reading
FCF – Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Tessa is dying to know what she is; Will is dying to rid himself of a terrible secret; and Jem, well Jem is just plain dying. Together they battle themselves and an evil that could change the mundane world forever.
Cradle and All by James Patterson

So, I like to read audiobooks as I drive to and from work; which means I sometimes have trouble getting the new stuff. This book, published 21 years ago as far as I can tell, was “hidden” in a list of available YA reads. I’ve never read James Patterson, but know he is a very prolific author so I figured, why not?
I liked the story very much though I’m sure working in Newport RI helped. It was fun to picture exactly the places he was describing. I do have to admit that Kathleen Beavier reminded me an awful lot of Jaqueline Bovier, also a Newport resident in her youth. This story had a lot of moving parts and many main and supporting characters: 2 teens, 2 priests and 1 nun turned PI. It wasn’t hard to follow though and I was definitely surprised by the ending. I would certainly recommend it to teens and lovers of YA lit who like a good mystery with the trigger warning: there is some bullying and a pretty brutal rape scene. They are not, however, the focus of the story.
Kathleen Beavier in Newport, RI and Colleen Galaher of Maam Cross, Ireland are two relatively normal teenage girls; except they are both pregnant … and both medically confirmed virgins! The Catholic Church is in panic mode. They have a secret. 100’s of years earlier, “The Blessed Virgin Mary” predicted this exact event and promised one child would be the second coming of Christ the Savior, the other would be the spawn of Satan. So yeah, there’s that. Anne Fitzgerald, a former nun turned private investigator, is hired by the Archdiocese of Boston to investigate these immaculate conceptions. She is joined by two priests, one of whom knows the church’s secret. And so, we are off on a quest that bounces back and forth between Ireland and Newport trying to determine (1) are they really virgins and (2) which child is which….?
Reviewed by Ms. Becky, December 23, 2022
FCF aka Big Kid Storytime – Dash & Lily’s Book of Dare by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Will a notebook full of dares lead to a whirlwind romance or a scavenger hunt that ends in disaster?
Fun Fridays – always a 2-fer!
Silent Book Club for teens
Uninterrupted reading time, every Friday at 3:30 pm! Why? Because life is crazy and reading is a great escape! There is no required reading material. BYOR(eading) – books, magazines, graphic novels even audiobooks – and curl up in one of our cozy booths to read for treats. Homework counts too! Show up, relax and get chill for the weekend!

Question of the Week
Inquiring minds want to know… know what? That is a question, but not the question. Come on in, check out our chalk wall and then give us your opinion.
We are the inquiring minds and we want to know what you think.
Book review – The Safest Lies by Megan Miranda
What would you do if your entire world was turned upside down; both figuratively and literally.