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Jim Lamarche Loves!

Jim LaMarche Loves Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen

Author Jim LaMarche

After a summer day of hiking in the redwoods with my visiting nephews and nieces it was pretty wonderful to plop on the couch after dinner and read aloud to the kids the next couple of chapters of a story that inspired teary, falling off the couch laughter. That book is Harris and Me: A Summer Remembered by Gary Paulsen.

Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen

The Me in the title is the 11 year old narrator, a city boy shipped off for the summer by his alcoholic parents to his relative’s farm in Minnesota. Harris is his 9 year old thrill seeking, profanity spewing, barely housebroken cousin.

There is a pet lynx on the farm named Buzzer and an attack rooster named Ernie. Breakfast is served before daybreak where, like a wolf pack, getting enough to eat is a matter of speed and table position.

Harris is continually creating wildly absurd adventures with his cousin hanging on for the ride, sometimes literally. There is a hilarious scene involving an electric fence, a dare and pee.  A scene I might have written off as conductively improbable if I hadn’t witnessed a similar event as a boy back in Wisconsin. It involved an electrified fence and our hunting dog Brownie.  Although old, Brownie set a canine record for the standing vertical leap that day.

Gary Paulsen has written a slew of wonderful books. Look for them.  His Book Hatchet was my own sons’ favorite.

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Author and illustrator Jim LaMarche is one of the most talented artists working in children’s books today. His many successful books include Rainbabies by Laura Kraus Melmed and Albert by Donna Jo Napoli, which was selected as a New York Times Best Illustrated Book.

Pond by Jim LaMarche

Meet Jim LaMarche 3:00 PM Saturday, December 3 at Books Inc. Mountain View for a Storytime reading of his new critically-acclaimed picture book, Pond.

All the Fun is Under the Sea!

Do you have a little fish in your home who hates getting out of the water and wants to know more ALL about the things that live in the sea?! Well there has been an emergence of books about or featuring sea creatures! Look at these beautiful books!

 

The Kraken's Rules for Making Friends by Brittany R. Jacobs

The Kraken's Rules for Making Friends by Brittany R. Jacobs

It's no big surprise that the Kraken has no friends, but he is TIRED OF IT. With a bad temper and a knack for destruction, his talent for meeting new fish is...not so seaworthy. He finds hope when another monster of the deep, a great white shark, offers him some RULES FOR MAKING FRIENDS. Will these rules help the most terrifying monster of the deep make a new chum? (Ages 4-7) Available Now.

 

Octopuses One to Ten by Ellen Jackson 

Octopuses One to Ten by Ellen Jackson

Dive into this fascinating counting journey through the amazing and mysterious world of octopuses. 
Everyone knows octopuses have eight arms. But did you know that they have three hearts and nine brains? This intriguing exploration of octopuses goes through numbers one to ten, with a snappy rhyme and fascinating octopus facts for each number. The book also includes octopus crafts and activities for more learning fun. (Ages 2-8) Available Now.

 

Giant Squid by Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann

Giant Squid by Eric Rohmann

The giant squid is one of the most elusive creatures in the world. As large as whales, they hide beyond reach deep within the sea, forcing scientists to piece together their story from those clues they leave behind. An injured whale's ring-shaped scars indicate an encounter with a giant squid. A piece of beak broken off in the whale's belly; a flash of ink dispersed as a blinding defense to allow the squid to escape-- these fragments of proof were all we had . . . until a giant squid was finally filmed in its natural habitat only two years ago. In this beautiful and clever nonfiction picture book about the giant squid, Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann explore, both visually and poetically, this hidden creature's mysterious life. (Ages 6-10) Available Now.

