January 20, 2004
In this issue:
Low Watermark Sale.
"Where the Sidewalk Ends" again.
"A Great and Terrible Beauty" by Libba Bray.
Two new trilogies.
How did Ted Geisel become Dr. Seuss?
A new Tomie DePaola.
My new favorite.
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Greetings,
Hope this finds you rested after a long weekend--at least for some of you.
Many of us at Watermark spent a wild Saturday at North High School where
multitudes of fans gathered for a book signing by Barry Sanders. It was a
great day. Many thanks to all involved in making it a success.
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Have you made it to our Low Watermark Sale yet? So many books, such good
discounts. 45% off on selected books and 50%-75% off on sidelines. There's
something for everyone. I managed to fill a shopping bag.
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Shel Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends" was first published 30 years
ago. In celebration, HarperCollins has released a special edition which
contains 12 poems never before published. I just love Silverstein and am
thinking, maybe it's time to replace my dog-eared copy.
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Older girls will love "A Great and Terrible Beauty" by Libba Bray. The
publisher describes this book as a "curl-up-under-the-covers kind of book"
and that's just what I did--not to mention that I skipped laundry and meals
to finish it. This is the story of 16-year-old Gemma Doyle, a feisty girl
growing up with the strict morality and repression of the Victorian age.
Gemma finds herself in the grip of supernatural powers that take her mother
and leave her with a gift--or curse--which she must learn to control all the
while dealing with life at a proper girls' finishing school outside London.
Couldn't put it down. (ages 12 and up; some mature themes)
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First we had "Eragon" written by then-15-year-old Christopher Paolini, who
is making the talk show circuits and creating quite a stir. There seems to
be a trend in the making. Now we have "Lion Boy" written by Zizou Corder,
pen name for Louisa Young and her daughter Isabel Adomakoh Young, who is ten
years old. "Lion Boy" is the first in a trilogy set in the not-too-distant
future where pollution has caused asthma to rise in alarming proportions,
forcing governments to prohibit the use of vehicles and other pollutants.
Twelve-year-old Charlie Ashanti lives in London with his parents, both
scientists who have secretly discovered a cure for asthma. Charlie has an
unusual gift--he speaks to cats. So when an evil drug company kidnaps
Charlie's parents, Charlie sets out to find them with the help of the cat
hotline (a la "101 Dalmatians"). He lands aboard a circus ship where he
befriends the lions and agrees to rescue them from captivity. The end of
this first story leaves Charlie and his pride of lions hiding aboard the
Orient Express headed toward Bulgaria. And those are just the highlights.
This is an imaginative tale that kids will like. As for the writing, the
reader will feel the influence of a 10-year-old, but it really doesn't
detract from the story. I'm looking forward to the next adventure. This
book has taken Britain by storm and has been optioned for a movie by
DreamWorks. To read more of the buzz, click on
http://www.writenews.com/2003/040403_lion_boy.htm (ages 9-12)
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"The Various" is another first-in-a-trilogy, also from England, about the
secret world of fairy tribes who struggle in the land of human giants.
These are not your cute fairies throwing a little pixy dust around; there
are some bad guys among these fairies. For more about this book link to
http://www.steveaugarde.com/the_various.html and
http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/catalog/extractcb.htm?command=search&db
=main.txt&eqisbndata=0385604742
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The title of this next book, "The Boy on Fairfield Street: How Ted Geisel
Grew Up to Become Dr. Suess," needs no explanation. The author Kathleen
Krull goes a long way toward answering the question: Where did Dr. Seuss get
his ideas? Beautiful illustrations by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher bring
young Ted Geisel and the early decades of the twentieth century alive. The
story focuses on Dr. Seuss as a boy, but a brief highlight of the milestones
in his adult life are included at the end, as well as a complete listing of
Geisel's work. This book needs to be in any library or classroom where Dr.
Seuss has a presence. (ages 6 and up)
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Tomie DePaola returns to his interest in the lives of the saints in his
recent book, "Pascual and the Kitchen Angels," about the Pascual, patron
saint of the kitchen. Pascual is a very special boy who grows up to join a
monastery to help the poor. He is mortified when the monks send him to the
kitchen to cook the evening meal. Pascual doesn't know the first thing
about cooking, so he prays. The kitchen angels appear and prepare a feast
so delicious that the monks make Pascual the permanent cook. Now what will
he do? DePaola's humor and medieval-esque illustrations will delight
children and cooks alike. (Where were the kitchen angels when I was
struggling with that whole Thanksgiving melodrama?) (ages 4-7)
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And now for my favorite book so far this year. "ellington was not a street"
nearly defies description. It is poet Ntozake Shange's tribute to the
African-American community where she grew up and a recollection of her
childhood home where groups of innovators and men of vision would often
gather. Artist Kadir Nelson's stunning paintings together with the poetry
of Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo" evoke the spirit of these important times
in America's Black culture. Included at the end are brief bios of the men
"who changed the world." (all ages)
To read reviews of this books, click on
http://kadirnelson.com/books/ellingtonReview.htm
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It's the end of the day and I'm fading... Have a good week.
Carolyn
