The Watermelon King


Book Description

An endearing, often outrageous blend of fable, tall tale, and page-turner, "The Watermelon King" returns to Ashland, Alabama--the fictional town immortalized in Daniel Wallace's enormously popular "Big Fish"-- the entire identity of which is based on the long-ago abundance of watermelons.




Big Fish


Book Description

When his attempts to get to know his dying father fail, William Bloom makes up stories that recreate his father's life in heroic proportions.




War and Watermelon


Book Description

It's the summer of 1969. We've just landed on the moon, the Vietnam War is heating up, the Mets are beginning their famous World Series run, and Woodstock is rocking upstate New York. Down in New Jersey, twelve-year-old Brody is mostly concerned with the top ten hits on the radio and how much playing time he'll get on the football team. But when he goes along for the ride to Woodstock with his older brother and sees the mass of humanity there, he starts to wake up to the world around him-a world that could take away the brother he loves.




Ray in Reverse


Book Description

In a funny, bittersweet new novel by the author of Big Fish, Ray Williams looks back on his life from heaven, recalling the confusion, sin, and petty joys that marked his life.




The Watermelon Seed


Book Description

Greg Pizzoli's beloved Geisel Award-winning gem playfully taps kids' classic question about what could happen if they swallow a seed. Crocodile loves watermelon, but what will happen when his greatest fear of swallowing a watermelon seed comes to pass? Will vines sprout out his ears? Will his skin turn pink? Only one thing is certain: his wild imagination will have kids laughing out loud and begging for another read. With perfect comic pacing, bold color and dynamic sense of design, three-time Theodor Seuss Geisel Award recipient Greg Pizzoli's picture book debut transforms this familiar childhood anxiety into a contemporary classic read-aloud perfect for fans of I Want My Hat Back. "[A]n expert debut." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Children will love this hilarious book. The story has broad appeal, making it a great first purchase." -- School Library Journal (starred review) Don't miss these other favorite books by Greg Pizzol: The Book HogGood Night OwlNumber One SamTempleton Gets His WishThis Story is For YouThe Twelve Days of Christmas




Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician


Book Description

Henry Walker was once a world-class magician, performing to sold-out shows in New York. But now he has been reduced to joining Musgrove's Chinese Circus (which at no point in its tour of the deep South has ever included a single Chinese person) as the shambling Negro Magician, whose dark black skin and electric green eyes bewitch most audiences. But one balmy Mississippi night in 1954, Henry disappears in the company of three rowdy white teens and is never seen again. Wallace pieces together Henry's incredible vagabond life – from a deal with a bone-white devil known only as Mr. Sebastian, to the heartrending loss of his sister Hannah – and creates an enchanting tale of love, loss, identity, and the limitation of magic.




Anansi and the Talking Melon


Book Description

"The expressive male narrator charms the listener by impersonating the characters...Short segments of music and brief sound effects add interest...useful for all reading and listening situations." - Booklist




Extraordinary Adventures


Book Description

**Wallace named the Harper Lee Award winner for 2019 by the Alabama Writers' Forum** **One of PopSugar’s Best 2017 Spring Books for Women** A large-hearted and optimistic novel, Extraordinary Adventures is the latest from the New York Times bestselling Daniel Wallace. Edsel Bronfman works as a junior executive shipping clerk for an importer of Korean flatware. He lives in a seedy neighborhood and spends his free time with his spirited mother. Things happen to other people, and Bronfman knows it. Until, that is, he gets a call from operator 61217 telling him that he’s won a free weekend at a beachfront condo in Destin, Florida. But there’s a catch: the offer is intended for a couple, and Bronfman has only seventy-nine days to find someone to take with him. The phone call jolts Bronfman into motion, initiating a series of truly extraordinary adventures as he sets out to find a companion for his weekend getaway. Open at last to the possibilities of life, Bronfman now believes that anything can happen. And it does.




Melons


Book Description

This year's heirloom tomato is a melon! Acclaimed gardener Amy Goldman, known to viewers of Martha Stewart and PBS, is a dedicated seed saver working to preserve fast-disappearing varieties of heirloom melons. Her book, Melons for the Passionate Grower, is a celebration of the speckled, bumpy, oh-so-sweet world of the melonÑfrom Minnesota Midget and Georgia Rattlesnake to Ali Baba and Sweet Siberian. Here she profiles more than one hundred varieties, each showcased in a full-color photographic still life recalling eighteenth- and nineteenth-century botanical paintings and engravings. Goldman also offers expert advice on cultivating and selecting your own melons, as well as the rudiments of seed saving.




Tricky Vic


Book Description

A New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children's Book of 2015 In the early 1900s, Robert Miller, a.k.a. “Count Victor Lustig,” moved to Paris hoping to be an artist. A con artist, that is. He used his ingenious scams on unsuspecting marks all over the world, from the Czech Republic, to Atlantic ocean liners, and across America. Tricky Vic pulled off his most daring con in 1925, when he managed to "sell" the Eiffel Tower to one of the city’s most successful scrap metal dealers! Six weeks later, he tried to sell the Eiffel Tower all over again. Vic was never caught. For that particular scam, anyway. . . . Kids will love to read about Vic's thrilling life, and teachers will love the informational sidebars and back matter. Award-winner Greg Pizzoli’s humorous and vibrant graphic style of illustration mark a bold approach to picture book biography.