Ooh boy howdy…this book is goooood.

Twelve year old Prue McKeel and her little brother Mac are out for their regular Saturday afternoon adventure in Portland.  All is going well until they are at the park and a murder of crows swoop in and kidnap Mac.  Prue, in an attempt to rescue her brother, is able to follow the crows on her bike until they fly into the Impassable Wilderness.  The Impassable Wilderness is just as it sounds, an unexplored forest just outside of Portland.  As far as Prue knows, no one has ever tried to enter the woods but she knows she must try in order to get her baby brother back.

While she is trying to come up with a plan of action while walking home in the dead of night her classmate, Curtis overhears her talking to her self about what she’s going to do.  The next morning on her way into the woods Curtis is taking out the trash and sees Prue again and decides to follow her.  That’s when things get really good.  The Impassable Wilderness or Wildwood (as the inhabitants call it) is full of incredible creatures and many obstacles Prue and Curtis must overcome to find Mac.

The author of Wildwood, Colin Meloy, is the front man for one of my favorite bands, The Decemberists whose albums are stories in themselves.  Colin Meloy was obviously born with the gift of gab.  Carson Ellis who did the illustrations for Wildwood is absolutely amazing at what she does.

Luckily, Wildwood is the first book in a trilogy.  Under Wildwood is the next installment and it comes out in September.  I’m really looking forward to reading more of Prue’s adventures.

by Zita

Ashley, an avid reader and 8th grader at St. Andrew, has reviewed a very timely book for us, as the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking arrives tonight. Fateful by Claudia Gray puts a Doctor Who spin on the Titanic’s only voyage across the Atlantic:

I’ve read several books about werewolves, but this story is different from the rest because of the amazing historical setting. Set in 1912, Fateful is a book filled with intrigue, dark secrets, and a mysterious brotherhood of werewolves all set on the Titanic voyage. Knowing the ship is going to sink, how will werewolves play a part in the adventure laced with paranormal suspense?

For years, eighteen-year-old Tess Davies has been a maid for the wealthy Lisle family in England. She has always dreamed of a better life and her chance to escape comes when they take her aboard the Titanic. She has hated everything about her life in their service and secretly plots to run away when she arrives in New York City. On board, Tess meets and falls instantly in love with Alec, a dashing upper class passenger with a dangerous secret. He saves her life-then warns her to stay away.

Tess is drawn to him so forcefully however, that they fall in love despite the obstacles. Even as a wolf, Alec refuses to hurt Tess, his human self overpowering the animal within. Tess quickly becomes a pawn, however, in the sinister brotherhood led by the evil Mikhail who will stop at nothing to induct Alec into their ranks. Knowing the sinking of the Titanic was inevitable, I was constantly waiting for trouble to erupt.

Fateful is a captivating historical novel about following dreams and surviving tragedy and it is filled with adventure, betrayal, and a spellbinding story of love that conquers all.

In February of 2011 Emily and I joined forces and created a First Editions Club for children’s books.  This is a homepage of sorts for what we’ve chosen so far and will be updated with our future picks.

These books are chosen much in the same way the First Editions Club books are picked: the author will sign first editions of his or her book in our store, and we only choose books that we feel will have value not only to families, but also t0 the serious collector.  This is a great way to start a library for a child in your life or to add to your own library. You can even give OZ First Editions Club as a gift.

To join the OZ First Editions Club please give Emily or me a call: 601.366.7619

February 2011:  Madeline at the White House by John Marciano who carries on the Madeline legacy started by his Grandfather Ludwig Bemelmans.

April 2011:  Monkey See, Monkey Draw by Alex Beard.  This beautiful picture book was inspired by the time Beard spent on his Uncle’s land in Africa, the same land that inspired Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen.

May 2011:  Emerald Atlas by John Stephens.  An impressive debut novel that will become an amazing fantasy series.

June 2011:  Theodore Boone: The Abduction by John Grisham.  This is the second book in Grisham’s first young adult series.

September 2011:  Otis and the Tornado by Loren Long who has illustrated books for Madonna and Barack Obama among others. The Otis series is bound to become a classic.

October 2011:  Llama Llama Home with Mama by Anna Dewdney. Who doesn’t love the Llama Llama series?

November 2011:  Blowin’ in the Wind  illustrated by Jon J. Muth and lyrics by Bob Dylan.  Dylan’s poetic lyrics defined an era, and Muth (a Caldecott Honor medalist) is the perfect artist to interpret this iconic song for a new generation of readers.

