Friday, April 15, 2005

Flamingnet April Enewsletter

Flamingnet Book Reviews Enewsletter
Topics:
1. New and Advance Books Recently Reviewed On Flamingnet
2. Other Recent Flamingnet Reviews
3. YA-YAS IN BLOOM Giveaway
4. Welcome Simon & Schuster
5. Support Libraries - Buy Through Flamingnet
6. Please Tell Your Students and Friends
7. To Unsubscribe

1. New and Advance Books Recently Reviewed On Flamingnet
FAR FROM BURDEN DELL Chris Coppel Brown Barn Books
Everything in Amy's life is perfect: her food, her home, her people, her English country atmosphere&perfect, that is, until her beloved master abandons her for some sort of silly human project in far-off Hollywood. Distraught, Amy becomes a target for "dognappers" who lock her up in a horrible kennel with a bunch of other dogs. Despairing at first, Amy's hopes rise when she and some others succeed in escaping from the kennel. Their escape leads to a series of wild adventures throughout London, Amy and her friends always barely one step ahead of the outraged dognappers.
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/405.cfm?enb=132Fdaw

SMILER'S BONES Peter Lerangis Scholastic
Smiler's Bones, by Peter Lerangis, is a story about an Eskimo named Minik. Minik and five other Eskimos, including Minik's father Qisuk ("Smiler"), travel from Greenland to America with the explorer Robert Peary. In America, the Eskimos become a living exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Within ninety-six days, four of the six Eskimos, including Qisuk, are dead. Not long after, one leaves America to return to Greenland, leaving Minik to be the only Eskimo living in New York. In Minik's search for the truth, he uncovers a web of lies and deceptions.
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/405.cfm?enb=232Fdaw

A FAST AND BRUTAL WING Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson Roaring Brook
Two kids, two animals: Hawk and Cat. Will they hunt each other, or will they fight the urge to kill, because the brother and sister need each other in the human world? Emmet and Niki are caged in. They both crave the outdoors, but after the "incident in the woods," Niki is kept at home and Emmet is kept at the Tomington Center. They both long for the freedom to enjoy fresh, open air. According to Niki, it is because they have the ability to transform: Emmet to hawk, Niki to cat. Is this true, or is the story Niki wrote for the Father Project as fantastic as it sounds?
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/405.cfm?enb=332Fdaw


THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME Mark Haddon Vintage
Christopher John Francis Boone is autistic, he's also the narrator of this funny yet touching story. He is a genius in math and science but cannot function very well socially. He hates being touched and can't stand the colors yellow or brown, but he wants to find out who murdered his neighbor's dog. He goes about trying to figure it out as if he was a detective in a murder mystery but uncovers some things about his life that are surprising.
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/405.cfm?enb=432Fdaw


LOOKING FOR ALASKA John Green Penguin
It's one of those books that anyone can relate to, that seems to be telling the story of your own life. It's one of those books that you think everyone should read, but you don't know who to recommend it to. It's "Looking For Alaska," the first novel of National Public Radio commentator John Green, that tells the story of Miles (or Pudge, as his friends call him) and his first year living away from home at a boarding school in Alabama.
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/405.cfm?enb=532Fdaw


11,000 YEARS LOST Peni R. Griffin Harry N. Abrams
Realistic children's novels on prehistoric man are few and far between; in fact, finding any child's novel on prehistoric man is rare. When the reader does find such a novel the book often proves to be dull or extremely fanciful, disqualifying it as historical fiction and as an enjoyable read. This is fortunately not the case for '11,000 Years Lost' by Peni R. Griffin. As a novelty, the book was a refreshing change from the usual juvenile fare of school stories and cheap serial thrillers.
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/405.cfm?enb=632Fdaw

