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Cool New Books for February
February's roundup of Cool New Books includes SOUL EATER, the third installment in Michelle Paver's riveting Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series; ON THE WINGS OF HEROES, award-winning author Richard Peck's unforgettable portrait of the World War II homefront and a family's love; and THE SECRET HISTORY OF TOM TRUEHEART by Ian Beck, an enchanting adventure in which an ordinary boy must find the courage to rescue his six older brothers from the Land of Stories.
We're also featuring a number of baseball-themed titles to coincide with the start of the upcoming Major League season: the first installment in the Barnstormers: Tales of the Travelin' Nine series; OUT OF THE BALLPARK, a picture book from baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez; HEY BATTA BATTA SWING! The Wild Old Days of Baseball; and a sequel to the beloved poem "Casey at the Bat."
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Stand-Alone Chapter Books/Middle Grade Novels
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 LETTERS FROM RAPUNZEL
Sara Holmes
HarperCollins
ISBN-10: 0060780738
ISBN-13: 9780060780739
Ages 8-12
192 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
Once upon a time, there was a very real girl who wished her life were more like a fairy tale. She called herself Rapunzel. When an Evil Spell is cast over her father (though the doctors call it something else), her real life starts to feel more fractured than a fairy tale. Then a mysterious letter falls into her hands --- one that might break the Evil Spell. But since when is finding happily ever after as simple as Just Writing Back?
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 ON THE WINGS OF HEROES
Richard Peck
Dial Books for Young Readers
ISBN-10: 0803730810
ISBN-13: 9780803730816
Ages 8-12
160 pages
• Read a Review & an Excerpt
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
Davy Bowman adores his father (who looks forward to Halloween more than a kid) and his brother Bill (who flies B-17s) and tries his best to follow their lead, especially now. World War II has invaded Davy's homefront boyhood. There's an air raid drill in the classroom, and being a kid is an endless scrap drive. Bill has joined the Army Air Corps, breaking their dad's heart. It's an intense, confusing time, and one that will invite Davy to grow up in a hurry.
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 REX ZERO AND THE END OF THE WORLD
Tim Wynne-Jones
Melanie Kroupa Books/Farrar Straus Giroux
ISBN-10: 0374334676
ISBN-13: 9780374334673
Ages 8-12
192 pages
• Read a Review
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
As he rides his bicycle through Ottawa's streets, new kid in town Rex Norton-Norton (aka Rex Zero) wonders why everybody seem so scared. One thing is certain in this summer of 1962 as the Cold War heats up: nothing is quite what it seems. What's a boy to do? If his name is Rex Zero and he has a bike he calls "Diablo," five wild and funny siblings, an alpha dog named Kincho, a basement bomb shelter built of old Punch magazines, and a mind that turns everything inside out, he's bound to come up with an amazing idea.
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 THE SECRET HISTORY OF TOM TRUEHEART
Ian Beck
Greenwillow Books
ISBN-10: 0061152102
ISBN-13: 9780061152108
Ages 8-12
352 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
On Tom Trueheart's 12th birthday, a letter comes from the Story Bureau, addressed to him. His six brothers --- big, brave and bold --- are all away on quests and adventures in the Land of Stories, but they should all have been back by now. The letter says that someone has sabotaged their adventures and prevented them from getting to the end of their stories! Tom must gather his courage and go to the land where stories are made. There he needs to unmask a wicked villain and enable the tales his brothers have started to be completed.
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 WHEN HEAVEN FELL
Carolyn Marsden
Candlewick Press
ISBN-10: 0763631752
ISBN-13: 9780763631758
Ages 8-12
192 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
Every day nine-year-old Binh sells fruit and sodas to the girls whose families can afford to send them to school, and every night she returns to her one-room home to share a simple meal with her family. Everything changes, however, when her grandmother tells Binh she had a daughter during the war, a child who was sent away to America as a little girl. Now Di Hai --- Binh's aunt --- is coming to visit, and Binh secretly hopes that Di Hai will take her to live in America. Can her aunt live up to her expectations?