December 2011:  Franklin and Winston illustrated by Barry Moser and The Cheshire Cheese Cat illustrated by Barry Moser who is a long time friend of Lemuria.  Both of these books had small print runs and are destined to become collectible.

January 2012:  The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Curtis, a Newbery Medal winner and two time Newbery Honor winner is the first person in history to win both the Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Award for the same book (Bud, Not Buddy).

February 2012:  Crocodile’s Tears by Alex Beard a New Orleans based illustrator who brings us a moving tale of the endangered animals of Africa.

Mach 2012:  Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood who is a southerner herself and takes from real-life experiences to portray the south in an accurate, honest and kind way.  This is a debut novel.

April 2012:  Neversink by Barry Wolverton who wrote most of this debut novel in the Banner Hall, the building Lemuria is located in.

May 2012:  Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage is a murder mystery set in North Carolina where Turnage is from.

June 2012:  Theodore Boone: The Accused by John Grisham is the third book of Grisham’s first young adult series.

July 2012:  A Daring Life by Carolyn Brown is the much anticipated biography of Miss Welty’s younger years.

August 2012:  Creepy Carrots! by Peter Brown.  This is an amazing picture book about a rabbit who is being followed by carrots…or is he?

September 2012: Llama Llama Time to Share by Anna Dewdney. The Llama Llama book have quickly worked their way into classic kid-lit, this book is no exception. We love reading this one aloud!

October 2012: Oh, No! by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Eric Rohmann. As all kinds of jungle animals fall into a hole, they need to be rescued–but who will help them?

by Zita

After my first foray into John Green’s novels (I know, stone me later) I have to say I am in love. In this book, we first meet Hazel, a sixteen-year-old girl with lung cancer. We learn of how she has been fighting cancer for years, all with the knowledge that she won’t ever be 100% healthy again. She starts questioning her existence, worrying about her parents, and trying to be a burden to as few people as possible.

Enter Augustus Waters: the attractive, no make that hot, boy who has won his battle with cancer and is enthralled by Hazel. As they become at first friends and then even more, they learn that love has healed them more than chemo ever could, but also the sad truth that life is not a wish-granting machine.

I will have to say that I balled my eyes out, in a good way, and will probably be reading this book again very soon.

AMAZING!!!

We have signed copies, too!

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Penguin: January 2012.

Augusta Scattergood is the author of Glory Be, the new middle grade book about a young girl named Glory and her experiences in the summer of 1964  in Hanging Moss, Mississippi. While Hanging Moss is not a real town, the towns in the delta that it is based on are very much real. Augusta, or Gusty as her friend call her, should know: She was there. She remembers the era depicted in The Help, remembers the almost electricity of the time when issues always boiled down to color. I was recently on a conference call with Augusta and many other booksellers, and I got to listen to Augusta and her editor Andrea Pinkney, discuss the book and Augusta’s experiences.

Augusta started writing this book ten years ago when she was a school librarian, and this book was really a labor of love for her. During Freedom Summer, Augusta was living in Cleveland, MS, near Delta State. Her friend’s mom was the town librarian in Sunflower, and that summer was a real turning point for her. She says that much of her fodder for this book comes from her time in the delta that summer.

Many things in the book come from history, but Augusta told us in the conference call that some of the things in the book are very similar to real events from her life. Augusta said she had always heard that Robert Kennedy came to Mississippi. He talked to some of the black churches, and people in the area hardly ever heard about it. This visit always intrigued her and so Augusta wrote Robert Kennedy into the story. He visits Glory’s housekeeper’s church, and it really leaves an impression on Glory.

Another scene in the book takes Glory and her sister to Elvis’s birthplace. Augusta herself was an Elvis freak as a child. She was even an Elvis impersonator, and won a contest in Memphis. On Augusta’s trip to Tupelo to see his birthplace with her mother and sister, they all took an edge of green newspaper. Augusta mentioned in the conference call that her is the only one that survived in a scrapbook!

One of my favorite things that Augusta mentioned about the book during this conference call was a quote from the book: “Books have no color and they don’t care who reads them.” This is one of the things the town librarian says, but I also think that it tells simply what Glory Be is about.

Augusta will at Lemuria TODAY at 4:00 to sign her book, Glory Be. Come on over and hear more about Augusta and her book!