More New Books

Ghost Hands: A Story Inspired by Patagonia’s Cave if the Hands

by T.A. Barron and illustrated by William Low

Auki wants to go hunt with the men of his tribe, but every year his father tells him to wait another year. So Auki practices his running, hurling a spear, and throwing a rope to get ready. The one thing Auki is not good at practicing is his patience. This summer Auki asks his father again if he can hunt, but his father tells him no, that to hunt he must be strong and brave. The pumas also hunt the guanaco, and Auki’s father is afraid that the puma could get Auki. So the next morning Auki goes out to hunt all alone. Auki wants to find a puma and follow it back to its den, and then he thinks that he will prove he is ready to hunt. Auki looks for the puma, and he knows that the puma is not in the canyon where the cave is that the elders visit (and maybe some ghosts, too). Auki hides on the grassy slope next to the canyon and waits. Auki waits all day and gets hot and thirsty. Finally, he sees something move at the edge of the grass. It is a puma, who pounces at Auki. Auki falls down into the canyon and hurts his foot. Auki knows with his hurt foot that he cannot climb back up, so he decides to crawl down into the cave. While Auki is putting his foot in the cold water of the canyon stream, he notices something colorful in the cave. He crawls closer to see what it is. Auki sees colorful hands all over the cave. He thinks they are ghost hands, and he becomes afraid. Soon a man comes out with some paint in a bowl and tells Auki to leave. He tells Auki he is Pajar, the painter of the people. Auki asks why Pajar paints only hands, but Pajar just tells him to leave again. Suddenly, they both see the puma walking into the cave. Will the Puma get Auki and Pajar? Will Auki ever find out why only hands are painted in the cave? Will anything else get painted into the cave?

Sleeping Bootsie

by Maribeth Boelts and illustrated by Patricia Cantor

There once was a lonely little kitten that kept getting shooed away by everyone. Then one day the kitten hides in basket that gets taken into a castle. Once the kitten looks out of the basket, she sees a little maiden working hard washing and ironing the royal family’s clothes. She hears the maiden wish for a friend. The maiden finds the kitten and sees the little white paws that the kitten has. Meg, the maiden, tells the kitten that if the queen lets her keep the kitten, she will name the kitten Bootsie. So Meg puts Bootsie into the queen’s dress pocket. When the queen finds Bootsie, she tells Meg that every castle needs a kitten, and then the queen asks Meg to take care of Bootsie. The king and queen then throw a ball to celebrate the new kitten. They invite three good fairies to come. Each fairy gives Bootsie a gift. Pink Fairy makes her playful, while Purple Fairy gives Bootsie a beautiful meow. Then Yellow Fairy gives Bootsie a kind heart. Suddenly, Silver Fairy comes into the ball. She was not invited, and she is very angry. Silver Fairy says that if Bootsie’s paw were to ever touch water, then Bootsie would sleep until she heard her happiest sound. The king and queen get rid of all of the water in and around the castle, and they stop taking baths. Bootsie is not allowed to leave the castle and no one plays. This makes Bootsie said, and she stops meowing. One day a new maid brings her pet goldfish into the castle. Bootsie watches the fish for a little while, and then she touches the water with her paw and goes to sleep. Will anyone be able to figure out what Bootsie’s happiest sound is? Will anyone figure out who that new maid was? Will Bootsie ever wake up? What story is similar to this one?

My Forever Friends

by Julie Bowe

Ida’s best friend is Stacey, and she even has a “frenemy” in Jenna. So she always has someone to hang out with, as she is with Stacey, Jenna, and Brooke at Jenna’s mom’s baby shower. Jenna and Brooke used to be best friends, but now the two girls fight all of the time. Jenna even likes to remind Brooke that her mother, not Brooke’s, is in charge of the school auction and carnival. After Ida’s mother picks her up, though, her mother tells her that they will be keeping Jenna and her sister Rachel, so that their mother can get some extra rest for the baby. Ida’s mother even says that Jenna’s mother is letting Brooke’s mother lead the auction and carnival. Ida knows that Jenna is not going to be happy about that. This fact only makes Jenna angrier with Brooke. The next day, Mr. Crow tells that class that they will be making a quilt to sell at the school auction, they will be going to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum for the class trip, and that each “friendship circle” in the room will be helping with a carnival game booth. The guys are not excited about the quilt, but Mr. Crow reminds them that the auction is to raise money for new playground equipment. While Jenna and Rachel are staying with Ida, Ida notices how much Jenna likes to plan ahead for everything. Jenna is also not very nice to her sister, which makes Ida unhappy. In class, Jenna and Brooke are getting along less and less, and now Ida is starting to not feel happy with Brooke, either. Then Jenna tells Ida that she is her best friend and wants them to put pictures of each other into their noodle frames. This confuses Ida, because she doesn’t want to be mean to Jenna. Then when Stacey comes to stay with Ida Mae over the weekend, all she seems to do is talk about Brooke. They even have to meet Brooke at the park. At school that Monday, Brooke decides she doesn’t want to hang out with Jenna anymore. She takes Meeka, Jolene, and Stacey with her. Ida tells them that everyone is losing and sticks with Jenna. Then Brooke makes sure that none of her “group” interacts with Ida, Jenna, or Randi, but the only person who seems to mind is Ida. Ida hates that all the girls are fighting, but she doesn’t know what to do about it. Ida also wants Jenna to feel better now that so much is happening with her family. Soon Ida is very tired of all of the girls fighting, and she wants to figure out how to make everyone happy again. Will Ida be able to come up with a way of fixing things and having everyone be friends again? Will Brooke and Jenna ever tell each other they are sorry and become best friends again? Will Jenna’s family be okay, and will she feel better about the way things are?

Prudence Wants a Pet

by Cathleen Daly and illustrated by Stephen Michael King

Prudence really, really, really wants a pet, but her parents tell her no. Prudence’s mom and dad believe that a pet will be too expensive and too much trouble. So Prudence decides to make a branch her pet. Prudence takes Branch to school and for walks. Unfortunately, Prudence’s dad trips over Branch over and over again on the porch, so her father breaks Branch and puts it on the woodpile. The Prudence finds a new pet, Twig. Unfortunately, Prudence leaves Twig in her wet dress, and Twig gets lost in the washing machine. Prudence asks her parents for a pet again, but the answer is still no. So Prudence decides to make a shoe a pet. She sees that inside the shoe, its name is Formal Footwear. Prudence takes Formal Footwear for walks and teaches it some tricks. However, Formal Footwear doesn’t lick Prudence or jump in her lap. So she leaves Formal Footwear in the junk yard. Finally, Prudence finds a new pet in her little brother, Milo. Unfortunately, Milo does not like the food that Prudence gives him, and her parents are not happy that she made Milo feel sick. They still don’t want her to have a pet either. What other things will Prudence find to make a pet? Will Prudence ever get the real pet that she wants? What will that pet be? Will this make Prudence really happy?