Author: Loree Burns

THE ALCHEMY OF GRIEF
By Emily Ferrara
Bordighera Press, 2007

Category: Poetry

Emily Ferrara and I attend the same UU Church and I am excited to let you know about her new book of poetry. THE ALCHEMY OF GRIEF won the 2006 Bordighera Poetry Prize and will be published in a bilingual translation (English and Italian) by Bordighera Press. Here’s what poet and physician Richard. M. Berlin has to say about the book:

“In her exquisite first collection of poems, Emily Ferrara reveals the unexpected power of regeneration at the core of a grieving mother’s heart. From the initial hot coals of loss to her final vision of God’s force, these poems take us on a journey of transformation. Catalyzed by nature, faith, family and friendship, written in a voice that is stunning and direct, Ferrara weaves her magic with the language of poetry. These poems convince me, that in Ferrara’s skilled hands, we truly have a poetry of healing.”

Emily will celebrate the release of THE ALCHEMY OF GRIEF in New York and in Worcester. Do join her if you can, and look for THE ALCHEMY OF GRIEF in November.

BOOK LAUNCH
November 8, 2007, 6:30 pm
John D. Calandra Italian American Institute
City University of New York Graduate Center
25 West 43rd Street, 17th floor, NY , NY

BILINGUAL READING & BOOK-SIGNING
November 19,2007, 7 pm
The Gene J. DeFuedis Italian American Cultural Center
28 Mulberry Street, Worcester , MA

Ack! I have so many books I want to post about this week … but I’ve had some work to tend to, and some reading to finish, and then there is the matter of a teeny, tiny birthday BASH happening at our house on Saturday. I’ve resorted to a list. Forgive me!

THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN TWO TOWERS
Written and Illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein
Roaring Brook Press, 2003
Category: Picture book
We’ve read this favorite dozens of times, and still one or another of the kids frequently pull it off the shelf and ask me to read it. This is the first year my boys were tuned into the anniversary of 9/11/2001; tonight’s reading was steeped with new layers of meaning for them.

PUMPKINHEAD
By Eric A. Kimmel
Illustrated by Steve Haskamp
Winslow, 2001
Category: Picture Book
I cannot get this odd little book out of my (pumpkin) head. It has been dubbed “silliness”, and my daughter certainly agreed, but I read much more in the pages of this picture book. Satire. And lots of it.

THE THREE SNOW BEARS
Written and Illustrated by Jan Brett
Putnam, 2007
Category: Picture Book
We love getting lost in Jan Brett’s books. Who cares if the story is one we’ve heard many times before? The over-the-top fabulous illustrations are an entirely new adventure.

CHRONOBIOLOGY: BIOLOGICAL TIMEKEEPING
Edited by Jay C. Dunlap, Jennifer J. Loros and Patricia J. DeCoursey
Sinauer Associates, 2004
Category: Text Book
I kid you not. Research … you gotta love it. Turns out I once made apple cider at the home of two of these editors; gotta love life’s interesting curlicues too.

THE PRINCE OF THE POND
By Donna Jo Napoli
Puffin, 1992

Category: Middle-grade Fiction

This is one of my all time favorite read-aloud chapter books; I have now read it to my kids twice. It is impossible to read without doing the voices, which explains why my kids spent most of both readings rolling on their bedroom floor belly-laughing. And that explains why I enjoy this book so much … all that rolling and belly-laughing makes me happy.

The story is told by a female frog, later named Jade, who comes across the craziest thing in the hag’s yard: a giant, clumsy, and very handsome male frog. She finds him on the slate walkway, right next to a pile of fancy human clothes. Although the big male has trouble hopping and croaking and even catching bugs with his tongue, he seems like a nice frog. Jade sticks with him, and so we are treated to a frog’s-eye view of the frog prince … um, I mean the fawg pin.

Our book picks for the rest of the week are banned and beautiful (we’ve chosen #14 and #21). Happy Banned Books Week to one and all!

RED KAYAK
By Priscilla Cummings
Puffin Books, 2004

Category: Middle grade fiction

Okay, that last post was a little … smug? Snarky? Presumptuous? Let me try again …

Brady, is a good kid. So are his friends, J.T. and Digger. They live on the Chesapeake Bay where they can crab and oyster fish together in summer, skate together in winter, and help one another with chores (endless chores) all year round. But even good kids make mistakes, and this book—this incredible book—shows readers how hard owning up to those mistakes can be.

RED KAYAK is intense, gut-wrenching, and difficult to put aside once you’ve begun. I have added it to my “Favorite Books Ever” list and cannot recommend it highly enough.

Now, as I suggested earlier … read this book!

BIG SLICK
By Eric Luper
FSG, 2007

Category: Young adult fiction

I’ve warned you. I’ve told you and told you again that this book was coming … and that it was a must read. And now I am back to tell you that BIG SLICK is here!

My copy arrived on Friday, and it has been an incredible weekend. I’ve been able to scour the cover, analyze the flap copy, giggle over the author blurb, marvel at the snazzy interior design choices, and, most importantly, read the book. It is a dizzying thing, to read in published form for the first time a book you watched grow from a short story idea into a debut novel … and to see in print for the first time the name of a person you know is destined for big things.

BIG SLICK is here. Read it!