November 2019 Prime Picks
Reviewer's Choice Sizzling Social Issues
Biography
& Autobiography
Janis: Her Life and Music
Holly George-Warren
Simon and Schuster
9781476793108
$28.99
www.simonandschuster.com
Janis: Her Life and Music comes from an author who has loved Janis's
music since she was a teen, becoming fascinated with Joplin's career
and musical progression when she was assigned to write liner notes for
The Pearl Sessions.
Holly George-Warren's research into Janis's musical influences includes
probes into the various places she lived and the musicians she
interacted with. Her book considers Joplin's professional and personal
struggles and how she worked hard to overcome many barriers experienced
by female musicians of her times.
This dual examination of Janis's life, heritage, and impact on her
world covers ground other biographies miss; especially in regards to
her role as a female rock music performer. Two photo sections provide
visual embellishment for the discussions with excellent visuals
capturing Joplin's performances, the friends and musicians around her,
and her bohemian lifestyle.
Any rock music history collection in general or fans of Janis in
particular will find Janis: Her Life and Music an absorbing, revealing
survey.
Shores Beyond Shores
Irene Butter with John D. Bidwell and Kris Holloway
TSB/Can of Worms Enterprises
978191690801
$20.00
TSB/www.canofworms.net/
Shores Beyond Shores: From Holocaust to Hope, My True Story belongs in
any collection strong in Holocaust history and survivor stories, and
comes from a well-known peace activist whose book has been shortlisted
for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize 2019.
Irene Butter's Poppi fought to save his family, but lost the battle to
preserve her childhood when everything changed and Butter's world
became restricted and dangerous.
Moved to a death camp, the family struggled to survive. Butter even
helped bring clothes to Anne Frank before she found herself embarking
on a desperate journey to Algeria without her family.
Her first-person memoir captures these moments of hope, turmoil, and
what was sacrificed in order to survive. It makes for an engrossing,
well-detailed memoir of Holocaust events that proves hard to put down.
The
Culinary Corner
Beautiful Boards
Maegan Brown
Rock Point
9781631066474
$24.99
www.quartoknows.com
Beautiful Boards: 50 Amazing Snack Boards for Any Occasion isn't just
for entertaining (although that will be the likely goal of users of
this title): it advocates creating snack boards for family gatherings
and regular meals, as well, and shows how to arrange prepared foods,
fresh foods, and cheeses and meats in artful manners to attract guests
and picky eaters alike.
To emphasize these board's attraction to family affairs, different
approaches to their arrangement are presented by theme, from a Unicorn
Board or a Pancake Board to a Build-Your-Own Taco Board or a patriotic
holiday American Flat Board that comes complete with red, white and
blue layers and stars.
The full-page color photos displaying these arrangements accompany
recipes with ingredient lists that can be simple (for the family
boards) or quite extensive, as in a Bagel Board that includes fresh
vegetables, bacon, an array of fruits, and several cheese spreads.
Added notes provide specifics on serving or arranging in advance (in
the bagel example above, the notes include preparing bagels for the
board, encouraging complete use of accompanying toppings by creating
smaller bagel portions).
While the entire family can enjoy many of these boards, their volume
and artistic presentation lends especially well to entertainers who
want to put together foods over cooking them.
Moorish
Ben Tish
Bloomsbury Publishing
9781472958075
$36.00
www.bloomsbury.com
Moorish: Vibrant Recipes from the Mediterranean presents recipes both
traditional to North Africa and the Arabic world and from Ben Tish's
own variations on traditional themes, and focuses on Mediterranean
flavors at the time of the Moorish invasions.
Chapters are based on how he cooks at home, from quick snacks and
barbecue to baked dishes and brunches.
Full-page color photos of dishes and ingredients accompany recipes that
are each introduced with Moorish culinary history notes. Also included
is mention of how these traditional dishes both translate to
contemporary kitchens and have often become part of modern ethnic
cuisine in other countries.
