Do you remember library storyhour from when you were a kid?

Why Storyhour? Fun Stuff Current Review Kid's Review Activities

Why Storyhour?
For one thing, I prefer reading SF to watching movies, which I prefer to TV shows.*
And I would like to get other people interested in reading SF, or anything.
I also remember having a lot of fun at storyhour!

Bweep! (translation: e-mail me!) My Fun Stuff
I have been trying for three years to find books two and four of the Exordium series by Sherwood Smith and Dave Trowbridge. I try amazon.com and they're out of print, so I try Barnes & Noble and they don't even have any available in the used books section. And I can't find them at the public library, either! So if anybody has any information on where these two books can be found, please LET ME KNOW!!!

I do indeed have the Phantom Menace book with the cover shown. In fact, I have every SW novel (as of Nov 1999). And a good number of the books written for little kids (even though I don't have any little kids to use them) and plan on getting more when I can.

Golden Ducks is an award for children's Science Fiction.

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Current Review

cover picture The next Deryni book is finally out! King Kelson's Bride takes place two years after the previous one, and is a fast-paced love story with a twist. Rothana still refuses to marry Kelson, but he won't give up trying to change her mind. The first chapter is a glance at groups of Kelson's enemies, friends, & those somewhere in between trying to figure out who he could possibly marry. Rothana suggests one of his cousins, & he agrees to meet with her but doesn't promise anything. The Torenthi king has now reached his majority & must return to his kingdom. Since Gwynedd & Torenth have 14 as the age of majority, he still feels like a kid & isn't sure about leaving his friends. And the same people who are worried about who Kelson will marry are worried about Liam's ability to rule & keep another war from breaking out. And to complicate the plot even more, the Meran principality is undergoing some changes. Everything works out excedingly well in the end, except for one bad guy still on the loose. I really enjoyed this book, & not only because of the 8-year wait for it!

Archived Reviews
A good webpage that reviews books belongs to Helge Moulding

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Children's Reviews
With my invlolvement in RFF, I have decided to add book reviews of Children's Science Fiction. As with the other reviews, I will try to keep up with new fiction, and only do something old if there is no SF on the libraries' new books shelf. These will also be moved to the archives, but will have a separate section.
More Harry Potter, x2!
These Books are too good to be believed!

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling takes us with Harry through his second year at Hogwarts. There's a new techer who's full of himself, and thinks Harry should be too, because they're both famous. And it doesn't help that two of the new first-years have a crush on Harry. Meanwhile, there is a new threat to the school, and once again Harry drags his friend into all sorts of trouble trying to solve the mystery. Once again Harry gets shuned by all the other students, this time by the discovery that he is a Parselmouth (can talk with snakes, a highly unusual talent). And again, he gets helped by Dumbledore, led off on the wrong track, and tormented by the class bully and Professor Snape. What Hagrid did to get expelled is revealed, along with other circumstances that lead to him being taken to the Wizards jail, then pardoned and returned to his job as Groundskeeper at Hgwarts.


Who gets homework over summer vacation? Appearantly wizards do, because J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban begins with Harry hiding his summer homework from his aunt and uncle. Then he blows up another aunt (like a ballon, NOT a bomb) and runs away from home, expecting a letter saying he's been kicked out of Hogwarts. But he gets picked up by a wizard bus and taken to Daigon Alley (the main wizard shopping center in London), where he lives in the inn until school starts. Azkaban is the prison Hagrid wa sent to in the previous book, and a prisoner has escaped, so dangerous that the Muggles (non-magic people) were warned. The wizard government expects this escapee to go after Harry, so everything is being done to protect him. There is a definite pattern to these books now, but the most interesting is learning that Harry's father (who we know from the first book was Head Boy when he was at Hogwarts), was at least as much of a mischief-maker as Harry is. Ms. Rowling does an excellent job of increasing the maturity of Harry and his friends with each book, and the complexity of the problems they must overcome are correspondingly more difficult. Top.
Activities
I have just added this section, and don't have any material for it yet. To start with, I suggest you check out the Star Wars Science Adventures.

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* There is one exception to the TV shows, and that is Red Dwarf. Two places I recomend you visit to find out about this absolutely hilarious SF British Comedy are Lestat's Red Dwarf Website, and The Rimmer Experience.
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Disclaimer: SW belongs to GL, and other things as attributed. I don't make any money, nor do I want to. My copyright is only my page layout and my opinions. ©2000 Laura Swift
Created 2 May 2000
Last updated 2 June 2000