Signed by Zelda

Title: Signed by Zelda
Author: Kate Feiffer
Copyright: 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-3331-1

A lot happens everyday in New York City.  In fact there is so much going on that this entire story takes place in just one apartment building!  Lucy, Nicky, Pigeon and Zelda all live in the same building on different floors.  Pigeon (who really is a bird) technically lives outside but he spends so much time on everyone's windowsills he is an honorary resident.

When Nicky's grandmother Zelda turns up missing he doesn't know what to do.  Even stranger, his father doesn't seem to care at all that Zelda is missing.  It takes a new girl from Savannah (Lucy) who has no friends and only one hobby (handwriting analysis) to crack the case. 

Read this book to see what really happened to Zelda, plus learn some interesting facts about decoding your friends handwriting to reveal their true intentions!  Plus Pigeon talks, what could be better than that.

Summer at Forsaken Lake

Title: Summer at Forsaken Lake
Author: Michael D. Beil
Copyright: 2012
ISBN: 978-0-375-86742-2

I admit to knowing absolutely nothing about sailing.  In fact I never meant to pick up a book about sailing, it was a complete accident.  I saw that the library had a new book by Michael D. Beil author of "The Red Blazer Girls" and I decided that I had to read it. In reality the only thing that "Summer at Forsaken Lake" has in common with "The Red Blazer Girls" is that the main characters are both originally from New York City. 

When twelve year old Nicholas finds out that instead of spending the summer in New York City  that he is being sent to Ohio to stay with his dad's uncle he is devastated.  An entire summer with no TV, no computer, and no friends what could possibly be worse? 

Little did Nicholas know he would walk into a mystery that is over 30 years old and involves his father, a girl, a sailboat and some other local characters.  Nicholas also learns that there is more to life than the city and that there is a lot to learn about surviving in the country.  The story culminates with the surprise arrival of a very special person. 

Laundry Day

Title: Laundry Day
Author: Maurie Manning
Copyright: 2012
ISBN: 9-780-547-24196-8
Adopt-a-Book Price: $10.02

In Laundry Day by Maurie J. Manning a young shoe shine boy goes on an adventure to discover who a red piece of cloth belongs too after it comes loose from the clothes lines over his head.  This book is set up in the style of a graphic novel.  The different frames help move the story along even though there is very little text to read. 

In New York City the shoeshine boy really wants to return the cloth to it's owner as he climbs up stairs, drain pipes, and shimmies across clotheslines he encounters people of different ethnicity living in the same building.  The shoeshine boy goes from balcony to balcony learning a little bit about each of his neighbors what the do and who they are as people.

This is a great book to show children to explain about different cultures.  Plus it is also a great way to get kids used to reading the graphic novel format. 

To find out of the shoeshine boy ever found the owner of the mysterious red fabric you will have to adopt the book and read it.