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Watermark Teacher Feature – April 25, 2007
In this issue:
BOOK NEWS
Favorites
new to paperback
UPCOMING
EVENTS (A whole passel)
Valentino
Achak Deng speaks May 1
Anna
Quindlen comes May 3
Amy
Mattson Lauters reads & signs May 10
Rishi
Reddi visits May 17
Khaled
Hosseini coming June 27
Fresh
Titles: a minor extravaganza
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Hello,
all.
Watermark
is swinging into one of those exciting periods when many, many summer books
arrive and many authors visit, so this issue of Teacher Feature puts extra
emphasis on approaching events and on the new titles pouring onto our shelves.
Scan over the events below, and check our Web site for even more upcoming author
visits.
We’ve
just gotten in two new middle-reader paperbacks that deserve special mention
because they’ve been such favorites over the past year:
“Chew
on This! Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food” by Eric Schlosser
(Houghton Mifflin, 0618593942,
$8.95) is a clever and informative “Fast Food Nation”-style book for young
readers. It features well-researched (and enjoyably gruesome) food facts and
engaging true stories about young folks involved in growing, making, testing,
serving, buying, and eating food fast meals:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0406-013.html
“Totally Joe” by James Howe
(Aladdin, 0689839588, $5.99) A stand-alone follow-up to Howe’s strongly
anti-teasing “The Misfits,” this feel-good novel focuses on Joe Bunch, a
twelve-year-old nonconformist who deals with the problems of his absent aunt,
his least-favorite bully, and his inconsistent first boyfriend in a way uniquely
his own:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0306-018.html
Both
books are for ages 9 and older.
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UPCOMING WATERMARK EVENTS
Valentino
Achak Deng will speak Tuesday, May 1, 7:00 p.m. at Wichita East HS.
Valentino
Achak Deng is the subject of Dave Egger’s acclaimed recent novel “What is the
What,” an exploration of the descent and recovery of a Sudanese “Lost Boy”
pulled into a life of killing in African civil wars. Watermark and Wichita East
High School are co-sponsoring his presentation, which will be held in the West
Auditorium at Wichita East. Visit the speaker’s Web site at:
www.valentinoachakdeng.com
Anna
Quindlen coming Thursday, May 3, 7:00 p.m. at the WSU Metroplex.
Novelist
and “Newsweek” columnist Anna Quindlen will visit Wichita for an evening reading
and signing. Quindlen is touring to support her latest novel, the bestselling
two-sister story “Rise and Shine,” which follows a popular television host who
falls from grace and turns to her estranged sibling to help her pick up the
pieces of her life. Tickets for the event are available at Watermark. A ticket
is $5--or free with the purchase of the book, now new in paperback. Call (316)
682-1181 or visit the bookstore to purchase tickets.
Amy
Mattson Lauters will read & sign, Thursday, May 10, 7:00 p.m.
Amy
Mattson Lauters will read from and sign her new book “The Rediscovered Writings
of Rose Wilder Lane,” a work of women's history and literary journalism about
the daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the "Little House on the
Prairie" novels. Dr. Lauters is an assistant professor at Wichita State
University in the Elliott School of Communication.
Rishi
Reddi will read & sign, Thursday, May 17, 7:00 p.m.
Massachusetts fiction writer and attorney Rishi Reddi will read from and sign
her debut paperback collection of short stories “Karma and Other Stories.” Ms.
Reddi's story “Justice Shiva Ram Murthy” was chosen for the 2005 edition of “The
Best American Short Stories” by guest editor Michael Chabon. Visit her Web site
and read excerpts of her stories here:
www.rishireddi.net
Looking
ahead: Khaled Hosseini is coming Wednesday, June 27, 7:00 p.m.
Watermark
will host novelist Khaled Hosseini, author of “The Kite Runner,” at the WSU
Metroplex. He'll read from and sign copies of his new novel “A Thousand Splendid
Suns,” due out May 22. Tickets are $10, or free with the purchase of the new
book. Call us at (316) 682-1181 to pre-order copies of the book or to have one
held and signed in your absence. The event will be co-sponsored by the Wichita
Public Library and the Friends of the Library.
For a
full listing of Watermark events, including book clubs and art openings, visit
the Events page of our Web site at:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/events.html
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FRESH
TITLES
Beginning
readers: ages 4 to 8
Elephant and Piggie books: “Today I Will Fly” and “My Friend is Sad” by Mo
Willems
(Hyperion, ISBNs 1423102959 and 1423102975, $8.99 each) Mo Willems has created
great characters like Knuffle Bunny, Leonardo the Terrible Monster, the Pigeon,
and Edwina the Dinosaur, and now he brings beginning readers the fun and follies
of Elephant and Piggie. These simply worded stories rival Dr. Seuss’s “Go Dog
Go” for reading ease, and the pictures are pure Willems joy. Early readers will
adore shmoopy-gloompy Elephant and razzle-dazzle Piggie. Best of all, these
medium-sized hardcovers are perfect for small hands, and no dust jackets means
extra durability and no torn covers. Read a review here:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0407-007.html
“The
Incredible Book-Eating Boy” by Oliver Jeffers
(Philomel, 0399247491, $16.99) Young Henry
loves to sink his teeth into a good book--literally. He devours volume after
volume, hoping to become the smartest person on the planet, until the smarts he
absorbs began to get stirred up inside his head like a two-tone ice cream cone.
