Taya is an icarus, a messenger who wears mechanical wings to deliver messages throughout the city of Ondinium. When she performs a heroic midair rescue, Taya gets involved with two high caste brothers. Both brothers are involved in a dangerous conspiracy, and it’s up to Taya to figure out who’s in the right. A cool steampunk adventure.

This book is a critical look at fear, and how it affects our lives. While we are scared of random disasters and crimes, the statistics show that we should be more worried about common accidents or threats from people we know. “The Gift of Fear” talks about how fear can be helpful but not all-consuming. It includes outstanding chapters on stalkers and domestic violence.

Written by the lead singer of the band “My Chemical Romance” and drawn by the talented Gabriel Bá, “Umbrella Academy” is one of the best graphic novels of 2008.  When forty-seven children are simultaneously born with super powers, seven are adopted by an eccentric alien millionaire and formed into a superteam. Together, the team takes on villains like zombie-robot Gustave Eiffel. Years later, they meet again, this time as a broken and dysfunctional family. They need to work together to save the world- from one of their own siblings!

Tired of stitching the same old samplers? Subversive Cross-stitch is full of patterns that let out your inner rebel.

The Marquis of Vidal is well known in London, and his duels and affairs prove to everyone that he is following in his father’s outrageous footsteps. When Vidal is sent to France, he plans on taking his latest flirt, Sophia, with him as his mistress. But Sophia’s sister Mary foils his dishonorable scheme by taking her sister’s place. Enraged, Vidal kidnaps her instead! Can Mary’s level-headedness conquer the Devil’s Cub?

This gorgeous coffee table book is an art piece in itself. Light and shadow add a spirituality to the simplicity of the photographs featuring Spanish architecture of Southern California – a beautiful meditation on the past.

An extraordinary man in an extraordinary time, George Washington faced many of the same challenges in politics, war and business that leaders do today.  His solutions are still as compelling as they were in his time.

A small book but with a heavy impact – a young boy becomes obsessed with an object he can’t have – the violin that is hidden in the back of his parent’s closet.  In his persistence he unlocks the secret behind that violin which transports the reader and the book characters back to the horrors of the Nazi death camps.

Newbery medalist, Sid Fleischman presents a rollicking biography of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) reeking of Mark Twain’s style of tall tale, humourous writing.  A bold biography of a bold adventurous person!

In a drab village nestled between the mountain and the sea, an old chocolate maker lives alone with his cat making uninspired chocolates to display in his shop.  One day he does something different and makes chocolate mice with crunchy pink-sugar tails.  These mice inspire everyone who eats them to create something new and different, something the little village has never seen before. 

Librarians are always recommending books to people, even amongst ourselves! A fellow children’s librarian, Dennise at Morgan Hill, convinced me to give the Betsy Tacy series a try; which I did and have been enjoying very much, so perhaps I can convince you to give them a try.  They were written the the 1940s and 1950s, but the stories are set in Mankato, Minnesota during the late 1800s.

Betsy hopes the new family moving in will have a child her age.  They do!  Her name is Tacy.  The girls are always together so people think of them as one person, Betsy-Tacy.

Soon the duo becomes a trio with little Tib and her blond curls.  She is a German-American who loves to dance and takes everything very literally, but Betsy and Tacy like her just the same.

I think the title should have included Tib since she also goes over the big hill, but I wasn’t asked.  The girls have decided to have a Queen of Summer, but their older sisters have the same idea.  Their father tells them to get votes for their candidate and the one with the most will be the winner.  While collecting votes, they discover there is a real Princess living in their town.

Tib goes too.  The girls are old enough (12 ) to go downtown by themselves.  There they discover the public library and see their first horseless carriage (an automobile!).  Mr. and Mrs. Poppy are owners of the Opera House and the automobile, but Betsy discovers having friends is the best gift of all.

Betsy and her friends are starting high school and they can’t wait, except for Tacy who is still shy with strangers.  Betsy had been sent to a farm over the summer, but she was very homesick and returned home.  While there she met Joe Willard, who was working in his uncle’s store.  Now, Betsy learns Joe too is a freshman.  Will he be a new friend for Betsy?

Do you have a personal secret that you have never told anyone?  Does the weight of your secret keep you awake at night?  Does your secret affect your eating appetite?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you need the services of the Secret Pawnbroker.

Picture books for both little and big (grownups) kids to enjoy! But only if they have a really warped sense of humor.

Who will protect poor old Mrs. Collywobbles from the greedy goblins, smelly trolls, and hungry ogres? Her pet frog. Who will protect the pet frog from Mrs. Collywobbles? William Bee writes the kind of picture book that makes you think “I can’t believe he just wrote that!” Little kids will be surprised. Big kids (grownups) will pretend to be aghast, while secretly amused.  Be sure to read “Whatever” next.

With pretty princesses, ponies named Buttercup, ogres, exploding volcanoes, epic battles, and motorcycle dudes, if there was any doubt that boys and girls see the world differently , this story will lay that to rest. In this different take on the “Once Upon a Time Story” both little and big kids will like the motorcycle dude.

Granny said “”Time to get ready for bed.”  “But, Granny,” said Patrick “I don’t have a bed here.” And thus the misadventures start.  Granny, who is ill prepared for her grandsons overnight visit goes overboard to make him comfortable. Little kids will like the silliness, big kids (grownups) will enjoy shrieking “WHAT?!” as they read aloud.

Caterpillar and Tadpole fall in love, but when the inevitable change occurs, Caterpillar finds out the hard way that love bites…literally.  Little kids will go “ewwww!”  Big kids too!

If you think about it, sleeping beauty is just another girl snoring in bed. And this prince is not too keen to disturb her slumber with a kiss. “One hundred years of morning breath? Wow! That could be the kiss of death!”  Little kids will laugh out loud, and so will the big kids.

The legacy of political radical William Ayres was a prominent part of election politics this year.  This 2003 Oscar nominated documentary traces that legacy through the activities of the radical group The Weathermen in the early seventies.  Through group communications, news reports from the time and interviews the film manages to reconstruct a harrowing chapter in American history.  The DVD also includes commentary by Ayres and other members of the group.

The gorgeous piano playing of Jean Yves Thibaudet floats over the Saint-Saëns’ lovely melodies in this well produced collection.  The overall impression is playfulness matched with Thibaudet’s formidable technique.  The result brings out the best in both the composer and the performer.

Thibaudet also leads the chamber orchestra in composer Dario Marianelli’s Oscar winning score for the film Atonement.  Besides heavily involving pianist Thibaudet throughout the score, Marianelli uses several interesting elements, such as a typrewriter, key to the themes of the film.   Listening to the music is a satisfying experience even disconnected from viewing the film. 

McDonald sets up three different plot strands featuring three different characters in Brazil: a contemporary reality show producer, a Jesuit Priest from the eighteenth century and a near future entrepreneur.  Their individual worlds and situations are suddenly slammed into each other as they discover that each world is a strand in a huge quantum universe and that each is threatened by a conspiracy known as The Order.  The battle over a complicated entangled quantum universe is beautifully played against Brazil’s own complicated multi-layered society.

Charlie the Second keeps a journal of his senior year at his high school in Illinois.  There is a lot to write about between constantly revising his college application, to complaining about his teachers, his father trying to become state’s attorney, his parents resulting relationship problems and his own sexual awakening.  Charlie gives ample reason for his nickname (Smart –ass) throughout making for a funny, irreverent coming of age novel.