Waiting on Wednesday: Threatened by Eliot Schrefer

WoW is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine, in which we share the titles whose release we are eagerly anticipating.

Scholastic posted its spring preview a few weeks ago and the next few WoWs will feature titles from their list.

Threatened by Eliot Schefer. 288 p. Scholastic Inc., February 25, 2014. 9780545551434.

Publisher synopsis: Into the jungle. Into the wild. Into harm's way.

When he was a boy, Luc's mother would warn him about the "mock men" living in the trees by their home -- chimpanzees whose cries would fill the night.

Luc is older now, his mother gone. He lives in a house of mistreated orphans, barely getting by. Then a man calling himself Prof comes to town with a mysterious mission. When Luc tries to rob him, the man isn't mad. Instead, he offers Luc a job.

Together, Luc and Prof head into the rough, dangerous jungle in order to study the elusive chimpanzees. There, Luc finally finds a new family -- and must act when that family comes under attack.

As he did in his acclaimed novel Endangered, a finalist for the National Book Award, Eliot Schrefer takes us somewhere fiction rarely goes, introducing us to characters we rarely get to meet. The unforgettable result is the story of a boy fleeing his present, a man fleeing his past, and a trio of chimpanzees who are struggling not to flee at all.

I really enjoyed the author's earlier, Endangered, which was a National Book Award finalist and am looking forward to this one.

What are you waiting on?

Top Ten Tuesday - Winter TBR Pile

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Broke and the Bookish. This week's theme is books on my winter tbr pile.

Only ten? Well, these are the ten books at top of the tbr pile and most need to be read by the end of the month for review.

Atlantis Rising by T.A. Barron. 

The Cruisers Book 4/ Oh Snap! by Walter Dean Myers.

Invasion by Walter Dean Myers.

Juvie by Steve Watkins.

Open Mic by Mitali Perkins.

Romeo Blue by Phoebe Stone.

Terminal (Tunnels # 6) by Roderick Gordon.

The 14 Fibs of Gregory K by Greg Pincus.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell.

Yes! We are Latinos by Alma Flor Ada.

Non-Fiction Monday: Hide and Seek Science: animal camouflage

by Emma Stevenson. 32 p. Holiday House Inc., March, 2013. 9780823422937. (Borrowed from the public library.)

Seven ecosystems, seven gorgeous double-page spreads depicting a swamp, the Florida Everglades, desert, the Sahara, rain forest, South America's Amazon, a savannah, a deciduous forest, the arctic, and coral reef, Australian's Great Barrier Reef. Lots of animals inhabit the scenes, some more camouflaged than others. A smaller duplicate scene follows with each animal numbered. Instead of identifying each animal numerically, the animal names are listed alphabetically, followed by the number, which makes for additional searching. Each ecosystem is described along with a sentence about each animal. 

There isn't a lot of information provided about either the ecosystem or the animals. This book won't serve report writers very well, but will appeal to browsers and trivia hounds. Recommended for grades 2 - 5.

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:

Erased by Jennifer Rush. 275 p. Little, Brown and Company, January 7, 2014. 9780316197151.

Publisher synopsis: They thought they had escaped. They were wrong.

After fleeing the Branch with Sam, Cas, and Nick, Anna is trying to make sense of the memories resurfacing from her old life. At the same time, she's learning how to survive in hiding, following Sam's rules: Don't draw attention to yourself. Always carry a weapon. Know your surroundings. Watch your back.

Then a figure from Anna's childhood reappears. Is it a Branch setup, or could it be the reunion Anna has hoped for? Uncertain of where her loyalties lie, Anna must fight to learn the truth — before she is betrayed again. Ultimately, the answers hinge on one question: What was the real reason her memories were erased?

Jennifer Rush delivers a thrilling sequel to Altered in a novel packed with mysteries, lies, and surprises that are sure to keep readers guessing until the last page is turned.

Beyond Magenta: transgender teens speak out by Susan Kuklin. 182 p. Candlewick Press, February, 2014. 9780763656119.

Publisher synopsis: 

A groundbreaking work of LGBT literature takes an honest look at the life, love, and struggles of transgender teens.

Author and photographer Susan Kuklin met and interviewed six transgender or gender-neutral young adults and used her considerable skills to represent them thoughtfully and respectfully before, during, and after their personal acknowledgment of gender preference. Portraits, family photographs, and candid images grace the pages, augmenting the emotional and physical journey each youth has taken. Each honest discussion and disclosure, whether joyful or heartbreaking, is completely different from the other because of family dynamics, living situations, gender, and the transition these teens make in recognition of their true selves.

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton. 302 p. Candlewick Press, March 25, 2014. 9780763665661.

Publisher synopsis: Foolish love appears to be the Roux family birthright, an ominous forecast for its most recent progeny, Ava Lavender. Ava — in all other ways a normal girl — is born with the wings of a bird. In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naive to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the summer solstice celebration. That night, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air, and Ava’s quest and her family’s saga build to a devastating crescendo. First-time author Leslye Walton has constructed a layered and unforgettable mythology of what it means to be born with hearts that are tragically, exquisitely human.

The Children of the King by Sonya Hartnett. 266 p. Candlewick Press, March 25, 2014.

Publisher synopsis: 

Internationally acclaimed author Sonya Hartnett tells a hauntingly beautiful story set during World War II.

