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Powell's Staff:
Five Book Friday: In Memoriam
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Every year, the booksellers at Powell’s submit their Top Fives: their five favorite books that were released in 2023. It’s a list that, when put together, shows just how varied and interesting the book tastes of Powell’s booksellers are. I highly recommend digging into the recommendations — we would never lead you astray — but today...
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Brontez Purnell:
Powell’s Q&A: Brontez Purnell, author of ‘Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt’
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Rachael P.:
Starter Pack: Where to Begin with Ursula K. Le Guin
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Customer Comments
inkspotswis has commented on (18) products
The Book Thief
by
Markus Zusak
inkspotswis
, January 01, 2010
My pick for the best book of the year.
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Magicians Elephant
by
Kate DiCamillo
inkspotswis
, September 07, 2009
The bizarre – an elephant magically falling through the roof of a packed opera house – meshes with the dreamingly poignent – an orphaned brother and sister’s wish to be reunited -- in a tenderhearted tale that celebrates the connections between us and the courage it takes to follow dreams. Newbery Medal-winning author Kate DiCamillo succeeds once again with “The Magician’s Elephant,” a story about a magician who one winter evening brings an elephant crashing down onto his audience. On that same evening in the same city, a fortune teller informs a boy that an elephant will appear and lead him to his presumed-dead sister. A begger and his a blind dog, a noblewoman crippled by the falling elephant, a nun who oversees the local orphanage, a policeman and his wife who have no children of their own, a crippled former stonecutter hired to scoop elephant poop, the elephant, the boy Peter and his sister Adele form an ensemble cast who confront life’s deepest questions in their nighttime dreams, and who, each in their own small way, contribute to the tale’s simple yet miraculous conclusion. Each mired in their own difficult circumstances, the characters don’t have much reason to believe that life will change. But one by one they allow themselves to ask “what if?” What if they took a chance, what if they believed that change was possible, what if they were capable of making it happen? When that mindset takes hold, amazing things occur. The black and white illustrations bolster the story’s wintry feel, as characters wish for snow as they suffer through gray, laden skies and bitter cold. The perfect illustrative accompaniment to a story about daring to move after long standing still.
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Road to Revolution!
by
Stan Mack
inkspotswis
, September 03, 2009
If children can envision themselves in a historical era they may actually read about the past and learn something. That’s the idea behind books like cartoon-based “Road to Revolution,” that inject fictional characters into real history. Unlike real people, they can move around and can be eyewitness to key moments at the author’s will. The cartoon feel, naturally, further entices. “Road to Revolution” follows Penny, the daughter of a Revolutionary War-era Boston tavern owner and Nick, an orphan who befriends her. By being conveniently in the right place at the right time the duo overhear important British conversations and relay them to undercover patriots. They find themselves at a commemoration of the 1770 Boston Massacre, held at the packed Old South Meeting-House. Later, Penny overhears British officers planning an invasion. And at the Old North Church on the night of Paul Revere’s famous ride, Nick helps light the lanterns that told rebels the British were advancing by a water route. Age-appropriately reigning in its graphics, the book also delves into the horrors of war, including the death of a real-life Patriot leader and mentor of Nick’s on Breed’s Hill. From a historical perspective, the hero and heroine sometimes talk and act a bit more modern than kids of that time might have. Penny, in particular, seems a bit more bold than girls of that era. But that can be excused given the emphasis on their being fictional, and the goal of drawing in modern young readers, who relate best to people like themselves. Mack and Champlin also go to pains to lay out a chapter-by-chapter epilogue account of which moments were actual history and which were fictional. Interestingly, those that were fictional were based on legend. For instance, legend has it that a girlfriend of the one of the participants offered her petticoat to muffle the oars on a boat trip across the Charles River. In the book, Penny did the offering. Ultimately, a good account that teaches kids what they need to know, while well-delineating the line between what is real and imaginary. Depending on the child an adult might have to help them see the line, but it is there.
