By Frank Cottrell Boyce
Walden Pond Press | 320pgs
Release Date: January 19, 2010
Twelve-year-old Liam is prematurely forced into the role of a grown up in Cosmic, bestselling author Frank Cottrell Boyce’s third children’s book. His huge summer growth spurt and facial hair make him look more like a dad than a kid, and Liam, along with friend Florida, take advantage of this fact when they enter a contest as father and daughter. The pair win a trip on the first rocket ship to carry civilian passengers into space, with Liam serving as the “adult chaperon” to four other children. When the spaceship soars out of control 239,000 miles away from earth, it is up to Liam, with his new found maturity and finely honed World of Warcraft skills to save the day. This humorous, science fiction adventure, is also a touching story that examines the true meaning of maturity and the responsibility of fatherhood.
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New cover design by UK publisher Hamish Hamilton.
Beloved, yet reclusive, author J.D. Salinger passed away on Wednesday at the age of 91. Though he had not published new material or made public appearances in decades, he was still considered an icon of American literature. Salinger published just four books between the years of 1951 and 1963: The Catcher in the Rye, Nine Stories, Franny and Zooey and Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction, and published his last short story in 1965. His first (and only) full length novel, The Catcher in the Rye, shot him to fame and forced him into the limelight he would soon come to abhor. With 16-year-old Holden Caulfield’s angry and honest narration, The Catcher in the Rye, stuck a chord with young people around the world, and inspired generations. The Guardian credits him with “inventing the 20th-century teenager”.
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By Reif Larsen
The Penguin Press HC ©2009 | Hardcover 400pgs
T. S. Spivet, a 12 year old map making virtuoso, embarks on a strange, yet exciting, cross-country trek in The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet. After receiving the surprising news that he has won the Smithsonian’s coveted Baird Award, he leaves the quiet Coppertop Ranch under cover of darkness; a short farewell note stuffed in the cookie jar. His plan is to ride the rails hobo-style, from his home in Montana all the way to the gleaming streets of Washington D.C., and attend the Baird Award ceremony. Equipped with his essential cartographic tools, a few good luck charms and a mysterious notebook filched from his mother’s study, T.S. leaves behind his disjointed family. “I did not belong here,” he thought. “I was not a creature of the high country.”
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By Robert Crais
Putnam Adult | 320pgs
Release Date: January 12, 2010
In The First Rule, Robert Crais’ second novel to feature Joe Pike as the lead character, the private detective fights to clear an old friend’s name. Frank Meyer appears to be a successful business and family man, until the day his home is invaded and he and his family are brutally murdered. A shadow of doubt is soon cast over Meyer’s character when the LAPD discovers his link to Pike, and their history as professional mercenaries. Adamant that his friend was on the straight and narrow, Pike works to solve Meyer’s murder in his characteristic strong, aloof style. With the help of partner Elvis Cole, Pike descends into the underworld of Eastern European organized crime, to find the truth and prove Meyer’s innocence.
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The Guardian has proclaimed JK Rowling the winner of the last decade, as far as book sales go. The Harry Potter author dominated the bestsellers lists during the “noughties”, selling more than 29 million books, prompting the New York Times to create a new bestsellers list for children’s books, and racking up sales of over $360 million (£225.9 million). Though she characteristically shied away from the press, Rowling’s personal story became mythologized as well: A struggling single mother, toils away in obscurity on a story about a boy wizard, only to hit it big with her first published novel. Really, really big. Though Rowling’s first royalty check for the UK publication of Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone (published in the U.S. as Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone) was a meager $960.00 (£600), she was a millionaire just one year later. Thanks to the continued popularity of the Harry Potter books, movie franchise and merchandise licensing, Rowling is now reported to be worth about $1 billion (£545 million).
