Are your kids always telling you last minute that they have a project on a Mission and when you get to the library all the books are checked out? Worry no more! The Missions of California Books are available in digital format online at sjpl.org. Go to our catalog and do a keyword search for "missions of california." Then click the link on the mission your child has to do report for then type "missions" for username and password and you're set. All the same information online ready for you at anytime.

Moon Over Manifest, by Clare Vanderpool, is the story of a young twelve year old, Abilene, who is sent to live with her father's friend in Manifest, a small lazy town in Kansas.  She feels abandoned by the father she loves and is at loss for why he would do this.  She only knows that her father had changed after her sickness, when she had an accident and her leg became infected.  So, now, alone, in Manifest, the town where her father considers home, Abilene is trying to sort our her father's past and his identity and her own destiny.  Through the course of a summer, she discovers Manifest's history, her father's history, and her own place in Manifest's destiny.

A Newberry Award Winner for 2011, Moon Over Manifest is, in my opinion, a simply wonderful book, but I would not recommend it for everyone, because its narrative is sophisticated and complex with three threads which the author skillfully weaves to reveal a narrative which is a colorful depiction of life in small town Kansas.  This book is a book for a good reader, probably a girl, and for someone around 6th or 7th grade because the main character is young, but the scope of the story is big and the narrative complex. 

Check out these colorful story books.  You don't have time to come to the library?  No problem.  You can read these story books with your kids Online. 

Some titles are Ipad-compatable. To find these titles, go to "Story Books" and click on the GREEN button called "iPad Books" ... or use the TumbleSearch feature: type in "iPad" and hit GO.

You need to have a San Jose Public Library card to access these books.   If you don't have a San Jose Public Library card, you can fill out the Online application today.  Then stop by any San Jose Library within 30 days with photo identification and address confirmation to receive and activate your card. Electronic applications will be deleted after one month.