Books

Little Pip-Pip is the smallest of the penguins on his corner of the Antarctic. But it's not his size that's a problem for him, but his intense fear of doing what all the other penguins are doing: getting into the water.

Pip-Pip is laughed at by his peers, but encouraged by his mother. We learn there are all sorts of very good reasons why Pip-Pip should be afraid of the water. It's cold. It's dark. And there are things that live beneath the water that might eat him. Sounds like good reasons to me for staying on the ice! But then, what kind of lesson would that be for young readers?

Told in an engaging rhyming meter and illustrated with edge-to-edge color illustrations, BE BRAVE, LITTLE PENGUIN is an adorable tale, designed in an easy-to-read fashion that encourages children to follow along and vocalize the verses.

If you're a dog lover (or know someone who is -- this is the Christmas season, after all), then you'll want to check out Andrea Yerramilli's

children's book, RALPHIE, ALWAYS LOVED from About Something Good press.

Ralphie is a pup who was persistently returned to the animal shelter for doing what comes naturally to puppies -- especially ones who don't get

trained.

When his fourth family picks him out, he finds himself in a whole new environment of love (and rules). He has his good moments and bad, but

experiences growth throughout his life. He learns how to behave around new children and how to take on the responsibilities of the older dog. The only thing he doesn't have to learn is how to return the love given to him -- that comes naturally.

Last December, I talked a bit about THE LAST WITNESS.  As a big fan of THE DESTROYER, I was eager to read the spin-off series LEGACY by Warren Murphy and Gerald Welch.  While I was waiting for the next LEGACY book, Welch had mentioned to me that he had another series called THE LAST WITNESS.  I liked it so much, I ended up reading the first four books of the series over a long weekend. 

Since running for (and subsequently winning) the office of President, Donald Trump has been compared to many things and called many names. Most of them have not been very nice. And even the nice comparisons have never equated the man with a cuddly bunny.

Every administration spawns collections of political cartoons that critique the administration and the policies. But Timothy Lim, Mark Pellegrini, and Brett R. Smith have gone against that grain, and produced a collection of, quite frankly, adorable anthropomorphic cartoons documenting the Trump administration in three acts, beginning with the declaration, then the campaign, and finally the inauguration.

Darkness. Deep dark despair. Can you imagine not being surrounded by the light, truth, knowledge of the Gospel as we know it today?

I was enthralled by the vivid displays in words and art of the plight of Martin Luther. Truly this remarkable man suffered much for years before his mind was enlightened by ignoring the benighted teachers of his time. Showing boldness without regard for life, he desired to not just find fault with the misuse of power by the Church, but to declare a new interpretation of the scriptures based on his beliefs.

In Joshua David Bellin’s new YA sci-fi, FREEFALL, humanity has destroyed the earth and must seek a new home. A relatively small – and carefully selected – group are granted access to the mission, dooming those left behind to die. They will enter into cryogenic sleep for a thousand years, during which they’ll be transported to a brand new, habitable planet. While the wealthy Upperworlders take the best ship for themselves, the poor and marginalized Lowerworlders are stuck on the supply ship, the Freefall. Unfortunately, when all passengers awaken one thousand years in the future, they find themselves on a scary, uninhabitable planet full of monsters, where daylight temperatures are brutal enough to fry you in seconds. Something – or someone – sabotaged the ships so they wouldn’t reach their planned destinations.

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton is an un-put-down-able story of friendship and the price of success, set in a New Orleans inspired world where physical beauty is prized above all – and comes at a cost.

In the city of Orleans, every person is born with gray skin, red eyes, straw-like brittle hair, and “ugly” features. The wealthy receive regular beauty treatments, during which their skin color, hair color, facial features, and body structure are magically (and painfully) altered by Belles, young women born with the ability to change a person’s appearance through their Arcana. These treatments are pricey, but coveted (skin returns to gray after a month or so, requiring constant upkeep).

The MONTY PYTHON FAQ: ALL THAT'S LEFT TO KNOW ABOUT SPAM, GRAILS, SPAM, NUDGING, BRUCES AND SPAM, written by Chris Barsanti, Brian Cogan, and Jeff Massey, is one of a series FAQ books from Applause Theater and Cinema Books.

When I first heard about the book, I thought, "Wow! A book that answers the most frequently asked questions about Monty Python!" After all, that is what the acronym “FAQ” stands for. But upon opening it to read, it is actually something completely different…in a good way!

One might say that writer W. Bruce Cameron has gone to the dogs -- and the author probably couldn't be happier. The writer of several best-selling novels such as 8 SIMPLE RULES FOR DATING MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER and A DOG'S PURPOSE has recently released a new touching novel about canines and the people they care about with A DOG'S JOURNEY.

We were fortunate to have a few moments to sit down with Cameron to discuss the titles he writes, the movies that have been made, and even some of the unexpected controversy thrown his way.

1. Looking at your title history, things seem to fall into either of two categories: "Dads" and "Dogs." What's the connection there?

Well, you know, if you're the father to some children, and you're the father to some dogs, there's a very clear emotional connection between the two.

In this fun new rhyming picture book, Walter and the Wallet by Billy Bloom (illustrated by Tanya Leonello), 9-year-old Walter Collingsworth is having an awful day – until he finds a wallet on the ground, filled with cash. Walter’s day goes from gloomy to great when he starts picturing all the fun things he could buy with his new money. But when he overhears a devastated old man who is the wallet’s rightful owner, will Walter keep the cash or turn it in?

