booktalk Archives - Page 1096 of 1355

806: A Novel
by Cynthia Weil (Author)

Booktalk: Sibling 1 throws blenders and plays guitar. Sibling 2 is allergic to everything and is into magic. Sibling 3 is a varsity swimmer with a group of female fans. Enough said.

The only thing they have in common is their biological father, and the only thing they can agree on is that they all want to meet him.

With the help of a broken-down, “borrowed” Jeep, KT, Jesse, and Gabe make their way across the country evading police, trying their luck on the slots, and meeting a life-changing pig, all to track down Donor 806, their father. Any hope of success requires smarts, luck, and ingenuity. Good thing they have each other . . . even if they don’t see it that way.

Snippet: “Is his phone number listed?” I asked, pulling out my cell. “Yes, it is,” said Gabe.

“Are we ready?” I asked. “Should I do it?”

“Wait,” Jessie said, holding up his hand. “When you get him, put him on speaker phone.”

“Of course I will,” I barked.

“I’m kinda scared,” Gabe whispered hoarsely. “I’m scared he’ll be pissed at us for finding him.”

“I’m scared he’ll think I’m just a dumb jock,” Jesse mumbled. “I won’t let that happen,” trust me,” Gabe offered, giving Jess an manly pat on the shoulder. “You okay, KT?”

“As okay as someone whose dream may be shattered at any moment can be,” I cracked, feeling terrified.

“Let’s just do it before we chicken out,” Gabe announced.

He read the numbers as I dialed and then held the phone up, on speaker, so we could all hear 908’s voice. After a few rings, we heard instead the voice of a recorded operator saying, “That number has been disconected.”

P.S. The 908 in this page 62-63 excerpt is not a typo. You’ll see why on page 52 . . .

Coco Chanel: Pearls, Perfume, and the Little Black Dress
by Susan Goldman Rubin (Author)

Booktalk: Beginning with the difficult years Chanel spent in an orphanage, this middle grade biography traces Coco’s development as a designer and demonstrates how her determination to be independent helped her gain worldwide recognition in an era when women were expected to marry. It includes her most memorable firsts for the fashion industry: the little black dress, the quilted purse with gold chain, and the perfume Chanel No. 5.

Snippet: She was a controversial celebrity, an innovator with an eye for fashion that made her enormously successful. At the same time, many regarded Chanel as an opportunist, a tyrant, a chronic liar, and a snob. Some even suspected her of being a Nazi sympathizer during World War II. Still, women everywhere were in awe of the Chanel brand and the products that bore her distinctive label. Coco designed clothes that she wore herself, and she was her own best model. Her friend surrealist artist Salvador Dali said,

All her life, all she did was change men’s clothes into women’s.

It’s Nonfiction Monday!