Perseus Books Group Library Newsletter - November 2011

Our Newsletter for Librarians November 2011 Selected for the Booklist Editor's Choice Awards for top youth books of 2011 Congrats Running Press! More The Wikkeling by Steven Arntson In the enormous city of the Addition, all children are SAFE, SECURE, and SUPERVISED, and are watched by cameras even while they sleep. Henrietta is unlikable at her competitive school until she meets Gary and Rose. They all share something in common: headaches with an unknown cause. Then, late one night, Henrietta makes a startling discovery when she finds a wounded cat in the attic above her bedroom. Soon after, a series of strange occurrences follow, including the appearance of a threatening creature with long, waxy fingers, who calls itself the Wikkeling. With the help of an ancient Bestiary, will Henrietta and her friends solve these mysteries before the Wikkeling finally catches them? Age: Middle Reader 8-12 When The Wikkeling was first given to me to read I loved it, and after meeting Steven while at a midwinter ALA author signing I knew we had a very special book and a very special author. Read what the reviewers and your peers are saying about The Wikkeling.   -Elenita Chmilowski School Library Journal Gr 4-8–In Henrietta’s world, every part of life is monitored and regulated by computers. House cats are considered wild and dangerous animals. Old houses and old books can make children sick. The girl’s orderly and safe life is disrupted the day she discovers a secret attic above her bedroom, where a wounded cat has taken refuge, and the windows show scenes from her neighborhood’s past and time seems to stand still. Soon after this discovery, she starts seeing the Wikkeling, a menacing yellow creature that gives children headaches with the touch of a finger. She learns that a few others can see it, too, and they work together to solve the mystery of what it is, and what it wants from them. Arntson has created a detailed and fascinating dystopian world that seems eerily similar to our own, and Terrazzini’s illustrations strike just the right note. This delightfully creepy tale will appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline (HarperCollins, 2002). –Misti Tidman, formerly at Boyd County Public Library, Ashland, KY    Booklist Though this is very much a dystopian novel at heart, don’t mistake it for the sort of gritty, hellish version that dominates the current awful-future trend. Instead, this world is kind of a dull place, especially for a kid like Henrietta, subjected to rigorously standardized education and zealously overprotective safeguards: everything from tools and matches (only ever seen in old-timey movies) to triple-harnessed bus seats to live-feed BedCams. In the massive, gridlocked, advertising-pummeled city of the Addition, Henrietta discovers a hidden attic, from which she peers out of a window onto a pastoral street long lost to time. That’s the nice part. The scary part is that she and two new friends are being followed around by a lurching apparition called the Wikkeling that demands to know, “Where do you go?” What Arntson is really doing is looking forward to look back, using a near-future technoland to counterpoint the joys of old books over cell phones, trees over highways, and creatures just at the periphery of understanding over mollycoddled safety. It’s all kind of creepy (especially with Terrazzini’s silhouette artwork), deadpan funny, and totally engrossing, even though the book doesn’t come close to fully explaining everything. But that is ultimately a smart move; asking for a bit of interpretation makes this challenging and at times even confounding read that much more memorable. Although too many books are burdened with unnecessary sequels, this one screams for one, or even many. — Ian Chipman Arlington Public Library Loved the book, The Wikkeling by Steven Arntson. I think it is an excellent suggestion for kids who may be too young to read their older siblings’ post-apocalyptic tales… The instant I saw this book on a cart of new books, I had to read it. The futuristic Big Brother society constantly monitoring everyone, all the time. Their idea of nutrition, which consists of “…a cube of cornbread smothered in starchy gravy, some small yellowish carrots with margarine dip, a pile of corn chips, and a glass of apple soda…” horrified and fascinated me at the same time. The concept of the Wikkeling itself mesmerizes while sending tingles up and down your spine. I could not put this book down. I took it straight off the new cart on Friday and read it over the weekend. - Sarah Biggerstaff, Arlington Public Library Read more here. Stay Connected  Visit Our Library Blog Send Us Your Comments Check Out Our Podcasts Visit Our College Publishing Sign Up for Our Newsletters Visit Our Website Visit Our Websites: Perseus Books Group · Perseus Podcasts · Library Services · Perseus Academic The Perseus Books Group · 387 Park Avenue South · New York, NY 10016