Dog Days - Ice Cream Truck Tour....

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 4

By Jeff Kinney

Jeff Kinney recently talked to Publishers Weekly about the latest installment in his

Wimpy Kid books...

“I didn’t want my fans to have to wait a year for a new book,” said Kinney in a statement. “I’m very excited about Dog Days, because it takes Greg out of the school setting for the first time. It’s been a lot of fun to write about the Heffley summer vacation.”

In keeping with the new book’s summertime setting, a custom “Wimpy Kid” ice cream truck will visit 40 U.S. libraries over the course of 30 days beginning August 3, promoting “The Dog Days of Summer Reading.” Beginning in Sacramento, Calif., the truck will wind its way through California, Nevada, Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut before ending its tour in Boston, Mass. Additional tour details are available at the Wimpy Kid Web site.

There are over 20 million "Wimpy Kid" books in print and a Fox film based on the series is due next April (Zach Gordon of "How I Met Your Mother" was cast in the lead role).

Waiting for the sequel....

The Midnight Charter

Agora is a city state surrounded by a circle of unclimbable walls; divided into the twelve signs of the zodiac, each section with its own set of goals, people and cultural quirks, all ruled by the Director, all influenced by astrological predictions, with the Midnight Charter hanging a dire prophecy over it.

This is a society corrupted by materialism and built on the idea that everyone, everything, has a value, everything can be bought and sold...NOTHING is free!

Two of the young children, meet, form a strange friendship and grow into totally different young citizens. Dreams and desires, good luck and ill fortune, friends and enemies all come together to weave a well written story that holds all the tension of a good fable.

Product Description

In a society based on trade, where everything can be bought and sold, the future rests on the secrets of a single document-and the lives of two children whose destiny it is to discover its secrets. In this spellbinding novel, newcomer David Whitley has imagined a nation at a crossroads: misshaped by materialism and facing a choice about its future. He has brought to life two children who will test the nation's values-and crafted a spellbinding adventure story that will keep readers turning the pages until the very end.

Parental Warning....

I just had to post this great photo that was posted to Twitter (actually Twitpic) this morning....

Warning to parents to hold on to their kids....or...

What a GLORIOUS Adventure....

East of the Sun: A Novel

It has been along time since I have been as excited about writing a review as I am for East of the Sun: A Novel by Julia Gregson!! I actually got up this morning grabbed the book, looking for my bookmark to continue, only to realize I had finished it last night!

Yes - this is the story of 3 women and 1 man who for various reasons embark on a life changing trip to India. It is the 1920's and India is experiencing "growing pains" - an independent India is not far off.

BUT - this book is so much more! Julia Gregson skillfully introduces characters that you will love and, in some cases, love to hate! Her portrayal of India (the country) will put you on the ship, next to Viva, Tor, Rose and Guy! Even the bad guys are so vividly and completely fleshed out that - you "get" their anger and where it comes from.

Told from the viewpoint of Viva (though occasionally attention is pointed back on her) the chaperone who is not much older (or for that matter experienced) than the parties in her charge. You will love the beautiful innocence that is Rose - going to India to become a bride and blossoming to her place as a strong grown woman. The fun and bold Tor - who battles her weight, her mother and her own self-image, but finds that when you stop looking - good things come to you. Last the turbulent Guy - you want to hate him but Gregson explains the views of the day and the lack of knowledge about mental health issues...in true manic/depressive style he gets better, then disappoints...constantly troubled!

You will cry - you will laugh out loud - you won't want this one to end...

Product Description
As the Kaisar-i-Hind weighs anchor for Bombay in the autumn of 1928, its passengers ponder their fate in a distant land. They are part of the "Fishing Fleet" -- the name given to the legions of Englishwomen who sail to India each year in search of husbands, heedless of the life that awaits them. The inexperienced chaperone Viva Holloway has been entrusted to watch over three unsettling charges. There's Rose, as beautiful as she is naïve, who plans to marry a cavalry officer she has met a mere handful of times. Her bridesmaid, Victoria, is hell-bent on losing her virginity en route before finding a husband of her own. And shadowing them all is the malevolent presence of a disturbed schoolboy named Guy Glover.From the parties of the wealthy Bombay socialites to the poverty of Tamarind Street, from the sooty streets of London to the genteel conversation of the Bombay Yacht Club, East of the Sun is graced with lavish detail and a penetrating sensitivity -- historical fiction at its greatest.

