What could be sweeter than having a lovely lady bring you a tray of freshly baked cupcakes?
Please help me welcome debut author Natasha Lowe, who’s just published an indescribably delicious middle grade novel that I absolutely adore!
The Power of Poppy Pendle (Paula Wiseman/S&S, 2012) is about a girl with a passion for baking who inherits an extraordinary gift of magic. Poppy’s parents enroll her in Ruthersfield Academy, an exclusive school for witchcraft, with high hopes she’ll follow in the footsteps of her famous Great-Granny Mabel.
But Poppy is miserable. She’s teased mercilessly in school because she’d rather create new recipes than cast spells. She repeatedly tells her parents she doesn’t like magic but they just won’t listen. Frustrated and angry at being misunderstood, and unwilling to give up her dreams of becoming a master baker someday, Poppy takes matters into her own hands, misusing her magic powers to disastrous results.
I’m so pleased and excited to welcome back Newbery Honor award-winning author/illustrator Grace Lin to Alphabet Soup and to congratulate her on the publication this week of Starry River of the Sky (Little, Brown, 2012)!
When I featured Where the Mountain Meets the Moon back in 2009, I gave it my highest five spoon rating and hoped it would get a Newbery nod. Her hybrid folklore fantasy (with gorgeous full-color illustrations) felt like a modern classic. How could she possibly top herself?
Three-legged toad
In Starry River of the Sky, Grace once again creates a wondrous tapestry of Chinese folklore seamlessly interwoven within the main narrative. Lyrical prose, mystery, adventure, suspense, magic, an odd cast of characters, humor and delightful surprises characterize this enchanting companion novel about a young runaway who is “taught by kindness” and finds peace through empathy and forgiveness.
Angry, stranded Rendi begrudgingly works as an innkeeper’s chore boy in the remote Village of Clear Sky. He’s baffled and annoyed by its peculiar, unhappy residents and is troubled by the missing moon and the sky’s nightly moans.
When the mysterious Madame Chang arrives with the gift of storytelling, fortunes begin to change. She challenges Rendi to reciprocate with stories of his own, which gradually reveal who he really is and why he ran away. As he learns to trust the other villagers, Rendi realizes the stories hold answers to his many questions about how to save the dying village and resolve his own familial conflict.
“Master Chao seemed not to notice and brought Peiyi in front of him. He gently pushed her tangled hair from her cherry-blossom-pink face. She stood as still as a carved statue, with only her eyes moving, as her father dipped his finger into the wine mixture and carefully wrote ‘wang’, a symbol of power, with it on her forehead. Rendi watched from the doorway, and a strange, jealous anger filled him.” (Chapter 2)It’s an emotional journey of self discovery for Rendi, but all are transformed by the stories they hear and tell, as new friendships are forged, and moon, mountain, balance and harmony are restored.
The simply told stories are laced with profound universal truths. They circle back and build upon each other, suggesting the interrelationship of all things, adding rich layers of cultural and historical context. Starry River of the Sky is exquisitely crafted, by its own example a paean to the power of story — its ability to enlighten, heal, inspire, unite, and reconcile.
“The dragon is a creature of the sea,” Grandfather said. “When it takes to the sky, it is looking for something precious it has lost. When it finds what it was looking for, it returns to the sea in the form of rain.”
Konnichiwa! Hello!
*bows*
We’re especially excited today to be celebrating the official release of Flying the Dragon by Natalie Dias Lorenzi (Charlesbridge, 2012). Not only is Natalie a Virginia author, but this is her debut middle grade novel. As I always say, no matter how many books you go on to write, or how rich and famous you might become, there will always be only one first book, with its own special brand of pride, joy and feelings of accomplishment. We LOVE to celebrate first books!
Friends, I’m so glad you’re here to join us. Let’s get the party started by suiting up.
First, please select a t-shirt. Depending on your mood, you may feel like building a kite,
or noshing on sushi:
With all the mouthwatering Japanese food in the book, you should probably put this on, too:
Lookin’ good!
