I'm a bit disappointed in the Simon and Schuster catalog for Fall - for some reason a lot of the titles fell flat for me. Holly Black has a new entry in the Spiderwick series and that is good for her fans and the sequel to Peter Pan is being released (Peter Pan in Scarlet) - not so interested in that although I love the Neverland World. It just doesn't sound as fresh as The Looking Glass Wars does to me. Anyway, here are the few titles I do think sound interesting:

Here There Be Dragons by James Owen. Set in 1917 at Oxford, it's about a book called the Imaginarium Geographica which was left to an undergraduate by his murdered professor. With a couple of friends he sets out to follow this atlas of imaginary places and finds himself chased by a wendigo as they board a ship that sails to lands mapped in myth and legend. They must protect the book at all costs so there can be peace in their own world that is deep in WWI. Oh - and the three friends are CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien and Charles Williams.

It could be really silly but could also be literary fun. Depends on how Owens writes about the young authors. Worth a look though.

The Treasures of Weatherby by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. So much of my yearning for this book is based on The Egypt Game and I hope I'm not disappointed. It's about kids named Harleigh and Allegra and the plot to steal the treasures of the Weatherby Mansion. I love a creepy mansion and zany characters, so here's hoping it's a grand old fashioned read.

Permanent Rose by Hilary McKay. I missed this one in hardcover but I love a return trip to this very quirky and fun family. This go-round Rose is missing her father (parents now divorced), her older sister might not be really in love with the guy everyone else loves, and her adopted sister is on a hunt for her own biological father. It's mostly family drama, but McKay does family drama really really well. Ican't recommend her books enough.

And that's it. A lot of the catalog is full of titles that seem to repeat themselves and then there's ones like the new Alex Sanchez that have the most unforgiveable covers - but I guess stuff like this has worked for his titles before so they're just going to stick with it. There are a couple of teasers for Spring 07 books that look quite appealing, so hopefully I will hit it big in the next catalog and be able to spread more good news about that one.