Et Cetera

Parents Entered in Drawing After Receiving College and Career Planning Information for Their StudentsThirty-eight Iowa parents and guardians each received $250 in college savings deposits after their entries were randomly selected in a quarterly drawing sponsored by Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corporation®. The winners were among 849 eligible participants who entered after receiving free college and career planning information for their middle and high school students.

 Burn                       Patrick Ness                                                    Young Adult                                                    Science Fiction                                                    Reviewed by                                                    Connie Bennett          Jump into the Wayback Machine, Ladies and Gentlemen,  as I spin a tale of a dragon with a prophecy, in the far-off world of a "universe almost our own", in the year 1957.

Dashing Through the SnowBy Debbie MacomberReviewed by Connie Bennett, Vinton Public Library ClerkFiction (Trending)ContemporaryRomanceThis wildly popular author currently has several new books at Vinton Public Library. This particular one is available at VPL as an audiobook on CDs, as well as two copies of the book itself. In addition, the Libby app has one copy available in eBook form, and has one audiobook.

  Finding Winnie                      By Lindsay Mattick                              Children's Easy Picture Book                              True Story of Winnie the Pooh                              Photographs Included                              Reviewed by Connie Bennett                                        I know that some of you will see this as "cheating", since it a children's book, and only one book at that, but I sincerely hope you read and enjoy this book and then share the story!  It truly is "for all ages"!           I'm assuming that everyone is familiar with Winnie the Pooh, who has been a children’s favorite for decades.

Roll the Wagons                    William Heuman                                                 Large Type                                                 Western                                                 Reviewed by                                                 Connie Bennett          Readers of Westerns, I have a new offering for you, and as an added bonus, it's a large type edition!  After reading this review, I'm sure you'll want to grab up this one!          It all starts out on a sweltering hot day at 2:09 PM, on a trip with a freight-hauling company, Rocky Mountain Freighting.

 Lending a Paw                      By Laurie Cass                                                Large Print                                                Fiction                                                Mystery                                                Reviewed By                                                             Connie Bennett          This time around, I looked for something light-hearted and easy to read.

Christmas BellsBy Jennifer ChiaveriniHistorical Fiction/BiographyReviewed by Connie Bennett         Although this book claims to be a work of fiction, it has so many references to the very thoughts and attitudes of world-famous writer and poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, that I would personally consider it more of a biography.

HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS: We’re now accepting applications for our 2023 Alliant Energy Innovation Scholarships! Is there a problem in your community you think you could solve using STEM? Write a short essay about it and you may be one of 25 seniors we recognize to help reach your academic goals. Learn more and apply before Feb. 15 https://bit.ly/3UCNfuF To apply, CLICK HERE!To encourage innovation and creative problem solving, Alliant Energy offers a scholarship program for students pursuing a career in business, applied sciences, technology, engineering and math fields upon high school graduation.

 During the holiday season and as year-end approaches, many people are thinking about how they can give back to their community. Giving to a fund of the Benton County Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa, is an easy way to make a year-end gift that impacts the community and supports the causes you care about.

Echo                   By Pam Muñoz Ryan                                              Junior Fiction                                              History; Music                                              Large Type                                              Reviewed by                                              Connie Bennett     Oh, my goodness, where to begin?  To think that I couldn't connect with this book- that I stopped halfway through, and very nearly didn't finish at all!   After all of that, this has become one of my all-time favorite books!  To say that it was an easy read would be untrue, and yet, as I reread portions and came to the part as yet unread, in an attempt to finish this time, I couldn't put the book down.