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Lion & the Mouse
by
Jerry Pinkney
inkspotswis
, September 03, 2009
When the art is this stunning text only detracts. In his retelling of a classic Aesop’s fable, renowned author and illustrator Jerry Pinkney stuck to illustrations only, with the exception of occasional animal sound words like squeak, screech and roar. And what a good choice. The cover art, featuring a yellow-eyed, whisker-joweled, firey-maned lioned staring down a pink eared, knuckle-toed, bucktoothed mouse, is so exceptionally beautiful you would hate to see a printed title cover even a millimeter of it. So, happily, the title runs up the spine. The tale is a familiar one. After a mighty lion frees a small mouse that he might have eaten, the mouse returns the debt by nibbling the lion out of a hunter’s net. While the blazing oranges of the lion’s mane form the most spectacular image, other details further the delight. The setting, in the African Serengeti, allows for a great array of animal life as well as small, geographically distinct details like colorful flowers, grasses, insects and butterflies. Beautiful beyond words.
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Richard Bong: World War II Flying Ace
by
Pete Barnes
inkspotswis
, September 03, 2009
The Wisconsin Historical Society Press continues its time-trek around the state with the twelfth installment of “Badger Biographies” of Wisconsin residents. This time the series, geared for fourth-graders who are learning state history, looks at Poplar native Richard Bong, one of World War II’s most decorated American fighter pilots who died tragically in a training accident in 1945, soon after returning home from the Pacific. In addition to focusing on Bong’s character and family life, the book is a good primer on how pilots were trained and what they experienced in combat skies of that era. Aircraft enthusiasts will find mention and photos of many different types of American and Japanese planes and a discussion of flying formations and maneuvers used by the opposing sides. On a human level, Bong’s dislike of publicity is a testament to his down-to-earth personality, and a good lesson for young readers. The Bong family’s involvement in the book is evident in those sentiments and in personal photos and reminisces. Like previous titles in the series, “Richard Bong: World War II Flying Ace” includes a glossary, index, reading group guide and suggested activities. Another great title in a much-needed niche series.
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Coffeehouse Angel
by
Suzanne Selfors
inkspotswis
, September 03, 2009
A small, independent coffeehouse being overrun by a mega mocha neighbor. A quaint tourist town celebrating the solstice with a carols and St. Nicholas. A teen cast that has every stereotypical type -- the perky leader, best-friend jock, chubby sidekick and alternatingly dejected and up-by-the-bootstraps heroine. A cliché plot at first glance yet “Coffeehouse Angel” succeeds – on great writing. In her latest novel, “Saving Juliet” author Suzanne Selfors ultimately serves up a warm, funny, satisfying tale about friendship and accepting the possibility of the miraculous. The story, about an angel determined to grant teenager Katrina her fondest wish in debt to her act of kindness, thrives on the depth of its characters and its witty prose. Katrina, an orphan who works in her grandmother’s coffeehouse and lives in an apartment above, is thoroughly believable as she struggles with an array of anxieties topped by her best friend’s courtship of a rival coffeehouse owner’s daughter. A classroom scene where she airs her anger about that is really funny, as is a school assembly where the angel Malcolm shows up looking for her . There are also uncertainties about her future, concerns about money and her grandmother's health and a growing attraction to someone that she has a hard time believing is actually an angel. There’s just the right amount of poignancy and some memorable eleventh-hour twists. Good to the last drop.
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Yes I Know The Monkey Man
by
Dori Hillest Butler
inkspotswis
, July 20, 2009
“Yes, I Know the Monkey Man,” has on the surface all the makings of a television movie. A father fakes his 3-year-old daughter’s death, hides her for 10 years… then her twin sister discovers the truth. All that’s needed is a trite conclusion. But Hillestad Butler’s long-awaited follow-up to 2005’s “Do You Know the Monkey Man?” doesn’t go pat. Rather, her portrait of a 13-year-old girl whose life is upended when her mother and sister reappear is full of wonderful depth. T.J. is a street-smart yet true-to-life girl whose attempts to be brave when her grandmother goes into a nursing home and her father is hospitalized after an accident are palpable. She ends up headed to the home of the mother and sister she didn’t know existed until three weeks before. They have spent the past 10 years believing she died in a boating accident – the first of a tangled web of lies that T.J’s father spun to keep her to himself after divorce split the family. From her struggle to take her dog with her on the bus to her mother’s home, to her concern about her grandmother to her ultimate realization of how much her father has stolen from her, T.J. is every bit believable. Strong, yet afraid. Sharp-edged, yet emotional. Hating her father, yet loving him. The complexity of the character keeps the story from sinking into predictable pap. Vividly real.
