Volume 3, Number 1 October October/November 2009 jlgmonthly

Books! When I arrived at our Ohio office on a recent visit, I saw 8 1/2" x 11" cover images for all 180 of our fall titles displayed on the walls. Wow! I had a hard time concentrating on saying my hellos. Next, I ducked into the warehouse. The books were stacked ready for shipping in aisle after aisle, and the warehouse staff was busy packing Susan Marston, JLG Editorial Director boxes and wrapping towers of them in plastic. It was thrilling to see the work we do at our desks in New York transformed into something so concrete. Thanks to those hardworking warehouse folks, you have now received some of those 180 titles as well as this first issue of our second year (!) of JLG Monthly. In response to member feedback, we’ve streamlined the components of each page—from the summaries and reviews to the curriculum indications—and added companion titles. I’d like to direct your attention to a few of the outstanding titles, but which should those be? Should I discuss the seasonally appropriate and hunger-inducing Applesauce Season or the amazing sequels to Al Capone Does My Shirts, The Hunger Games, and The Knife of Never Letting Go? Should I describe The 3-2-3 Detective Agency in The Disappearance of Dave Warthog in the new elementary graphic novel level (GE) or The Story of Snow in the new elementary science level (SCE)? It’s too hard to decide! I think I’ll just let you peruse and linger as you wish.

Inside this issue:

October Books...... 2 JLG News & Notes...... 32 November Books...... 34 Index of October and November Books...... 64 December Forthcoming Titles...... 64 Junior Library Guild 7858 Industrial Parkway www.juniorlibraryguild.com • 866.205.0570 Plain City, OH 43064 PS Primary Spanish • Grades K–3 October

The Big, Big Wall / No puedo bajar

by Reginald Howard • illustrated by Ariane Dewey and José Aruego translated by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy

Houghton Mifflin • ISBN: 9780547255477 • Dewey: E • 28 pp • 6" x 8 1/2" Scheduled Month: October 2009

“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. He did not want to have a big fall. / Humpty Dumpty se subió a un muro. Pero no podía bajar.” Can Humpty Dumpty’s friends help him get down without hurting himself? Activity. Tips to help a child become a reader. Full- color illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

Ariane Dewey lives in New York City and often works with artist José Aruego. He • A fun story which emphasizes how friends can help conquer fears. draws the illustrations, and she colors them. Ms. Dewey says color, more than shapes or • Cute illustrations portray Humpty and his friends in an endearing way. sounds, tells her about the world around • Simple text and repetition are appropriate for beginning readers. her. Her favorite kind of paint is school poster paint. • Large font size aids readability. www.ariane-dewey.com • The play on the tale of Humpty Dumpty—and therefore on reader expectations— José Aruego grew up in the adds weight to the story. Philippines, where he liked to read comic books and draw cartoon animals. Today he still draws, and he sometimes giggles while he’s drawing animals, because they look so funny. Together, Ms. Dewey and Mr. Aruego have created illustrations for more than sixty-five books.

Alma Flor Ada was born in Camaguey, Cuba, and eventually moved to Peru, where she was a teacher. Today she writes and translates children’s books and is an advocate for the rights of children to be educated in their home language.

You might also like: Humpty Dumpty Climbs Again by Dave Horowitz

Help! by Holly Keller

My Friends / Mis amigos by Taro Gomi Curriculum Indications Book type: Bilingual early reader. Genre: Fiction. Summary: Humpty Dumpty’s friends help him avoid a big, big fall. Main characters: Humpty Dumpty and his friends: a mouse, a rabbit, and a pig. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Spanish. Topics: Humpty Dumpty. Stories in Rhyme. Fear. Heights. Falling. Friends. Teamwork. Available at Sensitive areas: None. juniorlibraryguild.com

 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 Oct o ber Grades PreK–K • Kindergarten K

Little Mouse Gets Ready written and illustrated by Jeff Smith

TOON • ISBN: 9781935179016 • Dewey: 741.5'973 • 32 pp • 9" x 6" Scheduled Month: October 2009

Little Mouse gets dressed all by himself. He pulls on his underpants, fastens the snap on his pants, carefully puts on his shoes, and precisely lines up the buttons on his shirt. Finally, he’s ready to go. Unfortunately, he hasn’t realized one very important thing. Full-color illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say: Jeff Smith says, “The seeds for the Little • Accessible, uncluttered cartoon-style illustrations. Mouse character go back to my childhood, • Amusing details, such as the underpants adapted around the age of five for a mouse tail. or so, the same time I came up with my other • Straightforward and instructive for toddlers and cartoon characters, preschoolers learning to dress themselves. the Bone cousins. • The ending will have readers laughing out loud. The Little Mouse I drew back then was a happy-go-lucky youngster who had a lot of imagination and liked to explore. He also had a bright red vest. You’ll see he hasn’t changed much. “When I was asked by Françoise Mouly, the publisher of Toon Books, to write (and draw) a children’s comic for very young readers, I began to think back to when I was that age, learning to get dressed, and how ritualized it is. I remembered all the rules one has to follow, like left shoe, right shoe, and getting the tags in the back. I also recalled the difficulty little fingers have when trying to manipulate buttons, zippers, and shoelaces (now thankfully replaced on smaller shoes with Velcro!). “The rest of Little Mouse’s tale is just some of my normal cartooning nonsense. Hope you enjoy it!”

You might also like: Pip & Squeak by Ian Schoenherr

Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems

Luke on the Loose by Harry Bliss Curriculum Indications Book type: Early graphic novel. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Genre: Humorous fiction. Topics: Mice. Clothing and dress. Humor. Summary: Little Mouse gets dressed to Completing tasks in a sequence. go to the barn with his mother, brothers, Sensitive areas: None. and sisters. Main characters: Little Mouse and Mama. Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly  P Primary • Grades K–1 October jlgguides

Once Upon a Twice

by Denise Doyen • illustrated by Barry Moser

Random House • ISBN: 9780375956126 • Dewey: E • 32 pp • 10" x 10" Scheduled Month: October 2009

“Danger’s lurking in the lettuce, / ’Tween the celery, stalkers get us! / Open moonlight is a menace. / Trust in shadows—disappear.” A mouse named Jam thinks he is too clever to bother heeding the warnings of his elders. He goes looking for adventure—but is he too confident for his own good? Full-color illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• The wordplay and rhymes make this book stand out. Denise Doyen directed children’s television for Disney and then took some time off to • The poetry scans well and contains such raise sons, Paul and Max. “But I’m a writer at skillfully composed lines as “In the middle heart,” she says, “so when my boys hit that of the nice, / The moon was on the rice / age when they pretend they don’t have And the Mice were scoutaprowl. . . .” mothers, I went back to school to study writing for children.” • Wonderfully striking, atmospheric artwork. ms. Doyen lives in Pacific Palisades, California, with her sons, • The story’s meaning will not be lost on her husband, Michael, and a view younger children, despite an inventive and of the sea. Once Upon a Twice is her unique vocabulary. first book.

Barry Moser calls Once Upon a Twice “a delight.” He also says that the book, with its moon character, seemed made for him. “All my life I have been fascinated with the moon,” Mr. Moser explains, “and have made lots and lots of pictures of it. I never tire of watching its passing phases and its seeming playfulness among clouds as it makes its way across the starry sky.”

You might also like: Trouble by Jane Kurtz Curriculum Indications Shark and Lobster’s Amazing Undersea Adventure Book type: Picture book. by Viviane Schwarz Genre: Poetry. Summary: A cautionary tale featuring mice, written in nonsense verse. Main characters: Jam, a brazen young mouse; eldermice. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Topics: Mice. Stories in rhyme. Wordplay. Rules. Cautionary tale. Children’s poetry. Elders. Overconfidence. Sensitive areas: None.

Available at Activity Guide available from JLG juniorlibraryguild.com

 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 Oct o ber Grades K–1 • Primary P+

Applesauce Season by Eden Ross Lipson • illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein

Roaring Brook • ISBN: 9781596432161 • 40 pp • 8 1/2" x 11" Scheduled Month: October 2009

A young boy lives in the city, but that doesn’t prevent him from enjoying “applesauce season” right after school starts. His family buys six pounds of apples, “because that’s just how much our saucepot holds.” Using at least three kinds of apples in each pot “for real flavor,” their applesauce is different every week. Recipe. Full-color illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• A young boy’s excitement about making Eden Ross Lipson wrote, “I’ve made applesauce turns into a reverence for a family applesauce all my adult life for myself. And tradition that spans three generations. if I made it for myself, the added pleasure • The pleasing contrast between life in the city has been to share the task and the result with children.” Her recipe is in the back of and the freshness of the produce at a farmers’ the book. market underlines the importance of the ms. Lipson, who lived in Manhattan, New harvest even in an urban setting. York, was the children’s book editor of The New York Times Book Review until 2005. She • The book does a good job explaining how one family makes also wrote the authoritative New York Times applesauce. It may entice readers to try making their own applesauce. Parent’s Guide to the Best Books for Children. • The art and the story work well together. Ms. Lipson passed away in May 2009. • Should have strong annual appeal in the classroom. Mordicai Gerstein has shared Ms. Lipson’s love for applesauce ever since he and his wife, Susan, made their first batch some decades ago. “When my editor sent me Eden Ross Lipson’s story to illustrate, I learned she knew about applesauce, too,” he says. “I had known of Eden for years, in her role as editor of The New York Times’ children’s book review and was a bit in awe of her. Doing the illustrations brought the opportunity to know Eden, a great gift, and to help her spread the word that applesauce is wonderful!

You might also like: What to Do? What to Do? by Toni Teeven

Granddad’s Fishing Buddy by Mary Quigley Curriculum Indications How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A. Book type: Picture book. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Science. by Marjorie Priceman Genre: Fiction. Topics: Apples. City living. Farmers’ markets. Summary: A young boy and his family make Cooking. Agriculture. Seasons. Fruit. Family applesauce every year in the fall with a traditions. variety of apples from a farmers’ market in Sensitive areas: None. their city. Main characters: A young boy narrator and his mother, grandmother, father, and Available at twin sisters. juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly  E Easy Reading • Grades 1–3 October

A Birthday for Bear

by Bonny Becker • illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton

Candlewick • ISBN: 9780763637460 • Dewey: E • 56 pp • 6" x 9" Scheduled Month: October 2009

“Bear pulled himself up to his full height and roared, ‘I do not like presents. I do not like birthday cards. I do not like balloons. I do not like parties. I do not like BIRTHDAYS!’” Still, Bear’s friend Mouse is sure he can convince Bear to celebrate. Full-color ink and watercolor illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

Bonny Becker says, “Mouse • Text and art are full of humor. The dialogue and Bear are such fun is especially funny. characters for me. I know this • Strong messages of friendship and the grumpy Bear and exuberant Mouse in my bones. I suspect importance of trying new things. everyone has a bit of Bear • Likable characters. and Mouse inside.” This is the second Mouse • Beautiful watercolor art, full of details. and Bear book; the first,A Visitor for Bear, • Well suited to early-reader format. was the winner of the E. B. White Read Aloud Award and the Golden Kite Award. It was also a New York Times best seller. When she isn’t writing, Ms. Becker hikes in the mountains near Seattle, where she lives with her husband and daughters. www.bonnybecker.com

Kady MacDonald Denton is an author and illustrator of children’s books. About Mouse and Bear, she says, “What an unforgettable pair! I was happy to have a return visit.” She and her husband live in Ontario, Canada, and work in a tall, yellow brick house that overlooks the Otonabee River. www.kadymacdonalddenton.ca

You might also like: A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker

Houndsley and Catina and the Birthday Surprise by James Howe

Tiny & Hercules by Amy Schwartz Curriculum Indications Book type: Early reader. Topics: Birthdays. Bears. Mice. Friendship. Genre: Fiction. Wanting to be alone. Disliking birthdays. Persistence. Gifts. Celebrating. Summary: Despite Bear’s efforts to ignore his birthday, Mouse will not rest until his Sensitive areas: None. friend celebrates. Main characters: Bear and Mouse. Available at Curriculum areas: Language arts. juniorlibraryguild.com

A BIRTHDAY FOR BEAR. Text copyright (c) 2009 by Bonny Becker. Illustrations copyright (c) 2009 by Kady MacDonald Denton. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.

 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 Oct o ber Grades 1–3 • Easy Reading E+

Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer by Carol Brendler • pictures by Ard Hoyt

Farrar Straus Giroux • ISBN: 9780374384401 • Dewey: E • 32 pp • 7 1/2" x 11" Scheduled Month: October 2009

The county fair is offering prize money for the best-growing cornstalks, the best- looking puppies, and the best-laying hens. Nowhere on the list is Winnie’s specialty: the best worms. But Winnie has an idea. If her neighbors agree to share their winnings, she’ll show them how worms can help win every prize. Author’s note includes instructions on how to start a worm farm. Sources. Additional resources. Full-color pictures.

JLG’s Reviewers Say: Carol Brendler remembers a late summer day in Michigan when a much younger • Readers get a clear sense of Winnie’s enthusiasm. version of herself wheeled a rickety Radio Flyer full of dirt and carefully arranged twigs • Kids will like how Winnie solves problems and leaves around the subdivision. Her tiny that adults can’t. wagon was a mobile creepy-crawly zoo, • Illustrations are cheerful and humorous. populated with all the insects and worms she could find.T hus, the idea for Winnie Finn, • A good inclusion for a unit on green living. Worm Farmer was hatched. • ms. Brendler makes her home in Ottawa, Great for nature enthusiasts. Ontario, with her husband and four cats— • Story may inspire kids to start their including one orange fellow who looks and own worm farms. acts very much like the cat that belongs to Winnie Finn. www.carolbrendler.com

Ard Hoyt says he and Winnie Finn are like “two peas in a pod.” He explains, “She loves everything about worms. She studies them, thinks about them, and is constantly talking to others about them. I had this same obsession regarding a certain animal as a boy—still do in fact. Mine was cows. My little girls could tell you the genetic background of almost any roadside bovine, not because they love it, but because Daddy does.”

You might also like: Sally Jean, the Bicycle Queen by Cari Best

No Sword Fighting in the House by Susanna Leonard Hill

Curriculum Indications Book type: Picture book. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Science. Genre: Fiction. Topics: Earthworms. Worm farms. Having Summary: Winnie Finn raises earthworms a passion. Setting a goal. Agriculture. Fairs. which help her neighbors win prizes at the Cooperation. Winning a prize. Sharing. county fair. Includes instructions on making Sensitive areas: None. a worm farm. Main characters: Winnie Finn; her three Available at neighbors. juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly  I Independent Readers • Grades 2–4 October

Pemba Sherpa

by Olga Cossi • illustrated by Gary Bernard

Odyssey • ISBN: 9780976865582 • 32 pp • 10" x 10" Scheduled Month: October 2009

In a Sherpa village in the foothills of Nepal’s Himalayas, seven-year-old Yang Ki wants to haul wood like her brother, so she’ll grow strong enough to be a porter. “I want to talk with people on the trail and learn to speak English, and then I can be a guide.” But “girls cannot be guides,” her brother tells her. Yang Ki, however, is very determined. Full-color illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• An unusual setting, which readers will find unfamiliar and exciting. • Yang Ki’s stubbornness is both a lovable and recognizable trait of younger siblings. Olga Cossi was thrilled to have a chance to • Yang Ki’s bravery and decisiveness are admirable. visit Nepal and hike the • The artwork, which evokes mist-covered mountaintops and strong winds, also Himalayas. “Trekking suggests Yang Ki’s physical strength and determination. the foothills of those mountains was beyond strenuous,” she says. “Yet every time we caught a glimpse of another peak or met Sherpa porters carrying huge loads or a group of women and children eager to greet us with their lilting ‘namaste,’ our exhaustion was forgotten. This was Mt. Everest! “Then by chance I learned about the Sherpa school children. I saw them carrying loads of firewood early in the morning. I knew the stories I had heard about them were true. I had to tell children everywhere about Pemba and his little sister Yang Ki.”

You might also like: Yatandou by Gloria Whelan

The Butter Man Gary Bernard writes: “I had just returned from the summit of Mount Whitney, by Elizabeth Alalou California, with plans to soon summit Mount Fuji, Japan, when asked to do the illustrations for Pemba Sherpa. With this perfect timing and mountain air Sparrow Girl still fresh in my lungs, I happily accepted the challenge to breathe life into the by Sara Pennypacker characters, who are about the same age as my own children.” Mr. Bernard likes to travel and fill his journal “with images of the world.” He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two children. www.gbernard.com

Curriculum Indications Book type: Picture book. Main characters: Pemba, a boy who Genre: Fiction. wants to become a sherpa; Yang Ki, his younger sister. Summary: Pemba’s little sister, Yang Ki, wants to be a sherpa, but girls are thought Curriculum areas: Language arts. to be too fragile to become guides—until Topics: Sherpa. Siblings. Himalayas. Yang Ki rescues Pemba from a dangerous Mountaineering. Gender roles. Rescue. Available at situation. Sensitive areas: Discrimination. juniorlibraryguild.com

 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 Oct o ber Grades 2–4 • Independent Readers I+

Andy Shane and the Barn Sale Mystery by Jennifer Richard Jacobson • illustrated by Abby Carter

Candlewick • ISBN: 9780763635992 • Dewey: E • 64 pp • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" Scheduled Month: October 2009

It’s Andy’s and his grandmother’s unbirthday, and Andy has thought of just the right gift for Granny Webb: a case to hold her binoculars. Andy has no money, so he and his friend Dolores Starbuckle hold a barn sale and sell enough stuff to buy the case. But now where are the binoculars? Illustrations done in black pencil and black watercolor wash.

JLG’s Reviewers Say: Jennifer Richard Jacobson had her own mishap at the flea market sale she organized • An enjoyable short chapter book with allusions to as a child. She pulled a wagon door to door, O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi.” asking neighbors if they had any “junk” they no longer • Andy’s motivation is sweet and believable. needed. “I wheeled so many • Dolores’s forceful personality makes for a good objects home, my parents contrast and serves as a source of humor. knew (much like Granny Webb) they had to help,” says • Provides an example of recycling, reuse, and bartering. Ms. Jacobson. “We placed • Readers can imagine themselves in Andy’s or Dolores’s place. A good an ad in the newspaper and people came in droves! I didn’t opportunity to discuss how readers would solve the problem. sell a pair of binoculars, but I mistakenly sold my great grandmother’s antique typewriter. Oh how I wish I had that now! “I knew that I wanted to capture both the spirit of a barn sale and unexpected loss, and decided to use an O. Henry twist, but in my story, both Andy and Granny Webb get an extra chance.”

Abby Carter is the illustrator of many books for children, including the other titles in the Andy Shane series and Maggie’s Monkeys by Linda Sanders- Wells. She lives in Connecticut.

