HELEN WILDING COOK - Children's Collection Development Coordinator (return to current selections) |
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| December 2007 | ||
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"Power Plays" by Maureen Ulrich “Power Plays” isn’t just a hockey book for girls, although if you want to understand hockey, this is a good place to read and learn. As Jessie the protagonist finds out, playing hockey is so fast and so hard and so frustrating that scoring a goal nearly explodes your heart with joy. “Power Plays” also resonates with other pleasing and confusing emotions that punctuate a teenager’s life. Jessie’s problems with bullies and the tactics she uses for coping with them may comfort some readers or encourage them to seek help. Paperback : ISBN 1550503790 / 9781550503791 LBN # 538467 / Price $12.95 / Pub Date: September 2007 "Fashion Kitty Versus the Fashion Queen" Charise Harper is sneaky. She weaves spelling and definitions into her plot without bogging down the engaging, laugh-out-loud story. But don’t take my word for it, my colleague gave this book to her daughter, a reluctant seven-year old reader, and she read it in one sitting! |
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November 2007
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| October 2007 | ||
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"Thy Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World" by EL Konigsburg Amedeo Kaplan and William Wilcox's friendship grows while they get to know Amedeo’s nutty, hilarious, ex-opera-singer neighbour, Mrs. Zender. While the plot meanders, (touching on Nazi history, racism, sexuality, secrets, truth, and Art history) Amedeo learns, to his surprise, that he is affluent, while both William and Mrs. Zender are not. As Amedeo’s self-awareness matures, Mrs. Zender grows up a bit herself. An inspired vocal performance by Edward Herrmann adds depth and resonance to these memorable characters. Hardcover : ISBN 9781416949725 LBN # 538168 / Price: $21.00 Compact Disc: ISBN 9780743569088 LBN # 538169 / Price: $29.99 |
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| September 2007 | ||
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"Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians " by Brandon Sanderson "Alcatraz versus the evil Librarians” explores interesting ideas and is truly laugh out loud funny. It has slapstick comedy, dry humour, sarcasm and heavy-handed narrative interjections. (Now I’m going to give away the ending, so if you plan to read the book, stop reading.) (Last chance…) (Sanderson uses funny little bits like that.) (Some might find them annoying.) Evil Librarians have hegemony in Alcatraz’s world through their control of knowledge. At the end of the book, Alcatraz has a pair of lenses that can decipher any language. Does that not present exciting potential for the rest of the series? Ages : 9+ Hardcover : ISBN 0439925509 / 9780439925501 LBN # 538071 / Price: $20.99 Compact Disc: ISBN 0545024692 / 9780545024693 LBN # 538072 / Price: $35.99 "Evil Genius" by Catherine Jinks What if you set up a fake online dating service by fabricating dozens of identities to “match” everyone who joined? What if you answered all their emails yourself, as these different identities, using the experience to build a computer program that predicted human behaviour? What if you liked one of the people and answered as yourself, and what if they liked the real, evil you? What if you were eleven years old? That’s a very small part of this often funny exploration of good and evil. A key character has cerebral palsy and she’s a math expert. A sequel is planned called “Genius Squad”. Male and female young adults will find reasons to love this book. Ages : 12+ Hardcover : ISBN 0152059881 / 9780152059880 LBN # : 520314 / Price: $19.95 |
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| August 2007 | ||
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"The Wednesday Wars " by Gary Schmidt “The Wednesday Wars” is set in 1960's America. Holling, our protagonist, is in grade 7 and is laugh-out-loud funny. His self-deprecating, first person narrative voice suits an audio presentation very well. It vividly captures the ludicrous humiliations he suffers, as well as his triumphs. (Click our “Audio Books” tab for further current audio titles in juvenile fiction and young adult, as well as adult fiction and non-fiction.) "... Helen Wilding Cook Hardcover : ISBN 0618724834 / 9780618724833 LBN # 531790 / Price: $21.95 Compact Disc: ISBN 0439925010 / 9780439925013 LBN # 529462 / Price: $42.99 "Eggs" by Jerry Spinelli Nine-year-old David and thirteen-year-old Primrose become unlikely friends through an unpredictable and engaging plotline. They sparingly express feelings to each other, the way kids do. Their friendship becomes touchingly protective, but not saccharine, and gradually heals their bruised hearts. Hardcover : ISBN 0316166464 / 9780316166461 LBN # 514231 / Price: $19.99 Compact Disc: ISBN 1594839700 / 9781594839702 LBN # 520308 / Price: $28.98 |