 

Under Water, Under Earth by Aleksandra & Daniel Mizielianska

Under Water, Under Earth by Aleksandra & Daniel Mizielianska

Discover the amazing world that lies just beneath the surface. 
Hundreds of fascinating facts are waiting to be unearthed in this latest book from Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski, the creative duo behind the best-selling Maps. Dive below the surface and find out what happens under earth and under sea from early submarines and deep-sea life to burrowing animals and man-made tunnels. You will never look at the world in the same way again. Gorgeous design and quirky illustrations make this a book to be pored over again and again.
(Ages 8-12), Available Now

 

 

#ReadInColor: Diverse Books for Every Kid

"What if every child saw themself in children's books? Let's make the books that are missing."

The mission of #ReadInColor and Blood Orange Press is to make beautiful diverse stories for diverse children, stories that will stay on families' shelves for generations. 

Blood Orange Press was created in 2013 by local Oakland author and illustrator, Janine Macbeth. Their first book was Oh, Oh, Baby Boy! written and illustrated by Macbeth, which can be special ordered in stores today. 

Oh Oh Baby Boy!

 

Now Blood Orange Press needs its community's help to continue publishing the next three books in its pipeline. 

To learn more about #ReadInColor and/or to make a contribution to them, click here. 

Books Inc. is a strong believer in the need of diverse books and we hope to see more like Blood Orange Press and Oh, Oh, Baby Boy!

Interview with Sharon Cameron, author of The Forgetting!

Despite being on a whirlwind release tour, author Sharon Cameron was kind enough to answer a few questions for us about her newest novel, The Forgetting

 

The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron

The first page, the first letter, absolutely sucked me in, instantly. Did you know from the get-go that it was going to be the start of everything, or did you have to rearrange in the editing process?

I’m so glad you liked it! And yes, that was pretty much the first page from the very first draft, with revisions and tweaks, of course. Since this was a story that would be so much about books, and what was written in those books, explaining the concept of the Forgetting from the perspective of a book seemed like a natural choice. And throughout the novel it was a really fun way to give readers another sneak peek into the character’s head.

 

What was your inspiration for The Forgetting?

One of my favorite things about being a writer is the research. I love finding hidden histories, people lost to time, places that have been forgotten. But in all these avenues of research, what has always struck me is just how much of history has been lost, all because it dropped away from someone’s memory. And that raised the question, what would happen if we lost it all? All our history? All of our memories? Would I be the same person without my experiences to shape me, or would I be someone else completely different? The answers to those questions became the idea for THE FORGETTING.

 

In the city of Canaan, everyone has their own, marketable skill, like glass-blowing. Did you do any fun/interesting research while writing The Forgetting?

I did! Particularly with the glass-blowing. I absolutely love watching the process. The glass is so beautiful, lit from within, and then air transforms it into something else, without ever being touched by a hand. It’s gorgeous magic. I also did hours of research on whether a key could be made of melted glass. Turns out it can. With the right glass. In the right conditions. Good thing I’m the author and can create the right conditions!

 

Who was your favorite character to write? Was there one that was hard to pin down, with their voice or the backstory?

My favorite characters to write in The Forgetting were probably Genivee and Gray. Genivee, because she was young and precocious and little bit snarky. Gray because he was full of hidden depths, and a little bit snarky. Evidently, I like snark! Nadia was definitely the hardest to write. I loved her as a character, but because her trauma made her avoid interacting with others, she was the hardest to show. She took several drafts to get right!

 

Coffee or tea?

Both!

 

Are you a “pantser' or a “plotter?

Pantser! I plot and plot, then change it all up and pants it. Really, it’s the only way. 

 

Author Sharon Cameron

 

Sharon Cameron is the author of The Dark Unwinding series, Rook, and The Forgetting. She has had many "former lives" where she was a classical piano teacher, full-time mom, part-time genealogist, chair of a non-profit for a local theater group, and a coordinator of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Midsouth Conference. She is "obsessed with" Scotland, her Longbow, really big trees, BBC costume dramas, and "finding things that have been hidden, on purpose, or other wise." Read more about Sharon Cameron and her books here. The Forgetting is available in stores now!

 

 

 

 

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