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Hannah’s Winter, by Kierin Meehan (fiction) – Japanese ghosts, ancient puzzle mysteries

Dec7
book cover of Hannah's Winter by Kierin Meehan published by Kane MillerWinter in Japan.
Hot Australia far away.
Ghosts throwing donuts?

A mystery in the snow-shrouded town of Kanazawa is not what Hannah expected when she came to Japan. High school for her, horticultural field study for her mum, and then a ghost who tosses donuts and writes on Hannah’s mirror with sunscreen??

The town’s winter festivals and historic sites draw Hannah and her new Japanese friends Miki and Hiro further and further into a ancient mystery.

Dire visions foretold by three old women and dragons hidden in plain sight – could they be relevant to the task that “the ocean boy” begs them to accomplish? Dive into the puzzles of Hannah’s winter in Japan at your local library or independent bookstore.
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Book info: Hannah’s Winter / Kierin Meehan. Kane Miller, 2009. [author’s website] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Recommendation: Going to school in Japan instead of starting high school in Australia with her friends worries Hannah; her height and auburn hair will really make her stand out. But a mysterious message from the past sends her exploring her new city quickly.

Her host-father translates the ancient kanji on the fragile paper – it’s a puzzle, asking the finder to “help the ocean boy” by following the cryptic instructions. After “the first snowfall,” Hannah, host-sister Miki, and neighbor Hiro travel to “the temple of secrets” and see a vision from the past!

A boisterous ghost in the house, donuts tossed in the air, messages on her mirror, that recurring dream of the tunnel, a house of cards… Hannah finds they’re all pieces of the puzzle (except the donuts). A suit of samurai armor is delivered to Miki’s shop and puffs out incense with no fire. Japanese school is interesting, but waiting until time to “go at sunrise to wake the dragon” is hard.

Why has the “ocean boy” chosen Hannah to help him finish his task from the past? Is the man suddenly appearing all over their neighborhood “the one who does not want the boy to go”? And why has the samurai armor’s incense smoke changed from blue to yellow?

You’ll get peeks into modern Japanese culture as well as older folktales and traditions as you visit Kanazawa’s festivals and parks with Hannah, Miki, and Hiro to solve the mystery before it’s too late for “the ocean boy.”(One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Paper Daughter, by Jeannette Ingold (book review) – family tree with hidden branches?

Nov23

When what you “know” about your family isn’t true,
When the person with the real answers is gone,
How far can you search back into the past without losing yourself?

Maggie knows that she wants to be a reporter like her father, recently killed by a hit-and-run driver. But when investigations get too close to home, when the truth upends everything she thought she knew about her family background…

Her hometown of Seattle has always been shaped by immigration and change – from its wild days as a frontier logging town through the countless immigrants from China who made one corner of the city their own, despite the strangling restrictions of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

So what does Maggie discover about her family’s past and her own future?
Find out at your local library or independent bookstore on our World Wednesday – and remember to share family stories around the table this Thanksgiving.
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Book info: Paper Daughter / Jeannette Ingold. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010. [author’s website] [publisher site] [student video book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My Book Talk: As a young journalist, Maggie Chen has her late father’s writing skills and reporting instincts. His recent death has left a gaping hole in her life, but she is determined to complete the summer internship he helped her arrange at the local newspaper.

That Jillian rushed in and grabbed photo desk before Maggie could even open her mouth – good thing Maggie won’t be working directly with the other intern, who is all talk and nosiness. But internship means trying every aspect of the job, so she’ll start at the sports desk and move to other assignments as the summer goes on.

Maggie and her professor mom start to notify Dad’s out-of-town contacts about his death, about that hit-and-run driver. When one call connects Maggie to Dad’s best friend in college, pieces of his life story begin to crumble as the truth about his past erases the family stories that he’d always told them. Now she’s wondering about the unfinished articles in her dad’s files.

If Dad wasn’t from a well-to-do family, then where did he come from?
Why did he contact so many people in California just before his death?
Was he in Seattle’s old Chinatown on the day he died for a newspaper story or on a personal investigation?

During her first “hard news” assignment, Maggie learns that someone else was killed in the same area on the same day, someone who might have been ready to blow the whistle on corrupt land development deals. Was her father’s death connected to that, too?

