Scene Stealer by Elise Warner

He's only nine and he's missing. Is this a publicity ploy? Could his father have kidnapped him from his mother's custody? Or is this boy a victim of a sexual predator?

This book is from Carina Press and I downloaded it from Net Galley. I appreciate the opportunity to review it.

Augusta Weidenmaier is a retired schoolteacher who is going downtown to listen to the Philharmonic orchestra. She doesn't usually have the money for this sort of treat, so she's really looking forward to it.

Then she notices a very neat young man who looks familiar to her. She wonders why he's with such an unkempt older man during normal school hours. Then she realizes the child is the main character on the Cowboy Bob's Big Bad Burger ads. As she tries to follow them, the crowd slows her up. And when she gets close, she gets shoved into the street. She's heard the boy ask for her help, but by the time she recovers, they're long gone.

Consequently, when she hears on the news that the boy is missing, she does her duty and goes right down to the police station to report it. The Lieutenant does not seem to be impressed with her story, but he listens. Then he sends her home.

When he won't return her calls and she thinks they are on the wrong track, she sets out to do her own investigating - much to the Lieutenant's dismay!

Augusta is not quite a Miss Marple, but she's certainly willing to do what it takes to help the young fellow. She even goes into acting so she has better access to the stage and can learn the backstage gossip.

There are ruthless people all through this story and you're not real sure who the protagonist is even though you learn who the kidnapper is fairly soon.

This is a light mystery read, and I enjoyed it. Perfect for a beach read or a rainy day read. The book comes in a Mobipocket reader format or an Adobe reader format. Get yourself a copy now.

Thomas and the Dragon Queen by Shutta Crum

This is a fun read! Forget anything you ever heard about dragons, this one is different. And so's the princess...

Knopf Delacorte Dell Young Readers Group, a Random House division, sent me this book for review. The illustrator is Lee Wildish and I fell in love with the picture on the front cover. Those within the body of the book are also great and will help keep your young reader's attention. This is meant to be a step up from leveled readers and is for the 7-10 age group.

12-year-old Thomas is the oldest child in a large family, and spends a good part of his day watching the other children. When they all go down to the creek to bathe, they suddenly see a tired knight riding down the middle of the creek heading for the baby. As Thomas runs to save her, one of his brothers throws a rock at the horse and ends up scaring the horse and upending the knight. This is how Thomas meets Sir Gerald.

Once Sir Gerald meets the family, he offers to take Thomas to the castle and teach him to be a squire. He hates to leave his family, but to be taught at the castle is a dream the family never thought would come true.

Thomas is small for his age, and the other squires make fun of him. He longs to be a Knight, but doubts he'll ever be able to qualify for it.

Then the Dragon Queen captures Princess Eleanor... Thomas has a crush on her, all the Knights are out protecting the borders, who will help the Princess?

When he finds the King alone, depressed, and almost crying because of the loss of his daughter, Thomas volunteers to find her and vanquish the dragon. The King accepts.

When he takes his small sword, the small donkey still left in the stable and his leather vest his father made him, he has no idea what trials and tribulations he will have to go through to get to his destination. Nor does he have any idea what he's going to find when he finally locates the Princess.

Thomas is a loveable underdog who will not give up despite his size and his limited physical abilities. He learns to use his brains and he's kind and good in his adventure.

Does this keep him from being fried by the dragon? You'll have to read the book to see...

You can tell the author is a storyteller. This story has a very good flow and will keep the reader turning pages.

This book is currently for sale at your local bookstore. Get a copy for that young fantasy reader in your life.

Cowboy Slim by Julie Danneberg

Poor Cowboy Slim... He's a young boy who wants to do the round up with the older cowboys, but he has troubles all along. He even ends up in the saddle backwards!

Charlesbridge Publishing sent me this softcover picture book to review. I live in cowboy country, so I was sure it would be fun to read.

Cowboy Slim loves to write poetry. I know my bookstore has one whole bookcase filled with cowboy poetry, so this isn't really an oddity. But the other cowboys think he's wimpy because he'd rather do poetry than pursue the good talents you need on the range. Like roping, riding a horse well, and using a whip to keep the animals in line.

Of course, Cowboy Slim has lots of calamities and has to be rescued several times. You begin to wonder if he's ever going to make it as a cowboy.

Then there's stampede and all the other cowboys (and cowgirl) end up almost run down by the cows. Cowboy Slim catches up to the herd and finds that if he uses his poetry to talk to them, they calm down.

Slim's not the perfect cowboy yet, but he is fittin' in a bit better. And now the other cowpokes are starting to do some writing, too.

The illustrations are by Margot Apple, and just right for the 4-7 year old readers. This would also be a fun book for reading aloud. It's for sale right now at your local bookstore.

