Monday: Books in the Mail

First of all, Happy Family Day! to my fellow Albertans, Saskatchewanians, Manitobans and Ontarians. Alberta has been the only province in Canada to enjoy Family Day for many years and we were fortunate enough to move to Ontario the year before the holiday spread to a few other provinces. And the greatest thing is that Family Day is not a Federal holiday so we still get mail delivery. Yeah!!

Fabulous mailbox week for me this time around. I knew I'd be getting a box of books because I had a late night date with amazon one night. I also got a BookMooch and won a book from Janet at Along the Way. So as far as I knew no review books; until the day a box from Scholastic Canada appeared on my doorstep! They sent me the most amazing box of books to review out of the blue. Needless to say I was thrilled!

Here's what I got:

BookMooched:

I love this book, which unfortunately is out of print and online sellers ask terrible prices for it.











Won from Janet at Along the Way

Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant "The Shack" wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. (US) - (Canada)

Bought:



Spike Omnibus (includes 3 single issue comics plus Spike vs Dracula, Asylum and Shadow Puppets)
Spike: After the Fall by Brian Lynch
Angel: After the Fall, Volume 3 by Joss Whedon & Brian Lynch
The Dreamland Chronicles Book 2 by Scott Christian Sava
The Dreamland Chronicles Book Three by Scott Christian Sava
Yokaiden 2 by Nina Mastsumoto

Review Copies from Scholastic Canada

Marcelo Sandoval hears music no one else can hear--part of the autism-like impairment no doctor has been able to identify--and he's always attended a special school where his differences have been protected. But the summer after his junior year, his father demands that Marcelo work in his law firm's mailroom in order to experience "the real world." There Marcelo meets Jasmine, his beautiful and surprising coworker, and Wendell, the son of another partner in the firm.

He learns about competition and jealousy, anger and desire. But it's a picture he finds in a file -- a picture of a girl with half a face -- that truly connects him with the real world: its suffering, its injustice, and what he can do to fight.

Reminiscent of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" in the intensity and purity of its voice, this extraordinary novel is a love story, a legal drama, and a celebration of the music each of us hears inside. (US) - (Canada)

When a frightened girl and boy arrive on the Twiss family’s doorstep to escape the Blitz, Charlotte wonders how she will keep her war guests from missing their parents back home, or from cowering every time a plane flies overhead. Though the war is being waged across the Atlantic, Charlotte begins to feel its danger, as her brother George defies their parents and enlists in the Navy. After months of receiving letters from overseas, suddenly there is no word from him--has the unthinkable happened and George's ship been sunk by a German submarine? Charlotte Twiss’s diary shows her innermost feelings about her life on the Canadian homefront, as she helps her war guests "settle in" and wonders whether her brother is safe from harm. (Canada) only

Stolen from her family by the Nazis, Nadia is a young girl who tries to make sense of her confusing memories and haunting dreams. Bit by bit she starts to uncover the truth--that the German family she grew up with, the woman who calls herself Nadia’s mother, are not who they say they are. Beyond her privileged German childhood, Nadia unearths memories of a woman singing her a lullaby, while the taste of gingersnap cookies brings her back to a strangely familiar, yet unknown, past. Piece by piece, Nadia comes to realize who her real family was. But where are they now? What became of them? And what is her real name? This story of a Lebensborn girl--a child kidnapped for her "Aryan looks" by the Nazis in their frenzy to build a master race--reveals one child’s fierce determination to uncover her past against incredible odds. (Canada) only

Callie is very proud of her brother Charlie. He’s good at so many things -- swimming, playing the piano, running fast. And Charlie has a special way with animals, especially their dog, Harriett.

But sometimes Charlie gets very quiet.

His words get locked inside him, and he seems far away.

Then, when Callie and Charlie start to play, Charlie is back to laughing, holding hands, having fun.
Charlie is like any other boy – and he has autism.

In this story, told from a sister’s point of view, we meet a family whose oldest son teaches them important lessons about togetherness, hope, tolerance, and love. (US) - (Canada)

Copper is curious, Fred is fearful. And together boy and dog are off on a series of adventures through marvelous worlds, powered by Copper's limitless enthusiasm and imagination.

Each Copper and Fred story in this graphic novel collection is a complete vignette, filled with richly detailed settings and told with a wry sense of humor. These two enormously likable characters build ships and planes to travel to surprising destinations and have a knack for getting into all sorts of odd situations.

Copper's good cheer always smoothes the way---and Fred can usually be won over if there's food involved. (Canada) - (US)

Like it or not, global warming is a hot topic, and it will affect the younger generation the most. So why not turn to the teacher kids like the most, Ms. Frizzle! Only the Friz can boil all the hoopla down to the scientific facts in a fun and informative way.

With trademark simplicity and wit, Joanna Cole explains why the earth is getting warmer, and Bruce Degen's bright, action-filled illustrations make the science easy to understand and fun to learn. This team brings a new, improved understanding to climate change, engaging kids and empowering all. Teachers will cheer!

Kids already love the Magic School Bus, and the love to do what's right by the planet. At last, a way to teach the curriculum and make an impact! (Views shared in product summary are not necessarily endorsed by blog owner) (US) - (Canada)