Yesterday at the Youth Services staff meeting, we shared some of our favorite new books:

Sarah mentioned The Shepherd's Granddaughter, a story about a modern Palastinian girl with a desire to take on a traditional vocation.

Jane talked about a young (10 year old?) boy who raved about Nick of Time. She and Karen both think that The Heart of a Shepherd is one of the best novels of the year.  It's about a boy whose rancher father leads the local national guard into Iraq.  He's left with his aging grandparents to run the ranch.  He is a thoughtful, religious boy who learns a lot about himself the year that his father is away.  Karen is thrilled with a new read-aloud-chapter-book for young children, Emmaline and the Bunny.  Every sentence is a special use of language.

When Karen talked about Operation Redwood, an exciting environmental adventure for older kids, Sarah brought up the new format in  Redwoods by Chin - an innovative  nonfiction book with the pictures of a fictional story.We hope you will enjoy these books as much as we have.  What do YOU recommend we read next?