The Book Search

 You know those books.  The ones that sit charmingly between genres.  Are they realistic because the characters SEEM like real people, if slightly (or extremely) exaggerated.  Are they speculative (or fantasy) because I really, really hope that things like this never really happen to kids or that there are people like this out in the world.  Here are two books that are just like that! The first one is called That Time I Got Kidnapped by Tom Mitchell.  It's about Jacob, who is 14 and a HUGE Marvel Comics fan, who has won a chance to be an extra in a new movie shooting in Hollywood, with all expenses paid.  So he's going from England to Hollywood, all by himself.  He has a list of things he should not do (like lose his passport or miss his connecting flight), so what could possibly go wrong?  For starters, there's a huge snowstorm in Chicago, which is his point of entry in the US.  And he misses the connecting flight.  So he decides to take a bus to Hollywood, where he meets

 There are some great new books coming out in the next few weeks, some you really don't want to miss!  These two magical tales should be right at the top of your list. The first one is called Root Magic by Eden Royce.  It's set in the low country of South Carolina in 1963.  Jezebel and her twin brother Jay are growing up on the edge of a marsh with their mother and their uncle.  Their dad disappeared quite some time ago and their grandmother has just died at the opening of the book.  It turns out, in addition to dealing with some of the racist attitudes of the time, Jezebel and Jay are starting to come into their powers related to root magic-a kind of magic that is connected to the Gullah culture and traces it's roots back to Africa.  Many people of the community are afraid of the magic, although some seek their family to receive the cures and treatments.  School is hard because the other kids are mean to Jez.  Jay is friendlier and has good friends and Jez worries that the