February 2017 - Anastasia Suen

Hello There, Do You Still Know Me?
by Laurie B. Arnold (Author)

Booktalk: It’s summertime and Madison McGee’s best friends, Violet and Noah, join her in Costa Rica, where she’s staying with Rosalie Claire. Their dreams of lazy sunny beach days come to a screeching halt when Madison’s grandmother, Florida Brown, unexpectedly shows up on their doorstep. Dangerously ill with a mysterious ailment, Florida needs help. But the magic in Rosalie Claire’s fanny pack has stopped working. Only one person knows how to revive it – Grandma Daisy. The only problem? She’s been dead for five years.

Enter the MegaPix 6000. Together, Madison and her friends have to figure out a way to turn the magic TV into a time machine so they can visit Grandma Daisy and save Florida.

Snippet: We’d just slapped down a round of Crazy Eights when Mike unbuckled his seat belt.

“Bathroom break. Don’t worry, the plane’s on autopilot.” He made his way back to the restroom.

Rosalie Claire had just won the first hand with an eight of hearts when a robot voice blared from the cockpit’s computer.

“System overload. System overload.”

We heard Mike’s muffled yells through the closed bathroom door. “What’d it say?”

“System overload,” Rosalie Claire shouted back. “That can’t be good.”

The computer boomed out its warning again. System overload. System overload.

We heard the toilet flush, followed by a sharp rattle. The bathroom door was shaking.

“It’s locked!” Mike banged on the handle.

Rosalie Claire was about to unclip her seatbelt to go help him when the cards flew across the table and fell to the ceiling. Chocolates and gummy worms sailed through the air.

The plane had spun upside down.

Lift Your Light a Little Higher: The Story of Stephen Bishop: Slave-Explorer
by Heather Henson (Author) and Bryan Collier (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Grab your lantern and follow the remarkable and world-famous Mammoth Cave explorer–and slave–Stephen Bishop as he guides you through the world’s largest cave system in this remarkable homage to the resilience of human nature.

Welcome to Mammoth Cave. It’s 1840 and my name’s Stephen Bishop. I’ll be your guide, so come with me, by the light of my lantern, into the deepest biggest cave in all of the United States. Down here, beneath the earth, I’m not just a slave. I’m a pioneer. I know the cave’s twists and turns. It taught me to not be afraid of the dark. And watching all these people write their names on the ceiling? Well, it taught me how to read too. Imagine that. A slave, reading. But like I said, down here I’m not just a slave. I’m a guide. I’m a man. And this is my story.

Snippet:

It’s Nonfiction Monday!