The Fall catalog for Henry Holt showed up today and here are a few books that stood out for me:
Romeo's Ex by Lisa Fieldler. First, whoever designed this cover deserves an award - it's gorgeous and eye-catching and sets the perfect period mood for a book about Juliet's cousin who dated Romeo first but found his words to be "hollow and unfounded". She and her new love, Benvolio try to end the feud between the Montagues and Capulets just as Romeo and Juliet begin dating.
I think this idea is brilliant and I hope it reads as well as it sounds. Apparently Fiedler has written another Shakespeare story from a female point of view: Dating Hamlet.
Throwing Stones by Kristi Collier. Set in the 1920s and focusing on Andy Soaring whose older brother died in WWI. Andy hopes to lead the high school bball team to state, just like his brother did, but there's problems with a girl and other issues that arise so just whether or not Andy will succeed is anyone's guess.
I like the era (Prohibition) this book is set in and that it involves a male protagonist. It has a sports angle, which will help with some YA male readers but I'm mostly intrigued by the inclusion of WWI.
Part of Me: Stories of a Louisiana Family by Kimberly Willis Holt. A look at four generations of a family in Southern Louisiana, starting in 1939. This sounds like the perfect type of book to review for the Voices of NOLA website and I'm really looking forward to seeing what Holt does. (From the description there sounds like a lot of book and library love which I am always ready to support.)
Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale. Set in the period right before the Galveston Storm of 1900, this story looks at Seth who wants to be a carpenter but whose family dreams of him becoming a doctor. Interesting twist as usually this sort of thing is reversed and then the storm (really a hurricane) makes everything unplanned and unpredictable. Sounds like good historical fiction.
There are also a couple of picture books I like: Los Gatos Black on Halloween and Moon Plane. (Did you know I review Picture Books twice a year at Eclectica? I love a good picture book - here's my current look at them.)