About the Author
Julia Gregson has worked as a journalist and a foreign correspondent in the U.K., Australia, and the U.S. Her second novel, East of the Sun will be published by Touchstone in June 2009. It was a major bestseller in the UK in 2008 and won the Romantic Novel of the Year Prize. Her short stories have been published in collections and magazines and read on the radio. She lives in Monmouthshire, England.

Thrills and intrigue in historic England...

The Counterfeit Guest: A Novel

Release Date - August 4, 2009
Sequel to: The Blackstone Key: A Novel


Mary Finch was poor now she is rich (due to an unexpected legacy), with money, property and prospects. As a "Lady of Means" she must now adhere to rules of society that are sometimes stifling...and she really longs for Adventure.

Set in a very tense England after the French Revolution and before the Napoleonic Wars, Melikan writes a complex story of intrigue.

At the outset, the plot sometimes stumbles over references to The Blackstone Key: A Novel, Rose Melikan's previous book with these characters. But it settles down shortly and almost rushes to a satisfactory ending with the traitors eliminated, the innocent protected and the lovers united.

Product Description
It is 1797, and Mary Finch, heroine of The Blackstone Key, is now a wealthy heiress. Young ladies in her situation ought to marry well -- as her friend Susannah Armitage has. But is Susannah's marriage to Colonel Crosby-Nash all that it seems? Mary thinks not, and when her suspicions lead to a meeting with the elusive spymaster Cuthbert Shy, he reveals the terrible truth: the colonel is a traitor. At Shy's request, Mary agrees to accompany the Crosby-Nashes to their country estate in order to discover his secrets. It is a perilous assignment, and the danger increases when her only means of communicating with Shy is murderously cut off. If only Mary could contact the redoubtable Captain Robert Holland -- but as he has inexplicably ended their friendship, his help seems out of reach....

Book Jewelry! Dress Up Your Book!

From The Ivy Leaf on Artfire - the Green Wire Cat Bookmark!

The fleur de lis bookmark, money clip, paper clip from Fresh Design on Artfire...

or the Ruby Red Bookmark from BacisCreations!

One of my personal fave is the Black Ant Book Beads by Boofolobeads on Etsy

...and from Animalgam - Ants - Bookmark

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book

By Neil Gaiman

Illustrated by Dave McKean

In the Gaiman tradition...take a situation that should be gruesome and make it a delight!

This is the story of Bod - for Nobody Owens. His parents were brutally murdered - he is being raised in a graveyard by ghosts, Silas (his Guardian) who lives among the living and the dead, and the "Hounds of God"...but don't think that this book is a cruel, dark tale.

This is a love story - the love of Bod for the parents he lost, the love of his new parents for the son they always wanted in life and his for them - the caring love of Silas for Bod and his for Silas - and the love of the "living girl" Scarlett for her "imaginary friend" and him for her.

It is also a coming of age book - Bod and Scarlet both find out how real and strong he is! A story of self-discovery and liberation.

Thank You to Neil Gaiman and to Dave McKean, applause for the hauntingly beautiful illustrations!

Product Description from Amazon:

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy.

He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead.

There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy-an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer.

But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family. . . .

Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, the graveyard book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.

Teen Angst in Africa - "We're Not In Kansas Anymore"

Escape Under the Forever Sky

By Eve Yohalem

We have all read stories of teen angst - father doesn't understand - mother is overbearing...I know it's been done.

However, when you take these same elements and place them in Ethiopia - a country so foreign...

"Everywhere I go in Ethiopia...kids pop out of nowhere to bombard me with the same three questions: "You are from America? You want a...[fill in blank: necklace, fake antique coin, toothbrush stick, religious icon, etc.]?" and - my personal favorite - "Gimme pen?"

This debut novel by Eve Yohalem draws you into the world of 13 year old Lucy Hoffman. Yohalem definitely "gets" teens. Lucy, wealthy and white in a country that is dirt poor and primarily black - is at the start, headstrong and confident, but when she finds herself in dire straits she is finally able to see life from her parents viewpoint.

Loosely based on a real life event, the author has done her homework. The history and culture of Ethiopia is fascinating, and memories of the late ruler Selassie quite fantastic!

I look forward to more from this author!

From Amazon:

Lucy's mother is the U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia. So Lucy's life must be one big adventure, right? Not really. Her parents are more focused on their careers than their family, so they live on different continents. And Lucy's worrywart mother keeps her locked up inside the ambassador's residence for her own good. Lucy's had enough. So one day, she and a friend sneak off. When Lucy's kidnapped, things get decidedly more interesting. Using her knowledge of African animals, inventiveness, will, and courage, Lucy embarks on an adventure beyond her wildest dreams.