New Crayons: What's New on Our Shelves

Remember when you were a kid and getting new crayons was a big deal? Getting new books holds the same kind of magic for some of us big kids. Every week on Sunday, I post what's new in our box. Hope you'll share what you picked up from the library, store or in the mail, too.

It's been a difficult week.Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers during this sad time for my family. I am glad for the distraction blogging provides so on to the good things that happened. Our book drive went really well. Books continue to come in. I brought home two from the library:

Rattlebone by Maxine Clair.
Review at The HappyNappy Bookseller:
The first short story October Brown is told through the eyes of nine year old Irene Wilson. Irene and classmates are trying to figure out their new teacher Ms. Brown. At home Irene’s parents are fighting and Ms. Brown gets in the middle. With each new story we learn and care more about each character. No one is perfect or evil, they simply are, and Irene is the voice for more then half the stories. In the final story, The Last Day of School, Irene is graduating from High School. Clair’s writing is crisp, clear and beautiful. Read more here.

The Color of Heaven by Kim Dong Hwa
Synposis
First love is never easy.
Ehwa grows up helping her widowed mother run the local tavern, watching as their customers – both neighbors and strangers – look down on her mother for her single lifestyle. Their social status isolates Ehwa and her mother from the rest of the people in their quiet country village. But as she gets older and sees her mother fall in love again, Ehwa slowly begins to open up to the possibility of love in her life.Love the art and innocence of the protagonist. I'm early into the read. I'm undecided about the target audience. It's a coming-of-age, but I'm not sure a younger audience would appreciate the subtlety and pacing here.
In the Mail:
Apologies to An Apple by Maya Gansen. Maya is young and gifted poet. I featured her poem, "Invitation" for Poetry Friday. Stay tuned for more of her here. Maya Ganesan's poems are vividly done, simple and dramatic. They give a spark of learning from nature. The poems endure with convincing imagination, breathe sights and sounds into everyday life and absorb the beauty with excellent detail.
~ Suma Subramaniam,
Author of Euphoric Natya

Kayla's Chronicles by Sherri Winston. I really wanted to like this book. And I do like the premise: young feminists promoting girl power and sticking up for underdogs. The title is linked to my comments. Find Doret's review here.

Hungry Woman in Paris by Josefina Lopez
Synopsis
A journalist and activist, Canela believes passion is essential to life; but lately passion seems to be in short supply. It has disappeared from her relationship with her fiance, who is more interested in controlling her than encouraging her. It's absent from her work, where censorship and politics keep important stories from being published. And while her family is full of outspoken individuals, the only one Canela can truly call passionate is her cousin and best friend Luna, who just took her own life. Really looking forward to this. When I writing my posts this week I realize I need a good long binge on adult fiction. I just might start with this one.

The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos by Margaret Mscarehas.
Synopsis
Irene dos Santos disappeared at age 15. Believed to have drowned while on holiday with her best friend, Lily Martinez, her body was never found. Now, years later, she appears ghostlike in Lily's dreams, prompting a quest for the truth behind her disappearance. Mysteriously, Lily, eight-months pregnant with her first child, slips and falls on the same day that the statue of Maria Lionza, Patron Saint of their Venezuelan town, cracks in two. Confined to her bed, Lily is surrounded by her family and closest friends, who agree that a Novena to Maria Lionza will guide the baby's spirit safely into the world. Together, through their nine nights of prayer, each offers a story to entertain Lily and her baby. What emerges is a vivid picture of Venezuela during a time of revolution and uncertainty-and the unraveling of the mystery behind Irene dos Santos.

What did you pick up at the library or the bookstore or get in the mail? Drop us a link with Mr. Linky.