Murmurs of Chinese immigrants’ stories thread through Maggie’s search for answers, stories of “paper sons” claimed as blood relatives on immigration applications, of changed names and unchanged resentments. Can she ever know who she really is? (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Drowned Maiden’s Hair (fiction)

Nov14

Seeking answers from The Beyond.
Unwilling to wait until Heaven to see loved ones again.
Willing to pay anything to hear their voices now…

On this mysterious Monday, welcome to the early 1900s during the height of Spiritualism, when bereaved people became convinced that the chasm between this world and the next could be crossed during seances, that someone could connect them with a loved one for just a little time more together. For every truly gifted medium, there were countless charlatans and tricksters who took advantage of immense grief for large profits.

Seances and bringing forth voices from Beyond are just “the family business” for the genteel spinster Hawthorne sisters, now fallen on hard economic times. Who would guess that a child was suddenly living in their attic bedroom, an orphan child with a heavenly singing voice, an unwanted orphan child who can fit in hidden cupboards and manipulate the ghostly vapors and set chandeliers to swinging?

Wondering how long this arrangement can last? How long the illusions will hold? If there are any true connections to the Other Side? Come back to 1909 with Maud and find out for yourself.
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Book info: A Drowned Maiden’s Hair: A Melodrama / Laura Amy Schlitz. Candlewick, 2006 (paperback, 2008). [author interview] [publisher site] [book trailer]

Recommendation: Locked in the orphanage outhouse, Maud never imagined that she would be rescued by spinster sisters to become a séance angel…

Suddenly Maud has lovely new dresses and books with all the pages and a bedroom of her own! The Misses Hawthorne have all the “modern conveniences” in their large, remote house – this is 1909, after all. They teach Maud new hymns, buy her a blond wig to cover her flyaway brown hair, have her practice tricks for making chandeliers sway and hiding in secret compartments.

Yes, the Misses Hawthorne are no longer wealthy, so they hold séances to make a living. They help grieving people “hear” their lost loved ones from The Beyond, now assisted by Maud acting as any child who died young. If truth from the doctors and religion from the preachers won’t satisfy a wealthy patron that someone dear has indeed died and gone to heaven, then the Misses Hawthorne are more than willing to act as go-betweens with the Spirit World on their behalf…for a fee.

Moving to a seaside villa to be closer to a grief-stricken mother whose daughter drowned is another new experience for Maud – ice cream! The sea breeze! Sneaking out in the night to play in the sand! For no one outside the house must ever see her, must ever know that a child lives with the Hawthornes…

So, will Maud always have to live hidden in the attic bedroom? What does Muffet, their deaf and mute servant, think about all this trickery? Why does pretending to be dead Caroline feel different from acting as the other child spirits? Is Caroline really speaking to Maud in her dreams?

Go behind the scenes with Maud as she is swept along with the Misses Hawthorne during the height of the Spiritualist movement – and listen for Caroline’s voice…
(One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

Payback Time, by Carl Deuker (book review) – football, journalism, secrets

Nov10

What’s going on at Lincoln High?
Coach is keeping a talented player on the bench?
A gifted athlete refuses interviews?
His “previous school” history is… blank?

Mitch, stuck as sports reporter instead of newspaper editor his senior year, is puzzled about the new guy on the football team after accidentally witnessing his amazing catches and footwork at the park. Coach says to forget that and just feature the quarterback in every story to help his college scholarship chances.

Trying to find out the truth stirs up more than Mitch could have imagined.
Can he and newspaper photographer Kimi stay out of danger? Is he right about Angel’s past? Is Coach covering up so they can win the state championship?

A compelling mystery-action story that you’ll enjoy, whether you’re a sports fan or not, especially as we go into high school football playoff season, just like Lincoln High…
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Book info: Payback Time / Carl Deuker. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010 (paperback Feb. 2012). [author’s website] [publisher site] [book recap video] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My Book Talk: Sports reporter instead of editor? Mitch isn’t sure he wants to work on the school paper his senior year, even though he’s planning to major in journalism in college. Well, he can write some great articles for his portfolio since Lincoln High is predicted to have a winning football season. And as photographer, Kimi will be with Mitch on most assignments. Maybe it’s time for him to lay off his parents’ fabulous bakery creations and start doing a little running…

When a new transfer player stays on the practice squad despite his obvious talent and the football coach won’t comment, Mitch’s reporter instincts sense a deeper story. Injuries during a crucial game bring Angel off the bench, and he leads the team to victory. But the next game, he’s riding the bench again – is he an undercover cop?