AIRBORN Kenneth Oppel HarperCollins
Airborn takes place in the near future, where the skies are ruled by massive airships. Matt Cruse was a cabin boy, aboard the passenger airship, Aurora. Cruse badly wanted to become a junior sailmaker, but his opportunity was stolen by the son of Otto Lunardi, a rich Airship maker. Tis begins Matt's adventures to prove himself worthy of comand of the Aurora.
I think this was a great book, mainly because of the vivid images, the loveable and unloveable characters, the fluid story line and the fact that it was comical and exciting at the same time. "Airborn" is a book with something to enjoy, no matter who is reading it.
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/405.cfm?enb=732Fdaw

SOUL STEALER Martin Booth Little, Brown
Soul Stealer, by Martin Booth, is a fantastical sequel to Doctor Illuminatus. We Pip and Tim moved into a new house, and, over the summer, had discovered that a medieval alchemist's son, Sebastian, had awakened from centuries of slumber. In this sequel, we are taken into an adventure that begins as the new school year starts.
In the end, Soul Stealer is a delightful and well -written novel that would be perfect for any young and adventurous reader, and proves to be a wonderful sequel to Doctor Illuminatus.
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/405.cfm?enb=832Fdaw


2. Other Recent Flamingnet Reviews
LEFT FOR DEAD Pete Nelson Delacorte
Hunter Scott, a young boy, created his history fair project on the torpedoing and subsequent sinking of the USS Indianapolis. The sinking killed many of the crew and left others to die during shark attacks and other misfortunes that the crew encountered in the water, waiting to be rescued. He starts a quest with the project to fix the damage done to the name of the captain of the ship, which will bring him all the way to Congress. The captain, Captain McVay, was inaccurately court-martialed and said to be at fault for not preventing the torpedoing. In actuality, Captain McVay was innocent and people in the Navy were the ones to blame.
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/405.cfm?enb=932Fdaw


TUNES FOR BEARS TO DANCE TO Robert Cormier Laurel-Leaf

http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/405.cfm?enb=1032Fdaw


KENSUKE'S KINGDOM Michael Morpurgo Scholastic
Michael, his dog, Stella, and his parents sell their house and many of their possessions after his parents are both laid off. They buy a boat and prepare to leave their town in England to sail around the world. Michael must leave his friends and be taught by his parents while they are on the trip. When they are well into the trip, however, Michael loses his balance in a storm and is thrown overboard with Stella.
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/405.cfm?enb=1132Fdaw


3. YA-YAS IN BLOOM Giveaway
To celebrate the release of YA-YAS IN BLOOM, we are running a book giveaway contest during the month of April.
You can win this new addition to Rebecca Wells' awarding winning bestseller LITTLE ALTARS EVERYWHERE and number one New York Times best-seller DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD.
This third book in the Ya-Ya saga returns to the roots of the Ya-Ya friendship during the 1930s in Thornton, Louisiana, when four year-old Teensy Whitman stuffs a big old pecan up her nose out of boredom. Rushed to Dr. Mott's office by her Cajun Mama, Genevieve Whitman, she sets off a chain of events that leads Vivi, Teensy, Caro, and Necie to become lifelong sister friends. Then the novel roars with all the raw power of Vivi's vintage T-Bird through sixty years of marriage, parenting mistakes, and hair-raising family secrets.
A narrative woven out of many voices, including those of Vivi and the petite Ya-Yas, Sidda and Baylor Walker, as well as tales by other inhabitants of the small town of Thornton, Ya-Yas in Bloom depicts the profound emotional ties among women and the confidences they share. Each episode, told in the rich patois of Cajun Bayou country, brings to life the Ya-Yas in love and at war with convention.
Read an excerpt from Chapter One
Six copies of YA-YAS IN BLOOM will be given away to FLAMINGNET MEMBERS selected at random during the month of April. One lucky member will also receive a copy of LITTLE ALTARS EVERYWHERE and DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD.
All FLAMINGNET MEMBERS have a chance to win. Therefore if you are not yet a member of Flamingnet, JOIN TODAY for a chance to win!
http://www.flamingnet.com/member/index.cfm


4. Welcome Simon & Schuster and St. Martin's Griffin
We welcome Simon & Schuster and St. Martin's Griffin this month as contributing publishers. We are looking forward to reviewing new and advance books from these publishing houses, both located in New York City.


