Mailbox Monday (June 4, 2012)

 Mailbox Monday will be hosted in June by Sassy Brit at Alternate-Read.com.  I don't know about you, but I am sooooo ready for summer!  We have already been enjoying the warm weather and have done some swimming and began working on our tans :).  Of course there was reading in the sun!  My daughter is out of school, but my son still has 4 more days - and since I work at his school, this means I still have 4 more days of work!  But come Friday I am headed to Vegas with my hubby!  Woot! Woot!  Let's take a look at what came in my mailbox this week.

 

Between the Lines

by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

What happens when happily ever after isn't?

Delilah hates school as much as she loves books.  In fact, there's one book in particular she can't get enough of.  If anyone knew how many times she has read and reread the sweet little fairy tale she found in the library, especially the popular kids, she'd be sent to social Siberia. . . forever.

To Delilah, though, this fairy tale is more than just words on the page.  Sure, there's a handsome (well, okay, hot) prince, and a castle, and an evil villain, but it feels as if there's something deeper going on.  And one day Delilah finds out there is.  Turns out, this Prince Charming is real, and  a certain fifteen-year-old loner has caught his eye.  But they're from two different worlds, and how can it ever possibly work?

Together with her daughter, Samantha Van Leer, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult has written a classic fairy tale with a uniquely modern twist.  Readers will be swept away by this story of a girl who crosses the border between reality and fantasy in a perilous search for her own happy ending. 

   

The Line Between Here and Gone

by Andrea Kane

The man she loved is gone forever.

The child she lives for could be next.

Each day is a struggle for Amanda Gleason's newborn son as he battles a rare immune deficiency.  Justin's best chance for a cure lies with his father, who was brutally murdered before Amanda even realized she carried his child.

Or was he?

One email changes everything:  a recent photo of a man who looks exactly like Paul.  Could Justin's father be alive?  The mother in her is desperate to find out.  But tracking down a ghost when every second counts is not for amateurs.

Forensic Instincts is the one team up for the challenge.

A behaviorist.  A former navy SEAL.  A techno-wizard.  An intuitive.  A retired FBI agent.  A human-scent-evidence dog.  Together they achieve the impossible, pushing ethical and legal boundaries whenever the ends justify the means.

The manhunt is on for the elusive father.  Yet the further the team digs into Paul's past, the more questions are raised about whether the man Amanda fell in love with ever existed at all.

Dark secrets.  Carefully crafted lies.  From the congressional halls of Washington, D.C., to exclusive Hamptons manors, there are ruthless people who would stop at nothing to make Forensic Instincts forget about the man Amanda desperately needs to find.

Little do they realize that once Forensic Instincts takes the case, nothing will stop them from uncovering the shocking truth that transcends The Line Between Here and Gone. 

 

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend

by Matthew Dicks

My name is Budo.

I have been alive for 5 years.  5 years is a very long time for someone like me to be alive.

Max gave me my name.  Max is 8 years old.  He is the only human person who can see me.

I know what Max knows, and some things he doesn't.  I know that Max is in danger.  And I know that I am the only one who can save him. 

 

Porch Lights

by Dorothea Benton Frank

When Jimmy McMullen, a fireman with the NYFD, is killed in the line of duty, his wife, Jackie, and ten-year-old son, Charlie, are devastated.  Charlie idolized his dad, and now the outgoing, curious boy has become quiet and reserved.  Trusting in the healing power of family, Jackie decides to return to her childhood home on Sullivans Island.

Crossing the bridge from the mainland, Jackie and Charlie enter a world full of wonder and magic -- luch green and chocolate grasslands and dazzling red, orange and magenta evening skies; the heady pungency of Lowcountry Pluff mud and fresh seafood on the grill; bare toes snuggled in warm sand and palmetto fronds swaying in gentle ocean winds.

Awaiting them is Annie Britt, the family matriarch who has kept the prch lights on to welcome them home.  Thrilled to have her family back again, Annie promises to make their visit perfect -- even though relations between mother and daughter have never been what you'd call smooth.  Over the years, Jackie and Annie, like all mothers and daughters, have been known to have frequent and notorious differences of opinion.  But her estranged and wise husband, Buster, and her flamboyant and funny best friend Deb are sure to keep Annie in line.  She's also got Steven Plofker, the flirtatious and devilishly tasty widowed physician next door, to keep her distracted as well.

Captivated by the island's alluring natural charms and inspired by colorful Lowcountry lore -- lively stories of Blackbeard and his pirates who once sailed the waters surrounding the Carolinas and of former resident Edgar Allan Poe -- mother, daughter, and grandson will share a memorable, illuminating summer.  

 

The Director's Cut

by Janice Thompson

Tia Morales is used to calling the shots.  She's the director of the popular sitcom Stars Collide, and her life on the set is calculated and orderly.  Well, most of the time.  Life outside the studio is another matter.  If only she could get other people to behave as well as her stars do!  When she starts to have feelings for handsome cameraman Jason Harris -- with whom she's been butting heads for months -- it's enough to send a girl over the edge.  Will she ever learn to let go and take life -- and love -- as it comes?

Summer Fit

Be Smart by staying on top of classroom skills in reading, writing, math and language arts.  Be Active by using a daily fitness schedule to keep moving.  Stay cool this summer by learning the importance of kindness, respect, honesty, and responsibility.

Keeping brains thinking and bodies active during school breaks is entertaining and engaging with Summer Fit workbooks and online games and activities.

Created by educators, fitness trainers, and parents, Summer Fit activities focus on key areas of child development, including academics, physical fitness, and core values.

Right now it might feel like a million years away, but the first day of the new school year will be soon upon us.  With Summer Fit, your child will take a seat better prepared to handle the mental, physical and social challenges of the new school year. 

Have fun this summer and keep on moving!

What books came home to you this week!