You might also like: Andy Shane and the Pumpkin Trick by Jennifer Richard Jacobson

Keena Ford and the Second Grade Mix-Up by Melissa Thomson

Simply Sarah: Cuckoo Feathers Curriculum Indications by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Book type: Early chapter book. Main characters: Andy Shane; his practical Genre: Fiction. friend, Dolores Starbuckle; Granny Webb. Series: Andy Shane. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Summary: After Andy hosts a barn sale Topics: Lost and found. Gifts. Friendship. to raise money to buy a case for Granny Grandmothers. Mystery. Barn sales. Thinking Webb’s binoculars, he realizes that they were of others. Mix-ups. Creative problem-solving. accidentally sold. With Dolores’s help they Sensitive areas: None. try to track down the missing binoculars. Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly  A Intermediate • Grades 3–5 October

The Magical Ms. Plum

by Bonny Becker • illustrated by Amy Portnoy

Knopf • ISBN: 9780375956379 • Dewey: F • 112 pp • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" Scheduled Month: October 2009

The closet in Ms. Plum’s third-grade classroom is stocked with more than the typical school supplies; it’s also filled with magic. All the students want a turn fetching pushpins or chalk, because when they go into the magical supply closet who knows what else will come out—a miniature horse, a pocket-sized monkey, a donkey the size of a squirrel? Black-and-white illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

Bonny Becker isn’t quite • The premise is amusing. Wondering what animal will come out of Ms. Plum’s sure how all the pieces came closet next builds suspense. together for this story of a teacher with a closet full of • Readers get the sense that Ms. Plum truly cares about her students. miniature, magical animals, • Reminiscent of the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books for a slightly younger audience. but she does remember searching for Ms. Plum. “Everywhere I went • Ms. Plum’s students learn valuable life lessons that will resonate with readers. I looked for Ms. Plum. One day I saw her!” says Ms. Becker. “A friendly, practical-looking • The humor in the woman with a large nose, purple glasses, illustrations and story keep and winged hair. After that when I thought it from feeling didactic. about what Ms. Plum might say or how she might react, I could picture this woman, and • Fun and engaging—ideal I would know.” for reading aloud. www.bonnybecker.com

Amy Portnoy is a New York City-based cartoonist and illustrator. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Ladybug magazine, and other publications. Ms. Portnoy is pleased that when the editors and designers at Knopf saw her drawings, “they felt (thankfully!) that my work was suited for this project.” This is Ms. Portnoy’s first children’s book, but she says, “I am very interested in writing and illustrating my own children’s books.”

You might also like: Magical Kids: The Smallest Girl Ever; the Boy Who Could Fly by Sally Gardner

The Perfect Hamburger and Other Delicious Stories by Alexander McCall Smith Curriculum Indications Book type: Chapter book. Mindy, Eric, Carlos, Darma, Jovi, Jeremy, Genre: Fiction. Brad, Emiko, Becky, and Nadia. Summary: The students in Ms. Plum’s Curriculum areas: Language arts. third-grade class soon learn that there Topics: Teachers. Elementary school. Magical is something very special about their experiences. Behavior. Humor. Individualism. teacher and her classroom’s mysterious Accepting others. supply closet. Sensitive areas: None. Available at Main characters: Ms. Plum, a third-grade juniorlibraryguild.com teacher; students in Ms. Plum’s class: Tashala,

10 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 Oct o ber Grades 3–5 • Intermediate A+

Thumb and the Bad Guys by Ken Roberts • illustrated by Leanne Franson

Groundwood • ISBN: 9780888999160 • Dewey: 813'.54 • 120 pp • 5" x 7 1/2" Scheduled Month: October 2009

In the isolated Canadian fishing village where best friends Thumb and Susan live, mystery abounds. How did an eighteenth-century cannonball wash ashore? Why does the new schoolteacher wear a wig and pancake make-up? And why, when the village’s lone “bad guy” sneaks off into the woods at night, do eerie screaming noises follow? Black-and-white illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• Ken Roberts’s writing is strong and well-paced. He easily moves from humor to thrills to straight narrative. • The characters are distinct and appealing. The emotions surrounding their discoveries feel genuine. • The plot is full of silly fun. • It is enjoyable to see how much trouble the main characters can find where there doesn’t seem to be any. • A unique and specific setting.

Ken Roberts acknowledges that even though this new book is called Thumb and the Bad Guys, there are no bad guys. He says, “While Thumb and Susan are the main characters, the star of [the Thumb books] is their fictional village, which is based on the real village of Hartley Bay, an almost hidden bay on the northern coast of British Columbia. The setting gives me terrific opportunities to highlight the absence of things most kids see every day, like cars and grass. I can also introduce new people to this stable environment and let them stir things up.” mr. Roberts is a full-time librarian and part-time writer. You might also like: Mr. Karp’s Last Glass by Cary Fagan Leanne Franson was delighted to be asked to illustrate another Thumb book. “When drawing Thumb and the Bad Guys, I remembered the boredom Dog Days of being a kid in a town where nothing happened, contrasted with the by David Lubar exciting old mystery movies we’d watch in a friend’s basement. I can’t wait for Ken’s next book so I can continue drawing Thumb’s adventures.” The Legend of Captain Crow’s Teeth by Eoin Colfer

Curriculum Indications Book type: Chapter book. Main characters: Twelve-year-old Thumb; Genre: Mystery. his friend Susan; Ms. Weatherly, the new teacher. Series: Thumb. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Summary: Thumb and his friend Susan search for exciting mysteries and bad guys in Topics: Mystery. Small town. Secrets. Spying. their small fishing village in British Columbia, Finding and identifying historical artifacts. Available at Canada. juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 11 BE Biography Elementary • Grades 2–6 October

Yellowstone Moran Painting the American West

written and illustrated by Lita Judge

Viking • ISBN: 9780670011322 • Dewey: 759.13 B • 32 pp • 9 1/2" x 10" Scheduled Month: October 2009

Thomas Moran painted for magazines pictures of other people’s adventures, but he longed to head west to see the land called “the Yellowstone.” So he joined a band of scientists on their way to this unexplored land. Moran believed the paintings he created there could change American history—and he was right. Full-color watercolor illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

Lita Judge grew up in the west and • An informative and enjoyable biography. explored many remote, beautiful places. “My parents were wildlife photographers,” • This well-told story provides a sense of what it was like for the inexperienced, yet she explains, “and while they photographed persistent Moran as he explored Yellowstone with a group of geologists. grizzly bears and wolves, I drew pictures. As a child, sketching and surrounded • Conveys emotion, excitement, and history. by nature, I imagined being an explorer, • Leaves readers with a desire to know more about Moran’s paintings. painting strange and beautiful landscapes few people had ever seen, just like Thomas • Readers will connect with the story on both an emotional and a factual level. Moran. • Will appeal to nature enthusiasts and those interested in art. “To create this book, I followed in Moran’s footsteps, hiking and riding on horseback along the same route as Moran. I read Moran’s journals and painted the landscapes from the same places he did. While writing the book, I fulfilled a childhood dream, discovering Yellowstone National Park all over again, through the eyes of an artist- explorer. His contribution makes Moran a true American hero.” www.litajudge.com

You might also like: Buffalo Music by Tracey E. Fern

The Wolves Are Back by Jean Craighead George

Teedie by Don Brown

Curriculum Indications Book type: Picture book. Topics: Thomas Moran. Artists. Painters. Genre: Biography. Yellowstone National Park. The American West. Scientific expeditions. Persistence. Main focus: Thomas Moran’s experiences Gaining the respect of others. The influence as a painter accompanying a government of art. Conservation. expedition to explore the source of the Yellowstone River. Sensitive areas: None. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Art. Available at Social studies. juniorlibraryguild.com

12 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 Oct o ber Grades 2–6 • GRAPHIC NOVELS ELEMENTARY GE

The 3-2-3 Detective Agency in The Disappearance of Dave Warthog written and illustrated by Fiona Robinson

Amulet • ISBN: 9780810984899 • Dewey: E • 80 pp • 6 3/4" x 9 3/8" Scheduled Month: October 2009

Five animals, including an energetic sloth (“I love my family, [but] they never do ANYTHING!”) and a dung beetle with gourmet tastes (“I’ve always hated dung . . . so I taught myself to cook”), meet on the 3:23 train to Whiska City and decide to form a detective agency. They set up an office just in time to tackle an outbreak of animal disappearances connected to a pink poodle’s beauty salon. Full-color pictures created with marker pens.

JLG’s Reviewers Say: Fiona Robinson loves animals, especially the oddest, least pretty, funniest ones, • Five distinctive characters in a series such as the five she features inThe 3-2-3 of creative, silly vignettes that will Detective Agency. She says, “I grew up in England, in the suburbs near the industrial make kids laugh. city of Manchester. I disliked the suburbs • Bluebell’s narrative arc, in which and longed to live in a thriving, energetic she morphs from scared rat to the city full of very different people. I thought that it would both shelter me and inspire crew’s savior, is well-structured and me. The main characters in 3-2-3 have a satisfying. similar search. Whiska City offers them • The bold, cheerful artwork is rife a chance to fulfill dreams, live large, and with funny details just waiting to be make new friends.” today, Ms. Robinson lives in Brooklyn, noticed on repeat reads. New York, with her husband and two- year-old son who “keep me on my toes and remind me every day of why I fled the suburbs.”

You might also like: Damian Drooth, Supersleuth by Barbara Mitchelhill

Nancy Drew, Girl Detective: Graphic Novel #13, “Doggone Town” by Stefan Petrucha and Sarah Kinney

Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

Curriculum Indications Book type: Graphic novel. Main characters: Jenny the donkey; Priscilla Topics: Mystery and detective stories. Genre: Mystery. the penguin; Slingshot the sloth; Bluebell the Animals. Friendship. Starting a business. rat; Roger the dung beetle; a poodle named Disappearances. Following clues. Summary: A group of animal friends open a Pootles Le Frizz. Brainwashing. Solving a crime. Celebrating. detective agency and must solve a series of disappearances. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Sensitive areas: Body humor.

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 13 ME Mystery/Adventure Elementary • Grades 2–6 October

The Bag of Bones Tales from the Five Kingdoms

by Vivian French • illustrated by Ross Collins

Candlewick • ISBN: 9780763642556 • Dewey: F • 256 pp • 5 1/4" x 7 3/4" Scheduled Month: October 2009

Truda Hangnail, an evil witch, uses forbidden Deep Magic in hopes of usurping kindly Queen Bluebell’s throne. Fortunately, a group of Bluebell’s subjects, including two girls with magic powers, talking bats and rats, good witches, a prince, and a troll, have cunning plans to stop Truda. Black-and-white drawings.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

Vivian French is a prolific children’s book author, with • Unique and often very sweet characters whose interactions are hilarious. more than two hundred books to her credit. Her love of words led • Well-paced story with lots of fun details. her first to becoming an actress, then a storyteller, and ultimately • The writing is strong, amusing, and memorable. Vivian French has a clever a writer. She has written picture ability to find humor in odd places. books, middle-grade chapter • Includes plenty of adventure. books, and nonfiction. According to Scottish Book Trust (www.scottishbooktrust.com), Ms. French is usually working on at least five books at a time because she worries she may never be asked to write again. She also enjoys traveling to meet with children and adults (which, she admits, sometimes makes her late in getting her stories to the publisher). ms. French lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, and has four daughters, who are all grown.

Ross Collins was born in Glasgow, Scotland, where he now lives after having spent a couple of years “touting his wares” in London.

You might also like: The Robe of Skulls by Vivian French

Emmy and the Home for Troubled Girls by Lynne Jonell

Curriculum Indications Book type: Novel. Hangnail, an evil witch; Marlon and Alf, a Genre: Fantasy. pair of bats; Prince Marcus, a friend of Gracie Gillypot; Gubble, a troll. Series: Tales from the Five Kingdoms. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Summary: A ragtag group of friends— including orphans, talking animals, witches, Topics: Magic. Witches. Rats. Bats. Royalty. princes, and a troll—stop an evil witch from Palaces. Magic spells. Orphans. Dances. taking a kindly queen’s throne. Heirs. Available at Main characters: Loobly, an orphan; Queen Sensitive areas: Sorcery/witchcraft. juniorlibraryguild.com Bluebell; Gracie Gillypot, an orphan; Truda

THE BAG OF BONES. Copyright (c) 2008 by Vivian French. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, on behalf of Walker Books, London.

14 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 Oct o ber Grades 2–6 • Nonfiction Elementary NE

If America Were a Village A Book about the People of the United States by David J. Smith • illustrated by Shelagh Armstrong

Kids Can • ISBN: 9781554533442 • Dewey: 304.60973 • 32 pp • 9" x 12" Scheduled Month: October 2009

If the United States were a village of one hundred people, thirteen would be foreign- born, twenty would live on farms or in the country, and eighty-two would speak English as their first language. Using this approach, this informative book addresses such questions as “what are our families like?” and “what do we do?” Author’s note. Bibliography. Web sites. Full-color acrylic paintings.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• Provides an interesting snapshot of important aspects of American life. David J. Smith’s first book, If the World Were a Village, • Contains startling statistics. came from his experience • Sure to generate discussion. as a classroom teacher. He explains, “I originally envisioned it as just • Young readers will find the information accessible and relevant. some simple exercises to help me talk about • Good resource for library and classroom. the world with my grade-seven students. I never expected it to be a book, even less a very successful book.” about If America Were a Village, Mr. Smith says, “With the help of my editor and the brilliant illustrations of Shelagh Armstrong, [the book] has come to life. The United States is so fascinating and diverse. I hope [the book] is seen as a starting point for conversations, school work, extrapolations, and explorations.”

David Smith photo by Susan Lapides

You might also like: The Art of Freedom by Bob Raczka

One Well by Rochelle Strauss

Shelagh Armstrong found that the most challenging aspect of working Mexican Immigrants on If America Were a Village was incorporating the requests of the author, in America the editor, and the Kids Can Press team into her artwork. She says, “The by Rachael Hanel style is much looser and more painterly than that of If the World Were a Village. This gives the book a warm and more inviting feel.” Ms. Armstrong has been illustrating for more than fifteen years. www.shelagharmstrong.com

Curriculum Indications Book type: Picture book. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Genre: Nonfiction. Social studies. Series: Companion to If the World Were Topics: The United States of America. a Village. Metaphors. Population. Human geography. Civics. Families. History. National awareness. Main focus: Provides a statistical snapshot Sensitive areas: None. of the United States by imagining that it is a Available at village of one hundred people. juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 15 SCE SCIENCE NONFICTION ELEMENTARY • Grades 2–6 October

The Life and Times of Corn

written and illustrated by Charles Micucci

Houghton Mifflin • ISBN: 9780618507511 • Dewey: 633.1/5 • 32 pp • 9" x 9" Scheduled Month: October 2009

Did you know that corn leaves absorb 97 percent of the plant’s nutrition from the air? Or that corn was first popped in the year 2300 BC? How about that a single ear of corn can yield eight hundred seeds? That’s “an a-maize-ing grain!” Full-color watercolor, gouache, and pencil illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• People are familiar with corn, which is in a vast Charles Micucci says his mom, who was variety of foods and products, without necessarily always proud of being born near the Corn knowing much about it. This book changes that by Palace in South Dakota, suggested he do a book about corn. “My editor thought it had providing many interesting, little-known facts. possibilities,” he says, “but there was one • The wealth of information keeps readers turning problem—I knew very little about corn.” the pages. so he started collecting corncobs, gathering research, talking to corn growers, • The presentation is lively and fun, including a kid-friendly and even growing some corn of his own. layout and design, with attractive and often humorous illustrations. Mr. Micucci explains, “Somewhere between that first corncob and my final • The pages that cover heirloom corn and the time line of a corn plant’s deadline, I discovered that corn growth are particularly well done. was one of America’s most important crops and that its history crisscrossed much of America’s story. “When I painted the art, I tried to accurately render the science of corn while illustrating the charm of corn culture. I hope that I have created a book that is informative and entertaining.”

Charles Micucci photo by Peggy Micucci

You might also like: Extreme Animals by Nicola Davies

A Man for All Seasons by Stephen Krensky

United Tweets of America by Hudson Talbott

Curriculum Indications Book type: Picture book. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Science. Genre: Nonfiction. Topics: Corn. Agriculture. Farming. Food. Series: Life and Times. History. Trivia. Available at Main focus: The history, varieties, and many Sensitive areas: None. juniorlibraryguild.com uses of corn.

16 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 Oct o ber Grades 2–6 • Sports Elementary SE

Wild Card by Tiki and Ronde Barber with Paul Mantell

Paula Wiseman • ISBN: 9781416968580 • Dewey: F • 160 pp • 6" x 9" Scheduled Month: October 2009

Tiki and Ronde Barber’s football team has a shot at the eighth-grade championship— until their star kicker, Adam, is put on academic probation. Tiki is chosen as Adam’s replacement, but only because everyone else is worse. When he keeps shanking kicks during games, Tiki worries that least-bad won’t be good enough to save their team. Black-and-white illustrations of football referee signals.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• The Eagles’ pursuit of the championship isn’t just another “underdogs” plot. Tiki’s fear of letting his team down and his embarrassment at playing poorly infuses the games with a sense of real emotional drama. • The football action is engaging, with the stakes THUNK! Tiki managed—barely—to get the kick away. But it was high for each play clearly explained. and end-over-end, a short kick that bounced straight back toward them. • By dramatizing the impact that Adam’s absence A pile of players dove onto it and downed it at the Eagles’ forty-nine makes, the story illustrates the importance of yard line. academics without coming across as pedantic. The end result? A seven yard punt! • Tiki and Ronde work well together off the field Tiki felt the blood rush to his face and his eyes fill with tears. as well as on the field. —Wild Card • The fact that Tiki and Ronde are eighth graders widens the audience for the book.

Tiki and Ronde Barber are twins and NFL superstars. Tiki, formerly a running back for the New York Giants, is a correspondent for NBC News. He lives in New York with his wife and two sons. Ronde is a cornerback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and lives in Florida with his wife and their two daughters. You might also like: Tiki Barber says, “It’s been great writing books with Ronde. We are teammates again, just like when we were younger.” Go Long! by Tiki and Ronde Barber Paul Mantell is the author of more than 120 books for children, including mysteries (Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, P. C. Hawke), action-adventure (X-Men, Tom Swift), biographies, and of Game Day course, sports books. Mr. Mantell is working on Step Up!, the fourth book in the Tiki and Ronde by Tiki and Ronde Barber Barber series.