From a Middle Eastern 'Shakshuka' dish with Tunisian origins,
consisting of baked egg with tomatoes, herbs, and garlic (but modified
by the Moorish-Andalucian influence to include spicy chirizo and jamon)
to an intense fish stew inspired by Sicily, Slow-Cooked Fish and
Shellfish Stew with Saffron and Star Anise, Moorish packs in many
unique dishes with flavors that may prove new even to American fans of
ethnic cuisine.
Unique and rich, Moorish is a delight for any American seeking to
better understand Moorish influences and tastes in the culinary world.
The Perfect Pie
America's Test Kitchen Editors
America's Test Kitchen
9781945256912
$35.00
www.americastestkitchen.com
The Perfect Pie: Your Ultimate Guide to Classic and Modern Pies, Tarts,
Galettes, and More gathers data from almost 8,000 home cooks for a
foolproof guide to pie that is far beyond the wealth of pie-baking
books already on the market.
One reason why this stands out is that many recipes have added
embellishments. Thus, an ordinary Blueberry Pie is enhanced with a
bergamot Earl Grey flavor; a classic Pecan Pie becomes something
different with the addition of peaches; and a Blackberry Pie is spiced
with Chai flavors. Different styles of pie-making are also covered,
including slab pies, hand pies, muffin tin pies, tartlets, and more.
About the only thing missing from this comprehensive reference is a
focus on savory pies. But with all the other options in place for a
superior title, this could be yet another book.
The sweet dishes presented in this collection are outstanding, tested
by America's Test Kitchen, and are outstanding selections for seasoned
pie bakers looking for twists on tradition.
Two Peas & Their Pod Cookbook
Maria Lichty
Grand Central Publishing
9781538730133
$32.00
www.grandcentralpublishing.com
Two Peas & Their Pod Cookbook: Favorite Everyday Recipes from
Our
Family Kitchen is Maria Lichty's first cookbook and provides both
recipes her family loves and notes from her blog, from breakfast to
supper, tailored for home table and entertainment alike.
Full-page color photos of finished dishes accompany recipes packed with
veggies and some meats, such as Baked Chicken Taquitos, Asian Pork
Lettuce Wraps, and Slow-Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup with Spiced
Tortilla Strips.
While vegetarian fare is featured throughout, the inclusion of some
meat-based dishes makes for a flexible presentation the entire family
can enjoy.
Dishes look appealing and are suitable for entertaining, but feature
easy preparations, simple ingredients, and a focus on flavors designed
to appeal to adults and children alike. The result is a cookbook of
everyday recipes which is a winner for those who would cook dishes from
scratch that bring the family's tastes together.
The
Arts
Beige is Not a Color
Carlos Mota
Vendome Press
9780865653665
$75.00
www.vendomepress.com
Ad campaigns never looked as good as those under the hand of artist
Carlos Mota, who travels the world producing ads packed with color,
creativity, and photos.
This volume documents almost three hundred of Mota's favorite images of
interiors from architectural photographers, as well as his own works.
These range from textiles, floral arrangements, and decorative rooms to
architectural embellishments.
His focus on color and originality creates a volume packed with
impressive art, presented in full-page color to capture the impact of
these works. It also adds quotes from different designers about color
and beauty.
The breadth and scope of Beige is Not a Color makes for a powerful
testimony to the strength of creative color applications in a range of
forms used for many purposes. This powerful volume should be one of the
mainstays of any architectural, art, or interior design library.
Flora Magnifica
Makoto Azuma and Shunsuke Shiinoki
Thames and Hudson
9780500545003
$50.00
www.thamesandhudsonusa.com
Flora Magnifica: The Art of Flowers in Four Seasons features gorgeous
flower photos that supersede the usual still life focus, creating
floral arrangements that combine plant species in fresh, impossible
ways.
These double pages of vivid color spreads against black backgrounds
bring the flowers to life in a manner traditional still life approaches
cannot match. Literally hundreds of plant species fall under the
camera's close inspection, arranged in displays of nearly 2,000 works
representing four seasons of color. This isn't the usual seasonal
approach, either, but follows the cyclic meanings of birth and rebirth,
aging and ripening, and demise.
Collections strong in art photography in general and nature photography
in particular will find Flora Magnifica unparalleled in its scope and
color, with imaginative arrangements designed to profile texture,
species, and colors.