Share a little history with your child and let them learn about riding the range. It even has a glossary at the back for the buckaroo talk!

While Galileo Preys by Joshua Corin

Imagine a serial killer who sets up scenes that require rescue by public safety personnel and then kills them all with a sniper rifle...

This was an e-book from Mira through Net Galley, and I chose this book because it was a mystery. It's also a thriller!

It is a fast paced story that begins and ends with murder. The killer leaves notes in shoeboxes, likes to play janitor to set up the kill, and moves swiftly and carefully with no clues to his identity.

The FBI enter the case early, but they dearly need a team member back to help with this case. Esme resigned her job when she married because she wanted a family and wanted to be there to raise her child. But when her previous boss calls and asks for help, she feels torn. She wants to help, but she doesn't want to leave her family. However, her personal skill they need is that she can think "out of the box" and can look at the case in a unique way. They want to end this killer's spree right away.

The problem is that the killer doesn't want to be stopped. And while the FBI is out trying to capture him in a stakeout, he's in the building with Esme and coming after her while she's calmly sitting in an office reading paperwork about the case...

This pace continues throughout the book and it's a very good read. I highly recommend this book.

The book will be published in paperback in September. Mark it on your calendars, and be sure to pick you up a copy.

Once Wicked Always Dead by T. Marie Benchley

Molly Madison's life is falling apart. First both her parents are killed in a car accident and then she finds out her husband is gay. With the loss of her parents and a divorce pending, she moves to Montana to take over her family ranch. But it's not going to be easy.

She has to prove to the ranchhands that she knows how to run the ranch, a competitor wants to buy her out and starts harassing her to make sell, she's falling in love with her foreman, and there's an big family secret she doesn't know yet...

The story is fast paced, moves along well, and kept my interest to the end. Ms. Benchley's characters are complicated enough to make them realistic and strong when they need to be.

And if Molly's life wasn't already complicated enough, there is a serial killer working her way towards to her...

Atlas Books provided me with an ARC of this book for review. It will be published in September.

If you would like my copy of this book, please follow the two steps below:

1) Leave a comment here on my blog.

2) Email me at info @ bookfaerie.com (take out the spaces) with your name and address and why you'd like to read this book.

I'll pick a winner in about a week.

Windblowne by Stephen Messer

Can you imagine flying a kite...to a different world?

Random House Children's Books sent me this book for review, and I'm very glad I read it. It's an exciting well-written tale that will keep you glued to your seat and turning pages.

Mr. Messer has a great imagination and creates a story sure to tantalize young minds and give them things to think about after they have finished reading the story.

It all starts with Oliver trying to build a kite that will actually fly. After all, the kite flying festival is only days away and he really wants to be able to compete this year. It seems all of his kites crash into the ground, though. So his only hope is his great-uncle Gilbert, who is a former champion. He's sure that with one of Gilbert's kites he'll be able to become one of the legendary fliers.

His great-uncle is reclusive and his parents don't want him to bother Gilbert. So he sneaks out at night and goes to plead his case. While he's there, his great-uncle is attacked by kites that fly all by themselves and they carry him off.

Now what's Oliver to do? When he picks up the red kite and tries to follow his great-uncle's route, he finds himself flying into a parallel world, where he and Gilbert are duplicated and living different lives!

The second Gilbert is evil, and Oliver must flee to another world yet. Will he find his great uncle? Will he be able to get back home?

No matter what happens, Oliver's life will never be the same again.

This young adult fantasy was great fun to read. It's written for ages 8-12. Let your young one fall into the story and "see" those other worlds. They'll be rooting for Oliver!

This book is on sale now, visit your local bookstore and pick up a copy.

Brave Donatella and the Jasmine Thief by Caroline McAlister

This is a charming picture book published by Charlesbridge (who provided my review copy) and illustrated by Donald Hendricks.

Mr. Hendricks' illustrations give the story a visual life that carries the reader along page by page.

The story is based on a legend about the real Duke Cosimo, who collected plants for his garden and guarded them jealously. No one was allowed to share their beauty - they belonged to HIM.

Antonio was a foolish gardener who was in love with Donatella, but had nothing to offer her in marriage. He wanted to give her a gift that was as unique as she was to him, so he stole a sprig of jasmine. Of course, the Duke discovers his loss and he imprisons the youth.

Donatella is brave and also loves Antonio, so she works on a way to save him...

There is a section at the back of the book that goes into the history of the Duke and offers a bibliography for further reading.

While this story is based on a real person, it reads a lot like a fairy tale and children will enjoy the story. This book is currently available at your local bookstore. Share a copy with those you love.