Blue Moon Raptors event was held Monday night to a captive audience of children and adults. The gasp from the audience when Rose took out the first Eastern Screech Owl was amazing.  Rose Crisci gave an outstanding presentation about birds of prey.  The audience was held captive for an hour as Rose presented Cedar, Ash, Onyx and Aviana.  Rose gave an incredible presentation. She is very knowledgeable about the reptors and her passion for rehabilitating them is clearly noted as she speaks to us and to the raptors. A terrific program and would welcome Rose and her raptors back anytime.Rose gave detailed information how the birds were injured and how she rehabilitates these birds of prey.
This program was offered free by Blue Moon Raptors. Rose will gladly accept donations to help defray her cost so she may continue her rehabilitation work with injured birds of prey.

Items needed

¨ Soft sided dog crate

¨ Zip lock freezer bags:  large/small
¨ Non-latex/latex gloves
¨ 9% saline solution
¨ Sterile solution
¨ Anti bacterial wipes
¨ Clorox wipes
¨ Hand sanitizer
¨ Stamps
¨ Cash donations also helps to feed/house birds
You may contact Rose at :bluemoonraptors@gmail.com

Thank you to all who came.  Your support to library events is always appreciated. 

Join us for Teen Book Club this Thursday!

“We Beat the Street” is an inspiring true story written in their own words about three young black kids who made a pact to rise up out of the ghetto and become doctors. Instead of falling victim to the drugs, crime, violence, and hopelessness that are simply accepted as part of life, these three friends worked hard to get good grades and scholarships that would enable them to succeed. This book shows just how difficult it is for some neighborhoods to foster talent, intelligence, and dreams instead of stifling them under peer pressure. The culture of smart people being looked down on, teased, and shunned, is compounded in poor neighborhoods where trying to better oneself invites violence from peers who don’t understand that education is a good thing, even if it’s not “cool”. Each chapter gives a narrative account of different episodes in the lives of the young boys told from their perspective at the time of the events. Afterwards, there is an interview-style aside from the present-day person who the chapter is about, adding matured, adult insight to the situations they faced in their youth. These situations ranged from drug-addicted parents to inspiring teachers to the boys committing crimes (and spending time in jail because of them). After beating the odds stacked against them and becoming the first ones in their neighborhoods and families to go to college and eventually medical school, the three doctors formed a non-profit organization to reach out to the young people in the neighborhoods they came from. They gave back to their communities by introducing the next generation to the idea that college was not only their best opportunity to succeed, but an attainable goal otherwise unheard of for people from their areas. This book is a wonderful example of potential realized despite hardships, and the best part about it is that it’s completely true, and it should serve as an inspiration to people everywhere. Regardless of age, race, or socio-economic status, everyone can enjoy and learn from this book.

Author/Illustrator Janis Pacileo Event Recap

     On July 19th, local author/illustrator, Janis Pacileo read us her book, "A Shrimp Called PeeWee", and taught enthusiastic children and adults alike how to draw its main character.  This book uses rhyming verse and cute characters to relate to children the dangers of human pollution as well as the effects of being different for a young person.  In the story, PeeWee's mother seems unaffected by the Gulf Coast oil spill, until PeeWee is born weak and without a shell.  The sturgeon surgeons work hard to save him, and ultimately they build him a beautiful new shell.  At first PeeWee is proud that he is different, but then he starts to feel uncomfortable with all the stares and murmurs.  His family loves and supports him, however, he learns that it's okay to be different.
     After reading her book, Janis demonstrated how to draw not only PeeWee, but other animal characters as well, both from the land and the sea.  Children and adults present found themselves becoming instant artists under Janis' direction, and a few lucky winners were able to take home Janis' over-sized originals.  Janis stayed to answer questions and autograph smaller drawings of PeeWee for all the children.  We're looking forward to her second book, which is coming out in October.

Click on any picture to see a larger version.

Author Bonnie Feuer Event Recap

On July 7th, West Haven Public Library was lucky enough to have author Bonnie Feuer share her new book with us, "Wallaby the Wanna-be".  It is a delightful little story about a wallaby in Australia who wants to be every animal he meets, but in the end, he discovers that he is perfect just being himself.  The children had a great time listening to Bonnie tell her story, and she stayed and chatted with people who were curious about the book's creation process.

Click on any picture to see a larger version.

Book Review for "Buried" by Robin Merrow MacCready

In addition to book club books and programs, we are going to start talking about other books we have read that are written for children or teens.  If you have read them before or pick them up after reading our reviews, please don't hesitate to chime in with your thoughts in the comments section.  Without further ado, here is our first book review.


"Buried" by Robin Merrow MacCready.  (Young adult fiction novel)

Buried is a dark but moving story about an obsessive-compulsive, honor student, neat-freak named Claude, who lives in contrast to her messy, unpredictable, alcoholic mother in their small trailer on the coast of Maine.  When Claude wakes up one morning to her mother gone and the house trashed, she is only a little surprised; it's happened before, but she'd been sober for months and really cleaned herself up recently--for good, this time, or so her mother promised.  Claude cannot bring herself to tell her peers at the children-of-alcoholics support group that her mother has fallen off the wagon again, and instead says that she finally agreed to go to rehab.  Claude struggles with the mystery of her mother's disappearance, and she becomes more and more obsessed with cleaning and organizing every aspect of her life.  As she gets to the point where she can no longer function, her friends and teachers worry about her, but she refuses their help and continues into her spiral rather than admit her codependency and OCD.  All the while, it becomes clear that Claude's mother never went to rehab, and furthermore, isn't coming back.

The suspense in this book builds slowly, and as fragments of the mystery fall into place via dreams and flashbacks, I became more engrossed in the story and needed to discover the truth.  I felt for the main character because the author does a great job of getting inside her head and making the reader feel what she feels, while still being able to see the situation from the outside.  Several times I just wanted to shake the main character by the shoulders and snap her out of her OCD spiral.  Seeing small pieces of myself in Claude was a bit eerie, and I think most readers will be able to do the same.  Anyone who is even a little particular about things will fully recognize themselves in the book, and begin to reflect on their own compulsions and how they might appear to others.