Sad news arrives at the beginning of Teen Read week — one of Norma Fox Mazer’s colleagues, on her Web site Jacket Knack reports that Mazer died over the weekend after a battle with brain cancer (via Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind).

On her own site, Mazer wrote about how she devloped a love of reading. Of course, libraries were a key element and she asked, “Am I prejudiced or is it a fact that people who work in libraries are among the friendliest and most helpful you’re ever going to meet?”

Return the compliment; check to see if you need to replace worn or missing copies of Mazer’s titles.

Below are titles that have been featured in the fall previews.

Childrens

10/19 Paterson, Katherine;  Day of the Pelican

Lisa Von Drasek said here, ” you should be uncharacteristically selfish and grab this one first. It is a story of the Kosovo civil war, a refugee story, and a post-9/11 story. Because it is Paterson, the parts add up to more than the whole. Read it.”

The official pub date is 10/19, but most libraries have received their copies.

The Day of the Pelican Katherine Paterson Retail Price: $16.00 Hardcover: 160 pages Publisher: Clarion Books – (2009-10-19) ISBN / EAN: 0547181884 / 9780547181882

Audio: Brilliance; 9781441802064; Read by Tavia Gilbert; $24.99
Audio downloadable from OverDrive.

Graphic Books

10/19 Crumb, R. Book of Genesis Illustrated

L.A Times — “An honest, powerful, violent rendering of the Bible’s first book.”

Featured on NPR’s All things Considered — an “Awesome, Affecting Take On Genesis”

Many libraries don’t have it on their catalogs — Hennepin shows it on order, with 33 holds.

The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb R. Crumb Retail Price: $24.95 Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. – (2009-10-19) ISBN / EAN: 0393061027 / 9780393061024

Fiction

10/20 Cornwell, Patricia; The Scarpetta Factor

Unsurprisingly, of the titles coming out this week, this one has the highest number of holds. Libraries have also ordered the most copies, so holds are running 2 to 1.

10/20 Klosterman, Chuck; Eating the Dinosaur

While Kirkus found this to be “Klosterman at his best” since his bestselling Sex, Drugs and Coco Puffs, Entertainment Weekly gives it just a B+, saying Klosterman is “stuck a bit too much in his own head” this time out, although he is still “witty and clever.”

10/20 Pamuk, Orhan;  Museum of Innocence

10/20 Kingsbury, Karen; Shades of Blue

10/20 Pearlman, Ann; The Christmas Cookie Club

One of the few big commercial debuts this fall. Variety reported in May that film rights were sold to the two-year-old CBS Films, which has been set up to release “mid-range films” (costing $50 million or less). Wendy Finerman (The Devil Wears Prada; Forrest Gump) is producing.

Entertainment Weekly gives it the first consumer review, rating it a  C+

The Christmas Cookie Club: A Novel Ann Pearlman Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Atria – (2009-10-20) ISBN / EAN: 1439158843 / 9781439158845

Audio: S&S Audio; 9780743598286; $29.99
Large Print: Wheeler Publishing; 9781410420329; $34.95

10/20 Steel, Danielle; Southern Lights

10/20 Mayle, Peter; The Vintage Caper

10/20 Vonnegut, Kurt; Look at the Birdie

A collection of Vonnegut’s early stories, never before published. The Huffington Post reviewer says, “Usually, I’m wary of posthumous collections of an author’s early work, it seems like they’d just be scraping the bottom of the barrel, but this collection is really a work of art.”

Nonfiction

10/20 Gladwell, Malcolm; What the Dog Saw

10/20 Keegan, John; American Civil War; Just reviewed in the NYT

10/20 Keller, Timothy; Counterfeit Gods

10/20 Levitt, Steven; SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance

The authors of the bestselling Freakonomics are raising hackles because of their take on global warming; Paul Krugman, in today’s “Conscience of a Liberal”  column, takes them to task, calling their ideas dangerous and “just plain wrong.”

SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner Retail Price: $29.99 Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: William Morrow – (2009-11-01) ISBN / EAN: 0060889578 / 9780060889579

HarperAudio: 9780060889357; $34.99
HarperLuxe: 9780061927577; $29.99
Audio and eBook downloadable from OverDrive

Biography

10/19 Egan, Timothy; The Big Burn:Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America

Most libraries have received this title. Author was winner of the National Book Award for The Worst Hard Time.

Christian Science Monitor — “what makes The Big Burn particularly impressive is Egan’s skill as an equal-opportunity storyteller… he recounts the stories of men and women completely unknown to most of us with the same fervor he uses to report the stories of historic figures.”

Seattle Post Intelligencer also writes about it.

10/19 Gordon, Linda;  Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits

SF Chronicle

10/20 Shawcross, William; The Queen Mother

The British Press desperately tried to find news in this 1,000 page authorized biography, running headlines like “TV Sit-Coms Tickled Queen Mum.” British reviewers found it too full of detail and too short on interest.

Telegraph — “…in [Shawcross’] zeal for comprehensiveness, he has created a text awash with details of menus consumed, clothes embroidered, presents received, places visited, and foundation stones laid that only a reader with a Queen Mother-sized sense of duty is likely to wade through to the finish line.

Guardian — “indulgent and overlong.”

10/21 Mann, William J, How to Be a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood

The British press found this Elizabeth much more interesting than the Queen Mum:

The Times of London:…wisely eschews the blow-by-blow approach and many of the time-honoured anecdotes about Taylor and Burton, instead “zooming in on key periods,” drawing on new interviews with the star’s colleagues and friends, and meticulous research in the MGM archives. While hardly earth-shattering, what emerges is a richly enjoyable biography.

How to Be a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood William J. Mann Retail Price: $28.00 Hardcover: 496 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade – (2009-10-21) ISBN / EAN: 0547134649 / 9780547134642

Jon Stewart asks the author of a new book on Ayn Rand whether members of the right, who often tout her, have noticed that she was an atheist and an intellectual.

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Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right Jennifer Burns Retail Price: $27.95 Hardcover: 384 pages Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA – (2009-10-19) ISBN / EAN: 0195324870 / 9780195324877

The book rose to #232 on Amazon sales rankings after the show aired.

However, it didn’t rise as high as two books by the Daily Show staff, that Stewart pitched at the end of the show:

#179 (from #3,520)

I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President Josh Lieb Retail Price: $15.99 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Razorbill – (2009-10-13) ISBN / EAN: 1595142401 / 9781595142405

Penguin Audio: 9780143145066; $29.95

Audio downloadable from OverDrive

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#181 (from #291)

What to Expect When You’re Expected: A Fetus’s Guide to the First Three Trimesters David Javerbaum Retail Price: $15.00 Paperback: 224 pages Publisher: Spiegel & Grau – (2009-10-13) ISBN / EAN: 0385526474 / 9780385526470

Dave Eggers was interviewed on NPR’s All things Considered last night about the process of working with Spike Jonze on the screenplay for Where the Wild Things Are.

In the intro, the hosts mention Eggers’ new book, The Wild Things, and call it “novelization” of the movie. Good thing Eggers didn’t hear that; he has described it as distinct from the movie, saying The Wild Things is his version of Sendak’s book, just as the movie is Spike Jonze’s version.

Aside from Eggers’ own descriptions, there has been little information available about the book; there were no prepub reviews and it wasn’t even clear what age group it’s aimed at. Libraries that bought it have classified it as adult.

Two reviews that appeared this week are diametrically opposed on both the book’s quality and its potential audience.

Boston Globe

Eggers has written a book for readers of all ages, without dumbing down his prose. But his highest achievement is in having found a fresh way to tell us a story we already know so well, about the monstrous forces of love and hate that mark every childhood – and pursue us howling into adulthood.

