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Thursday, March 29, 2012

Today's Deals

Little White Rabbit ($12.99 Kindle [Fire and Android App only], $3.99 B&N [NOOK Color and Tablet only]), by Kevin Henkes, is the Nook Daily Find for Families. Despite being an Agency priced title, apparently the publisher thinks these are different books, since they don't work on the same devices, and has priced the one at B&N lower. I don't even want this title, but I'm reporting the lower price, in hopes that if enough of us do so, Amazon can pressure HarperCollins into matching the price for those who do want it on their Kindle Fire.
Book Description
In the newest picture book from best-selling Caldecott Medalist Kevin Henkes, a curious young rabbit hops through the wide world before finally ending up safe at home.

This NOOK Kids Read and Play book features narration, animation and interactivity. Kids can choose to hear the story read aloud and play activities on select pages of the book. Animations replay with a simple tap. Plus, kids can tap to enlarge text and pinch & stretch to zoom in on pictures.

Today's Kindle Deal of the Day is 11 engaging young-adult novels, all on sale for 99 cents apiece. It looks like these are all from Marshall Cavendish Children's Books and the age range covered starts with tweens and works up to the older teen and young adult, so you'll probably be able to find one or two for most kids 10+ (even yourself).
Whether confronting alienation and racism in a mid-1960s Alaskan boarding school, or fighting mind control in an Orwellian world secretly run by corporations, all of today's young-adult novels explore the complicated and adventurous struggles that boys and girls face as they come of age.
  1. Memento Nora, by Angela Smibert
    In the future, it doesn't pay to remember.

    In Nora's world you don't have to put up with nightmares. Nora goes with her mother to TFC--a Therapeutic Forgetting Clinic. There, she can describe her horrible memory and take the pill that will erase it. But at TFC, a chance encounter with a mysterious guy changes Nora's life. She doesn't take the pill. And when Nora learns the memory her mother has chosen to forget, she realizes that someone needs to remember. With newfound friends Micah and Winter, Nora makes a comic book of their memories called Memento. It's an instant hit, but it sets off a dangerous chain of events. Will Nora, Micah, and Winter be forced to take the Big Pill that will erase their memories forever?

