Story Time with CLIF

Story Time with CLIF Foundation

NEW ARRIVALS

ADULT FICTION

"Bel-Air Dead" by Stuart Woods -  "Woods's novel takes the New York attorney to Los Angeles to represent recent widow Arrington Calder...in her attempts to keep control of Centurion Studios. Barrington undertakes a rapid realignment of Calder's holdings while forming alliances and buying shares to thwart the efforts of Prince Investment's Terry Prince, who wants the prime Bel-Air acreage the studio occupies. The murder of stockholder Jennifer Harris is only the first indication of how rough Prince plays. With longtime pal Dino Bacchetti at his side as well as the mighty resources of Mike Freeman's Strategic Services and Bill Eggers's law firm Woodman & Weld, Barrington matches financial wits with the arrogant Prince. There's cross-pollination with Woods's Ed Eagle series (Santa Fe Edge, etc.) as one of Eagle's nemeses plays a surprising role. Series fans will find Barrington as shrewd, sexy, and glib as ever. (Apr.)" -- Publisher's Weekly

"Buried Prey" by John Sandford - "Sandford's...novel ... offers fans the chance to compare the young with the mature protagonist. In 1985, Davenport, then an eager patrol cop, made his bones as a homicide detective in an ugly kidnapping murder case. The present-day discovery of the mummified bodies of two girls wrapped in plastic, sisters Nancy and Mary Jones, leads Davenport to realize that he 'messed up': the wrong man was credited with the crime and the real killer never caught. Cracking this very cold case becomes intensely personal for Davenport, who uses his own resources, including manipulating the media and pushing Marcy Sherrill, head of Minneapolis Homicide, to use all of her resources as well. A fusion of old-fashioned doggedness and modern technology pressures the killer into deadly action. Expert plotting and a riveting finish make this one of Sandford's best."  --  PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"Dissolution" by C. J. Sansom - "It is England in the year 1537, and Thomas Cromwell is Henry VIII's vicar- general and in the process of dissolving all of the large monastic houses, granting the land to his favorites or the highest bidders. When one of his commissioners is murdered at the monastery in Scarnsea, mired among the marshes of England's south coast, Cromwell sends the hunchback lawyer Matthew Shardlake and Mark, his young handsome assistant, to solve the mystery. They find that not only has the murder been covered up but also other murders have been covered up as well, and they also find treasonous monks hostile to the king and his assumption of the role of head of the English church. As Shardlake uncovers more unsettling facts, he realizes that his own life is in danger--and solving the mystery takes on a life-or-death importance. Reminiscent of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose (without much of the intellectual discourse), Sansom's first novel will not disappoint fans of historical fiction." - Michael Spinella; AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

"I'll Walk Alone" by Mary Higgins Clark - "Almost two years after someone snatched Alexandra 'Zan' Moreland's then three-year-old son, Matthew, from his stroller while his sitter dozed, Zan, a New York City interior designer who remains devastated, has been unable to trace her son. To make matters worse, somebody is using her credit cards to purchase expensive items just as she's on the verge of landing a prestigious account for her fledgling business. Worst of all, evidence emerges that suggests Zan kidnapped her own son. Meanwhile, a priest is troubled by a woman whose confession reveals that a murder is being planned. Contrivances that prevent key information from reaching the heroine as well as characters without personality in the service of a plot with at least one major hole won't please those who prefer their suspense firmly grounded in reality and logic."-- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"Jefferson Key" by Steve Berry -"At the start of Berry's ingeniously plotted.. novel, former U.S. Justice Department agent Malone, who's been summoned to New York City by his old boss, Stephanie Nelle, manages to thwart an attempt to assassinate the U.S. president outside a midtown Manhattan hotel. Malone soon finds himself in the middle of a power struggle with roots in presidential history. A cipher formulated by Thomas Jefferson and employed by Andrew Jackson has been unbroken for 175 years. Documents hidden by Jackson contain the key to the legitimacy--and the wealth and power--of the Commonwealth, a coalition of privateers or pirates dating from the American Revolution. Malone and his lover, Cassiopeia Vitt, must match wits and survival skills with several formidable foes, including rogue agent Jonathan Wyatt and Quartermaster Clifford Knox of the Commonwealth. Berry offers plenty of twists and vivid action scenes in a feast of historical imagination." --  PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"Skippy Dies" by Paul Murray - "It's no spoiler to acknowledge that Skippy, the main character, does indeed die, since the boy is a goner by page 5 of the prologue. Following his character's untimely demise, Murray takes the reader back in time to learn more about the sweetly engaging Skippy--In this darkly comic novel of adolescence (in some cases arrested), we also learn about the unexpected consequences of Skippy's death, something of contemporary Irish life, and a great deal about the intersections of science and metaphysics and the ineluctable interconnectedness of the past and the present. At 672 pages, this is an extremely ambitious and complex novel, filled with parallels, with sometimes recondite references to Irish folklore, with quantum physics, and with much more. Hilarious, haunting, and heartbreaking, it is inarguably among the most memorable novels of the year to date." -- Michael Cart. AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

