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A new Don Quixote? Going Bovine – for teens

Going Bovine (Hardcover)
~ Libba Bray (Author)
In this ambitious novel, Cameron, a 16-year-old slacker whose somewhat dysfunctional family has just about given up on him, as perhaps he himself has, when his diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jacob, "mad cow" disease, reunites them, if too late. The heart of the story, though, is a hallucinatory—or is it?—quest with many parallels to the hopeless but inspirational efforts of Don Quixote, about whom Cameron had been reading before his illness. Just like the crazy—or was he?—Spaniard, Cam is motivated to go on a journey by a sort of Dulcinea. His pink-haired, white-winged version goes by Dulcie and leads him to take up arms against the Dark Wizard and fire giants that attack him intermittently, and to find a missing Dr. X, who can both help save the world and cure him. Cameron's Sancho is a Mexican-American dwarf, game-master hypochondriac he met in the pot smokers' bathroom at school who later turns up as his hospital roommate. Bray blends in a hearty dose of satire on the road trip as Cameron leaves his Texas deathbed—or does he?—to battle evil forces with a legendary jazz horn player, to escape the evil clutches of a happiness cult, to experiment with cloistered scientists trying to solve the mysteries of the universe, and to save a yard gnome embodying a Viking god from the clutches of the materialistic, fame-obsessed MTV-culture clones who shun individual thought. It's a trip worth taking, though meandering and message-driven at times. Some teens may check out before Cameron makes it to his final destination, but many will enjoy asking themselves the questions both deep and shallow that pop up along the way.—Suzanne Gordon, Peachtree Ridge High School, Suwanee, GA END

Author Libba Bray talks about Going Bovine

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Growing up in the big city – unusual and thought-provoking

When You Reach Me (Hardcover)
~ Rebecca Stead (Author)
Sixth-grader Miranda lives in 1978 New York City with her mother, and her life compass is Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. When she receives a series of enigmatic notes that claim to want to save her life, she comes to believe that they are from someone who knows the future. Miranda spends considerable time observing a raving vagrant who her mother calls the laughing man and trying to find the connection between the notes and her everyday life. Discerning readers will realize the ties between Miranda's mystery and L'Engle's plot, but will enjoy hints of fantasy and descriptions of middle school dynamics. Stead's novel is as much about character as story. Miranda's voice rings true with its faltering attempts at maturity and observation. The story builds slowly, emerging naturally from a sturdy premise. As Miranda reminisces, the time sequencing is somewhat challenging, but in an intriguing way. The setting is consistently strong. The stores and even the streets–in Miranda's neighborhood act as physical entities and impact the plot in tangible ways. This unusual, thought-provoking mystery will appeal to several types of readers.

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Bittersweet and sometimes hilarious – solace of the road

Solace of the Road

~ Siobhan Dowd

Holly’s story will leave a lasting impression on all who travel with her.

Memories of mum are the only thing that make Holly Hogan happy. She hates her foster family with their too-nice ways and their false sympathy. And she hates her life, her stupid school, and the way everyone is always on at her. Then she finds the wig, and everything changes. Wearing the long, flowing blond locks she feels transformed. She’s not Holly anymore, she’s Solace: the girl with the slinkster walk and the supersharp talk. She’s older, more confident—the kind of girl who can walk right out of her humdrum life, hitch to Ireland, and find her mum. The kind of girl who can face the
world head-on. So begins a bittersweet and sometimes hilarious journey as Solace swaggers and Holly tiptoes across England and through memory, discovering her true self and unlocking the secrets of her past.

Buy from Amazon

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Great gift idea – How to raise the perfect puppy

From the bestselling author and star of National Geographic Channel's Dog Whisperer, the only resource you’ll need for raising a happy, healthy dog.


The 1981 edition (now out of print) of this little classic on puppy rearing was a word-of-mouth best seller. This substantially revised and expanded edition benefits from an additional decade of observation of puppy behavior by its authors and includes effective, up-to-date methods for educating puppies to become good canine citizens. Along with Job Michael Evans's The Evans Guide for Housetraining Your Dog (Howell, 1987), this is required reading for new puppy owners.