    Angie Smibert's remarkable debut novel takes readers on a thrilling ride through shadowy world where corporations secretly rule--and wish you'd just keep shopping.
  2. Blackbriar, by William Sleator
    Danny can feel something sinister about his new home, Blackbriar, an old, abandoned cottage in the English countryside. The residents of a nearby town refuse to speak of the house and can barely look Danny in the eyes. Then Danny begins to have strange dreams of fire and witches, and awakes to shrieks of laughter that seem to come from another time and place. With help from his friend, Lark, Danny begins to unravel the mysteries of Blackbriar and its frightening past, through the discovery of an ancient doll and a chilling list of names and dates carved on the cellar door. But what might be most terrifying of all is the mystery that does not lie in the past but in the here and now ...
  3. Soccerland (International Sports Academy), by Beth Choat
    "One day I’m going to play for the U.S. Women’s National Team." That’s what Flora Dupre promised her mom, before her mom died of cancer. Flora and her mom had created a place called Soccerland, an escape world where they went and just talked soccer. And now Flora’s dream of playing for the U.S.A. might be coming true. Flora’s received the invitation of a lifetime: the chance to try out for the Under-15 U.S. Girls’ Soccer Team, an opportunity that could put Flora on the road to making her dream a reality and reaching the real "Soccerland." But when Flora arrives at the International Sports Academy, the level of talent there is like nothing she’s ever seen before. Flora struggles to hold her own, grappling with new positions on the pitch, injuries, a frustrating coach, and contempt from other players. But Flora is a big, strong Dupre girl—and she’s not going to go down easy.
  4. My Name Is Not Easy, by Debby Dahl Edwardson
    My name is not easy. My name is hard like ocean ice grinding the shore . . . Luke knows his Iñupiaq name is full of sounds white people can’t say. So he leaves it behind when he and his brothers are sent to boarding school hundreds of miles away from their Arctic village. At Sacred Heart School, students—Eskimo, Indian, White—line up on different sides of the cafeteria like there’s some kind of war going on. Here, speaking Iñupiaq—or any native language—is forbidden. And Father Mullen, whose fury is like a force of nature, is ready to slap down those who disobey. Luke struggles to survive at Sacred Heart. But he’s not the only one. There’s smart-aleck Amiq, a daring leader— if he doesn’t self-destruct; Chickie, blond and freckled, a different kind of outsider; and small, quiet Junior, noticing everything and writing it all down. They each have their own story to tell. But once their separate stories come together, things at Sacred Heart School—and the wider world—will never be the same.
  5. Cloaked In Red, by Vivian Vande Velde
    So you think you know the story of Little Red Riding Hood, the girl with the unfortunate name and the inability to tell the difference between her grandmother and a member of a different species? Well, then, try your hand at answering these questions: Which character (not including Little Red herself) is the most fashion challenged? Who (not including the wolf) is the scariest? Who (not including Granny) is the most easily scared? Who is the strangest (notice we're not "not including" anyone, because they're all a little off.)? Who (no fair saying "the author") has stuffing for brains? Master storyteller Vivian Vande Velde crafts eight new stories involving one of the world's most beloved (and mixed-up) characters in literature. You may never look at fairy tales in quite the same way again.
  6. Sizzle, by Lee McClain
    Sizzle . . . or burn? Linda Delgado has the best nose in all of Arizona—for cooking, that is. She may be only fourteen, but Linda loves making fresh Mexican food with her aunt Elba and blogging about food with her best friend, Julia. But after Aunt Elba suffers a ministroke, Linda is catapulted across the country and into a whole new life. In Pittsburgh, living with bossy Aunt Pat and her seven kids, Linda feels completely out of place. Worst of all, Aunt Pat is a local celebrity with her own TV show, Cooking from Cans—and she won’t let Linda in the kitchen. Linda might go loco if she doesn’t get some fresh food—like now. Then Linda finally gets her chance to sizzle—alongside cute-guy-with-a-secret Dino Moretti (who even smells delicious) and her jealous cousin Chloe. Linda’s new life is about to heat up fast.
  7. Shelter From The Wind, by Marion Dane Bauer
    It used to be just Stacy and her dad, ever since Stacy’s mother left them five years ago. But Stacy’s stepmother, Barbara, seems to have taken over their world—and now she’s pregnant, too. One hot June morning Stacy runs away, not sure where she’s going or what she’s looking for—her mother, maybe? She heads across the Oklahoma panhandle where she has always lived, without supplies, without a plan.

    After a scary night alone on the prairie, a pair of white German shepherd dogs finds her. They lead her to their mistress, Old Ella, a woman who lives alone in a small secluded cabin. It is here that Stacy confronts the true source of her anger and learns what it really means to be a woman, a daughter, a friend. First published in 1976, Shelter from the Wind is a heart-rending story of a girl’s coming of age set against the backdrop of the harsh Oklahoma panhandle.
  8. Rebound, by Bob Krech
    It looked like every black kid in the school was going out for the team. And then me. Pale skin, long nose, sandy brown hair, and a cowlick that won’t stay down. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t being the only white guy.

    Black kids play basketball. White kids wrestle. That’s the way it is at Franklin High School and especially in Ray Wisniewski’s neighborhood, the tight knit Polish-American town of Greenville, New Jersey. But Ray’s got a passion for basketball, even after the varsity coach cuts him two years in a row. When a new coach comes on the scene, Ray’s luck rebounds, but now he has to deal with Robert, the team’s high scorer, a kid who hates Ray simply because he’s white.