"The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet" by David Mitchell - "Two-time Booker finalist Mitchell applies his wide-ranging talents to this innovative historical epic. Dejima, an artificial island created as a trading outpost in Nagasaki Harbor, proves fertile ground for exploring intercultural relations, trust and betrayal, racial and gender boundaries, the search for identity, and unexpected love in a changing world. In 1799, when the Netherlands held a trade monopoly with isolationist Japan, Jacob de Zoet, a clerk for the Dutch East Indies Company, is charged with uncovering fraud in his predecessors' ledgers. As Jacob doggedly pursues an honest course, he becomes romantically intrigued by Orito Aibagawa, a gifted, disfigured midwife granted special permission to study on Dejima. Mitchell incorporates diverse styles, and he expertly adapts tone and dialogue to reflect his situations. In the main plotline, incisive commentary on decisions and unforeseen consequences filters through a jaunty, slang-filled tale in which Japanese and Dutchmen arrange public and private deals. Interlinked subplots offer creepy gothic drama, seafaring adventure, and race-against-time suspense. Despite the audacious scope, the focus remains intimate; each fascinating character--interpreter, herbalist, magistrate, slave--has the opportunity to share his or her story. Everything is patched together seamlessly and interwoven with clever wordplay and enlightening historical details on feudal Japan. First-rate literary fiction and a rousing good yarn, too. " -- Sarah Johnson, AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

MYSTERY

"Caught" by Harlan Coben - "Coben is a disciplined writer who respects his readers' intelligence. Caught finds Coben at his sly best. He presents two plots: the disappearance of a young girl from her home and the ruination of a social worker who helps troubled teens but is caught in a To Catch a Predator-like TV sting. Both plots are held together by a TV reporter who morphs into a sleuth to solve the cases. The fact that the reporter's husband was killed eight years before makes her both more vulnerable and more open to the nuances of the twin tragedies in her New Jersey town. Coben is a master of small touches, as when the mother of the missing girl visits her daughter's high school and touches the combination lock, on the daughter's locker--a perfect way to bring home the mother's grief. Vintage Coben." --Connie Fletcher, AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

"Death in Summer" by Benjamin Black - "Black's exceedingly well-written Dublin series hits its stride in the sleekly plotted fourth installment. Imprudent pathologist Quirke and reticent Inspector Hackett, whose humble appearance belies a steel-trap mind, attain new levels of drollery and investigative camaraderie. Rehab veteran Quirke is back to drinking, gingerly, and once again proves an unlikely ladies' man as he duels with elegant and enigmatic Francoise, whose wealthy, powerful, and despised husband appears to have shot himself. A friend of the dead man's unbalanced sister, Quirke's assistant, Sinclair, conspicuous as an Irish Jew, is drawn, catastrophically, into the case, as is Quirke's smart, wary daughter, Phoebe. The sardonic banter is finely stropped, and moments of detective clairvoyance are neatly juxtaposed with numskull opaqueness as Black (the pen name of John Banville) once again exposes insidious corruption and prejudice. As one vicious enforcer tells Quirke in a menacing encounter along a canal, there are two worlds: one is all sunshine and ducks on still water, 'but think what's going on underneath the surface, the big fish eating the little ones, . . . and everything covered in slime and mud.'"-- Donna Seaman, AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