Curriculum Indications Book type: Novel. grade football team; Adam Costa, the team’s Genre: Fiction. star kicker who is on academic probation; Mrs. Barber, Tiki and Ronde’s devoted, Series: Tiki and Ronde Barber. proud mother. Summary: Through the course of a difficult Curriculum areas: Language arts. Physical season, Tiki learns that his coach is right education. about football being a mental game, as he tries to fill in as kicker while he and his Topics: Football. Sports teams. Schoolwork. identical twin, Ronde, help a teammate Teamwork. Perseverance. improve his grades. Sensitive areas: None. Main characters: Tiki and Ronde Barber, Available at twin brothers who play on their eighth- juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 17 B Upper Elementary & Junior High • Grades 5–7 October jlgguides

Sea of the Dead

by Julia Durango

Simon & Schuster • ISBN: 9781416957782 • Dewey: F • 160 pp • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" Scheduled Month: October 2009

Kehl, the son of a mighty warrior, is kidnapped and taken from the Lands of the Teshic Empire to the “Deep”—the sea. But no one ever goes to the sea—the graveyard of souls—and returns. Author’s note.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• An involving adventure with an unusual and interesting setting. • Kehl is a sympathetic main character with a believable voice. • As Xipi, Temoc, and the rest of the Fallen gain Kehl’s—and the reader’s— Had they mistaken me for a slave? Was sympathy, they become more likable. I to be sacrificed to the Deep? My blood ran cold at the thought. I had to escape. • A good choice for those who like adventure stories and for reluctant readers. I could not avenge my mother at the bottom of the sea. —Sea of the Dead

Julia Durango says the initial spark for Sea of the Dead came from a general interest in the Aztec Empire. She explains, “We all know that the Aztecs were brought down by another mighty empire: the Spanish. But what if the Spaniards had never arrived? Would it have fallen, as all empires inevitably do? Benjamin Franklin once wrote, ‘A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges.’ In Sea of the Dead, I wanted to explore the idea of how to chip away the edges of an empire. “Ultimately, I created a fictional empire for the purposes of my story. I love the high-seas adventure novels of C. S. Forester and Patrick O’Brian, so I decided to make the book’s rebels You might also like: men who’d been exiled to a life at sea. But the heart of my story lies with Kehl, a thirteen-year- old boy trying to discover his place in a complicated world.” The Walls of Cartagena www.juliadurango.com by Julia Durango

Crispin: At the Edge of the World by Avi

The Mzungu Boy Curriculum Indications by Meja Mwangi Book type: Novel. Genre: Fantasy/Adventure. Summary: Thirteen-year-old Kehl, fifth son of the Warrior Prince Amatec, is kidnapped by the Fallen King and taken to sea, where he is forced to map the entire Carillon Empire. As he works on the ship, he comes to question some of his beliefs and eventually discovers a secret about his own past. Main characters: Kehl, son of the Warrior Prince Amatec; Temoc, the Fallen King, who commands Carillon’s Revenge; Xipi, a boy who works on Carillon’s Revenge; Amatec, Warrior Prince, Kehl’s father. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Social studies. Topics: Kidnapping. Cartography. Maps. Pirates. Adventure. Fathers and sons. New worlds. Ships. Available at Sensitive areas: Fight scene. Reading Guide available from JLG juniorlibraryguild.com

18 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 Oct o ber Grades 5–7 • Upper Elementary & Junior High B+

The Georges and the Jewels by Jane Smiley

Knopf • ISBN: 9780375962271 • Dewey: F • 256 pp • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" Scheduled Month: October 2009

In 1960s California, horse-loving Abby clashes with her domineering father, who has inflexible rules about training the animals—and about everything else. The first children’s novel by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of A Thousand Acres.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• The writing is strong, with a beautifully realized setting and compelling characters. • Abby is sympathetic and has an authentic voice. • The story immerses the reader in Abby’s daily life riding and caring for horses. • Lots of appeal for horse lovers as well as interesting for those who don’t know anything about horses.

So, Ornery George and I had a secret. It was that he was going to do things his way, and I was going to let him. . . . This is not a good secret to have with your horse, because it gives him the upper hand. —The Georges and the Jewels

Jane Smiley remembers that as a girl, her first loves were books and horses, not necessarily in that order, and books about horses. She did not grow out of either one, as her parents hoped, but instead grew up to write books and ride horses. “I bought my first horse when I lived in Iowa, but I didn’t truly understand horsemanship until I moved to California and met trainers who had learned their skills and art from Tom You might also like: Dorrance, the first of the modern cowboy ‘horse whisperers’ (though he would have never Paint the Wind used that term),” Ms. Smiley explains. “Horses trained with this method become willing by Pam Muñoz Ryan partners in human activities and are a joy to be with and to ride. “My protagonist in The Georges and the Jewels is the girl I might have chosen to be when I The Wild Girls was a girl. I have spent a lifetime learning about horses, and this book is about the pleasure of by Pat Murphy that quest.” Shooting the Moon by Frances O’Roark Dowell

Curriculum Indications Book type: Novel. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Genre: Fiction. Topics: Horses. Ranch life. Family life. Summary: Seventh-grader Abby Lovitt California. Horse training. Having a grows up on her family’s California horse controlling father. Estranged families. Being ranch in the 1960s, learning to train the accused of stealing. Apologies. Gaining horses her father sells and trying to reconcile confidence. her strict religious upbringing with her own Sensitive areas: Mild language. ideas about life. Main characters: Seventh-grader Abby Lovitt; Abby’s father, Mark Lovitt; Abby’s mother; Abby’s sixteen-year-old brother, Daniel; Gloria Harris, Abby’s best friend; Stella Kerkhoff, a new girl who wants to be Gloria’s friend; Luke Lovitt, Abby’s uncle; Jem Available at Jarrow, a horse trainer. juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 19 C Advanced Readers • Grades 6–9 October

Notes from the Dog

by Gary Paulsen

Wendy Lamb • ISBN: 9780385907309 • Dewey: F • 144 pp • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" Scheduled Month: October 2009

When Finn, an introverted fourteen-year-old, learns that his vibrant, twenty- something new neighbor, Johanna, has breast cancer, he’s compelled to help her any way he can. But Johanna helps Finn, too, transforming him from someone who wants “to turtle up for a while” to someone who’s making new friends, running races, and falling in love.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• The writing is strong, by turns touching and funny. • Finn’s voice is believable. He seems like a real, likable teenager. • Well-paced story. Events move along rapidly, with clear transitions between scenes.

“Would you both sign my book?” Johanna pulled a tattered notebook from her backpack and handed it to Matthew. He scrawled his name and handed it to me. You might also like: “Okay,” I said, “but . . . um . . . why?” Slob “Because every day in my journal I write down the best thing that’s happened to by Ellen Potter me. Today it’s you.” Smiles to Go —Notes from the Dog by Jerry Spinelli

Benny and Omar by Eoin Colfer

Gary Paulsen explains, “Notes from the Dog came about because cancer is ugly and frightening and unfair, and I had to see if I could find anything of love and beauty and joy in the midst of the madness that is that disease. I have known people—patients and their family and friends and doctors and nurses—who battled cancer. I admired the way they refused, somehow, to be ruined by it. I wanted to try, in some small way, to honor their courage, because I think they’re heroes.” mr. Paulsen splits his time between his sailboat on the Pacific and training with his sled dogs in Alaska. He says, “I have found that, if you can work around soaking-wet pages and Available at frostbitten fingers, it’s really not impossible to write on the docks or in the bush. And the view juniorlibraryguild.com when you look up from your work, in both cases, is absolutely astonishing.”

Curriculum Indications Book type: Novel. Main characters: Finn, a fourteen-year-old Topics: Dogs. Gardens. Cancer. Neighbors. Genre: Fiction. introvert; Matthew, Finn’s best friend; Dylan, Friendship. Dating. Fund-raising. Triathlons. Finn’s dog; Johanna, Finn’s twenty-four-year- Parties. Summary: When Johanna shows up at the old neighbor, who has breast cancer. beginning of summer to house-sit next door Sensitive areas: Mild language. Descriptions to Finn, he has no idea of the profound effect Curriculum areas: Language arts. of nudity. she will have on his life by the time summer vacation is over.

20 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 Oct o ber Grades 6–9 • Advanced Readers C+

A Family Secret written and illustrated by Eric Heuvel • translated by Lorraine T. Miller

Farrar Straus Giroux • ISBN: 9780374322717 • Dewey: F • 64 pp • 8 1/4" x 11" Scheduled Month: October 2009

In this graphic novel, when Jeroen, a Dutch boy, discovers grandmother Helena’s World War II memorabilia in her attic, she tells him about her dreadful experience during the German occupation. While Helena helped the resistance, her father worked for the Nazis and may have sent Helena’s Jewish best friend, Esther, to a death camp. A companion book to The Search (see page 53). Full-color illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• A complex presentation of Dutch life during the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II. • Shows how each member of a single family responds differently to their situation. • Unexpected details in the text and illustrations add to the work’s believability. • The book skillfully integrates the war in the Pacific along with the war in Europe. • The artwork does a good job alternating between past, present, and multiple locations.

You might also like: The Entertainer and the Dybbuk by Sid Fleischman

The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Eric Heuvel and the rest of the creative team behind this graphic novel feel that the vital aim was to teach, scrupulously and meticulously, the process of discrimination and persecution culminating in the Holocaust in wartime Holland. Mr. Heuvel explains, “We wanted to show our readers in concrete, everyday dilemmas the shades of grey between heroism and cruelty which confront anyone at times of war. The roles of victims, perpetrators, resistance activists, and mere ‘onlookers’ are, after all, not as clear-cut in reality as they might seem in a textbook. It takes Available at endless choices, often made in the blink of an eye.” juniorlibraryguild.com

Curriculum Indications Book type: Graphic novel. Main characters: Helena, a Dutch Fathers. Grandmothers. Collaborators. The Genre: Historical fiction. grandmother; Jeroen, Helena’s grandson. resistance. Summary: A Dutch teen named Jeroen learns Curriculum areas: Language arts. Sensitive areas: Guns. Fighting. Mild about the Holocaust from his grandmother, Social studies. language. Racial taunts. Discrimination. War. who worked for the resistance when she Topics: World War II. Jewish Holocaust. Violence. Ethnic cleansing/genocide. was a girl, while her father, a police officer, Holocaust survivors. Jews. Netherlands. Nazis. cooperated with the Nazis.

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 21 FM Fantasy/Science Fiction Middle & High School • Grades 7–11 October

The Lost Conspiracy

by Frances Hardinge

HarperCollins • ISBN: 9780060880422 • Dewey: F • 576 pp • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" Scheduled Month: October 2009

The Lost have the ability to send their senses off into the distance. They might “taste the peach in your hand, overhear a conversation in the next village, and smell cooking in the next town. . . .” When all the Lost except one are killed, the only survivor, a young girl named Arilou, is suspected of their murder.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• The initial conflict is well conceived. • The world is fresh, original, and fully realized. Hathin hurriedly heaved her sister • The sisters’ interactions with each other and with the members of the Reckoning to her feet. If any of the village had survived, they would have taken the are compelling and authentic. route farther into the mountain. So • Villains are vividly drawn. One especially complex and compelling character is Hathin turned toward the darkness of Minchard Prox, who is neither clearly good nor clearly bad. the deeper caverns with the weight of her sister on her shoulder. Hope refused to die, and it beat in Hathin’s chest like a fist. —The Lost Conspiracy Frances Hardinge says that The Lost Conspiracy was heavily influenced by a year-long trip that she took around the world in 2004–2005: “When I created Gullstruck Island, I scavenged myths, customs, wildlife, and histories from many different countries, including Guatemala, New Zealand, Vietnam, Madagascar, Thailand, and Australia.” In addition, during her travels she fell in love with volcanoes. “I loved their different appearances and personalities,” says Ms. Hardinge, “and the regal but brattish way they dominated and shaped local legend, just as they dominated and shaped the land around them. You might also like: “In The Lost Conspiracy, I tried to create a little world ready to erupt, in more ways than one. The island’s fitfully slumbering volcanoes are not the only threat. Amongst the islanders, Nation ancient distrust, anger, and superstitious hatred are welling beneath the surface, just looking by Terry Pratchett for a chance to burst free.” www.franceshardinge.com Eon by Alison Goodman

The Humming of Numbers by Joni Sensel Curriculum Indications Book type: Novel. Genre: Fantasy. Summary: When a lie is exposed and their tribe turns against them, Hathin must find a way to save her sister Arilou—once considered the tribe’s oracle—and herself. Main characters: Hathin, a young Lace girl; Arilou, Hathin’s older sister, who is either an imbecile or a Lost; Minchard Prox, secretary to Lost Inspector Raglan Skein; Therrot, Dancer, and Jaze, three Revengers who help Hathin; Jimboly, a witch and a traveling dentist. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Topics: Sisters. Extrasensory perception. Politics. Cheating. Dangers of nature. Revenge. Rescues. Taking control of your life. Sensitive areas: None.

Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

22 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 Oct o ber Grades 7–11 • Graphic Novels Middle & High School GM

Outlaw The Legend of Robin Hood by Tony Lee • illustrated by Sam Hart • colored by Artur Fujita

Candlewick • ISBN: 9780763643997 • 160 pp • 6 11/16" x 10 1/2" Scheduled Month: October 2009

When Robin of Loxley returns from fighting in the Crusades, something seems amiss in Nottingham. Determined to avenge the murder of his father, who was killed while Robin was in Jerusalem, Robin speaks with the sheriff, who blames the killing on bandits living in Sherwood Forest. Full-color digital art.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• This is a Robin Hood we haven’t seen before: not just witty and brave, but vengeful and driven. The other characters are also more complex than in other versions of the story for young readers. • The book has a realistic feel. • The history and politics of the time are well integrated into the story. • The art is moody and atmospheric. Especially successful are the monochromatic spreads.

You might also like: Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve

Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon Hale

The Book of Mordred by Vivian Vande Velde Tony Lee is a prolific comic-book writer who Sam Hart is a comic-book illustrator who has worked on X-Men, Doctor Who Magazine, has worked on Brothers: The Fall of Lucifer The King of Attolia and Starship Troopers. He has also written for and Starship Troopers. He lives in Brazil. by Megan Whalen Turner radio, television, and national newspapers. He lives in England. Artur Fujita is an illustrator and colorist who has colored sequential art for Markosia and Marvel Comics. He lives in Brazil.

Curriculum Indications Book type: Graphic novel. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Genre: Folklore. Topics: Robin Hood. England. Outlaws. Summary: Robin of Loxley returns from Adventure. Legends. Middle Ages. the Crusades and must set things right in Sensitive areas: War. Violence. Mild sexual Nottingham. themes. Criminal culture. Main characters: Robin of Loxley; Maid Marian; the Sheriff of Nottingham. Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

OUTLAW: THE LEGEND OF ROBIN HOOD. Text copyright (c) 2009 by Tony Lee. Illustrations copyright (c) 2009 by Sam Hart. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, on behalf of Walker Books, London. www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 23 MM Mystery/Adventure Middle & High School • Grades 7–11 October

Sharp Shot

by Jack Higgins with Justin Richards

Putnam’s • ISBN: 9780399252396 • Dewey: F • 240 pp • 6" x 9" Scheduled Month: October 2009

Teen twins Rich and Jade are finally enjoying a quiet moment at home while their father, John Chance, is off on a spy mission. Then a man from their father’s past shows up and says, “If they find me, they’ll kill me. I thought Chance would help.” Suddenly Rich and Jade are back on the run and don’t know whom to trust.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• The writing—especially in the opening chase scenes—is fast-paced, cinematic, and sure-footed. • The book is particularly strong at marrying action with intelligence: characters are Jack Higgins’s best-selling titles include consistently scanning their environments and making the best use of resources. the classic thriller, The Eagle Has Landed. • Characters demonstrate resourcefulness by reusing ideas and objects set up earlier More than 250 million copies of his books in the novel, underlining the author’s economy and attention to construction. are in print. Mr. Higgins lives in the United Kingdom. • Although part of a series, the novel works as a stand-alone.

Justin Richards, who lives in the United Kingdom, is the author of the Invisible Detective series. The roller coaster rose higher and higher. The people in the park below were little more than dots. But Rich wasn’t looking at them. He was staring in horror at the hit man three cars behind. He was watching the man haul himself out from under the locking bar and climb into the car in front. He was coming for Rich. —Sharp Shot You might also like: The Rise of Lubchenko by Michael Simmons

The Pluto Project by Melissa Haber

The Door of No Return by Sarah Mussi

Curriculum Indications Book type: Novel. Genre: Thriller. Series: Sequel to Sure Fire and Death Run. Summary: British twins Rich and Jade Chance are back for a third adventure with their spy father as they try to save the Middle East and the president of the United States from a terrorist government coup. Main characters: Rich and Jade Chance, teenage twins and children of a British government agent; John Chance, their father; Mark Darrow, a man from John Chance’s past who identifies himself as Ferdy McCain. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Topics: Spies. Adventure. Terrorism. Twins. Fathers. Kidnapping. Not knowing whom to trust. Sensitive areas: Guns. Violence.

Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

24 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 Oct o ber Grades 7–11 • Nonfiction Middle & High School NM

The Great and Only Barnum The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P. T. Barnum by Candace Fleming • illustrated by Ray Fenwick

Schwartz & Wade • ISBN: 9780375945977 • Dewey: 791.3092 B • 160 pp • 7 3/4" x 9 1/2" Scheduled Month: October 2009

“There’s a sucker born every minute” is frequently attributed to P. T. Barnum but was actually stated by a competitor amazed at how many people fell for Barnum’s “humbugs.” From his American Museum and exhibits, including the Living Skeleton and Tom Thumb, to his famous three-ring circus, Barnum certainly was America’s greatest showman. Bibliography. Web sites. Source notes. Index. Black-and-white archival prints, photographs, and decorations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• Writing is immediate and engaging. • Careful research shows in the vivid descriptions, interesting quotes, and enjoyable anecdotes. • Lots of interesting and informative period photographs. • Topic is sure to appeal to kids.

Candace Fleming says she found a fun fact while doing research for the You might also like: biography, The Lincolns. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln went to New York City to give a speech at Cooper Union, and while there, he took a stroll down The Lincolns Broadway. Ms. Fleming explains, “At the corner of Broadway and Ann Street, by Candace Fleming he stopped to marvel at P. T. Barnum’s famous American Museum. “Did Lincoln go in? I wondered. If so, he didn’t leave any evidence behind. My research did The Great Race uncover a magical world of mermaids and mastodon skeletons created by a blustering, braggart by Gary Blackwood of a man. I had to know more.” The Real Benedict Arnold Ray Fenwick says, “I knew working on a book about P. T. Barnum would be by Jim Murphy a riot. Barnum’s circus posters used lettering in such wild and imaginative ways that it was easy to get inspired,” he says. “Doing research for this book was the most fun I’ve had in the library in quite some time, so hopefully that comes across in the Barnum-inspired lettering I did for the book.” mr. Fenwick lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Curriculum Indications Book type: Illustrated nonfiction. Topics: P. T. Barnum. United States history. Genre: Biography. Circus. Entertainers. Main focus: The life of P. T. Barnum. Sensitive areas: None. Available at Curriculum areas: Language arts. juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 25 SM Sports Middle & High School • Grades 7–11 October

Football Champ

by Tim Green

HarperCollins • ISBN: 9780061626906 • Dewey: F • 288 pp • 6" x 9" Scheduled Month: October 2009

Troy’s unique ability to predict other teams’ plays has earned him a behind-the-scenes job calling games for the Atlanta Falcons. It is a dream come true, until a dishonest reporter publicly accuses Troy of stealing other teams’ plays. Now it’s up to Troy and his friends to prove his innocence and rescue the Falcons’ promising season.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• A well-structured, engaging plot. • The football action is exciting. Kids will enjoy imagining themselves in the Tim Green knows football. As a former star Junior League games making the big plays and on the sidelines at the pro games. player with the Atlanta Falcons, he gives readers an inside look at the • Tim Green takes care to present balanced views of the media and of the effects sport. He explains, “I think of fame and money. one of the things readers like best about my football books • Easily enjoyable as a stand-alone read, even for those unfamiliar with earlier is the real-life experiences I books in the series. draw on to take kids inside the world of the NFL, a world that is exciting and glamorous, but also violent, stressful, and Sharp incisor teeth showed themselves in a mean smile as the man said, “I’m Brent sometimes frightening. In the Peele with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. . . .” NFL, there is a saying that NFL stands for ‘Not For Long.’ Things change quickly, and “How’d you get here?” Troy asked, unable to contain the question. good times at the top don’t last forever.” “I’m a reporter,” Peele said. “I’ve got my ways.” mr. Green hopes that readers will enjoy the parallel storyline about Troy, Tate, and Dipping his face down toward Troy’s, he asked, “So, how is it you help the Falcons Nathan’s quest for a state championship in steal the other team’s plays?” Junior League Football. “I share the real-life lessons that enabled me to become an NFL —Football Champ player with my readers: teamwork, hard work, and perseverance.”

