him to sit next to him quietly and when his antics will help him remember and look forward to brighter, healthier days. And slowly, Gage gets better and goes home. Mogie misses Gage, but now he’s watching out for Antonia, “a toe-dancing, jump-roping, cartwheel-spinning girl” who’s lost her cha-cha-cha. “Give this dog a bone and he’ll chew it. Give him a stick and he’ll fetch it. Give him a kiddo who is bluer than blue, and Mogie will be truer than true.” Rosenthal’s pencil, charcoal and digital illustrations wonderfully complement this emotional tale without tipping it into the saccharine. Colors help set the mood of each spread, and the scribbly style against a white background lends the illustrations a slightly retro feel. Wheelchairs and bald heads on a few children are the only indications of illness, aside from subdued posture. Mogie’s one good dog, and readers will be awfully glad they’ve met him. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)
A HITCH AT THE FAIRMONT
Averbeck, Jim Atheneum (416 pp.) $16.99 | $10.99 e-book | Jun. 24, 2014 978-1-4424-9447-3 978-1-4424-9449-7 e-book A troubled preteen and a famous director team up to solve a mystery at the renowned Fairmont Hotel. Jack Fair’s in trouble. The evil aunt that took him in after his darling mother’s passing has gone missing, leaving behind only a ransom note and a pesky chinchilla. Jack happens to live in the lavish Fairmont Hotel, and the guest across the hall that offers to help Jack with his trouble is none other than the distinguished moviemaker Alfred Hitchcock. With few clues and little time, the odd couple reluctantly goes about finding Aunt Edith before it’s too late. The mystery is well-laid-out, with all the clues and red herrings in the right places. Averbeck shows off his knowledge of Hitchcock-iana, but the endeavor feels somewhat exploitative when it comes to involving the man who inspired the caper. Young readers who don’t know or care about Hitch won’t be bothered, but cinéastes may ruffle at the thought of the master of suspense donning silly disguises and dressing in drag. Regardless, the author is smart enough not to overdose on cute nods to the auteur’s filmography, opting instead for macabre twists that wouldn’t be out of place in a Dahl book. An author’s note discusses the Hitchcock phenomenon, and an appendix provides a gloss on all the films used as chapter titles. A fine read and a decent love letter to all that Hitchcock stood for. (Mystery. 8-14)
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THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES 36 Tales Brief & Sinister
Bachmann, Stefan et al. Illus. by Jansson, Alexander Greenwillow/HarperCollins (496 pp.) $16.99 | $6.99 paper | $6.99 e-book May 27, 2014 978-0-06-233105-2 978-0-06-231314-0 paper 978-0-06-231315-7 e-book Styling themselves “curators,” four of horror fantasy’s newer stars share tales and correspondence related to an imaginary museum of creepy creatures and artifacts. In addition to Bachmann, the authors include Katherine Catmull, Claire Legrand and Emma Trevayne. The letters, scattered throughout, record adventures in gathering the Cabinet’s eldritch collections or report allusively on them: “I just let them creep or wing about the place,” writes Curator Catmull, “and stretch their many, many, many legs. What jolly shouts I hear when the workers come across one!” The stories, most of which were previously published on the eponymous website, are taken from eight thematic drawers ranging from “Love” and “Tricks” to “Cake.” Along with a cast of evil magicians, oversized spiders and other reliable frights, the stories throw children into sinister situations in graveyards, deceptively quiet gardens or forests, their own bedrooms and similar likely settings. Said children are seldom exposed to gory or explicit violence and, except for horrid ones who deserve what they get, generally emerge from their experiences better and wiser—or at least alive. Jansson’s small black-and-white vignettes add scattered but appropriately enigmatic visual notes. A hefty sheaf of chillers—all short enough to share aloud and expertly cast to entice unwary middle graders a step or two into the shadows. (index, not seen) (Horror/short stories. 10-13)
POMELO’S BIG ADVENTURE
Badescu, Ramona Illus. by Chaud, Benjamin Translated by Bedrick, Claudia Enchanted Lion Books (40 pp.) $17.95 | Jun. 1, 2014 978-1-59270-158-2 Series: Pomelo the Garden Elephant, 4 Pomelo, a small, posy-pink elephant, musters courage and embarks on a grand adventure—one with all the harrowing challenges and unexpected rewards of any good trip. Readers already friendly with Pomelo (Pomelo’s Opposites, 2013, etc.) know he’s maturing and learning all the time, but a solo journey outside his garden home? Could he be ready? After packing an odd assortment of necessities, including his “knife-fork,” a head of garlic, an old photograph, pumpkin seeds, some ribbon, a
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