Petrucha, Stefan. The Hunger Pains.
Middle Grade Librarians need to know that Papercutz Slices has an entire line of graphic novels that are parodies of popular fiction titles. Harry Potter and the Deathly Boring and Percy Jerkson and the Ovolactovegetarians (*snerk*) are just two of their offerings.
Think Mad Magazine retellings, right down to the illustration style. That said, when I finally opened the E ARC of this at lunch, several students started to peer over my shoulder, and we all had quite the good, but rather inappropriate, laugh over this great literary work.
Highly recommended for tweens and teens to give to each other for birthdays; fine for public libraries; don't think I'll be buying them for school!
The Kooky 3D Kids' Baking Book. Hardie Grant Books, 2012.
This book comes under the "no, really, I was doing real work when I found it!" label. There is a need for cookbooks in my library, and baking is certainly the most popular cooking for students, but I am not sure this book is the one I need. It would make a fun gift, but it is spiral bound and comes with 3D glasses. I may have been the first person to check it out of the library, so it still HAD the glasses. The recipes are okay, but the book is Australian. There are not only odd ingredients with dubious translations (is caster sugar really powdered sugar? In parentheses, "superfine sugar" is listed), but the sorts of things made seem a tiny bit off. Cream horns? Pineapple and ham rolls? And only one sort of cookie? I understand the in the United States we make more cookies at home than they do in many other countries, but this seems a strange lack.
The pictures really are 3D, though, so there is that wow factor!
Man, now I want to go and read A Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down. I bought a copy in 2005 at Harrod's in London. *Sigh* I do love wholemeal digestive biscuits, but not enough to pay $5 for a sleeve of them at Meijers. Marias are just not the same.
Remember when cooking was exciting? In the 7th grade, we had home ec and spent a period every day learning about cooking. We made pancakes and syrup (maple flavoring and Karo!), lollipops, pie-- don't know that the school budget ran to actual food, but we learned how to keep our kitchens clean! I still think about Mrs. Mercer when I am wiping down all of the counters every time I do dishes. I loved home ec so much (8th grade was sewing) that I almost compounded my horrible idea of majoring in Latin with a minor in teaching home ec. Now they don't teach cooking in school, but it doesn't mean that students aren't interested. Appease your budding cooks with these books!
