proseandkahn: What's new? Stacking the Shelves

Saturday, May 3, 2014

What's new? Stacking the Shelves

StS is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Hop on over there to ogle what other bloggers got this week.

For review:

High & Dry by Sarah Skilton. 258 p. Amulet Books/ Abrams, April, 2014. 9781419709296.

Publisher synopsis: Framed for a stranger’s near-fatal overdose at a party, blackmailed into finding a mysterious flash drive everyone in school seems anxious to suppress, and pressured by his shady best friend to throw an upcoming match, high school soccer player Charlie Dixon is juggling more than his share of drama. Add in a broken heart and the drinking he’s been doing to soothe it, and he’s near the breaking point. In this fast-paced, layered mystery, Charlie spends a frantic week trying to clear his name, win back the girl of his dreams, and escape a past friendship that may be responsible for all his current problems. This book captures the tone and style of the best crime fiction while also telling a high-stakes story of peer pressure gone tragically awry.

Purchased:

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. Unabridged audio book on 11 compact discs, 14.5 hours. Narrated by Devon Sorvari. Blackstone Audio, April, 2014. 9781483003061.

Publisher synopsis: I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?
Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling.
What happened?
Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.
My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.
I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.
I've been trained to fight.
And I have a mission:
Remove the Tin Woodman's heart.
Steal the Scarecrow's brain.
Take the Lion's courage.
Then and only then—Dorothy must die!

Also purchased: On Friday, I attended Judy Freeman's Winners! Workshop. It's one of my favorite professional development days and even though I've been in a fifth through eighth grade middle school for six years and the books are for K - 6, there's always a take-away. And besides, you all know one of my mottos is "never too old for picture books."

I already had much, but there were a few I didn't have and the vendor supplying the books, the amazing Books, Bytes and Beyond, added some of their own.

Odd Duck by Cecil Castellucci & Sara Varon. 96 p. First Second Books, May, 2013. 9781596435575.

Stardines Swim High Across the Sky and other poems by Jack Prelutsky. Illustrated by Carin Berger. unpgd. Greenwillow Books/ HarperCollins Publishers, Feb., 2013. 9780062014641.

Handbook for Dragon Slayers by Merrie Haskell. 324 p. Harper/ HarperCollins Publishers, May, 2013. 9780062008169.

Jasper John Dooley Left Behind by Caroline Adderson. Illustrated by Ben Clanton. 130 p. Kids Can Press, March, 2013. 9781554535798.

I bought this because one of my students just tore through the first three in the series and I want him to have #4 asap.

From Texas with Love by Dan Gutman. The Genius Files #4. Harper/ HarperCollins Publishers, January, 2014. 9780061827730.

I bought this because it's getting Newbery buzz and was recommended by Mary Brown.

Nightingale's Nest by Nikki Loftin. 240 p. Razorbill/ Penguin, February, 2014. 9781595145468.

I bought these as a gift for #2 son's girlfriend, who is a teacher.

The Boy Who Loved Math: the improbable life of Paul Erdos by Deborah Heiligman. Illustrated by LeUyen Pham. unpgd. Roaring Brook Press, June, 2013. 9781596433076.