![]() ![]() Caleb, like all slaves and ghosts, is chained to the present by the events of the past, his only hope of escaping is if someone like Kenny puts their own freedom on the line and changes history.Īvi is arguably one of the most celebrated children’s authors of the 20th and 21 st centuries, and for good reason. In the book, a boy named Kenny discovers that his new home in Rhode Island is haunted by the ghost of a murdered slave named Caleb. ![]() Without context, we are “irrelevant”, a lesson learned in SOMETHING UPSTAIRS by Avi, published in 1988 by SCHOLASTIC INC. Without the past, without history, we are without context. We do this primarily because we understand that the past informs the present and the future. If we are not reminiscing or ruminating over our personal history, we are often pondering the history of others. The past has a tendency to trap us and our imaginations. ![]()
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![]() ![]() In spite of all the evidence against Gilbert, Mr Stirling asks Paul to clear his name and discover the real murderer. ![]() Her boyfriend Howard Gilbert, seen walking away from the site, has been convicted of the murder and sentenced to hang - but Brenda's father feels sure he didn't do it. His daughter Brenda was recently murdered, her body dumped on a bomb site. ![]() Just as Paul and Steve are about to go on holiday, Wilfred Stirling visits with a plea. They inhabited a sophisticated world of chilled cocktails and fast cars, where the women were chic and the men wore cravats - a world where Sir Graham Forbes, of Scotland Yard, usually needed Paul's help with his latest tricky case. For thirty years the fictional crime novelist and detective Paul Temple, together with his Fleet Street journalist wife Steve, solved case after case in one of BBC Radio's most popular series. ![]() ![]() The multi-cultural continent has many sides and you will get a glimpse of it in the following titles, be it about immigrants with new money, young girls longing to snag a rich husband, fans of K-pop idols or assassins who read. ![]() No, Asia isn’t all about poverty and arranged marriages though of course, these are very valid and relevant topics in contemporary Asia. It is indulgent, extravagant and exposes a whole new luxury lifestyle that might come as a surprise to many readers. When I think of a fun Asian book, Crazy Rich Asians always pops to my mind. BUT these books are layered to have more serious themes - female infanticide, prejudice against different communities, misogyny, beauty standards - within a good story. ![]() All these aren’t light reads, in fact most of them aren’t and some are literary too. I am reminded of the chat with Tara and Freyan about fun books and why we need them, which got me thinking about fun Asian books to read. Sure, I love reading about serious themes of wars, displacement, and racism, but sometimes I do long for pure doses of fun. Behold some new fun books and light reads from Asia! As I was compiling a list of new books from Asia, I felt most of them were quite literary in scope. ![]() Private jet hopping, exorbitant displays of wealth, bloody murders, ghosts, and romance. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The disastrous result provides Andrew with a valuable lesson-and a new respect for his teacher! This unit contains story summary, author biography, objectives, chapter questions, vocabulary and follow-up activities. He was desperate enough to pay Sharon for a secret recipe for freckle juice. Andrew wanted freckles like his classmate, Nicky. In this Novel Study guide, introduce students to a gullible boy who will believe anything to get what he wants. ![]() ![]() ![]() Anna and Mompellion can occasionally appear to be modern sensibilities unaccountably transferred to 17th-century Derbyshire. Year of Wonderssometimes seems anachronistic as historical fiction. All is complicated by the intense, unacknowledgeable feelings she develops for both the rector and his wife. Together with Mompellion and his wife Elinor, she tends the dying and battles to prevent her fellow villagers from descending into drink, violence and superstition. The narrator, a young widow called Anna Frith, is one of the few who succeeds. Cocooned from the outside world and ravaged by the disease, its inhabitants struggle to retain their humanity in the face of the disaster. His oratory wins the day and the village turns in on itself. ![]() The rector, Michael Mompellion, argues forcefully that the villagers should stay put, isolate themselves from neighbouring towns and villages and prevent the contagion from spreading. ![]() Do they flee their village in the hope of outrunning the plague or do they stay? The lord of the manor and his family pack and leave. As villagers begin, one by one, to die, the rest face a choice. What Amazon says: “Geraldine Brooks’s Year of Wonders describes the 17th-century plague that is carried from London to a small Derbyshire village by an itinerant tailor. ![]() ![]() ![]() On a raised