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I’ll be adding some posts about some great new books I’ve read recently … stay tuned:

- Rotters by Daniel Kraus
- Flip by Martyn Bedford
- Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones
- Blood Red Road by Moira Young

Check out my article in the December 2010 issue of Today’s Parent magazine which is now on news stands. The mandate was to select the 100 Best Children’s books . . . a daunting task given that my initial list of favourites was double that size. Having to exclude some of my favourites felt like [...]

THE STORY:

A dystopian thriller follows a boy and girl on the run from a town where all thoughts can be heard — and the passage to manhood embodies a horrible secret.

Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything [...]

THE STORY:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the other districts in line by forcing them to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight-to-the-death on live TV. One boy [...]

Max completely overtook our household when our eldest daughter Sarah (now in her third year at Western studying English Literature) was three. Her Christmas present that year was a hand sewn wolf suit (just like the one Max wears) and we have several very well worn copies of the book as proof of our addiction.

When [...]

THE STORY:

For seventeen-year-old actress Kelley Winslow, faeries are just something from childhood stories. Then she meets Sonny Flannery, whose steel-gray eyes mask an equally steely determination to protect her.

Sonny guards the Samhain Gate, which connects the mortal realm with the Faerie’s enchanted, dangerous Otherworld. Usually kept shut by order of icy King Auberon, the Gate [...]

THE STORY:

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. He has no recollection of his parents, his home, or how he got where he is. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome [...]

ABOUT THIS BOOK:

What is a typical guy moment, anyhow? Daniel Pinkwater remembers the disappointment of meeting his Lone Star Ranger hero up close and personal. Gordon Korman relishes the goofy ultra violence of the old Looney Tunes cartoons. Stephen King realizes that having your two hundred- pound babysitter fart on your five-year-old head prepares you [...]

THE STORY:

Welcome to the realm of very scary faeries!

Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother’s rock band until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in [...]

THE STORY:

Berlin 1942 – When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. [...]