Washington Post, Michael Dirda

[Eggers has] turned a timeless picture-book classic into a contemporary problem novel for children 8 to 12. Of course, its marketers hope that grown-ups — racked with nostalgia or fans of Eggers’s popular earlier work — will read The Wild Things as a kind of enriched version of their long-ago bedtime favorite.

…All in all, [the book] is intermittently amusing but far more conventional than it should be. Eight- to 12-year-olds will like the book, but older readers — those “children of all ages” — won’t be starting a wild rumpus over it.

The Wild Things Dave Eggers Retail Price: $19.95 Hardcover: 300 pages Publisher: McSweeney’s – (2009-10-13) ISBN / EAN: 1934781614 / 9781934781616

The audio version uses the art from the movie:

The Wild Things (Library Edition) Dave Eggers Blackstone: 5 Tapes; 9781433297328; $29.98 1 Playaway; 9781433297397;11/01/09 ;$59.99 1 MP3CD; 9781433297366; $14.98 5 CDs; 9781433297335; $45.00

Audio is downloadable from OverDrive

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A book on the making of the movie is also available:

Heads On and We Shoot: The Making of Where the Wild Things Are Editors Of Mcsweeney’s, Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers Retail Price: $39.99 Hardcover: 240 pages Publisher: It Books – (2009-10-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061645567 / 9780061645563

Many feel that Spike Jonze’s movie of  Where the Wild Things Are will scare children. Even so, it is expected to lead at the box office this weekend (predictions range from $25 to $40 million in ticket sales).

The New York Times review says the film “startles and charms and delights largely because Mr. Jonze’s filmmaking exceeds anything he’s done in either of his inventive previous features.”

If you don’t want to fight the crowds at the cineplex tonight, you can stay home and watch the HBO documentary by Jonze about Maurice Sendak, Tell Them Anything You Want.

Movies are bringing attention to favorite picture books; the tie-ins to Where the Wild Things Are (opening tomorrow) and Cloudy with a Chance of Meat Balls (in theaters now) are both on the NYT bestseller lists, but don’t forget to check the originals; you probably need fresh copies.

At #1 on the NYT Picture Book list after two weeks:

Where the Wild Things Are: The Movie Storybook Barb Bersche, Michelle Quint Retail Price: $12.99 Hardcover: 48 pages Publisher: HarperFestival – (2009-09-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061656860 / 9780061656866

On the USA Today list, however, the original is at #9.

Where the Wild Things Are Maurice Sendak Retail Price: $17.95 Hardcover: 48 pages Publisher: Harper Collins – (1988-11-09) ISBN / EAN: 0060254920 / 9780060254926

At #8 on the NYT Children’s Paperback list, after 4 weeks:

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Junior Novelization Stacia Deutsch, Rhody Cohon Retail Price: $5.99 Paperback: 112 pages Publisher: Simon Spotlight – (2009-08-04) ISBN / EAN: 1416961488 / 9781416961482

On the USA Today list, the original is at #68 after 8 weeks.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs Judi Barrett Retail Price: $6.99 Paperback: 32 pages Publisher: Atheneum – (1982-04-01) ISBN / EAN: 0689707495 / 9780689707490

So, listen up, Hollywood, below are some of my favorites among the new picture book titles:

Truckery Rhymes (Jon Scieszka’s Trucktown) Jon Scieszka Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 64 pages Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing – (2009-08-25) ISBN / EAN: 1416941355 / 9781416941354

Silliness abounds as the Ambassador of Children’s Literature and master of the fractured fairytale takes on Mother Goose.

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Robot Zot! Jon Scieszka Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing – (2009-09-22) ISBN / EAN: 1416963944 / 9781416963943

An alien robot arrives to conquer earth, does battle and creates havoc on a domestic scene.

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Julie Andrews’ Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies Julie Andrews, Emma Walton Hamilton Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 192 pages Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers – (2009-10-06) ISBN / EAN: 0316040495 / 9780316040495

I’ve mentioned this one before and it hits the NYT picture book bestseller list at #3 this week. This lovely compilation is perfect for families to share.