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Series Books
Barnstormers: Tales of the Travelin' Nine
 BARNSTORMERS: TALES OF THE TRAVELIN' NINE - Game 1
Loren Long and Phil Bildner
Simon & Schuster
ISBN-10: 1416918639
ISBN-13: 9781416918639
Ages 7-10
144 pages
• Read a Review
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
Griffith, Graham and Ruby's father passed away in the war. And now they must join their parents' wartime traveling baseball team, The Travelin' Nine, on a tour of America to raise money. No one will tell the kids why the team needs the cash so badly. Their only clue is a baseball with a hole the size of an acorn in it that their Uncle Owen gave to them the night of their father's funeral. They know very little about its significance except that their dad made it with his own two hands and carried it with him throughout the war. And when all three hold the ball, strange things begin to happen.
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Chronicles of Ancient Darkness
 SOUL EATER: Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, Book Three
Michelle Paver
Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins
ISBN-10: 0060728310
ISBN-13: 9780060728311
Ages 10-up
336 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
Torak has survived the summer and his heart-stopping adventure in the Seal Islands. He and Wolf are together again, but their reunion is short-lived. As midwinter approaches, Torak learns that the Soul-Eaters have snatched Wolf so that they can sacrifice him. Desperate to rescue Wolf, Torak hatches a perilous plan. He will find the Soul-Eaters, infiltrate the cult, and come face-to-face with the most feared and powerful mages alive. As Torak battles to save himself and Wolf, he learns an utterly chilling secret of his own.
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The Corydon Trilogy
 CORYDON & THE FALL OF ATLANTIS
Tobias Druitt
Alfred A. Knopf
ISBN-10: 0375833838
ISBN-13: 9780375833830
Ages 8-12
352 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
In this second book in the Corydon trilogy, trouble has invaded the Island of Monsters once again. The peace-loving Minotaur has been kidnapped! Signs suggest he's been taken to the city of Atlantis, so Corydon and his fellow monsters set sail to rescue their friend. Their travels across Poseidon's treacherous waters involve one narrow escape after another, until at last they reach Atlantis. And Atlantis turns out to be more seductive, monstrous and volatile than anything they've encountered yet.
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Picture Books
 CASEY BACK AT BAT
written by Dan Gutman
illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher
HarperCollins
ISBN-10: 0060560258
ISBN-13: 9780060560256
Ages 4-8
32 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
When we last saw mighty Casey, he had struck out and left Mudville in a state of gloom. Now, in this humorous sequel to Ernest Lawrence Thayer's "Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic," award-winning author Dan Gutman offers Casey what any failed sports hero most desires --- a second chance. Illustrators Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher bring fans the tense excitement of a thrilling game. All eyes will be on Casey as he comes back to bat. Will he finally bring joy to Mudville?
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 A GOOD DAY
written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes
Greenwillow Books
ISBN-10: 006114018X
ISBN-13: 9780061140181
Ages 4-8
32 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
Kevin Henkes's brand-new picture book looks at a single day from five different points of view: those of a little yellow bird, a little white dog, a little orange fox, a little brown squirrel and a little girl. What makes a good day? What makes a bad day? And how can bad be transformed into good?
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 HEY BATTA BATTA SWING! The Wild Old Days of Baseball
written by Sally Cook & James Charlton
illustrated by Ross MacDonald
Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster
ISBN-10: 141691207X
ISBN-13: 9781416912071
Ages 6-10
56 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
What would it be like for an outfielder to catch a hard-hit line drive without a mitt? Or how about getting a runner out by hitting him with a ball? Believe it or not, that's the way the game was played back in the wild old days of baseball. Find out what it was like before there was a pitching mound or players had numbers on their jerseys. Sprinkled throughout are definitions of the sport's wackiest terms, as well as trivia about uniforms, teams, players' nicknames --- even ways to cheat. Learn how Babe Ruth got his nickname, why Brooklyn's team was called the Dodgers, and what Roger Clemens gave to keep his lucky number 21 when he switched teams.
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 OUT OF THE BALLPARK
written by Alex Rodriguez
illustrated by Frank Morrison
HarperCollins
ISBN-10: 0061151947
ISBN-13: 9780061151941
Ages 4-8
32 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has drawn on his own childhood experiences to create this exciting picture book. OUT OF THE BALLPARK is the story of a boy named Alex who knows what it's like to swing at a wild pitch or have a ball bounce right between his legs. Alex is determined not to let his mistakes set him back -- even if it means getting up early in the morning to work on his hitting and fielding before school each day.
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--- Compiled and written by Tom Donadio
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