Here are a few great new books for kids to keep up those reading skills over summer vaction!
A little girl is ready to get her dancing books on in "Every Cowgirl Needs Dancing Boots" by Rebecca Janni and illustrated by Lynne Avril.
Nellie Sue has brand-new cowboy boots. But she needs a dancing partner. Her mother suggests her making friends with the neighbor girls. The "Glitter Girls" just want to wear tutus and dance in ballet slippers. Nellie Sue decides to hold a Barnyard Bash and invite the girls over. Will the girls come? Will the party be a success? Will Nellie Sue finally have someone to line dance with?
This is a cute story about making new friends and friends can like different things and still be friends.
"Every Cowgirl Needs Dancing Boots" is published by Dutton Children's Books, a division of Penguin. It is $16.99 and is for ages 3 to 5.
Two kids have to solve a mystery aboard a train in "Capital Mysteries: Trapped on the D.C. Train" by Ron Roy.
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KC and her friend, Marshall, are traveling on the express train in a special V.I.P. car. What very few people on the train know is that KC is the president's stepdaughter and she's traveling with the vice president! KC and Marshall are having fun exploring the train without the secret service agents, even though it is a little strange to see two people facing the wrong way in the train car...that is until the car the vice president is riding on is detatched! Someone's trying to kidnap the vice president and they may be after KC too. But on a train, where can they hide?
This is a good, short mystery for younger readers and its cool that the heroine is related to the president.
"Trapped on the D.C. Train" is published by Random House. It is $4.99 and is for ages 6 to 9.
A young girl finds out there will be guests on her weeklong vacation to the shore in "Lexie" by Newbery Honor winner Audrey Couloumbis.
Lexie knows its going to be strange to go to the shore now that her parents are divorced and it will only be she and her father. Or so she thinks. It turns out her father has invited his girlfriend, Vicky, along with her two sons, Ben and Harris. Lexie isn't sure about having strangers along on her vacation, and soon she learns Ben and Harris aren't so comfortable about their new situation either. As she gets to know Ben and Harris better, they soon realize everything in their lives is about to change.
A good book for children of divorce who may be struggling to deal with the new people in their parents lives, this book shows how everyone is struggling to find their new place.
"Lexie" is published by Random House. It is $15.99 and is for ages 8 to 12.
A teenage boy's perfect world is turned upside down when his father's past comes to light in "The Lucky Kind" by Alyssa B. Sheinmel.
Nick's life is looking pretty good - good grades, good friends and a possible girlfriend named Eden. But all of that changes when his father starts getting strange phone calls from someone called Sam Roth. His parents start acting very strange and when Nick finally confronts his parents he finds out that his father had a son he gave up for adoption before he met Nick's mom. And that son is Sam Roth. Nick feels betrayed that he was never told about this and struggles with knowing that he is not his father's only child. This struggle leads him to confide more in Eden, whose parents seem on the edge of a divorce. But with Nick lashing out at everyone, will their relationship last? And how will Nick feel finally meeting Sam?
A good story about first loves and family, this is a book both teenage boys and girls will relate to.
"The Lucky Kind" is published by Aflred A. Knopf, a division of Random House. It is $16.99 and is for ages 12 and up.
National Book Award finalist Adele Griffin writes a story based on Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw" in her young adult novel, "Tighter."
Jamie is hired by an old friend of her mother's to act as an au pair for his young daughter, Isa, while he must travel out of the country. Jamie, eager to be out of town after an affair with a young teacher ended awkwardly, and the fabulous house on the New England island of Little Bly, seems just what she needs to get her head straight and be able to sleep again without taking pills. Because Jamie has been seeing the ghosts of two family members at night...
Once there, Jamie meets her sweet young charge, and the odd housekeeper, Mrs. Hubbard. And soon after is Miles, the troubled but charming brother of Isa. She soon discovers Jamie, the woman who worked for the family as au pair the last summer, had an affair with a local boy, Peter, and the two ended up dead, whether by suicide or accident is questioned. And Jamie bares a strange resemblance to her. When Jamie sees two young people walking around the island that no one else seems to see, she begins to wonder if Peter is haunting her now. Is evil surrounding Jamie or is she slowly loosing her grip on sanity?
This is a great gothic ghost story that both teens and adults will love. For those who like tense thrillers and not gore in horror, this book should be at the top of your list. Griffin keeps the tension up from the moment Jamie arrives, and it doesn't wrap up until the very last page. It's a stay-up-all-night book that you just can't quit. It also made me want to go back and read James' original story.
"Tighter" is published by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House. It is $16.99 and is for ages 12 and up.
Come back tomorrow to my blog on www.newsandsentinel.com for an interview with Griffin.
Contact Amy Phelps at aphelps@newsandsentinel.com
