And Then What Happened?
Several popular series continue with new installments. Elisa Michaels, Bigger & Better by Johanna Hurwitz continues the Riverside Kids series. A half-dozen stories highlight Elisa's newest adventures now that she's in second grade. In the first, she has breakfast with her Grandma—over the phone; in another she takes charge of her baby brother when the baby-sitter doesn't know what to do, and celebrates her half-birthday by eating nothing but chocolate all day long. (HarperCollins, $15.99 128p ages 6-9 ISBN 0-06-009601-2; Nov.)
The naughty pooch from Stories About Rosie returns for three new adventures in The Rosie Stories by Cynthia Voigt, illus. by Cat Bowman Smith, a liberally illustrated chapter book. In one tale, Rosie just can't understand why the family gets fed three times a day, and she doesn't, so she tips over the garbage can and ferrets out the best parts. Youngsters will appreciate a narrative that reflects what Rosie thinks and understands ("Rosie didn't know evil and wicked, but she knew bad and out"). (Holiday, $16.95 48p ages 6-9 ISBN 0-8234-1625-9; Nov.)
Molly and Jake, the sibling mice stars of the Class Pets series, teach survival lessons to an escaped class gerbil, Dexter, in their third adventure, Class Pets: Survival School by Frank Asch, illus. by John Kanzler. When Molly and Jake offer to show Dexter how to navigate the walls of P.S. 42, they quickly find themselves on the run from the school janitor, a pack of rats and other hazards. (S&S, $14.95 96p ages 7-11 ISBN 0-689-84657-6; Nov.)
The star of Willimena and the Cookie Money kicks off the first book in the Willimena Rules series with another runaway pet tale, How to Lose Your Class Pet by Valerie Wilson Wesley, illus. by Maryn Roos. The spunky third-grader, determined to win over her cranky teacher, volunteers to care for the class's pet guinea pig—with disastrous results. (Hyperion/Jump at the Sun, $3.99 paper 96p ages 7-10 ISBN 0-7868-1322-9; Nov.)
The Quigley family is featured in four more short stories, in The Quigleys at Large by Simon Mason, illus. by Helen Stephens. Dad accidentally allows Will's bird—Deathwing, Lord of the Skies—to escape and tries everything to recapture him. Next, Will gets himself locked in the school building by mistake. Mum has fun jumping rope at the school fête; and Lucy makes a friend when she visits France, despite a language barrier. (Random/Fickling, $14.95 160p ages 5-12 ISBN 0-385-75022-6; Oct.)
In the sequel to Peppermints in the Parlor, The Perils of Peppermints by Barbara Brooks Wallace, Emily has been sent to the terrifying Mrs. Spilking's Select Academy for Young Ladies. But what is the secret Mrs. Spilking doesn't want her to learn? And why is there a bowl of forbidden peppermints, just like those from Emily's time as a servant in Sugar Hill Hall? (S&S/Atheneum, $16.95 272p ages 8-12 ISBN 0-689-85043-3; Sept.)
Nancy Springer's third volume of Tales of Rowan Hood, Outlaw Princess of Sherwood, follows the band of teenage outlaws led by the daughter of Robin Hood, as they take in a new member—a princess who has fled the prospect of a horrible arranged marriage. Now the king will do anything to get his daughter back—even put her mother in a cage in the forest, as bait. (Philomel, $16.99 160p ages 8-12 ISBN 0-399-23721-6; Sept.)
In the companion to The Frog Princess, Dragon's Breath by E.D. Baker, Emma can't seem to control her magic—first she accidentally transports herself to the dungeon, then she discovers that whenever she sneezes, she turns into a frog. Meanwhile, her aunt Grassina is completely focused on her true love (who has been turned into an otter), and Greater Greensward is in danger, unless Emma can convince Grassina to protect the kingdom with magic. (Bloomsbury, $15.95 304p ages 8-up ISBN 1-58234-858-8; Nov.)
After introducing Maya, Carolyn and Joy, a trio of Manhattan teens who meet in a summer photography workshop, in Three Girls in the City: Self-Portrait, author Jeanne Betancourt now picks up with the friends while they are on photo assignment in winter, with Three Girls in the City: Exposed. PW said of the launch title, "Betancourt shapes distinct, credible voices as her narrative smoothly shifts perspectives among the three principals and gently contrasts their developmental differences." (Scholastic/Apple, $4.99 paper 17p ages 8-12 ISBN 0-439-49840-6; Nov.)
