The Nutcracker’s Night Before Christmas by Keith Brockett Illustrated by Joseph Cowman @Copyright 2015 Sleeping Bear Press on the cover THE NUTCRACKER’S NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS by Keith Brockett with illustrations by Joseph Cowman. Preparations for a doomed stage production of the classic ballet go from terribly bad to ridiculously worse. But it’s Christmas Eve and help is on the way! Ages 4 to 8. Sleeping Bear Press (9781585368891) $15.99 THE SOUTHERNER’S COOKBOOK From the editors of Garden & Gun—the magazine that features the best of Southern cooking, dining, cocktails, and customs—comes this guide to the traditions and innovations that define today’s Southern food culture. Harper Wave (9780062242419) $37.50 children’s CAILLOU STORYBOOK TREASURY PETE THE CAT AND THE BEDTIME BLUES This 25th anniversary storybook is by James and Kimberly Dean. When Pete embellished for the special occasion wants to go to sleep, his animal friends with foil edges and a glittering cover. want to stay up and play. What will he Preschoolers and their parents will love do? No one makes bedtime as groovy as reading this treasury together. Includes 10 Pete the Cat! Ages 4 to 8. HarperCollins bestselling adventures. Ages 3 and up. (9780062304308) $17.99 Chouette Publishing (9782897181499) $15.99 THE DAY THE CRAYONS CAME HOME THE NONSENSE SHOW by Drew Daywalt with illustrations by Oliver by Eric Carle. A legendary illustrator explores Jeffers. Having soothed the hurt feelings one of his favorite art movements: surrealism. of one group of crayons who threatened With wordplay and visual jokes galore, this to quit, Duncan now faces a whole new playful homage allows readers to encounter group of crayons asking to be rescued. a very different side of Carle. Ages 4-8. Each and every crayon has a woeful tale Philomel Books (9780399176876) $18.99 to tell and a plea to be brought home to the crayon box. Ages 4-8. Philomel Books (9780399172755) $18.99 ONE DAY, THE END MY DIARY FROM THE EDGE by Rebecca Kai Dotich with illustrations by Jodi Lynn Anderson. Told in diary form by Fred Koehler. There’s no limit to by an irresistible heroine, this playful and where these extremely short (only perceptive novel from the New York Times- two sentences each!) stories can take bestselling author of the May Bird trilogy you, with illustrations that open up a sparkles with science, myth, magic, and the world of possibilities. Ages 4-8. Boyds strange beauty of everyday marvels. Ages Mill Press (9781620914519) $16.95 9-12. Aladdin Paperbacks (9781442483873) $16.99 Free Subscription at LadyBanksCommonPlaceBook.com 2 children’s SHADOW OF A DOUBT by Skylar James with illustrations by Kelley McMorris. A heartfelt story about the friendship between a young girl and her ambitious racehorse. Ages 9 -12. Adaptive Books (9780996066655) $16.99 VOYAGERS: PROJECT ALPHA by D.J. MacHale. Eight boys and girls compete for a spot on the space voyage that’ll search for a source to solve Earth’s energy crisis. Part sci-fi, part eco-mystery, and all action-adventure. Ages 8 -12. CIRCUS MIRANDUS Random House Books (9780385386586) by Cassie Beasley. Big Fish meets Peter $12.99 Pan in this heartfelt debut. When he realizes that his grandfather’s stories of an enchanted circus are true, Micah Tuttle sets out to find the mysterious Circus Mirandus and to use its magic to save his grandfather’s life. Ages 9-12. Dial Books (9780525428435) $17.99 GEORGE by Alex Gino. When her teacher announces that their class play is going THE ODDS OF GETTING EVEN to be Charlotte’s Web, George really, really, by Sheila Turnage. Humor and action REALLY wants to play Charlotte. 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Wendy Lamb Books (9780385743174) (9780385743785) $16.99 $16.99 3 Find your favorite writers at readermeetwriter.com THE BLACKTHORN KEY by Kevin Sands. Following fiction for all tastes a series of murders, an apothecary’s apprentice must solve puzzles and decipher codes in pursuit of a secret that could destroy the world in this suspenseful debut novel. Ages 9-12. Aladdin Paperbacks (9781481446518) $17.99 DUMPLIN by Julie Murphy. From the author of Side Effects May Vary comes what is guaranteed to be one of readers’ favorite novels of the year—about an unforgettable heroine named Willowdean Dickson who decides to take on WOLF BY WOLF her small town’s beauty pageant. by Ryan Graudin. Inglorious Ages 13 and up. Balzer & Bray/ Basterds meets The Hunger Harperteen (9780062327185) Games in this fast-paced, $17.99 thought-provoking novel from Graudin. Bestselling author Laini Taylor says, “Wild and gorgeous, vivid and consuming. I loved it!” Ages 15 and up. Little, Brown Books or Young Readers (9780316405126) $18.00 STAR WARS: ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING YOU KNOW by Adam Bray, et al. Explore the world of Star Wars® through lively lists, facts, questions and answers via a highly engaging infographic design. This guide will excite readers of all AN INVISIBLE THREAD ages. All ages. DK Publishing by Laura Schroff and Alex (9781465437853) $19.99 Tresniowski with illustrations by Barry Root. From the #1 New York Times-bestselling authors of An Invisible Thread comes the true, heartfelt, and extraordinary story of how one woman’s decision to help a boy on the street changed both of their lives “forever.” Little Simon (9781481419307) $17.99 Free Subscription at LadyBanksCommonPlaceBook.com 4 THE CURSE OF CROW HOLLOW by Billy Coffey. With “the profound sense of Southern fiction for all tastes spirituality” he is known for (Publishers Weekly), Coffey draws us into a town where good and evil—and myth and reality—intertwine in unexpected ways. Thomas Nelson (9780718026776) $15.99 SHOP LOCAL ABOVE THE WATERFALL by Ron Rash. In this poetic and haunting tale set in contemporary Appalachia, New York Times-bestselling author Rash illuminates lives shaped by violence and a powerful connection to the land. Ecco Press (9780062349316) $26.99 THE WHEEL OF TIME COMPANION by Robert Jordan et al. Discover the world of The Wheel of Time® through Jordan’s copious notes and learn more about the Westlands than you ever imagined. Includes new maps of the Last Battle, new portraits of many characters, an entry for each named character, the strength level of many channelers, and much more. Tor Books (9780765314611) $39.99 SON OF THE BLACK SWORD THE SECRET CHORD by Larry Correia. “This book has by Geraldine Brooks. A rich and everything I like in fantasy: intense utterly absorbing novel about action scenes, evil in horrifying array, the life of King David, from the good struggling against the darkness, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of and most of all people—gorgeously People of the Book and March. flawed human beings faced with Brooks provides new context horrible moral choices that force them for some of the best-known to question and change and grow.” episodes of David’s life. Viking —Jim Butcher, creator of the Dresden (9780670025770) $27.95 Files. Baen Books (9781476780863) $25.00 A CALL TO ARMS DC TRIP by David Weber et al. In Book Two by Sara Benincasa. The author in the Manticore Ascendant series, and comedienne takes a bold, powerful forces in the Star Kingdom of fearless, and irreverent look at Manticore’s Parliament don’t think they the classic high school trip to Travis Long or the Royal Manticoran Washington D.C. “The perfect, Navy. 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The final novel from urban slave in early 19th-century the Pulitzer Prize-winning author is a Charleston, yearns for life beyond luminous work of fiction inspired by the the suffocating walls that enclose her real-life, 37-year friendship between within the wealthy Grimke household.