5. Support A Library - Buy Books and Other Items Through Flamingnet
As many of you already know, for all books or other items purchased through our website, we receive credit from Amazon.com. We use this credit to buy books for libraries in need. This past month, a collection of books was donated to a library in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. These books were much appreciated! We have now received requests for book donations to a very small--73 students--K-8 school in a poor area of Western NC, a struggling library in Pennsylvania and an underfunded school in central Virginia working with disadvantaged children of lower income families. You can help us send these libraries books by using the link on our home page at Flamingnet to shop online at Amazon.com. We want to thank all of you who continue to make your Amazon.com purchases through Flamingnet and help us raise money for book donations.
If you would like to make your own book donations to these libraries, please email us and we can send you their addresses.
http://flamingnet.com/index.cfm


6. Please Tell Students, Parents, Teachers, Librarians, Relatives, and Friends About Flamingnet
Please spread the word about Flamingnet Book Reviews. The more we grow, the better we can become. THANKS for telling people about our site!


7. To Unsubscribe
We promise not to send this too often or make it too wordy. We are dedicated to informing you about preteen, teen, and young adult books that you may want to know about. We would be disappointed if you choose to unsubscribe to this e-newsletter, but if you would like us to remove you from our mailing list, simply email us back and ask to be unsubscribed.

Happy Reading!!
Gary and Seth
Flamingnet Book Reviews
www.flamingnet.com
webmaster@flamingnet.com

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Flamingnet Enewsletter March

Flamingnet Book Reviews Enewsletter
Topics:
1. New and Advance Books Recently Reviewed On Flamingnet
2. Other Recent Flamingnet Reviews
3. Flamingnet Donations
4. New Feature on Our Home Page
5. Student Reviewers
6. Please Tell Your Students and Friends
7. Dad of Flamingnet's Blog
8. To Unsubscribe
1. New and Advance Books Recently Reviewed On Flamingnet
THE WIZARD TEST Hilari Bell
Dayven has always wanted to be a Guardian for his army of Tharn, and as he grows up he becomes better and better with the sword. Then, he comes to a period in time when he must take the wizard test, to see if he has magic, and will become a wizard. Dayven eventually discovers a secret plan, and he is faced with a decision of loyalty.
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/305.cfm?enb=132Fdaw

47 Walter Mosley
Veteran mystery novelist Walter Mosley strays out of his comfort zone and deftly tackles historical and science fiction in 47. The title character is a young slave resigned to the plantation lifestyle until Tall John, an enigmatic and agical runaway, finds him and teaches him about freedom.
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/305.cfm?enb=232Fdaw

HORSEMAN #1 (The Hollow) Ford Lytle Gilmore and
Christopher Golden
Sleepy Hollow has always been a town of legend and myth, but now it seems that those legends are coming alive. And when an apparently headless horseman begins murdering people in town, Shane and Aimee begin to fear for their lives. The two teens decide to try and uncover the truth, even though the adults insist it must be an ordinary murderer dressed up as the horseman.
Christopher Golden is the bestselling author of numerous Buffy the Vampire Slayer titles and winner of the Bram Stoker award. Ford Lytle Gilmore is a film producer and comic book writer.
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/305.cfm?enb=332Fdaw


DELIVER US FROM NORMAL Kate Klise
What is normal, anyway? Kate Klise's book Deliver Us from Normal is an intriguing, adolescent view on what normal is and why it is so important to children and teenagers. Klise uses the perspective of a twelve year old boy who lives with his four other siblings and his parents in Normal, Illinois.
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/305.cfm?enb=432Fdaw