As Mitch and Kimi investigate the story, they receive anonymous threats and begin to worry for Angel’s safety. Lincoln’s football team is headed for the State playoff game, and the midnight caller promises that Angel won’t make it home on the team bus…

Full-contact football games, hard-hitting news investigations, and a cute girl who actually talks to Mitch – will everyone come through safely, now that it’s Payback Time? (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

LIttle Women and Me (fiction)

Nov4

Fun Friday with a blast into the past, as a middle-school girl is launched back into the pages of Little Women – no cellphone, no jeans, no kidding!

It seems like the world of Little Women is so much simpler than modern life, but Emily finds that even in 1861, human nature keeps things interesting. And the personalities of those March girls!

So, can Emily change the parts she dislikes about her favorite book? Will her actions as “the middle March” fix it or spoil it?

You’re sure to find the original Little Women at your local library or indie bookseller, but if you’d like to read Emily’s favorite online -free!- in a variety of formats, visit Project Gutenburg here.
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Book info: Little Women and Me / Lauren Baratz-Logsted. Bloomsbury, 2011. [author’s website] [publisher site]

Recommendation: Emily jumps into the assignment to change something in a classic novel – she can’t change her real-life family, can she? Being a middle sister is just so annoying…

Back in the pages of her favorite book, Little Women, Emily tries to decide on just one thing to change: Prevent sweet Beth from dying? Keep Papa out of the Civil War fighting? Have boy-next-door Laurence marry Jo instead of silly Amy?

Suddenly she is whirled into the book itself – as middle March sister Emily!! What a different world – life for 13 year-old girls in 1861 means corsets and needlework, not jeans and text messages.

As she lives through the events chronicled in the novel’s pages, Emily tries to fit into the story without giving herself away as a time-traveler. School isn’t mandatory for girls? Hooray! Reading aloud to grumpy, demanding Aunt March? Yikes! Long evenings at home with sewing instead of the internet? Urrr…

Key events in the story are just around the corner – can Emily change things enough to keep Beth alive or make Laurie realize that he loves his best friend Jo instead of her sister Amy? And what will happen to Emily when the last page of the book is turned?

Whether reading this before or after Little Women itself, readers will see 19th century life and Alcott’s classic tale in a deeper way through Emily’s humorous adventures and misadventures. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

Icefall, by Matthew Kirby (book review) – deadly secrets in the ice, sent by the gods?

Nov2

As the glacier above the wooden fortress creaks and groans…
As the fjord begins to ice over, with no word from home…
As the royal children and their guardians realize that treachery is locked into their hiding place with them…

Our world Wednesday book takes us to the far North and far, far back in time, when the people who would become the Vikings battle winter’s fiercest blasts sent by the gods, as well as attacks from mere mortals.

Singing odes of gods and kings, reshaping history to suit the ears of the victors, skalds tell countless stories from memory. Is it Solveig’s destiny to walk the storytellers’ path, instead of being a dutiful daughter to the king?

Another wonderful, unusual tale from Matthew J. Kirby, who brought us The Clockwork Three (my review here).
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Book info: Icefall / Matthew J. Kirby. Scholastic, 2011. [author’s website] [publisher site]

My Book Talk: Solveig wonders if winter will trap them in the mountain fort, waiting for word that her father has defeated an attacking king, listening to the glacier creak, worrying, worrying.

The king had sent her, her young brother the crown prince, and her older sister Asa away from the battle for their safety. When his best warriors arrive to protect them in the hidden fortress, Solveig knows that the berserkers would rather be fighting alongside her father instead of guarding them as the fjord ices over.