"This book may be as important for puppies as preschool is for children" -- (Dog Fancy)

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Brilliant, hugely ambitious, and life changing – The Book Thief

The Book Thief 

by Marcus Zusak


  • Format:  560 pages
  • Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers;
  • Published:  March 14, 2006
  • ISBN-13: 978-0375831003

Reading level: Young Adult

 Zusak has created a work that deserves the attention of sophisticated teen and adult readers. Death himself narrates the World War II-era story of Liesel Meminger from the time she is taken, at age nine, to live in Molching, Germany, with a foster family in a working-class neighborhood of tough kids, acid-tongued mothers, and loving fathers who earn their living by the work of their hands. The child arrives having just stolen her first book–although she has not yet learned how to read–and her foster father uses it,The Gravediggers Handbook, to lull her to sleep when shes roused by regular nightmares about her younger brothers death. Across the ensuing years of the late 1930s and into the 1940s, Liesel collects more stolen books as well as a peculiar set of friends: the boy Rudy, the Jewish refugee Max, the mayors reclusive wife (who has a whole library from which she allows Liesel to steal), and especially her foster parents. Zusak not only creates a mesmerizing and original story but also writes with poetic syntax, causing readers to deliberate over phrases and lines, even as the action impels them forward. Death is not a sentimental storyteller, but he does attend to an array of satisfying details, giving Liesels story all the nuances of chance, folly, and fulfilled expectation that it deserves. An extraordinary narrative.–Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA 
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Markus Zusak talks about the writing of The Book Thief

Pre Reading Activities

Book Club discussion notes

Reading Group Guide - discussion questions

Marcus Zusak talks about writing The Book Thief



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Gay characters make problems for Scholastic Books

There has been much discussion in recent years about gay parents in children's books,a nd it has happened again.

Would you buy this book for your children?

Here's the latest report on the discussion ...

Will they or won’t they? That had been the question. Would a book with a pair of gay characters appear at Scholastic’s book fairs? If not, there was angry talk of a boycott. And if so, well, there is also angry talk of a boycott. The book in question is a novel called “Luv Ya Bunches” by Lauren Myracle. The book is aimed at readers ages 9 to 12 and it tells the story of four girls with nothing in common except that they are all named for flowers.

Read more ...

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National Coalition Against Censorship Salutes Judy Blume

Some people may have difficulty finding humor in the issue of censorship. Thankfully, celebrated author Judy Blume isn’t one of them. Nor were the many actors, comedians, authors, and supporters who gathered at City Winery in New York City on Monday evening for “A Night of Comedy with Judy Blume & Friends.” Presented by the National Coalition Against Censorship, the event was both a celebration of the coalition’s 35th anniversary and an opportunity to honor Blume, who has actively battled censorship of her own books since the 1980s, and who has been on NCAC’s board of directors since 2000.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6703348.html?nid=2788&source=title&rid=1189609311

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What comes after Vampires – The end of the world as we know it?

Vampires may live forever, but the recent vampire trend in YA fiction won’t. Author Michael Grant, for one, is “sick to death of vampires,” and he is not alone. But when one hugely popular trend ends, what will take its place? Some readers have their fingers crossed for post-apocalyptic fiction.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6703373.html?nid=2788&source=link&rid=1189609311

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The bizarre, the unexpected, the fascinating – English phrases

Phraseology

Thousands of Bizarre Origins, Unexpected Connections, and Fascinating Facts about English's Best Expressions

by Barbara Kipfer

Phraseology is the ultimate collection of everything you never knew about the wonderful phrases found in the English language. It contains information about phrase history and etymology; unusual, lost, or uncommon phrases; how phrases are formed; and more than 7,000 facts about common English phrases.

Find out more or buy the book at The Book Depository or Amazon.

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“What book got you hooked?”

· Join Celebrities, Communities in the “What Book Got You Hooked?” Campaign
What book left a lasting impression on you as a kid? For actor Morgan Freeman, it was Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty. For singer Patti LaBelle, it was Johanna Spyri’s Heidi, and for Newbery-award-winning author Kate DiCamillo, it was Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind. These and about 80 other authors, journalists, actors, artists, and librarians are taking part in “What Book Got You Hooked?,” a campaign by the nonprofit organization, First Book. more » » »