Pines and Plains Libraries

For nearly a century, Victorian London relied on "climbing boys" - orphans owned by chimney sweeps - to clean flues and protect homes from fire. The work was hard, thankless, and dangerous. Eleven-year-old Nan Sparrow is quite possibly the best climber who ever lived, and a girl. With her wits and will, she's managed to beat the deadly odds time and time again. But when Nan gets stuck in a deadly chimney fire, she fears her time has come. Instead,...

Warren Schmidt is about the taste the not-so-sweet slice of life. When he retired, he and his wife, Helen, had big plan--but an unexpected twist changes everything. Now, all of Schmidt's attention is focused on his daughter's upcoming wedding to a loser waterbed salesman. From meeting the groom's hippie parents to sponsoring a Tanzanian foster child, Schmidt embarks on a search for answers, only to discover that life is full of trick questions.

"A funny, noisy parrot comes into Jack's world and brings him closer to his dad in an unexpected and moving way"--

"Maren Yearly is a young woman who wants the same things we all do. She wants to be someone people admire and respect. She wants to be loved. But her secret, shameful needs have forced her into exile. She hates herself for the bad thing she does, for what it's done to her family and her sense of identity, for how it dictates her place in the world and how people see her--how they judge her. She didn't choose to be this way. Because Maren Yearly doesn't...

Four tiny, flying horses suddenly come into being, blown out of a dandelion by a lonely girl, and set out to discover who they are and what they are supposed to do with their magical powers.

In 1935, living at a lighthouse near San Francisco, a lonely nine-year-old boy inadvertently summons a magician who teaches him the secret of flying.

"Since Franklin's friend Otter moved away, nothing seems to go right - until Franklin figures out a way for them to stay friends" Cf. Our choice, 1997-1998.

"Emotions are like a rainbow-there is a color for every one we feel. And when the lonely feeling starts to take over the rainbow, it's time for The Gray Book! Simple activities, tips, and tricks help young readers whose lonely gray shines brightest in the rainbows of their colorful minds. They can turn the pages from front to back or back to front. They can use every single page or open the book to just one random page. Soon, the other colors of their...

A wandering cat brightens the lives of six lonely people--and persuades all of them to feed him until a near accident brings them all together.

After becoming lonely, a rare Beast sets out on a journey to find others like himself.