BEYOND THE DEEPWOODS Paul Stewart and Chris
Riddell
Abandoned at birth in the Deepwoods, Twig is living with a family of woodtrolls. One day, his adopted mother tells Twig that she is not his real mother and he must travel to his cousin's and hopefully he will find his destiny. Twig strays from the path that leads to his cousin's house, and he is lost in the dangerous Deepwoods. Twig has many adventures in the woods, and he meets many different creatures. Twig also learns many lessons, about nature and the ways of life.
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/305.cfm?enb=532Fdaw


GHOST SHIP Dietlof Reiche
A blend of mystery, ghost story and pirate tale, Dietlof Reiche's Ghost Ship is a brilliant novel that will keep readers intrigued until the end.
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/305.cfm?enb=632Fdaw



2. Other Recent Flamingnet Reviews
A MANGO-SHAPED SPACE Wendy Mass
Mia has a perfectly harmless yet rare condition where sights and sounds have a color in her head. Whenever she hears a noise, a color streaks across her vision. She has had trouble in school trying to figure out how numbers can be added together to get another number. To Mia the
corresponding number they add up to does not match the color that the original numbers were. As long as she has known about it she has kept it
a secret, until now. Her family and many of the people she knows have trouble getting used to this new idea. Mia, herself, experiments with
her colors and it takes a heart breaking experience to find out what a special thing her colors are.
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/305.cfm?enb=732Fdaw


SHOCK WAVE Clive Cussler
Dirk Pitt is a character that is featured in many Clive Cussler novels. He is like a more modern day Indiana Jones. Also, his job and many of
his hobbies are similar to those of Clive Cussler. In what has been
called the best Clive Cussler novel, Dirk Pitt must stop Arthur Dorsett, the owner of a major diamond mining company, from carrying out a plan that will kill countless lives and has already killed many sea creatures. At the beginning, by what seems like chance he meets Maeve Fletcher, one of Dorsett's three daughters. Unlike her other sisters, Maeve realizes what a dangerous and cruel man her father is. Pitt, Maeve, and Giordino, a good friend of Pitt's, join together to put an end to Arthur Dorsett's plan, and to stop all of his brutal actions forever.
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/305.cfm?enb=832Fdaw


THE GENIE IN THE BOOK Cindy Trumbore
Although this book is for children ages 7 - 11 (younger than
Flamingnet's typical reader), Cindy is a very good friend of ours. We
really enjoyed reading The Genie in the Book. It is about a boy named Will, who matures as he is given the chance to make his truest wish come true.
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/305.cfm?enb=932Fdaw


THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY Douglas Adams
Ford Prefect is a researcher for the revised edition of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He has been disguised as a human for the last 15 or so years while he has been researching Earth. Just before the world is about to be blown up by a group of hostile starships, Ford rescues a newfound human friend, Arthur Dent. He beams Arthur and himself up to the starship, but eventually the captain of the ship find they are onboard and throws them out the airlock. By a near impossible feat they are picked up by another ship exactly 29 seconds later. This ship happens to be piloted by Zaphod Beeblebrox, an old friend of Ford's. This leads Ford and Arthur into an unimaginable adventure with humans, mice, robots, and two headed, three armed monsters.
http://www.flamingnet.com/enewsletter/305.cfm?enb=1032Fdaw


3. Flamingnet Donations
As many of you already know, for all books or other items purchased through our website, we receive credit from Amazon.com. We use this credit to buy books for libraries in need. Recently we donated books to a small suburban library outside of Philadelphia with "a slim budget for YA materials" in need of books for teenagers and to a very small library for a K-12 school with just over 200 students on the island of St. Thomas (Virgin Islands). The middle and high school book collections, in the latter, were nonexistent at this point since these grade levels were recently added to the school. Thanks to your purchases through our web site, we were able to donate over 40 books.
We want to thank you all for making your purchases through Flamingnet and for helping us raise money for books. If you know of any libraries in need of books, please let us know so we can look into sending them book donations.