You might also like: Curriculum Indications Football Hero Book type: Novel. by Tim Green Genre: Fiction. Series: Football Genius. Paralyzed by Jeff Rud Summary: Twelve-year-old Troy’s uncanny gift for predicting football plays proves a powerful secret weapon for the Atlanta Falcons, but a seedy reporter with a vendetta Cover-Up: Mystery at suspects something is going on and sets out to shred the reputations of Troy and star the Super Bowl linebacker Seth Halloway. by John Feinstein Main characters: Troy White, twelve-year-old team consultant for the Atlanta Falcons; Seth Halloway, star linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons and Troy’s mother’s boyfriend; Brent Peele, vindictive reporter out to destroy Halloway’s career. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Physical education. Topics: Football. Reporters. Atlanta Falcons football team. Journalism. Atlanta. Sensitive areas: Body humor.

Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

26 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 Oct o ber Grades 9 & up • Young Adults Y jlgguides

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Scholastic • ISBN: 9780439023498 • Dewey: F • 432 pp • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" Scheduled Month: October 2009

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district-twelve tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Now there are rumors of rebellion among the districts, and Katniss and Peeta are horrified to discover that they are the faces of that rebellion.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• A page turner; a worthy follow-up to President Snow pours tea for both of us and fills his with cream and The Hunger Games. sugar, then takes a long time stirring. . . . • The love triangle involving Katniss, Peeta, and “I didn’t mean to start any uprisings,” I tell him. Gale is a source of emotional tension. Katniss’s confusion feels authentic. “I believe you. It doesn’t matter. Your stylist turned out to be prophetic in his wardrobe choice. Katniss Everdeen, the girl who was on fire, you • The pacing is excellent, with lots of twists and have provided a spark that, left unattended, may grow to an inferno turns, as in The Hunger Games. that destroys Panem,” he says. • Katniss is as resourceful as ever—an unusually “Why don’t you just kill me now?” I blurt out. practical and self-assured heroine. “Publicly?” he asks. “That would only add fuel to the flames.” • Catching Fire makes the last book in the trilogy very, very hard to wait for. —Catching Fire

Suzanne Collins is the author of The Hunger Games, to which Catching Fire is a You might also like: sequel. Asked whether she had always planned a trilogy, Ms. Collins says, “Not The Hunger Games necessarily. But once I’d thought through to the end of the first book, I realized by Suzanne Collins that there was no way that the story was concluded. Katniss does something that would never go unpunished in her world. There would definitely be repercussions. And so The Forest of Hands and Teeth the question of whether or not to continue with a series was answered for me.” by Carrie Ryan

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness Curriculum Indications Book type: Novel. Topics: Survival. Television programs. Genre: Fantasy. Contests. Rebellion. Not knowing whom to trust. Forming alliances. Series: The Hunger Games Trilogy. Sensitive areas: Violence. Underage Summary: By winning the annual Hunger drinking. Games, District 12 tributes Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark have secured a life of safety and plenty for themselves and their families, but because they won by defying the rules, they unwittingly become the faces of an impending rebellion. Main characters: Katniss Everdeen; Peeta Mellark, Katniss’s fellow victor in the Hunger Games; Gale, Katniss’s friend and hunting companion; Haymitch Abernathy, Katniss and Peeta’s mentor; President Snow, President of the Capitol; Finnick Odair, another former winner in the games. Reading Guide available from JLG Available at Curriculum areas: Language arts. juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 27 Y+ Young Adults • Grades 9 & up October

Shiver

by Maggie Stiefvater

Scholastic • ISBN: 9780545123266 • Dewey: F • 304 pp • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" Scheduled Month: October 2009

When Grace was little, a yellow-eyed wolf saved her life. Years later, she meets Sam, a teenage boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. He’s the wolf who saved her; Grace knows it. And now it’s her turn to save him—because each werewolf gets only so many seasons as a human, and this fall might be Sam’s last.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• Grabs the reader from the start—an exciting and involving read. • The writing is atmospheric; the author skillfully evokes the landscapes and the natural world. I didn’t think I belonged here in her world, a boy stuck between two lives, • Effective use of alternating voices—the reader becomes invested in both characters dragging the dangers of the wolves and wants them to be together. with me, but when she said my name, • The temperature readings at the beginning of each chapter add tension and waiting for me to follow, I knew I’d do momentum to the book as the reader gradually becomes aware of their significance. anything to stay with her. • The depiction of first love—deeply felt, breathless and awkward, overwhelming and —Shiver essential—is especially compelling. • Werewolves, romance, and impending tragedy will attract readers to the book and sustain their interest to the end.

Maggie Stiefvater knew that Shiver was going to be about love when she started it. “Not a romance, with sweeping blankets of roses,” she explains, “but a quiet love story, where the subtle gestures were crucial. To do that, I had to climb into the heads You might also like: of my main characters, Sam and Grace, and find out what really mattered. I had to study what real-life love looked like in action. Keturah and Lord Death “In writing Shiver, I came to know Sam and Grace better than any other characters I had by Martine Leavitt ever written, because I saw them through each other’s eyes—eyes that missed absolutely nothing about the other person. It’s completely changed the way I write. I’ve written plenty In the Coils of the Snake of books before Shiver, and I’m sure I will write plenty more after, but Shiver will always be a by Clare B. Dunkle milestone for me. It’s the book where I really learned to see.”

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Curriculum Indications Book type: Novel. Genre: Fantasy. Summary: In all the years Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house, she has been particularly drawn to an unusual yellow-eyed wolf who, in turn, has been watching her with increasing intensity. Main characters: Seventeen-year-old Grace Brisbane; eighteen-year-old Sam Roth, a werewolf; Grace’s best friends, Rachel and Olivia; Grace’s classmate, Isabel Culpeper, whose brother has turned into a werewolf; Shelby, an aggressive she-wolf who desires Sam; Grace’s parents. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Topics: Wolves. Human-animal relationships. Metamorphosis. Supernatural. Being attacked. Werewolves. Attraction. Fighting a stronger opponent. Boyfriends. Cures. Risks. Sensitive areas: Violence. Sexual themes. Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

28 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 Oct o ber Grades 10 & up • History High School HH

Time of the Witches by Anna Myers

Walker • ISBN: 9780802798206 • Dewey: F • 208 pp • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" Scheduled Month: October 2009

Salem, Massachusetts: Drucilla, the Putnam family’s servant, knows that her mistress is unwell. Mistress Putnam has attempted suicide and constantly mourns her stillborn babies. When Mistress Putnam decides it’s time to “sound out witches . . . who do our family harm,” Drucilla doesn’t know whether to be afraid for Mistress Putnam, or of her.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• A fast, engaging read. • Makes the reader curious to further explore the basis for all the accusations in the book. • The characters of Mrs. Putnam and young Ann are truly terrifying and fascinating. • The Salem witch trials are an inherently interesting topic. Seeing it through the accusers’ eyes offers a fresh approach.

We could hear the low, steady sound of Ann Putnam reading her Bible. I longed to go into the room and snatch that holy book from her hands. It frightened me that she had truly convinced herself she was God’s servant in Salem Village. —Time of the Witches

You might also like: The Devil on Trial Anna Myers found the idea for Time of the Witches as she listened to a recording of early by Phillip Marguiles American music. The narrator on the CD made a brief reference to the hangings in Salem. “Suddenly, I knew I would write about a girl who was one of the accusers,” says Ms. Myers. The Musician’s Daughter Previously, all the stories for children about the Salem witch trials that she had read had by Susanne Dunlap a main character who watched and feared the accusers. “I knew my character was in the middle of the action. I continued to listen to music until I found Drucilla—and Gabe.” A Curse Dark as Gold www.annnamyers.info by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Curriculum Indications Book type: Novel. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Social Genre: Historical fiction. studies. History. Summary: Orphaned Drucilla finds a home Topics: Witchcraft. Witch trials. Orphans. with the beautiful but troubled Mistress Salem, Massachusetts. U.S. history. Colonial Putnam as accusations of witchcraft start to history. swirl in Salem Village. Sensitive areas: Mild sexual themes. Main characters: Fifteen-year-old orphan Attempted suicide. The occult. Drucilla Overbey; Gabe Matson, Drucilla’s best friend from birth; Ann Putnam, Drucilla’s deranged adoptive mother; twelve-year-old Ann Putnam, Drucilla’s unpleasant adoptive sister; nineteen-year-old Rose, an indentured servant in the Putnam household. Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 29 HI High-Interest Reading High School • Grades 10 & up October

Angry Management

by Chris Crutcher

Greenwillow • ISBN: 9780060502461 • Dewey: F • 256 pp • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" Scheduled Month: October 2009

Sarah Byrnes’s mother abandoned her when she was a child; Montana West’s articles are repeatedly censored by the school board, which is led by her father; Marcus James just found a noose hanging on his locker. In three stories, teens in Mr. Nak’s “angry management” group confront their anger and try to make some good come of it.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• Using a deft hand, Chris Crutcher touches on difficult topics—abusive parents, censorship, and racial and homophobic threats—that many teens will find relevant and compelling. “You’re Sarah, right? From Mr. Nak’s group?” • Teenage characters find the courage to challenge the status quo and confront adults they believe to be wrong-headed or mean-spirited. Readers trying to discover their “Hard to pick me out, huh?” she says own beliefs and speak them out loud will find inspiration here. facetiously, pointing to the burn scars on her face. • Though the stories explore emotionally fraught terrain, silly and smart humor lightens situations. I slap my forehead. “Yeah. Duh.” • Fans of Crutcher’s previous books will be eager to read more about some of their She looks away. favorite characters, such as Sarah Byrnes and Angus Bethune. “I’m Angus,” I tell her, slapping my prodigious gut. “At least as easy to remember as you. They named me after a cow.” —Angry Management Chris Crutcher says, “Most of my books have been novels, but back in the late eighties I had a lot of fun pulling together a collection of short stories. Angry Management was supposed to be a repeat of that, but I discovered a short story wasn’t quite long enough to do the job. So I went for novellas.” mr. Crutcher wrote this book to follow up on characters he had created for other novels. He says that Sarah Byrnes, Angus Bethune, and Montana West were particularly intriguing to him. “Mr. Nak, from Ironman, seemed like the perfect You might also like: character to pull them together. Sarah Byrnes and Angus Bethune have been favorites of fans of my books for years, and I wondered what would happen if the two met. Sometimes when you One Good Punch have an idea you don’t know how it will turn out, and this one surprised me.” by Rich Wallace www.chriscrutcher.com

It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

Three Little Words by Ashley Rhodes-Courter Curriculum Indications Book type: Three novellas. Genre: Fiction. Summary: A collection of novellas featuring characters from earlier books by Chris Crutcher. Main characters: Overweight Angus Bethune and burn victim Sarah Byrnes, both eighteen years old; goth journalist Montana West and good-looking jock Trey Chase, both seventeen years old; seventeen-year-olds state wrestling champion Matt Miller and Marcus James, the only African American and only gay student in his school. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Topics: Abandonment. Humiliation. Confronting someone who has hurt you. Identities. Foster children. Leaving home. Hate crimes. Christianity. Official indifference to a crime. Forgiveness. Sensitive areas: Strong language. Strong sexual themes. Homophobia. Hate crimes. Physical abuse. Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

30 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 Oct o ber Grades 11 & up • Mature Young Adults YM

Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick

Balzer & Bray • ISBN: 9780061730917 • Dewey: F • 208 pp • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" Scheduled Month: October 2009

When Private Matt Duffy wakes up in an Army hospital in Iraq, he’s honored with a Purple Heart. But he doesn’t feel like a hero. Matt is haunted by a hazy memory of an Iraqi boy being shot—and the sense that he is somehow responsible for the boy’s death.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• Patricia McCormick’s story is filled with authentic, spot-on details. • The specifics of military life in post-war Iraq and the rapport of soldiers in such a stressful environment are fascinating. Patricia McCormick says • The mystery of what happened to the young boy, Ali, creates an underlying on her Web site that while tension that builds throughout the novel. researching Purple Heart, • Matt is a strong and well-defined protagonist. As he struggles to recall not only she took part in a peace demonstration with veterans from the war his memory of what happened to Ali but even simple words like raincoat, he in Iraq. At the demonstration, there was a earns the reader’s empathy. pair of boots for every soldier who’d died • The novel is apolitical, but McCormick does not shy away from portraying the and a pile of shoes to represent the civilian lives that had been lost. “I remember the difficult truths of the war and the bureaucratic pressures that can determine sight of a pair of little boy’s sneakers in the soldiers’ fates. pile,” she writes. “It was an image that has haunted me ever since.” ms. McCormick lives in New York City. www.patriciamccormick.com Matt made two lists: the things he did know and the things he didn’t. The list of things he didn’t know included big things and small ones. The details of the attack. Where his squad was now. What exactly Francis had done to end up in trouble. When he’d last heard from Caroline. Where he’d seen that dog with the crooked tail. When it came to list the things he did know, he couldn’t think of anything he knew You might also like: for sure. Sunrise over Fallujah —Purple Heart by Walter Dean Myers

Sold by Patricia McCormick

Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees Curriculum Indications by Deborah Ellis Book type: Novel. Genre: Fiction. Summary: While recuperating in a Baghdad hospital from a traumatic brain injury sustained during the Iraq War, eighteen-year-old soldier Matt Duffy struggles to recall what happened to him and how it relates to ten-year-old Ali. Main characters: Private Matt Duffy, a U.S. soldier recovering in Baghdad during the Iraq War; Meaghan Finnerty, the officer assigned to help Matt recover; Ali, an Iraqi boy whom Matt befriends. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Social studies. Topics: Iraq war. Soldiers. Brain damage. Hospitals. Memory. Sensitive areas: Guns. Strong language. War. Violence. Mild sexual themes. Smoking.

Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 31 jlgnews & notes

JLG CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Junior Library Guild invites you to come by to chat with us, browse the latest books, hear about what’s new or upcoming, and tell us how we’re doing. Look for us at the following conferences: Florida Association for Media in Education (FAME) Ohio Educational Library Media Association (OELMA) September 30–October 2, 2009 • Orlando, FL Look for JLG Booktalks Kentucky Library Association/Kentucky School October 21–23, 2009 • Columbus, OH Media Association (KLA/KSMA) • Look for JLG Booktalks Orange-Ulstar Boles School District September 30–October 3, 2009 • Louisville, KY November 3, 2009 • Monroe, NY Georgia Council of Media Organizations (COMO) American Association of School Librarians (AASL) • Booth 255 October 7–9, 2009 • Columbus, GA November 5–8, 2009 • Charlotte, NC Indiana Library Federation New Jersey Association of School Librarians (NJASL) October 18–20, 2009 • Fort Wayne, IN November 13–15, 2009 • East Brunswick, NJ Pennsylvania Public Library Association (PaLA) California School Library Association (CSLA) October 18–21, 2009 • Harrisburg, PA November 19–21, 2009 • Ontario, CA Michigan Association for Media in Education (MAME) Virginia Educational Media Association (VEMA) October 21–23, 2009 • Acme, MI November 19–21, 2009 • Richmond, VA

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32 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 Special Offers Books Now It’s Easier and More Affordable The Fabulous to Get the Books You Missed $5 Books Finder Adding new levels to your membership? Wish you had some of the great titles you missed? Now, when you add levels to your renewal order, you Looking to s t r e t c h your budget? can go back and get the titles that were released up to 6 months prior to We’ve just updated our famous $5 book list with a bunch of great the start date of your new levels for only $10 per book! Call your account titles—every one of them a past rep today for details. JLG selection. To see the full listing (including many online exclusives), use our Advanced Book Search at juniorlibraryguild.com. Enter a price range of $0 to $5 to view the entire Multi-Year Discount Offer Extended list. Ordering online is as easy as • Extend your membership 1, 2, 3. Only JLG members can buy at this amazing price, and shipping Renew your reading levels now for two or more years and take is always FREE. 10% off your entire renewal order. • Protect your budget Buying reading levels now guarantees that your library will continue STEP 1: to receive the best new-release books every month for as long as you Enter your account information, then click Login choose, no matter what happens with your budget in the future. • Lock in your price Customer No. or E-mail There is no limit on how many levels you can buy at this price—just $11.93 per book! And, as always, shipping is FREE. This limited-time Password offer expires October 31, 2009. • Tell Your Friends

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www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 33 PS Primary Spanish • Grades K–3 NOVEMber

Tumbleweed Stew / Sopa de matojos

by Susan Stevens Crummel • illustrated by Janet Stevens translated by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy

Houghton Mifflin • ISBN: 9780547252605 • Dewey: E • 36 pp • 6" x 8 1/2" Scheduled Month: November 2009

In this bilingual, southwestern retelling of Stone Soup, Jack Rabbit and his friends Armadillo, Buzzard, Deer, Skunk, and Rattlesnake collaborate to share a delicious meal. Activity. Tips to help a child become a reader. Full-color illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• A classic, appealing tale. This version features colorful and lively illustrations. • Emphasizes cooperation rather than trickery. • Layout and repetition reinforce the words for several food items. • Includes an enjoyable follow- up activity that emphasizes the southwest setting.

