Books for Boys
Book Club
FOR BOYS AGES 8 TO 11 AND THEIR ACCOMPANYING ADULT
EVERY third Thursday AT 6:30 PM in the community room, unless indicated differently in the schedule.
Come enjoy discussions of amazing tween novels, create a craft, and have a treat! All while enjoying the friendship of other boys and their accompanying adults.
Book club reading copies will be available for checkout from the circulation desk about a month prior to the meeting. There is a limit of one copy per household.
SCHEDULE
September 12, 2024—Kick Off Event!*
October 17, 2024—Gregor the Overlander
November 14, 2024—Dragon Slippers*
No book club in December
January 16, 2025, at 6:00 pm—A Long Walk to Water
February 13, 2025—Flora & Ulysses*
March 20, 2025—The Ruins of Gorlan
April 10, 2025—The Mouse and the Motorcycle
May 1, 2025—Dealing with Dragons*
*combined with the Great Reads for Girls Book Club
Reading List
September 12, 2024
Kick-Off Event!
We’ll have this event with the members of the Great Reads for Girls Book Club! We will “meet” the …
Learn More!
October 17, 2024
Gregor the Overlander
by Suzanne Collins
When Gregor falls through a grate in the laundry room of his apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland, where spiders, rats …
Read the full synopsis
November 14, 2024
Dragon Slippers
by Jessica Day George
Poor Creel. She can’t believe her aunt wants to sacrifice her to the local dragon. It’s a ploy to lure a heroic knight so that he will fight the dragon, marry …
Read the full synopsis
January 16, 2025
A Long Walk to Water
by Linda Sue Park
Nya is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. Salva becomes one of the …
Read the full synopsis
February 13, 2025
Flora & Ulysses
by Kate DiCamillo
It begins, as the best superhero stories do, with a tragic accident that has unexpected consequences. The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, but self …
Read the full synopsis
March 20, 2025
The Ruins of Gorlan
by John Flanagan
They have always scared him in the past — the Rangers, with their dark cloaks and shadowy ways. The villagers believe the Rangers practice magic that …
Read the full synopsis
April 10, 2025
The Mouse and
the Motorcycle
by Beverly Cleary
Living in a knothole in a hotel room, young Ralph has seen plenty of families come and go, some more generous with their crumbs than …
Read the full synopsis
May 1, 2025
Dealing with Dragons
by Patricia C. Wrede
The traditional duties of a princess fail to please Cimorene, the daughter of a very proper king. She is quite sure that there’s more to the world than …
Read the full synopsis
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September 12, 2024, at 6:30 pm in the Community Room
Kick-Off Event!
We’ll have this event with the members of the Great Reads for Girls Book Club!
Join us for our Fall Kick-off Bookworm Party!
We will “meet” the books we’re reading, make a bookworm bookmark and a name pin,
eat a great treat, collect your lanyard that you will use all year, and make some new bookworm friends!
October 17, 2024, at 6:30 pm in the Community Room
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
When Gregor falls through a grate in the laundry room of his apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland, where spiders, rats, cockroaches coexist uneasily with humans. This world is on the brink of war, and Gregor’s arrival is no accident. A prophecy foretells that Gregor has a role to play in the Underland’s uncertain future. Gregor wants no part of it — until he realizes it’s the only way to solve the mystery of his father’s disappearance. Reluctantly, Gregor embarks on a dangerous adventure that will change both him and the Underland forever.
book 1 in the Underland Chronicles series
Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians
Ina rated it ★★★★★ and said “I really enjoyed this book! Couldn’t put it down… City boy meets Alice in Wonderland… sort of… Action and adventure almost non-stop…. Loved it!”
November 14, 2024, at 6:30 pm in the Community Room
Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George
We’ll be meeting with the members of the Great Reads for Girls Book Club
Poor Creel. She can’t believe her aunt wants to sacrifice her to the local dragon. It’s a ploy to lure a heroic knight so that he will fight the dragon, marry Creel out of chivalrous obligation, and lift the entire family out of poverty. Creel isn’t worried. After all, nobody has seen a dragon in centuries.
But when the beast actually appears, Creel not only bargains with him for her life, she also ends up with a rare bit of treasure from his hoard, not gold or jewels, but a pair of simple blue slippers-or so she thinks. It’s not until later that Creel learns a shocking truth: She possesses not just any pair of shoes, but ones that could be used to save her kingdom, which is on the verge of war, or destroy it.
book 1 in the Dragon Slippers series
Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians
Miranda rated it ★★★★.
Lark rated it ★★★★.
January 16, 2025, at 6:30 pm in the Community Room
A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about a girl in Sudan in 2008 and a boy in Sudan in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the “lost boys” of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way.
Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians
Mindy rated it ★★★★.
February 13, 2025, at 6:30 pm in the Community Room
Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures
by Kate DiCamillo
We’ll be meeting with the members of the Great Reads for Girls Book Club
It begins, as the best superhero stories do, with a tragic accident that has unexpected consequences. The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, but self-described cynic Flora Belle Buckman, who has read every issue of the comic book Terrible Things Can Happen to You!, is the just the right person to step in and save him. What neither can predict is that Ulysses (the squirrel) has been born anew, with powers of strength, flight, and misspelled poetry—and that Flora will be changed too, as she discovers the possibility of hope and the promise of a capacious heart.
Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians
Cathy rated it ★★★★★ and said “Holy unanticipated occurrences! This is a fun, fast read with a lot of substance. I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.”
Bekka rated it ★★★★★ and said “What a great book this is! Its a totally worthy addition to the Newbery list.”