Scintillating Science Fiction and Fantasy
Monster, She Wrote
Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson
Quirk
9781683691389
$19.99
www.quirkbooks.com
Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative
Fiction deserves a place in literature, speculative fiction, and
women's issues holdings. This survey of female impacts on these genres
covers hundreds of years and over two hundred novels, short stories,
and novellas. It closely examines their creators, controversies, and
the biographies of women who produced sometimes-shocking works for
their times.
The biographies include an annotated reading list and read-alike tips,
but their organization into sections by theme ('The Women Who Wrote the
Pulps', 'Haunting the Home', or 'Cult of the Occult') crafts a
structure and organization that places these individual efforts in
broader perspective in comparison to the genre's history and overall
progression.
Anyone interested in speculative fiction and horror or, especially, in
women's literature and literary history will find these biographies
move beyond following individual lives and achievements to place the
efforts and works of these women in proper perspective as they relate
to these genres as a whole.
Especially strong is an analytical approach that compares past efforts
with present-day movements and influences among media and literary
circles.
Sizzling Social Issues
If You Lived Here You'd Be Home By Now
Christopher Ingraham
Harper
9780062861474
$24.99
www.harpercollins.com
If You Lived Here You'd Be Home By Now: Why We Traded the Commuting
Life for a Little House on the Prairie came from an inadvertent slur
cast by Washington Post data reporter Christopher Ingraham who, in
2015, questioned the appeal of living in Red Lake County, Minnesota,
which he deemed the "worst place to live in America."
Perhaps predictably, a spate of angry letters (hundreds) arrived in his
office along with an invitation for him to look beyond data reports and
visit the community himself.
Perhaps this invitation arrived at a fortuitous time, because Ingraham
and his wife were struggling to raise children in the East Coast
suburbs, facing long commutes and increasing pressures. Their ultimate
decision to move to the same town Ingraham had criticized results in
this book: a series of discoveries about small-town living, an
investigation into the real roots of happiness, and ultimately an
account of how statistics only reveal part of the story.
If You Lived Here You'd Be Home By Now is a powerful survey especially
recommended for readers interested in small-town living and social
change.
Piety & Power
Tom LoBianco
Dey Street
9780062868787 $16.99
www.harpercollins.com
Piety & Power: Mike Pence and the Taking of the White House
provides political, biography, and social issues readers with a
biography of Mike Pence; but this book should be considered much more
than a discussion of one man's life and rise to power.
Within the guise of a biography comes a seasoned political reporter's
inside examination of Pence's campaign approaches, his association with
Trump, his various political experiences, and the evolution of his
cunning ability to elude close inspection.
Tom LoBianco is perhaps in a unique position to produce this book
because of his long-time experience on national television and radio,
reporting about Pence from his early days to his Vice Presidency.
LoBianco's ability to use his political connections in Washington and
in Indiana, along with his access to those close to Pence, contributes
to an in-depth, startling coverage perhaps no other reporter could have
achieved, making Piety & Power a 'must' for any political
history
or biography collection.
Rebooting AI
Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis
Pantheon
9781524748258
$28.95
www.pantheonbooks.com
Rebooting AI: Building Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust belongs in
computer and social issues collections alike. It is highly recommended
for its strong consideration of the pros and cons of artificial
intelligence design.
Many books and scientists have raised cautionary flags about the
dangers of AI, but here, a scientist and the founder of Robust.AI and a
professor of computer science, both of whom have spent their lives and
careers pursing the subject, make a powerful argument about AI's
promise, dangers, and potentials.
Under discussion is the creation of genuine intelligence, not just
computing systems, and the complexity involved in creating machines
that can handle creative thinking as diversely as the human race.
Discussions of how to safely advance AI and why the popular horror of
machine control is a fallacy make for a dialogue that should be on any
computer, sci-fi or sociology class's radar.
Science, Nature & Technology
The Brain Book, 2nd Edition
Professor Ken Ashwell
Firefly Books
9780228100850
$29.95
www.fireflybooks.com
A second updated edition of The Brain Book was needed in order to
reflect the many new findings, research, and therapies available for
various brain diseases and conditions.
