By John Dalton
Scribner | 336pgs
Release Date: July 19, 2011

Summary:
The Inverted Forest opens just days before Kindermann Forest Summer Camp is set to open for the 1996 season, when the camp director summarily fires all of the counselors for inappropriate behavior, and scrambles to find replacements. Among the newly minted staff is Wyatt Huddy, a gentle giant who suffers from a congenital defect that causes facial disfigurement. The rookie counselors get their first surprise on opening day when the rambunctious children they were expecting turn out to be mentally disabled adults arriving from the state hospital. The entire group must adjust to this unexpected situation, but Wyatt alone harbors the fear of being inadvertently mistaken for a disabled camper. As the days go on and a fellow counselor reveals his true, dangerous nature, Wyatt is swept up in a tragic event that impacts all those involved many years into the future. Read more…

The Harry Potter Alliance turns the lessons learned from series into real world action.

The debut of the final film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in theaters early this morning signifies a new chapter for the Harry Potter generation. Rather than an end, fans like Harry Potter Alliance Executive Director Andrew Slack, see the release of the eighth movie as a new beginning, an opportunity to turn the lessons learned from Harry Potter into action. In an article for the CNN website Slack writes of the gifts that JK Rowling’s creations have given to millions of readers. “Reality is mysterious. And the reality is that a fantasy book aimed at children has forever changed writing, publishing, literature, music, sports, social media and social activism.” Read more…

July 11th marked what would have been writer E.B. White’s 112th birthday. Born Elwyn Brooks White in Mt. Vernon, NY in 1899, the celebrated children’s author passed away in 1985 leaving behind a legacy of beloved stories. Stuart Little, The Trumpet of the Swan and the adored Charlotte’s Web have captivated children of all ages for decades. Publisher’s Weekly recently polled authors, publishers, teachers and librarians on the best children’s books ever published in the U.S., and Charlotte’s Web topped the list. Distinguished nonfiction writer Michael Sims pays tribute to White and delves into the creation of the iconic story of a spider and a pig in the new book The Story of Charlotte’s Web: E. B. White’s Eccentric Life in Nature and the Birth of an American Classic. Read more…

Former Gourmet magazine writer Barry Estabrook provides answers to anyone wondering why today’s supermarket tomatoes taste so bland in his new book Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 240pgs). The author explores tomato farming in South Florida, where the majority of U.S. tomatoes are grown in the winter months. On the surface Florida’s sandy, nutrient poor soil seems an odd choice to grow the red fruit, but the state’s warm winter weather allows the plants to grow in the off season, and farmers compensate by saturating the earth with dozens of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. Growers strive to create a uniformly shaped tomato that is hardy enough to survive transport across the country. The actual taste of the produce is no longer a factor, and even the color is not naturally achieved. Green tomatoes are gassed with ethylene to achieve their dull orange-red color. Read more…

Author Beverly Cleary has created beloved characters like Ramona Quimby.

Ever since Beverly Cleary published her first book, Henry Huggins in 1950, her work has become an integral part of childhood for generations of kids. More than a half a century and 91 million copies later, she has created a beloved cast of characters, including Ramona Quimby and big sister Beezus, that still capture the imagination of youngsters today. Benjamin Schwarz, the literary editor for The Altantic, recently interviewed the 95 year-old author and asked about how she balanced her budding writing career with the demands of her family as a young mother, and why her characters still appeal to 21st century children.

On starting out as a young writer and mother, she states plainly: “It wasn’t easy. I loved my family and I loved my young career. A neighborhood woman felt that I needed help and offered to come babysit the children. I would write while she looked after them. They would draw pictures and slide them under my door. It worked out nicely.” Read more…

©2011 Warner Bros.

The end is nigh, Potter fans. On Monday, people in the UK started camping out in London’s Trafalgar Square in anticipation of the world premier of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 that will take place on Thursday, July 7. The Guardian reports that prior to the screening, members of the cast and crew will stroll from a staged Diagon Alley set up in Trafalgar Square to the Odeon theater in Leicester Square. Fans outside of Britain have already made plans to flock to theaters next week, when the film is released world-wide. Yet, through all the excitement and anticipation, this ending is bittersweet. Many who have grown up with the books and movies, feel as if they are bidding farewell to their childhood. In a separate article, Naomi Alderman reflects on the enduring popularity of the series, and muses with a few friends on 7 bits of Harry Potter fantasy that they wish were real. Read more…

Steve Martin, the multi-talented, multi-hyphenate performer and Grammy winning banjo musician is set to perform his new song Me and Paul Revere with bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers on PBS’ A Capitol Fourth television special, airing Monday, July 4th at 8pm E.T. According to an interview with USA Today, the comedian based the song on the 1994 book Paul Revere’s Ride, which gives an historical account of the Revolutionary’s midnight ride. The critically acclaimed book, written by Brandeis University history professor David Hackett Fischer, outlines the American patriot’s biography and lays out the historical facts of the battles of Lexington and Concord. Read more…

If the fictional exploits of government spies like Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan and John Le Carré’s George Smiley don’t have the gritty realism some readers crave, they might try picking up a copy of Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World’s Stolen Treasures, written by former FBI agent Robert Wittman. Now in paperback, the bestseller reveals details of several cases that Wittman worked while heading up the FBI’s Art Crime Team. His real-life experiences have all the ingredients of a high-octane spy thriller: mob connected thugs, police informants, millions of dollars worth of stolen art and FBI sting operations. The common thread being Wittman, whose chameleon-like ability to slip into different personas helped bring hardened criminals to justice and recover millions of dollars in fine art. Read more…

By J.D. McGhoul with Pat Kilbane
Mythodrome, Inc. ©2011 | Hardcover 160pgs

For those who find themselves unexpectedly among the undead in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, The Brain Eater’s Bible: Sound Advice for the Newly Reanimated Zombie is a must read. Written from the perspective of J.D. McGhoul, an unusual zombie specimen who has retained both his mental faculties and physical agility, the book guides those new to the ways of the walking dead through the ins and outs of zombiedom. The brainchild (mmm, brains) of actor Pat Kilbane (Mad TV, Day of the Dead), this full-color tongue in cheek treatise is chockfull of practical advice, dark humor, detailed diagrams and delightfully gruesome photographs featuring stellar creature designs by special effects pro Dean Jones. Throughout the book, the cold, hard facts of the undead existence are intermixed with excerpts from McGhoul’s diary, which chronicles his personal zombie journey. His private thoughts, revelations and musings will be quite comforting to anyone who has woken up looking “like the ass end of a rotten pizza.” Read more…

For the past week, the Muggle world has been furiously guessing about the details of JK Rowling’s new website, hinted at with a mysterious splash page that pointed to a countdown video on YouTube. Today, Rowling released the details at press conference held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. “Pottermore has been a really great way to give back to the Harry Potter readership, who made the books such a big success,” she announced. In a video screened at the conference, and now posted on the Pottermore home page, the author thanked her readers. “No author could have asked for a more wonderful, diverse and loyal readership.” Rowling then went on to explain the particulars of the site.

“Digital generations will be able to enjoy a safe, unique online reading experience built around the Harry Potter books,” stated Rowling. “Pottermore will be the place where fans of any age can share, participate in and rediscover the stories. It will also be the exclusive place to purchase digital audio books and for the first time e-books in the Harry Potter series. I’ll be joining in too because I will be sharing additional information I’ve been hoarding for years about the world of Harry Potter.” Read more…