"Dead Reckoning" by Charlaine Harris -"The excitement kicks off when someone firebombs Merlotte's Bar and Grill while Sookie is working, but that plotline isn't the focus of the story; instead, vampire politics rear their ugly head once again as the regent of Louisiana does his best to provoke Eric and Pam. With a vampire-on-vampire showdown looming, Sookie tries to deal with her increased concerns over her blood bond with Eric; to understand the real reason her fae cousins, Claude and Dermot, are living with her; and to plan a baby shower for best friend, Tara. While the series has become much more about fantasy than mystery, it still has always drawn fans across genres, and this fast- paced and fun entry will be no exception" --  Jessica Moyer AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

"Sister" by Rosamund Lupin - "British author Lupton's unusual and searing debut is her heroine Beatrice Hemming's letter to her dead younger sister, Tess. Abandoned by their father just before their eight-year-old brother's death from cystic fibrosis and raised by their genteelly ineffectual mother, Bee and Tess have always exchanged long, intimate letters, so when Tess, an unmarried London art student, apparently commits suicide after her CF baby is born dead, Bee resigns her corporate design job in New York City and moves into Tess's shabby London flat. Convinced Tess was murdered, Bee gradually learns Tess had been spurned, like her unborn child, by her married art teacher lover; she had also been eerily pursued by a drugged-up slumming fellow student and mentally tortured by hallucinogenic drugs thrust on her by a masked stalker. Bee's self- defenses crumble as she discovers that she never returned Tess's anguished calls for help. Observing the unsettling similarities between her mother and her fiance, Bee realizes 'why no one could be my safety rope.' At the harrowing conclusion, Bee's aching heart accepts that 'grief is love turned into an eternal missing.'"-- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"Sixkill" by Robert B. Parker -"Parker's final Spenser book is a reminder of just how much we'll miss the beloved crime writer, who died in January 2010. Zebulon Sixkill, a Cree Indian whose college football career was sidetracked by the love of a bad woman, is the bodyguard for Jumbo Nelson, a (physically) huge movie star working in Boston. Jumbo's outsized appetites leave a young woman dead, and with Z the only potential witness, Jumbo's guilt or innocence becomes an open question. When Jumbo fires Z, Spenser takes him in and refines Z from an intimidating presence to a genuinely dangerous man. When Spenser tells Susan Silverman, 'I know what I like and what I don't like, and what I'm willing to do and what I'm not, and I try to be guided by that,' readers couldn't ask for a better epitaph for Spenser and Parker."-- LIBRARY JOURNAL

"Started Early, Took My Dog" by Kate Atkinson - "British author Atkinson's magnificently plotted fourth novel featuring Jackson Brodie ...takes the 'semi- retired' PI back to his Yorkshire hometown to trace the biological parents of Hope McMasters, a woman adopted by a couple in the 1970s at age two. Jackson is faced with more questions than answers when Hope's parents aren't in any database nor is her adoption on record. In the author's signature multilayered style, she shifts between past and present, interweaving the stories of Tracy Waterhouse, a recently retired detective superintendent now in charge of security at a Leeds mall, and aging actress Tilly Squires. On the same day that Jackson and Tilly are in the mall, Tracy makes a snap decision that will have lasting consequences for everyone. Atkinson injects wit even in the bleakest moments--such as Jackson's newfound appreciation for poetry, evoked in the Emily Dickinson-inspired title--yet never loses her razor- sharp edge."-- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"Now You See Her" by James Patterson - "This latest crime thriller... has all the ingredients of a page-turning, summer beach read: bite-size chapters, the irresistibly colorful backdrop of Key West, and a heroine hiding a tortured past. She is a carefree college student soaking up the Florida island's party atmosphere during spring break when her life takes a disastrous turn. After stealing her cheating boyfriend's Camaro in a jealous rage, she hits and kills a wayward drunk. Luckily, the officer on the scene, Peter Fournier, not only hides the body but in short order becomes her adoring husband. Yet her troubles begin anew when she learns that Peter murdered his first wife. Eighteen years later, after she fled and reinvented herself as Nina Bloom, becoming a successful Manhattan attorney, she is forced to confront her tainted past. Including an intriguing, intertwined story involving Nina's efforts to free an innocent man on death row, Patterson and Ledwidge's tale is fun..." -- Carl Hays, AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

