TAP THE MAGIC TREE by Christie Matheson

Coming from Greenwillow this fall:

Icing on the Cake: The Cupcake Club by Sheryl Berk
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As the girls of the "Peace, Love and Cupcakes Club" return for more adventures, Jenna's mother is engaged to Leo and planning a Las Vegas wedding. Jenna is not sure about this, but her mother wants the club to come to Las Vegas and create a cupcake tower for the wedding. As can be suspected, not all goes well. They help an Elvis impersonator celebrate by making a peanut butter and banana cake for the 250 people in his audience. Then, several near disasters threaten the cupcake tower. This is a series that 2nd through 4th graders will relish because the characters are endearing and the recipes for the Cupcake Club's creations are appended.

Thanks go out to Sourcebooks for the review copy!

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Fear in the Sunlight by Nicola Upson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Josephine Tey is celebrating her 40th birthday with friends in the village of Portmerion in the summer of 1936. Alfred Hitchcock is also there, scouting film locations and seeking script rights for Tey's A Shilling for Candles. As a practical joke, Hitchcock has cooked up a fake murder to observe the reactions of his dinner guests. Slight problem --- three bodies turn up dead before the weekend is over. As a long time fan of Josephine Tey, I was delighted to run into this series that features her as a character.

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Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was eager to read this historical fiction novel because I have long held an affinity for the Jazz Age and a particular interest in the Fitzgeralds. While previous works have cast Zelda in the role of airhead-selfish-unstable-party girl, Fowler sees her as a lively girl whose curiosity and talents did not mesh with the demure role of women prescribed during her time. Recommended to fans of The Paris Wife or the film, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS [2011].

My particular interest in Zelda developed when I did an author study in college on F. Scott Fitzgerald and, after my research, wrote my paper with a "woman-behind-the-man" thesis. Needless to say, it did not receive a warm welcome. FSF was brilliant but insecure, and being married to him would have driven anyone crazy [being married to Hemingway would have made ME commit suicide]. Ms. Fowler, thank you for exposing Zelda as the talented, inquisitive woman she was --- caught in the wrong decade.

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The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook: Dine like Draper and Drink like Sterling: Recipes to Satisfy a Mad Men Appetite by Judy Gelman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This is a fun companion for fans of the television series. Gelman links food and drink recipes to scenes from the TV episodes as well as anecdotes about the dishes, cocktails, and restaurants that made them famous. View all my reviews

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This may well be a Newbery Medal contender in 2013. Vanderpool captures the nuances of character as she describes the friendship that develops between Jack and Early Auden, and tracks their adventures as they set out on a river journey that becomes a "quest."

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Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sheinkin is truly adept at crafting research into an engaging narrative. Even though I know the history here, I became caught up in his narrative as if it were a suspense novel. 'Will the Norweigans be able to blow up the heavy water plant?' 'Will the weather really break so they can perform the Trinity test?'

This is certainly a contender for the Newbery Medal, as well as the Seibert and a few others.

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Unspoken by Henry Cole

Unspoken: A Story From the Underground Railroad by Henry Cole
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Henry Cole's wordless picture book about a young girl who chooses to aid a runaway slave hiding in her barn, is distinguished not only for the depth of emotions captured by his graphite drawings, but also for the range of discussion each panel evokes. In the end notes Cole provides additional context to the historical and geographical setting of his story. A Caldecott Medal contender in my book!

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Hokey Pokey: the dance, the treat, the place

Hokey Pokey by Jerry Spinelli
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

How often have you thought, "Kids. They live in a world of their own." Jerry Spinelli has captured this world: Hokey Pokey where toddlers turn into kids who are free to play and explore all day long ... until, one day you wake up and things are different.

Spinelli's "hokey pokey" world is inventive, well-crafted, and populated with a neighborhood of kids we can all relate to ... both best pals and bullies. It is in the dream-sequences of 'night' that I lose my way. Then again, maybe I'm trying to make sense of something I "used to" understand!

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The Gershwins and Me: A Personal History in Twelve Songs by Michael Feinstein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Feinstein has crafted a fascinating look into the lives and work of George and Ira Gershwin using twelve of their songs as a backdrop. Woven into the narrative are Feinstein's personal insights from his years as an assistant to Ira Gershwin and vast research into American popular song. Although I read this from an advance reader copy, so I did not have a chance to view the illustrations of Gershwin documents and memorbilia that will be included in the final book, this looks to be an important book that music fans and libraries will want to add to their collections.

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Some Halloween fun!