Monday, February 21, 2011

Briar’s Journal (February 22 to March 16, 2011)

Dream Entry*

November 17, 2006


Bigfoot and I are counting blades of grass in the library’s lawn when George Washington and Abraham Lincoln pull up to the curb in a rusty car. The car has a flat tire. A swarm of bees shoots out of the tailpipe and a gooey, black gunk that smells like cheese oozes from underneath the hood. A “FOR SALE” sign is painted on the windshield. Bigfoot asks the presidents how much the car costs.


“Fourscore and twenty thousand bananas,” Lincoln says from the passenger side. His tall hat is flattened against the ceiling. “But you’re in luck. Drive away with this previously owned vehicle today for only nineteen thousand bananas and twoscore grapefruit. Plus, there’s a special pomegranate-back option if your bananas are overripe.”


“What kind of shape is it in?” Bigfoot asks.


Washington leans over from the driver’s side and tells Bigfoot: “I cannot tell a lie. It’s in mint condition.”


“Honestly,” Lincoln says. “And at that price, we’re practically giving it away.”


I tell Bigfoot he’d better test drive the car before he buys it, but he shrugs me off and pays the presidents.


“Your pomegranates are in the truck,” Washington says as he hands the car keys to Bigfoot.


Bigfoot and I get in the car. As we pull away from the curb I see Washington and Lincoln hurling balled-up bananas at patrons exiting the library.


I ask Bigfoot where we’re going.


“To drop off the pomegranates to our friends,” he says.


We pull the car up outside of Morzant’s spaceship first. Bigfoot opens the trunk and pulls out a pomegranate with Morzant’s name on it.


“This one looks extra tasty,” Bigfoot says.


Under Morzant’s name is the title of a book and the date it will be released. The other pomegranates have the titles of other future books along with the names of my other friends and of the three puppies I haven’t yet met.


Here are the pomegranate-shaped books that were in the trunk of Bigfoot’s new used car:



The pomegranate-shaped books for BIGFOOT:

HOW LAMAR’S BAD PRANK WON A BUBBA-SIZED TROPHY

by Crystal Allen

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Balzer & Bray-HarperCollins

February 22, 2011


SEAN GRISWOLD’S HEAD by Lindsey Leavitt

[YOUNG ADULT]

Bloomsbury USA

March 1, 2011




The pomegranate-shaped books for MORZANT:

TOM THUMB: THE REMARKABLE TRUE STORY OF

A MAN IN MINIATURE by George Sullivan

[YOUNG ADULT—NON-FICTION]

Clarion-Houghton Mifflin

February 28, 2011


NURSE, SOLDIER, SPY: THE STORY OF SARAH EDMONDS,

A CIVIL WAR HERO by Marissa Moss, illustrated by John Hendrix

[PICTURE BOOK—NON-FICTION]

Abrams

March 1, 2011


WEREWOLVES ON THE MOON: VERSUS VAMPIRES #1

by David Land, Matt Fillbach, and Shawn Fillbach,

illustrated by Matt Fillbach and Shawn Fillbach

[YOUNG ADULT—COMIC]

DARK HOUSE

March 9, 2011


LEMONADE: AND OTHER POEMS SQUEEZED FROM

A SINGLE WORD by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Nancy Doniger

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Roaring Brook

March 15, 2011




The pomegranate-shaped books for PENNY:

DARKNESS BECOMES HER by Kelly Keaton

[YOUNG ADULT]

Simon Pulse-Simon & Schuster

February 22, 2011


THE INCORRIGIBLE CHILDREN OF ASHTON PLACE:

THE HIDDEN GALLERY by Maryrose Wood,

with illustrations by Jon Klassen

[MIDDLE GRADE—SECOND IN THE SERIES]

Balzer & Bray-HarperCollins

February 22, 2011


THE VISCONTI HOUSE by Elsbeth Edgar

[YOUNG ADULT]

Candlewick

February 22, 2011


THE CHAOS by Rachel Ward

[YOUNG ADULT—SECOND IN THE NUMBERS SERIES]

The Chicken House-Scholastic

March 1, 2011


THE LIAR SOCIETY by Lisa Roecker and Laura Roecker

[YOUNG ADULT]

Sourcebooks

March 1, 2011


BLINK & CAUTION by Tim Wynne-Jones

[YOUNG ADULT]

