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Welcome to the Bookshelf Detective, a site packed with tricks and tips for readers and writers of children's literature. Thank you for visiting!
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Kim Tomsic
Showing posts with label Boulder Bookstore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boulder Bookstore. Show all posts

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Celebrate Chinese New Year with Lady Dai and the Ancient Chinese Treasures of Mawangdui

Christine Liu-Perkins
Photo by David Schlatter














EVENT February 18, 2015 6:00 – 7:15 PM Meadows Branch Library Join Christine Liu-Perkins, author of
At Home in Her Tomb: Lady Dai and the Ancient Chinese Treasures of Mawangdui, for an introduction to highlights of the tombs of Mawangdui (including the famous mummy) and the story behind her writing this nonfiction book. Make a Chinese double-coin knot or knotted necklace to celebrate the Year of the Goat! Celebrate Chinese New Year with Christine Liu-Perkins ─── Learn about the tombs of Mawangdui, one of China's most significant archaeological sites ─ Make a Chinese double-coin knot ─ Enjoy light refreshments ─── RSVP to Miho Shida (miho@earthlink.net)


KIRKUS REVIEW


"Debut author Liu-Perkins’ infectious curiosity shines in this exploration of a Han dynasty burial chamber excavated in 1972."
"The “best preserved body in the world.” This honor goes to no ordinary mummy. It belongs to the remains of one Chinese woman known as the Marchioness of Dai, or Lady Dai. Buried beneath two hills called Mawangdui, Lady Dai’s tomb held three nobles: the marquis Li Cang, his wife, Lady Dai, and apparently one of their sons. As archaeologists dug through layers of white clay and charcoal, they uncovered more than 3,000 “astonishingly well-preserved” artifacts. Most amazing of all was Lady Dai’s body. After being buried for almost 2,200 years, her skin remained moist, her joints were movable, and her finger- and toeprints were still discernible. Other rare finds included an elaborate silk painting called a feiyi and the oldest and largest stash of silk books ever discovered in China. Based on 14 years of extensive research, the author’s storytelling is clear, inviting and filled with awe, as if she’s right there alongside the dig experts. Fictionalized vignettes of Lady Dai’s life that introduce each chapter add charm and perspective. Artifact photographs and illustrations heighten the fascination. In particular, Brannen’s illustration of Lady Dai’s chamber of multiple, nested coffins demonstrates the creative ingenuity of these ancient embalmers.
Move over King Tut. Lady Dai is in the house. (historical note, author’s note, glossary, selected bibliography) (Nonfiction. 10-14)"

BUYING LINKS:
TATTERED COVER
BOULDER BOOKSTORE
BARNES AND NOBLE
AMAZON 


  • Age Range: 9 - 12 years
  • Grade Level: 4 - 7
  • Hardcover: 80 pages
  • Publisher: Charlesbridge (April 8, 2014)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1580893708

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Future of Us: Hagen Daz at Carrot Calories

THE FUTURE OF US: Review by Kim Tomsic         

         It's a book that offers two for the price of one! The Future of Us by Carolyn Mackler and Jay Asher will capture your imagination within nanoseconds. You couldn't possibly expect anything less; Mackler and Asher are two of YA’s best authors. Smoosh together The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things with Thirteen Reasons Why and the result is crafty innovation--The Future of Us.
      
Jacket flap: It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long - at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail,his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.

By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right - and wrong - in the present

     Enjoying Mackler and Asher’s combined talent is like paying for an iPad and getting a free iPhone thrown in the mix; it’s like eating Hagen Daz plus crème brulee at the cost of carrot calories; it’s like paying for Ramada, but staying at the Four Seasons. You get my point.

The Future of Us is told in two alternating first person points of view: high school juniors Emma and Josh. Furthermore it’s told in the unusual format of present tense, which makes the stakes feel high. 
Many plot points keep the pages turning in this exciting book--for example there's the nostalgal of life before texting, before caller ID and before Pluto was axed off the list of planets. There's also the thrilling side of the book when readers conjure the heap of possibilities in their own life, possibilities that could be if glimpsing the future was possible.

The Future of Us, written by two award winning SCBWI members,  is a must read and easily earns a five out of five lollipop rating.
Available at:


ISBN-10: 1595144919
ISBN-13: 9781595144911
Published: Razorbill, 11/21/2011

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