Susan Stevens Crummel (at right in photo) and her illustrator sister, Janet Stevens (at left in photo), began collaborating twelve years ago with two stories for a Harcourt reading program. These stories, which included the English edition of Tumbleweed Stew, were the beginning of a partnership that has bridged the many miles between Ms. Crummel’s home in Fort Worth, Texas, and Ms. Steven’s home in Boulder, Colorado. the sisters’ Texas heritage reaches back to the 1850s, when their great-great grandparents settled there. Susan says, “Janet and I are no strangers to the flora and fauna of Texas. However, the buzzard in the blue-jean You might also like: vest came out of Janet’s imagination!” The Hare and the Tortoise / www.susanstevenscrummel.com La liebre y la tortuga adapted by Maria Valeri

Tortuga in Trouble by Ann Whitford Paul

Bean Soup / Sopa de frijoles Curriculum Indications by Jorge Argueta Book type: Bilingual early reader. Topics: Rabbits. Tricks. The American Genre: Fiction. Southwest. Wildlife of the American Southwest. Stone Soup. Ingredients. Cooking. Summary: Jack Rabbit tricks the other Stew. Persuasion. Sharing a meal. animals into helping him make a pot of tumbleweed stew. Sensitive areas: None. Main characters: Jack Rabbit; Armadillo; Buzzard; Deer; Skunk; Rattlesnake. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Spanish. Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

34 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 NO VEM ber Grades PreK–K • Kindergarten K

Big Bear Hug written and illustrated by Nicholas Oldland

Kids Can • ISBN: 9781554534647 • Dewey: 813'.6 • 32 pp • 8" x 8" Scheduled Month: November 2009

There once was a bear who loved all living things so much he couldn’t resist giving them a squeeze. He hugged animals, but what he loved to hug most were the trees. However, when the bear finds a man chopping down a tree, he doesn’t feel like hugging. How will he stop the man? Full-color illustrations created in Photoshop.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• Charming artwork and a heartwarming story. • The message is conveyed with humor, which makes this title stand out from other environmentally minded books. It’s a fun interpretation of the term Nicholas Oldland owns an “tree hugger.” apparel company and has been illustrating prints for • The look of alarm in the animals’ eyes as the bear gives them a great big hug children’s pajamas for the is laugh-out-loud funny. past ten years. “I always wanted to write a book that • Bear’s peaceful, loving nature is surprising. you could take to bed with a pair of our • Bear provides a positive role model for kids who might feel like acting out pajamas,” he says. “But I quickly discovered in negative ways. writing a book was a lot harder than I imagined, so I found easier things to do, like going for lunch and playing with my kids and napping.” this changed one sleepless night when he “scratched out” the story for Big Bear Hug. “In the morning when I looked at my sketchpad, I knew I had something. I spent the next few weeks sketching frantically, and when it was all done I dropped it off at Kids Can Press. This was my first book, so I did not know what to expect. Lucky for me, they liked it.”

You might also like: Leaves by David Ezra Stein

Trout Are Made of Trees by April Pulley Sayre

Welcome, Brown Bird by Mary Lyn Ray Curriculum Indications Book type: Picture book. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Science. Genre: Fiction. Topics: Bears. Trees. Nature. Animals. Summary: A bear who loves to hug every Protecting the environment. Humor. living thing doesn’t feel much like hugging Sensitive areas: None. when he sees a man chopping down one of his beloved trees. Main characters: A bear and other forest animals; a man with an ax. Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 35 P Primary • Grades K–1 NOVEMber jlgguides

The Big Fat Cow That Goes Kapow

by Andy Griffiths • illustrated by Terry Denton

Feiwel and Friends • ISBN: 9780312367886 • Dewey: 823.3 • 144 pp • 6" x 9" Scheduled Month: November 2009

In these ten easy-to-read stories there is a mixed-up cow that says “miaow,” a mole called Noel who plays rock ’n’ roll in a hole, and a boy named Mike who rides a bike with a very big spike! Black-and-white illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• Has lots of kid appeal. It’s easy to read, and the humor is simple and memorable. • The rhymes are good, and the stories are quite funny. Andy Griffiths believes that his childhood love of the • The amusing line drawings support the text well. nonsense of Lewis Carroll • The book will engage even the most reluctant reader. Completing the short stories and the wordplay of Dr. Seuss within a larger work will feel like an accomplishment for beginning readers. influenced the elements of The Big Fat Cow That Goes Prereaders will be eager to share the stories. Kapow, which was written specifically for his younger daughter when she was learning to read. He says, “Terry [Denton] and I wanted the rhyming text to be simple enough for a child to read by himself, but the ideas and illustrations to be funny and interesting enough to inspire and reward repeat readings.” Mr. Griffiths lives in Australia. www.andygriffiths.com.au

Terry Denton is known for his humorous illustration style. He lives in Australia and has worked with Andy Griffiths on a number of children’s books.

You might also like: Happy Birthday, Monster! by Scott Beck

Rainy Day! by Patricia Lakin

You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You: Very Short Scary Curriculum Indications Tales to Read Together by Mary Ann Hoberman Book type: Early reader. Genre: Fiction. Summary: Ten rhyming, easy-to-read stories about silly characters and funny situations. Main characters: Cows; Noel the mole; Klaus the mouse; Willy the worm; Lumpy-head Fred; Brave Dave. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Topics: Stories in rhyme. Animals. Humor. Being afraid at night. Bullying. Available at Sensitive areas: None. Activity Guide available from JLG juniorlibraryguild.com

36 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 NO VEM ber Grades K–1 • Primary P+

Guess Again! by Mac Barnett • illustrated by Adam Rex

Simon & Schuster • ISBN: 9781416955665 • Dewey: 811/.6 • 32 pp • 8" x 9" Scheduled Month: November 2009

“Their fleece is warm and woolly white. / And when you lie awake at night, / Count them and you’ll fall asleep. / A guess? Why, yes! A flock of . . .”Think you know the answer? Guess again! Die-cuts. Flaps. Gatefold. Full-color gouache and mixed-media illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• A funny and inventive concept. • The setup to the riddles makes it seem that there is an easy answer, but the actual answer is unexpected and humorous. Mac Barnett says that • Adam Rex’s silly artwork helps he likes to return to the sell/misdirect the reader. books he loved as a kid • Introduces concept of reader and then “take them off their hinges. . . . Guess expectations to a young audience. Again! was so much fun Investigates how humor is often to make, mostly because built on frustrated expectations. I had such great collaborators. I gave Adam [Rex] impossible things to draw, and he • Kids will enjoy that this is so drew all of them brilliantly. And my editor, different from other books. Once Justin, tormented the production team with they get the joke, they may be new ideas for die-cuts and foldouts. I hope inspired to write their own riddles. the result is the kind of book that makes you want to shout at it (but in a good way).”

Adam Rex says that his initial reaction to You might also like: Mac Barnett’s work was, “Shoot. I wish I had written this.” He adds that that has been Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? his reaction to everything Mr. Barnett has by Jon Agee written since. Mr. Rex’s second thought is always, “Well, if I can’t have written it, at least Happy Birthday, Monster! I can illustrate it.” He says that Guess Again! is, by Scott Beck in its way, one of the most challenging books he’s Backbeard: Pirate for Hire ever illustrated. by Matthew McElligott www.adamrex.com

Curriculum Indications Book type: Picture book. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Genre: Fiction. Topics: Puzzles. Rhymes. Riddles with Summary: A book of simple rhyming riddles, unexpected answers. Humor. with unexpected and funny answers. Sensitive areas: None. Main characters: Grandpa Ned; Grandpa Alan; a Viking; Captain Gluebeard, a pirate; abominable snow monsters; Dr. Larry Roberts, Available at a dentist; Sir Frank the Brave, a knight. juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 37 E Easy Reading • Grades 1–3 NOVEMber

Mouse and Mole Fine Feathered Friends

by Wong Herbert Yee

Houghton Mifflin • ISBN: 9780547152226 • Dewey: E • 48 pp • 6" x 8" Scheduled Month: November 2009

Whenever Mouse and Mole go bird watching, all the birds fly away. Perhaps “Mousebird” and “Molebird” will have better luck observing the feathered creatures. Full-color litho pencil and gouache illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• A touching story of friendship and collaboration. • Readers will enjoy the feather disguises as Mouse and Mole turn into Mousebird and Molebird. • Lovely artwork with fun details. • The text includes interesting vocabulary and uncommon usages for familiar words.

You might also like: A Brand-New Day with Mouse and Mole by Wong Herbert Yee

Abracadabra!: Magic with Mouse and Mole by Wong Herbert Yee Wong Herbert Yee always enjoyed reading, but writing was something he Pearl and Wagner: One Funny Day never considered until he got interested in picture books. “Words for me by Kate McMullan are a new medium,” he explains. “‘Pictures tell stories; stories paint pictures!’ Being able to create both art and story is quite rewarding.” mr. Yee says that drawing is the foundation of his art and explains that he has used three different media so far. “The linework in [the first Mouse and Mole book] was created with bamboo pen and ink. In the second story, I switched to charcoal pencil. The third was drawn in litho pencil. I think I’ve settled on the latter, but you never know.” www.wongherbertyee.com

Curriculum Indications Book type: Early reader. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Science. Genre: Fiction. Topics: Animals. Teamwork. Nature. Mice. Series: Mouse and Mole. Moles. Birds. Bird-watching. Spring. Writing poetry. Drawing. Summary: When spring arrives, Mole and Mouse find a unique way to bird-watch. Sensitive areas: None. Available at juniorlibraryguild.com Main characters: Mouse and Mole.

38 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 NO VEM ber Grades 1–3 • Easy Reading E+

Stagecoach Sal by Deborah Hopkinson • pictures by Carson Ellis

Hyperion • ISBN: 9781423111498 • Dewey: E • 40 pp • 10" x 9" Scheduled Month: November 2009

“Every soul west of Mississippi knew Poetic Pete. He carried out his holdups by speaking in rhyme. Folks said he was so polite he’d never interrupt a lady, yet he’d managed to rob hundreds of stagecoaches.” Naturally, Sal’s parents worry for her when they have to send her out driving the stagecoach alone. But Sal knows that if anyone can outwit Poetic Pete, she can. Author’s note. Full-color illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say: Deborah Hopkinson writes history and historical fiction for young children and • This fun and folksy tale, modeled after a real person named Delia Haskett teens, often focusing on women’s and girls’ Rawson, is a playful introduction to history. contributions to history. Her award-winning books include Abe Lincoln • The idea of a polite bandit and the humorous absurdity of Sal’s solution Crosses a Creek, Home on the will appeal to kids. Range: John A. Lomax and His • This spunky girl character—small, clever, fearless, admirable, and with a Cowboy Songs, and Up Before Daybreak, all JLG Selections. good sense of humor—is natural and engaging. ms. Hopkinson and her • Dialect is enjoyable and understandable. family live in Corvallis, Oregon.

• Artwork is well suited to the story. Layout makes playful use of text, Carson Ellis was born in Vancouver, Canada. employing a font resembling hand lettering for songs and undulating text She was raised in suburban New York to mimic the bouncing of the stagecoach. and attended college at the University of Montana in Missoula, where she earned a BFA in painting. These days, she says she mostly divides her time between creating children’s book illustrations, artwork for the Decemberists (her husband’s band), and, once in a great while, fine art for exhibiting. Ms. Ellis lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, Colin; their son, Hank; and their cat, Albert.

Carson Ellis photo by Jillian Punska

You might also like: Home on the Range by Deborah Hopkinson

Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek by Deborah Hopkinson

Curriculum Indications Buffalo Music by Tracey E. Fern Book type: Picture book. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Genre: Historical fiction. Social studies. Summary: Poetic Pete, a stagecoach bandit, Topics: Stagecoaches. Outlaws. Frontier never interrupts a lady; so when Stagecoach and pioneer life. American West. Delivering Sal gives Pete a ride, she sings until he falls the mail. Singing. Being brave. Outsmarting asleep, then handcuffs him. a thief. Becoming famous. Delia Haskett Rawson (1861–1949). Main characters: Sal, the spunky young daughter of a stagecoach driver; Poetic Pete, Sensitive areas: None. a stagecoach robber known for speaking in rhyme and not interrupting a woman. Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 39 I Independent Readers • Grades 2–4 NOVEMber

The True Gift A Christmas Story

by Patricia MacLachlan • illustrated by Brian Floca

Atheneum • ISBN: 9781416990819 • Dewey: F • 80 pp • 5" x 7" Scheduled Month: November 2009

Lily and Liam always go to their grandparents’ house for the ten days leading up to Christmas. This year when they arrive, the farmer’s donkey is not in the meadow with the cow. Liam worries that White Cow is lonely, and he is determined that she not spend Christmas alone. Black-and-white illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

Patricia MacLachlan says she hadn’t • The touching story depicts the considered writing a Christmas story before. “I have always had mixed feelings about true meaning of Christmas, and that holiday,” she explains. “It should be Liam and Lily’s selflessness is perfect. It should be without stress or inspiring. conflict. It should be simple and be about the best of what is in us. But it often isn’t any • The book shows a nice sibling of these things.” When she told her editor relationship. this, he said, “Then you’re the one to write a • Liam’s determination is touching. Christmas story.” So she did. • Atmospheric illustrations enhance Brian Floca stomped through the story. New England snow with the author, from field to field and barn to barn, and finally to a meeting with the shy bovine inspiration for White Cow of the story. “It was wonderful research and conversation,” Mr. Floca says. “I hope that some of the sense of place that I took from that day is in the book for readers to find.” www.brianfloca.com

You might also like: Friend or Fiend? with the Pain & the Great One by Judy Blume

Soupy Saturdays with the Pain & the Great One by Judy Blume

Annie and Simon by Catharine O’Neill Curriculum Indications Book type: Chapter book. Main characters: Lily; Liam; Gran; Grandpa. Genre: Fiction. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Summary: While spending Christmas at their Topics: Brothers and sisters. Cows. grandparents’ farm, Lily becomes convinced Books and reading. Christmas. Farm life. that her younger brother Liam is right about Grandparents. Determination. Selflessness. White Cow being lonely and helps him seek Earning money. a companion for her, leaving little time for Available at Sensitive areas: None. the usual Christmas preparations or reading. juniorlibraryguild.com

40 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 NO VEM ber Grades 2–4 • Independent Readers I+

Ankylosaurus The Armored Dinosaur by David West • illustrated by Nick Spender

Rosen • ISBN: 9781435885905 • Dewey: 567.915 • 32 pp • 9" x 11" Scheduled Month: November 2009

In this graphic novel, a young ankylosaurus has an eventful day. First it reaches to eat a flower only to feel the riverbank crumble beneath its feet. Then it narrowly avoids drowning—and is confronted by a hungry T. rex! All the while, a comet shard races toward the atmosphere, threatening all prehistoric life. Additional information. Size comparisons. Glossary. Index. Full-color illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say: David West has been creating books for more • A world full of danger, but with enough humor and sound imagery to lighten than thirty years but says the tone. it doesn’t get easier with time. “The determination • Includes other species from the Cretaceous period, including bees and flowers. to make each one as • Bold and dynamic drawings with clean lines and clearly defined actions. good as it can possibly be keeps me on my toes,” he says. “Without the • Use of various vantage points, including aerial views, holds the reader’s attention. challenge, the books would be less fun to do • The graphic-novel format is great for reluctant readers. and, probably, less fun to read. “I continue to be excited about the • Supplementary material adds to understanding. Graphic Dinosaurs series, and many more are planned. There are lots of dinosaur stories still to be told.”

Nick Spender was born in South East London and studied at Epsom School of Art in Surrey, England. After working as a graphic designer, he became a freelance illustrator and has worked on a wide range of subjects, from Doctor Who books to graphic novels. Mr. Spender says, “I am currently developing a revival comic strip of the 1950s’ comic-strip hero, Dan Dare, which will be published in 2010.”

You might also like: Pteranodon: The Giant of the Sky by David West

Tyrannosaurus: The Tyrant Lizard by Rob Shone

Dinothesaurus: Prehistoric Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian Curriculum Indications Book type: Graphic novel. Topics: Dinosaurs. Ankylosaurus. Cretaceous Genre: Narrative nonfiction. period. Predators and prey. Main focus: An eventful day in the life of a Sensitive areas: None. young ankylosaurus. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Science. Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 41 A Intermediate • Grades 3–5 NOVEMber

Calvin Coconut The Zippy Fix

by Graham Salisbury • illustrated by Jacqueline Rogers

Wendy Lamb • ISBN: 9780385906401 • Dewey: F • 176 pp • 5 3/8" x 7 3/4" Scheduled Month: November 2009

Houseguest Stella won’t stop teasing Calvin, so as payback, he puts his friend’s cat in her bed. (He knows she’s allergic to cats but has no idea her reaction will be that bad!) Feeling terrible about what he’s done, Calvin resolves to buy Stella a special birthday present. The only problem? He has $1.31 to his name. Black-and-white illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

Graham Salisbury grew up in • The story feels true to life. Calvin’s Hawaii, and his childhood was full of “sun, ocean, boats, fish, voice sounds authentic. surfboards, jungle, storms, bare • Calvin’s developing friendship with feet, shorts and T-shirts. Ho! Willy is enjoyable, warm, and realistic. What I didn’t do during those critical growing years was read,” he admits. • Expressive, fun illustrations extend “I had no books, except for the few Classic the story. Comics I found on a circular rack at the local drug store. Today I read like crazy, making • Young readers will identify with up for all I missed.” the situations in which Calvin His goal, he says, is to write worthwhile finds himself. books for younger readers, “especially boys, books with humor, excitement, action— plus, in the subtext, something about social realities and character growth. To me,” Mr. Salisbury continues, “The Zippy Fix is about conscience and redemption. As a writer and a father, this kind of stuff interests me greatly. It’s important.” mr. Salisbury lives in Portland, Oregon, with his “fabulous, completely normal family.” www.grahamsalisbury.com Jacqueline Rogers reveals that it took time—and an old paintbrush—to nail Calvin’s character. “My drawings were very realistic to start. Then I began using an old, frayed brush for the ink line. Calvin got looser and You might also like: looser, and more humor came out.” Sometimes she switched to finer brushes for the details, she says. “But if I found myself becoming too careful . . . I dug out that ratty brush and got wild!” Calvin Coconut: Trouble Magnet www.jacquelinerogers.com by Graham Salisbury

Soupy Saturdays with the Pain & the Great One Curriculum Indications by Judy Blume Book type: Chapter book. Martin Bridge: Genre: Fiction. Sound the Alarm! Series: Calvin Coconut. by Jessica Scott Kerrin Summary: Calvin tries to earn money to buy Stella, the houseguest and babysitter, a present for her sixteenth birthday because he feels guilty for taking advantage of her allergy to cats. Main characters: Calvin Coconut, a fourth grader; Stella, the sixteen-year-old who lives with Calvin’s family; Willy, Calvin’s friend; Tito, a bully who is in sixth grade. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Topics: Hawaii. Allergies. Family life. Playing a trick on someone. Feeling remorse. Birthdays. Moneymaking projects. Friendship. Being teased. Bullies. Buying a gift. Available at juniorlibraryguild.com Sensitive areas: None.

42 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 NO VEM ber Grades 3–5 • Intermediate A+

The Dream Stealer by Sid Fleischman • illustrated by Peter Sís

Greenwillow • ISBN: 9780061755644 • Dewey: F • 96 pp • 5" x 7 1/8" Scheduled Month: November 2009

The Dream Stealer is only supposed to steal nightmares, but lately he’s been taking good dreams, too—including one of Susana’s. Desperate to know how her dream ends, Susana traps the Dream Stealer and travels to his castle. There Susana finds that dreams—and nightmares—really can come true. Black-and-white illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• A fast-paced story with an intriguing premise. • Writing and voice are strong. • The ambiguous nature of the Dream Stealer— neither all good nor all bad—is unusual and compelling. • Susana is admirable in her bravery. Her solutions to problems are inventive but simple.

