Penny Blubaugh

It was after midnight and Mike Kowalski was driving fast -- too fast -- down County Line Road. He glanced at the dashboard clock and groaned.

He was late.

Again.

From On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave by Candace Fleming

INDIEBOUND.ORG

Ghost stories sure to send chills up their spines. Set in White Cemetery, an actual graveyard outside Chicago, each story takes place during a different time period from the 1860's to the present, and ends with the narrator's death. Some teens die heroically, others ironically, but all due to supernatural causes. Readers will meet walking corpses and witness demonic posession, all against the backdrop of Chicago's rich history—the Great Depression, the World's Fair, Al Capone and his fellow gangsters. Read More 

"A bright star shone outside the castle window and the Prince's Fairy Godmother
appeared. . ."

"Fairy Godmother, eh?"

"She waved her magic wand and said, "Your wish is granted."

"Very neat! . . .I don't suppose I've got a Fairy Godmother? By any chance?"

From Barnaby by Crockett Johnson

KSU.EDU

This collection introduces Mr. O'Malley to the Baxter family (although only Barnaby believes in his Fairy Godfather). Barnaby and O'Malley visit a child psychologist, appear on the radio, inadvertently undermine a test blackout and expose a "Hot Coffee Ring" (the action takes place during the Second World War, when coffee was rationed). We also meet McSnoyd, Gorgon, Jane, and Gus. Read More 

It's true. There's something about the light here. It's hazy golden, as if it's moving through honey. I've seen all kinds of light. Wet green glow in the Amazonian jungle, squid luminescence in the Pacific, indigo dawns through a waterfall in the Andes. But this particular light -- this southern French light glinting off my tiny espresso cup -- this is something else.

From The Ruby Notebook by Laura Resau

KIRKUS REVIEW

Thoughtful, intense Zeeta and her free-spirited mother return in this follow-up to The Indigo Notebook (2009). Perennial travelers, the two have now settled in the atmospheric city of Aix-en-Provence. Zeeta eagerly anticipates the arrival of her boyfriend Wendell from Colorado, but when he changes the terms of his visit, Zeeta is hurt and confused. Their relationship is further strained by her involuntary attraction to Jean-Claude, a member of a street dance troupe. At the same time, Zeeta begins to discover strange notes and items left in her bag. Weaving bits of magic, city lore and bittersweet romance into each of the many plot lines, Resau has again crafted a complex and satisfying novel that is both a mystery and a tender, wise meditation on love and self-identity.  Read More 

Dear Sophie,

Happy birthday to my favorite little sister! I've been trying to recollect the day you were born so I can gush about it in an appropriately sentimental fashion, but I'm afraid it's all a blank.

From A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper

KIRKUS REVIEW

Sophie is a princess living in a crumbling castle on a tiny, remote island kingdom. Upon receiving a journal on her 16th birthday, she begins the saga of a pivotal year in her life and that of her isolated, impoverished and very eccentric family. It is 1936, and the madness that has begun to envelop Europe manages to affect her world and change it forever. Along the way she experiences loss, danger and Nazis, facing it all with a previously unsuspected reservoir of courage. There is much humor as well, in the antics of tomboy sister Henry and in the effervescence of brother Toby, who is heir to this improbable kingdom. Cooper has created a strong cast of odd, interesting characters and makes even the strangeness of the setting and events seem completely plausible. The author consciously echoes elements of Dodie Smith’s classic I Capture the Castle, but it is no mere copy. There is romance, adventure, a touch of the supernatural and a winning heroine who will touch the heart. Compelling.  Read More