The Bloomsbury catalog just showed up today. Here's what caught my eye (note that Bloomsbury also includes the Walker & Co. imprint):
Jesse Owens: Fastest Man Alive by Carole Boston Weatherford, illus by Eric Velasquez. I think we take Jesse Owens for granted. I think we have all heard the story at some point about his great achievements at the 1936 Olympics and we just take for granted that he did what he did and don't really think about it. I'm hoping this book will make readers reconsider the Jim Crow laws he grew up under and how impressive his commitment was to winning, no matter what.
The Cemetery Keepers of Gettysburg by Linda Oatman High, ills by Laura Francesca Filippucci. Apparently after the Battle of Gettysburg the pregnant wife of the absent Evergreen Cemetery keeper (he was away fighting for the Union), their 7 year old son and her elderly father dug over 100 graves for fallen soldiers - staying true to their vocation of caring for the dead. This just blows me away and is another one of those examples of historic moments that we really should know more about. (I'd love to know how the author found out about this.)
The Phantom Isles by Stephen Alter. When Ming, Orion and Courtney read an incantation from a library book they conjure up the ghosts of an entire nation who were captured from their Indian Ocean island (where the living and dead co-existed) and are now confined to the pages of "a few dozen library books in a New England town." I have no idea how Alter is going to pull this off, but one of the heroes is a librarian and it completely speaks to the bibliofile within me. (Sorry no link to this one yet.)
Notes From the Teenage Underground by Simmone Howell. This one has been on my radar since the Spring when it was originally scheduled. Seventeen-year old Gem works at a video store and after a field trip is inspired to make an underground movie with her friends. It's supposed to cement their friendship but problems ensue and "it will take great movies, bad haiku, and a pantheon of great voices from Dostoyevsky to Thoreau to Andy Warhol - to help Gem find the meaning of love, friendship and being true to herself." Good grief - how do pass that up?
The Falconer's Knot by Mary Hoffman. Hoffman is the author of the popular Stravangaza series and this new book is billed as Name of the Rose for teens. (How fab!) Set in Renaissance Italy it involves sixteen-year old Silvano who is sent to a Franciscan Friary for his own protection after he is wrongly accused of a crime. He meets Chiara, at the nearby Abbey (where she has been sent because apparently she is unmarriageable) and as mutual attraction starts to take hold dead bodies begin to turn up. Romance, mystery and Renaissance hijinks follow - sounds smart and different.
If Minds Had Toes<by Lucy Eyre. This is actually an adult title but it's included as one that would appeal to teens. Fifteen-year old Ben is bored with his job but everything changes when Lila shows up one night with an invitation to The World of Ideas. This is "the philosopher's quarter of the afterlife and Lila has been hanging out there with philosophers for the past thirty years." Ben is soon part of a bet between Socrates and Wittgenstein revolving around Lila's ability to prove to him that his life can be changed for the better through philosophy.
This book wins the award as one of the most unique I have heard about in a long long time. I couldn't resist it, or the idea that an unexamined life is not worth living. We all go through years with blinders on worrying about losing five pounds more than anything else. Here's a shot at really thinking, and I'm hopeful that it will a delight to read.