4. New Feature on Our Home Page
We have added a new feature to our home page(
www.flamingnet.com ), "Recent Flamingnet Reviews." In the past, we listed our four most recent student reviews on the left side of the page, but our reviewers have been so busy that we expanded this section and put it front and center. Now we list the ten most recent student reviews. These are reviews of new and advance books that have recently been sent to Flamingnet by publishers and authors.


5. Student Reviewers
In our last enewsletter, we asked for you to let us know if you had students interested in reviewing for Flamingnet. Your response was overwhelming. We accepted many of the students you referred and now have close to fifty Flamingnet student reviewers from all over the
country. These students range from fifth grade to college. We are
still accepting your referrals and putting them on a waiting list, so please continue to have interested students contact us.


6. Please Tell Your Students and Friends
Please spread the word about Flamingnet Book Reviews. The more we grow, the better we can become.
http://www.flamingnet.com This month we had our largest single day total of visitors to Flamingnet.com, over 1200! THANKS for telling people about our site!


7. Dad of Flamingnet's Blog
This is a little self-promotion, but yes, Gary has a Blog. Nothing earth-shattering and no "Breaking New" about which readers at Seth's school are taking steroids to improve their reading speed...(just joking!). Just some reviews of books I have read with Sister of Flamingnet and interesting book lists from the YALSA listserv.
http://flamingnet.com/blog/blog.html


8. To Unsubscribe
We promise not to send this too often or make it too wordy. We are dedicated to informing you about preteen, teen, and young adult books that you may want to know about. We would be disappointed if you choose to unsubscribe to this e-newsletter, but if you would like us to remove you from our mailing list, simply email us back and ask to be unsubscribed.

Enjoy Spring!!
Gary and Seth
Flamingnet Book Reviews
www.flamingnet.com
webmaster@flamingnet.com

2006 YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

Shooting from the Lip. Firefly, 2005. 1-55297-914-8.
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Prom. Viking, 2005. 0-670-05974-9
Baltin, Steve. From the Inside: Linkin Park’s Meteora. Bradson Press, 2004. 0-9603574-1-6.
Bauer, Joan. Best Foot Forward. Penguin Putnam, 2005. 0-399-23474-8.
Benton, Jim. It’s Happy Bunny: Life’s Little Attitude Book. Scholastic, 2005. 0-439-69346-2.
Benton, Jim. It’s Happy Bunny: Love Bites. Scholastic, 2005. 0-439-69345-4.
Boyer, David. Kings & Queens: Queers at the Prom. Soft Skull Press, 2004. 1-932360-24-7.
Bradley, Alex. 24 Girls in 7 Days. Dutton, 2005. 0-525-47369-6.
Brashares, Ann. Girls in Pants: the Third Summer of the Sisterhood. Delacorte, 2005. 0-385-72935-9.
Canales, Viola. The Tequila Worm. Delacorte, 2005. 0-385-90905-5.
Castellucci, Cecil. Boy Proof. Candlewick, 2005. 0-7636-2333-4.
Cohn, Rachel. Shrimp. Simon & Schuster, 2005. 0-689-86612-7.
Corbet, Robert. Shelf Life. Walker & Company, 2005. 0-8027-8959-5.
Crutcher, Chris. Sledding Hill. Harper Collins, 2005. 0-06-050243-6.
DeLint, Charles. The Blue Girl. Viking, 2004. 0-670-05924-2.
Edgar, Jim. Bad Cat. Workman, 2004. 0-7611-3619-3.
Finkel, Jon. Greatest Stars of the NBA: Jason Kidd. Tokyopop, 2005. 1-59532-183-7.
Finkel, Jon. Greatest Stars of the NBA: Tim Duncan. Tokyopop, 2004. 1-59532-182-9.
Flinn, Alex. Fade to Black. Harper Tempest, 2005. 0-06-056839-9.
Friedman, Aimee. South Beach. Scholastic, 2005. 0-439-70678-5.
Ganz, Nicholas. Graffiti World: Street Art from Five Continents. Harry N. Abrams, 2004. 0-8109-4972-2.
Grandberry, Omari. O. MTV Books, 2005. 1-4165-0328-5.
Green, John. Looking for Alaska. Dutton, 2005. 0-525-47506-0.
Horowitz, Anthony. Scorpia. Philomel, 2005. 0-399-24151-5.
Keys, Alicia. Tears for Water: Songbook of poems and lyrics. Penguin Putnam, 2004. 0-399-15257-1.
Lane, Billy. Chop Fiction: It’s Not a Motorcycle, Baby, It’s a Chopper. Motorbooks, International, 2004. 0-7603-2011-X.
Lester, Julius. Day of Tears. Hyperion, 2005. 0-7868-0490-4.
Limb, Sue. Girl, 15, Charming but insane. Delacorte, 2004. 0-385-73214-7.
Lockhart, E. The Boyfriend List. Random House, 2005. 0-385-73206-6.
Maxwell, Katie. Got Fangs? Dorchester Smooch, 2005. 0-8439-5399-3.
McCormick, Patricia. My Brother’s Keeper. Hyperion, 2005. 0-7868-5173-2.
McDonald, Janet. Brother Hood. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004. 0-374-30995-7.
Meyer, Adam. The Last Domino. Penguin Putnam, 2005. 0-399-24332-1.
Miller, Steve and Baugh, Bryan Scared! How to Draw Fantastic Horror Comic Characters. Watson-Guptill, 2004. 0-8230-1664-1.