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Same Difference
by
Siobhan Vivian
inkspotswis
, July 20, 2009
A few pages into “Same Difference” you get a sinking feeling that Siobhan Vivian’s second novel may be little more than superficial cliché --- wealthy teens with pools and maids, sipping lattes and heading off to summer art camp. But Vivian quickly digs deeper, and while socio-economics remains key to the plot it takes a backseat to the globally applicable concept of simply stepping outside what is familiar. The story follows 16-year-old Emily, who decides to commute on summer weekdays to art classes in Philadelphia from her home in a posh, gated New Jersey suburb. She’s quickly caught between two worlds – the brash, urban teens in her art classes and a long-time best friend in New Jersey whose life revolves almost exclusively around her wealthy boyfriend. At first, Emily moves back and forth between the two existences, believing that they are too different to ever mix. Meanwhile, she tries new clothes, new hairstyles and new attitudes and begins to feel increasingly suffocated at home. Soon, she has all but discarded her old friends for galleries, clubs and the whirl of the city. Of course, things collide. Then, with achingly believability, Vivian explores whether it’s possible to forge a new life yet still hold onto the things that previously defined you. Do you have to throw out everything from the past to move forward? Great writing, great characters, a deeply satisfying novel about growing up and finding your way.
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Julia Gillian 02 & The Quest For Joy
by
Alison Mcghee
inkspotswis
, July 20, 2009
It’s impossible not to love the character of Julia Gillian, her St. Bernard Bigfoot and their daily struggles. In the follow-up to last year’s “Julia Gillian (and the Art of Knowing),” author Alison McGhee’s experienced hand again melds humor and poignancy with situations that will instantly resonate with young readers. This time, it’s the start of fifth grade and Julia is surrounded by things that should make her joyful. Instead, things seem to be falling apart. Her best friend has become distant, the long-time lunch lady has been replaced with a too-strict counterpart and she can’t seem to get one note out of her trumpet. Sometimes Julia handles rough moments with courage, and sometimes she sinks. That she -- like regular children -- sometimes finds herself deeply discouraged and unable to pull herself up make her wonderfully real. That she is surrounded by loving friends and adults who help her figure things out lends depth, as they offer solutions that readers might apply to their own lives. And that McGhee throws in great humor – among the best is a moment where Julia defies the new lunch attendant and stuffs a forbidden cookie in her mouth, hang the repercussions – keeps the story enlivened. A superb second installment to a series that hopefully will continue, carrying Julia and her friends into middle school.
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Its A Secret
by
John Burningham
inkspotswis
, July 20, 2009
Where do housecats go when the moon rises? When young Marie Elaine catches her cat – dressed in a fancy red coat and feathered green hat – about to head out late at night, she begs to come along. The cat concedes and Marie Elaine is off on a midnight adventure, dressed herself in a fairy costume complete with wings. Accompanied by a second neighborhood child who also begged to come along, the little group travels to a “secret” rooftop cat party where they dance, feast and meet the “Queen of the Cats.” Things continue until daybreak, when they wearily head home. Marvelously imaginative, with great sketchy drawings effused with a shadowy, nighttime feel. A new bedtime favorite.
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Alices Shooting Star
by
Tim Kennemore
inkspotswis
, July 20, 2009
A generation ago there was Ramona Quimby. In Rosie Singer, the preschool inguine of “Alice’s Shooting Star,” author Tim Kennemore may finally have created a character rivaling that legendary girl in wit and propensity for trouble. The title focuses on Alice, the 8-year-old middle child of a suburban family. But the spotlight quickly moves to Rosie, the youngest of three, whose parents and older siblings are vainly trying to reign in her insatiable imagination. When Rosie says she ate starcakes and glitterberries for lunch, they chide her for telling lies. The family dynamics are odd -- Rosie's siblings and parents are all really uptight. But Rosie herself is sheer delight, in a hilariously troublesome way. The story peaks as her preschool stages an alternative Christmas pageant, with children dressed as vegetables. “Scatter seeds upon the earth, celebrate a baby’s birth,” participants recite. If that isn’t funny enough, someone -- Rosie, of course, but no one can prove it -- has filled a watering can with black paint. Laugh till you cry humor, great characters, a memorable tale.