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"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by JK Rowling “Yes, okay, I admit it. I love Harry Potter. I’m a fan. I reread “The Half-blood Prince” and couldn’t wait for “The Deathly Hallows”. I neglected housework and stayed up too late reading it. I even lost the thread of my husband’s engaging conversations because I was thinking about Ron and Hermione and Harry. Kreacher’s involvement was a nice touch. Not that it matters, but I loved “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"... Helen Wilding Cook Hardcover : ISBN 1551929767 LBN # 512975 / Price: $45.00 |
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| July 2007 | ||
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"Becca at Sea" by Deirdre Baker “This book is set on an idyllic island in British Columbia. Becca spends a few successive summers with her Grandmother. Becca sails, saves the island garden, swims beneath Aurora Borealis and beside a baby seal, and more. Through these incidents and against a backdrop of intermittent relatives, Deirdre Baker deftly shows Becca mature from a child with many internal dialogues, to an articulate and assertive girl. Well done." ... Helen Wilding Cook Hardcover : ISBN 088899737X LBN # 538076 / Price: $18.95 "Eragon" & "Eldest" by Christopher Paolini “Eragon” and “Eldest” surprised me. As expected, both have marvelous battles, quests, dragons, magic, and so on. The romantic impasse, however is unique. The character Eragon loves Arya – an alluring, elf beauty. The problem is that she’s 100 years older! The tension between them is really well done. Gerard Doyle does an excellent job on the voices, even if the dragons’ were a bit disappointing. Each character is distinctly recognizable, especially the women." ... Helen Wilding Cook "Eragon" Hardcover : ISBN 0375826688 / 9780375826689 LBN # 343305 / Price: $26.95 Paperback : ISBN 0375840540 / 9780375840548 LBN # 503109 / Price: $14.50 Compact Disc : ISBN 0739330942 / 9780739330944 LBN # 489929 / Price: $52.95 "Eldest" Hardcover : ISBN 037582670X / 9780375826702 LBN # 372343 / Price: $27.95 Paperback : ISBN 0375840400 / 9780375840401 LBN # 505359 / Price: $16.00 Compact Disc : ISBN 0307280721 / 9780307280725 LBN # 432528 / Price: $75.00 "Island - Book 1 : Shipwreck" by Gordon Korman "This Canadian author creates an adventure that engages from the first page, or in the case of the audio, from the first word. Holter Graham’s performance is effective, unobtrusively making each character recognizable. Reluctant readers, good students, athletes, and TV junkies will all find something to cheer about as a group of kids fight to survive after their yacht sinks. The only reader I would not recommend this book to would be someone planning a sailing holiday." ... Helen Wilding Cook Paperback : ISBN 0439164567 LBN # 274403 / Price: $6.99 Compact Disc : ISBN 0439925436 / 04399254436 LBN # 510620 / Price: $24.99 |
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| June 2007 | ||
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"Terrier: Beka Cooper Book 1" by Tamora Pierce "Beka Cooper’s trilogy is set in Pierce’s Tortall world where Beka empowers young female readers to believe in themselves. In the audio version, the narrator did an excellent job varying speed, accent, and inflection to distinctly portray at least seven endearing characters. Beka’s journal entries make up the majority of the book and are well suited to an audio presentation."... Helen Wilding Cook Hardcover : ISBN 037581468X / 9780375814686 LBN # 491647 / Price: $24.95 Compact Disc : ISBN 0739337181 / 9780739337189 LBN # 489928 / Price $69.95 |
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| May 2007 | ||
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"Stoneheart" by Charlie Fletcher "Stoneheart made me cheer! George Chapman (12) learns to believe in himself as he walks – and increasingly runs - around in downtown London, England – running because he sees gargoyles peel off walls, statues jump off plinths, etc. He has inadvertently started a war, and the gargoyles and dragons are not on George’s side! Jim Dale did a wonderful job with small changes in his voice to differentiate the characters. Happily, “Stoneheart” is the first in a self-titled trilogy." ... Helen Wilding Cook Hardcover : ISBN 034091162X / 9780340911624 LBN # 520465 / Price: $21.95 Compact Disc : ISBN 0545003652 / 9780545003650 LBN # 526553 / Price $47.95 |
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"The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick “This book literally gave me goose bumps. Selznick's combination of pictures and text not only emulates the overly slow and melodramatic enchantment of “silent film", but in doing so he pushes the parameters of “the novel”. Like “The Three Golden Keys” by Peter Sis is for the picture book, this novel is a groundbreaking achievement." ... Helen Wilding Cook Hardcover : ISBN 0439813786 / 9780439813785 LBN # 505392 / Price: $27.99 Compact Disc : ISBN 0545003636 / 9780545003636 LBN # 520827 / Price $35.99 |
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