From School Library JournalGr 4-7–Ben and Rachel Corder are stuck in a British country house with their scientist uncle who hates to be disturbed while he is doing his research. The satellite is out, Uncle Jerome has the only computers, and the television explodes immediately. They've used up all the batteries that might power a handheld video game or even a radio and, to top it off, it has been raining for days. When the sun breaks through, the kids grab their wellies and head out into the overgrown yard only to find a buried vault partially uncovered by the rain. Inside, they find Freddy and Polly Emerson, kids their age who have been in cryogenic suspension since 1956. They were presumed murdered by their scientist father, who disappeared without a trace. The four recruit Uncle Jerome to help them find out what did, in fact, happen to Dr. Emerson. While the Corders teach the Emersons about cell phones, piercings, microwave food, and pop culture of 2010, the Emersons demonstrate some skills that today's children lack. Meanwhile, there are signs that the cryogenic process may not have been perfected. This story feels a bit frozen in time itself with its wholesome kids and "gee-whiz" attitude. As such, it should appeal most to readers with some curiosity about the previous century and who could, themselves, survive for an afternoon without a cell phone, computer game, or Internet connection.Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI© Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. From BooklistBen and Rachel, who live in a large house outside an English town, find adventure when they explore their wildly overgrown garden and discover an underground bunker that houses two children in cryogenic chambers. Released and awakened, Freddy and Polly emerge to discover an England quite different from the one they knew in 1956. Their father, a brilliant scientist who disappeared when they did, is still missing. When government agents from two countries hear of the children’s reappearance, the chase is on—and the stakes are high. Though the story is shadowed by the mystery of what happened to Freddy and Polly’s father in 1956 and whether he is still alive, most of the novel portrays, in often-amusing scenes, the series of shocks they experience as they adjust to present-day English culture, values, technology, and vocabulary. In the last quarter of the book, the action scenes pick up the pace considerably, but the story becomes less convincing and more conventional. Still, an intriguing variation on the time-travel theme. Grades 4-7. --Carolyn Phelan Views: 44
From Geoffrey Chaucer to e.e. cummings, from William Shakespeare to Anne Sexton, here are the great American and British poems of the last 500 years, organized by subject in a new and provocative way. "Great Poetry is personal," writes Christopher Burns in his introduction to this extraordinary collection. "Like a seashell held to your ear, a poem resonates to the beating of your heart. The poet brings the words, you bring your life, and together you make the song." Poets as diverse as Tennyson and Teasdale echo the themes of Western Wind hundreds of years apart. Maya Angelou and Janet Flanders, like talk show hosts sitting on stools, swap stories about their mothers. Robert Browning and Richard Wilbur, separated by more than a century, talk about the way men look at women. Walt Whitman and Allen Ginsberg describe the America each has found. Here are the poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay and Carl Sandburg, often ignored in the last few years, along with the masterpieces of William Butler Yeats, Theodore Roethke, Denise Levertov and Langston Hughes. Some of the poems are funny, others are sad, but all are unforgettable. Great poetry transcends the boundaries of place, time, gender, and race. Although there was no intention to be representative, half the poems were written by Americans and half by English, Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Canadian poets. And this anthology is modern: a third of the poems were written in the last fifty years and a third were written between 1900 and 1945. The poems are organized to follow the contours of life: the loneliness of the artist, the uses of war, the role of nature, the constancy of love, and the coming on of death. And like all great poems, they are about you. As you read them, be prepared to hear your own heart roaring in your ear. Views: 44
Cecilia Murray has been wishing for a dog for as long as she can remember. And when a cute pug named Potato is brought in to Orphan Paws, the shelter where she volunteers, she knows he is the dog she's been waiting for. There's just one problem: Eric Chung — a popular, arrogant boy from school — adopts Potato first. What's worse, he hopes to train the little tater to become a show-dog superstar. Cecilia knows that Potato is not cut out for a life of sparkly collars and snobby judges, so she sets out to sabotage Eric's plans. But the more time Cecilia spends with Potato and Eric, the more she questions everything she thought she knew about dog shows ... and a certain cute show-dog trainer. Can Cecilia save Potato — while also listening to her heart? Views: 44
This is a collection of ghost stories from Nova Scotia- from the restless spirits of Devil's Island to the Black Dog of Antigonish Harbour. Documented and well-known stories from the provincial archives are mixed with word-of-mouth legends of strange happenings and scary sightings from across Nova Scotia. Steve Vernon relies on his storytelling experience to create moody and terrifying tales from the annals of history** Views: 44
Plans for the Oakland Fall Ball are officially underway, and it’s up to seventeen-year-old Julie Little to pull off a night her classmates will never forget. But with the recent tragedies that have torn through her life, Julie can’t stay focused on the task at hand. With the added stress of the dance, family, and fragile friendships, she continues to struggle with the pain that comes with love and loss. And with the fate of her love life hanging in the balance, a close friend finally lays it all on the line; Julie will never be happy… until she finally lets Luke go… Views: 44
New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter is back with a sizzling Original Heartbreakers tale about an icy war vet and the only woman capable of melting him... With trust issues a mile long, Ryanne Wade has sworn off men. Then Jude Laurent walks into her bar, and all bets are off. The former army ranger has suffered unimaginably, first being maimed in battle then losing his wife and daughters to a drunk driver. Making the brooding widower smile is priority one. Resisting him? Impossible. For Jude, Ryanne is off-limits. And yet the beautiful bartender who serves alcohol to potential motorists tempts him like no other. When a rival bar threatens her livelihood—and her life—he can't turn away. She triggers something in him he thought long buried, and he's determined to protect her, whatever the cost. As their already scorching attraction continues to heat, the damaged soldier knows he must let go of his past to hold on to his... Views: 44
With the sudden death of his father, Alex must now assume the role of King. This puts his marriage proposal to shy former hotel maid, Liz, on the backburner. They have to keep their engagement silent from the public for six months, as is seemly for a mourning period. Just as they announce their happiness to the world, an ancient law forbidding them to marry brutally surfaces. Views: 44