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By Tami Hoag
Dutton Adult | 432pgs
Release Date: December 29, 2009
Tami Hoag takes readers on an intense hunt for a serial killer in her latest thriller, Deeper Than the Dead. The story opens in 1984, when three children stumble upon a partially buried corpse in the woods. The female victim’s eyes and mouth have been glued shut, and Detective Tony Mendez quickly recognizes this as the work of a serial murderer. In this time, DNA matching and internet searches are still the stuff of science fiction. But, Mendez hopes to use the most cutting edge techniques available to catch the killer, and reaches out to the FBI’s newly formed criminal profiling unit for help. They soon zero in on a suspect, and enlist the assistance of school teacher Anne Navarro to learn more about the man and his young son. If their suspicions are true, and this pillar of the community really is a cold-blooded killer, the affluent town of Oak Knoll, CA will be rocked to its foundations.
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After 50 years of writing mystery novels, author P.D. James knows a thing or two about crafting a well-written plot. In her new non-fiction book, Talking About Detective Fiction, James discusses the history of the mystery genre and the construct of a good crime novel. “There must be a central mystery,” she explains, “and one that by the end of the book is solved satisfactorily and logically, not by good luck or intuition, but by intelligent deduction from clues honestly if deceptively presented.” James focuses primarily on British authors, and her opinions of some of the genre’s icons are surprising and amusing. Agatha Christie, she posits, “hasn’t in my view had a profound influence on the later development of the detective story.” Though James does offer this backhanded compliment to mystery legend: “Perhaps her greatest strength was that she never overstepped the limits of her talent.” James also prefers Dr. Watson over Sherlock Holmes, finding his character more genuine and relatable, though she does raise some questions about the coziness of their household.
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By Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
Atria | 320pgs
Release Date: December 15, 2009
Nanny Returns, the much-anticipated sequel to the The Nanny Diaries, picks up twelve years after the original hit novel left off. Nan and her husband, “Harvard Hottie” Ryan, have returned to New York after a long period of living abroad to begin a new life. Amid the chaos of starting a business, renovating their home and adjusting to a new position at a pretentious private school, Nan re-connects with Grayer X, and his younger brother Stilton. To placate their feelings of abandonment at her departure over a decade ago, she vows to help the boys through their parents’ nasty divorce. As she is again sucked into the X family’s vicious society of privilege and power, she witnesses the damage that this life has done to the boys. These realizations, along with Ryan’s push to start a family, make Nan question whether or not she has the stomach for motherhood.
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Nearly 200 years after her death, Jane Austen remains one of the world’s best-loved authors. Much has been written about her work and life, and for decades it was widely accepted that she died from Addison’s disease, a rare disorder in which the adrenal gland does not produce enough hormones. However, CNN reports that social scientist Katherine White disputes the diagnosis and theorizes that Austen died of tuberculosis. An article for the British Medical Journal published in 1964, was the first to suggest Austen had Addison’s disease. White, who also suffers from the disease, recently read the article and felt the author’s symptoms did not add up. Sufferers often experience painful headaches and verbal difficulties. But in a letter to a friend written just two months before hear death, Austen states: “My head was always clear, and I had scarcely any pain.” Though this is only anectodal evidence from two centuries ago, endocrinology expert Kenneth Burman agrees there is some merit to White’s theory, due to the wide spread of tuberculosis during the author’s lifetime. Though he warns: “Retrospective diagnosis is very speculative. It’s unknowable with certainty.”
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By Sue Grafton
Putnam Adult | 416pgs
ReleaseDate: December 1, 2009
Private Investigator Kinsey Millhone returns in U is for Undertow, the 21st installment of Sue Grafton’s beloved series. The book opens in April of 1988, when a man named Michael Sutton arrives at Kinsey’s office, claiming to have recovered memories related to an unsolved kidnapping of a young girl in 1972. Though Kinsey is skeptical about Sutton’s story, his offer to pay in cash induces her to take on the case, and an unmarked grave is soon discovered. As Kinsey begins to uncover decades-old secrets, new information comes to light about Sutton’s past and the validity of his memories is called into question. It is up to Kinsey to unravel the truth from a tangled web of falsehoods, and get justice for the young girl abducted decades ago.
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