Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Briar’s Journal (December 20, 2011 to January 6, 2012)

Dream Entry*

May 23, 2003


It’s Christmas Eve. My friends and I are decorating our tree with old keys, paper clips, and a garland of four-leaf clovers. Three beagle puppies howl at a knock at the door. Bigfoot opens it. There’s a duck standing on the porch blowing a Christmas kazoo. Bigfoot invites him inside.


The puppies start to howl again, this time at the sound of something knocking around on the roof. Their ears twitch and they run into the next room. We join them in time to see Santa somersaulting out of the fireplace. The puppies rush him and lick his chubby cheeks.


“Come with me,” he says.


He takes Bigfoot by the hand and they swoosh up the chimney. Santa comes back to take each of my friends up the chimney. He comes back for me, but I’m scared. I don’t like tight places.


“Don’t worry,” he says. “It’s easier this way. Books are too heavy to carry in my sleigh.”


So I let him carry me up the chimney. Up, up, up we go. The inside of the chimney smells like candy canes. All my soot-covered friends are waiting for us on the roof. Morzant is explaining string theory to Rudolf.


Santa’s sleigh doesn’t look big enough to hold us all, but we squeeze in, except for the duck who flies along beside us kazooing “Silent Night.”


We don’t travel long, but we travel a far distance to a tropical island.


“All that North Pole stuff is to trick the paparazzi,” Santa tells us.


He takes us to a huge library made of palm fronds. It has coconut shutters and seashell shingles. In the lobby is a giant snow globe with tutu-wearing guppies performing The Nutcracker. I stop at the drinking fountain. Egg nog comes out. Nutmeg clogs up the drain holes.


“In here,” Santa says.


He shows us a room with hundreds of bookshelves, all draped with tinsel. A jingle-bell chandelier hangs overhead. There are plates of snickerdoodles on every table.


“Enjoy the books,” Santa says. “When I get back, we’ll have a cribbage tournament.”


And then he’s off, back to delivering toys to the world’s children.


My friends, the puppies, and I find books to read. Even the duck, now kazooing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” makes a pile of books for himself by the big window so he can watch the falling snow.




In BIGFOOT’s pile of books:


WHY WE BROKE UP by Daniel Handler,

with illustrations by Maira Kalman

[YOUNG ADULT]

Little, Brown-Hachette

December 27, 2011


LOVE AND LEFTOVERS by Sarah Tregay

[YOUNG ADULT]

Katherine Tegan-HarperCollins

December 27, 2011


GIRL MEETS BOY: BECAUSE THERE ARE

TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY by Kelly Milner Halls

[YOUNG ADULT]

Chronicle

December 28, 2012


THE STATISTICAL PROBABILITY OF

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT by Jennifer E. Smith

[YOUNG ADULT]

Little, Brown-Hachette

January 2, 2012


EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO

SURVIVE THE APOCALYPSE by Lucas Klauss

[YOUNG ADULT]

Simon Pulse-Simon & Schuster

January 3, 2012


LOVE? MAYBE by Heather Hepler

[YOUNG ADULT]

Dial-Penguin

January 5, 2012



In MORZANT’s pile of books:


ZOMBIE TAG by Hannah Moskowitz

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Roaring Brook

December 20, 2011


LITTLE DOG LOST: THE TRUE STORY OF

A BRAVE DOG NAMED BALTIC by Monica Carnesi

[PICTURE BOOK—NON-FICTION]

Nancy Paulsen-Peguin

January 5, 2012


LOOKING AT LINCOLN by Maira Kalman

[PICTURE BOOK—NON-FICTION]

Nancy Paulsen-Penguin

January 5, 2012



In PENNY’s pile of books:


LEGACY by Molly Cochran

[YOUNG ADULT—FIRST IN THE SERIES]

Paula Wiseman-Simon & Schuster

December 20, 2011


STILL WATERS by Emma Carlson Berne

[YOUNG ADULT]

Simon Pulse-Simon & Schuster

December 20, 2011


EVERY OTHER DAY by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

[YOUNG ADULT]

Egmont USA

December 27, 2011


UNDER THE NEVER SKY by Veronica Rossi

[YOUNG ADULT]

HarperCollins

January 3, 2012


UNRAVELING ISOBEL by Eileen Cook

[YOUND ADULT]

Simon Pulse-Simon & Schuster

January 3, 2012



In THE DUCKS’s pile of books:


PANDEMONIUM by Chris Wooding,

illustrated by Cassandra Diaz

[MIDDLE GRADE—GRAPHIC NOVEL]

