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Interviews | January 3, 2012

Jill Owens: IMG Naomi Benaron: The Powells.com Interview

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Naomi BenaronRunning the Rift is the most recent winner of the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, as awarded by Barbara Kingsolver. It's also an... Continue »
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eBook editions

Dani Noir

by Nova Ren Suma

Dani Noir Cover

ISBN13: 9781416975649
ISBN10: 1416975640
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

If this were a movie, you'd open to the first page of this book and be transported to a whole other world. Everything would be in black and white, except maybe for the girl in pink polka-dot tights, and this really great music would start to swell in the background. All of a sudden, you wouldn't be able to help it &,dash; you'd be a part of the story, you'd be totally sucked in. You'd be in this place, filled with big lies, mysterious secrets, and a tween girl turned sleuth....

Zoom in on thirteen-year-old Dani Callanzano. It's the summer before eighth grade, and Dani is stuck in her nothing-ever-happens town with only her favorite noir mysteries at the Little Art movie theater to keep her company.

But one day, a real-life mystery begins to unravel — at the Little Art And it all has something to do with a girl in polka-dot tights.... Armed with a vivid imagination, a flair for the dramatic, and her knowledge of all things Rita Hayworth, Dani sets out to solve the mystery, and she learns more about herself than she ever though she could.

Review:

"Thirteen-year-old Danielle (Dani) Callanzano's personality is too big for Shanosha, N.Y., 'a small town where everybody and their dog knows who you are.' Her only refuge from the hot, boring summer is the Little Art movie theater's Summer of Noir film series. She loves to lose herself in the dramas and striking beauty of stars like Rita Hayworth and Lana Turner, as an escape from her parents' divorce, her father's sudden engagement and her best friend's move. When a mysterious girl wearing polka-dot tights appears in town without explanation, Dani investigates, focusing on Jackson, the theater's 17-year-old projectionist, in hopes of tracking down the 'femme fatale' and finding the truth. 'If there's anything I've learned from noir movies it's that everyone lies about something,' Dani muses. Her imagination, angry determination and cinematic narration ('if this were a scene in a movie.... It would be deep night, the only light from a few sparse streetlamps. There'd be a whole sea of shadows') propel the story. Suma's watertight debut displays an expert balance of the realities of teenage life, humor and intrigue. Ages 9 — 14. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Synopsis:

Dani Noir, by Nova Ren Suma is a tween novel inspired by big lies, big secrets, and old Hollywood glamor!

Synopsis:

Inspired by big lies, big secrets, and old Hollywood glamor, this novel follows the adventures of 13-year-old Dani Callanzano, who sets out to solve a mystery in her small, nothing-ever-happens-here town.
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About the Author

I've been an ice-cream scooper, a babysitter, a daycare worker, a bookstore cashier, an intern at magazines and literary journals, an assistant at a literary agency that focused on mysteries and whodunits, an editorial and production associate at a small-press publisher, an artist's assistant, an assistant editor of X-Men comic books, a copy editor, a ghostwriter, and my current day job is a production editor for a children's book publisher.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
catie james, June 22, 2010 (view all comments by catie james)
I was drawn to Nova Ren Suma's debut novel DANI NOIR the moment I caught sight of its title and attention-grabbing covers. Thanks to my love of pink, polka dot tights, and noir cinema, I found a new favorite author and another great addition for the keeper shelf.

Dani's having a rough summer dealing with the fallout of her parents' divorce. It's horrible watching her dad move on (and in) with his girlfriend, knowing her best has moved to a town more than an hours' drive away, and feeling so lonely she's actually starting to miss her annoying brother who's gone off to soccer camp.

Dani's only solace comes when she enters the Little Art and disappears into the moody, atmospheric mysteries of noir films. There's a comfort in walking away from the theater knowing exactly who the good and bad guys are, not to mention hanging out with the projectionist and her former baby-sitter's new boyfriend, Jackson. Being left alone and not asked stupid questions like: "How are you *feeling* about your parents divorce?" is almost worth the hassle of getting past her classmate and Jackson's younger cousin, Austin. Until one day when Dani catches Jackson in a lie about a mysterious girl in pink, polka dot tights she spies leaving through the theater's fire exit. Now Dani is on the trail of a real-life puzzle, but off screen mysteries almost never wrap up as neatly as those in movies.

Every character in DANI NOIR is so real, with their fallibility and raw emotions - especially Dani. I didn't always like her - at times she's bratty, even downright mean - but I understood the reasons for her behavior. Her entire world has been destroyed by the people she loves and trust more than anyone else. It's one of life's most difficult experiences and in it's the aftermath of suspicion that sets Dani on the mystery girl's trail.

Nova Ren Suma transported me to Dani's world: the tedious heat small town summers; nothing to do, nowhere to go, no one to see. I *was* Dani, sweating in front Taco Juan's while peering down the street towards my mother's office at newspaper headquarters, the mountains off in the distance. sun beating mercilessly on my aching head. What a relief to escape my sadness and worries in cool comfort of celluloid, where dames are glamorous, private eyes know all and problems are solved in under two hours.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781416975649
Author:
Suma, Nova Ren
Publisher:
Aladdin Paperbacks
Subject:
Mysteries, Espionage, & Detective Stories
Subject:
Girls & Women
Subject:
Performing Arts - Film
Subject:
Mysteries & Detective Stories
Subject:
Mothers and daughters
Subject:
Motion pictures
Subject:
Children s Middle Readers-General
Copyright:
2009
Edition Description:
Aladdin
Publication Date:
20090931
Binding:
HARDCOVER
Grade Level:
Children/juvenile
Language:
English
Pages:
272
Dimensions:
8.25 x 5.5 in
Age Level:
08-12
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Dani Noir Used Hardcover
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Product details 272 pages Aladdin Paperbacks - English 9781416975649 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "Thirteen-year-old Danielle (Dani) Callanzano's personality is too big for Shanosha, N.Y., 'a small town where everybody and their dog knows who you are.' Her only refuge from the hot, boring summer is the Little Art movie theater's Summer of Noir film series. She loves to lose herself in the dramas and striking beauty of stars like Rita Hayworth and Lana Turner, as an escape from her parents' divorce, her father's sudden engagement and her best friend's move. When a mysterious girl wearing polka-dot tights appears in town without explanation, Dani investigates, focusing on Jackson, the theater's 17-year-old projectionist, in hopes of tracking down the 'femme fatale' and finding the truth. 'If there's anything I've learned from noir movies it's that everyone lies about something,' Dani muses. Her imagination, angry determination and cinematic narration ('if this were a scene in a movie.... It would be deep night, the only light from a few sparse streetlamps. There'd be a whole sea of shadows') propel the story. Suma's watertight debut displays an expert balance of the realities of teenage life, humor and intrigue. Ages 9 — 14. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Synopsis" by , Dani Noir, by Nova Ren Suma is a tween novel inspired by big lies, big secrets, and old Hollywood glamor!
"Synopsis" by , Inspired by big lies, big secrets, and old Hollywood glamor, this novel follows the adventures of 13-year-old Dani Callanzano, who sets out to solve a mystery in her small, nothing-ever-happens-here town.
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