As the cold nights grow longer, the king’s storyteller gives them tales of the gods and of great battles. The skald finds that Solveig has an ear for story and a memory for detail – would she like to learn the storytelling arts? Finally, something worthwhile for this middle child – not pretty enough to marry off to forge an alliance, not a boy to be a warrior-prince.

A sudden outbreak of illness in the fort – a curse? Poison? The plague? Secrets told, promises broken, tempers flaring among the restless warriors. Will their father triumph over the invader who tried to steal Asa as his bride instead of negotiating? Will young prince Harald survive the winter? Will any of them?

A story from the days when storytellers kept history and hope alive through their ballads and odes, Icefall brings readers to the glacier’s edge, watching with Solveig over the stormy sea, hoping that the sails in the distance bring news of victory instead of danger. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Morpheus Road: The Light (fiction)

Oct31

Happy Hallowe’en on this Mysterious Monday…

A monstrous creation becomes real.
The created stalks its creator with malign intent.
[cue eerie, spooky music and more than a few nightmares]

The graphic novel character that Marshall invented visits him in his dreams, then in the dark corners of night, and then…his best friend Cooper disappears and is presumed dead. Marsh knows that Coop’s not dead – ghosts just don’t lie about such things.

This is the first book in D.J. MacHale’s frightening Morpheus Road trilogy. Marshall’s adventures (and nightmares) continue in The Black (book 2) and The Blood (book 3) – find all three at your neighborhood library or independent bookstore. And be sure to have a flashlight near your bed at night – who knows when Gravedigger might visit your dreams?
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Book info: Morpheus Road: The Light / D.J. MacHale. Aladdin, 2010. [author’s website] [publisher site] [book trailer]

Recommendation: Graphic novel fan Marsh creates “Gravedigger”– long black coat, pickaxe over his shoulder, grinning white skull. Drawing helps him forget just a little how his photographer mother died 2 years ago, trapped in the ancient temple she’d just captured on film. Her assistant brought back her photos and this golden glass ball covered in weird designs, but couldn’t bring her back.

Sketches packed away as school ends, Marsh looks forward to summer with his wild friend Cooper. But Coop has done one crazy thing too many, and his parents take him up to their old lakehouse – no cell phone, no computer, lots of time to get his act together.

When Marsh’s dad is out of town, eerie things start happening – a breeze that traces patterns in the powder on the counter when no windows are open, a gravelly voice on the phone that says “You must journey along the Morpheus Road,” Gravedigger luring him to the deserted gym with blood-covered walls…

Gravedigger is just a character from his own imagination, right? But that bony hand on Marsh’s shoulder felt too real, and Gravedigger keeps showing up, talking about the Morpheus Road.

Coop disappears from the lakehouse, so Marsh and Coop’s sister head up there to help search. When Sydney starts seeing Gravedigger too, then maybe Marsh isn’t just imagining this, and they all might wind up dead! 352 pages for those who love to be frightened… (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

Time-Traveling Fashionista, by Bianca Turetsky (fiction) – vintage dress in a Titanic time-adventure

Oct28
Vintage clothes and old letters are tangible links to the past. What if the right vintage dress was a direct link to its original owner’s past, like a wearable time-travel ticket?

Louise really appreciates the fine craftsmanship of vintage clothing, frequently wearing her carefully selected ensembles to junior high school (even if her mother disdainfully calls them “used clothes”).

Who could imagine that a hand-delivered invitation to a dusty shop would take Louise so far away from her suburban Connecticut home?
First in a series – can’t wait for the next!
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Book info: The Time-Traveling Fashionista / Bianca Turetsky. Little Brown Teens, 2011. [author’s website] [publisher site] [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Recommendation: Dreaming about the perfect dress for the seventh-grade dance is much more fun than studying the Titanic in history or doing math problems. Of course, it should be a vintage dress – Louise just adores vintage designer clothes.

When an invitation to the exclusive “Traveling Fashionista Vintage Sale” is hand-delivered, Louise and best friend Brooke go downtown to check it out. The shop may have eccentric owners and terrible crab dip, but its dresses are divine!

When Louise tries on a sparkling, silky pink gown, she swoons and blacks out, waking up… on board an ocean liner?