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Never Smile at a Monkey: And 17 Other Important Things to Remember Steve Jenkins Retail Price: $16.00 Hardcover: 32 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children – (2009-10-19) ISBN / EAN: 061896620X / 9780618966202

This is a delightfully surprising collection of animals that one wouldn’t suspect were dangerous. Jenkin’s signature cut-paper collage creatures will engage children for storytime.

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Wag! Patrick McDonnell Retail Price: $15.99 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers – (2009-10-01) ISBN / EAN: 0316045489 / 9780316045483

Why do dogs wag their tails? The sweet, simple text and minimalist drawings captured my heart.

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Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas Jane O’connor Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 32 pages Publisher: HarperCollins – (2009-11-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061235903 / 9780061235900

You don’t need me to let you know but just in case. There’s a New Fancy Nancy!

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Owen and Mzee created a whole new category of “Reality Picture Books.” Below are some of my favorite new titles in the category.

Winter’s Tail: How One Little Dolphin Learned To Swim Again Juliana Hatkoff, Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Scholastic Press – (2009-10-01) ISBN / EAN: 0545123356 / 9780545123358

A dolphin that gets a prosthetic tail.

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Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle Brian Dennis, Mary Nethery, Kirby Larson Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 48 pages Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers – (2009-11-01) ISBN / EAN: 031605318X / 9780316053181

A marine saves an abandoned and abused Iraqi dog. A librarians’ favorite from BEA.

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Tarra & Bella: The Elephant and Dog Who Became Best Friends Carol Buckley Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 32 pages Publisher: Putnam Juvenile – (2009-09-08) ISBN / EAN: 0399254439 / 9780399254437

Tarra, former circus performer has retired to an elephant sanctuary where she resides with her faithful canine companion. The best in cross-species friendship books.

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And now for something completely different…

Cookbooks for kids really move in my library. If you are looking for something for a reluctant reader, they can be a big hit.

The Silver Spoon for Children Editors of Phaidon Press Retail Price: $19.95 Hardcover: 104 pages Publisher: Phaidon Press – (2009-12-02) ISBN / EAN: 0714857564 / 9780714857565

This exquisitely designed Italian cookbook for kids takes a sensible approach, with real fresh food and easy-to-follow recipes

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Little Blue and Little Yellow Leo Lionni Retail Price: $15.99 Hardcover: 48 pages Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers – (2009-10-13) ISBN / EAN: 0375860134 / 9780375860133

Just in time to replace those ratty old copies or those twenty copies showing on the catalog that don’t really exist, the fiftieth anniversary edition of a picture book classic.

Thanks to a feature in the NYT “Dining & Wine” section today, the University of California’s English-language version of The Pasta Encyclopedia, rose to #24 on Amazon’s sales rankings. Libraries we checked are not showing it on their catalogs.

In addition to demystifying pasta, like “Julia Child demystified French food,” the author attacks some long-held myths. She claims that Italians were eating pasta 200 years before Marco Polo supposedly brought the staple back to his homeland from China.

Encyclopedia of Pasta (California Studies in Food and Culture) Oretta Zanini De Vita Retail Price: $29.95 Hardcover: 400 pages Publisher: University of California Press – (2009-10-15) ISBN / EAN: 0520255224 / 9780520255227

If being told to “have a nice day” makes your skin crawl, you’ll love hearing Barbara Ehrenrich on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart about the downside of our culture of positive thinking.

After the appearance, her book Bright-sided rose to #40 on Amazon (from #95). Holds in libraries have been growing since the book was released.

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Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America Barbara Ehrenreich Retail Price: $23.00 Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: Metropolitan Books – (2009-10-13) ISBN / EAN: 0805087494 / 9780805087499

BBC Audio; ISBN-13: 978-0-7927-6669-8; $64.95
Audio downloadable from OverDrive