Graphix-Scholastic

January 1, 2012


THE CABINET OF EARTHS by Anne Nesbet

[MIDDLE GRADE]

HarperCollins

January 3, 2012


CINDER by Marissa Meyer

[YOUNG ADULT—FIRST IN THE LUNAR CHRONICLES]

Feiwel & Friends-Macmillan

January 3, 2012


WINTERLING by Sarah Prineas

[MIDDLE GRADE]

HarperCollins

January 3, 2012


DRAGONSWOOD by Janet Lee Carey

[YOUNG ADULT]

Dial-Penguin

January 5, 2012



In NORMAN’s pile of books:


SHOWOFF by Gordon Korman

[MIDDLE GRADE—FOURTH IN THE SWINDLE SERIES]

Scholastic Press-Scholastic

January 1, 2012


HOW TO BEAT THE BULLY WITHOUT

REALLY TRYING by Scott Starkey

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Paula Wiseman-Simon & Schuster

January 3, 2012


FANGBONE! THIRD-GRADE BARBARIAN by Michael Rex

[GRAPHIC NOVEL—FIRST IN THE FANGBONE!

THIRD-GRADE BARBARIAN SERIES]

Putnam-Penguin

January 5, 2012


THE EGG OF MISERY by Michael Rex

[GRAPHIC NOVEL—SECOND IN THE FANGBONE!

THIRD-GRADE BARBARIAN SERIES]

Putnam-Penguin

January 5, 2012



In BEVERLY’s pile of books:


PROMISE THE NIGHT by Michaela MacColl

[YOUNG ADULT

Chronicle

December 28, 2011


DUMPLING DAYS by Grace Lin

[MIDDLE GRADE—SEQUEL TO THE YEAR OF THE DOG &

THE YEAR OF THE RAT]

Little, Brown-Hachette

January 2, 2012


THE LIONS OF LITTLE ROCK by Kristin Levine

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Putnam-Penguin

January 5, 2012



In OLIVER’s pile of books:


PLANT A KISS by Amy Krouse Rosenthal,

illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

[PICTURE BOOK]

HarperCollins

December 27, 2011


ALL KINDS OF KISSES by Nancy Tafuri

[PICTURE BOOK]

Little, Brown-Hachette

January 2, 2012


MAUDIE AND BEAR by Jan Ormerod,

illustrated by Freya Blackwood

[PICTURE BOOK]

Putnam-Penguin

January 5, 2012



In LENNY’s pile of books:


SOLOMON CROCODILE by Catherine Rayner

[PICTURE BOOK]

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

December 20, 2011



In VIOLET’s pile of books:


THE BIGGEST KISS by Joanna Walsh,

illustrated by Judi Abbot

[PICTURE BOOK]

Simon & Schuster

December 20, 2011


MR. PRICKLES: A QUILL-FATED LOVE STORY

by Kara LaReau, illustrated by Scott Magoon

[PICTURE BOOK]

Roaring Brook

December 20, 2011


THE REALLY AWFUL MUSICIANS by John Manders

[PICTURE BOOK]

Clarion-Houghton Mifflin

December 20, 2011


A GIANT CRUSH by Gennifer Choldenko,

illustrated by Melissa Sweet

[PICTURE BOOK]

Putnam-Penguin

December 22, 2011








* The dream entries from Briar’s journal contain premonitions of books that will be published in the future. Briar’s dream self foresees the books’ summaries and knows which will likely appeal to each of her friends. Briar always wakes up before she can see whether her friends will enjoy the books.

5 comments:

Kelly Hashway said...

I can't wait to read UNDER THE NEVER SKY!

Happy holidays!

Michael Rex said...

Hello. I'm glad you're looking forward to "Fangbone! Third Grade Barbarian!" However, I hope you aren't let down that they are graphic novels and not chapter books. Happy Holidays!

---Mike Rex

Bigfoot said...

Kelly, That looks like a good one! Being able to read Briar’s journal in advance has its drawbacks. It’s hard waiting for all the books she dreamt about to be released.

Michael, I fixed the listing to show your books are graphic novels. Briar’s dream journal said as much (she’s never wrong). I was the one who typed these in this time and I made the mistake. Please forgive me…I had had too much egg nog.

Kelly Bingham said...

These books sound like a sweet way to start the new year. I am especially intrigued by Mr. Pickles. I can't wait to check them out!

Kelly

Bigfoot said...

Oops. It’s supposed to be Mr. Prickles. He’s a porcupine, not a cucumber. Again, I blame the egg nog.