Mary of Mile 18 by Ann Blades

Have you ever wanted a puppy so much you feel like you might die if you can't have it? I have...

Mary finds a small abandoned puppy, but she and her parents live way up north in Canada at Mile 18, just off the Alaska Highway. Not only children but animals must earn their keep. A dog is just another mouth to feed and there is not enough to go around now. Besides the puppy is part wolf, and will mostly remain wild.

Mary begs and begs, all to no avail. So she gives up and tries to move on. She takes the puppy to their nearest neighbor and leaves it in front of their door hoping they will adopt it and she still might get to see it once in a while...

But when the puppy wakes her father that night sounding the alarm that a coyote is entering the henhouse and going after the chickens, her father changes his mind. Maybe he is useful and will help pay his way. He takes the puppy in the house to Mary's bedroom and tells her she needs to help him get warm. He also gives her permission to keep him.

The illustrations show the tough winter cold of the north and how little some of the settlers there had, but it shows a great spirit in the people - and one happy little wolf pup mix!

Thanks, Tundra Books, for sharing this book with me.

Check with your local bookstores for a copy of this one for your household - especially if you are animal lovers.

How To Always Be Unhappy by Dr. Harsimran Singh

Atlas Books sent me a review copy of this book, and I was surprised to find that it is actually useful. Most self-help books seem to express obvious things. This one does, too, but this author looks at self-destructive habits from all sides.

For one thing, it discusses what you can do to MAKE yourself unhappy instead of telling you not to do it. It then explains how you can cause it in your life. Also offered is a discussion of how to change your behavior or your way of thinking so you don't get caught in this trap.

Some of it just plain common sense, but when you're the one with the problem, it can be awful hard to look at it objectively.

The core concept here is that happiness has to come from within. You can be happy, or you can be unhappy. You decide.

If you'd like my copy of this ARC, please leave a comment here on the blog and email me at info @ bookfaerie.com (take the spaces out) with your name and address and why you would like to read this book. I'll pick a winner in about a week.

Ten Old Men and a Mouse by Cary Fagan

This is another Tundra Book for children, and it has an unusual characteristic that I haven't see other publishers use. The back of the dustjacket is a poster! Their children's picture books are special anyway, but getting a poster is nice addition.

This is a very cute tale that should make your child smile.

Imagine ten old men meeting every day in the synagogue to pray and maintain the building. It's boring, but someone has to do and they have time.

Then one little mouse moves in. They begin by trying to trap it, but it's smarter than that. So then it becomes their pet, and they bring it treats. They even decorate the cupboard where the mouse sleeps. Suddenly they notice their mouse is getting fat and they decide to cut back on the treats. Guess what, it's NOT overweight!

One little mouse was great, they had something to talk about, something to care for. But not a FAMILY of mice!

How they resolve this is very smart, but it leaves them a bit lonely. Until their mouse comes back...

This is a very amusing story that would work very well for reading aloud. You could even ask the children to suggest snack ideas for the mouse.

I highly recommend this picture book.

Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford

I HAD to read this book. I mean, Jane Austin as a vampire? Just what the heck would or could you do with a storyline like that?

Mr. Ford managed to write a story that kept me sitting in my chair until I finished it, I can tell you that.

It's 200 years after Jane's death, and she's the owner of Flyleaf Books in a sleepy college town. She sells a lot of her books in the store, but she can't admit she's the author. And she has another book she'd like to publish, but it's been rejected 116 times and it still hasn't been accepted.

And now a dark man from her past shows in town while she's being pursued by two modern suitors - what more could go wrong?

I found it fun to read and enjoyed the book knowledge he shares about Jane Austen's works and all the other varieties that been written in the years since.

If you'd like my copy of the ARC that Random House Publishing sent me, leave me a comment here on the blog and email me at info @ bookfaerie.com (take the spaces out) and give me your name and address and tell me why you'd like to read it. I'll pick a winner in about a week.

Wanda and the Wild Hair by Barbara Azore

This is a lush children's picture book full of color and eye catching illustrations drawn by Georgia Graham. Tundra Books was kind enough to send me a copy for review, and I could tell by looking at the cover I was going to enjoy it.


Wanda has hair that is OUT OF CONTROL. But she likes it that way and doesn't want to change it. Her opinion changes, though, when she gets her mom's earring stuck in her hair.

She works real hard to make sure the earring doesn't fall out before she gets back home. A magpie tries to steal it, a cat tries to get the magpie, and a dog mistakes her for another dog, so it's not an easy job!

By the time she gets home, she has lot more than the earring stuck in her hair. So she finally agrees to get a haircut. After all, she knows it will grow out again...

The illustrations make this a great book for reading aloud. And Wanda's adventures will make children laugh. Wanda really does have a bad hair day!

One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

I got this ARC from Hyperion Books. I like to read disaster novels to see how the characters coped and store any survival ideas that sound good. I'm not expecting a disaster in my life, but who knows?

Take an office full of Indian (from India) people who are waiting to get their visa and passports for travel back home. Add in a bad earthquake and shake, and you will get a collapsed building with nine wildly disparate people trapped in one small office. Not only do they not know anything about each other, they're not people they want to be trapped with either.

There are varied emotions. Panic, anger, fear, tears. The man who takes the lead is asthmatic and only has five sprays left in his inhaler. They have no hope of being rescued soon.

At first, they aren't too upset because they have a bathroom, and the utilities are working. But, as the building collapses further, they lose their water and the use of the toilet. And the water starts to rise in the room in the room they're stranded in.

As they sit on tables and try not to panic, one lady brings up the idea of sharing one amazing thing from their life. They can each take turns.

The stories distract them from the doom around them, and everyone in the room learns about the other person by listening to their story.

It's very well done, the stories are amazing in themselves, and I found it a fast read.

If you'd like my copy of this ARC, please leave a comment here on the blog and email me at info NOSPAM @bookfaerie.com (take the spaces and NOSPAM out) with your name and address and tell me why you'd like to have it. I'll give it away in about a week.

The Birdman by Veronika Martenova Charles

This is a beautiful picture book published by Tundra Books. The illustrators are Annouchka Gravel Galouchko and Stephen Daigle. It has fascinating artwork with a real ethnic feel, that takes you right into the story which is set in Calcutta.

Nobi worked seven days a week from dawn to dusk to feed his little ones. And he was working when an accident happened and he lost his family.

He lost his will to continue then, and didn't go back to work. He just wandered the streets of Calcutta without seeing anyone or talking to anyone.

One day he wanders far enough to find a merchant who sells birds. With his last bit of money, he buys the sick, leftover birds and takes them home. He nurses them back to health, and then he sets them free.

He also goes back to work and continues to buy those birds who are less than perfect and keeps healing them up and releasing to their freedom again. It gives him a new goal in life and makes his life have meaning again.

The most impressive thing about this children's picture book is that there really is a Nobi in Calcutta doing this - it's a true story! There are photos at the back of the book showing him at work and in his new life.