Candy Shop Wars 2

Mull, Brandon.  The Candy Shop War, Book 2: Arcade Catastrophe.  Salt Lake City, Shadow Mountain, 2012.

ISBN 9781609071790, Hardcover, $18.99, ages 10 and up.

What if your tokens and arcade prizes bought more than plastic prizes... what if the prizes let you join a secret club of magicians' apprentices?  If magic candy wasn't enough trouble for the young adventurers from The Candy Shop War, the youth have now encountered an evil magician at work in a neighborhood arcade.  Based on his own childhood California hometown, author Brandon Mull calls this book an autobiographical fantasy, but it quickly leaves the realms of reality and soars to magical heights with flying powers, and a quest to save the world from a villain who will stop at nothing to take over.  

Watch the book trailer here!

Rapunzel's Revenge

Hale, Shannon and Dean.  Rapunzel’s Revenge. New York: Bloomsbury, 2008.

ISBN 978-1599902883 Paperback, $16.99.  Ages 8-12.

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A graphic novel combining the Rapunzel fairy tale with Wild West outlaw adventures.

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Once upon a time just turned feisty!  This graphic novel version of the Rapunzel tale quickly departs from fairy tale formula, as “Punzie” crafts her own escape from the tower and meets up with horse thief Jack (of beanstalk fame).  Together the duo tumbles from one adventure to the next in their quest to take down Mother Gothel and deliver the land from her evil power, and the hero is a princess in pants.  Armed with Rapunzel’s lethal braids, Jack’s magic goose, and a bit of luck, the couple makes their own magic in order to destroy Gothel’s powers and thus rescue the land, its people, and particularly Rapunzel’s birth mother.  The story retains enough of the original to remind readers of the familiar fairytale: a witch has taken a child in exchange for the father’s theft of lettuce for his pregnant wife, raises the girl as her own, names her Rapunzel after said lettuce, imprisons her in a tower, and eventually chops off her hair. Yet added plot elements flesh out the story and morph into its own new version, blending fairy tales and low fantasy with an outlaw adventure: a saloon fight, wild boar ride, hostage rescue, prison break, prairie fire, and escape from a pack of coyotes precede the grand finale at Gothel’s castle ball.  Although Rapunzel herself isn’t seeking a fairy tale ending, a little romance may just lead to happily ever after… or to the book’s sequel, Calamity Jack.

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2009 Leah Adezio Award for Most Kid-Friendly Work
2009 ALA Notable Children's Book award
2009 YALSA Great Graphic Novel for Teens
Eisner Award nomination

Click here for paper doll pdfs, readers theater script, and more!

Night Circus

Morgenstern, Erin.  Night Circus.  New York: Doubleday, 2011.

ISBN: 9780385534635.  Paperback, $15.00.  Ages 13 and up.

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Two magicians with a long-standing feud enlist their young charges in a lifelong challenge.  The two protégés create a fantasy circus which attracts fans but threatens to self-destruct.

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You can tell the night circus fans by their dress: black and white, a touch of red.  They are swept into the magic of the circus: its unique performances, unusual foods, and otherworldly experiences unlike anything they’ve ever known.  The night circus appears without warning, travels globally, and has a cultic following mesmerized by their addictive visits.  At the heart of the circus, however, is the magic wrought by Celia and Marco, two young lovers who are also fated enemies.  Will they destroy each other and the circus, or can an ordinary fan rescue them all?

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Alex Award from ALA 2012

2011 Guardian First Book Award candidate

Meet author Erin Morgenstern:

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.  New York: Vintage, 2003. 

ISBN 1400032717.  Paperback, 226 pages, $14.00, ages 13 and up.

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The journal account of a boy with Asperger’s who seeks to uncover the answer to a neighborhood puzzle.  His journey leads to new realizations about himself and his family relationships.

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Ÿ 3.“My name is Christopher John Francis Boone.  I know all the countries of the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7.057.” 

Ÿ 7.“This is a murder mystery novel. Siobhan said that the book should being with something to grab people’s attention.  That is why I started with the dog.  I also started with the dog because it happened to me and I find it hard to imagine things which did not happen to me.”

Ÿ19.”Chapters in books are usually given the cardinal numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6 and so on.  But I have decided to give my chapters prime numbers 2,3,5,7,11,13 and so on because I like prime numbers.”

            Ÿ101.“Mr. Jeavons said that I liked maths because it was safe.  He said I liked maths because it meant solving problems, and these problems were difficult and interesting but there was always a straightforward answer at the end.  And what he meant was that maths wasn’t like life because in life there are no straightforward answers at the end.  I know he meant this because this is what he said.  This is because Mr. Jeavons doesn’t understand numbers.” 

Ÿ 233. “And I know I can do this because I went to London on my own, and because I solved the mystery of Who Killed Wellington? And I found my mother and I was brave and I wrote a book and that means I can do anything.”

#awards

Whitbread Book Award for Best Novel and Best Book of the Year

Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book

Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize

Trailer for the stage production: