·      Winners will receive $25.00 watchung booksellers gift certificates and 100 copies of the bookmark with their illustration.  Winning designs will be used on store bookmarks.     

·      Honorable mention entries will receive $10.00 watchung booksellers gift certificates and will have their designs displayed in the store.   

Print entry form HERE.

 

Jackson Godspeed is the hottest young Angel in a city filled with them. He's days away from becoming a full Guardian, and people around the world are already competing for the chance to be watched over by him. Everyone's obsessed with the Angels and the lucky people they protect - everyone except for Madison Montgomery.

Maddy's the one girl in Angel City who doesn't breathlessly follow the Angels on TV and gossip blogs. When she meets Jackson, she doesn't recognize him. But Jackson is instantly captivated by her, and against all odds the two fall in love.

Maddy is swiftly caught up in Jackson's scene, a world of glamour, paparazzi - and murder. A serial killer is on the loose, leaving dead Angels' wings for the police to find on the Walk of Fame. Even the Guardians are powerless to protect themselves in the face of this threat ... and this time it's up to Maddy to save Jackson. (ages 12 & up) 

It was like a nightmare, but there was no waking up.  When the night began, Nora had two best friends and an embarrassingly storybook one true love.  When it ended, she had nothing but blood on her hands and an echoing scream that stopped only when the tranquilizers pierced her veins and left her in the merciful dark.

But the next morning, it was all still true: Chris was dead.  His girlfriend Adriane, Nora's best friend, was catatonic. And Max, Nora's sweet, smart, soft-spoken Prince Charming, was gone. He was also-according to the police, according to her parents, according to everyone-a murderer.

Desperate to prove his innocence, Nora follows the trail of blood, no matter where it leads. It ultimately brings her to the ancient streets of Prague, where she is drawn into a dark web of secret societies and shadowy conspirators, all driven by a mad desire to possess something that might not even exist. For buried in a centuries-old manuscript is the secret to ultimate knowledge and communion with the divine; it is said that he who controls the Lumen Dei controls the world. Unbeknownst to her, Nora now holds the crucial key to unlocking its secrets. Her night of blood is just one piece in a puzzle that spans continents and centuries. Solving it may be the only way she can save her own life. (ages 12 & up) 

 

Remarkable, by Lizzie Foley

In the mountain town of Remarkable, everyone is extraordinarily talented, extraordinarily gifted, or just plain extraordinary. Everyone, that is, except Jane Doe, the most average ten-year-old who ever lived. But everything changes when the mischievous, downright criminal Grimlet twins enroll in Jane's school and a strange pirate captain appears in town. Thus begins a series of adventures that put some of Remarkable's most infamous inhabitants and their long-held secrets in danger. It's up to Jane, in her own modest style, to come to the rescue and prove that she is capable of some rather exceptional things.

 

Interviewee: Anna Esterina Valerin, 9: writer, illustrator, artist, and remarkable new big sister!

Interviewer: Marisela Santiago, 40: mom, bookseller, amateur cook, salsa dancer

 

Anna, you told me you read this book overnight and that you loved it.   

 

So, tell me what was your favorite part of the book?

I have many!

One of my favorite parts of the book was when Mrs. Presnelda was telling the story of her family and explaining why she didn't want her sister, Ms. Schnabel to go into her former profession (can't tell you any more.... You'll have to read to find out!)

I also loved the bell tower opening. Earlier in the book, it said that Granpa John gave Jane a set of ropes for her to use in her piracy adventures. He came up with the ropes very quickly, though, and later there is a revelation that he really took the ropes from the bell tower (we'll leave it there so we don't spoil the mystery!).

I also loved that, from what we know about Granpa, he is famous for being so ordinary and I thought stealing ropes was not at all ordinary and, really, more like Grimlet twin thing to do.

Finally, I also loved any time with the Grimlet twins. They are constantly in catastrophes, like the time they built the volcano and it exploded and all the paints went all over the place. That was fun!

 

It really sounds like you loved the people in these books... who are your favorite characters?

I think my favorite character was Jane because, though she is thought of as ordinary, she leads a remarkable life in her ordinary way.

I also really like Captain Rojo Herring because he provides one of the big revelations of the book. I did think it was weird that a pirate Captain would just appear in the town of Remarkable. He is a big mystery.

I also love the Grimlet twins. They are so happy to get trouble, which is weird because, generally, I don't think that kids really want to get in trouble. If it was me, I would not be happy at all...

 

What else did you enjoy about the book?

I liked the idea of a town where everyone is remarkable, except Jane and her grandpa. It made me ask immediately, "why aren't they remarkable?" and "how can they make a living and survive in such a remarkable town if they are not remarkable?"

At the beginning of the book, I thought ok these characters are remarkable, with their special talents. By the end, though, I thought, are they really remarkable? In reality, Jane is more remarkable than anyone... remarkable in her ordinariness! She goes through this world making connections and solving the mysteries. She's good a lot of things instead of just one. The Grimlet twins also help bring out her remarkableness when they insist that they study piracy.

I also really like the way the book is built. In this book, the questions and mysteries that come up in chapters are answered directly in the following chapters. It's a nice pace. It's much more satisfying to read that way, rather than waiting a long time to reveal answers and mysteries. It helped me stay interested.

 

This book has a lot of crazy names in it, what did you think about that?

I like the names in the book but I didn't like Lucinda Wilhelmina Hinojosa's name - she wasn't all that much in the book and I got confused when I ran into that long name! Otherwise, I liked the crazy names. I liked the name Jane because it is ordinary but at the end she is remarkable.

 

Anything else you want to share about the book?

I really wished that there had been more in the book about the relationship between Grandpa and Lucky, the sea monster. I really wanted to find out more about that... maybe there should be a second book where they talk about it.

I also thought it was really important that the author put her "inspiration for Remarkable" story in this book. It relates to the book so much. The author has a couple of very amazing sisters and when she was growing up she felt ordinary next to them. But I think when she is writing these books she is feeling good for herself - she has so many things that are alike with Jane.

 

Would you recommend this book to other kids?

Yes! I think someone who enjoys mysteries and fantasy and some realistic fiction would love it but it's really a little bit of everything. It's a book that is for everyone!

 

The Beginning Reader

 
by David McPhail
A man in the 1800
s comes upon a beautiful forest and decides to build his home there. When he clears the land, he leaves one special tree to grace his front yard. Over the years, several generations of his family enjoy this tree, but it is endangered by a plan to build a highway. A young boy and his host of animal friends get together to make a stand, and give back to the tree which has given them so much. (ages 4-8)