Sid Fleischman found his idea for The Dream Stealer in a folk-art market in You might also like: Mexico, where he saw “a most fanciful carved bird of many colors.” “Who was it?” Mr. Fleischman asked. “‘The dream stealer,’ I was told: a The White Elephant mythical winged character who visits you at night. He steals away your by Sid Fleischman nightmares. What a character for a novel!” the moment he returned home to California, Mr. Fleischman set to work, stopping only to eat Gossamer and sleep. “I had struck it story-rich,” he explains, describing the book as “a tale of an innocent girl by Lois Lowry in search of a stolen dream in a tale crowded with other people’s nightmares.” Younguncle Comes to Town by Vandana Singh

Peter Sís went to the Mexico City Book Festival and discovered other “dream stealers” in Mexico City’s arts market. “When I came back from Mexico, I began work on the book,” he says. “I had a good time with it—and I hope you can tell.”

Curriculum Indications Book type: Chapter book. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Genre: Fantasy. Topics: Dreams. Imaginary creatures. Mexico. Summary: A plucky Mexican girl tries to Folktales. Overcoming fears. Bedtime. recover her dream from the Dream Stealer, Friendship. who takes her to his castle, where countless Sensitive areas: None. dreams and even more adventures await. Main characters: Susana, a Mexican girl; Zumpango, a fantastical creature that steals Available at dreams; Thunderdel, a two-headed ogre. juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 43 BE Biography Elementary • Grades 2–6 NOVEMber

The Boy Who Invented TV The Story of Philo Farnsworth

by Kathleen Krull • illustrated by Greg Couch

Knopf • ISBN: 9780375945618 • Dewey: 621.3880092 B • 40 pp • 8 1/2" x 11" Scheduled Month: November 2009

Plowing a field in 1920, fourteen-year-old Philo Farnsworth had a brainstorm. He saw in the parallel rows of overturned earth a way to send pictures through the air. Just eight years later, Farnsworth made his idea a reality when he transmitted the world’s first television image. Foreword. Afterword. Sources. Full-color illustrations done in acrylic wash with colored pencil and dry brush; print images added digitally.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

Kathleen Krull believes that reading biographies • A rich and absorbing biography of a man who had a huge impact on modern life. is one of the best ways of making history seem real. • An inspiring story of persistence despite humble beginnings. An especially effective She explains, “Biographies are scene shows Philo Farnsworth’s epiphany as he plows a field of potatoes. stories—dramatic, enthralling, inspirational, some of the best stories • Readers will root for the young ever—and they’re true. inventor. “I’ve been collecting notes about Philo Farnsworth, the boy who invented TV in • The illustrations, which include 1920, for a long time. He’s just the kind of pieces of old catalogs and person I like—fascinating but little-known, magazines as well as digitally especially to young readers. How in the incorporated text, create a world could a fourteen-year-old who’s out distinctive and effective three- plowing the potato fields look behind him at the rows of dirt and start thinking of how dimensional quality. to create television by using electricity? • A foreword and afterword Philo was fascinating and idealistic. He put Farnsworth’s amazing story genuinely wanted to help humanity with his machine—and probably would not have in context. liked American Idol.” www.kathleenkrull.com

You might also like: Keep Your Eye on the Kid by Catherine Brighton

Sandy’s Circus by Tanya Lee Stone Greg Couch wanted his illustrations for this book to have an authentic feel, so he incorporated Marvelous Mattie into his artwork pages from antique Sears, Roebuck catalogs, Popular Mechanics magazines, by Emily Arnold McCully and scientific diagrams he found on Google. He is the illustrator of Nothing But Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson by Sue Stauffacher as well as many other picture books. Mr. Couch lives in Nyack, New York.

Curriculum Indications Book type: Picture book. Topics: Philo Taylor Farnsworth (1906– Genre: Biography. 1971). Inventors. Farm life. Living without electricity. Having an interest in science. Main focus: How Philo Farnsworth invented Tinkering. Curiousity. Television. Contests. television. Sensitive areas: None. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Science. Available at Social studies. juniorlibraryguild.com

44 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 NO VEM ber Grades 2–6 • GRAPHIC NOVELS ELEMENTARY GE

Binky the Space Cat written and illustrated by Ashley Spires

Kids Can • ISBN: 9781554533091 • Dewey: 813'.6 • 64 pp • 6 1/2" x 8 1/2" Scheduled Month: November 2009

A cat named Binky has never been outside the family “space station.” Convinced he is destined to explore the unknown reaches of “outer space,” Binky trains with a flight simulator (ceiling fan) and g-force replicator (hair dryer), and secretly builds a spaceship. In the meantime, he protects his humans—one big and one small—from “aliens” that invade the house. Full-color ink and watercolor illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• A quirky and cute, laugh-out-loud funny book. • Text and pictures work well together. • Great art that tends toward the ironic. Ashley Spires is a children’s author and illustrator who lives in Saskatoon, • Artwork helps convey the meaning of some Saskatchewan, Canada. She says that Binky of the more challenging vocabulary. the Space Cat, her first graphic novel, is based on her sister’s football-shaped kitty, who was adopted from a shelter.

You might also like: Alien Invaders / Invasores Extraterrestres by Lynn Huggins-Cooper

Mo and Jo by Jay Lynch

Billy Tartle in Say Cheese! by Michael Townsend

Curriculum Indications Book type: Graphic novel. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Genre: Fiction. Topics: Cats. Exploration. Insects. Aliens. Summary: A cat imagines that he is going to Preparation. Rocket ship. The bond between travel to outer space and that he is protecting humans and their pets. his human owners from aliens. Sensitive areas: Body humor. Main characters: Binky, a house cat. Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 45 ME Mystery/Adventure Elementary • Grades 2–6 NOVEMber

The Secret of Zoom

by Lynne Jonell

Henry Holt • ISBN: 9780805088564 • Dewey: F • 304 pp • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" Scheduled Month: November 2009

As Christina and her friend Taft investigate the substance called “zoom,” they discover several things: 1. Zoom can be used as fuel. 2. Orphans are being enslaved to extract zoom from mines. 3. Christina’s long-lost mother may have been killed because of her work with zoom.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• Admirable, compassionate, and brave characters. • Inventive plot, with plenty of fun, exciting adventures and some humor and pathos Lynne Jonell says that along the way. serious themes rub up against humor in her • The caring relationship between Taft and Danny is very sweet. Christina’s books. “When I write, it fulfillment in finding a friend is satisfying. just comes out funny,” she explains, “but there’s always something deeper, if you look. “I sometimes think of my mind as a subterranean lake. The things I dredge [Christina] had failed. And if she were the crying sort, now would be the perfect up seem to have no obvious connection, time to burst into tears. but as I write, the disparate and baffling parts knit themselves into a whole.” Some Her father was in jail. of those parts that went into The Secret of Zoom include a white garbage truck with a Her only friend had been captured. child’s drawing on the side, a cave that was A horrible man wanted to turn her into one of his orphan slaves. rumored to hold the skeleton of a Civil War soldier, and “the way that some children in And to top it all off, she was soaking wet, bleeding, and stranded on the side this world are overprotected to a ridiculous of a cliff. . . . extreme, while others are considered worthless and actually thrown away.” —The Secret of Zoom www.lynnejonell.com

You might also like: Emmy and the Home for Troubled Girls by Lynne Jonell

Fortune’s Magic Farm by Suzanne Selfors

The Robe of Skulls Curriculum Indications by Vivian French Book type: Novel. Topics: Scientists. Experiments. Explosions. Genre: Fantasy. Orphans. Hidden tunnels. Perfect pitch. Test tubes. Mountains. Birds. Rocks. Mines. Summary: Ten-year-old Christina lives a Cave-ins. Airplanes. Sound waves. Rescues. sheltered life until she discovers a secret tunnel, an evil plot to enslave orphans, Sensitive areas: Mistreatment of children. and a mysterious source of energy known as zoom. Main characters: Christina; Taft, an orphan and Christina’s best friend; Danny, a slow-witted orphan who is friends with Taft; Lenny Loompski, the director of the orphanage; Beth Adnoid, Christina’s mother. Available at Curriculum areas: Language arts. Music. juniorlibraryguild.com

46 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 NO VEM ber Grades 2–6 • Nonfiction Elementary NE

Pocket Guide to the Outdoors Based on My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George with Twig C. George

Dutton • ISBN: 9780525421634 • 144 pp • 5" x 7 3/4" Scheduled Month: November 2009

This guide to the outdoors provides advice and instructions on camping, building shelters, finding water, and cooking outdoors. For example, if you’re lining your fire pit with stones, don’t use river or lake stones—they contain water that can cause the stones to explode when heated! Some activities may require adult supervision. Black-and-white illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say: Jean Craighead George has been receiving letters from kids for fifty years asking for • A great tie-in to reading and discussing My Side of the Mountain. things to do outdoors like Sam Gribley does in the Newbery Honor book • The ideas are inventive, and the descriptions will capture readers’ imaginations. My Side of the Mountain. Two • A lot of information and plenty of things readers can try for themselves. years ago her daughter, Twig C. George, suggested they • Exposes readers to the idea of creating tools using natural elements. make a book of some of the fun things they’d learned to • Readers with an interest in the outdoors will be riveted by this book. do in the woods. “We chose our favorites,” says Ms. George, the author of more than one hundred children’s books, who recently celebrated her ninetieth birthday. “The guide is a family affair with my sons, Craig and Luke, sending ideas from the Arctic and California.” www.jeancraigheadgeorge.com

Twig C. George has written several books for children and is a part-time school librarian in Baltimore, Maryland. www.twigcgeorge.com

You might also like: Extreme Scientists by Donna M. Jackson

Wild River by P. J. Petersen

Night of the Howling Dogs by Graham Salisbury

Curriculum Indications Book type: Illustrated nonfiction. Topics: Wilderness survival. Camping. Genre: Nonfiction. Building a shelter. Starting a fire. Finding water. Identifying edible, medicinal, and Main focus: Tips on how to survive in the poisonous plants. Tying knots. Carving. wilderness as told by Sam Gribley, the Tracking animals. protagonist of Jean Craighead George’s My Side of the Mountain. Sensitive areas: None. Available at Curriculum areas: Language arts. Science. juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 47 SCE SCIENCE NONFICTION ELEMENTARY • Grades 2–6 NOVEMber

The Story of Snow The Science of Winter’s Wonder

by Mark Cassino with Jon Nelson, PhD

Chronicle • ISBN: 9780811868662 • Dewey: 551.57/84 • 36 pp • 10" x 10" Scheduled Month: November 2009

“Our story starts on a winter day, high up in the sky, in a cloud that is very, very cold.” How do snowflakes form? It all begins with a tiny speck of dust that becomes the center of a snow crystal. Instructions on how to catch snow crystals. Full-color watercolor and ink illustrations. Photographs of snow crystals.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• Beautifully and simply tells the story of how snow crystals form. • Gives information that enhances the sense of magic and wonder Mark Cassino started surrounding a snowfall. photographing snow crystals • Attractive illustrations with informative captions. after watching them land on the windshield of his car. • Photographs show fascinating close-up views He has since spent many of snow crystals. cold hours in his garage, photographing snow. “The natural world reveals remarkable beauty and intricacy when viewed up close,” he says. “Snow crystals are just one example of the many tiny wonders that surround us all the time. Hopefully The Story of Snow will inspire readers to look closely at the wonders around us.” www.markcassino.com

Mark Cassino photo by Paul D. Gobble

You might also like: Bubble Homes and Fish Farts by Fiona Bayrock Jon Nelson, PhD sees the story of snow as a metaphor for our story as The Brook Book humans. “We all start as a tiny egg that gets fertilized by an even tinier by Jim Arnosky sperm,” he explains. “Similarly, a snow crystal starts as a microscopic droplet that gets ‘fertilized’ by a speck of dust. As we tumble through life, we are shaped by our experiences. A snow crystal changes as it tumbles through a cloud. Each crystal is unique, but flawed. And each has its own story to tell.”

Curriculum Indications Book type: Picture book. Temperature. Crystal shapes: stars, crystals, Genre: Nonfiction. and columns. Similarities and differences among snow crystals. Catching snow crystals. Main focus: How and why snow crystals form. Sensitive areas: None. Curriculum areas: Science. Language arts. Topics: Snowflakes.T he formation and Available at growth of snow crystals. Clouds. Dust specks. juniorlibraryguild.com

48 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 NO VEM ber Grades 2–6 • Sports Elementary SE

Touchdown The Power and Precision of Football’s Perfect Play by Mark Stewart and Mike Kennedy

Millbrook • ISBN: 9780822587514 • Dewey: 796.33 • 64 pp • 9" x 9" Scheduled Month: November 2009

The game of football has changed dramatically from its nineteenth-century English incarnations, and so has the touchdown. In fact, for a time, a touchdown wasn’t worth any points! But over the past century, rule changes and gifted players—from Jim Thorpe to Peyton Manning—have made the touchdown one of the most exciting plays in sports. Color and black-and-white photographs and period memorabilia.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

Mark Stewart and Mike Kennedy continue • By focusing on the game’s most exciting moment, the touchdown, the authors to build on the formula developed in Long make the history of the game fun to read about. Ball and Swish, focusing on one aspect of the sport. • List-based chapters such as “Ten Unforgettable Touchdowns” and “Rumbles, “We actually pinpoint the ‘first’ Fumbles, and Wrong-Way Runs: Football’s Most Remarkable Scoring Plays” keep touchdown, which was scored by a historical accounts lively and succinct. schoolboy who decided to bend the rules of a popular game,” says Mr. Stewart. “From • The authors include some of the most remarkable touchdown records, including there, we trace the growth of football Jerry Rice’s 197 career receiving touchdowns and Emmitt Smith’s 164 career through the evolution of its main scoring rushing touchdowns. play. In many ways it’s a cultural history of the United States.” • The layout of the book is easy to read, with plenty of sports action photographs. the book also profiles more than a dozen • Even readers who are familiar with the origins of football will be fascinated to learn star athletes. “Football is a fast and violent game,” says Mr. Kennedy, “but in the case of some of the more surprising variations the game went through before it became an elite group of touchdown ‘artists’ we slow modern football. the game down and really show kids what made these players great.”

You might also like: Swish by Mike Stewart and Mark Kennedy

Football Double Threat Matt Christopher

Curriculum Indications Book type: Illustrated nonfiction. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Physical Genre: Nonfiction. education. Main focus: A history of the game Topics: Football. Football history. Scoring of football, with an emphasis on the touchdowns. touchdown and players that have excelled Sensitive areas: None. at touchdown plays. Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 49 B Upper Elementary & Junior High • Grades 5–7 NOVEMber jlgguides

Wild Girl

by Patricia Reilly Giff

Wendy Lamb • ISBN: 9780375938900 • Dewey: F • 224 pp • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" Scheduled Month: November 2009

“. . . the plane soared up, reaching the clouds. . . . I swallowed. I was really on my way to America.” After her mother died, Lidie stayed in Brazil, while her father and brother came to America. Now, five years later, she finally is joining them on a horse farm outside New York City. Although Lidie loves being around the horses, it quickly becomes clear that everything else will be much harder than she expected.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• A well-paced, contemporary immigration story starring a protagonist with whom readers will feel a connection. I am hippy to be here. I’d say it so they’d • Includes skillfully wrought and touching family and school moments. admire my English way of speaking; • The setting is well evolved and involving, which will draw in readers. I’d say it so they’d be really sorry they hadn’t sent for me sooner. • A beautifully written, atypical horse story. —Wild Girl

Patricia Reilly Giff wanted to write about an immigrant child who loved horses and about the world of racing that existed only a short distance away from the school where she had taught reading. “A few of my students had hardly been able to read; English wasn’t their first language,” Ms. Giff explains. “But they knew about that world: the horses, the great track, the cats that wandered up and down the paths. They knew the stars of the racing world and shared them with me. How hard it was for them to You might also like: become part of this country; how generous they were in sharing their lives. “I wanted to show readers how much we have to offer each other, and that it doesn’t all Paint the Wind depend on how well we speak or how fluently we read. I hope I’ve done so inWild Girl.” by Pam Muñoz Ryan

The Dragon’s Child: A Story of Angel Island by Laurence Yep with Dr. Kathleen S. Yep

The Georges and the Jewels Curriculum Indications by Jane Smiley (an October 2009 B+ selection; see page 19) Book type: Novel. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Genre: Fiction. Topics: Horses. Brazil. Horse racing. Jockeys. Summary: When twelve-year-old Lidie Leaving home. Immigration. Speaking leaves Brazil to join her father and brother English. Reuniting with family. Being treated on a horse farm in New York, she has like a baby. a hard time adjusting to her changed Sensitive areas: None. circumstances, as does a new horse that has come to the farm. Main characters: A filly named Wild Girl; sixth-grader Lidie, recently arrived from Brazil; Pai, Lidie’s father; Rafael, Lidie’s eighteen-year-old brother; Mrs. Bogart, Lidie’s new teacher; Liz, a girl in Lidie’s school.

Available at Reading Guide available from JLG juniorlibraryguild.com

50 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 NO VEM ber Grades 5–7 • Upper Elementary & Junior High B+

Jasper Dash and the Flame-Pits of Delaware by M. T. Anderson • illustrated by Kurt Cyrus

Beach Lane • ISBN: 9780152053468 • Dewey: F • 432 pp • 5" x 7 1/4" Scheduled Month: November 2009

Jasper Dash, Boy Technonaut, is the star of his school’s “Stare-Eyes” team, but he’s never faced a challenger like the number-one player on the Delaware team. A wave of chants from the stands gives Jasper a much-needed boost, but then he gets an urgent telepathic message from someone in danger—and blinks. Black-and-white illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• This quirky, inventive, and fun adventure is so fully realized that, improbably, the book will have readers Kurt Cyrus had a funny experience wondering about the mysterious while illustrating this book. “Some of my mountainous regions of Delaware. illustrations include details that I swear • Author footnotes and asides add to were in the text, and yet when I look for them now, they just aren’t there,” he says. the humor. “According to the author, we each have our • Well-written and smart. own private Delaware lost in the jungles of our brain. I guess I • Readers who enjoyed previous Jasper must have tapped into mine.” Dash books will be pleased to have an www.kurtcyrus.com addition to the series, but this book can also stand alone.