March 20, 2025, at 6:30 pm in the Community Room
The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan
They have always scared him in the past — the Rangers, with their dark cloaks and shadowy ways. The villagers believe the Rangers practice magic that makes them invisible to ordinary people. And now 15-year-old Will, always small for his age, has been chosen as a Ranger’s apprentice. What he doesn’t yet realize is that the Rangers are the protectors of the kingdom. Highly trained in the skills of battle and surveillance, they fight the battles before the battles reach the people.
And as Will is about to learn, there is a large battle brewing. The exiled Morgarath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night, is gathering his forces for an attack on the kingdom. This time, he will not be denied….
book 1 in the Ranger’s Apprentice series
Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians
Johnathan rated it ★★★★ and said “I liked this one a lot. I had always heard good things about this book, especially from people that don’t like to read, and I understand why. I really liked how there was a survival aspect and how the author showed that it takes a lot of different people to make a community work.”
Cathy rated it ★★★★.
April 10, 2025, at 6:30 pm in the Community Room
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
“Pb-pb-b-b-b. Pb-pb-b-b-b.” With these magic vocables, Ralph the mouse revs up a dream come true–his very own motorcycle. Living in a knothole in a hotel room, young Ralph has seen plenty of families come and go, some more generous with their crumbs than others. But when young Keith and his parents check in to the hotel, Ralph gets his first chance to check out. He has always fantasized about venturing beyond the second floor, maybe even outside. Curiosity overcomes caution, and Ralph must have a go at Keith’s toy motorcycle.
Soon, the headstrong mouse finds himself in a pickle, when all he wanted was to ride a motorcycle. Lucky for him, the boy understands how it is. When he discovers Ralph in his thwarted attempt to abscond with the toy bike, Keith generously encourages the rodent to ride. He even teaches him the simple trick of starting the motorcycle: “You have to make a noise… pb-pb-b-b-b.” The subsequent situations Ralph motors into require quick thinking and grownup-sized courage.
book 1 in the Ralph S. Mouse series
Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians
Emily rated it ★★★★.
Patty rated it ★★★.
May 1, 2025, at 6:30 pm in the Community Room
Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
We’ll be meeting with the members of the Great Reads for Girls Book Club
Meet the princess who rescues herself and the female dragon who would be king in this first fantasy adventure in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles.
The traditional duties of a princess fail to please Cimorene, the daughter of a very proper king. She is quite sure that there’s more to the world than curtseying and courting. And what she finds in her chosen career as a dragon’s princess is sometimes more than she can handle. But fear not! Our intrepid heroine has just what it takes to keep her dragon, Kazul, safe and happy, while learning to fireproof herself, organize the treasure trove, and stay free from the clutches of pesky princes.
book 1 in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles series
Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians
William rated it ★★★★★.
Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians
Lorna rated it ★★★★★ and said “I liked the humor and the unique flavors of Key West.”
Patty rated it ★★★★.
May 5, 2024, at 6:30 pm in the Community Room
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm
Life isn’t like the movies. But then again, 11-year-old Turtle is no Shirley Temple.
She’s smart and tough and has seen enough of the world not to expect a Hollywood ending. After all, it’s 1935 and jobs and money and sometimes even dreams are scarce. So when Turtle’s mama gets a job housekeeping for a lady who doesn’t like kids, Turtle says goodbye without a tear and heads off to Key West, Florida, to live with relatives she’s never met.
Florida’s like nothing Turtle’s ever seen before though. It’s hot and strange, full of ragtag boy cousins, family secrets, scams, and even buried pirate treasure! Before she knows what’s happened, Turtle finds herself coming out of the shell she’s spent her life building, and as she does, her world opens up in the most unexpected ways.
Regular Hours of Operation
- Monday: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
- Tuesday - Wednesday: 9:00 am – 8:00 pm
- Thursday: 11:00 am – 8:00 pm
- Friday: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
- Saturday: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
- Sunday: CLOSED
Closures in 2024
- January 1 – New Year’s Day
- January 15 – Martin Luther King, Jr., Day
- February 19 – Presidents Day
- March 22 – Staff Development Day
- April 6 – Building Maintenance
- May 25-27 – Memorial Day
- June 19 – Juneteenth
- July 4 – Independence Day
- August 31 – September 2 – Labor Day
- September 20 – LCEI Conference
- October 5 – Building Maintenance
- October 31 – Open from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
- November 11 – Veterans Day
- November 27 – Closing at 5:00 pm
- November 28-30 – Thanksgiving
- December 24-26 – Christmas
- December 31 – New Year’s Eve
- January 1, 2025 – New Year’s Day
Closures in 2025
- January 1 – New Year’s Day
- January 20 – Martin Luther King, Jr., Day
- February 17 – Presidents Day
- April 5 – Building Maintenance
- May 24-26 – Memorial Day
- June 19 – Juneteenth
- July 4 – Independence Day
- August 30-September 1 – Labor Day
- October 4 – Building Maintenance
- October 31 – Open from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
- November 11 – Veterans Day
- November 26 – Closing at 5:00 pm
- November 27-29 – Thanksgiving
- December 24-26 – Christmas
- December 31 – New Year’s Eve
- January 1, 2026 – New Year’s Day
Address
73 North Center
Rexburg, Idaho 83440
We are located on Center Street, just north of Main Street, by the Historic Rexburg Tabernacle.
Contact Us
(208) 356-3461
24 Hour Phone Renewal: (208) 356-6658
askmadisonlibrary@madisonlib.org