Jordan

There are many kinds of quiet: Quiet can be delicate. Quiet can be thundering! Quiet can be sweet, and cozy, and can most definitely help you fall asleep. With kid-centric descriptions and irresistible artwork, this gentle picture book explores all the different quiets that can fill a child's days from morning to night.

MacLachlan's characteristically resonant language and Wimmer's majestic paintings affectingly celebrate the natural world and the family. Told in the voice of a child who lives on a farm with his parents and grandparents, the author's poetic narrative opens on the day of the boy's birth, when his grandmother holds him up to the open window, "So that what I heard first was the wind. / What I saw first were all the places to love: / The valley, / The river falling down over rocks, / The hilltop where the blueberries grew." The child introduces readers to the spots that each person in his family loves best: for his mother it is the hilltop where the sky is "an arm's length away"; for his grandfather, the dark, cool barn ("Where else, he says, can the soft sound of cows chewing / Make all the difference in the world?"). Only after the birth of his sister does the boy reveal his favorite place of all: the marsh "Where ducklings follow their mother / Like tiny tumbles of leaves." Whether focusing on a single, aging turtle or depicting a sweeping panorama, Wimmer's ( Train Song; Flight ) paintings beautifully convey the splendor of nature, as well as the deep affection binding three generations. This inspired pairing of words and art is a timeless, uplifting portrait of rural family life. All ages.

"From now on I'm Alan of Trebond, the younger twin. I'll be a knight." And so young Alanna of Trebond begins the journey to knighthood. Though a girl, Alanna has always craved the adventure and daring allowed only for boys; her twin brother, Thom, yearns to learn the art of magic. So one day they decide to switch places: Disguised as a girl, Thom heads for the convent to learn magic; Alanna, pretending to be a boy, is on her way to the castle of King Roald to begin her training as a page. But the road to knighthood is not an easy one. As Alanna masters the skills necessary for battle, she must also learn to control her heart and to discern her enemies from her allies. Filled with swords and sorcery, adventure and intrigue, good and evil, Alanna's first adventure begins -- one that will leard to the fulfillment of her dreams and the magical destiny that will make her a legend in her land. Alanna's journey continues...

*Starred Review* Jacksons absorbing and rewarding fourth novel spotlights Rose Mae Lolly, a minor character from her popular debut, Gods in Alabama (2005). Rose is now living under the thumb of her abusive husband and his domineering father. A Gypsy in an airport who reads her tarot cards turns Roses life upside down when she tells Rose that if she doesnt kill her husband, he will surely kill her. When Rose realizes that the Gypsy is in fact her mother, who abandoned her when Rose was eight and left her with her abusive father, she takes her advice, but accidentally shoots her beloved dog instead. Rose comes to believe that hope lies in finding Jim, the high-school football star who was the only boy who ever treated her well. As her search for Jim morphs into a bid to free herself of her past, Rose goes on a cross-country mission to escape her husband and find herself. Jackson peels back Roses hard edges and resignation to reveal a smart, earnest, brave, and surprisingly hopeful young woman who yearns to make a better life for herself. Roses salvation, when it comes, is positively breathtaking.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)

Now a major motion picture from the Academy Award-winning producer of "Shakespeare in Love", "I Capture the Castle" tells the story of seventeen-year-old Cassandra and her family, who live in not-so-genteel poverty in a ramshackle old English castle. Here she strives, over six turbulent months, to hone her writing skills. She fills three notebooks with sharply funny yet poignant entries. Her journals candidly chronicle the great changes that take place within the castle's walls, and her own first descent into love. By the time she pens her final entry, she has "captured the castle"--and the heart of the reader--in one of literature's most enchanting entertainments.

From the elegant, lithe, and yes, friendly cheetah to the diminutive and faithful sea horse, and from the giant and surprisingly warlike hippopotamus to the majestic gorilla, animals have long fascinated humans. In this appealing book, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson draws from his wealth of knowledge and a lifetime of fascination with the animal kingdom to present little-known facts and thorough explanations for behaviors of animals both familiar and lesser-known. Presented from A to Z, each entry is accompanied by a beautiful, full-color photograph. Readers will learn from someone who knows these animals and loves them as much as you do.

It's a rare voice that succeeds in bringing to life the bitter comedy of childhood under siege from unreliable adults -- and succeeds without the victim's whine. In Fleur de Leigh, Diane Leslie has created that voice: wry, ironic, still trusting, still touchingly tolerant. It's an even rarer voice that can bring to life a period as dated and overdone as Hollywood in the '50s. This, too, the author pulls off....It's all there, bright and crisp, like a lovingly restored cut from a grainy old classic.