The Library Card [Library Binding]

Jerry Spinelli (Author)

Book Description

From the Newbery-award winning author of Maniac Magee.

Mongoose, Brenda, Sonseray, and April have nothing in common...until a mysterious blue card appears as if by magic and begins to change each of their lives. None of them guesses it at first, but that strange blue card will be their ticket to the past--and to a future that they never imagined. In stories that range from humorous to heartbreaking, Newbery-award-winner Jerry Spinelli reveals the amazing possibilities lurking behind library doors.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A library card is a kind of magic ticket: a passport to places distant--unknown--even forbidden. In his latest offering, Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli takes that idea and spins it until the story, its characters, and all of us are dizzy, and offers it as a prize to young readers up for the ride.

The magic library card that turns up in the four separate stories in this book is a ticket to whatever each young character needs most at the time. Each story is imaginative, surprising, and well beyond the "books are good for you" theme one might expect from a tome with this title.

To the reader, it's almost Twilight Zone-y. The 12-ish kids in these stories face varied turning points as they move toward adolescence. They all find their way thanks to a mysterious blue card that seems to have materialized from nowhere.

Street kid Mongoose must decide whether to follow a friend clearly on his way to trouble or seek his own path. April, just moved from New York to an isolated farm, needs a friend. Deprived of television for a week, young Brenda must learn to handle her restlessness and figure out who, besides those goofballs on television, lives inside her head. A grieving Sonseray, barely realizing he's in need, finds comfort and a reassuring connection to his dead mother.

For many kids, the library is just that place where the Ghostbusters first got slimed. This book offers a reminder of the "real" spirits waiting on every shelf. (For ages 11 and up) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

A library card prominently features in four short stories; "Spinelli's spare writing and careful pacing reinforce the dramatic nature of events as they unfold," said PW. Ages 8-14.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Library Binding: 147 pages
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1435266528
• ISBN-13: 978-1435266520
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,075,557 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Growing up, Jerry Spinelli was really serious about baseball. He played for the Green Sox Little League team in his hometown of Norristown, Pennsylvania, and dreamed of one day playing for the major leagues, preferably as shortstop for the New York Yankees.

One night during high school, Spinelli watched the football team win an exciting game against one of the best teams in the country. While everyone else rode about town tooting horns in celebration, Spinelli went home and wrote "Goal to Go," a poem about the game's defining moment, a goal-line stand. His father submitted the poem to the Norristown Times-Herald and it was featured in the middle of the sports page a few days later. He then traded in his baseball bat for a pencil, because he knew that he wanted to become a writer.

After graduating from Gettysburg College with an English degree, Spinelli worked full time as a magazine editor. Every day on his lunch hour, he would close his office door and craft novels on yellow magazine copy paper. He wrote four adult novels in 12 years of lunchtime writing, but none of these were accepted for publication. When he submitted a fifth novel about a 13-year-old boy, adult publishers once again rejected his work, but children's publishers embraced it. Spinelli feels that he accidentally became an author of children's books.

Spinelli's hilarious books entertain both children and young adults. Readers see his life in his autobiography Knots in My Yo-Yo String, as well as in his fiction. Crash came out of his desire to include the beloved Penn Relays of his home state of Pennsylvania in a book, while Maniac Magee is set in a fictional town based on his own hometown.

When asked if he does research for his writing, Spinelli says: "The answer is yes and no. No, in the sense that I seldom plow through books at the library to gather material. Yes, in the sense that the first 15 years of my life turned out to be one big research project. I thought I was simply growing up in Norristown, Pennsylvania; looking back now I can see that I was also gathering material that would one day find its way into my books."

On inspiration, the author says: "Ideas come from ordinary, everyday life. And from imagination. And from feelings. And from memories. Memories of dust in my sneakers and humming whitewalls down a hill called Monkey."

Spinelli lives with his wife and fellow writer, Eileen, in West Chester, Pennsylvania. While they write in separate rooms of the house, the couple edits and celebrates one another's work. Their six children have given Jerry Spinelli a plethora of clever material for his writing.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't let the title turn you off!, August 15, 2001

By 

Quaker Annie "reader" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Library Card (Paperback)

What sounds like a boring topic actually turns out to be a wonderful series of four individual stories, about four different young people whose lives are about to change because of the mysterious appearance of a blue plastic card.

Mongoose lives in the inner city. With his good friend, Weasel, he writes graffiti all over the neighborhood. Weasel eventually drops out of school -- Mongoose has found a strange blue card that opens up a world he hadn't even dreamed of...

Sonseray lives in a car, with his uncle. They travel from city to city, often leaving earlier than his uncle wants because of Sonseray's anger over the early loss of his mother. But that funny blue card shows up mysteriously, leading him to a nice cool library with more than central air conditioning.

Brenda loves television. Her life evolves around her favorite shows -- until one week, when she has to participate in her school's Great TV Turnoff. How will she ever survive? That blue card pulls her so far away from the television, she may never return.

And April Mendez, who loves to read. Stuck in a funny farm... when her family moves, she meets Nanette, a tough runaway teen who loses April's library card! Some strange blue card shows up -- April eventually gives it to Nanette and -- well, things really change.

My almost 10 year old son and I read this. He is NOT an avid reader, which is why I am always reading WITH him, and he surprised me by begging to read the next story after we finished each one (he had to wait a whole day for each story!)

Very different, high quality story that gives a message without being at all preachy.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Libraries can change lives, October 17, 2000

By 

Gwyneth Calvetti (West Salem, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Library Card (Paperback)

I once heard an author interview with Gary Paulsen, who as a young boy, sought refuge in the local library, soaking up the books there. These four vignettes about four very different kids and the way their lives are touched by a library card made me wonder if Spinelli was inspired by that same interview to write this book.

Each of the kids experiences alienation in very different ways, and each of the kids discovers themself and their connectedness differently, but the common thread is the library card that magically appears for each. All of the characters are very strong, and their disaffection for the world is clear. I especially enjoyed the first and the last vignette in the book. The first tells of a 12 year old boy who has been flirting with street gang behavior discovering the joy of knowledge. The last one tells of a girl who is new to her school and an outcast discovering the joy of reaching out to another in need.

Spinelli has a way with characters such as these. He captures their personalities and inner conflicts, but does so with a subtle touch of humor that allows young readers to sense that everything will be okay for the hero or heroine. As a teacher who often finds myself working with students like "Mongoose" in the first vignette, I've discovered that Jerry Spinelli's books can capture even the most reluctant reader.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could Have Been Better, October 9, 2002

By 

"timtee" (Keizer, OR, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Library Card (Paperback)

This book is divided into 4 different stories. One is about a boy who is undergoing peer pressure when he finds a library card and becomes facinated by books. Another is about a girl suffering from laziness who only watches tv. She then must turn off the tv for a week. Another is about a girl who goes aboard a 'library bus' and the last one is about a poor boy who lives in a car with his uncle and travels about.
This is aimed more towards younger kids, which is probaly why i didn't like it too much. It was a little too short and some parts lacked creativity. It kept me busy for a couple days, but there are better books I would suggest, such as Tangerine, Silent to the Bone, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, Holes, The Face on the Milk Carton and A Wrinkle in Time.
I give it a 3 out of 5.