ADULT NON-FICTION


"Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base" by Annie Jacobsen - "Acting on tips and leads by those who were there, the same kinds of fighter jocks and spam-in-a-can aeronauts that figure in Tom Wolfe's 'The Right Stuff', Jacobsen set out a few years ago to uncover what could be uncovered about Area 51, the huge military/intelligence base in the desert of southern Nevada. ...Famously, as Jacobsen notes, Area 51 has been associated with UFOs, and some of the earliest sightings thereof, beginning in 1947, have taken place in or near the facility. As for the spooky-faced aliens so beloved of 'X- Files' fans and so feared by the Whitley Strieber fans in the audience? Well, the big news in Jacobsen's book is...no, it'd be stealing her thunder, and perhaps inviting a probe, to say much in specific, except to say that the grays are real, if tinged red. Jacobsen's expansive, well-written narrative takes in the sweep of Cold War history, from the Bay of Pigs to Francis Gary Powers to Joe Stalin to Vietnam to the Nazi doctors pressed into service by U.S. and USSR alike--and none of it is pretty. As readers will see, it'll be hard to double-check Jacobsen's reporting, so leaps of faith are required. But Jacobsen provides an endlessly fascinating--and quite scary--book." -- KIRKUS MEDIA LLC

"Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain" by David Eagleman - "Neuroscientist Eagleman wants us to take a look inside our own heads. We know there's a brain there, and we know some things about what it does, but there's a lot of unexplored territory, too. We know we think and imagine, but how do we do these things? Why will we perceive things-- photographs, say, or events--one way under a certain set of circumstances but a different way in different circumstances? What is the unconscious mind, and how does it work? You might as well know up front that there aren't any concrete answers here; this is one of those books where the exploration is the adventure and the journey its own reward. Written in clear, precise language (even when the author is tackling some seriously complicated stuff), the book is sure to appeal to readers with an interest in psychology and the human mind, but it will also please people who just want to know, with a little more clarity, what is going on inside their own skulls." -- David Pitt - AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

