The Joy of Free Books...

A few weeks back I was browsing for information about YA books and authors on the Internet when I came across a sign-up form from a major publishing house offering to mail me free copies of Advance Reading Editions (AREs) of their new children's and young adult books. Of course I signed up, but didn't think too much about it after that. Imagine my surprise this week when I came home to find a huge padded mailer filled with a half dozen as-yet unpublished kids titles sitting on my doorstep. It was like going to annual library conference without leaving home!

The first book in the stack to grab my attention was The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney by Suzanne Harper. Sparrow is the 7th daughter of a 7th daughter in an eccentric family of psychics. That means the occupants of her house believe she is especially tuned to the afterlife and is destined for great things. Everyone in her town is on the spiritualism bandwagon it seems, except for Sparrow. All she wants is to be normal, ordinary, and left alone. She gets her chance to start fresh where nobody knows her at a brand new high school. Everything goes as planned, until she crosses paths with a charming but irritating teenage ghost who simply will not leave her in peace. What's a girl to do?

This was an enjoyable read for me, and a book that I think students in grades 7 and up will like, too. The dialogue between characters has enough modern references to make the storyline up-to-date. The writer throws in plenty of humor without making things seem too contrived. The plot is intriging, even if a bit predictable. That's okay, because sometimes you need to tackle a story you can figure out early on. It gives you a sense of success as a reader. The reward in reading for pleasure is the journey the author takes you along on the way to the end of the book.

For those who are interested in such things, there are a handful of 4-letter words sprinkled mainly in the last half of the book, but they aren't anything a typical teen hasn't heard in the school hallways or from a PG-13 movie. Overall a good book that I feel will be popular with both boys and girls from middle school on up. It will be available in stores on July 3, 2007 and in libraries soon afterwards. Ask for it. And remember, if you borrow it from the library, it's free!

Two Quick Reads...

This weekend I was in Hastings and noticed several new titles in the children's book section. Thank goodness we got paid on Friday and I was able to buy them without having to wait for available funds. The third book in Rick Riordan's Lightning Thief series just came out, so I know my assistant Donna will be thrilled I was able to get hold of a copy of that.

Another one I bought was The Alchemyst: Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael D. Scott. It's been getting some positive attention in the literary publications I subscribe to, and rightfully so. I have a feeling this series will take the place of Harry Potter's fantasy fiction dominance once the final book in that 7-volume series becomes complete this summer. Which is interesting because one of the main characters in The Alchemyst is Nicholas Flamel, the famous real-life scientist, magician, astrologer, etc. mentioned in Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone. (Flamel was the sorcerer/philosopher in the title!) The characters are very well drawn and believable, and the settings (present-day California and a parallel "Shadowrealm") are well-described and definitely imaginative. I couldn't help comparing some of the creatures and descriptions in this book to J.K. Rowling's creations in the Potter series. The author, Scott, is a noted European scholar and mythology expert, so there are plenty of allusions and references to fantastic tales and creatures of legend to keep readers researching for more information. There are supposed to be 6 volumes when the series is complete, and all of them have already been optioned for movies. The first film is scheduled for release in 2009, according to the author's website: www.dillonscott.com. If you want to get in on the beginning of a great new children's fantasy series, you can't go wrong with this one. The Alchemyst is suitable for upper elementary to adult.

Another fast read I just finished today is the latest Stephanie Plum crime caper from Janet Evanovich. Lean Mean Thirteen is more of the same that Evanovich's devoted fans can't seem to get enough of. It's craziness and chaos from (most of) the usual cast of eccentric but loveable characters. I'll never think of taxidermists or cable companies the same way again. This is pure escapist summer fun for mature (i.e. adult) readers only. It's a hoot!

With all the rain we've been getting in Texas these past few weeks, I certainly haven't been able to keep up with lawn mowing because our yard is constantly standing in water. It doesn't seem to stop raining long enough for it to dry out, so what's a person to do? Well...DUH! Read, of course! So get busy!

A Father's Love

When Cormac McCarthy's The Road was first published in 2006, the first review of it I read wasn't overly positive...which only goes to show that you shouldn't believe everything you read. I have to admit the premise of the book didn't sound all that appealing to me at the time: A father and his young son travel across-country in a postapocalyptic America trying to survive day by day in a burned out wasteland. But since it just won the Pulitzer Prize and became an Oprah's Book Club selection, I thought I'd give it a second look. I am so glad I did! I took it with me this weekend just in case I found myself in need of something to read while visiting the inlaws. Let me tell you I was hooked from the first couple of pages and didn't go to bed until I had read the entire novel all the way through. Quite the contrary from it's initial description, this book is filled with optimism and hope. The relationship between the unnamed man and his child is one of trust, faith, and unconditional love. This is an emotionally uplifting story just perfect for Father's Day reading. In the only televised interview the author has ever granted in his 73 years, he told Oprah Winfrey he was inspired to write this book following the birth of his own son just a few years back. The award-winning novel is dedicated to him. A caution that there are a few graphic descriptions, but these are necessary to the plot. It's probably suitable for 8th grade and up. Much of the story is told in dialogue, which makes for a quicker read. Like another Pulitzer Prize winner, Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain, the author takes liberal license with writing conventions, which takes a little getting used to, such as when he omits apostrophes in contractions, does not use quotation marks to show when a character is speaking, and avoids using italics to show a character's thoughts versus his speech. It's a minor complaint and the book is well worth the added effort. This is essentially a "man's story", but the universal message of hope needs to be spread and enjoyed by everyone.

Ready for more Blockbusters...

...And I don't mean movies! I just finished reading Khaled Hosseini's new novel of Afghanistan, A Thousand Splendid Suns. If ever there was any doubt he could follow up his phenomenal best-seller, The Kite Runner, with something as equally well-written, those fears are now soundly put to rest. This second book will probably be even more successful. Where Kite Runner was told more from the male point of view, this second novel tells a similar tale, though in more detail, focusing on the lives of two women: Mariam and Laila. Readers will learn how differently women are valued under various regimes as power and control in Afghanistan changes repeatedly over the course of just a few years. Despite all the political upheaval, cultural differences, drought, starvation, violence, and other problems in the region, this book is a love letter to the author's native Afghanistan. I literally could not put it down the last night until I found out how it ended. I strongly recommend this book to anyone looking for a story filled with hope despite mountains of adversity.

Like everyone who is waiting for the summer movies to hit theaters, I can't wait for the new books to hit store and library shelves in the next few weeks. Janet Evanovich has a Stephanie Plum novel (Lean Mean Thirteen) due. Of course, the final Harry Potter is coming in July, the month of August should see Eclipse, the last book in the Twilight trilogy, and in late June, book 3 in John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series debuts. Happy reading!