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"This day was never going to stop getting weirder." ~ from Mike Jung's Unidentified Suburban Object
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| Grayling's Song by Karen CushmanFantasy. Grayling isn't brave, or adventurous, or smart. But she'll have to act like she's all three if she wants to save her mother, a magically gifted wise woman. In order to fight the evil spell that's transforming her mother into a tree, Grayling uses a special song to call for help, and winds up with a team of magical misfits: a vain enchantress, a shape-shifting mouse, a weather-witch and her annoying assistant, and a wizard who specializes in cheese. Set in a medieval-style fantasy world, Grayling's Song will bewitch readers who prefer a quirky take on typical quest stories. |
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| What Elephants Know by Eric DinersteinHistorical Fiction. "My mother is an elephant and my father is an old man with one arm." Eleven-year-old Tibetan orphan Nandu becomes part of this loving (if unlikely) family after he's adopted by Devi Kali, a gentle elephant, and Subba-sahib, the head of the Nepalese king's elephant stable. Nandu dreams of one day becoming an elephant-training mahout, yet with the stable under threat of closing, he'll have to use all of his creativity and determination to achieve his dream...and keep his family together. Older readers who enjoy this moving story about a boy and an elephant should also try Cynthia Kadohata's A Million Shades of Gray. |
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| Unidentified Suburban Object by Mike JungFiction. Chloe Cho's Korean immigrant parents never, ever talk about their past. But seventh-grader Chloe, who's lived her whole life as the only Asian-American kid in the suburban town of Primrose Heights, is wildly curious about her heritage. Prompted by a family history assignment for social studies class, Chloe pressures her parents to reveal whatever they're hiding…only to discover that the truth is light-years away from anything she could have guessed. Though Chloe has a hard time adjusting to this news (she fights with both her parents and her best friend), you'll have no problem rooting for this sharp-witted heroine. |
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| Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks and Gita VaradarajanFiction. Is one week of shared school lunches enough to forge a friendship? For the 5th graders in Save Me A Seat, that depends on who you make friends with. Smart, confident, and newly arrived in New Jersey from Bangalore, India, Ravi is sure that his best friend at school will be Dillon, a popular American-born Indian student. But Joe, a tall white kid with a learning disability, knows better -- Dillon has been bullying him since kindergarten. Ravi and Joe take turns describing the shifting alliances and surprising events of this "lunchroom drama" that will leave you "begging for seconds" (School Library Journal).
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| Hilo: Saving the Whole Wide World by Judd WinickGraphic Science Fiction. Having already saved the world once, DJ and Gina are thrilled (and a little worried) when they reunite with their android pal Hilo to tackle a new threat. Portals from other dimensions are flooding their town with bizarre creatures such as fearsome robots, killer vegetables, a Viking hippo, and a cat-shaped samurai sorceress, and it's up to our heroes to figure out how to send these beings back where they belong. Exploding with goofy humor, diverse characters, and cartoony action, this 2nd book in the Hilo series (which starts with The Boy Who Crashed to Earth) can be enjoyed by fans and newcomers alike. |
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The movie version of Roald Dahl's classic fantasy adventure The BFG opens in U.S. theaters on July 1st. To celebrate, check out this list of books that share a Dahl-icious blend of whimsy, creepiness, and humor.
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| The Boy Who Swam with Piranhas by David Almond; illustrated by Oliver JeffersFiction. When faced with family problems, you might fantasize about running away to join a carnival, but after his uncle cooks and cans his pet goldfish, orphan Stanley Potts actually goes through with it. Landing a job at the carnival's hook-a-duck stall, Stanley tries to fit in among the eccentric performers...until the day when Pancho Pirelli, the legendary piranha-proof man, changes Stanley's destiny by choosing him as an apprentice. Author David Almond and illustrator Oliver Jeffers are no strangers to the weird, and in The Boy Who Swam with Piranhas, they've created a silly yet heartfelt story that's sure to "tickle imaginations" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| The League of Beastly Dreadfuls by Holly Grant; illustrated by Josie PortilloFantasy. A vacuum cleaner accident seems like an unlikely way to die, but that's what happens to Anastasia McCrumpet's parents. Anastasia learns this upsetting news when she's picked up from school by Prim and Prude, her previously unknown great-aunts. However, after being locked up in the abandoned insane asylum that Prim and Prude call home, avid mystery-reader Anastasia begins to suspect that sinister magic is at work -- and that she's not the old ladies' only prisoner. Bursting with enough eccentric characters, gruesome events, and twisted humor to rival Lemony Snicket or Roald Dahl, this 1st in an ongoing series continues with The Dastardly Deed. |
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| The Abominables by Eva IbbotsonFantasy. After young Lady Agatha Farlingham is kidnapped by yetis on a trip through the Himalayas, she discovers that the supposedly "abominable" creatures are actually quite lovable. For years, Agatha lives happily with the family of yetis in their hidden valley, until rampant tourism forces them to abandon their home and make their way to Agatha's family estate in England. Can the innocent, quirky yetis survive the long journey without being discovered? Find out in this witty, fast-paced fantasy that's just right for Roald Dahl fans. |
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| Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver; illustrated by Kei AcederaFantasy. After her father dies and her stepmother locks her in the attic, young Liesl meets a ghost named Po, who has a message for her about where she should bury her father's ashes. But after Liesl escapes the attic to follow Po's instructions, a mix-up involving two boxes -- one that holds her father's ashes and the other containing the most powerful magic in the world -- makes her adventures much more interesting (and dangerous) than they might have been. With just the right mix of sadness, humor, adventure, and magic, Liesl & Po is an unusual and very original fantasy that you won't want to miss. |
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| The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop by Kate SaundersFantasy. Twins Lily and Oz are fascinated by the closed-down chocolate shop in the house their family just inherited -- and that's before they meet the invisible talking animals who live there. But the Secret Ministry of the Unexplained is also interested in the shop, and soon the twins are swept up in a mission to prevent their immortal uncle Isadore from unleashing chocolatey doom on the world. Readers will be enchanted by the warmth and imagination in this unpredictable fantasy. For more whimsical tales of modern magic, check out The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde and The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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If you are having trouble unsubscribing to this newsletter, please contact the Millburn Free Public Library at 973-376-1006, 200 Glen Avenue, Millburn, NJ 07041
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