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Childs Garden
by
Michael Foreman
inkspotswis
, July 20, 2009
Author and illustrator Michael Foreman didn’t set his tale of a boy’s determination to nurture a green shoot in a war zone to a specific locale or point in time. It could have been one of countless places or times where children had to -- or still must -- play amidst rubble and barbed wire, afforded glimpses of the peaceful world but not able to touch it. In Foreman’s simple story a boy discovers tiny, spouting grapevine and tends it with water and love until it climbs high above a barbed wire fence. The boy is heartbroken when soldiers rip it down. Ultimately, in a gently coded message about the strength of the human spirit in adverse times, a few seeds that were left behind sprout again. And the new vines stretch across the barbed wire divide to meet the vines of a little girl playing in the free world, a testament to the potential for peace. A timeless story particularly meaningful to anyone who has held onto hope not just through a war, but through any life hardship.
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I Spy A To Z
by
Jean Marzollo
inkspotswis
, July 20, 2009
The “I Spy” series of books by Jean Marzollo and Walter Wick have become a staple of modern children’s literature. Why? They challenge the brain and they’re really fun, two things that draw kids. The latest in the series “I Spy A to Z: A Book of Picture Riddles,” has a purpose: setting the stage for children to read independently. A great introduction for parents and educators explains how the book should be approached in four distinct stages: finding items in the collage-style photographs that correspond with words in the text; noticing examples of repetitive language; noticing rhyming words; and noticing phonics clues. That makes the book a progressive learning tool for children in preschool through about first grade. But of course, what lures children is not what they need to learn but what they find interesting. And the great photographs have preschoolers and kindergartners squarely in mind, with themes ranging from toy cars to dinosaurs to wooden blocks to beach buckets. Another title in a series that has yet to disappoint.
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Most Loved In All The World
by
Tonya Hegamin
inkspotswis
, July 20, 2009
Historians debate whether maps sewn into quilts were actually used by slaves seeking freedom on the Underground Railroad of the mid-1800s. But whether they were or not their use has been cemented into 19th Century African American lore. They were the centerpiece of Jacqueline Woodson’s unforgettable 2005 Newbery Honor book “Show Way.” Now, they are the focus of yet another picture book about the black slavery experience. In “Most Loved in All the World: A story of freedom,” which almost approaches the quality of Woodson’s book in emotion and storytelling, a mother makes a quilt for her daughter and then stays behind as a slave as the girl – who can’t be more than four years old -- is taken by strangers to freedom in the north. The most haunting image on the quilt is a red heart cut from a shirt the mother was whipped in, complete with blood stains. The whipping’s aftermath is depicted early in the book as the mother returns from the field one evening with “whip marks cross her back…(and) tear marks down her face.” Yet another well-written and illustrated reminder of the horror African Americans once endured and the sacrifices some parents made to ensure their children lived freely. Such stories can never be told enough.
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Boycott Blues: How Rosa Parks Inspired a Nation
by
Andrea Davis Pinkney
inkspotswis
, July 20, 2009
If children are to take an interest in history it has to be offered to them in an interesting way. In “Boycott Blues: How Rosa Parks Inspired a Nation,” author Andrea Davis Pinkney hits the right note, literally, with the story of Rosa Parks told by a blues guitar-strumming hound dog. An image of the dog is set into most of the pages, but blending into the background so sometimes you have to search for it. What the dog offers, more than a visual, is a great blues-like poetic cadence that will draw young listeners in. Once engaged they’ll learn about how exhausted seamstress Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955 after ignoring a bus driver’s demand that she give up her seat to a white man. They’ll learn how that ignited a year-long boycott of bus riders in Montgomery, Ala., with blacks joined by many whites. And they’ll learn about how the situation ignited the Civil Rights Movement. The depiction of Jim Crow laws as a pesky scarecrow, that pecked at Parks and others African Americans until the Supreme Court declared segregation illegal in 1956, is also wonderfully child-friendly. Ultimately, Pinkney writes, the crow’s “bony wings began to ache” and he flew away. Brian Pinkney’s swirling ink drawings lend an uncertain, city night feel to the evening Parks is arrested. There are black storm cloud-like swirls in the sky as the boycott stretches on. But those shift to brighter shades of orange, green, teal and morning blue with pale yellow sunlight streaks as the fight turns the boycotters’ way. A wonderfully creative take on an important moment in history.
