MATILDA'S UPSIDE DOWN SMILE

Spring 2012 is in the air and the TRRC Children's Corner is pleased to introduce young readers to Author Janet Yaeger's MATILDA'S UPSIDE DOWN SMILE. Book one is a continous series, we meet Matilda, the little girl with a constant frown until she hangs from a tree limb and the frown turns into an upside down smile.

The fast paced story is a clever way for young readers (ages 4 to 7) to recognize individual differences in a positive light. Published by Casa de Snapdragon and beautifully illustrated by Rusty Watson, this poignant introduction to what is sure to be a popular series can be purchased at Amazon.Com and Barnes and Noble.

CANTERWOOD CREST SERIES - A Change Is Coming

Young girls between the ages of 9 and 13 tend to be strict followers of the wonderful Canterwood Crest Series, written by Jessica Burkhart. The stories spotlight five girls that attend Canterwood Crest Academy, an elite boarding school that trains promising equestrians.

With the release of Books 11 and 12, SCANDALS, RUMORS, LIES and UNFRIENDLY COMPETITION, readers find eighth grader Sasha Silver and her teammates settling into their positions on the YENT. Sasha also reunites with her crush, Jacob, gains a new BFF and roommate, and welcomes a superstar rider from her hometown to Canterwood Crest. The end of Book 12 also brings about the end of the series featuring Sasha as the key character and narrator. In a "Super Special" to be released on May 3, 2011, readers will meet the new girl in town.

For those young ladies that have never read a Canterwood Crest story, visit www.canterwoodcrest.com for information on the previous ten book.

ON THE BLUE COMET

As winter rapidly progresses, and the snow and bone chilling winds keep us confined to the indoors, we find ourselves with more reading time on our hands. Thanks to having met and chatted with a charming ten year old in our local Borders, who recommended I try a great train story, I have now been introduced to nine year old Oscar Ogilvie. Oscar lives in Cairo, Illinois with his dad during the days leading up to the 1929 stock market crash.

Things are still peaceful in Oscar's world and he and his dad enjoy passing their evenings playing with primo Lionel train sets. Their favorite and most prestigious addition is The Blue Comet, which Oscar received for his ninth birthday. When the stock market crashes and the financial depression sets in, Oscar's dad loses his job and the bank forecloses on Oscar's home. The trains are confiscated by the bank owner as well. Oscar is forced to move in with his Aunt Carmen and his dad travels to California to find work. Oscar is forced to worship his adoring trains from a distance. He sees them in the lobby of the local bank on a daily basis. Through meeting a down and out former teacher, Oscar is awarded an opportunity to visit and play with his trains after hours in the bank. It is during such a visit that Oscar is privy to a horrible crime and in order to save his life, dives into the train display traveling through time and taking a real ride on his beloved Blue Comet.

Young readers will enjoy the action of traveling across country in 1931. Oscar meets a variety of fictional and historical characters as he seeks to meet up with his dad and right some wrongs that occur in the story. ON THE BLUE COMET is a magical, suspenseful and fun book. It can currently be found at any of the chain bookstores, at amazon.com for $11.55 for hardcover, or if you're lucky enough to have an iPad, Kindle, iPod Touch or iPhone, it can be downloaded from amazon for $9.99.

WINTER'S FANTASY & MAGIC - Two Special Series

Imagine being forced to visit your grandparents for two weeks while your parents go off on a cruise. This may be fun for some kids, but for Kendra age 13 and Seth 11 they don't have a real relationship with their Grandma and Grandpa who has never bothered to spend a lot of time with them. Kendra and Seth are already counting the days until they can return home.

This all changes when they enter the gates of Fablehaven, their grandparents' country estate in Connecticut. From the time the two set foot in the door they realize something is not as it should be. Through some mischievous deductions Kendra and Seth learn their grandparents are caretakers of a magical sanctuary complete with enchanted milk, fairies, satyrs and a resident evil witch.

The fun begins in book one, FABLEHAVEN, and continues for four books. Author Brandon Mull has captured the heart and imagination of every youngster with this series and adults are reading it too. Books one through four are in paperback and cost $6.99, while book five remains in hardcover for a slightly higher price. You'll want to put this series on your Christmas list!

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Another book series I'd like to share with you is 100 CUPBOARDS by N. D. Wilson. Twelve year old Henry York's parents have been kidnapped and he is sent to a small town in Kansas to live with his aunt and uncle. At night while in bed he hears mysterious bumps and thumps on the other side of the attic wall. When debris falls on him he looks up to find odd things emerging from the wall above his bed. He scrapes off the plaster on the wall and finds 99 cupboards of all different shapes and sizes. Through each cupboard Henry can see a different activity going on and he will soon learn that these are not just cupboards but portals to other worlds.

There are four books in this fun filled series and Henry takes young readers on a adventurous tour of the unique cupboards. This is a series not to be missed! Books in the 100 CUPBOARD series are $6.99 a copy.

I'll have more fun series to introduce you to throughout this fall and winter, so make sure you visit the Kid's Corner each month for updates!

Livia

TRRC Kid's Corner Inaguration

Welcome to the debut of The Romance Readers Connection, Kids Corner. Here we'll discuss Independent Reader and Young Adult Books of all types. From the classic children stories to the glam and paranormal, we'll cover them all and we invite you and your parents to post and discuss any titles you feel we have overlooked.

Each month we'll spotlight one particular book and we'll urge you to read it and post your comments. For the month of October it's THE BOOTLEGGER'S SECRET by Michael Springer.

It is summer 1941 and Mark Penn and Swede Larson, two eleven year
year olds that live in Minnesota are hanging out by the river where
they've built their treehouse. It's a hot summer day and a swim is a
necessity. Slowly submerging from the river is a 1931 Pierce-Arrow.
The hood ornament is just breaking the surface and Swede dives down
and inside the car and comes up with a gold cigarette case
containing Turkish filter-tips and a photograph of a very
beautiful woman. This sets off a fire storm of investigations.

The corpse of the owner of the Pierce-Arrow is later recovered and
it turns out he was a "bootlegger" and a member of Al Capone's
Chicago gang. He and his car have been missing for eight years and
that marevelous cigarette case that is so attractive to the two
boys contains a secret compartment with data the local police and
treasury agents would love to have. Unfortunately so would the
Chicago gangsters. When the case disappears Mark and Swede are
caught in a trap between the Treasury men and the gangsters.

Mark and Swede are in for a very exciting and scary summer. Where
previously they had their summer baseball jobs (Mark is a team
batboy and Swede a ball shagger) and the Ringling Brothers,
Barnum & Bailey Circus to look forward to, they now have a
mystery to solve. . . . . hopefully without getting harmed themselves.

THE BOOTLEGGER'S SECRET is published as a tradesize paperback and is issued by Outskirts Press. None of the chain or independent bookstores had a copy of this book but the online stores carry copies. It is a fun fast-paced story that holds real insight into life in the United States the summer before World War II.