We're back! My wife and I drove to Louisville, Kentucky, and back over the weekend to attend the American Booksellers Association's Winter Institute. This is an excellent get-together for over 500 folks from independent bookstores all over the United States. We attended many seminars that brought us up to date on customers service, technology, and what's happening in the industry. We were able to attend four different sessions with bookseller reps from many different major publisers to hear and see what they are releasing onto the marketplace within the next three months.
I was very pleased to see how many young adult and childrens books could easily qualify as books for gifted and reluctant readers. I will be reviewing many of these (we got advanced copies) and will be posting them here on this blog.
I should also mention that my review activities have been greatly slowed because I am busy reading and judging general fiction books in a major national book award competition. That will continue through March. This promises to be a very exciting year in the book industry and what is available to readers.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Friday, January 4, 2008
Reluctant reader Books Just Got Cheaper
As one of my last actions before I take a week off for a medical procedure, I have programed our new online catalog site http://www.grreatbooks.com/ to provide a 15% discount on most of the books we are recommending. That is also true for many of the books in our distributor's 2,000,000 title database. We made the decision to do this as a way to compete against the big corporations. We hope this makes acquiring a library for your children and yourselves just a little bit easier.
I'll be back in a week, just in time to put together our first reluctant reader newsletter. If you would like to be on our mailing list, go to our catalog pages. I have not automated the process yet, so I will send you our free special report on gifted and reluctant readers when I get back. Thanks for understanding. I'm a one-man band here with no webmaster other than myself, but I'll eventually build in all the bells and whistles.
I'll be back in a week, just in time to put together our first reluctant reader newsletter. If you would like to be on our mailing list, go to our catalog pages. I have not automated the process yet, so I will send you our free special report on gifted and reluctant readers when I get back. Thanks for understanding. I'm a one-man band here with no webmaster other than myself, but I'll eventually build in all the bells and whistles.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
New Source for GRREAT Books
Do you want an easy source for many of the books reviewed and talked about on this blog? We have formed an alliance with the largest book distributor in the world, Baker & Taylor, who will do our fulfillment for books ordered online from our bookstore's extended catalog service called GRREAT Books. We've been working on this for months and have finally gotten it up and operating. Please go to http://www.grreatbooks.com to see what we have. As a major added bonus, you can get the following three free offerings:
A) The chance for a free subscription to our monthly newsletter, Getting Your Child To Read
B) A free special report entitled, Gifted & Reluctant Readers
C) Free Entry into the Baker & Taylor 2,000,000 Titles data base in addition to our almost 200 book recommended list. They offer musical CDs, as well as DVDs as well as books.
We look forward to your comments and your orders. Please let your friends know about us as well.
Bob
A) The chance for a free subscription to our monthly newsletter, Getting Your Child To Read
B) A free special report entitled, Gifted & Reluctant Readers
C) Free Entry into the Baker & Taylor 2,000,000 Titles data base in addition to our almost 200 book recommended list. They offer musical CDs, as well as DVDs as well as books.
We look forward to your comments and your orders. Please let your friends know about us as well.
Bob
Monday, November 19, 2007
GRREAT Social Commentary Sci Fi for Gifted Readers
Title: Expert Assistance
Author: Robert Collins
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Asylett Press
Publisher Website: www.asylett.com
Pages: 173
ISBN: 9781934337080
Price: $8.75
Publishing Date: 2007
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 4 hearts
This very funny space opera science fiction is also a brilliant social commentary, especially on the shallowness of pop culture. Spacer of fortune, Jake Bonner, finds himself short of funds; therefore, he takes on two jobs simultaneously: a controlling consultant to mine workers governed by an unethical tyrant who seek revolution and to chauffeur Evvie, a nineteen-year-old pop star who is on a performance tour. He is assisted by his ship’s artificial intelligence-driven spaceship, which was originally designed for wholesale espionage and over which he was able gain salvage rights. Things really get complex when Evvie discovers Jake’s revolutionary mission and wants to play in it to gain massive PR points.
In addition to being a humorous read, this story should be considered a classic in the field of social commentary. It ranks right up there with Animal Farm and 1984, but with a far less dire atmosphere. The author, an active historian, brings to bear an excellent knowledge of what comprises good music and theatre and how bad and shallow current and evolving pop culture is. It is a cleanly written story and is very appropriate for young, gifted readers. We rated this excellent social commentary novel four hearts.
Author: Robert Collins
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Asylett Press
Publisher Website: www.asylett.com
Pages: 173
ISBN: 9781934337080
Price: $8.75
Publishing Date: 2007
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 4 hearts
This very funny space opera science fiction is also a brilliant social commentary, especially on the shallowness of pop culture. Spacer of fortune, Jake Bonner, finds himself short of funds; therefore, he takes on two jobs simultaneously: a controlling consultant to mine workers governed by an unethical tyrant who seek revolution and to chauffeur Evvie, a nineteen-year-old pop star who is on a performance tour. He is assisted by his ship’s artificial intelligence-driven spaceship, which was originally designed for wholesale espionage and over which he was able gain salvage rights. Things really get complex when Evvie discovers Jake’s revolutionary mission and wants to play in it to gain massive PR points.
