Tag: Delacorte Press

Posted in Fiction, Intermediate

A new Nate the Great adventure!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Nate the Great and the Star Spangled Parrot, by Andrew Sharmat/Illustrated by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov, (June 2024, Delacorte Press), $14.99, ISBN: 9780593805558

Ages 6-9

Nate the Great’s back on the case, and this time it’s a double whammy: first, his friend Pip asks for Nate’s help locating his drone parrot, Penelope. The next day, his friend Claude asks for help finding his “brand new” friend, a drone named Baxter. It’s up to Nate to put the pieces together and figure out where the drone went, and get it back to the original owner. Andrew Sharmat, son of the original Nate the Great author Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, turns in another fun whodunit with Nate’s trademark wry sense of humor and keen ability to figure out a mystery. The hardcover-bound edition will hold up to multiple reads and circulations, and the color illustrations will keep readers engaged and delighted. The story centers on a July 4th picnic, so add this to your July 4th displays, too.

Want an activity to extend reading? SuperTeacher Worksheets has character matches and word searches for free! Want to incorporate Nate the Great into Summer Reading? Create your own detective mystery (it can be a scavenger hunt; I love those) and invite your sleuths to help!

 

Posted in Realistic Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Ahh, Paris… Kisses and Croissants

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Kisses and Croissants, by Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau, (April 2021, Delacorte Press), $18.99, ISBN: 9780593173572

Ages 12+

Seventeen-year-old Mia has dancing in her blood: her great-great-great grandmother, according to a family legend, was one of the girls painted by the artist Degas when she danced at the Paris Opera. She lives and breathes ballet, with dreams of being accepted by the American Ballet Theatre. When she’s accepted for a summer program at Institut de l’Opéra de Paris, she’s thrilled – this could be her chance! – but she’s not expecting to have to share a room with her dance rival, Audrey. And she’s definitely not expecting Louis, a handsome young Frenchman with a Vespa, who offers to be her tour guide around Paris. As she and Louis start exploring Paris – and their feelings for each other – together, Mia has to consider what is truly most important in her life, and whether there’s room for both Louis and ballet. A YA romance with an intriguing mystery taking place in the heart of Paris, Kisses and Croissants is perfect for readers with a bit of wanderlust. There’s friendship, competition, a little splash of family strife, and the quest for perfection that drives Mia and her friends. Very readable, with very likable characters. Give this to your Anna and the French Kiss, Love & Gelato, and Isla and the Happily Ever After fans. With all the quarantining we’ve had to do lately, expect road trip romance to bring the readers this summer! Lists from author Ashlee Cowles,  Book Addicts Guide, and Brightly will help you pull together a great display.

Posted in Fantasy, Teen

Alexandra Moni’s Suspicion – A touch of the paranormal in this mystery

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

suspicionSuspicion, by Alexandra Moni (Dec. 2014, Delacorte Press), $17.99, ISBN: 9780385743891

Recommended for ages 13+

When Imogen Rockford was 10, she lost her parents, aunt, and uncle in a fire that raged out of control. Extended members of the British upper class, they were enjoying their annual gathering at the family estate when the fire in the garden maze consumed them. Seven years later, she’s living with her guardian in New York City when the call comes in – her grandfather has been dead for three years, and her cousin-next in line for the title of Duchess-has just died . Imogen is the new Duchess of Rockford, and is immediately swept into a new life in Britain, on the same estate where her family died. There are family secrets that haunt her, especially the secret of the infamous fifth Duchess, and what she left in the maze…

I’ve got to be honest, this book was good without the addition of the paranormal details. If anything, the paranormal plot brought down the book for me, bringing me out of the story’s flow with what felt like tacked-on additions. The paranormal could have been alluded to, or done away with entirely, and it would have strengthened the rest of the book.