As a result, the original production has been not only updated, but is
completely redesigned with over a hundred new photographs and charts in
full color accompanying the latest research and discussions about the
brain, its functions, and its dysfunctions.
Even though the original publication appeared in 2012, this update is a
'must have' replacement highly recommended for any health or physiology
collection interested in the latest research. Where other books about
the brain often assume some degree of prior knowledge, the advantage to
The Brain Book is that it's organized for a general-interest reader who
may have little scientific background in physiology or brain science.
The Heart of Tracking
Richard Vacha
Mount Vision Press
9780996246750
$16.95
www.mountvisionpress.com
The Heart of Tracking: Inner and Outer Practices of Nature Awareness
originally appeared in a series of essays for a small town newspaper,
and comes from a California naturalist's observations of animal
tracking processes.
Other books focuses on 'how to', but none have the ability to bring the
outdoors into the inner heart in the manner of The Heart of Tracking,
which links personal experience with broader psychological and
spiritual considerations.
The book blends the nuts and bolts of animal tracking with
considerations of animal lives and their entwined relationships with
humans. It does so in essays which are celebrations of nature and life,
not just definitions of habits and habitats: "Each week is a new
revelation, a new phase in the unfolding of the season of growth. The
progress of spring shines in the neon flush across fields and forests."
There are plenty of how-to tracking books on the market, but this
poetic, lyrical celebration of life takes the next step and deserves a
place not just in nature libraries, but in the collections of new age,
literary, and spirituality readers alike.
The Melon
Amy Goldman
City Point Press
9781947951136
$50.00
www.citypointpress.com
The Melon features gorgeous color photos by Victor Schrager and
profiles all kinds of melons; but offers far more depth than just a
photo survey alone. It's a resource nine years in the making which
gathers the latest research, facts, and ideas about melon growth and
natural history, and will appeal to science readers, gardeners, and
botany collections alike.
Chapters cover each melon's natural history, qualities, and botanical
details, with some 200 images packing the book. Tips on choosing and
using the melons (as well as growing them in a garden) round out the
history and science, while a small selection of melon recipes addresses
versatile uses for melon largess.
The result is an attractive book that will hold interest beyond
specialty audiences, one which will reach into many general-interest
collections.
Proving Einstein Right
S. James Gates, Jr. and Cathie Pelletier
Public Affairs
9781541762251
$30.00
www.publicaffairsbooks.com
Proving Einstein Right: The Daring Expeditions That Changed How We Look
at the Universe comes from a theoretical physicist who chronicles the
efforts of seven early astronomers who traveled around the world during
five eclipses to determine if their light waves would follow Newton's
law of gravity versus Einstein's new (in 1916) revolutionary theory of
relativity.
These travels didn't enjoy the modern conveniences of round-the-world
journeys today. They were fraught with peril, involved expeditions into
war zones and unexplored terrain, and were threatened by illness,
attacks, and deadly weather that obscured eclipses.
It took a decade before British expeditions succeeded in their goal to
photograph the stars to confirm Einstein's theory. This effort,
chronicled here, makes for a riveting story that surveys not just
journeys, but personal and professional interactions between
astronomers of Einstein's times.
No serious science history holding should be without Proving Einstein
Right's in-depth survey of the efforts to verify a paradigm-changing
theory.
Wilding
Isabella Tree
New York Review of Books
9781681373713
$19.95
www.nyrb.com
Wilding: Returning Nature to Our Farm blends a discussion about
conservation with a memoir as it surveys author Isabella Tree and her
husband Charlie Burrell's efforts to turn a profit from their farm.
They finally resorted to the radical idea of returning their 3,500
acres to the wild in an effort to restore life on their depleted
farmlands.
Wilding is more than the usual farming advice guide. It imparts a hefty
degree of nature knowledge as the author learned how to use herds of
wild animals to mimic the actions of megafauna, faced neighbors with
more manicured modern English manors who had different ideas of proper
farming techniques and farmland appearance, and encouraged a nature
success story in the face of disaster.