Can’t eat a plate of yakisoba without a good pair of chopsticks. Choose your favorite color:
So, I was very excited to see who would win a copy of Jo Knowles’s fabulous new book, See You at Harry’s (Candlewick, 2012).
But a strange thing happened when I entered the kitchen.
“Greetings! Mr. Generator at your service, Miss.”
As you may know, recently I’ve called upon the very reliable, ever steady Mr. Random Integer Generator to pick giveaway winners to avoid any jealousyriotsstrikes ugly kerfuffles involving the furry kitchen helpers. They all love giveaways and they all want to pick the winners.
Calling upon Mr. Generator therefore makes perfect sense. He is perfectly objective and does not wear fur, nor does he ever hold a grudge. Usually it is easy to spot him in his meticulously groomed mustache and stylish bowler hat.
But I don’t recall Mr. Generator ever sporting moose antlers (I did like that he called me, “Miss,” ever so polite). Before I could question him further, I was confronted with this:
“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Generator reporting for duty!”
And then this:
“Don’t listen to those imposters. I’m the real Mr. Generator!” “No, I am!”
Mr. Generators crawling out of the woodwork!
Wait! (I came to my senses.)
If any of you really are Mr. Generator, where are your bowler hats??!!
“We took them off. It’s impolite to wear hats indoors.”
Hmmmmm. Good point.
Then one of them tried to bribe me with this:
“Strawberry sundae?”
He looked strangely familiar. Excellent mustache.
I decided to ponder further while eating the bribe.
I knew that if I singled out any one of these rascals I’d have a riot on my hands for sure. Oh, Mr. Generator, the real Mr. Generator, please give me a sign!
Knock knock!
Why, hello. Yes, a nice mustache AND a bowler hat. Thank goodness you’re here at last, Mr. Generator!
I gave our wayward guest the names of all the entrants and their ice cream flavors. The information was processed with an extra helping of panache. After precisely 4 minutes and 28 seconds, one lucky commenter was selected.
*Drum roll, please!*
I’m happy to announce that the winner of a brand new copy of See You at Harry’s is —
WOO HOO!! CONGRATULATIONS, KELL!
Please send your snail mail address to: readermail (at) jamakimrattigan (dot) com, so we can get your prize out to you.
A BIG THANKS to everyone for entering the giveaway. Great choice of ice cream flavors — I imagine all of them are available at Harry’s. ☺
“Hey, wait a minute! That’s not Mr. Generator. That looks like my Aunt Lucy!”
You’re just in time to help us celebrate the official release of See You atHarry’s(Candlewick, 2012), a brand new middle grade novel by the lovely and supremely talented Jo Knowles!
Little Jo, Champion Cone Licker
I’ve been really excited about this book ever since I first heard about it a couple of years ago, not only because I’m a big fan of Jo’s writing, but because this particular story was inspired by her childhood experiences of growing up in the restaurant business in Laconia, New Hampshire.*swoon*
Keller’s was the first of several restaurants owned by Jo’s family in New Hampshire.
Could there be anything better than having your family own a restaurant that’s also an ice cream factory?! Bring me Apple Orchard Pancakes and a Spanish Omelette for breakfast, a Knickerbocker Sandwich for lunch, Stuffed Hamburg Casserole for dinner (extra cheese, ham and mushrooms, please!), and of course, a hot fudge sundae, root beer float or strawberry ice cream cone every day after school. Yum — my idea of culinary heaven! It had to have been fun getting to know some of the customers, helping out with odd jobs, and seeing how large quantities of ice cream was made.
Lick your screen. You know you want to.
But where are my manners? Before I give you the full scoop on this wonderful book, a few delectable party favors.
Please help me welcome debut author Natasha Lowe, who’s just published an indescribably delicious middle grade novel that I absolutely adore!
They all love giveaways and they all want to pick the winners.
Jama's Alphabet Soup 