Everyone calls her “Miss Baxter” – from Mr. Baxter (her uncle and manager, says her maid Anna) to the very elegant passengers aboard. When others look at Louise, they see the beautiful young actress returning from a successful tour in Europe; when she looks at herself in the mirror, Louise sees her 12-year-old self, complete with braces and frizzy hair.

Stumbling through the plush carpeted corridors on Miss Baxter’s high heels to the sumptuous dinners at the captain’s table, Louise makes a few mistakes that her uncle explains away as stress. Once Louise discovers exactly which ship she’s on, her stress level truly skyrockets!

Can she persuade the captain of the Titanic to alter his course? Will any of her new friends survive? Will Louise ever see her parents and modern times again?

First book in a fun series that will have readers prowling vintage clothing shops, looking for the perfect ensemble to send their imaginations back in time. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

A little scary or a lot scary (fiction)

Oct24

Seems like Halloween is more than just a one-day event now, as folks often celebrate the whole month of October!

Get yourself in the spooky mood with these great books which range from deliciously shivery to keep-the-lights-on scary (links to my full recommendations):

Baseball, high school romance, and a zombie invasion! I Love Him to Pieces is No.1 in the graphic novel series “My Boyfriend is a Monster.”

Pulled into Ghostopolis before he’s dead, Garth must find his way back to the living world.

A seance, a missing brother, a mystery in The Haunting of Charles Dickens.

What does The Mermaid’s Mirror show? Will Lena sleepwalk into the California surf and never return?

Is every vision thrust upon The Vespertine at sunset fated to become reality?

Swordfights, heroes, and soulless monsters – in modern-day Paris? Die For Me…

Lenah gladly traded her Infinite Days as a cruel vampire to regain her humanity, but her vampire companions want her back.

She carves charms against “the evil eye” for townsfolk, but something truly evil is swirling its way up the river, drawing Plain Kate along for the deadly voyage.

Hansel and Gretel’s tale gets a frightening new twist in Sweetly.

An old evil with a young face, The House of Dead Maids tells a chilling backstory for Wuthering Heights.

Ready for Halloween!
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[image from http://www.fundraw.com/clipart/clip-art/3163/Man-Fighting-Skeleton/]

Hereafter, by Tara Hudson (fiction) – dead, yet tied to the living

Sep6
book cover of Hereafter by Tara Hudson published by Harper Teen

Mysterious Monday lingers on, bringing you an unusual story of ghostly Amelia, seemingly anchored to the river after her death.

So many ghost stories and legends are told in the Ouachita Mountains of southeast Oklahoma, from Jesse James’ missing million dollars hidden near possibly haunted Robbers Cave to the notorious Belle Starr.

Are there truly ghost seekers like Joshua’s grandmother? We’ve heard of love that lasts even beyond death, but can a dead spirit and a living person fall in love?

Enjoy this eerie debut novel and cheer for Joshua and Amelia as she tries to recapture memories of her life and her death while being pulled by evil forces beyond the river.
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Book info: Hereafter / Tara Hudson. Harper Teen, 2011. [author’s website] [publisher site] [book trailer]

Recommendation: Amelia races through the dark river waters to save a young man from drowning…even though she’s already dead. She doesn’t know how she died or where or even when, but she does know that she must save him from dying into her dreary hazy world.

No one on High Bridge Road saw her rescue Joshua, not his high school buddies, not the rescue squad from their small Oklahoma town – no one ever sees her wandering near the “haunted bridge.” Amelia wonders why she could lift his head above the water when she can’t carry other real things.

When Joshua returns to the scene of his accident and recognizes her as his rescuer, Amelia is startled into speaking – and he hears her, too! As they spend more time together, Amelia begins to remember tiny fragments of her life, always returning to the river. Joshua is charmed by her, and she revels in his company.

But a malignant force in the river is pulling at her – dead Eli claims that she must always stay at the river, that she must lure others to their death at the High Bridge, that she must become his and his alone.

Did Amelia really cause Joshua’s car to go into the river? Can she find out enough about her life to discover the truth about her own death? Is Eli right about her destiny as part of the haunted High Bridge’s future?

This mysterious love story from first-time author Tara Hudson brings a new twist to the ghost stories of Oklahoma’s wilderness forests. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.