The Final Countdown

Last and not least!



I'm so very happy that we're starting to (slowly) see more multicultural fantasy and science fiction for children. The Dream Stealer is supposed to only take nightmares, but they scare him. He's been taking dreams instead. The good kind. One night, he steals a dream from Susana, a young Mexican girl. Susana is fearless, however, and wants her dream back. I've read that it's based on Mexican folklore (I'm guessing there are Mexican folktales about a dream stealer.). Sounds like a winner; Sid Fleischman is truly an author you don't want to miss.



Oh, look. Another horse book! Kate Thompson turns to 18th century England for her latest novel. Historical fiction can be a hard sell for quite a few children and teens, but a story involving a horse, robbers, outlaws, and a boy on the run by a gifted author sounds pretty cool to me. Highway Robbery will be available very shortly.



I'm anxious to see how Leaving the Bellweathers goes over in our libraries. Written in the guise of a memoir by a long-suffering (apparently) butler to a crazy family, Leaving the Bellweathers sounds like the type of book that would appeal to readers with a quirky sense of humor. I don't have a *huge* tolerance for "quirky" books, since they can get overly precious very fast, but I'm optimistic about this one.



The hugely prolific author Avi returns this season with Murder at Midnight. Oooooh. Good title. A magician is falsely accused of plotting a coup. He and his servant boy are determined to find the true traitor. While I don't love every single thing that Avi writes, there are many titles of his that I do love, so I am eagerly awaiting his latest.



Sisters Grimm fans, listen up! Michael Buckley is starting a new series. *applause* Now, I haven't seen the book yet, so I don't know if it's on the same reading level as Sisters Grimm. But NERDS: National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society has all the markings of another wacky Buckley read. NERDS members are a group of unusual elementary school kids that fights crime around the world. I'm sure this will a surefit hit at our branches.

(Didn't know this was a series until I looked at the catalog entry.)



Love the title. Not too crazy about the cover. But The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis, set in small-town South Carolina seems like a funny, adventurous, and nostalgic (perhaps not-I can't tell if this is historical fiction or not) look at the effect an unusual family has on a sleepy Southern town.