Susan's Picks
I've made my life with books. Thanks to my Grandma, I knew every poem from When We Were Young before kindergarten. I received my first chapter book, Ben and Me, for my eighth birthday. In 7th grade, I was condemned to purgatory (or worse) by Sister Violet Ann for reading My Darling, My Hamburger. In American Lit., I fell in love with East of Eden (still in my top 5 favorites of all time), but trudged through Elmer Gantry. I was swept away by The Red and the Black and Anna Karenina while studying European Lit. Finally, I felt very lucky to have grown up with books when the syllabus for my college Children's Lit. class required me to read 80 in 16 weeks.
The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden by William Alexander
If you are an obsessive gardener or lives with some one who is, read this book. I laughed and nodded in agreement from beginning to end. Gardeners and definitely in a class of their own! Why does the obsessive gardener wage war with every critter known to man, all for the sake of the perfect summer tomato? Gardeners have a quirky sense of optimism that if it doesn’t grow one year, next year is a new start.
Alonquin Books of Chapel Hill
The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean
It is 1941 and Leningrad is under siege by the German Army. Many of the city’s resident take refuge in the basement of the Hermitage, including the young museum guide Marina. Then Meet the aging Marina in present day Seattle where she is battling the beginning effects of Alzheimer’s. As she slips away from what is happening to her mind, Marina is consumed by her memories in WW II Russia. A beautiful love story and a staff favorite.
HarperCollins Publishers
The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
The Whistling Season is terrific. I absolutely adored this book. Set in rural Montana, narrator Paul Milliron recalls the autumn and winter of 1909-1910 when he was 13. Paul's widowed father hires a housekeeper, sight unseen, from a Minnesota newspaper ad. When Rose and her scholarly brother Morris arrive, life will never be quite the same in Marion Coulee. Charming, uncluttered prose and a story as grand as the Montana sky.
Harcourt
Perfect by Natasha Friend
Perfect is a great read about a 13 year-old girl in an imperfect world. Charming and clearly written, with humor and drama, this is "perfect" for a mother/daughter book club. If you like this book, don't miss Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli.
Milkweed Editions
Author Barbara Lehman has done it again! Rainstorm is a treasure. In her wordless format she tells the story of a boy as he looks out the window and rain is spattering the panes. Bored, he starts to wander only to find a key that opens a chest, that contains a ladder, that leads to a most interesting place on a rainy afternoon.
Houghton Mifflin Company
Golden Legacy: How Golden Books Won Children's Hearts, Changed Publishing Forever, and Became an American Icon Along the Way by Leonard S. Marcus
The year 2007 marked the 65th anniversary of a bold experiment: the launch of the Little Golden Books during the dark days of World War II. At a time when the literacy rate was not nearly as high as it is now - and privation was felt by nearly all - quality books for children would now be available at a price nearly everyone could afford (25 cents), and sold where ordinary people shopped. Golden Legacy is a lively history of a company, a line of books, the groundbreaking writers and artists who created them, the clever mavericks who marketed and sold them, and the cultural landscape that surrounded them.
Random House Children's Books
The Time Hackers by Gary Paulsen
It's not often you open your locker and find a dead body, only to see it vanish 30 seconds later. But for seventh grader Dorso Clayman, it's another bizarre happening in a chain of practical jokes gone dangerously wrong. The ultimate pranksters have hacked into the time line, and now objects from the past are appearing in the present. If Dorso and his friend Frank can't break the hackers' code soon enough, they'll end up lost in the past themselves. Can they beat the hackers at their own game? The Time Hackers is a new kind of adventure from the king of adventure tales, Gary Paulsen.
Random House Children's Books
In Mommies Say Shhh the always enchanting Patricia Polacco works her magic with a story for the very young. The simple text, lively illustrations, and fun animal noises make for a memorable romp through the farmyard. Be prepared to read this one over and over again!
Penguin Group
Maybe you can judge a book by its cover. Certainly the cover of Sage's first Septimus Heap book will capture your interest….a fun, mystery with rollicking characters. Heads up Harry, there's a new wizard in town!
HarperCollins Children's Books
Lisa See paints a detailed picture of the life in a remote Hunan county in the 1800’s. Women of a certain class lived a very proscribed, isolated life. Most often as young girls they were paired with other girls, with whom they maintained a life long friendship. They communicated through a code of sorts and therein lies the tale.
Random House Publishing Group
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Prepare to be swept away to the Paris train station in 1931, where 10 year old Hugo Cabret hides in a tiny apartment and keeps the many clocks running on time. The mystery of Hugo’s life is told through words and the most incredible illustrations that are reminiscent of a silent film. This is storytelling at its finest. My words will not do it justice...you'll have to peek inside.
Scholastic, Inc.
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Though wintry weather came to northern Michigan late, I was glad for the snowy, cold weekend and my book of choices for last weekend. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield is haunting and mysterious; very reminiscent of a Bronte novel. Ailing Author Vida Winter has spent the last six decades spinning tales to the delight of her many readers. Over these six decade she has also spun many tales of her own life. Wanting to tell the final true tale, the thirteenth tale, she summons biographer Margaret Lea top write her story. Both women have past secrets and ghosts that surface and haunt their visits. Beautifully written.
Washington Square Books
Wild About Books by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Marc Brown
This is a rollicking rhymed story of Molly the librarian who accidently drives her bookmobile to the zoo and introduces the birds and beasts to a new something called reading. Tall books for giraffes, small books for crickets, joke books for hyenas, even waterproof books for the otters. Wild About Books is a laugh-out-loud winner of the E.B. White Read Aloud Award for 2005.
Random House Children's Books
The Samurai’s Garden is one of my top 10 favorite books of all time. The writing is elegant and melodic. You are swept away to a time between the world wars, when Japan was a very dominate power over China. Stephen, a young Chinese man, is sent to his family’s summer home to recuperate from tuberculosis. Here he befriends four local people who influence his life in unexpected ways. This is a book I have read multiple times… it's beautiful.
St. Martin's Press
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
This memoir continues to haunt me. Told in a straight forward voice with the honesty, perception and even humor of a child bound to survive all odds. The Glass Castle has found its place in my top 5 favorite books.
Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Twelve year-old Heidi's family is not typical. Her disabled mother's vocabulary consists of 23 words, and her wonderful neighbor, Bernadette, is afraid to leave the house. Heidi says she has "angora phobia." But Heidi has a lucky streak that leads her cross country in search of her past and meaning of a mysterious word "Soof." Fans of Because of Winn Dixie will adore this book.
HarperCollins Publishers
Uglies, Book 1: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Fifteen year-old Tally's eerily harmonious, postapocalyptic society gives extreme makeovers to teens on their sixteenth birthday. However, a top-secret agency threatens to leave Tally ugly forever unless she spies on runaway teens. She reluctantly agrees to infiltrate the SMOKE, a colony of refugees from the "tyranny of physical perfection." Readers will sink their teeth into the provocative, image-obsessed society, and the ethical quandaries of a mole-turned ally.
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing