Stacking the Shelves - ALA Edition

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

The first of three (small) boxes of books arrived yesterday. This one was sent priority because the long box was the only way to fit this particular bunch of books.

Excuse my big fat head shadow. That always happens whenever I use the flash on my camera.

Roving the exhibits is not all about free books. There's plenty to buy as well - at deeply discounted prices. I usually stop at the BOT (Books on Tape) booth to pick up some new release audiobooks at $20 a pop. They're on the right and most of the titles are cut off.

The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud. Unabridged audiobook on 9 compact discs. Read by Katie Lyons. (I read The Screaming Staircase with both my eyes and ears and it was fantastic each time!)

Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor by Jon Scieszka read by the author and illustrator, Brian Biggs. (Ack! I cannot believe it! I thought this was book 2 when I grabbed it! I have it already! Oh well, my public library or a classroom might have use for it.)

The Black Reckoning by John Stephens. Unabridged audiobook on 11 compact discs. Read by Jim Dale. (I read the first in this trilogy with my eyes. Heard that it was narrated by Jim Dale and read the second with my ears.)

The Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley. Unabridged audiobook on 6 compact discs. Read by Bronson Pinchot. (I have been hearing nothing but great things about this hugely hyped book. I did grab an arc at midwinter and recently picked it up to read when three books came in that I need to read for review. When I saw the book had been produced as an audio and Bronson Pinchot narrated, a happy dance was had. Pinchot did a marvelous job narrating The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle. Random House was also giving away HARDCOVER copies of Circus Mirandus but ran out when I was one person from the head of the line. :-/ Oh well, it's in my fall order for my library anyway.

Arcs:

The Looney Experiment by Luke Reynolds. 208 p. Blink, August 4, 2015. 9780310746423.

Publisher synopsis: The Looney Experiment chronicles one boy’s journey through bullying, first love, and—with the help of an older than dirt and crazier than insanity itself substitute English teacher named Mr. Looney—an up-close examination of the meaning of courage.

The Copper Gauntlet by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. 272 p. Magisterium #2. Scholastic Inc., September 1, 2015. 9780545522281.

Publisher synopsis: Callum Hunt’s summer break isn’t like other kids’. His closest companion is a Chaos-ridden wolf, Havoc. His father suspects him of being secretly evil. And, of course, most kids aren’t heading back to the magical world of the Magisterium in the fall.
 
It’s not easy for Call . . . and it gets even harder after he checks out his basement and discovers that his dad might be trying to destroy both him and Havoc.

Samurai Rising: the epic life of Minamoto Yoshistune by Pamela S. Turner. Illustrated by Gareth Hinds. 256 p. Charlesbridge, February 2, 2016. 9781580895842.

Publisher synopsis: Minamoto Yoshitsune should not have been a samurai. But his story is legend in this real-life Game of Thrones.
 
This epic tale of warriors and bravery, rebellion and revenge, reads like a novel, but this is the true story of the greatest samurai in Japanese history. 
 
When Yoshitsune was just a baby, his father went to war with a rival samurai family—and lost. His father was killed, his mother captured, and his brothers sent away. Yoshitsune was raised in his enemy’s household until he was sent away to live in a monastery. He grew up skinny and small. Not the warrior type. But he did inherit his family pride and when the time came for the Minamoto to rise up against their enemy once again, Yoshitsune was there. His daring feats, such as storming a fortress by riding on horseback down the side of a cliff and his glorious victory at sea, secured Yoshitsune’s place in history and his story is still being told centuries later.

House Arrest by K. A. Holt. 304 p. Chronicle Books, LLC., October 6, 2015. 9781452134772.

Publisher synopsis: Timothy is on probation. It's a strange word—something that happens to other kids, to delinquents, not to kids like him. And yet, he is under house arrest for the next year. He must check in weekly with a probation officer and a therapist, and keep a journal for an entire year. And mostly, he has to stay out of trouble. But when he must take drastic measures to help his struggling family, staying out of trouble proves more difficult than Timothy ever thought it would be. By turns touching and funny, and always original, House Arrest is a middle grade novel in verse about one boy's path to redemption as he navigates life with a sick brother, a grieving mother, and one tough probation officer.

Rules for Stealing Stars by Corey Ann Haydu. 336 p. HarperCollins Publishers, September 29, 2015. 9780062352712.

Publisher synopsis: In the tradition of Sharon Creech and Wendy Mass, Corey Ann Haydu's sparkling middle grade debut is a sister story with a twist of magic, a swirl of darkness, and a whole lot of hope.

Silly is used to feeling left out. Her three older sisters think she's too little for most things—especially when it comes to dealing with their mother's unpredictable moods and outbursts. This summer, Silly feels more alone than ever when her sisters keep whispering and sneaking away to their rooms together, returning with signs that something mysterious is afoot: sporting sunburned cheeks smudged with glitter and gold hair that looks like tinsel.

When Silly is brought into her sisters' world, the truth is more exciting than she ever imagined. The sisters have discovered a magical place that gives them what they truly need: an escape from the complications of their home life. But there are dark truths there, too. Silly hopes the magic will be the secret to saving their family, but she's soon forced to wonder if it could tear them apart.

Juba! A novel by Walter Dean Myers. 208 p. HarperCollins Publisher, October 13, 2015. 9780062112712.

Publisher synopsis: In New York Times bestselling author Walter Dean Myers's last novel, he delivers a gripping story based on the life of a real dancer known as Master Juba, who lived in the nineteenth century.

This engaging historical novel is based on the true story of the meteoric rise of an immensely talented young black dancer, William Henry Lane, who influenced today's tap, jazz, and step dancing. With meticulous and intensive research, Walter Dean Myers has brought to life Juba's story.

The novel includes photographs, maps, and other images from Juba's time and an afterword from Walter Dean Myers's wife about the writing process of Juba!

Books:

Neighborhood Sharks: hunting with the great whites of California's Farallon Islands by Katherine Roy. unpgd. Roaring Brook Press, October, 2014. 9781596438743.

Publisher synopsis: A Robert F. Sibert Honor Book

Winner of the John Burroughs Riverby Award for Young Readers

Up close with the ocean's most fearsome and famous predator and the scientists who study them-just twenty-six miles from the Golden Gate Bridge!

A few miles from San Francisco lives a population of the ocean's largest and most famous predators. Each fall, while the city's inhabitants dine on steaks, salads, and sandwiches, the great white sharks return to California's Farallon Islands to dine on their favorite meal: the seals that live on the island's rocky coasts. Massive, fast, and perfectly adapted to hunting after 11 million years of evolution, the great whites are among the planet's most fearsome, fascinating, and least understood animals.

In the fall of 2012, Katherine Roy visited the Farallons with the scientists who study the islands' shark population. She witnessed seal attacks, observed sharks being tagged in the wild, and got an up close look at the dramatic Farallons-a wildlife refuge that is strictly off-limits to all but the scientists who work there. Neighborhood Sharks is an intimate portrait of the life cycle, biology, and habitat of the great white shark, based on the latest research and an up-close visit with these amazing animals.

Other:
Three by three: chapter sampler. I dropped by the Random House booth to ask for an arc of The Odds of Getting Even. They were not distributing arcs but gave me a chapter sampler of it along with Ingrid Law's newest,  and Maile Meloy's 

Bound manuscript: Free Verse by Sarah Dooley.