September's Pick/The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

By Alan Bradley

In the summer of 1950, 11 year-old Flavia de Luce, amateur chemist with a passion for poisons, makes two discoveries within hours of each other. The first, a dead bird with of all things a postage stamp stuck on the end of it's bill is found on the doorstep of her family's home, Buckshaw. Second, she discovers a body in the cucumber patch and the man's dying word"Vale" plus snippets of an argument overheard earlier between father and possibly the victim send a curious Flavia on hunt for the dead man's identity.

When Flavia's father is taken into custody as a suspect, she hops on her trusty bike Gladys and takes to the English countryside in search of clues, stamps and a motive for murder. Seemingly one step ahead of the police and a certain Inspector, Flavia follows the trail leading to a connection between the dead man and her father that goes back to his days at school.

Desperate to clear her father's name, Flavia questions, pokes and prods in places that most 11 year-olds would not dream of.

The English country house mystery takes on a new twist with Flavia, a combination pint-sized Sherlock Holmes and youthful Miss Marple.

Sweet Ending!

Easy Crustless Custard Pie from About.com

Ingredients

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

3 level tablespoons self rising flour

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 (12 oz.) can fat-free evaporated milk
Prep

Preheat oven to 325. Combine all ingrediants and beatuntil smooth. Pour into a greased and floured pie pan. Bake in a 325 oven for 35 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

September's Picks/ Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

By Jonathan Safran Foer

For September, we have a special review which is part of "THE SEPTEMBER PROJECT." Since 2004, libraries around the world have organized events about freedom and issues that matter to their communities during the month of September, which is also National Literacy Month. This grassroots project favors free over fee, public over private and voices over silence. For more information or to see what other libraries are doing visit: http://theseptemberproject.org.

"EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDILBY CLOSE" is a story of survival and healing. It looks at grief through the eyes of both child and adults.

Oskar Schell is a precocious 9 year-old whose father died on September 11, 2001. But the focus is not so much on the attacks of 9/11, rather it is more the story of a young boy's search for a lock to fit the key he believes his father left behind as part of their favorite game. The search takes Oskar through the five boroughs of New York and introduces him to characters who are all survivors themselves one way or another. He is typical of many children in that he tells the occasional fib to get the information he seeks or plays sick in order to stay home from school to continue his search. He asks countless questions and invents devices and things in his mind that will, if they could be made real, would always keep people in touch with each other and the world.

"...LOUD & ...CLOSE" also tells the story of Oskar's family, focusing on his grandparents and their survival of WWII and the bombing of Dresden and coming to America.