Giant Killer is Unsure

Zert could read the doubt in his father’s scrunched eyebrows, could hear the uncertain hitch in his voice. For once, Jack, the fierce soldier of the Antarctica Wars, nicknamed Jack the Giant Killer by his men, wasn’t sure of the right thing to do.

Surviving Minimized by Andrea White

Monsters Are Wonderful

Quote

Amazon.com

All monsters are absolutely, positively, completely, perfectly wonderful just the way they are!

Some Monsters Are Different, by David Milgrim

Brash Confidence

Quote

Amazon.com

I’d never met anyone with Emma’s brash confidence. Everything about her exuded it: the way she carried herself, with shoulders thrown back; the hard set of her teeth when she made up her mind about something; the way she ended every sentence with a declarative period, never a question mark. It was infectious and I loved it, and I had to fight a sudden urge to kiss her, right there in front of everyone.

Hugh coughed, and bees tumbled out of his mouth to form a question mark that shivered in the air. “How can you be so bloody sure?” he asked.

Because I am, that’s all.” And she brushed her hands as if that were that.

Hollow City: The Second Novel in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Internal Importance

Quote

Amazon.com

Now, nothing should be able to harm a man except himself.  Nothing should be able to rob a man at all.  What a man really has, is what is in him.  What is outside of him should be a matter of no importance.

The Soul of Man Under Socialism by Oscar Wilde (Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wild)

Giggle Book Award: Nooooooo!

This month’s Giggle Book Award goes to a story about a little boy who wants to be a dragon and a couple of dragons who want to be able to do things only little boys can do.

The entire book consists of a dialog between boy and dragons. Here’s an example:

Amazon.com

Boy: Look at me, look at me! I’m a scary dragon. ROAR!
Dragon: No, you’re not.
Boy: Hmph. I am toothy and I am fierce. See?
Dragon: Actually, you are cute. Really cute.

Finally, the boy gives up and begins to cry. His cry consists of a loud and long wail:

“Waaaaaaaaaa!”

This whiny wail, when played up by the reader, inspires all sorts of giggling.

A little later, in the book the dragons also give up and utter and long wailing cry:

“Waaaaaaaaaa!”

Yep, lots of giggling.

In the end, boy and dragons all realize they are just perfect the way they are…and playing Frankenstein is much more fun.

It’s a very cute book. Perfect for anyone who likes to use story time as an opportunity to indulge in a little readers-theater style acting.

ROAR!, written by Tammi Sauer and illustrated by Liz Starin.

Wild Boys, Witches and Roast Squirrel

Quote

Amazon.com

Sarah visited the boys every day, and although at first she was worried about them being out on their own in the Forest, she was impressed by the network of igloos they built and noticed that some of the younger Wendron Witches had taken to dropping by with small offerings of food and drink. Soon it became rare for Sarah to find her boys without at least two or three young witches helping them cook a meal or just sitting around the campfire laughing and telling jokes. It surprised Sarah just how much fending for themselves had changed the boys—they all suddenly seemed so grown up, even the youngest, Jo-Jo, who was still only thirteen. After a while Sarah began to feel a bit of an interloper in their camp, but she persisted in visiting them every day, partly to keep an eye on them and partly because she had developed quite a taste for roast squirrel.

Septimus Heap, Book One: Magyk by Angie Sage

Dangerous Confidence

Quote

Amazon.com

I know from experience that confidence alone can get a person into a forbidden place.

Allegiant (Divergent Trilogy, Book 3) by Veronica Roth

Internal Power

Quote

Amazon.com

Once perhaps his power had been in his body; now he wore it in the richness of his garb and his absolute certainty that no one wished to displease him.

Blood of Dragons (Rain Wilds Chronicles Book 4) by Robin Hobb

Feeling Freedom

Quote

Amazon.com

Something is growing in me, something that can’t be stopped, a plant that winds its way up my spine, seeking breath and light and power. When I pull into the McDonald’s again for a cup of coffee, I feel the beginnings of freedom.”

Voice Lessons, Voice Lessons: Tales of Breaking Free; by Catherine Holm

The Challenge of No

Quote

Amazon.com

“It’s not hard to say no. It’s hard to say it right. At the right time. For the right reasons.”

Nein. A Manifesto by Eric Jarosinski