Terrier
Publishers Weekly: Pierce returns to the Tortall Realms for a new series, a kind of prequel to those of her popular "sheroes" Alanna, Kel and Aly. Her latest heroine is not a lady knight but a "Puppy," a police trainee whose talents lift her from the slums to the manor of Lord Gershom. The noble […]
Jack and the Beanstalk
School Library Journal Review: Starred Review. K-Gr 3?This witty, elegant retelling of the beloved English fairy tale, originally published in 1908 in The Old Nursery Stories, uses rich language to depict an endearing, if lazy, ne'er-do-well who turns folly into triumph. Into the traditional story Nesbit injects clever details that make the setting vivid and […]
The Dragon's Eye
Publisher Weekly Review: The year is 1882, in this first volume of the Dragonology Chronicles, and Daniel and Beatrice's parents leave the siblings in the care of their friend Dr. Drake while they attend to their mysterious "work." Dr. Ernest Drake, an eccentric "dragonologist" (whose name will be familiar to Dragonology fans), proceeds to teach […]
The End
Dear Reader, You are presumably looking at the back of this book, or the end of the end. The end of the end is the best place to begin the end, because if you read the end from the beginning of the beginning of the end to the end of the end of the end, […]
Larklight, Or, The Revenge of the White Spiders!, Or, To Saturn's Rings and Back!
Publisher Weekly Review: Starred Review. Reeve (the Hungry City Chronicles) evidently has a fascination with giant, mobile structures, but here he turns his considerable talent to a whimsical story of Victorian houses floating in space, a Jules Verne?like concoction filtered through the sensibilities of Douglas Adams. Art and Myrtle live with their scientist father in […]
Escape! : the Story of the Great Houdini
Publisher Weekly Review: Starred Review. Fleischman's (The Whipping Boy) colorful, anecdotal biography of Harry Houdini (1874?1926) offers an accessible portrait of this master of magic and escape. The author sets an affectionate and humorous tone, beginning with his subject's most famous feats, and then declaring, "As a devout magician, I am able to reveal only […]
Something About Hensley's
School Library Journal Review: PreS-Gr 4?A story that can be enjoyed as a read-aloud or by independent readers. It touches upon the troubles of a family, newly relocated to a town that has a special shopkeeper who stocks anything a person could ever need or want. Hensley???s is more than a normal general store, and […]
Boat Ride With Lillian Two Blossom
School Library Journal Review: PreS-Gr 2– A quiet fishing trip turns into an adventure for William and Mabel when Lillian Two Blossom, “an old Indian lady who lived in the woods,'' suggests that the siblings row her out to the center of Kalaska Pond. Before they realize what is happening, the boat lifts up out […]
Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare
School Library Journal Review: Gr 1-4?When Trisha family moves from Union City to Battle Creek, her older brother makes her life miserable. He embarrasses her at school with rude, gross behavior at every turn, and they fight over which is better, ice hockey or ballet. At last she triple dares him in front of his […]
An Orange For Frankie
School Library Journal Review: Gr 2-4?The author/illustrator has turned again to her family history for this story of a Christmas long ago in rural Michigan. The plot is predictable, revolving around Pa's late return from Lansing with the traditional nine oranges, one for each child; 10-year-old Frankie's generosity to a hobo; and the boy's subsequent […]