Soon, he learns that he can enjoy books just as much by reading them. Fancy
that! The story is simple and strong, and the illustrations are fascinating and…
delicious? Inside the chocolate-brown cover, each drawn-and-penciled picture is
created on pages of discarded books the author found and rescued. There are
words everywhere! And what better example could there be for the joy and the
power of reading. EAT THIS BOOK!
Middle
Readers: ages 9 to 12
“Tiny
Tyrant” by Lewis Trondheim & Fabrice Parme
(First Second, 159643094X, $12.95) Recently, American publishers have been on a
tear translating and publishing great youth graphic novels by French
cartoonists. The newest (and bossiest) is “Tiny Tyrant,” which contains one
dozen regal adventures of King Ethelbert of Portocristo: he’s spoiled, selfish,
and a whole lot of fun to watch as he hires assassins to test his new bodyguard,
bosses Santa Claus around, eats enormous breakfasts, and tries to out-rich his
royal cousin Sigismund. The illustrations have a retro-neat Pink Panther look to
them, and the stories mix Richie Rich with Veruca Salt. Young readers will
giggle themselves giddy. See a review of Trondheim’s “Astronauts of the Future”
here:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0407-001.html
“Physik, (Septimus Heap, Book 3)” by Angie Sage
(Katherine Tegen Books, 0060577371, $17.99) There’s been no shortage of young
wizards in recent books for young readers, but even so, Angie Sage’s Septimus
Heap remains a stand-out from the, uh… heap. In this sequel to “Magyk” and “Flyte,”
Septimus gets a brilliant new villain (the ghost of a diabolical ancient queen)
and new skills as he becomes apprentice to a long-gone alchemist. There’s magic
and time-travel aplenty here, and Sage’s fans won’t want to miss it.
“Warriors: Power of Three #1: The Sight” by Erin Hunter
(HarperCollins, 0060892013, $16.99) This will indeed be the Summer of the Cat:
the much, much-beloved “Warriors” series kicks off a new sub-series here (the
third, after the original “Warriors” and the follow-up “Warriors: The New
Prophecy”), and it will soon be followed by the first manga-style Warriors
graphic novel (“Warriors: The Lost Warrior”) and two additional stand-alone
books. How does Erin Hunter do it all? It’s easy: “Erin Hunter” isn’t one person
but three--two writers and an editor who take turns creating sprawling stories
on little cats’ feet. This latest book follows the stalkings and talkings of a
brave trio of new kitten characters, and it’s sure to greet anxious fans with
purrs.
Young
adults: ages 13 and older
“Quantum Prophecy 01: The Awakening” by Michael Carroll
(Philomel, 0399247254, $16.99) Irish young-adult writer Michael Carroll kicks
off a new series (new to the U.S., really--it’s been out in Europe for a bit)
that will light fires in the eyes of readers devoted to Eoin Colfer’s Artemis
Fowl or to Antony Horowitz’s Alex Rider Adventures. Ten years ago, all the super
heroes disappeared from the world, but now, three teenagers have begun to show
signs of having special powers--superior strength, lightning speed, and more.
Danny, Colin, and Renata are the first of a new generation of super-humans, and
their choices will change the world. Young guys especially have been clamoring
for this book, and Carroll delivers quick, action-filled plots that will grab
fans of the X-Men and NBC’s “Heroes.”
“A
Swift Pure Cry” by Siobhan Dowd
(David Fickling Books, 0385751087, $16.99) Another Irish author, but with a book
from an entirely different reality: set in 1984, Dowd’s story tells of Shell, a
fifteen-year-old Irish girl who’s lost her Mam and who finds herself trapped
with her alcoholic father. She looks to her village priest for salvation, then
in disappointment to a school friend who gets her pregnant just before he leaves
for America. Shell keeps her condition secret as long as she can, but
eventually, local questions and suspicions arise to point fingers at both her
father and the priest. Dowd realizes all this through sharp, lyrical writing
that grips and sears. Her setting and characters are note-perfect, and her book
gives readers the feeling of having lived at the edge of all things difficult
and true. It’s a mature, challenging, and beautiful young-adult novel. Highly
recommended for older teens.
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Past
reviews and archived issues of Teacher Feature can be read on-line on the
Watermark Web site at:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/teach.html
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See you
later, educator.
Mark David Bradshaw
Click here for the Teacher Feature Archives
Peruse
back issues of teacher feature since its inception in April
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