Children's Notes

by Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 9/5/2005

AND THEN WHAT HAPPENED?

Favorite series and characters come to the fore this fall. As fans of Jeffrey Stone's Five Ancestors series might expect, the second book in his series, Monkey, takes up with Malao (which means "Monkey"), first introduced in his launch book, Tiger. This next installment retraces a bit of the same territory, leading up to the moment when the five orphans "scatter to the winds," and fills in the gaps of Malao's whereabouts while he and Fu ("Tiger") were separated in the previous novel. (Random, $15.95 224p ages 10-up ISBN 0-375-83073-1; Sept.)

Mary "Jacky" Faber, who masqueraded as a ship's boy in Bloody Jack (PW's starred review said, "Meyer evokes life in the 18th-century Royal Navy with Dickensian flair") returns to the seas, her followers will be delighted to know, after a stint as a landlubber in Curse of the Blue Tattoo. It's 1804, and Jacky, now 15, takes charge of a British warship, rising to the rank of privateer in Under the Jolly Roger: Being an Account of the Further Nautical Adventures of Jacky Faber by L.A. Meyer. (Harcourt, $17 528p ages 12-up ISBN 0-15-205345-X; Aug.)

Harriet the Spy, Double Agent by Maya Gold continues the series begun with the approval of Louise Fitzhugh's estate (Fitzhugh was author of the original Harriet the Spy). The first of the spinoff books was Harriet Spies Again by Helen Ericson. Here Harriet takes on a spying partner, Annie Smith; but Annie operates under many pseudonyms, and her names may not be all she's hiding. (Delacorte, $15.95 160p ages 10-up ISBN 0-385-32787-0; Sept.)

PW's starred review of Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff, a 1998 Newbery Honor book, said that the WWII homefront novel, about Lily's growing friendship with a Hungarian refugee, "has all the ingredients that best reward readers." Willow Run follows Lily's best friend, Meggie, when her family must move to Willow Run, Mich., to work in a factory and help the war effort. (Random/Lamb, $15.95 176p ages 9-12 ISBN 0-385-73067-5; Sept.)

Whisper in the Dark by Joseph Bruchac, illus. by Sally Wern Comport, which draws on Native American spooky legends, joins his The Dark Pond and Skeleton Man, about which PW wrote, "The mix of traditional and contemporary cultural references adds to the story's haunting appeal." Here Maddy, of Narragansett descent, finds an ancient legend coming true, as she recovers from an accident that killed her parents. (HarperCollins, $15.99 192p ages 10-up ISBN 0-06-058087-9; Sept.)

The third installment of the series that began with The Dating Game, Can True Love Survive High School? by Natalie Standiford, continues to focus on Holly, Madison and Lina and their matchmaking Web site, as the friends wonder if love can "last all the way to graduation, and beyond." The book again features silly flourishes—the girl's horoscopes, some quizzes from their site and a new feature: Mad's online diary. (Little, Brown, $9.99 paper 224p ages 14-up ISBN 0-316-11042-6; Aug.)

Falcondance by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes opens with a "blade dance" performed by Oliza, daughter of Zane, a serpiente, and Danica, an avian, who mated in order to make peace between their clans in the Kiesha'ra series launch title, Hawksong (about which PW wrote, "readers are likely to be caught up in the details of the avian Hawk's Keep and the serpiente palace"). The novel's main focus is on Nicias, son of two exiled falcons, who is loyal to Oliza (the heir to both clans' thrones) but is haunted by his visions and must make a terrible choice; a tantalizing ending suggests more to come. (Delacorte, $14.95 224p ages 12-up ISBN 0-385-73194-9; Sept.)

Boy, the assistant to the magician Valerian, first introduced in The Book of Dead Days (PW wrote, "readers will get caught up in this exotic era and its creepy characters"), returns in The Dark Flight Down by Marcus Sedgwick. Now Valerian is dead, and Boy is captured and imprisoned in the palace of Emperor Frederick III, who is obsessed with finding a way to become immortal. (Random/Lamb, $15.95 240p ages 10-up ISBN 0-385-74645-8; Sept.)

In Zach's Lie (which PW called, "a suspenseful adventure"), readers learned that Zach Granger is really Jack Osborne, living under a pseudonym because his father was put in prison for transporting drugs for a ruthless cartel. In Jack's Run by Roland Smith, Jack and his sister are kidnapped by drug lord Alonzo Aznar's thugs. Can they escape before they are killed? (Hyperion, $15.99 256p ages 10-up ISBN 0-7868-5592-4; Sept.)

Just in time for Grandparents' Day comes a trio of titles that celebrates intergenerational love and friendship. Here Comes Grandma! by Janet Lord, illus. by Julie Paschkis, profiles a grandmother who goes to great lengths—taking skis down a wintry slope, sailing high in a hot-air balloon—to give her grandchild "a great big hug!" Patterned fabrics, an earthy palette and gently rolling landscapes make the artwork as warm as the heroine. (Holt, $12.95 28p ages 3-5 ISBN 0-8-50-7666-2; Sept.)

A pair of picture books by Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Amanda Haley, enumerates all the ways in which grandparents play a role in children's lives. "1. security blanket/ 2. partner/ 3. thermometer," begins 41 Uses for a Grandma, as Haley's finely brushed outlines and pastel watercolor wash in spot illustrations depict a grandmother comforting her grandchildren in the dark, acting as a buddy on an undersea swim, and placing a hand to an ailing child's forehead. Grandfathers bake and kick up their heels on the dance floor in 40 Uses for a Grandpa. (Blue Apple [Chronicle, dist.], $12.95 each 38p ages 4-8 ISBN 1-59354-070-1; 1-59354-076-0; Aug.)