Candlewick

March 8, 2011


HUMAN.4 by Mike A. Lancaster

[YOUNG ADULT]

Egmont USA

March 8, 2011




The pomegranate-shaped books for NORMAN:

WE ARE NOT EATEN BY YAKS: AN ACCIDENTAL ADVENTURE

by C. Alexander London

[MIDDLE GRADE—FIRST IN THE SERIES]

Philomel-Penguin

February 22, 2011


MUPPET SHERLOCK HOLMES by Patrick Storck,

illustrated by Amy Mebberson

[COMIC]

BOOM! Studios

March 1, 2011


THE TROUBLE WITH CHICKENS: A J.J. Tully Mystery

by Doreen Cronin, with illustrations by Kevin Cornell

[MIDDLE GRADE—FIRST IN THE SERIES]

Balzer & Bray-HarperCollins

March 1, 2011


LIAR, LIAR: THE THEORY, PRACTICE AND DESTRUCTIVE PROPERTIES OF DECEPTION by Gary Paulsen

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Wendy Lamb-Random House

March 8, 2011




The pomegranate-shaped books for BEVERLY:

INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN by Thanhha Lai

[MIDDLE GRADE]

HarperCollins

February 22, 2011


SLOG’S DAD by David Almond, with illustrations by Dave McKean

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Candlewick

February 22, 2011


THE KISSING GAME: SHORT STORIES by Aidan Chambers

[YOUNG ADULT]

Amulet-Abrams

March 1, 2011


LIKE PICKLE JUICE ON A COOKIE by Julie Sternberg,

with illustrations by Matthew Cordell

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Amulet-Abrams

March 1, 2011


SMALL AS AN ELEPHANT by Jennifer Richard Jacobson

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Candlewick

March 8, 2011


DOGTAG SUMMER by Elizabeth Partridge

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Bloomsbury USA

March 15, 2011


HURRICANE DANCERS: THE FIRST CARIBBEAN

PIRATE SHIPWRECK by Margarita Engle

[YOUNG ADULT—NOVEL IN VERSE]

Henry Holt

March 15, 2011




The pomegranate-shaped books for OLIVER:

IF YOU’RE HOPPY by April Pulley Sayre,

illustrated by Jackie Urbanovic

[PICTURE BOOK]

Greenwillow-HarperCollins

February 22, 2011


CLOUDETTE by Tom Lichtenheld

[PICTURE BOOK]

Henry Holt

March 1, 2011


ICE by Arthur Geisert

[PICTURE BOOK]

Enchanted Lion

March 1, 2011


LITTLE MOUSE’S BIG SECRET by Éric Battut

[PICTURE BOOK]

Sterling

March 1, 2011


WITCHES’ BREW (A SAM & FRIENDS MYSTERY)

by Mary Labatt, illustrated by Jo Rioux

[GRAPHIC NOVEL—FOURTH IN THE SERIES]

Kids Can Press

March 1, 2011


OWLY & WORMY, FRIENDS ALL AFLUTTER! by Andy Runton

[PICTURE BOOK]

Atheneum-Simon & Schuster

March 8, 2011


BLUE CHAMELEON by Emily Gravett

[PICTURE BOOK]

Simon & Schuster

March 8, 2011




The pomegranate-shaped books for LENNY:

ARGUS by Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Andrea Wesson

[PICTURE BOOK]

Candlewick

February 22, 2011


SMALL SAUL by Ashley Spires

[PICTURE BOOK]

Kids Can Press

March 1, 2011


SPINSTER GOOSE: TWISTED RHYMES FOR NAUGHTY CHILDREN by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by Sophie Blackall

[PICTURE BOOK]

Atheneum-Simon & Schuster

March 8, 2011


YOU’RE FINALLY HERE! by Mélanie Watt

[PICTURE BOOK]

Hyperion-Disney

March 8, 2011




The pomegranate-shaped books for VIOLET:

PICK A PUP by Marsha Wilson Chall, illustrated by Jed Henry

[PICTURE BOOK]

Margaret K. McElderry-Simon & Schuster

February 22, 2011


NOODLE & LOU by Liz Garton Scanlon,

illustrated by Arthur Howard

[PICTURE BOOK]

Beach Lane-Simon & Schuster

March 1, 2011


PRESS HERE by Hervé Tullet

[PICTURE BOOK]

Chronicle

March 16, 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.

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