Isabella Tree's book is more than a document of one couple's
revolutionary process. It offers a ray of hope for anyone struggling
with overused, depleted lands that wildlife has long abandoned,
chronicling the exact process and premises that successfully resulted
in transformation.
It should be part of not just science and nature collections, but any
agricultural library.
Reviewer's Choice
Connections and Content
Mark Monmonier
ESRI Press
9781589485594
$39.99
www.esri.com/esripress
Connections and Content: Reflections on Networks and the History of
Cartography discusses relationships between networks and maps, probing
their historical relationship in essays which consider the evolution
and conjoined processes of both.
From how networks are used in mapping processes and how maps reflect
network approaches to different kinds of networks that use mapping in
different types of survey and connection efforts, this collection
includes many different references, from European canal building to
maps and networks used in telecommunications development and
cartography's use of symbols.
Connections and Content should be in any basic cartography collection,
but also should be considered for general history holdings. Its
intricate discussions of map history and development are key to
understanding the expansion of infrastructure and civilization around
the world.
I Wanted Fries With That
Amy Fish
New World Library
9781608686193
$15.95
www.newworldlibrary.com
I Wanted Fries With That: How to Ask for What You Want and Get What You
Need explains how to stand up for one's rights, how to make demands or
ask for things, and how to address grievances. More importantly, it
discusses how to do all these things with courage and civility: a
subject often lacking in most books about assertiveness.
One might expect a staid psychology discussion, given its subject
matter, but Amy Fish uses humor to illustrate the process of employing
positive approaches to get what is needed. Her examples are easy to
read and fun to think about, yet contain the foundations of making
demands or requests without being overly aggressive or bullying.
The result is a fun discussion of how to be resourceful and make
choices in dialogue that results in a winning conclusion for all
involved, providing this information in a lively and humorous read
designed to reach past barriers to communication and assertiveness to
explore new possibilities.
Tell Me Another Story
Emmy Marucci
Andrews McMeel
9781449496890
$19.99
www.andrewsmcmeel.com
Tell Me Another Story: Poems of You and Me pairs photos with poetry to
examine the author's family history and the experiences of those she
encounters in her life.
It's unusual to see a powerful blend of image and verse in full color,
one supporting the other, but Tell Me Another Story does an outstanding
job of creating an interplay of support between image and word,
capturing scenes that rely on emotional connection between family and
strangers alike: "...he's watching you/like a hawk/or maybe like a
seagull/if we're trying to set the scene."
The power of story and emotion come to life in Emmy Marucci's raw,
vivid observation pieces, which deserve a place in both literary and
general lending collections as works which hold the power to attract
not just fellow poets, but the general public.
Young Adult/Children
Candlewick Press
www.candlewick.com
These five children's picture books from Candlewick's latest releases
excel in presenting fun tales that are unique, light, and entertaining
reads, whether they're used for read-aloud or beginning reader
enjoyment.
Isabelle Arsenault illustrates Mac Barnett's Just Because
(9780763696801, $17.99), introducing the story with black and white
drawings that slowly evolve into color at the story's end.
This bedtime book addresses some 'why' questions youngsters like to
ask, but takes a whimsical departure on the answers which will have
parents and children laughing, as in the quirky answer to why the ocean
is blue ("Every night when you go to sleep, the fish take out guitars.
They sing sad songs and cry blue tears.").
Frann Preston-Gannon's By the Light of the Moon (9781556208108, $16.99)
tells of a little frog who sings in the swamp, but feels his song is
incomplete.
He asks his friends to join in, but nothing seems to fill in the
missing piece until a little firefly adds an unexpected moment which is
just what's needed.
A fun rhyme and large-size, full-page drawings make for a colorful,
inviting musical celebration.
Melanie Heuiser Hill's Around the Table That Grandad Built
(9780763697846, $16.99) receives large, colorful drawings by Jaime Kim
as it provides a take-off on the 'House That Jack Built' rhyme; this
one telling of a family gathering and shared meal around a special
table.
Family traditions, the meaning of special plates and glasses, and
intergenerational connections are emphasized in a story that families
will find inviting.