In addition to being a humorous read, this story should be considered a classic in the field of social commentary. It ranks right up there with Animal Farm and 1984, but with a far less dire atmosphere. The author, an active historian, brings to bear an excellent knowledge of what comprises good music and theatre and how bad and shallow current and evolving pop culture is. It is a cleanly written story and is very appropriate for young, gifted readers. We rated this excellent social commentary novel four hearts.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
A Younger Series Similar to Artemis Fowl
Title: Quest for the Elfin Elixir: A Duncan Family Adventure (Book 2)
Author: Ami Blackford
Illustrator: Ami Blackford
Publisher and/or Distributor: Red Cygnet Press
Publisher Website: www.redcygnet.com
Pages: 80
ISBN: 978-1-60108-021-9
Price: $16.95
Publishing Date: Sept 2007
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
If your children readers liked the Artemis Fowl, they’ll love this series. The author, a recent graduate of the Atlanta College of Art, combines the elements of modern day action with fairies and other such magical creatures. This particular episode has Ruth Duncan and older brother David traveling to the Caribbean with fairy Simone to find a magical elixir. The only problem is it is held by a group of elves who live in a cave under the ocean. Even with the best of diving equipment, how will Ruth find the courage to go diving under the surface of the sea when she’s terrified of diving? We rated the story and its attendant illustrations five hearts.
Author: Ami Blackford
Illustrator: Ami Blackford
Publisher and/or Distributor: Red Cygnet Press
Publisher Website: www.redcygnet.com
Pages: 80
ISBN: 978-1-60108-021-9
Price: $16.95
Publishing Date: Sept 2007
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
If your children readers liked the Artemis Fowl, they’ll love this series. The author, a recent graduate of the Atlanta College of Art, combines the elements of modern day action with fairies and other such magical creatures. This particular episode has Ruth Duncan and older brother David traveling to the Caribbean with fairy Simone to find a magical elixir. The only problem is it is held by a group of elves who live in a cave under the ocean. Even with the best of diving equipment, how will Ruth find the courage to go diving under the surface of the sea when she’s terrified of diving? We rated the story and its attendant illustrations five hearts.
Red Cygnet Press: An Exciting Publisher Program
We have discovered an exciting program for children's literature that focuses on both text and illustrations. Red Cygnet Press, an imprint of Sound Prints, has a unique relationship with a number of major university fine arts programs. Red Cygnet works closely with universitys' faculty to find students who are especially talented as both writers and illustrators. The result is a line of children's books that is fresh and extremely well done by some of the top student talent in the country. They are producing books which are ideal for both gifted and reluctant readers. I will be writing a number of book reviews based on these excellent offerings so you will be aware of this wonderful resource.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
A Holocaust In China--Wonderful YA Fare
Title: Shanghai Shadows
Author: Lois Ruby
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Holiday House, Inc.
Publisher Website: www.holidayhouse.com
Pages: 284
ISBN: 0-8234-1960-6
Price: $16.95
Publishing Date: 2006
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
This superb young adult book chronicles in a fictionalized form the escape of 20,000 Jews from Austria in 1939 when the Nazis take over that country to the only country that will accept them—China. They are gathered into the foreign compounds of Shanghai. They soon discover that the encroaching Japanese may be just as bad as the Nazis. The story centers on a family of four—father, mother, older brother, younger sister—who steadily find their quality of life declining, along with everyone else’s. The concert violinist father and the caring mother find very little work. The brother and sister find themselves involved in an underground spy group and risk their lives and freedom almost daily.
Beyond its historical significance, this is a revealing story about family relationships under extreme stress. Seen through the eyes of Ilse, the young daughter, we witness what it’s like to only be able to find a handful of hours of minimum wage work in a totally alien country. Just when the reader believes the plot has become totally predictable, the author throws an incredible relationship twist (ah, ah, no peeking) into the story that takes our breath away. Just when you think it cannot get worse, it does so in a huge way.
Lois Ruby has become the social conscience of a whole generation of uninformed children. Without the usual histrionics of many holocaust books, she builds plausible stories with relationships that can be understood by teens and tweens to illustrate how bad this timeframe was. She has also done the same for the Civil War timeframe (Steal Away Home). It is no wonder why this retired librarian continues to win accolades for all her books. We rated this book five hearts.
Author: Lois Ruby
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Holiday House, Inc.
Publisher Website: www.holidayhouse.com
Pages: 284
ISBN: 0-8234-1960-6
Price: $16.95
Publishing Date: 2006
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
This superb young adult book chronicles in a fictionalized form the escape of 20,000 Jews from Austria in 1939 when the Nazis take over that country to the only country that will accept them—China. They are gathered into the foreign compounds of Shanghai. They soon discover that the encroaching Japanese may be just as bad as the Nazis. The story centers on a family of four—father, mother, older brother, younger sister—who steadily find their quality of life declining, along with everyone else’s. The concert violinist father and the caring mother find very little work. The brother and sister find themselves involved in an underground spy group and risk their lives and freedom almost daily.
Beyond its historical significance, this is a revealing story about family relationships under extreme stress. Seen through the eyes of Ilse, the young daughter, we witness what it’s like to only be able to find a handful of hours of minimum wage work in a totally alien country. Just when the reader believes the plot has become totally predictable, the author throws an incredible relationship twist (ah, ah, no peeking) into the story that takes our breath away. Just when you think it cannot get worse, it does so in a huge way.
Lois Ruby has become the social conscience of a whole generation of uninformed children. Without the usual histrionics of many holocaust books, she builds plausible stories with relationships that can be understood by teens and tweens to illustrate how bad this timeframe was. She has also done the same for the Civil War timeframe (Steal Away Home). It is no wonder why this retired librarian continues to win accolades for all her books. We rated this book five hearts.
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