"Wild Comfort: The Solace of Nature" by Kathleen Dean Moore - "In an effort to make sense of the deaths in quick succession of several loved ones, Kathleen Dean Moore turned to the comfort of the wild, making a series of solitary excursions into ancient forests, wild rivers, remote deserts, and windswept islands to learn what the environment could teach her in her time of pain. This book is the record of her experiences. It’s a stunning collection of carefully observed accounts of her life—tracking otters on the beach, cooking breakfast in the desert, canoeing in a snow squall, wading among migrating salmon in the dark—but it is also a profound meditation on the healing power of nature." -- Amazon.com "To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918" by Adam Hochschild - "WWI remains the quintessential war--unequaled in concentrated slaughter, patriotic fervor during the fighting, and bitter disillusion afterward, writes Hochschild. Many opposed it and historians mention this in passing, but Hochschild ... has written an original, engrossing account that gives the war's opponents (largely English) prominent place. ... Hochschild vividly evokes the jingoism of even such leading men of letters as Kipling, Conan Doyle, H.G. Wells, and John Galsworthy. By contrast, Hochschild paints equally vivid, painful portraits of now obscure civilians and soldiers who waged a bitter, often heroic, and, Hochschild admits, unsuccessful antiwar struggle." --Publisher's Weekly "Bootleggers, Lobstermen & Lumberjacks" by Matthew Mayo - “The Wild American West be damned! Matthew P. Mayo’s Bootleggers, Lobstermen, and Lumberjacks is a fascinating—and often absolutely blood-curdling—narrative of New England’s darkest and grittiest historical incidents and characters. By a consummate storyteller with a lively, entertaining voice, Bootleggers, Lobstermen, and Lumberjacks is American history at its most violent and authentic. Edgar Allan Poe would have loved every story in it.” —Howard Frank Mosher, award-winning author of A Stranger in the Kingdom, Where the Rivers Flow North, and Walking to Gatlinburg BIOGRAPHY "Colonel Roosevelt" by Edmund Morris - "Morris completes his fully detailed, correlatively dynamic triptych of the restless, energetic, on-the-move first President Roosevel... Now the author presents Colonel Roosevelt, the title by which Roosevelt chose to be called during his postpresidential years (in reference, of course, to his military position during the Spanish-American War). This is the sad part of TR's life; this is the stage of his life story in which it is most difficult to accept his self-absorption, self-importance, and self-righteousness, but it is the talent of the author, who has shown an immaculate understanding of his subject, to make Roosevelt of continued fascination to his readers. In essence, this volume tells the story of TR's path of disenchantment with his chosen successor in the White House, William Taft, and his attempt to resecure the presidency for himself. The important theme of TR's concomitant decline in health is also a part of the narrative. We are made aware most of all that of all retired presidents, TR was the least likely to fade into the background."-- Brad Hooper, AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION AUDIO BOOKS "Clara and Mr. Tiffany" by Susan Vreeland -  Vreeland... again excavates the life behind a famous artistic creation--in this case the Tiffany leaded-glass lamp, the brainchild not of Louis Comfort Tiffany but his glass studio manager, Clara Driscoll. Tiffany staffs his studio with female artisans- -a decision that protects him from strikes by the all-male union--but refuses to employ women who are married. Lucky for him, Clara's romantic misfortunes--her husband's death, the disappearance of another suitor-- insure that she can continue to craft the jewel-toned glass windows and lamps that catch both her eye and her imagination. Behind the scenes she makes her mark as an artist and champion of her workers, while living in an eclectic Irving Place boarding house populated by actors and artists. Vreeland ably captures Gilded Age New York and its atmosphere--robber barons, sweatshops, colorful characters, ateliers--but her preoccupation with the larger historical story comes at the expense of Clara, whose arc, while considered and nicely told, reflects the times too closely in its standard-issue woman-behind-the-man scenario." --PUBLISHERS WEEKLY DVD's "Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang" "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1" "Hey Boo! Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird" "How to Train Your Dragon" "In the Heat of the Night (40th Anniversary Collector's Edition)"  "The Magnificent Seven" "The Reckoning" "Tangled" "True Blood: The Complete Third Season" "True Grit" "The Tudors: Final Season" "The Tudors: The Complete Third Season" MUSIC "Chamber Music Society" by Esperanza Spalding  JUVENILE FICTION "Belly Up" by Stuart Gibbs - "Twelve-year-old Teddy is in heaven living with his gorilla- researcher mom and wildlife-photographer dad at the world's largest zoo. When the zoo's hippo mascot is murdered, Teddy not only wants to solve the mystery but also discover why no one else seems to care. Gibbs writes with absurdist humor and seemingly an insider's knowledge of how zoos operate." -- THE HORN BOOK, c2010. "Dark Life" by Kat Falls - "Sixteen-year-old Ty, first child born to the pioneers who live in the depths of the ocean, has little patience for topsiders (land dwellers) until he meets feisty Gemma, who immediately enlists