Gray Dawn Albert Payson Terhune (Author)

Gray Dawn is a reissued paperback edition of the stories written by Albert Payson Terhune for The Ladies' Home Journal in 1927 in serial form. Many of us whose childhood spanned the 40's and 50's remember reading about the merle collie with the steadfast, loyal heart who was such a charming personality and unexpected clown. My mother-in-law reread it and remembered that reading Albert Payson Terhune's books about collies had inspired her to begin breeding collies. Her story is not unique. Terhune's tales of collies have touched all readers deeply over the years. It is good to see a lovely reprint of the Gray Dawn stories. My first reading of them came when I received a box of my uncle's childhood literary favorites which included Lad, A Dog, Gray Dawn, and at least eight or ten other Terhune titles. This was back in about 1953. Although Terhune has a reputation as a juvenile fiction writer, his books are not written "down" to children, and they hold continued appeal for the adult audience. There will always be a need for the authentic portrayal of the values of courage, honor, natural beauty, loyalty, and love of life. These are readily found in Gray Dawn, in addition to humour, intricate descriptive detail of natural surroundings, and an overflowing reverence for life. Introduced by Terhune scholar Wayne Lewis, this lovely new edition of Gray Dawn with its full color portrait of the grey collie on its cover is a handsome package of an old favorite ready for rediscovery by yet another generation. Perhaps many readers, like myself, will experience the joy of nostalgia while rereading the vivid pages.

Super Fly Guy Tedd Arnold (Authur)

Kindergarten-Grade 2–In this easy chapter book, Buzzs pet fly attends school with him. When the lunch lady allows the insect to live in the lunchroom, she is fired. Fly Guy is subsequently banned from the room by her replacement, who is a terrible cook. Finally, Buzz comes up with a plan, Roz is reinstated, and Fly Guy gets to stay in the lunchroom. The writing is fast paced, the plot is interesting, and many of the humorous and mildly gross details will appeal to children. The cartoon illustrations are funny and action-packed and the layout is appropriate for beginning readers, with one or two sentences per page. The text has suitable repetitive phrases to aid the developing fluency of students beginning to read independently. It could also serve slightly older reluctant and struggling readers.

The Magician's Elephant  Kate DiCamillo (Authur)

Grade 4–6—On a perfectly ordinary day, Peter Augustus Duchene goes to the market square of the city of Baltese. Instead of buying the fish and bread that his guardian, Vilna Lutz, has asked him to procure, he uses the coin to pay a fortune-teller to get information about his sister, whom he believes to be dead. He is told that she is alive, and that an elephant will lead him to her. That very night at a performance in the town's opera house, a magician conjures up an elephant (by mistake) that crashes through the roof and cripples the society dame she happens to land on. The lives of the boy, his guardian, and the local policeman, along with the magician and his unfortunate victim, as well as a beggar, his dog, a sculptor, and a nun all intertwine in a series of events triggered by the appearance of the elephant. Miraculous events resolve not only the mystery of the whereabouts of Peter's sister, but also the deeper needs of all of the individuals involved. DiCamillo's carefully crafted prose creates an evocative aura of timelessness for a story that is, in fact, timeless. Tanaka's acrylic artwork is meticulous in detail and aptly matches the tone of the narrative. This is a book that demands to be read aloud.

When You Reach Me   Rebecca Stead (Authur)

There seems to be an overabundance of books with vampires and magic these days so it is very refreshing to read something different. And different in a very good way. It's a mystery who is leaving Miranda strange notes and how this person knows things about her that no one could know. But there are other things she needs to figure out too. Like why the new kid punches Sal, why Sal stops talking to her, and why she doesn't like Julia.

Rebecca Stead deals with the usual angst of adolescence with a good hold on reality with characters that felt like they could be the kids next door. She seems to remember what it felt like to be twelve, except I don't remember being so deep as to think that

"Sometimes you never feel meaner than the moment you stop being mean. it's like how turning on a light makes you realize how dark the room had gotten."

But I could relate to Miranda's love of "A Wrinkle in Time" and her struggle to figure out where she fits in with friends and enemies and how things can change. I can't say more without giving away more of the story, which I would hate to do because it was such a satisfying read. All I can say is, things are not always as they seem.