Tucket's Travels by Gary Paulsen collects all five of Francis Tucket's previously published adventures into one meaty paperback volume: Mr. Tucket; Call Me Francis Tucket; Tucket's Ride; Tucket's Gold; and Tucket's Home. In a starred review of the first of these western adventures, PW called Mr. Tucket "a real knock 'em, sock 'em ripsnorter with a thrill-a-minute plot." (Dell/Yearling, $6.99 paper 560p ages 9-12 ISBN 0-440-41967-0; Oct.)
In White Midnight, Dia Calhoun's prequel to Firegold, the mystical world and compelling characters she sketches here offer insight into betrayal, prejudice and what it means to be a monster. Rose's fierce love of the land convinces the panicked, frail 15-year-old to conquer her fears of the hideous Thing locked in Mr. Brae's attic—first, to work in the Bighouse and second, to marry the attic monster in order to secure the Greengarden estate an heir. But all is not as it seems, either in her betrothal to the Thing or in the Thing's true identity. (FSG, $18 304p ages 12-up ISBN 0-374-38389-8; Oct.)
Jean Thesman revisits the post-earthquake San Francisco setting of her A Sea So Far for Rising Tide, the continuation of Kate Keely's adventures. It's now 1908 and Kate has recently returned from Ireland, where she had been caretaker for Jolie, the invalid met in the previous novel, who dies unexpectedly. Kate moves into a San Francisco boarding house with a plan to open a clothing store using fine linens imported from an Irish factory. But her friend and future business partner has spent half of her money on clothes to impress a wealthy young man. (Viking, $16.99 224p ages 12-up ISBN 0-670-03656-0; Oct.)
Taking Flight
Several more picture books mark the 100th anniversary of Orville and Wilbur Wright's historic flight on December 17, 1903—and beyond. A Dream to Fly: The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk by Lisa McCourt, illus. by Robert Goetzl, reveals the thrill of the first successful flight and the years of research and experimentation that preceded it. Primary source material, including excerpts from Orville's and Wilbur's diaries, and realistic framed and full-bleed illustrations convey the wonder of a machine flying amongst the birds and a detailed depiction of their engine-powered airplane, the Wrights' Flyer. (Troll/BridgeWater, $15.95 32p ages 4-8 ISBN 0-8167-7720-9; Oct.)
Six years after their first flight, the Wright Brothers had become celebrities, but most people had still never seen a flying machine. Touching the Sky: The Flying Adventures of Wilbur and Orville Wright by Louise Borden and Trish Marx, illus. by Peter Fiore, tells of their historic flying exhibitions in September 1909. Wilbur Wright demonstrated his flying skills in New York City during the citywide Hudson-Fulton Celebration, flying over the harbor, around the Statue of Liberty and up the Hudson River to Grant's Tomb. Meanwhile, in Germany, 200,000 people gathered to watch as Orville Wright looped and turned gracefully in one exhibition, took the crown prince Friedrich with him as a passenger in another and flew more than 1,500 feet high, setting a record. (S&S/McElderry, $18.95 64p ages 5-8 ISBN 0-689-84876-5; Oct.)
The Wondrous Whirligig: The Wright Brothers' First Flying Machine by Andrew Glass is a tall tale based on the flying propeller toy Orville and Wilbur received as children. In this humorous story, young Willy and Orv (with "little Kate" looking on) attempt to build a life-size version of the whirligig, complete with propellers, seats and a crank handle. This fictional story conveys the brothers' real-life creativity and fascination with flight, and their family's support and encouragement of their experiments. (Holiday, $16.95 32p ages 4-8 ISBN 0-8234-1717-4; Oct.)
Offering a brief line of text and several sidebars per spread, Into the Air: An Illustrated Timeline of Flight by Ryan Ann Hunter, illus. by Yan Nascimbene, charts the development of flight from "giant dragonflies [that] zigzagged through steamy swamps above the heads of lumbering reptiles" (a sidebar shows one from 325 million years ago with a two-foot wingspan) to early balloons and gliders (another sidebar depicts Leonardo da Vinci's models of flying machines called "ornithopters") and finally the invention of the airplane itself. Spare, full-bleed illustrations make a dramatic and attractive backdrop for this study of airborne creatures, both animal and human. (National Geographic, $16.95 48p ages 4-8 ISBN 0-7922-5120-2; Oct.)
