding the books?
Email Mie-Mie at ywu@kcls.org.

Wait!  I still have questions.
Email Mie-Mie.