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"Well, luckily with animation, fantasy is your friend." ~ Steven Spielberg, American movie director
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New and Recently Released!
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| Big Bad Detective Agency by Bruce HaleFantasy/Mystery. Once upon a time, Wolfgang was considered big and bad, but he's cleaned up his act. Nowadays, he prefers gardening to mayhem. Yet after the houses of the Three Little Pigs are trashed, everyone blames Wolfgang. Before he's unfairly sentenced to life in a dungeon (and worse, forced to eat nothing but porridge), Wolfgang is given one day -- and some unexpected help from Ferkel, the Three Pigs' younger brother -- to find the real culprit. Goofy modern humor combines with familiar characters in this fractured fairy tale whodunit, the first in a cartoon-illustrated series that's just right for beginning chapter book readers. |
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| Masterminds by Gordon KormanScience Fiction. Eli's hometown of Serenity, New Mexico, is perfect. Everyone is happy, honest, and safe -- the town is even protected by a high-tech security force. But then 13-year-old Eli's overly curious friend Randy is suddenly sent away, and Eli begins to suspect that the town's traffic-cone factory is a front for something much less innocent. Could it be that Serenity is too perfect to be true? The fast-moving action and startling twists in Masterminds build to a thrilling cliffhanger -- but don't worry, there's a sequel on the way. While you wait, check out Paolo Bacigalupi's Zombie Baseball Beatdown for further (and more gruesome) small-town secrets. |
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| Listen, Slowly by Thanhhà LạiFiction. Mai's plans for a California summer -- hanging out on the beach with her friends -- are destroyed when her parents announce that she'll be travelling to Vietnam with her grandmother, Bà. Mai's grandfather, who disappeared during the Vietnam War, might be alive after all, and while they try to find out what happened to him, Mai and Bà grow closer, and Mai reluctantly gets a crash course on her Vietnamese heritage. If you like this funny, moving, and thought-provoking story about family, be sure to pick up author Thanhhà Lại's previous book, Inside Out and Back Again, as well as books by Cynthia Kadohata and Rita Williams-Garcia. |
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| Smek for President! by Adam RexScience Fiction. After saving the Earth from an alien invasion in The True Meaning of Smekday, a trip through space in a flying car is hardly a big deal for Gratuity "Tip" Tucci and her extraterrestrial pal J.Lo (no, not that J.Lo). J.Lo's fellow aliens, the Boov, consider him a traitor for helping humans, so he and Tip fly to New Boovworld to explain themselves to the Boov leader, Captain Smek. Unfortunately, the upcoming election hasn't exactly put Smek in a forgiving mood. Expressive illustrations add even more laughs to this awesomely absurd science fiction sequel. Home, a movie based on the first book in this series, premieres this month. |
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| Story Thieves by James RileyFantasy. Being literally lost in a good book sounds like a dream come true for Owen, who's obsessed with the Kiel Gnomenfoot fantasy series (think Harry Potter). So when Owen learns that his classmate Bethany has the power to jump into any book, he convinces her to take them both inside the Gnomenfoot series, where Owen is determined to save a beloved character and Bethany hopes to find her long-missing fictional father. Their actions in fiction, however, have far-reaching consequences in reality. Blurring the lines between real life and stories, this inventive series opener will leave fantasy fans "breathless both with laughter and anticipation" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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Before They Were Animated
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| How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida CowellFantasy Adventure. Chances are that you've seen (or at least heard about) the popular How to Train Your Dragon movies -- but did you know that they're based on a series of books? Though the books have a very different style than the movies -- for instance, the books have more gross-out jokes, as well as scribbly cartoon illustrations -- both follow Viking underdog Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third and his unusual dragon, Toothless, on their unlikely path toward heroism. Fans of these likable characters won't want to miss this 1st hilarious volume in the 11-book series. |
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| Coraline by Neil GaimanHorror. While exploring her family's apartment in a strange old house, Coraline discovers a door that leads to an unearthly parallel reality. There, Coraline meets her "other mother," who seems much nicer than her real mom -- well, except for her eerie button eyes. When Coraline tries to go home, however, the other mother goes from nice to terrifying, and soon Coraline and her family are all in deadly peril. If you love the quirky characters and creepy suspense in this deliciously scary story, you're in luck: not only has it been made into a stop-motion animated movie, it's also been turned into a graphic novel illustrated by P. Craig Russell. |
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| The Capture by Kathryn LaskyAnimal Fantasy. Before he even learns how to fly, young barn owl Soren is captured and taken to the sinister St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls. All of the owls at St. Aegolius are brainwashed -- all of them except for Soren and his new friend Gylfie, who've learned to resist. Inspired by tales of the knightly Guardians of Ga'Hoole, the brave friends plan their escape. Similar to Erin Hunter's Warriors books, the fast-paced Guardians of Ga'Hoole series (The Capture is the 1st of 16 books) describes the epic adventures of an intriguing animal society. Soren flew onto the big screen in the animated movie Legend of the Guardians.
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| The Borrowers by Mary NortonFantasy. Behind the grandfather clock in an old country house lives a family of borrowers -- tiny people who live by secretly collecting what they need from "human beans." Pod, Homily, and Arrietty Clock are usually careful to keep themselves hidden from humans. Yet when their home is threatened, a human boy might be their only hope. This classic (which is followed by five sequels) is just as weird and whimsical as it was when it first appeared in 1952. It even inspired a 2010 animated movie, The Secret World of Arrietty. If you're fascinated by miniature worlds, you may also want to try Elise Broach's Masterpiece or Terry Pratchett's The Carpet People. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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