Join Thetford author Dean Whitlock over Zoom as he reads from the Carver’s World series, to be released as a boxed set next month. The audience will vote to choose which book in the trilogy Dean reads from! See below for blurbs about each book. Dean will also give a sneak preview of his forthcoming novel, The Bell Cannon. To sign up and get the Zoom link, please email librarians@thetfordlibrary.org.
Carver’s World: the Compelling Fantasy Triptych
Three friends are drawn together by one’s misfortune, but each has wrongs to right and a story to tell.
Sky Carver: Carver, a talented self-taught sculptor in wood, is trapped in the shadow of his father’s painterly genius and his mother’s rough talent as a seer. Though they are long gone downriver, presumed dead, Carver is forced to follow his father’s trade, until he suddenly shows rare talent as a weather mage. Befriended by a bemagicked girl in raven form and bond boy tending fire on a cruel baron’s steamboat, he travels downriver in search of a mentor. Fleeing the baron, they hide among outcasts in a city of filthy canals and spewing workhouses, where mages are hunted and magic refuses to work. Finally, lured by a living picture, they arrive at the magic apparatus of the great mage Krimm. There, Carver must confront the enchantments of the mage and the images of his missing parents to save his friends and choose the best use for all his talents.
Raven: Hardly a year since meeting Carver – and four long years since running away from cruel Baron Cutter – Raven risks recapture to return to Cutter’s estate. She’s an experienced bird mage now, but the memory of her escape haunts her. Did her mother abandon her that night, or did Raven desert her mother in her hour of need? What she discovers rekindles a buried rage and confronts her with two bad options: keep running away or help the mother who’s as strong-willed and sharp-tongued as she is, and has just born the baron’s heir. With unexpected and often clumsy help from Fireboy’s impetuous little brother, aptly nicknamed Hero, Raven must outsmart the minions of two Barons, cross wild highlands booby-trapped with magic, and learn to control her own erratic talent and temper on an unwanted quest, finally looking beyond magic – and herself – to save what is most important.
Fireboy: After a hard year working on the stinking canals of Dunsgow, Fireboy’s skill with steamboats has earned him barely half the money he needs to pay off his mother’s bond. Only then can he reunite his family on the clean waters of the River Slow. A chance meeting with a seer inspires him to gamble everything by hauling a cargo for Baron Miner – who holds his mother’s bond – a chance to free her in one trip. With a wily juggler and a half-human water sprite as unlikely companions, Fireboy journeys to the tangled, bemagicked rapids of the highest reach of the land. Caught between the mind-binding spells of a demented mage and the binding lies in the Baron’s campaign to destroy magic on the Five Rivers, Fireboy desperately risks losing his new friends and his own free will, unless he can discover which bonds really matter.
Book Discussion Group for 7&8 Year-Olds: Discussion of “Bunnicula”
by James Howe. Discussion will be via Zoom on Friday, December 4 at
4:00pm. Books are now available to borrow! All are welcome. Please
email Emily at librarians@thetfordlibary.org to sign up.
Readers who enjoy good writing, history, travel, foreign culture, and food in general would find this series interesting. The discussion group will meet on the following December Wednesdays at 4:00pm:
Week 1: December 9 – “Baking Bread in Lyon” by Bill Buford
Week 2: December 16 – “Raw Faith: the nun and the cheese underground” by Burkhard Bilger
Week 3: December 23 – “The Chocolate Scented Air” by Joseph Wechsberg and “Extreme Chocolate: the quest for the perfect bean” by Bill Buford
Register for articles and Zoom invitation at Nyarticles.Latham@gmail.com.
Call 785-4361 or email librarians@thetfordlibrary.org for print copies.
Readers who enjoy good writing, history, travel, foreign culture, and food in general would find this series interesting. The discussion group will meet on the following December Wednesdays at 4:00pm:
Week 1: December 9 – “Baking Bread in Lyon” by Bill Buford
Week 2: December 16 – “Raw Faith: the nun and the cheese underground” by Burkhard Bilger
Week 3: December 23 – “The Chocolate Scented Air” by Joseph Wechsberg and “Extreme Chocolate: the quest for the perfect bean” by Bill Buford
Register for articles and Zoom invitation at Nyarticles.Latham@gmail.com.
Call 785-4361 or email librarians@thetfordlibrary.org for print copies.
Discussion of “The Strange Case of Origami Yoda” by Tom Angleberger.
“It takes the wisdom of Yoda to survive the sixth grade. Meet Dwight, a sixth-grade oddball. Dwight does a lot of weird things, like wearing the same T-shirt for a month or telling people to call him ‘Captain Dwight.’ But Dwight does one cool thing. He makes origami. One day he makes an origami finger puppet of Yoda. And that’s when things get mysterious. Origami Yoda can predict the future and suggest the best way to deal with a tricky situation. His advice actually works, and soon most of the sixth grade is lining up with questions.”
Books are now available to borrow!
A holiday tradition! Join us via Zoom on the Winter Solstice to hear Peter Blodgett read holiday stories from many cultures and traditions. To sign up, please email Librarians@thetfordlibrary.org.
Readers who enjoy good writing, history, travel, foreign culture, and food in general would find this series interesting. The discussion group will meet on the following December Wednesdays at 4:00pm:
Week 1: December 9 – “Baking Bread in Lyon” by Bill Buford
Week 2: December 16 – “Raw Faith: the nun and the cheese underground” by Burkhard Bilger
Week 3: December 23 – “The Chocolate Scented Air” by Joseph Wechsberg and “Extreme Chocolate: the quest for the perfect bean” by Bill Buford
Register for articles and Zoom invitation at Nyarticles.Latham@gmail.com.
Call 785-4361 or email librarians@thetfordlibrary.org for print copies.
Book discussion for 7 & 8 year olds. Discussion of “Nim’s Island” by Wendy Orr. Books are now available to borrow. All are welcome!
The Vermont Winter Reading Challenge is open now through the end of February! The new year is a time for reflection and reinvigoration. What better way to do that than to cozy up with inspiring books this winter? The challenge is open to readers of all ages. Participants can read books of their choosing, log minutes, and earn digital badges. Register on the Vermont Department of Libraries’ Beanstack platform by clicking here. Please select Latham Library as your library of choice when registering. Five participants will be selected to win a prize at the end of the challenge!