I was never the new kid at school, but I had plenty of moments when I felt like I didn't fit in or belong. That is why I identified immediately with the titular character of Marshall Armstrong is New to Our School.

To our schoolboy narrator, Marshall looks like trouble from the start. He wears a tweed jacket with leather patches with a ragtimey hat covering his head. "He looks different to me." 

The nitpicky observations continue. His glasses say "Ray Ban" so they must belong to another boy. The food Marshall eats at lunch all comes in silver wrappers, obviously "space food." While everyone else has a regular bicycle, Marshall rides a velocipede. He can't play during gym, and he doesn't watch television. Who is this kid? Is he an alien? Is he from another century? What a weirdo.

So when Marshall invites the whole class to his birthday party it's bound to be a terrible time, right?

Thanks to the Library of Virginia, CRRL customers now have access to more eBooks via Freading.

To browse and check out eBooks, visit our Freading web site, and log in using your library barcode and four digit pin number.

Quick FAQs:

• Freading is a token based platform. Each customer gets 4 tokens per week. These roll over for 4 weeks, for a maximum of 16 tokens, and then they leave your account. A week is Monday to Sunday from  midnight, EST.
• Books cost 4, 2, or 1 token(s). In general, this is based on how new a book is.
• Checkout period is 2 weeks. Books can be renewed once for "free" or for a number of tokens depending on the title.
• Freading allows simultaneous use of titles, so no holds necessary!

Like to see the newest additions to the CRRL collection? How about seeing them right on your phone? Now you can with the CRRL mobile app!

First, you need CRRL's mobile app installed on your phone or tablet. It is available for download from your phone's app store, or you can use your phone's Web browser to go to http://crrl.boopsie.com for the download and more information.

Once the CRRL mobile app is installed, open the app and select "What's New in the Catalog." You have a choice of All, Top Choices, DVDs, Teen and Children's Books. Select one of these, and you'll see what's new this week in the category. Click on a title to put it on hold, right from your phone. Easy!

You can get the same information by email by signing up for Wowbrary's weekly email newsletter.

Don't have a phone? No problem. You can also use our mobile app in a Web browser: http://crrl.boopsie.com/m/

This is a short book, but it is a gem as so many of M.B. Goffstein's are. Our Snowman has a very simple, very true plot that is not the slightest bit exotic. It is as comforting as hot cocoa and a perfect book for young ones on a night when a Snow Watch is called.

Even Thanksgiving, that most American of holiday’s, is a melting pot of celebrations. Some will eat turkey at grandmother’s house, others fish at a restaurant and some Chinese food ordered in. Some of us will play football, some will watch it on TV and others will head to the movies. No matter how you celebrate, the following titles will bring new and delightful insight to this long-standing tradition.

It started as a a funny, little notion scrawled of a piece of scrap paper. "Mice have a culture all their own; Too small to integrate with other animals." Over the past decade, David Petersen's throwaway thought has emerged into a beautifully vivid adventure series that combines breathtaking action with gorgeous artwork. That series starts with Mouse Guard: Fall 1152.

The Mouse Guard are essentially wandering knights who serve a widespread kingdom. Mice have many natural predators and the guard has been established to protect citizens and keep the peace. But the kingdom is not simply threatened by snakes and owls. There are also enemies within.

Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones, starts off with a young girl trying to keep life interesting at her a dead-end job at the hat shop.  So Sophie talked to the hats. No, they didn't answer her, but she talked to them just the same. "You have a heart of gold and someone in a high position will see it and fall in love you," she told one. Soon enough a plain-looking lass bought the plain bonnet and sailed off with the heart of the Count of Catterack.

Almost 400 children gave their best guess in Salem Church Library's annual candy corn guessing contest! Each armed with a different strategy, children studied the jar, counted the layers, consulted grown-ups and just threw out a wild guess, all in order to win a jar full of candy corn. 1st grader, Joshua M. guessed 379, the exact number of pieces, and he is now the proud owner of a jar full of this favorite fall choice of sweet tooths and sugar fiends.

Children may not be able to vote in the general election, but from October 6 through November 6, 2012,  nearly 2,000 kids voted at the library and online for their choice of President.

This year's candidates were:

Fly Guy: "Not just your average fly on the wall!"  

OR

Ladybug Girl: "She never flies away when things get hard!"

And the winner is ... Fly Guy!

If you want to help your child learn more about the election process, share Virginia Johnson's wonderful article, "The Presidential Election: How It Works" from our website.