his help to locate her missing older brother. Their search is interrupted by pirate attacks of the notorious Seablite Gang and an ultimatum from the Commonwealth Government (located topside) that makes the pioneers responsible for stopping the raids. Ty and Gemma uncover connections between the pirates, illicit medical experiments, and Gemma's missing sibling, who happens to have secret supernatural gifts--like Ty. Although set in an undersea future, this rousing adventure has all the hallmarks of a western, including outlaws, homesteaders, and plenty of shoot-'em-up action (only with harpoonlike weapons). Good guys and bad guys are fairly obvious, as is the outcome, but the exotic setting and well-conceived details about undersea living, along with likable characters and a minor surprise at the end, will keep readers turning the pages. Try this with the ecofiction of David Klass." -- Cindy Welch, AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION "Grounded" by Kate Klise - "Dark humor melds with genuine pathos in Klise's delightful and moving novel, set in Digginsville, Missouri, during the early 1970s. Twelve-year-old Daralynn Oakland is devastated when her father and siblings die in a plane crash. Angry and heartbroken, Daralynn's mother gets a job as hairstylist at the local funeral parlor, while Daralynn comes up with the idea of a 'living funeral,' where people can hear their own eulogy and have a chance to thank family and friends. The living funeral is a huge hit until Clem Monroe comes to town and starts a crematorium, undermining the funeral home's business. Klise loves a mystery, which the charming yet sinister Clem provides in spades. ... However, it's the journey through grief and the quirky characters... that stay with the reader. This quiet story illuminates and celebrates the human need for connection beyond the grave."-- Debbie Carton, AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, c2010. "Plague: A Gone Novel" by Michael Grant - "Though the desperate, dirty, starving teens of the Gone series look decreasingly like the clean-cut hotties on the book jackets, Grant's sf-fantasy thrillers continue to be the very definition of page- turner. Nearly out of water and beset with two types of plagues (one like a flu, the other a horde of flesh-eating bugs), the FAYZ community of superfriends and superenemies must once again band together and fight. Being dumped into this populous soap opera, with all its powers and vendettas, will doom newcomers. But who'd be crazy enough to start here? Great fun for fans." Daniel Kraus, AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, c2011. JUVENILE NON-FICTION "Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci" by Joseph D"Agnese - "Though written in a modern idiom ..., D'Agnese's introduction to medieval Europe's greatest mathematician offers both a coherent biographical account-- spun, with some invented details, from very sketchy historical records-- and the clearest explanation to date for younger readers of the numerical sequence that is found throughout nature and still bears his name. O'Brien's illustrations place the prosperously dressed, woolly headed savant in his native Pisa and other settings, contemplating flowers, seashells, and the so-called arabic numerals (which he promoted vigorously and rightly ascribes to India), as well as presenting a visual solution to his most famous mathematical word problem. Closing with a page of relevant activities for young naturalists, this picture book makes an excellent alternative to Joy N. Hulme's colorful but flawed Wild Fibonacci: Nature's Secret Code Revealed, illustrated by Carol Schwartz (2005)."-- John Peters, AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, c2010. "Catch the Wind: Harness the Sun: 22 Super-Charged Projects for Kids" by Michael J. Caduto - "The eco-themed activities that Caduto lays out here are only the beginning, as he embeds them in short but clear explanations of relevant scientific facts, profiles of young eco-activists, provocative follow-up questions, photos and cartoon spot art aplenty, folktales, and other enhancements. The projects range widely in difficulty--from planning and conducting an electricity-free day to constructing solar- and bicycle-powered battery chargers--and also in appeal. ...Closing with relatively extensive annotated lists of organizations and websites, this may not offer experimenters as many ideas as Elizabeth Snoke Harris' Save the Earth Science Experiments (2008) or Sherry Amsel's 365 Ways to Live Green for Kids (2009), but the generous quantity of enrichment material makes it a worthy addition to the ranks of science-project titles." -- John Peters, AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, c2011. "The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy)" by Barbara Kerley - "This title is another fine example of the author's talents; the unique slant is that Mark Twain's 13-year-old daughter Susy, who secretly wrote her own biography of her famous father, is the primary voice of this account. Susy's diary is artfully included inside separate mini-book inserts throughout the book, echoing the young teenager's perspective of the American legend who happened to be her father. ... Students will enjoy the sparse but rich text, Susy's diary inserts, and bold illustrations in digital media; they will definitely learn something new about the American icon that is Twain as well. Teachers will love the detailed Author's Notes and timeline of Twain's life." -- Jennifer Coleman, Library Media Specialist, ABC-CLIO, INC., c2010. "Survivor Kid: