Ashley is another great reader from the Lemuria Book Owls Book Club. She is a smart reader and has reviewed the new book from writing duo Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie, Unleashed:

I’ve read several books about werewolves and loved all of them. Unleashed was no exception. When Katelyn McBride moves to Arkansas from L.A. because of her parents’ deaths, she is dreading living with her grandfather who she barely knows, not to mention having to leave her best friend, and possibly ending her gymnastics career. When Katelyn arrives in Arkansas, she is in culture shock. She thought that the new town she was moving to would be boring, backwards, and extremely country. She is in for a surprise when she discovers the town has charm and the people are close to one another.

The Book Owls meet once a month and discuss young adult books. To be a part of this book club, or any of our Lemuria Kids books clubs, email emily@lemuriabooks.com.

The Cheshire Cheese Cat is a delightful story written by Carmen Deedy and Randall Wright with beautiful illustrations by our favorite Barry Moser. Set in a London inn during the time of Charles Dickens and Queen Victoria, this story begins with the introduction of Skilley, the main character and resident mouser at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Inn. Skilley must make a pact with Pip the mouse to keep his guarded secret–Skilley does not eat mice. He eats cheese. There are multiple scenes of drama taking place in The Cheese, not the least of which Charles Dickens and his writer’s block. This tale contains so much fun and excitement, and the awesome illustrations of Barry Moser perfectly gel with this historical tale of mischief and friendship.

Barry Moser is a well known illustrator and even better known by those of us who work at Lemuria. A few of my favorite books that he has illustrated are The Blessing of the Beasts by Ethel Pochocki, Ring of Tricksters by Virginia Hamilton, Hogwood Steps Out by Howard Mansfield, and Hummingbird Nest by Kristina O’Connell George.

All this to say, we think Barry is the best. And to top it all off, Barry will be here in the store on Saturday, December 10th at 11:00. Barry’s books, The Cheshire Cheese Cat and Franklin and Winston: A Christmas that Changed the World, are also our Oz First Edition’s Club Picks for December!

Instead of presenting a new piece of literature, I am presenting an old favorite with a beautiful new cover. In my first post, I told you about the book shower my sister hosted for me. As a gift, one of my greatest friends gave me a copy of Anne of Green Gables, recently republished by Penguin with this cover. Beautiful, isn’t it?

As I finished one book and was ready to move on to another, I looked at my bookshelf and this bright pink cover caught my eye. When I was little I remember watching the movie with my grandmother. A wonderful memory but the book is better. Isn’t that always the case?

Many other classics have been republished with an eye catching cover. Take a look at some others.

Think how good this would look in your hands as you read.  It’ll look just as good on your bookshelf. Instant decoration!

See the whole collection here.  -Quinn

Back in June, my middle grade girls book club, now formally called The Book Owls, begged me to read a series that they were in love with. They wrote me email proclaiming their love and worked hard to educate those who didn’t know what the series so they could win them over to the dark side. Or rather the tiger side as it turns out. The series they were in love with was the Tiger Saga by Colleen Houck.

They read the first two books in the series, Tiger’s Curse and Tiger’s Quest, and were ravenous for more, but the third book hadn’t come out yet. As some of you may know, one of the perks of being a bookseller is that we often get review copies of books that haven’t come out yet. I happened to receive a review copy of the third book in this series, entitled Tiger’s Voyage, the day before we met for book club. It was too good to be true, especially for the girls. They started passing the review copy around and hatching a plan: They were going to get Colleen Houck to come here.

I was all for Colleen coming here, but I also knew that she lived in Salem, Oregon, which is quite a long way for here. We comprised all of our praise for the series anyway and sent them off to the publisher, Sterling, knowing that it was a shot in the dark, but trying none the less. When I got the call from the publisher to set up the signing, I could hardly believe it. I squealed, which, let me tell you, is nothing compared to what the girls did when I told them. Ah! It really worked!

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So there you have it. People, no matter their age, really can make things happen. I am so glad I get to share not only this story, but also the author event with you: Colleen Houck will be here this Friday, November 11th at 4:00. I hope you will come out and see what all the hubbub is about, and maybe pick up a couple of the books for the middle to highschool girl in your life.

Here is another review from one of Jackson’s smartest bunch of kids: the readers! Raveena is an 8th grader at St. Andrew’s and a member of Lemuria’s middle school girls book club (still working on it’s official name) and she is a lover of young adult romances. See what she has to say about Amy Plum’s debut novel, Die for Me:

I have read so many paranormal romance books, but none compared to Die for Me by Amy Plum. Usually its the same story girl meets boy and they fall in love, but in Die for Me it take that simple concept and twists it into a fabulous tale. The main problem for the characters in Die for Me (and best part of the story in my opinion) is how they have to work together to make their relationship work.