Please?

I don't know if anyone out there wants to buy me a present, but I really really want Jerry Pinkney's new The Lion and the Mouse. This soon-to-be-classic tells the traditional fable in via a wordless book. The exceptional illustrations not only tell the original story, but add a lovely familial twist as you see the title characters' actions in light of their family obligations. Beautiful. My coworker and I took it out to a school visit last week and the kids were enthralled. (Great choice TH!) Absolutely my favorite picture book of the year. No contest.

I think that not only do I want a copy, but I want to give one to my Aunt and Uncle. You see, Mr. Pinkney reminds me a lot of my Uncle Nick. That's what surprised me the most when I met the great illustrator last year - he looked like Uncle Nick. Well, he did as much as an African-American artist can look like an Italian-American tech guy, I guess.

Oh, and when I'm ignoring my sensible remember-there-are-starving-children self, I also want a first edition of Hunger Games. Just so you know.

Review - Graceling by Kristin Cashore

While marketed to young adults, I think many grown adults will also share my love of this debut fantasy novel. Sixteen year-old Katsa lives in a world divided into seven kingdoms where some people are born with 'graces' or superhuman skill in a certain area. For some this grace may be mundane: cooking, tying knots or swimming. But for Katsa her grace is a matter of life and death. She killed a man for the first time at age eight, before anyone realized that her grace made her a born assassin. For the past several years, her uncle, the power-hungry ruler of her kingdom, has been using Katsa as as a strongarm and she's tired of it. The young graceling has assembled and runs a secret council that counteracts some of the evil effects of her uncle king. But as her underground rebellion grows, it becomes more and more dangerous.

When Katsa meets Po, a prince from another kingdom who's grace makes him the best fighter in the land, besides Katsa, her world changes. She finds not only a sparring partner to help her hone her gift, but a good friend who understands the curse of a dangerous grace. The graceling pair soon become the secret council's only hope to save the Kingdoms from a mysterious villain. Without spoiling the book, it is safe to say that things are not what they seem for Katsa and Po. And the adventure-laced journey to save the Kingdoms becomes for Katsa a journey of discovery and coming of age.

This review only begins to describe the contents of the 471-page tome. Please just trust me that Graceling is all that I look for in an adventure novel and since reading it almost a year ago, I've been recommending it to all of the adults that I can.


Additional Notes:

• There is enough sexual content that, in my humble opinion, if Graceling was a movie, it would probably be rated PG13.
• The Full Cast Audio team has done a superb job with the audio version of Graceling, capturing the characters just how I imagined them. Even though I'd read the book multiple times, the audio version seemed new and kept me looking for reasons to get in or stay in the car so I could listen longer. So definitely listen if you get a chance.
  
• I got to briefly meet Kristin Cashore at Book Expo America 2009 in May and I told her that not only did my female friends and relatives love the book, but my not-quite-senior-citizen father was a huge fan. She was pleased and replied that she actually strove to make her books appealing her own father, and not just her obvious audience of young women. Ms. Cashore has a very kind and approachable manner about her, both on her blog and in person.
  
• A prequel to Graceling comes out in October 2009. I have an extra ARC of such prequel, Fire, so feel free to ask for it! Some who have borrowed such ARC claim that the new title is better than the first. I disagree, but did enjoy it and have to marvel at Ms. Cashore's ingenuity!