"If you liked Crazy Rich Asians, you're going to LOVE Crazy Apologetic Canadians!" I take one look at the grumpy Brit and know I'm in trouble. Not because he's in Nova Scotia to tear down our beloved amusement park. Or because he wants to build an elite school on the lush property. No, I'm in trouble because Colin Parker is superlicious – despite the stick up his British bum. You see, I'm a free-spirited girl who knows her way around a lobster boat. He's a rule follower who knows his way around a boardroom. Can you say polar opposites? Oh, did I mention his mother is back in England planning his marriage? The sexy Brit with a debutante makes sense, right? You know what doesn't make sense? The two of us between the sheets and a montage of fun activities that finally put a smile on his face. But when the montage ends, and life turns messy and complicated—yet we still manage to find common ground—it leads me to...

From Publishers WeeklyDebonair detective Joe Grey lives and sleuths along northern California's rugged coast, in the quaintAbut dangerousAvillage of Molena Point. In this sixth of Murphy's books named for Joe, passions rise and two women exsanguinate on a mountain riding trail, their throats slashed, while their mounts run free in an ecstasy of fear. Dashing, silver-haired Joe has enough trouble just getting along with his housemate, crusty car mechanic Clyde Damen. But add bloody murder and the kidnapping of a terrified teenager, and Joe gets cat spitting mad! When Clyde's best friend, police chief Max Harper, is named top suspect and suspended from his job, Joe goes ballistic. Aided by his friends Dulcie and Kit, Joe stalks the killer in the dark niches of the crumbling Pamillon EstateAsite of a potentially profitable land ventureAwhere a wild cougar also lurks. Up the coast in San Francisco, gorgeous Kate Osborne has cause to worry when a murderer escapes from prison and comes after her. In addition to humans, someone is killing the cats of San Francisco. Speaking of cats: fans of Joe Grey recognize that he (and Dulcie and Kit) are felines themselves, though capable of communicating with select humans. Cat lovers will cuddle right up to Joe and his pals, but the story has plenty of murder and mayhem for those who like to take their detective fiction straight up. (Jan. 8) consecutive years. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library JournalAdult/High School-Cats Joe, Dulcie, and Kit understand, speak, and read English, and they are veteran sleuths in Molena Point, CA. Someone has framed the chief of police for the murder of two friends and the probable kidnapping of the child who was riding with them. Furthermore, someone is killing cats in San Francisco. The main characters are excellent spies, gaining clues by hiding under desks, eavesdropping when they are supposed to be asleep, and carefully moving evidence to trap a villain. Although many characters and motives are related to earlier books in the series, it is not necessary to have read them to enjoy this mysterious flight of fancy.-Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VACopyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

The seventh book in Lemony Snicket's splendidly gloomy Series of Unfortunate Events shadows the three Baudelaire orphans as they plummet headlong into their next misadventure. Mr. Poe, their ineffective legal guardian, having exhausted all options for finding them a new home with relatives (including their 19th cousin), sadly entrusts his young charges' fate to a progressive guardian program formed with the premise "It takes a village to raise a child." Before they know it, the Baudelaires are being whisked off on a bus to a village (vile) named "V.F.D." Snicket fans who read The Austere Academy and The Ersatz Elevator will jump to see these three initials, as they provide a clue to the tragic disappearance of the Baudelaires' friends, the beloved, equally orphaned Quagmire triplets. To the orphans' dismay, V.F.D. is covered in crows--so much so that the whole village is pitch-black and trembling. "The crows weren't squawking or cawing, which is what crows often do, or playing the trumpet, which crows practically never do, but the town was far from silent. The air was filled with the sounds the crows made as they moved around." Another disturbing element of the town is that the Council of Elders (who wear creepy crow hats) has thousands of rules, such as "don't hurt crows" and "don't build mechanical devices." Fortunately, the Baudelaires are taken in by a kindly handyman named Hector who cooks them delicious Mexican food and secretly breaks rules. Still, neither Hector nor an entire village can protect the orphans from the clutches of the money-grubbing Count Olaf, who has relentlessly pursued them (actually, just their fortune) since The Bad Beginning. Fans won't want to miss any of this marvelously morbid series! (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson

Eight hundred years have passed since King Connavar of the Rigante and his bastard son, Bane, defeated the invading army of Stone. Now the Rigante have lost the freedom and culture so many gave their lives to preserve. Only one woman remains who follows the ancient ways–the Wyrd of Wishing Tree Wood–and she alone knows the nature of the evil soon to be unleashed. But the Wyrd pins her hope on two men: a giant Rigante fighter, a man haunted by his failure to save his best friend from betrayal; and a youth whose deadly talents will earn him the rancor of the brutal Varlish. One will become the Ravenheart, an outlaw leader whose daring exploits will inspire the Rigante. The other will forge a legend–and light the fires of revolution. . . .