Cecily and Jeremy have been sent to live with their uncle Peregrine in the English countryside, safe from the war, along with a young refugee named May. But when Cecily and May find two mysterious boys hiding in the ruins of a nearby castle, an extraordinary adventure begins.

The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina. 369 p. Candlewick Press, April 8, 2014. 9780763669881.

Publisher synopsis:

A compelling debut novel asks what happens when children develop inexplicable abilities—and the government sees them as a threat.

They’re known as Firestarters. Boomers. Skychangers. The government calls them Illegals — children with inexplicable abilities — and detains them in menacing facilities so that society is kept out of harm’s way. Ashala Wolf and her Tribe of fellow Illegals have taken refuge in the Firstwood, a forest eerily conscious of its inhabitants, where they do their best to survive and where they are free to practice their abilities. But when Ashala is compelled to venture outside her territory, she is betrayed by a friend and captured by an enemy. Injured and vulnerable, with her own Sleepwalker ability blocked, Ashala is forced to succumb to a machine that will pull secrets from her mind. It’s only a matter of time before the machine ferrets out the location of the Tribe. Her betrayer, Justin Connor, is ever-present, saving her life when she wishes to die and watching her every move. Will the Tribe survive the interrogation of Ashala Wolf?

That's what's new with me. What's new with you?

Waiting on Wednesday: Code Name Zero

WoW is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine, in which we share the titles whose release we are eagerly anticipating.

Codename Zero by Chris Rylander. The Codename Conspiracy. 368 p. HarperCollins Publisher, February, 2014. 9780062120083.

Publisher synopsis: There are places in the world where heroes are born. There are places where brave men and women fight a never-ending battle against evil in order to keep our country and all other countries safe. There are places where the fate of our planet is being decided, even at this very moment, the consequences of which will echo through history.

None of these places is in North Dakota.

Carson Fender, seventh grader and notorious prankster, knows this. He’s lived in North Dakota for his entire life, going to the same boring school every day, the same boring movie theater every week, the same boring state fair every year. Nothing ever changes, and nothing ever happens. That is, until today. Because today a desperate man hands him a package with a dire set of instructions. And that package is going to lead Carson to discover that there’s a secret government agency operating in his small, quiet North Dakota hometown.

And that this agency needs his help.

Rylander's Fourth Stall series is quite popular at my school. His fans will be eager to read this new series.

What are you waiting on?

Top Ten Tuesday

TTT is hosted by Broke and the Bookish and this week's theme is top ten 2014 releases I'm dying to read. The 2014 arcs are already arriving, so I've been lucky enough to have already read some buzzed about 2014 releases such as Unhinged and We Were Liars. But there are quite a few I'm eagerly awaiting.

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson. Releases January 7, 2014. Still kicking myself for being unable to get on the line at Annual for the bound manuscript.

Cress by Marissa Meyer. Releases February 4, 2014. Though I must confess that I haven't yet read Scarlet (hides head in shame).

Revolution by Deborah Wiles. Releases April 29, 2014. Loved, loved, loved Countdown.

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. Releases April 1, 2014. I featured this in a WoW post recently.

The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage. Releases February 4, 2014. Oh how I adored Three Times Lucky and will be psyched to visit with Mo and Dale again.

Fat Boy vs. the Cheerleaders by Geoff Herbach. Releases May 6, 2014. Loved his Felton Brothers novels, Stupid Fast, Nothing Special and I'm with Stupid. There is no description about this one online yet. I don't care. It's a new Herbach.

The Hero's Guide to Being an Outlaw by Christopher Healy. Releases April 29, 2014. The first two were such rollicking good fun.

Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor. Releases April 1,2014. Such vivid worldbuilding!

Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray (Diviners #2) Releases April 1, 2014. Talk about worldbuilding! 1920s New York City comes bursting to life here. Not a fan of the cover redesign though.

The Right Fight by Chris Lynch. (World War II series #1) Releases January 7, 2014. The author's Vietnam series is a fine addition to middle school libraries for boys who want war stories.

I just realized that the picks divided neatly into 5 middle grade and 5 young adult titles. Nice coincidence. 

Non-Fiction Monday: Discover More Weather by Penelope Arlon

80 p. Scholastic Inc., June, 2013. 9780545505161. (Finished copy courtesy of publisher.)

So far, I've been pleased with this new series from Scholastic and I had high hopes for this one since the sixth grade science teacher does a huge unit on weather each year. The series is dense with spectacular photos, and the photos certainly are the stars in this particular volume. 

This one seems aimed at a slightly lower age than the two I have already read. It starts off with a nice explanation of what weather is and moves on to explain the layers of the Earth's atmosphere, then moves on to discuss heat and wind. The next pages consist of an impressive double-page spread of the aurora borealis over Norway, then it's back to wind again. Huh? Why not place the aurora borealis a few pages later with the section on light tricks? The explanation of the various types of clouds was minimal. Then, it's on to precipitation, thunderstorms and lightning, where the factoids, while interesting, seem random and not useful to report writers looking for in-depth information. Still, I know browsers will eat this one up. If there's money in the budget, your browsers will thank you.

As I read some of the text boxes, such as the largest snowflake ever recorded being 15 inches wide in 1877, I wondered, says who, and flipped to the back for a list of sources. Alas, there's a page crammed with picture sources, a glossary and an index, but no sources or suggested further reading.