Kids' Next List

"Snook Alone is the tale of a beloved rat terrier, the companion of a gentle monk who has been asked to catalog the plant and animal species of their small part of the Indian Ocean. When the two are separated by ferocious weather, Snook must wait out the storm alone. The warmth of affection, the beauty of the Indian Ocean, the wonder of exploration, the tension of waiting -- all are captured superbly in this marvel of a picture book." -- Kenny Brechner, Devaney, Doak & Garrett Booksellers, Inc., Farmington, ME

"Because I live in Florida and this novel features a young Zora Neale Hurston, I was intrigued, but this book's charm extends far beyond race and state lines. On one hand it is a great little adventure story, complete with real gators and ghostly soul-stealing Gator Men. But spooky tales pale beside the ugly truths of bigotry and injustice in turn-of-the-century small-town Florida, and murder finds its way to their all-black Eden of Eatonville. Like the best of children's literature, the lessons of community, love, and pride are found in these pages, wrapped in a riveting story children will remember." -- Leslie Reiner, Inkwood Books, Tampa, FL

"Bring back the trains! Eleven-year-old Oscar falls into an old Lionel electric train set and finds himself actually aboard the Blue Comet train on his way to Chicago! Transferring there to the Golden State Limited, he is on his way to California to find his father, who has gone there to find work. With both humor and suspense, Wells has crafted a fast-paced tale of courage during a time when dreams were about the only things most people owned. A heck of a ride!" -- Sue Carita, The Toadstool Bookshop, Milford, NH

"Lucy the bear is so excited when she finds a little boy in the woods! She immediately scoops him up, carries him home, and pleads with her mother to be allowed to keep him. But Mama Bear is not so sure about this arrangement -- everyone knows that children make terrible pets! Against her better judgment, Lucy's mother allows the little critter to stay. Squeaker seems to be the perfect pet, until one day he disappears! Lucy frantically searches high and low until she discovers a house not entirely unlike her own, where Squeaker has a family and -- gasp! -- a pet of his very own." -- Megan Graves, Hooray for Books!, Alexandria, VA

"What if you were 15, chubby, and unpopular when you were accidentally turned into a vampire? Suddenly immortality doesn't sound so hot. How do you get a girl to let you drink her blood? How do you live with the humiliation of drinking from very unsexy farm animals? Do you let the vampire take over? Is that giving up, or just another part of growing up? With numerous mentions that speak to our inner nerds -- ComicCon, all kinds of superheroes, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, not to mention 'The Google' as a disease -- Fat is fantastic!" -- Katherine Fergason, Bunch of Grapes Bookstore, Vineyard Haven, MA