Using twenty-one drawings from the work of Gustave Dor-, the most successful illustrator of the 19th century, Walter Moers has created a wondrous and utterly delightful tale. In a world between legend and dream, in a time between childhood and adulthood, A Wild Ride Through the Night describes the exhilarating and comic adventures of 12-year-old Gustave, a boy who aspires one day to be a great artist. But before he can achieve this, Gustave must first tackle Mysterious Giants and a Siamese Twins Tornado; he also finds himself encountering the Greatest Monster of All, freeing a maiden from the claws of a dragon, riding through a forest full of ghosts, navigating a Galactic Gully and meeting a dream princess, a talking horse, scantily-clad Amazons and even his own self. Having made a wager with death for nothing less than his life and his soul, he must travel from the earth to the moon and back in a single night.

Ray Bradbury, America's most beloved storyteller, has spent a lifetime carrying readers to exhilarating and dangerous places, from dark street comers in unfamiliar cities and towns to the edge of the universe. Now, in an extraordinary flight of the imagination a half-century in the making, he takes us to a most wondrous destination: into the heart of an Eternal Family. They have lived for centuries in a house of legend and mystery in upper Illinois -- and they are not like other midwesterners. Rarely encountered in daylight hours, their children are curious and wild; their old ones have survived since before the Sphinx first sank its paws deep in Egyptian sands. And some sleep in beds with lids. Now the house is being readied in anticipation of the gala homecoming that will gather together the farflung branches of this odd and remarkable family. In the past-midnight stillness can be detected the soft fluttering of Uncle Einars wings. From her realm of sleep, Cecy, the fairest and most special daughter, can feel the approach of many a welcome being -- shapeshifter, telepath, somnambulist, vampire -- as she flies high in the consciousness of bird and bat. But in the midst of eager anticipation, a sense of doom pervades. For the world is changing. And death, no stranger, will always shadow this most singular family: Father, arisen from the Earth; Mother, who never sleeps but dreams; A Thousand Times Great Grandmére; Grandfather, who keeps the wildness of youth between his ears. And the boy who, more than anyone, carries the burden of time on his shoulders: Timothy, the sad and different foundling son who must share it all, remember, and tell...and who, alone out of all of them, must one day age and wither and die. By turns lyrical, wistful, poignant, and chilling, From the Dust Returned is the long-awaited new novel by the peerless Ray Bradbury -- a book that will surely be numbered among his most enduring masterworks.

Empirically proving that -- no matter where you are -- kids wanna rock, this is Chuck Klosterman's hilarious memoir of growing up as a shameless metalhead in Wyndmere, North Dakotoa (population: 498). With a voice like Ace Frehley's guitar, Klosterman hacks his way through hair-band history, beginning with that fateful day in 1983 when his older brother brought home Mötley Crüe's Shout at the Devil. The fifth-grade Chuck wasn't quite ready to rock -- his hair was too short and his farm was too quiet -- but he still found a way to bang his nappy little head. Before the journey was over, he would slow-dance to Poison, sleep innocently beneath satanic pentagrams, lust for Lita Ford, and get ridiculously intellectual about Guns N' Roses. C'mon and feel his noize.

James Preller's wry, witty, Jigsaw Jones chapter book mysteries are once again available to inspire the next generation of young readers, featuring both new titles and classroom classics!The Case of the Bicycle BanditWhy would anyone steal an old hunk of junk? Ralphie Jordan loves his beat-up bike, Old Rusty. The tires are bent, spokes are missing, and the chain keeps falling off. But Ralphie wouldn't trade it for any other. Then Old Rusty goes missing just outside the library, and Ralphie is devastated. It's up to Jigsaw and Mila to find out who stole it—and the thief may be closer than anyone would have guessed!

Class trip!Roscoe wants to be on his best behavior for a class trip to the apple orchard. But no matter how hard he tries, he still ends up in a very sticky situation!

A riotousy funny and deeply personal story of wonder, discovery and friendship, full of eccentric characters and fantastical adventures, by one of America's best-loved authors. When David falls ill his tough old Aunt Annie offers to tutor him, and he soon grows fond of The Gawgon, as he nicknames her because of her resemblance to the terrifyuing Gawgon Medusa of Greek myth. Together they embark on exciting imaginary adventures rescuing King Tut's treasure, scaling mountains and outwitting master criminals.

J.F. Bone was a 20th century American novelist and short story writer whose most famous works were science-fiction.

Meggie Sherbrooke, newly married to Thomas Malcombe, the earl of Lancaster, finds her new home in Pendragon, a castle on the southeastern coast of Ireland. The ancient dwelling, full of eccentric people, charms Meggie in a fashion that could lead to disaster.