M. T. Anderson remembers reading many adventure novels where it seemed the author had visited a foreign land for about a week and then tried to write a book about it. He could often tell that the writer wasn’t really from the place and hadn’t been there long. “That seemed kind of unfair to the places described,” he says. “So this is not a book like that. No, this is a book by someone who has absolutely You might also like: never been anywhere near the place he describes. I hope I didn’t get any facts wrong, like about the giant iguanas or the rooftop catapults. I just wished to tear away Delaware’s veil of The Willoughbys exotic mystery. It was time to cross those dark waters from New Jersey and make some small by Lois Lowry effort to describe the Blue Hen State—its glittering domes and temples, its dark jungles and jagged mountains, its monks, its wizards, its feared dictator, and its tree-squids. Never mind the The True Meaning of Smekday prohibitive interstate tolls! Where in life is the profit, my friends, if we do not risk all?” by Adam Rex

Antsy Does Time by Neal Shusterman Curriculum Indications Book type: Novel. Main characters: Jasper Dash, Boy Genre: Fiction. Technonaut; Katie Mulligan, star of the Horror Hollow Series; shy Lily Gefelty. Series: A Pals in Peril Tale. (Previous books are a part of the M. T. Anderson’s Thrilling Curriculum areas: Language arts. Tales series.) Topics: Competitions. Telepathy. Delaware. Summary: Boy Technonaut Jasper Dash and Adventure. Friendship. Loyalty. Humor. his friends Lily Gefelty and Katie Mulligan Parody. Mystery. travel into the mist-shrouded heart of the Sensitive areas: None. forbidden mountainous realm of Delaware to try to unravel a terrible mystery. Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 51 C Advanced Readers • Grades 6–9 NOVEMber

Al Capone Shines My Shoes

by Gennifer Choldenko

Dial • ISBN: 9780803734609 • Dewey: F • 320 pp • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" Scheduled Month: November 2009

Moose Flanagan lives with his family on Alcatraz Island. Recently, Moose asked inmate Al Capone to help get Moose’s mentally disabled older sister, Natalie, into a special school. Capone obliged, but to Moose’s dismay, now it’s his turn to provide a favor. Annotated author’s note.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• Well written and engaging, with fully realized characters. The families’ relationships Gennifer Choldenko received an unexpected call from an older are not always easy, but they are realistic and believable. woman a few months after the • Moose has a great narrative voice, and readers will empathize with his situation. publication of Al Capone Does My Shirts. “No one remembers • Gennifer Choldenko skillfully creates a specific world. Readers get a clear sense of you,” she said. “When did you live 1935 Alcatraz. on the island?” The fact that Ms. • Choldenko does an excellent job developing and building the plot. Readers will Choldenko’s fictional account had “fooled” this woman who grew up on Alcatraz enjoy the mystery and suspense as well as the humor that is sprinkled throughout. Island was flattering, but what the author • The fascinating author’s note includes information about Alcatraz Island and didn’t realize was how helpful the positive about autism. reception of this woman and a dozen other Alcatraz alumni would be in writing the • A worthy follow-up to Al Capone Does My Shirts, a Newbery Honor book that also second book. stands on its own. “How often can you call someone who actually experienced the history and ask them the details you’re missing?” asks Ms. Choldenko. “One day I called a former Alcatraz guard and asked: ‘Hey, George, Capone chuckles. . . . He points at me with his big beefy hand. “When I get out, how did they count the cons who worked you look me up. I got a job waiting for you.” in the warden’s house when the count bell “He will do no such thing,” my father snarls. went off?’ Convicts worked as houseboys and cooks in the warden’s home. And Al Al laughs a good long laugh, deep down in his belly. “Don’t you worry, boss. Capone was, in fact, larger than life in the You got yourself a good boy there. Kinda person keeps up his end of a deal.” imaginations of everyone who knew him. I’m pleased to report he plays a starring role —Al Capone Shines My Shoes in Al Capone Shines My Shoes.” www.alcaponeshinesmyshoes.com

You might also like: Curriculum Indications The Green Glass Sea Book type: Novel. sixteen-year-old Natalie Flanagan, Moose’s by Ellen Klages Genre: Historical fiction. autistic sister; twelve-year-old Piper Williams, the warden’s daughter. Series: Companion to Al Capone Does Anything but Typical My Shirts. Curriculum areas: Language arts. History. by Nora Raleigh Baskin Summary: Moose Flanagan, who lives Topics: Alcatraz. Prisons. Al Capone on Alcatraz along with his family and the (1899–1947). Prison guards. Doing favors. families of the other prison guards, is Autism. Keeping secrets. Friendship. Family. frightened when he discovers that noted Pregnancy. Convicts. Threats. Escape gangster Al Capone, a prisoner there, wants attempts. Hostage taking. Saving the day. a favor in return for the help that he secretly Piecing information together. Brothers and gave Moose. sisters. U.S. history. Main characters: Twelve-year-old Matthew Sensitive areas: Guns. Mild language. (Moose) Flanagan; twelve-year-old Annie Bomini, Moose’s best friend; twelve-year-old Jimmy Mattaman, Moose’s friend; Theresa Available at Mattaman, Jimmy’s seven-year-old sister; juniorlibraryguild.com

52 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 NO VEM ber Grades 6–9 • Advanced Readers C+

The Search by Eric Heuvel, Ruud van der Rol, and Lies Schippers • translated by Lorraine T. Miller

Farrar Straus Giroux • ISBN: 9780374365172 • Dewey: F • 64 pp • 8 1/4" x 11" Scheduled Month: November 2009

Esther, a Jewish woman, tells family and friends the story of how she was separated from her parents during a Nazi roundup and then hid at safe houses until the war’s end. Now, with her grandson’s help, Esther wants to trace her parents’ last days before they were killed at Auschwitz. In graphic-novel format. A companion book to A Family Secret (see page 21). Full-color illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• A moving story with sympathetic characters. Eric Heuvel, Ruud van der Rol, Lies • Fast-paced and compelling. Readers will Schippers, and the rest of the creative team behind this graphic novel feel that want to know what happens, even if it is the vital aim was to teach, scrupulously and devastating. meticulously, the process of discrimination • A surprising and touching work that shows and persecution culminating in the Holocaust in wartime Holland. Mr. Heuvel history’s effect on multiple generations. explains, “We wanted to show our readers • Great artwork. in concrete, everyday dilemmas the shades of grey between heroism and cruelty which confront anyone at times of war. The roles of victims, perpetrators, resistance activists and mere ‘onlookers’ are, after all, not as clear-cut in reality as they might seem in a textbook. It takes endless choices, often made in the blink of an eye. “It’s fantastic that The Search and A Family Secret have been published in America, the adopted country of our protagonist, Esther. During the War more than fifty million people died. Such a horror must never happen again, we feel, and in reading these stories we hope kids in the States, along with students in almost eight other countries, will come to agree with us.”

You might also like: The Anne Frank Case by Susan Goldman Rubin

The Entertainer and the Dybbuk by Sid Fleischman

Curriculum Indications Book type: Graphic novel. Esther’s son, Paul; Esther’s grandson, Daniel; Genre: Historical fiction. Helena’s grandson, Jeroen; Esther’s friend Bob, an Auschwitz survivor. Summary: After recounting her experience as a Jewish girl living in Amsterdam during Curriculum areas: Language arts. the Holocaust, Esther, helped by her Topics: Jewish Holocaust. Jews. Netherlands. grandson, embarks on a search to discover Nazis. Auschwitz concentration camp. what happened to her parents before they Sensitive areas: Guns. Fighting. Mild died in a concentration camp. language. Discrimination. War. Violence. Main characters: Esther, a Jewish Ethnic cleansing/genocide. Available at grandmother; her childhood friend, Helena; juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 53 FM Fantasy/Science Fiction Middle & High School • Grades 7–11 NOVEMber

Forest Born The Books of Bayern

by Shannon Hale

Bloomsbury • ISBN: 9781599901671 • Dewey: F • 400 pp • 5 1/16" x 7 3/4" Scheduled Month: November 2009

Lately, Rin has felt alienated from the very place that used to bring her the most comfort: her forest home. She decides to leave, traveling with her brother Razo to the palace of Bayern. When Bayern is attacked, Rin helps protect the queen and young prince—and discovers that she possesses a terrifying power, the very power that caused the trees of her forest home to turn against her.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• Shannon Hale’s prose is clear and beautiful. Rin felt like half a girl, a scrap of a • Rin’s connection to her forest home is movingly portrayed. person, sitting at the feet of these fearless women who were confident, • Full of suspense and humor. wise, grown. . . . Rin yearned to be • Surprising and memorable plot twists. like them. Especially the queen. If • Readers will enjoy characters whose special powers are so closely connected only she could stay close to Isi, listen to the natural world. to her, watch her, perhaps she could learn how to be. Perhaps she could • This fourth book in the popular Books of Bayern series also works as a become someone new, someone stand-alone read. fixed and good, someone who could go home again. —Forest Born Shannon Hale is both delighted and surprised to have written another Bayern book. “I wrote The Goose Girl as a complete story and didn’t plan on a sequel,” she says. “Except . . . “Enna. She was such a vital, interesting, talk-to-me-nonstop character that I just had to give her a book of her own. Enna Burning challenged me and changed me, and this time I knew I would not write another Bayern book. Except . . . “Razo. He popped up in Goose Girl as an unexpected but fully formed minor character. He wasn’t a part of my Enna Burning outline but ended up with a major role. Now he was filling my vulnerable little brain with ideas for his own story, which was hard to resist because he was a delightful character to channel. River Secrets was absolutely the last book in this You might also like: series. Except . . . “Here is Forest Born, the final addition to this series. No really, it is. Book of a Thousand Days Seriously. I swear. (Leave me alone, Razo.)” by Shannon Hale www.shannonhale.com Shield of Stars by Hilari Bell

The Last Knight by Hilari Bell Curriculum Indications Book type: Novel. of Bayern, whom her friends call Isi; water- Genre: Fantasy. speaking Dasha, ambassador from Tira and Razo’s girlfriend. Series: The Books of Bayern. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Summary: When Rinna’s beloved forest no longer gives her comfort and her brother Razo Topics: Fairy tales. Human-plant relationships. invites her to the city to be one of Queen Ani’s Trees. Self-esteem. Elemental powers. waiting women, Rinna happily accepts, only Willpower. Finding a hidden strength. to discover that her own strength comes from Sensitive areas: None. places both expected and unexpected. Main characters: Sixteen-year-old Rinna Agget, who has the gifts of tree-speaking and Available at people-speaking; Razo, Rinna’s adventurous juniorlibraryguild.com older brother; wind-speaking Queen Anidori

54 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 NO VEM ber Grades 7–11 • Graphic Novels Middle & High School GM

Bone Rose by Jeff Smith • illustrated by Charles Vess

Graphix • ISBN: 9780545135429 • 160 pp • 6" x 9" Scheduled Month: November 2009

This prequel to the fantasy saga thatTime magazine called “one of the ten greatest graphic novels of all time” tells the story of Princess Rose and her sister Princess Briar, and of Rose’s early dealings with the Great Red Dragon. Full-color illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• Readers will get caught up in the conflict between the sisters. • Emotions are well conveyed. • The action is exciting. • Vivid, detailed artwork. • Intended for an audience familiar with the Bone series but can also introduce new readers to the series.

Jeff Smith, who Charles Vess says that one of his favorite learned to read via aspects of Jeff Smith’s storytelling is “the Peanuts by Charles palatable sense that the world he has Schulz, created invented has existed long before the story his own cartoon began and will continue even after the epic in the form reader has reached ‘The End.’ You might also like: of Bone and then “So I ask Jeff, ‘What happenedbefore the wrote a prequel. “Rose tells the story of Bone cousins showed Rapunzel’s Revenge Bone character Gran’ma Ben when she was up in your valley?’” by Shannon Hale just beginning her own adventure,” says Mr. Vess explains. “As Mr. Smith. “Originally, I only wanted to come he begins to answer, Thirteenth Child up with a good backstory for her, but my right away I knew that by Patricia C. Wrede friend Charles Vess encouraged me to write I wanted to draw it. it as its own book.” Thus, Rose began.”

Charles Vess photo by K. M. Shaffer

Curriculum Indications Book type: Graphic novel. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Genre: Fantasy. Topics: Dragons. Prequels. Adventure. Family. Series: The Bone Saga. Jealousy. Prophetic dreams. Making a difficult choice. Summary: Princess Rose must defeat a dragon that has begun to attack the small Sensitive areas: Fighting. Violence. Mild towns of the Northern Valley, while her sister, sexual themes. Animal death. Princess Briar, follows a more sinister path. Main characters: Rose, a princess who has Available at prophetic dreams; Briar, her older sister. juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 55 MM Mystery/Adventure Middle & High School • Grades 7–11 NOVEMber

Whiteout Hunted, Book 3

by Walter Sorrells

Dutton • ISBN: 9780525421412 • Dewey: F • 272 pp • 5" x 7" Scheduled Month: November 2009

“The snow was sticking to my hat, to my hair, to my coat. The normal world had disappeared. Nothing left but snow. My shoes crunched. The snow swirled. I was alone. . . . Just me, just Chass, just this lonely, freezing sixteen-year-old girl”—and the murderer who’s chasing her.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• A novel packed with adventure. In the middle of her forehead was a • The whiteout storm is convincingly eerie. The reader shares Chass’s small round hole. Miss Hill was dead. fear and frustration as she makes her way through it. Like I said earlier—I must have heard the gunshot. But I don’t remember it. • Characters are distinct. I screamed. When I ran out of breath, • The pace is brisk, and the final reveal is a real surprise. I sucked in air. Then I screamed again. —Whiteout

Walter Sorrells lives in the southern United States, so snow is fairly rare. The main danger is that people don’t know how to drive in it. But Mr. Sorrells’s parents live in Minnesota, where people frequently freeze to death during blizzards. “Once my mother told me about going for a drive in her car and getting caught in a whiteout snowstorm,” he explains. “She literally couldn’t see the road. It was a very frightening experience. So I started thinking about what it would be like to have something really You might also like: bad happen in the middle of a terrible snowstorm. The result was Whiteout, a story about a sixteen-year-old girl named Chass who finds a murdered First Shot woman. The tiny town she’s living in is cut off from the rest of the world by a by Walter Sorrells snowstorm, and she has to find out who committed the murder.” www.waltersorrells.com Scat by Carl Hiaasen

If the Witness Lied by Caroline B. Cooney Curriculum Indications Book type: Novel. Genre: Mystery. Series: Hunted. Summary: Sixteen-year-old Chass makes her way through a Minnesota blizzard, seeking not only the murderer of a beloved music teacher, but also something belonging to the killer who has been chasing her mother and herself around the country. Main characters: Chass, a sixteen-year-old in hiding with her mom; Katie Blaufuss, Chass’s friend; Paul Osmund, high school principal and murder suspect; Elliot Krieghoff, classmate and murder suspect. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Topics: Murder. Blizzards. Mothers and daughters. Mystery. Minnesota. Sensitive areas: Guns. Mild language. Violence.

Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

56 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 NO VEM ber Grades 7–11 • Nonfiction Middle & High School NM

Before Columbus The Americas of 1491 by Charles C. Mann

Atheneum • ISBN: 9781416949008 • Dewey: 970.01 • 128 pp • 10" x 10" Scheduled Month: November 2009

This compelling and convincing study of Native American societies is adapted for younger readers from Charles C. Mann’s best-selling 1491. Turning conventional wisdom on its head, the book argues that the people of North and South America lived in enormous cities, raised pyramids hundreds of years before the Egyptians did, engineered corn, and farmed the rainforests. Introduction. Glossary. Full-color photographs and illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

Charles C. Mann is a correspondent for • Combines scientific evidence and argument with vivid descriptions of American Atlantic Monthly and Science. He has societies. Explains why the conventional view won out, but effectively counters it. cowritten four other books, as well as television scripts, including ones for Law • A real revelation: the idea that long-accepted history can be incorrect is thought- & Order. He is currently working on a provoking. companion volume to 1491: New Revelations • With compelling writing and illustrations, this is a successful reworking of a book of the Americas Before Columbus. Mr. Mann lives in Massachusetts. originally written for adults. www.charlesmann.org

You might also like: Roanoke by Lee Miller

The Mayflower and the Pilgrims’ New World by Nathaniel Philbrick

Who Was First? by Russell Freedman

Photo courtesy of Mayan/Bridgeman Art Library/Getty Images

Curriculum Indications Book type: Illustrated nonfiction. Topics: American Indians. America. History. Genre: Nonfiction. Antiquities. Ancient civilizations. Cultural clashes. Main focus: The landscape and people of America pre-Columbus. Sensitive areas: War. Depictions of nudity. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Available at Social studies. juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 57 SM Sports Middle & High School • Grades 7–11 NOVEMber

Change-Up Mystery at the World Series

by John Feinstein

Knopf • ISBN: 9780375956362 • Dewey: F • 336 pp • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" Scheduled Month: November 2009

For years, Norbert Doyle only played minor-league ball, and now he’s the starting pitcher for the Washington Nationals in the World Series! It’s a great story, but when kid reporter Stevie Thomas digs deeper into Doyle’s past, he finds a dark mystery that Doyle insists on keeping unsolved.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

John Feinstein says that he now has two editors at • John Feinstein returns to the protagonists of previous installments of his sports his house: fifteen-year-old mysteries: Stevie the occasional loser but mostly intrepid hero, Susan Carol the Danny and eleven-year- charming beautiful prodigy, and Kelleher the hard-nosed mentor. old Brigid. He explains, “Four years ago when the • Readers get to see the ins and outs of reporting, including behind-the-scenes series began, Danny was moments inside the press boxes and locker rooms. my primary editor. Now • Feinstein makes good use of baseball history in constructing his World Series, they both help me. Brigid is especially helpful when it comes to figuring including very plausible oddities, such as Aaron Boone emerging as a Red Sox out how Susan Carol may react when killer for the second time. This make Doyle’s unexpected and intriguing rise to conflicts occur.” prominence feel real as well. Change-Up is the fourth book in what he calls “The Sports Adventures of Stevie and • Enjoyable as a stand-alone, even for readers unfamiliar with other titles in Susan Carol.” Like its three predecessors, the Feinstein’s sports mystery series. story is set at a major sports event—this time the World Series between the Boston Red Sox and (surprise!) the Washington Nationals. Mr. Feinstein shares, “In Change- Stevie . . . wonder[ed] about Nieves’s final comment: “Joy doesn’t seem to be his Up, there’s a hint of romantic conflict thing.” The Norbert Doyle he’d had breakfast with had certainly seemed cheerful between the two major characters for the to him—except when the subject of his wife’s death came up. . . . There was a story first time.” here, Stevie knew that for sure. Unfortunately, he had no idea what the story was. —Change-Up

You might also like: Cover-Up: Mystery at the Super Bowl by John Feinstein

The Brooklyn Nine by Alan Gratz

The Big Field by Mike Lupica Curriculum Indications Book type: Novel. Main characters: Fourteen-year-old Genre: Fiction. Stevie Thomas, sports reporter for the Washington Herald; Susan Carol Anderson, Series: A companion to Long Shot, Vanishing teen sports reporter and Stevie’s girlfriend; Act, and Cover-Up. Norbert Doyle, former minor league pitcher Summary: While covering baseball’s World suddenly elevated to starting pitcher in the Series between the Washington Nationals World Series. and the Boston Red Sox, teenage sports Curriculum areas: Language arts. reporters Stevie and Susan Carol investigate a rookie pitcher whose evasive answers Topics: Baseball. World Series. Journalism. during an interview reveal more than a few Mystery. Available at contradictions in his life story. Sensitive areas: None. juniorlibraryguild.com

58 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 NO VEM ber Grades 9 & up • Young Adults Y jlgguides

Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd

David Fickling • ISBN: 9780375949715 • Dewey: F • 272 pp • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" Scheduled Month: November 2009

When Holly Hogan finds the wig, everything changes. Wearing the long, flowing blond locks, she’s not Holly anymore; she’s Solace, the girl with the slinkster walk and the super-sharp talk. She’s older, more confident—the kind of girl who can walk right out of her foster family’s house, hitch to Ireland, and find her mum.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• A road-trip novel that succeeds thanks to both Holly Hogan’s voice and the large cast of characters Holly meets.

