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August 2009

Hi folks!

I hope your reading is going well. Whenever I am on the road speaking, I am treated to plenty of time on airplanes for reading. Enjoyed a variety of recommendations from friends and colleagues this past month, including Kathryn Stockett’s wonderful debut novel The Help, journalist Ronald Kessler’s fascinating look at the Secret Service – In the President’s Secret Service (a MUST read) and Christopher McDougall’s enthralling Born to Run, an inspiring and informative look at the secrets of distance running.

Anyhow, enjoy this month’s book selections below. I hope you are all reading some wonderful books. Make sure to tell me all about them. If you're an author or a publisher and would like to send me review copies of your book(s), please send them to the address listed for authors and publishers.

I hope you are reading some wonderful books. Make sure to tell me about them by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Have a wonderful August, and enjoy your books!

Danny ;-)
Ignore Everybody

Ignore Everybody

By Hugh MacLeod 176 pages Adult

Danny Says

MacLeod’s doodles have become simple gems of wisdom that humor and inspire. Good to read with Dan Roam’s The Back of the Napkin. Just as applicable for teachers and parents as it is for corporate executives.
Buy on Amazon
Finders Keepers

Finders Keepers

By Mark Bowden 224 pages Adult

Danny Says

Bowden is one of my favorite true crime writers (he wrote Killing Pablo, the story of the hunt for drug cartel leader Pablo Escobar), and this one allows him to use all his writing talents. This tragic-comic tale is a roller coaster ride that is so absurd it reads like fiction.
Buy on Amazon
One in a Million

One in a Million

By Kimberla Lawson Roby 208 pages Adult

Danny Says

Perception is not reality. Kennedi Mason thinks she has it all until everything breaks down. Great page-turner.
Buy on Amazon
The Maze of Bones

The Maze of Bones

By Rick Riordan 220 pages Young Adult

Danny Says

The first installment in this cool series, The 39 Clues provides teens with their own cross between National Treasure and The DaVinci Code. This is one even reluctant readers cannot put down.
Buy on Amazon
Fair-Weather Friends

Fair-Weather Friends

By ReShonda Tate Billingsley 224 pages Young Adult

Danny Says

Billingsley writes teen dialogue that rivals Sharon Draper, and African-American teenage girls – in particular – rave about this book.
Buy on Amazon
Knots in My Yo-Yo String

Knots in My Yo-Yo String

By Jerry Spinelli 160 pages Young Adult

Danny Says

One of the greatest young adult authors of our time provides teachers this gift for teaching writing. Spinelli (of Maniac Magee fame) recounts his experiences growing up in Norristown, Pennsylvania. I absolutely LOVED this book and thank Jerry Spinelli for constantly inspiring young authors (and even older ones, too).
Buy on Amazon
Celebrating the Hero

Celebrating the Hero

By Lyll Becerra de Jenkins 192 pages Young Adult

Danny Says

This is an interesting story a former student handed me. A Connecticut woman seeks to find out the truth about her Colombian grandfather, who was not all that he seemed. Good for exposing students to Colombian culture.
Buy on Amazon

Reggie the L.a. Gator

By Angi Ma Wong 33 pages pages Children

Danny Says

Delightful true story of an abandoned pet alligator whose owner dumped him in a public lake in Harbor City, California. There, Reggie managed to allude animal control authorities for several months, and he became an international celebrity. Funny, inspirational – a story that children really enjoy hearing read aloud.
Buy on Amazon
How to Save Your Tail*

How to Save Your Tail*

By Mary Hanson 112 pages Children

Danny Says

Wonderful read aloud about a rat, captured by a couple of cats, who uses his twin passions for baking and reading to talk his way out of becoming feline food. Children love to hear Bob the Rat’s versions of classic tales. A good book to get students writing their own fractured fairy tales, too. 
Buy on Amazon
Book!

Book!

By Kristine O'Connell George 32 pages Children

Danny Says

Beautiful little book for toddlers about a young boy’s pleasures with his first book. What can I say – it touched me. 
Buy on Amazon

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