A Practical Guide to Wilderness Survival" by Denise Long - "A great deal of practical information about surviving in the outdoors is packed into this compact guide. Long has clearly spent a lot of time in the woods, and she is able to supplement her advice for avoiding nasty bugs, poisonous plants, frostbite, and angry predators with personal anecdotes, which push this title beyond merely a collection of do's and don'ts and lend it compelling immediacy. ...The book is generously illustrated with black-and-white drawings, which extend the concepts and add interest, and a small list of suggested resources offers direction for readers who want to continue on with their research. Of course, accounts of what can go wrong in the woods may lead some readers to decide that it is safer just to stay home. For those planning to venture beyond their front porches, however, this is a useful guide."-- Todd Morning, AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, c2011. "Drizzle" by Kathleen Van Cleve - "Eleven-year-old Polly has no friends at school. Her best friend is Harry, a unique rhubarb plant on her family’s midwestern farm, where it rains miraculously at the same time every Monday, and tourists come to enjoy a giant, amusement-park umbrella ride that her family has built. Polly and Harry communicate: he nods when he agrees with her and swats her with his leaves when he is angry. And Polly can talk with bugs, as well as plants. Her peaceful life on the farm changes, though, when the rain stops suddenly and her brother gets deathly ill. Does she have the power to save both the farm and her sibling? Polly’s wry interaction with Harry and other plants and wild creatures is the best part of this debut fantasy that has an environmental slant. The water conservation message at its core will make young, activist readers cheer for Polly as she works with friends, and sometimes with enemies, to bring back the rain and save the world." Grades 5-8. --Hazel Rochman, Booklist "Mockingbird" by Kathryn Erskine - "Ten-year-old Caitlyn hates recess, with all its noise and chaos, and her kind, patient counselor, Mrs. Brook, helps her to understand the reasons behind her discomfort, while offering advice about how to cope with her Asberger’s Syndrome, make friends, and deal with her grief over her older brother’s death in a recent school shooting. She eschews group projects in class, claiming that she doesn’t need to learn how to get along with others, but solitude is neither good for her or her grieving father, and when Caitlyn hears the term closure, she turns to her one trusty friend, her dictionary, and sets out on a mission to find it for both of them. Along the way, Caitlyn makes many missteps, but eventually she does achieve the long-sought closure with great finesse, which is another of her favorite vocabulary words. Allusions to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the portrayal of a whole community’s healing process, and the sharp insights into Caitlyn’s behavior enhance this fine addition to the recent group of books with narrators with autism and Asbergers." Grades 4-7. --Cindy Dobrez, Booklist "Smile" by Raina Telgemeier - "In a minor accident at age 12, Telgemeier lost two front teeth, not minor to remedy. Following came years of dental surgeries and orthodontics involving implants, false teeth, and headgear far beyond the more usual 'braces.' Treatment complications interacted with the complications of teenagerhood and puberty, which led to social as well as medical turmoil. Yet Telgemeier's early career choice as an animator grew out of this difficult period. With lively color art; an entertaining and helpful read for tweens and teens facing dental complexities of their own." -- LJ BookSmack! Online Review. LIBRARY JOURNAL, c2011. YOUNG ADULT "Blink & Caution" by Time Wynne-Jones - "Wynne-Jones (The Uninvited) delivers a dazzling crime novel that evokes the taut writing and tropes of hard-boiled fiction while interweaving social justice themes and a solid sense of realism. Blink has been living on the streets ever since running away from his abusive stepfather. While on a foray into a hotel to scavenge for leftover room service food, he witnesses an oil executive's faked kidnapping and ends up getting involved as he realizes the implications of the crime. Along the way, he meets Caution, on the run both from her abusive, drug- dealing boyfriend and her guilt over the accidental shooting death of her brother. The two teens are caught up in environmental and racial issues that are far beyond their ability to remedy, and Wynne-Jones-- often using a surprisingly effective second-person voice--focuses on their attempts to escape immediate danger and repair their internal emotional damage. Blink and Caution's gradual need to trust each other to heal drives the story forward, and should provide ample thrills to lovers of crime novels and strong teen characters." -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, c2011. PICTURE BOOKS "Charlie the Ranch Dog" by Ree Drummond "Desperate Dog Writes Again" by Eileen Christelow "Fancy Nancy, Stellar Stargazer" by Jane O'Connor "Goal" by Mina Javaherbin "Hero Dad" by Melinda Hardin "If You're a Monster and You Know It" by Rebecca Emberley "I'm Not" by Pam Smallcomb "Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad" by David Soman "Let's Count Goats" by Mem Fox "Ling & Ting; Not Exactly the Same" by Grace Lin "Me and You" by Anthony Browne "Of Thee I Sing" by Barack Obama "Red Hen" by Rebecca Emberley "Should I Share My Ice Cream? by Mo Willems "We Are In A Book" by Mo Willems