Kate Prendergast's Sleep: How Nature Gets Its Rest (9781536207989,
$16.99) provides a strong nonfiction survey of how different animals
sleep around the world, from the sloths that sleep upside down to
snails and tortoises that sleep in their shells.
Young picture book naturalists will appreciate the easy contrasts
between animals, their environments, and different methods of sleep.
Just in time for Christmas is Matt Tavares' Dasher (9781536201376,
$17.99), the story of a doe who lives with her family in a traveling
circus, but who longs for a different life and environment.
When Dasher is given an opportunity, she literally runs with it in a
fun Christmas tale that creates a new spin on one of Santa's reindeer.
All are inviting, fun picture book reads.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
www.hmhbooks.com
Three excellent new arrivals display some of the strongest releases
from this publisher to date. Two are picture books for younger readers
and one will attract teen readers.
Half Way Home by Hugh Howey (9780358213246, $28.00) tells of five
hundred colonists sent to settle an alien planet. They have been
'grown' in vats, educated through an artificial intelligence process
while asleep, and are set to awaken at thirty years old, ready to go.
When an explosion on their ship 15 years into the process kills most
and awakens the half-educated surviving teens, they face many obstacles
to building their new home, including the AI overseeing them and their
own emotions.
This powerful survival story set on another planet will delight teen
readers with a twist to the traditional interplanetary sci-fi
adventure.
Tow Truck Joe by June Sobel (9780358053125, $17.99) is illustrated by
Patrick Corrigan and tells of Joe the Tow and Patch the Pup, who help
friends in need when trouble strikes.
Joe serves as a fix-it truck for all cars and trucks while Patch, his
pup, can smell trouble coming so that Joe can help quicker.
The delightful, colorful drawings and 'can do/can help' attitude of
truck and pup create an uplifting, positive story perfect for
read-aloud and teaching the value of being giving and engaged.
June Sobel's Santa and the Goodnight Train (9781328618405, $17.99)
tells of Christmas Eve and the Goodnight Train's journey through
winter, on watch for Santa's sleigh.
Rollicking two-line rhymes, punctuated by sound effects from the train
which parents can imitate, receive colorful and fine embellishment by
illustrator Laura Huliska-Beith, who provides compelling drawings of
the train, reindeer, a merry race, and encounters with animals and the
elusive Santa.
This lively, colorful picture book story stands out from the crowd of
holiday Santa stories with a different yet simple premise and
attractive illustrations.
Peachtree Publishers
www.peachtree-online.com
Three new children's books are excellent choices for libraries and
parents looking for lasting lending value and exceptional picture book
productions.
Alex Latimer's Lula and the Sea Monster (9781682631225, $16.95) reaches
ages 4-8 with a fine story of the unusual relationship between a girl
who loves the beach and a sea monster she befriends.
Overshadowing all is the family's move from their home to make way for
a new highway. As Lula's small new sea monster friend grows, so does
her passion for the beach and her hope of saving her home.
Alex Latimer's lovely drawings enhance this gentle story, which will
require good reading skills or parental read-aloud assistance.
Susan Edwards Richmond's Bird Count (9781561459544, $17.95) benefits
from large-size drawings by Stephanie Fizer Coleman, who brings the
story and concept of a young "citizen scientist" to life.
Ava is asked to be in charge of the bird-counting tally, and is charged
with keeping accurate records of the birds they observe. The process of
a team effort to record bird statistics comes to life in a story that
includes basic details about the Audubon Christmas Bird Count and how
it works.
Jo Weaver's Little Tigers (9781682631102, $17.95) comes from an artist
author who examines the relationship between a mother and child,
focusing on twin tiger cubs as they explore their jungle home and face
dangerous hunters.
Mother Tiger must keep her cubs safe, but her search for a new home
isn't easy. Each potential candidate has something wrong with it. Can
the cubs and their mother work together to find a perfect replacement?
Lovely drawings in brown and black and white lend an artistic,
realistic feel to this gentle story of a family team that faces a
dilemma together.
Simon & Schuster
www.simonandschuster.com/kids
Two new picture books and three preteen readers are top recommendations
and recent publications from Simon and Schuster, each offering a
special approach that will attract parents and kids interested in
inviting leisure reads.
