Cool New Books for October
Fans of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events are smiling from ear to ear right now with the release of THE GRIM GROTTO, the eleventh book featuring the perfectly likable but hopelessly doomed Baudelaire orphans. This month's roundup of cool new books also includes the return of young sleuth Sammy Keyes, whose fourteenth birthday turns out to be memorable for all the wrong reasons, and the debut of CHILDREN OF THE LAMP, an adventure trilogy by acclaimed thriller writer P.B. Kerr about a twin boy and girl with magical powers.
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 CHILDREN OF THE LAMP: THE AKHENATEN ADVENTURE
P. B. Kerr
Orchard Books/Scholastic
ISBN: 0439670195
Ages 9-12
355 pages
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• Author Interview
One day, twelve-year old twins John and Philippa Gaunt discover that they're descended from a long line of djinn. All of a sudden, they have the power to grant wishes, travel to extraordinary places, and make people and objects disappear. They are about to embark on a search to locate a monstrous looking (but supposedly dead) pharoah named Akhenaten and his tomb, which may be holding seventy lost djinn. Will the twins be strong and clever enough to outwit the most evil djinn in the universe and live to see another day?
 DOCTOR ILLUMINATUS: The Alchemist's Son
Martin Booth
Little, Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316155756
Ages 10-14
192 pages
When Tim and Pip's family moves to an old English country estate, they accidentally awaken an alchemist's son, Sebastian, from a centuries-old slumber. But Sebastian's father's enemy, Pierre de Loudéac, has also awoken --- and is relentlessly pursuing the dream of alchemists to create a homunculus, an artificial human made from dead material. Aided by Sebastian's wise guidance and insight into six hundred years' history, Tim and Pip bravely take action to stop the man's ominous quest.
 THE GRIM GROTTO, Book 11
A Series of Unfortunate Events Series
Lemony Snicket
HarperCollins
ISBN: 0064410145
Ages 9-12
352 pages
• Read a Review & Excerpt
• A Series of Unfortunate Events Series
Lemony Snicket's wildly popular series about the perfectly likeable but hopelessly doomed Baudelaire orphans continues, to the delight of fans everywhere. In this eleventh installment, Sunny, Violet and Klaus are adrift in a sea of awfulness that includes a submarine, a determined villain with a stylish girlfriend, an alarming message from a lost friend, and hypochondria. In other words, this is a Lemony Snicket book --- no question about it!
 A HOUSE OF TAILORS
Patricia Reilly Giff
Wendy Lamb Books/Random House
ISBN: 0385730667
Ages 9-12
176 pages
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If there's one activity that thirteen-year-old Dina hates more than anything, it has to be sewing. But when Dina leaves her small town in Germany to join her uncle's family in Brooklyn, her search for a job leads her right back to the sewing machine. Although she is quite homesick, she had no idea that she could grow so close to her new family or to Johann, the young man from the tailor's shop. And she didn't know that sewing would reveal her own wonderful talent --- and her future.
 MOLLY MCGINTY HAS A REALLY GOOD DAY
Gary Paulsen
Wendy Lamb Books/Random House
ISBN: 0385325886
Ages 8-12
112 pages
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Molly learns that her wacky grandmother is coming to spend the day at school with her. To add fuel to the fire, Molly loses her Notebook with Everything that Matters in it, including her homework, gets a black eye, and tears her skirt. And it's only 9 a.m. Can things get any worse? Unfortunately, yes!
 SAMMY KEYES AND THE PSYCHO KITTY QUEEN
Wendelin Van Draanen
Knopf
ISBN: 0375823492
Ages 10-up
304 pages
• Sammy Keyes Series
It's Sammy Keyes's birthday, but this clever young sleuth is in no mood to celebrate. Let's count the reasons why.
1) Sammy's arch-enemy is actually her star sister. 2) The creepy new student at Slammin' Dave's Pro Wrestling School keeps hissing at Sammy to stay away. 3) Sammy's cat is missing, and while Sammy is searching for him, she finds three dead cats in dumpsters around town. 4) A psycho cat lady blames Sammy when it turns out that one of the dead cats belonged to her. 5) And last but certainly not least, Sammy's mom confesses that she lied about Sammy's age so she could start her in school one year early.
Well, there's always next year's birthday!
 TRAVEL TEAM
Mike Lupica
Philomel Books
ISBN: 0399241507
Ages 10-up
288 pages
Twelve-year-old Danny Walker may be the smallest kid on the basketball court, but he plays with lots of heart and a great deal of court sense. But none of this matters when he's cut from his local travel team, the same team that his father led to national prominence as a boy. Danny's father knows that his son isn't the only kid who was cut for the wrong reason, and he and a bunch of never-say-die kids prove that heart simply cannot be measured.
 GOODNIGHT, MY ANGEL: A Lullabye
Book and CD by Billy Joel
illustrated by Yvonne Gilbert
Scholastic Press
ISBN: 0439553768
Ages 4-8
32 pages
In his first book for children, Grammy and Tony Award-winning performer Billy Joel celebrates the magical bond between fathers and daughters with this beautiful lullaby that he originally wrote for his daughter Alexa when she was seven years old. An exclusive audio CD of the song is included, perfect for those youngsters who just can't seem to fall asleep.
 NATURE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Gordon Morrison
Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books
ISBN: 0618352155
Ages 6-10
32 pages
Take a stroll through the seasons with naturalist Gordon Morrison as he reveals the many plants and animals that can be found around one's own neighborhood. Readers both young and old will learn much about nature from the clear text and captions that accompany the beautiful detailed watercolors.
 THE SUGAR CHILD
Monique de Varennes
Atheneum/Anne Schwartz Books
ISBN: 0689852444
Ages 4-8
40 pages
Matine is different from every other child in the world --- she is made from marzipan! Sweet as sugar and fragile as a flower, she must never cry, walk in the rain, or play under the hot sun, because she could melt away. So when Matine's best friend gets sick, her parents decide not to tell her, fearing that the tears she is sure to shed will cause her to melt away forever.
 THE TRAIN OF STATES
Peter Sis
Greenwillow Books
ISBN: 0060578386
Ages 6-up
64 pages
Somewhere in the middle of the country, students are learning about the United States. They hear a train chugging along and race to the window to watch it pass. Along with the conductor and engineer, they observe fifty freight cars, each carrying a magnificent carved and painted wagon representing one of the fifty states. These colorful wagons celebrate the famous, symbolic, historic, and odd moments associated with each state. And stenciled on the sides of every freight car are the state bird, flower, tree, capital, origin of the state name, year of statehood, and a fun state fact.
This beautifully illustrated picture book by award-winning artist Peter Sis will provide young people with one of the most enjoyable geography and history lessons they'll ever have.
--- Compiled and written by Tom Donadio
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