Image: The Oliver Twins via Facebook

Molly Ostertag's THE WITCH BOY is a less-than-subtle parable on gender and the accepted roles that go along with it.

The titular witch boy is Aster, who lives in a secluded village of magic users behind an enchanted barrier. The men grow up to become shape changers, guided by their spirit animals, who go out and hunt demons. The women learn magic spells for protection and healing. Aster has not been contacted by any spirit animals yet, and it's far past time for most boys to have had that experience. What's more, he perpetually hides where he can overhear the lessons taught to the girls so he can learn magic, even though this is knowledge that is forbidden to him.

As we count down the days to “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” perhaps you’re itching for something to help fill the void. Never fear - cue up “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and pull out this Star Wars Even More Crochet kit, by Lucy Collin.

The kit is a “sequel” to Collin’s Star Wars Crochet, and comes with nearly everything you need to create two projects – a Jawa and BB-8:

• yarn
• size 3.5mm/E-4 metal crochet hook
• plastic safety eyes
• fiberfill stuffing
• a tapestry needle
• instruction book

I say “nearly everything” because you also need a stitch marker to keep your place between rounds. A regular safety pin works well for this purpose.

The chillmeister behind the insanely successful GOOSEBUMPS franchise adds another entry to the kid lit shelves next August, and while it's not superficially scary, one might be horrified if one reads it too often and tries to make it political. Which is exactly what I'm going to attempt to do, so be prepared to be "woke" as the hip kids are saying these days.

MARY MCSCARY, illustrated by Marc Brown, is all about the titular little girl who lives to scare. Well, if your name was Mary McScary, wouldn't you? She scares her parents. She scares her pets. And she has access to the most amazing things to use for scaring, including (apparently) an entire zoo of wild animals at her disposal.

The game is afoot in the latest entry into post-Doyle Holmesiana. Daughter/father team Anna Elliott and Charles Veley migrate Veley's former Sherlock Holmes endeavors, expanding the Holmes and Watson force by one -- American-born actress Lucy James. And before you get all in a huff about how Sherlock would never let a young lady work with him on important cases, let me assure you he has a good reason for keeping Lucy close, and it's not a romantic one.

With just a few scant hours until the release of SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING, it behooves us to look back on the man, without whom, there would arguably be no Marvel Universe for a Marvel Cinematic Universe to have come. Stan Lee is sometimes a polarizing figure in the comic book industry, but no one can deny the influence he had on the direction it has taken.

And while there are several books and numerous convention tall tales told about the man, Bob Batchelor has set out to provide yet another perspective on the multi-faceted man behind THE FANTASTIC FOUR, THE AVENGERS, and, of course, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. We sat down for a discussion with the author of the forthcoming book, STAN LEE: THE MAND BEHIND MARVEL (September 2017, Rowman & Littlefield) to get some more of his perspective on the living legend.

I wanted to open this article with "It was twenty years ago today..." but every time I did so, Paul McCartney began to scream in my ear. Perhaps I could start with "One score and zero years ago," without raising zombie Lincoln, but it just seems awkward.

Was it really twenty years ago that I sat down with this unassuming title, selected with little fanfare and to which I quickly became hooked? That would have made me thirty years old. Which reminds me, I hate math.

But it was twenty years, and the Internet is happily buzzing with Pottermania once more. It's a testament to the storytelling that it is remembered this far out, and is still selling to a new generation of readers.

The newest addition to the adult coloring book craze comes in the form of THE LITTLE MERMAID: A COLORING BOOK. However, don’t go into this looking for Flounder, Sebastian, and Ursula; this coloring book is based on the original story by Hans Christian Andersen, not the popular Disney movie. The illustrations seem to have been drawn by several different artists, and you can find the names associated with each page at the back of the book.

The Little Mermaid Coloring Book features full page (and many two-page spread) images to color. There are also colorable quotes from the original fairytale that make it look like a picture book. However it is not a complete story; think of it as a coloring book with random, eye-catching quotes from the original fairytale.

"If you had a magic button that could kill anyone or destroy any place, would you use it?"

Whenever Stephen King has a new book out, it’s a pretty big deal for me.  Thanks to my mom, I have been a huge King fan since I was way too young to appreciate his books.  Not knowing much about Richard Chizmar, I was a little hesitant to pick this one up.  But, I have enjoyed King’s collaborations in the past with authors like Peter Straub, Stewart O'Nan, and Joe Hill. Besides, unlike some other authors (looking at you, James Patterson), King isn't inclined to just throw his name on a book.  If it says he co-wrote it, then he co-wrote it.

MORBID HEARTS is the first book in the Dead Hearts series of novels by Susan L. Lambdin. Having read the second book in the series first, you may be thinking to yourselves, “Why would you read the first book now?” Well, that is a fair question that I will answer like this: Knowing what happens in the sequel lets me look at the first novel in a different light than reading it first. I get to look at it from the perspective of: How well does the author set things up for the sequel? How well does she develop the characters personalities in the first book, and did they carry over into the second book so that they did not appear as different people?

That, to me, is a refreshing look when reading a series of novels that I don’t get when reading them in series order.