Carking Good Read: Order it Now!

One way to guarantee that you will get the flight attendant's attention on a long plane trip is to be reading a book like INVISIBLE SUN by David Macinnis Gill (Greenwillow, April 2012). No one that saw me reading the ARC passed by without a comment on the hunky guy and gal who glare from the cover. However, we all know better than to judge a book by its cover, right? This companion to BLACK HOLE SUN delivers on the promise of the cover beautifully. Jacob, aka Durango, is back. So are Mimi and Vienne. Durango's father has died; Durango is determined to discover secrets his father kept even from him. So, the dauntless duo plan to tap into some of the files kept hidden. It seems a rather simple plan, but it sets into motion something that neither could have anticipated fully. Non-stop action and some seriously funny moments amid the explosions, gunfire, and narrow escapes are certainly emblematic of Gill's novel (and its predecessors including SOUL ENCHILADA). However, this is not simply an romp on Mars. Carefully crafted characters and a well designed universe are also present. This is sci-fi (not Syfy) with bite. Be sure to look for the homages to other works as Durango pursues Vienne and his own (sometimes uncertain) future. <205>

USE YOU MUST THE FORCE

DARTH PAPER STRIKES BACK by Tom Angleberger (Amulet 2011) continues the saga of Dwight and Origami Yoda. As the novel opens, Harold, one of Dwight's classmates, is using his own origami Darth Vader to mock Dwight and Origami Yoda. A misunderstanding lands Dwight in trouble once again with the principal who is more than a little weary with Origami Yoda and Dwight. She proposes sending Dwight to a different school, one for behavior problems. Dwight asks Tommy to put together a case file to share with the school board at his hearing. Once again, Tommy and his friends come to the aid of their friend Dwight and the wise Origami Yoda. <435>

Angleberger has a good ear for dialog, especially the way middle school kids can mock one another and treat someone with compassion or with concern. The voices that are included in Tommy's case file will be familiar to those who read THE STRANGE CASE OF ORIGAMI YODA. However, new readers will be able to jump right into this second story as well. Of course, instructions for folding a simple Yoda and then a Darth Vader are included. Here is mine (with help from Kellee Moyee) at the ALAN workshop last November.