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My Goldfish
by
Stephane Barroux
inkspotswis
, July 20, 2009
Some books are deeply philosophical. Some are just quirky. “My Goldfish,” by French author and illustrator Barroux is the latter, just a really funny take on a normally mundane fishbowl existence. Fifteen one-line statements about a pet goldfish are each accompanied by a corresponding illustration. The gentle humor is infectious. When the goldfish goes on vacation and comes back sunburned he’s red-skinned as he swims around his bowl. When readers are told that the fish is 110 years old he’s suddenly got a very long, white beard. And when we’re told the author has to change the fishbowl water every day because his fish lives like a pig, the bowl is swirling with black gunk reminiscent of the dust around the character Pig Pen in old Charlie Brown cartoons. Good for a laugh, with no deep meaning, which is sometimes the best of all literary escapes.
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Christmas Rose
by
Sepp Bauer
inkspotswis
, July 20, 2009
So much was lost in Europe during World War II -- architecture, works of art, historical documents and literature that burned in firestorms. Such appeared to be the fate of a beautifully illustrated children’s Christmas tale published in Germany in the 1920s. Even the author’s daughter did not have a copy of “The Christmas Rose” and the original illustrations were believed destroyed during the war. But in 2006 a determined German editor tracked down a copy in a rare bookstore. In 2008 a restored edition of the book was released in the U.S. to delight children of a new generation. The humble tale follows two children as they seek the Winter King, who alone has the power to make bloom a white rose whose scent will cure their gravely ill father. The story has religious roots with the inclusion of Saint Nikolaus and the Christ Child (not the baby Jesus but a young child traditionally depicted in Christmas pageants as the bearer of gifts to Jesus). But most poignant is the message of helping each other. The children must travel a long way over frigid terrain to reach the Winter King. They are carried on their journey by a succession of creatures including a reindeer, a wild goose, a polar bear and a giant, who one-by-one take compassion on the children as they’re told the reason for the dangerous expedition. The original story was in fact an Advent calendar with a portion of the tale told daily beginning on Saint Nikolaus Day Dec. 6, ending on Christmas Eve Dec. 24. As these are a reprint of the original illustrations the daily numbering on each page remains intact. “The Christmas Rose” is longer than a typical picture book but the story is so good that even very young children may sit to listen. Older children will instantly treasure it. A jewel of a tale, a Christmas Eve read-aloud tradition in the making, saved from the ashes by a diligent editor and lover of lore.
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What to Expect When Your Child Leaves for College A Complete Guide for Parents Only
by
Mary Spohn
inkspotswis
, June 24, 2009
A mother of three, author Mary Spohn has plenty to offer parents of college-bound students. In nearly 300 heartfelt, witty pages, Spohn walks parents through the first months of college, exploring what their student will go through and how they might feel left behind at home. The text is peppered with anecdotal tales of her own sons’ experiences and thoughts from other parents. The personal stories, including one about Spohn’s son going without soap because he couldn’t find it in the grocery store aisle, are funny and well-placed, flowing seamlessly in and out of surrounding passages. Spohn’s writing is generally very good with the exception of a few language and punctuation errors and a couple of brief, odd stretches where the text is almost a word-for-word parrot of earlier passages. There is practical advice aplenty covering things that parents might be wondering about, and some things they might not consider. Can your student read an analog clock and tie their shoelaces? Strange-sounding questions, Spohn admits, but they’re both important skills and in the age of digital watches and Velcro you might be surprised how often the answer is ‘no’. In addition to absolute essentials like being able to stick to a budget, Spohn probes parents on whether their student knows how to figure a tip for a taxi driver, run a virus scan on their computer, draft an e-mail message to a professor and send a birthday card (by snail mail) to a relative. Spohn further touches on what the first few visits home might be like, the likelihood that your student won’t attend church, when to let college-age children make their own mistakes and when to spot serious problems that require parental interference, the difference between sending off boys and girls and how long you should (not) hang around on move-in day. Ultimately, Spohn gently prods parents to get on with their own lives after their children move out, with new hobbies and renewed friendships. A wonderfully readable resource for parents who are anxiously facing one of life’s biggest steps.
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