Newman, Leslea. Jailbait. Delacorte, 2005. 0-385-90230-1.
Nye, Naomi Shahib. Going Going. Greenwillow, 2005. 0-688-16185-5.
Oates, Joyce Carol. Sexy. Harper Tempest, 2005. 0-06-054150-4.
Palmer, Chris. Streetball: All the Ballers, Moves, Slams and Shine. Harperresource, 2004. 0-06-072444-7.
Paulsen, Gary. The Time Hackers. Wendy Lamb Books, 2005. 0-385-74659-8.
Pearson, Mary E. A Room on Lorelei Street. Henry Holt, 2005. 0-8050-7667-0.
Peters, Julie Ann. Far from Xanadu. Little, Brown, 2-005. 0-316-15881-X.
Polhemus, Ted. Hot bodies, Cool Styles. Thames and Hudson, 2004. 0-500-28500-4.
Rose, Malcolm Framed! Kingfisher, 2005. 0-7534-5829-2.
The RZA. The Wu Tang Manual. Riverhead, 2005. 1-59448-018-4.
Schindler, Nina. An Order of Amelie, Hold the Fries. Annick Press, 2004. 1-55037-861-9.
Schusterman, Neal. Dread Locks: Dark Fusion, Book One. Dutton, 2005. 0-525-47554-0.
Scott, Kieran. I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader. Penguin Putnam, 2005. 0-399-24279-1.
Simmons, Michael Dahlie. Finding Lubchenko. Penguin Razorbill, 2005. 1-59514-021-2.
Sleator, William. The Last Universe. Abrams, 2005. 0-8109-5858-9.
Sloan, Brian. A Really Nice Prom Mess. Simon & Schuster, 2005. 0-689-87438-3.
Spiegelman, Art. In the Shadow of No Towers. Pantheon, 2004.
Standiford, Natalie. The Dating Game. Little Brown, 2005. 0-316-11040-X.
Stone, Jeff. Tiger. Random House, 2005. 0-375-83071-5.
Volponi, Paul. Black and White. Penguin Viking, 2005. 0-670-06006-2.
Whyman, Matt. Boy Kills Man. Harper Tempest, 2005. 0-06-074664-5.
Williams, Lori Aurelia. Broken China. Simon & Schuster, 2005. 0-689-86878-2.