This week’s read:From the wildly imaginative and creative mind of the writer, Orson Scott Card, comes “The Lost Gate,” the first book in the Mither Mages series.  “The Lost Gate” is similar to his other novels, especially the Ender series, in the fact they delve into questions about religion and morality and are extremely well written and compelling.  “The Lost Gate” follows the character Danny North.

Danny has grown up in a house in the woods of Western Virginia, isolated from the outside world, with various aunts, uncles and cousins, and they are all ruled by his father.

His cousins spend their time making what outsiders or common people would call fairies, trolls, werewolves, golems and other little creatures, because that is the heritage of their family.  But Danny is different and, from an early age, he has known this.  The family and the house hold many secrets and having secrets means having rules, but Danny soon finds that rules are meant to be broken. and secrets can never remain secret: This realization could mean disaster for the North clan.  Card does a wonderful job of creating and engaging an exciting, yet relatable, world that will take readers on a whirlwind of a ride in which Danny tries to find his outself.  “The Lost Gate” sets up what is sure to be a great series.

Upcoming events

National Library Week is April 9-14. “Food for Fines” is a program that will be offered this week to allow patrons to get money taken off of their fines by bringing in donations of nonperishable food items.  All of the proceeds collected will go to St. Mary’s Food Bank.

Youth events

This week marks the beginning of Spring Into Action. The week includes free daily events for children, teens and family events, too.  For complete details, visit www.nileslibrary.com, check out the board in the children’s department or pick up a flyer.

Contest

The Edible Book Contest is divided into three age groups: adult, pre-teen to young adult, and youth. One grand prize will be awarded for each group (one submission per person) and also one for People’s Choice.

The prizes for each age group include $25 Hacker’s gift card for the teen and youth groups, a $25 gift card for Martin’s Supermarket for adults, and for the grand prize, a $50 Martin’s gift card. Each edible creation submitted must depict a book or character from a fiction or a nonfiction book.  Each creation must be at least 95 percent edible and the base may be no larger than 24-by-24 inches.

Submissions must be delivered to Niles District Library from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 14. To enter, fill out an entry form and return it by April 12.  Call (269) 683-8545.