area at the back of the stage a glamorous young woman enters, calling out to an unseen man. Apparently Looking Good Dead is one of a series of books/plays featuring Superintendent Roy Grace and in Shaun McKenna’s stage version he seems strangely incompetent. Let’s be charitable and quote author Peter James from the programme: “I write thrillers because I love entertaining people.” However, in the same note, he also writes about having us on the edge of our seats – and that doesn’t happen. On the other hand there is very little in the other performances to suggest a spoof and Jonathan O’Boyle’s direction, and particularly Long’s stiff-as-a-board performance, don’t hint at it. ![]() On the one hand there are the three police stuffed up together in a cramped little station downstage left, with Glenn Branson (Leon Stewart) decorating a murder investigation with silly jokes and Roy Grace (Harry Long) finishing them off for him. ![]() The problem is, “Is it meant to be funny?”. Then comes a rousing curtain call and members of the audience can be heard saying how good it was as they exit. In the final scene, after all sorts of revelations and indiscriminate seizing of pistols, the audience’s laughter is obvious. Looking Good Dead poses a problem, a mystery, at the end. ![]() ![]() Sing along with everyone, because it’s time for a barnyard adventure with an energetic animal crew! Boynton on board’s best-selling series of board books is here with BARNYARD DAZE, featuring Sandra Boynton’s dancing pigs and fiddle-playing cows. BARNYARDDANCE is extra-fat, extra-big and extra-fun. Best Sellers: Books for The Emotional Lives 8-10 Years old.Best Sellers: Books for School-Age Children 7-9 Years old. ![]()
![]() Shortly after arriving at the library, Brooklyn finds her mentor lying dead in a pool of blood and taps into her inner (amateur) sleuth to figure out whodunnit. At the beginning of the novel, Brooklyn attends a celebration at the local library showcasing the latest work of her lifelong teacher and mentor. The star and protagonist of Carlisle's "Bibliophile" mystery series is Brooklyn Wainwright-a book conservator (someone who repairs, restores, and preserves old books) who has been practicing her trade since she was 8 years old and now runs her own restoration business. At the time of this writing, there are 14 books in the series (15 if you count the novella released between books #4 and #5), which is exciting news for people like me who are just now discovering this series! I've had Homicide in Hardcover sitting on my bookshelf since its release and now I'm kicking myself for not having started it sooner because I loved it! On the plus side, now I can binge-read the entire series. Homicide in Hardcover is the first novel in the "Bibliophile" cozy mystery series by Kate Carlisle. ![]() ![]() ![]() When the cabaret becomes the next victim in the wave of gentrification that's taking over the neighborhood, Harleen gets mad. Ever since Harleen's parents split, MAMA has been her only family. Harleen is a tough, outspoken, rebellious kid who lives in a ramshackle apartment above a karaoke cabaret owned by a drag queen named MAMA. From Eisner Award and Caldecott Honor-winning author Mariko Tamaki ( This One Summer, Supergirl: Being Super). ![]() Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass is a coming-of-age story about choices, consequences, justice, fairness, and progress and how a weird kid from Gotham's poorest part of town goes about defining her world for herself. She'll be in conversation with fellow superhero Gene Luen Yang. The Bindery hosts friend and former staffer Mariko Tamaki for her new book Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass. ![]() ![]() Heiress to one of New England’s oldest paper companies, Carolyn is the driving force behind the brand. The problem? Beth may not survive his loud, affectionate, athletic family–especially when the very beautiful and earthy woman everybody wanted Sonny to marry is still hanging around the family dinner table. ![]() Then she meets Sonny, a rugged, sexy carpenter who sweeps her off her feet. so why does it end up in her mouth?Ī shy and brilliant professor-to-be, Beth has lived a sheltered life. ![]() Ever the optimist, Polly puts her best foot forward. ![]() Then her son marries Amy, a Birkenstocked gal whose organic farm and family ooze a rather creepy serenity. The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again also introduces four new women, ready for massages and seaweed wraps, each struggling to reconcile her secret dreams, biggest fears, and deepest feelings as topsy-turvy events shake up her life.Īfter eighteen years of trying to make peace with her husband’s cold-as-ice mother, Polly vows to be the perfect mother-in-law: loving, accepting, and determined to keep her mouth shut. The fabulous women from The Hot Flash Club are back in top form, welcoming the stressed-out and pampering-deprived through their discreet spa doors–as Nancy Thayer returns with a witty, sexy, and heartwarming novel. ![]() |