"No Passengers Beyond This Point"

The older children are, the greater the distractions that vie for their attention, which diminishes the interest in reading books (think of everything related to today's Internet and electronic age and you have the picture).

A lot of youths are required to read books of their own choice outside of the classroom. If this is the only opportunity to make certain older children are exposed to reading for pleasure, then it's imperative the experience is pleasurable. And that is accomplished by helping youths find awesome books they won't want to put down, such as those reviewed today.

Providing exciting books will help develop an interest in the fascinating and pleasurable world of reading. Once that happens, the only way to go is up.

The following book is available at many public libraries.<B>“Holes”</B> by Louis Sachar, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1998, 233 pages, $16 hardcover; read aloud: age 9 and older; read yourself: age 11 and older.Stanley Yelnats's family has had a streak of bad luck for generations, so it comes as no surprise when Stanley is wrongly accused of stealing and is sent away to a boy's juvenile detention center, Camp Green Lake.The name of the camp is deceptive; there is no lake — just a dry lake bed, dry as dust, and it's been that way for more than a hundred years. Furthermore, Camp Green Lake is hardly a camp. It's more like a prison.Under the searing desert sun, each boy must dig a hole every day, five feet deep, five feet across, in the hard-packed dirt of the unforgiving lake bed. The warden and her staff claim that the purpose of digging the holes is to build character, but Stanley soon discovers that the warden's real purpose is altogether different.“Holes” is a superbly clever blending of humor, intrigue, suspense and mystery. A particularly good choice for children who aren't yet convinced that books offer grand entertainment, this one just might change their minds.

<B>Library: </B>Evans City Public Library, 204 S. Jackson St., Evans City<B>Library Director: </B>Judith Pfeifer<B>Children's Librarian:</B> Patricia Pflug<B>Choices this week: “Weird School” </B>series by Dan Gutman; <B>“Kira-Kira”</B> by Cynthia Kadohata; and <B>“The Higher Power of Lucky”</B> by Susan Powers.

The following books are available at favorite bookstores.<B>“No Passengers Beyond This Point” </B>by Gennifer Choldenko, Dial, 2011, 244 pages, $16.99 hardcover; read aloud: age 10 and older; read yourself: age 10 to 11 and older.Siblings India, Finn and Mouse have just been told by their mom that they have lost their house to foreclosure. Their mom has arranged for the children to immediately fly to Colorado and live with Uncle Red until she can join them months later. Despite their protests, the three board the plane and upon landing, a mysterious driver picks them up. Although things don't seem as they should be, when they arrive in the enchanting town of Falling Bird, they are swept up in what they perceive as a much better place than home.As events unfold, Falling Bird and its inhabitants are far less than idyllic, and trying to find their way home from this place that is other-worldly is fraught with puzzles, obstacles and little time to escape.Brimming with taut sibling relationships, believable characters and a richly imagined fantasy that presents thought-provoking questions and wisdom, “No Passengers Beyond This Point” will have readers whipping through every page, start to finish.<B>“Wonderstruck”</B> written and illustrated by Brian Selznick, Scholastic, 2011, 608 pages, $29.99 hardcover; read aloud: age 9 and older; read yourself: age 10 to 11 and older.From the award-winning author/illustrator of “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” Brian Selznick has created another extraordinary novel — “Wonderstruck.”Two stories set fifty years apart — Ben's story, told in words and set in 1977, and Rose's story, set in 1927 and told in pictures — at first seem unrelated. Both Ben and Rose have experienced hardships in their young lives, and both are determined to find their place in the world and to be loved. As each alternating story unfolds, snippets of that which tie the two together become more and more evident until both stories fold into one.Emotional, heartfelt and thoroughly absorbing and profound, “Wonderstruck” is nothing less than an astonishing accomplishment and a “must read” for young and old alike.Nationally syndicated, Kendal Rautzhan writes and lectures on children's literature. She can be reached at her website: www.greatestbooksforkids.com.<B><I></B></I>