Mark Teague's Fly! (9781534451285, $17.99) is a fine wordless picture
book that invites parents and children to fill in the blanks in the
story of a mama bird who believes it's time for Baby bird's first
flight. Baby bird, however, thinks otherwise. Why can't things stay the
same?
As Baby concentrates on various ways of keeping everything familiar and
reducing the risk of trying something new, parents can guide ages 4-8
through a gentle story about courage and perseverance on the parts of
mother and child alike.
Blair Thornburgh and Scott Campbell's Skulls! (9781534414006, $17.99)
pairs a new author with an award-winning illustrator and celebrates the
skull and skeletons.
Although this book arrived too late for October feature, it actually
moves beyond Halloween to investigate the realities of skeletons,
dispelling fears about their spooky associations with Halloween and
providing insights about their importance to the body.
Three preteen reads are also solid picks for discriminating
collections.
Ages 8-12 will appreciate the adventure Katherine Rundell creates in
The Good Thieves (9781481419482, $17.99), in which a new immigrant from
England faces a dangerous con artist who has cheated her grandfather
out of his home. Vita must devise a way to outwit these thieves and
help him recover his home even as she interacts with a world unfamiliar
to her, associating with thieves herself in order to confront a
dangerous adult world.
Dan Bar-El's The Very, Very Far North (9781534433410, $16.99) will also
reach ages 8-12 with its story of friendly polar bear Duane, who is
curious and searches for a place in his arctic world.
Courage, confronting enemies, and making friends are only a few of the
themes outlined in this animal adventure, which will prove especially
attractive to those who love animal-based fiction.
Sean Easley's The Key of Lost Things (9781534437876, $17.99) will reach
ages 9-12 with a magical adventure story that covers family
connections, missing friends, pranks, and the odd The Hotel Between,
which must be preserved at all costs.
As Cam struggles to become more engaged with the Hotel, he begins to
wonder if even his own twin sister can be trusted to keep the Hotel
from falling into the wrong hands.
An absorbing first-person fantasy will attract readers interested in
adventure and character-testing encounters.
Sleeping Bear Press
www.sleepingbearpress.com
Four new titles from Sleeping Bear Press provide picture book readers
with exciting, new reads that lend to leisure pleasure and parental
read-aloud alike.
Grades K-1 just entering into the world of reading will appreciate Book
2 in the 'I Am A Reader!' series. Anne Ingalls and Sue Lowell Gallion's
Tip and Tucker: Hide and Squeak (9781534110083, $9.99) is a story of
hamster friends who are very different in their reactions to life—a
difference that is highlighted when they are purchased from a pet store
and brought into a classroom.
When Tip gets loose from their cage and is lost, can Tucker find him? A
fun story revolves around different friends and their strengths, made
all the more engaging by André Ceolin's colorful drawings.
Shannon Stocker's Can U Save the Day? (9781585364046, $16.99) is
illustrated by Tom Disbury, who adds whimsical, bright drawings to a
story about letters of the alphabet that find themselves in conflict,
yet interdependent.
Kids receive lessons on grammar that cover vowels and consonants in a
simple two-line rhyme that is both educational and hilarious.
Huda Essa's Common Threads: Adam's Day at the Market (9781534110106,
$16.99) enjoys embellishment by Mercé Tous, whose large-size, realistic
drawings capture the different ethnic peoples who visit the Eastern
Market to sell, shop, or enjoy.
Adam is one of these visitors, with his parents; but when he becomes
separated from them, he finds it difficult to use his usual color and
clothing identifiers to find them because everyone is dressed so
differently.
This story of diversity educates kids about other cultures and clothing
within the larger story of a lost child who struggles with a world of
strangers.
Barbara Joosse's Lulu & Rocky in Detroit (9781534110182,
$16.99)
receives engaging drawings by Renée Graef as it tells of fox cousins
Lulu and Rocky who embark on a new adventure in Detroit, Michigan.
These travelers bring young readers along for the ride, adding to the
'Our City Adventures' series as it explores the sights, sounds, and
culture of Detroit.Good reading skills from ages 4-8 will enhance
enjoyment of this a story.