    As Ray fights to make his way onto the Franklin High Varsity, he finds that things are not as simple as he once thought—that a kind friend can be full of hate. A beautiful girl can be ugly inside. A well-intentioned coach can cause more harm than good. And prejudice can be defined in many ways in a world that isn’t black-and-white.
  9. Kathleen, Please Come Home, by Scott Odell
    Fifteen-year-old Kathleen Winters has always been a good girl, trying to please her mother. But now, things are changing. First, there’s the new girl, Sybil Langley. Sybil is confident, rebellious, and worldly--everything Kathleen wishes she could be. As Kathleen is drawn under Sybil’s spell, she moves closer and closer toward crossing a dangerous line. Then there’s Ramón. Kathleen knows it’s risky to date an illegal immigrant, but she’s never met anyone like Ramón. They fall helplessly in love--but the most beautiful experience of Kathleen’s life soon becomes the most catastrophic. Kathleen takes off for Mexico and slowly spirals into drug addiction and chaos. In the end, only Kathleen can bring herself back home. Set against the backdrop of 1970s Baja California, Mexico, Scott O’Dell’s powerful novel takes readers on one girl’s unforgettable journey of self-destruction and discovery.
  10. Mindblind, by Jennifer Roy
    Fourteen-year-old Nathaniel Clark lives in two worlds—the outside world of his family and friends and his own, special, inside Aspie world, where he’s not forced to interact with people or worry about wearing his clothes right-side out. The world where he can solve mathematical problems that elude even the brightest graduate students. The world where he feels he can find his own inner truth. People say he’s a genius, but Nathaniel thinks differently. According to a book he once read, a true genius uses his talent to make a contribution to the world. Nathaniel takes the definition literally, and begins his quest for genius status. "I will start, right after I wash the chocolate off my face. If I want to be seen as a genius, I should not look like an idiot." Nathaniel has a sky-high IQ and perfect SAT scores, but Jennifer Roy and her husband, Greg, have a remarkable 8-year-old son, Adam, who not only inspired the character of Nathaniel Clark, but also created the "Amazing Race" charts and the narrative at the back of MindBlind.
  11. Spotting for Nellie, by Pamela Lowell
    Claire Perry knows a split second can change everything. It can be the difference between sticking a perfect landing or falling off the beam. It can be the difference between a really fun party or a totally messed up one. Or sometimes, as Claire finds out, it can even be the difference between life . . . or death. For Claire’s younger sister, Nellie, an elite gymnast who is "destined for gold," things have always come easy. A split second is usually all it takes to capture the attention of a boy at a party, and the judges at a meet, or their critical father—everyone. Then one night, one decision, one split second—changes their world forever. The two sisters get into a car accident that leaves one of them with a traumatic brain injury. Now, the sisters will have to figure out what’s worth fighting for and what are the limits of guilt, forgiveness, and sisterhood. Memories will come crashing back and secrets will come to light—whether they’re ready for them . . . or not.

The Consequence of Skating ($3.50 Kindle, B&N), by Steven Gillis, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.
Book Description
Gillis as only Gillis can: the politics of love, human action as theater, and the dreams we dream and chase forever. The Consequence of Skating, Steven Gillis' fourth novel, blends politics, drama, ice skating, mountain climbing, the music industry, and world affairs—not to mention artificial intelligence and G.O.D.—to create an inimitable tour de force. Centering on Mickey Greene, an actor who has fallen from grace, the novel follows Mick as he maneuvers through a series of adventures that set him on a course of reconstructing his life in a way he never before imagined.

Steven Gillis is the author of the novels Walter Falls, The Weight of Nothing—both finalists for the Independent Publishers Book of the Year and ForeWord magazine Book of the Year 2003 and 2005—and Temporary People. Steve's stories, articles, and book reviews have appeared in over three dozen journals. A six-time Pushcart nominee and four time Best Of . . . Notable Stories winner, a collection of Steve's stories—titled Giraffes—was published in February 2007. A second collection of Steve's stories, titled The Principles of Landscape, will be published by Black Lawrence Press in 2011. A member of the Ann Arbor Book Festival board of directors and a finalist for the 2007 Ann Arbor News Citizen of the Year, Steve taught writing at Eastern Michigan University.

Thursdays at Eight ($1.89 / £1.19 UK), by Debbie Macomber, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.09).
Book Description
Every Thursday at eight, four women meet to talk and share their lives.

As one life-changing year unfolds it becomes a true celebration of friends helping each other through the tough times. Having just suffered a heartbreaking divorce, Clare is bitter and angry. Then she learns some devastating news about her ex-husband. Elizabeth, in her late fifties, is recently widowed and finds herself back in the dating game. And that means putting the past behind her. Twenty-something Karen is desperate to be an actress – if only her parents didn’t want her to be more like her respectable sister. Julia is turning forty. Her kids are finally in their teens and she’s just started her own business. Now she finds out that she’s pregnant.