• Holly’s perfectly toned voice relays her sense of humor and her distrust of adults. Siobhan Dowd was born to Despite her fear, sarcasm, and rages, she is instantly endearing. Irish parents and grew up • The writing is lyrical, precise, and colloquial—often all at once. in south London, England. Stories were a part of her • Holly’s background unfolds slowly and carefully for the reader. She changes slightly childhood, both from her father, whose with every character she meets, and her story also changes. oldest brother was imprisoned by the British for being a member of the original IRA, and • The process of reaching self-understanding is deeply felt and heartbreakingly her mother, who told amazing tales of rural portrayed. Ireland. According to Ms. Dowd, “Ireland—its landscape, words, and music—became bred in the bone.” after many years working as a literacy I’d done with school and the pit-miseries. I’d done with Tooting Snooting. I’d done advocate and fighting censorship, Ms. with Rachel and the reviews and rules and reports. I’d done with everything. From Dowd began writing. Her first novel was the now on it was me and the wig, and together we made a girl called Solace. And critically acclaimed A Swift Pure Cry. Her third Solace was on her way. Today. novel, Bog Child, published posthumously, was awarded the 2008 Carnegie Medal. —Solace of the Road ms. Dowd died in 2007 at the age of forty- seven. A trust has been set up in her name to help disadvantaged children improve their reading skills and experience the joy of reading. www.siobhandowdtrust.com

Curriculum Indications You might also like: Book type: Novel. Sensitive areas: Strong language. Mild Bog Child Genre: Fiction. sexual themes. Drugs. Alcohol. Underage by Siobhan Dowd drinking. Smoking. Child neglect. Summary: While running away from a Shoplifting. Wait for Me London foster home just before her fifteenth by An Na birthday, Holly has ample time to consider her years of residential care and her early Lock and Key life with her Irish mother, whom she is now by Sarah Dessen trying to reach. Main characters: Holly Hunter, a fourteen- year-old runaway; Miko, her key worker; Ray and Fiona Aldridge, her foster parents. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Topics: Runaways. Foster homes. Hitchhiking. Travels. Great Britain. Mothers. Trauma. Memories.

Reading Guide available from JLG Available at juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 59 Y+ Young Adults • Grades 9 & up NOVEMber

The Ask and the Answer Chaos Walking, Book 2

by Patrick Ness

Candlewick • ISBN: 9780763644901 • Dewey: F • 528 pp • 5 1/4" x 8 1/2" Scheduled Month: November 2009

Todd and Viola thought they would find rescue in the town of Haven. Instead they are captured by Mayor Prentiss, who has conquered most human settlements on the planet. When the mayor imprisons Todd, Viola joins an opposition group, hoping to save Todd—and their world—from the mayor’s wicked machinations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

Patrick Ness felt real pressure not to let people down after • Excellent plotting, as in The Knife of Never Letting Go, the first book in this the success of The Knife of planned trilogy. Never Letting Go. He had a unique way of handling it. • The almost impeccably precise series of events builds to a genuinely surprising “What I did was try to forget and satisfying conclusion. about them completely!” he explains. “I tried to just tell the • Strong, memorable characters. Mayor Prentiss is so smart and deceptive that the best story I could, opening reader will almost admire him, and he’s an excellent villain. it out and making it more ambitious and • The book addresses issues such as torture, power, and moral slipperiness—and challenging. That’s the very best thing about young-adult readers: if you treat them with even the Holocaust—in ways that don’t grate or seem labored or inappropriate. respect, they’ll follow you to far-off places. • Great cliffhanger chapter endings throughout. “The Ask and the Answer started from a need to write about things I always found • Readers will be left with a feeling of “I can’t wait to read what happens next and upsetting to read, in particular, the abuse I have no idea what’s going to happen next.” They will look forward to the final of power. My own readers have responded book in the trilogy. to this, as well. Who feels more abused by power than a teenager? It’s hard being a young adult, able to make some decisions and not others. I remembered what it was “How can I know?” I finally say, my voice a croak, a slur, a thing not quite real. like for me, all that frustration, and tried to “How can I know she’s even still alive?” put that rush of feeling onto the page.” “You can’t,” says the Mayor. “You only have my word.” And waits again. You might also like: “And if I do it,” I say. “If I do what you say, you’ll save her?” The Knife of Never Letting Go “We will do whatever’s necessary,” he says. by Patrick Ness —The Ask and the Answer The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Seeker by William Nicholson Curriculum Indications Book type: Novel. from another planet and Todd’s friend; Genre: Science fiction. Mayor Prentiss, the cunning leader of New Prentisstown; Davy Prentiss Jr., Mayor Series: Chaos Walking trilogy. Prentiss’s obnoxious son. Summary: Alternate chapters follow Curriculum areas: Language arts. teenagers Todd and Viola, who become Social studies. separated as the Mayor’s oppressive new regime takes power in New Prentisstown, a Topics: Science fiction. Space colonies. space colony where residents can hear one Social problems. Abuse of power. Rebellion. another’s thoughts. Terrorism. Torture. Telepathy. Main characters: Fourteen-year-old Sensitive areas: Guns. Mild language. War. Violence. Torture. Genocide. Available at Todd Hewitt, imprisoned by the mayor of juniorlibraryguild.com New Prentisstown; Viola Eade, a colonist

60 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 NO VEM ber Grades 10 & up • History High School HH

Rapture of the Deep Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Soldier, Sailor, Mermaid, Spy by L. A. Meyer

Houghton Mifflin • ISBN: 9780152065010 • Dewey: F • 460 pp • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" Scheduled Month: November 2009

At last, Jacky Faber is to marry her beloved Jaimy. But on her wedding day, British intelligence kidnaps Jacky and compels her to embark on another mission in service of the Crown. The mission, searching for sunken Spanish treasure in the Caribbean, is potentially lucrative, but certainly perilous—which is to say, right up Jacky’s alley.

JLG’s Reviewers Say: Mr. Peel smiles. “We think you are anything but stupid, Miss Faber. And no, we are not sending you on this mission because of your • Gold, swords, and pirates! This is a truly abilities as a spy, which are admittedly meager.” swashbuckling tale. “Why, then?” I demand. • L. A. Meyer incorporates fascinating period “It is because, Miss Faber,” says Mr. Peel, smiling one of his very rare details that add richness to the story. smiles. “It is because you can swim.” • Longtime fans of the Bloody Jack Adventure series will enjoy seeing some of Jacky’s old —Rapture of the Deep friends and foes, such as Davy Jones and Alexander Bliffil, join her on a new adventure. • Lieutenant Juan Carlos Cisneros y Siquieros, the lecherous Spanish captain who attempts to thwart Jacky’s mission, is a strong villain. • New readers will be able to dive right in. Meyer capably and concisely recounts Jacky’s relevant history, so readers are clear on why Jacky must fulfill the Crown’s wishes.

L. A. Meyer is “an old Florida hand,” who has lived on Fort Myers Beach You might also like: for many years. Because he has spent a good deal of time underwater, he says that it seemed like a natural for Jacky’s next adventure. About the My Bonny Light Horseman setting and story, Mr. Meyer writes, “Well, there was the English Jacky, the by L. A. Meyer Bostonian Jacky, the American Jacky, and the French Jacky. I felt it was time for the Spanish Jacky.” Mississippi Jack www.jackyfaber.com by L. A. Meyer In the Belly of the Bloodhound by L. A. Meyer

Curriculum Indications Book type: Novel. Cisneros y Siquieros, a lecherous Spanish Genre: Historical fiction. captain; Flaco Jimenez, a pirate. Series: Bloody Jack Adventures. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Social studies. Summary: In 1806, star-crossed lovers Jacky Faber and Jaimy Fletcher are kidnapped Topics: Spies. Sea life. Buried treasure. by British Naval Intelligence and forced to Kidnapping. Orphans. Caribbean history. embark on yet another daring mission—this Sensitive areas: Violence. Sexual themes. time to search for sunken Spanish gold off Alcohol. Sexual assault. Gambling. the Florida coast. Cockfighting. Main characters: Jacky Faber, an unwilling agent of British Naval Intelligence; Jaimy Available at Fletcher, her beloved; Lieutenant Juan Carlos juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 61 HI High-Interest Reading High School • Grades 10 & up NOVEMber

Fire

by Kristin Cashore

Dial • ISBN: 9780803734616 • Dewey: F • 400 pp • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" Scheduled Month: November 2009

Entrancingly beautiful and gifted with the ability to control people’s minds, sixteen- year-old Fire is the only remaining human monster in the Dells. After a dark childhood incident, she pledged never to use her powers again. But as war threatens to consume the Dells, a prince helps Fire see what she is capable of: saving the kingdom.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

Kristin Cashore explains what makes Fire a prequel to Graceling: “Fire takes place thirty- • Fire is a fully developed and sympathetic and engaging character. some years before Graceling and has one • The psychological and social implications of Fire’s power are fascinating and fully crossover character, a small boy with strange two-colored eyes who comes from no-one- explored. Her power seems natural and essential to the story, not just convenient knows-where and who or useful. has a peculiar ability that • Fire’s development of her power is gratifying to see, and Kristin Cashore shows that Graceling readers will find familiar and disturbing.” there are positive and negative consequences to what she’s capable of doing. On her Web site, Ms. • Cashore is careful to show that there are other parts to this world—history that has Cashore says, “Fire takes nothing to do with Fire and people (such as Garan) who are suspicious of her and place across the mountains to the east of the seven have their own lives. kingdoms, in a rocky, • The Dellian Kingdom is impressively progressive in its attitudes toward women war-torn land called the Dells. Seventeen- and homosexuality. This is a refreshing take, as most fantasy novels are firmly year-old Fire is the last remaining human- shaped monster in the Dells. Gorgeously entrenched in the patriarchal attitudes of the medieval/renaissance periods that monstrous in body and mind but with a form the model of “fantasy.” human appreciation of right and wrong, she is hated and mistrusted by just about everyone, and this book is her story.” Fire gripped her bow tightly and said, “Taking someone’s very mind and changing www.kristincashore.com it is a trespass. A violence. Can I ever use such a thing without overstepping my right? How will I know if I’m going too far? I’m capable of so many horrors.” Kristin Cashore photo by Laura Evans Brigan took a minute to think, staring intently at his hands. He tugged at the You might also like: edge of his bandage. “I understand you,” he said, speaking quietly. “I know what it’s like to be capable of horrors. I’m training twenty-five thousand soldiers for a Eon bloodbath.” by Alison Goodman —Fire The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness Curriculum Indications Book type: Novel. Genre: Fantasy. Series: A prequel to Graceling. Summary: In a kingdom called the Dells, Fire is the last human-shaped monster, with unimaginable beauty and the ability to control the minds of those around her, but even with these gifts she cannot escape the strife that overcomes her world. Main characters: Sixteen-year-old Fire; Prince Brigan, a handsome but troubled military commander; Archer, Fire’s lifelong friend. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Topics: Fantasy. War. Mind control. Love. Overcoming trauma. Infatuation. Power and responsibility. Family. Available at Sensitive areas: War. Violence. Mild sexual themes. juniorlibraryguild.com

62 jlgmonthly • October/November 2009 866.205.0570 NO VEM ber Grades 11 & up • Mature Young Adults YM

Hold Still by Nina LaCour • illustrated by Mia Nolting

Dutton • ISBN: 9780525421559 • Dewey: F • 304 pp • 6" x 9" Scheduled Month: November 2009

Ingrid didn’t leave a note. Three months after her best friend’s suicide, Caitlin finds what she left instead: a journal, hidden under Caitlin’s bed. “I stare at it in my hands forever, just feeling its weight, looking at the place where one Wite-Out wing is starting to flake off. Then, once my hands are steadied, I open to the first page.” Black-and-white illustrations.

JLG’s Reviewers Say:

• Characters are detailed and feel refreshingly contemporary. • Compelling depiction of friendship; the author shows people sometimes making the wrong choices in relationships before making the right ones. Ingrid’s journal. • LaCour offers enough of a glimpse of Ingrid before her suicide for readers to understand Caitlin’s loss. For some reason, I feel afraid. It’s like I’m split down the middle and one half • Caitlin’s interactions with her photography teacher are particularly intriguing, of me wants to open it more than I’ve frustrating, and affecting. The teacher is shown as not being all good or bad but ever wanted to do anything. The other more complex. half is so scared. I can’t stop shaking. • The book is invested in the creative process and shows that there are multiple —Hold Still steps involved in moving from inspiration to finished art.

Nina LaCour grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. Her first job, at fourteen, was at an independent bookstore. She has tutored and taught in various places, from a juvenile hall to a private college. She now teaches English at an independent high school and lives in Oakland, California. Hold Still is her first book. Ms. LaCour says, “When I was in ninth grade, one of my classmates took his You might also like: life. Even though Hold Still is not autobiographical, I felt compelled to write about something that I wrestled with in my own teenage years—the journey to finding Black Box oneself again in the wake of a great loss. by Julie Schumacher “Hold Still is about loss, but it’s also about art. Throughout the book, even as Caitlin is struggling, she is finding joy in creation.” Wintergirls www.ninalacour.com by Laurie Halse Anderson

Mia Nolting writes, “Nina and I have known each other since we were teenagers, and I began It’s Kind of a Funny Story creating illustrations for the book while it was still in its early drafts. At that point, the book was by Ned Vizzini part of Nina’s graduate thesis. . . . I worked on the illustrations while Nina was still editing the manuscript, so there was this great back-and-forth process of letting the drawings evolve with the novel. Because I knew the story so well, I felt really comfortable creating illustrations that felt like they came from Ingrid's character, and that fit the tone of the novel.” www.mianolting.com

Curriculum Indications Book type: Novel. a new girl at school; Ms. Delani, Caitlin’s Genre: Fiction. photography teacher. Summary: Caitlin struggles to come to Curriculum areas: Language arts. terms with her best friend’s suicide. Topics: Suicide. Friendship. Mental Main characters: Caitlin Madison, a high depression. Recovery. Photography. The school junior whose best friend, Ingrid, creative process. commited suicide and left her journal for Sensitive areas: Sexual themes. Drugs. Caitlin to read; Taylor Riley, a boy who Underage drinking. Suicide. Available at is interested in Caitlin; Dylan Schuster, juniorlibraryguild.com

www.juniorlibraryguild.com October/November 2009 • jlgmonthly 63 INDEX OF OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER BOOKS

title LeveL PAGe title LeveL PAGe 3-2-3 Detective Agency, The...... GE...... 13 life and Times of Corn, The...... SCE...... 16 al Capone Shines My Shoes...... C...... 52 little Mouse Gets Ready...... K...... 3 andy Shane and the Barn Sale Mystery...... I+...... 9 lost Conspiracy, The...... FM...... 22 angry Management...... HI...... 30 magical Ms. Plum, The...... A...... 10 ankylosaurus...... I+...... 41 mouse and Mole: Fine Feathered Friends...... E...... 38 applesauce Season...... P+...... 5 Notes from the Dog...... C...... 20 ask and the Answer, The...... Y+...... 60 3 Once Upon a Twice...... P...... 4 bag of Bones, The...... ME...... 14 Outlaw...... GM...... 23 before Columbus...... NM...... 57 Pemba Sherpa...... I...... 8 big Bear Hug...... K...... 35 Pocket Guide to the Outdoors...... NE...... 47 big, Big Wall, The / No puedo bajar...... PS...... 2 Purple Heart...... YM...... 31 3 Big Fat Cow That Goes Kapow, The...... P...... 36 rapture of the Deep...... HH...... 61 binky the Space Cat...... GE...... 45 3 Sea of the Dead...... B...... 18 birthday for Bear, A...... E...... 6 search, The...... C+...... 53 bone: Rose...... GM...... 55 secret of Zoom, The...... ME...... 46 boy Who Invented TV, The...... BE...... 44 sharp Shot...... MM...... 24 Calvin Coconut: The Zippy Fix...... A...... 42 shiver...... Y+...... 28 3 Catching Fire...... Y...... 27 3 Solace of the Road...... Y...... 59 Change-Up...... SM...... 58 stagecoach Sal...... E+...... 39 dream Stealer, The...... A+...... 43 story of Snow, The...... SCE...... 48 Family Secret, A...... C+...... 21 thumb and the Bad Guys...... A+...... 11 Fire...... HI...... 62 time of the Witches...... HH...... 29 Football Champ...... SM...... 26 touchdown...... SE...... 49 Forest Born...... FM...... 54 true Gift, The...... I...... 40 Georges and the Jewels, The...... B+...... 19 tumbleweed Stew / Sopa de matojos...... PS...... 34 Great and Only Barnum, The...... NM...... 25 Whiteout...... MM...... 56 Guess Again!...... P+...... 37 Wild Card...... SE...... 17 Hold Still...... YM...... 63 3 Wild Girl...... B...... 50 If America Were a Village...... NE...... 15 Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer...... E+...... 7 Jasper Dash and the Flame-Pits of Delaware...... B+...... 51 Yellowstone Moran...... BE...... 12 3 Books with JLG Guides. For more information, or to download a FREE JLG Guide, go to www.juniorlibraryguild.com/jlgguides/samples

NextNext Mmoonnthth FortHcoming titles • december 2009

Howler Monkeys and Other Latin American Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman The Hunchback Assignments Monkeys / Monos aulladores y otros monos by Arthur Slade The Unfinished Angelby Sharon Creech de Latinoamérica by Zella Williams Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone: John Brown: His Fight for Freedom Under the Snow by Melissa Stewart Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up? by John Hendrix adapted by Mark Kneece Charlie and Lola: I Will Be Especially The Secret Science Alliance and the Very Careful characters created by Lauren Child Vanishing Girl: The Boy Sherlock Copycat Crook by Eleanor Davis Holmes, His 3rd Case by Shane Peacock Big Wolf & Little Wolf: The Little Leaf That Murder at Midnight by Avi Wouldn’t Fall by Nadine Brun-Cosme Albert Einstein: Giants of Science

Killer Ants by Nicholas Nirgiotis by Kathleen Krull Imogene’s Last Stand by Candace Fleming Heroes of the Environment: True Stories of Pop by Gordon Korman Princess Hyacinth (The Surprising Tale of People Who Are Helping to Protect the Planet a Girl Who Floated) by Florence Parry Heide Candor by Pam Bachorz by Harriet Rohmer In the Belly of an Ox: The Unexpected Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough Dino-Soccer by Lisa Wheeler Photographic Adventures of Richard and Death on the River by John Wilson Cherry Kearton by Rebecca Bond Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney Liar by Justine Larbalestier The Naming of Tishkin Silk by Glenda Millard Zoobreak by Gordon Korman Lips Touch: Three Times Half-Minute Horrors edited by Susan Rich by Laini Taylor Bystander by James Preller

© 2009 Media Source Incorporated. All rights reserved. JLG Monthly ISSN: 1946-2298 [email protected] Junior Library Guild [email protected] 7858 Industrial Parkway Plain City, OH 43064 www.juniorlibraryguild.com • 866.205.0570