CHAPTER BOOKS For Young Readers
 Being exiled to her grandparents' house in Maine for the entire summer vacation seemed about the worst thing that could happen to eleven-year-old Elizabeth. Then she thought about strange Great-Grammie Henley! How could Elizabeth spend all summer with the withered old woman who clutches a worn rag doll and speaks nonsense? In her first novel for middle readers, Cynthia Furlong Reynolds draws from her childhood summers spent near the ocean in Maine to craft a story about the special bonds that unite family members, at times across many generations and through the darkest family secrets. 269 pages. hardcover. $16.95 |  In 1607, a young lad ventures from his home in England to the New World, America, with his uncle. He tells the exciting true story of the settlement of the Popham Colony, the sister colony to Jamestown. Suffering bitter weather, starvation, fire, and death, they endure for fifteen months. The Popham Colony sets the stage for future settlement of the Plymouth Plantation by the Pilgrims in 1620. 2004 paperback, 50 pages. $10.00 |
 The book follows Donald Baxter MacMillan's life from boyhood until death. Orphaned at twelve, Mac worked his way through Bowdoin College, became a teacher, and later joined Robert Peary's 1908-1909 North Pole expedition. Fascinated with the Arctic, Mac went on to explore and research the region for nearly fifty years. Not only was Mac a gifted explorer, he was a humanitarian as well. With the help of donations, Mac supplied materials to build the first school in northern Labrador. He supported the school for the rest of his life. Equally as impressive were Mac's efforts to see that Matthew Henson, an African-American arctic explorer, received the recognition that he had been denied due to his race. Mary Morton Cowan also wrote the Maine Library Assn award winner Timberrr. Hardcover 208 pages $17.95 |  It's not that the folks in Centerburg are especially nosy; it's just that in a small town everyone seems to know everything. But Homer Price does know more about what's going on than anyone, because he's usually in the middle of things.... And whenever there's a problem Homer puts everything aright with his own common sense and ingenueity--like the time Uncle Heracles jumped out of his clothes and landed in another state, or a slick salesman duped the whole town, or the whole town started speaking in jingles. Nothing fazes Homer Price! Paperback, 192 pages. $6.99 |
 Charley is based on the true story of a twelve-year-old boy living in Boston in 1910. Suffering from abandonment he winds up on the steps of an orphanage. Charley, blessed with a beautiful voice, joins the traveling choir. When his hopes are all but dashed, he sings his way into a family in rural Maine. Paperback 208 pages $14.95 |  Part of a series of state-by-state pocket guides designed for kids but useful for anyone wanting information on 50 of Maine's “critters” including birds and mammals. Inside The "Critters of Maine Pocket Guide," you’ll find: - Large color photo of each critter - Only Maine critters: if it's in this book, it's in Maine! - Concise descriptions - Interesting "Did You Know" facts - "Wild Words" glossary 2002 paperback, 128 pages. $5.95 |
 Flower Fables is a treasury of six different stories penned by Louisa May Alcott. These old-fashioned fairy tales have been compiled and edited by Daniel Shealy, who has done editing on several Alcott books. The text is very readable, and has magic flavor added via the font's joining together of several letters. Today's children, like many children of the past, will enjoy meeting Alcott's fairies, sentient flowers, and other real and imagined characters. Illustrator Leah Palmer Preiss has filled the book with delightful and interesting fairies and other creatures. The illustrations are bright and full. Readers may want to watch for the bonuses of quotations and tiny portraits of those who influenced Louisa May Alcott. This book would make a good bedtime storybook, and like many tales of old, has good morals that children could take away with them perhaps without even realizing there was a lesson involved. The afterword is also interesting as it shares interesting details about Miss Alcott. For example, she wrote these tales when she was 16. Another bonus at the end of the book is the biographies that go along with the quotations and miniature portraits. Hardcover 210 pages $15.95 |  Kids love ghosts, and this handy guide will help them explore the world of the supernatural. The fascinating range of ghostly lore will keep kids enthralled for hours and includes:
-What is a ghost, and how do you know if you've seen one
-Famous ghosts and haunted houses
-On the hunt with real-life ghost trackers
-Ghost-hunting equipment
-Where to look for ghosts
-How to tell a good ghost story.
Photographs and illustrations throughout. Hardcover. 95 pgs. $15.95 |
 This historical novel for teens follows Will Knox, a member of George Washington's army. Under seige by both the British and the brutal winter weather, frustrated Will and his brother Henry devise a plan to cross dangerous mountain terrain and fetch for the General 183 cannons from Fort Ticongeroga. (142 pages, Gulliver Books, paperback) $6.00 |  Hitty is a doll of great charm and character, and these are her memoirs, which, besides being full of the most thrilling adventures on land and sea, also reveal her delightful personality. Hitty was made in the early 1800s for a little girl from Maine, and this is the story of Hitty's years with her, and the years that followed... (paperback, 235 pages, Aladdin Paperbacks) $7.99 |
 Homer Price lives two miles out of Centerburg, where Route 56 meets 56A, but most of his friends and relatives live in town. They include Aunt Aggy and Uncle Ulysses, the Sherriff and the boys, Miss Terwilliger, Miss Naomi Enders, great-great-great granddaughter of Ezekiel Enders who founded Centerburg and who owned the precious formula for making Cough Syrup and Elixer of Life Compound. While Centerburg is not exactly nosy, precious little happens that the good citizens do not know about. Read about their hilarious adventures, and you will agree that Homer Price has the world well under control. Paperback, 152 pages. Homer Price's adventures continue in the sequel "Centerburg Tales." $7.99 |  "A Little Maid of Old Maine" is a true story of the brave effort of two girls to bring help to a little settlement on the Maine coast at the time of the War of the Revolution. Written by Alice Turner Curtis, this historical novel for girls aged 7-12 is now in reprint. Includes a fascimile of a real turn-of-the-century paper doll. 1999 paperback, 188 pages. $12.95 |
 A true story. When twelve year old Donn Fendler gets tired of waiting for his father and brothers to join him on the summit of Maine's highest peak, he decides to find his own way back to camp. But Donn doesn't count on a fast moving fog that obscures the path. He doesn't count on falling down an embankment that hides him from sight. And he doesn't count on taking a turn that leaves him alone to wander aimlessly for nearly two weeks in the empty mountain wilderness.This is a good book for someone 9yrs and up.
paper, 1978, 109 pages $6.99 |  Come along for a joy ride in this enthralling tribute to the daring women – Motor Girls, as they were called at the turn of the century – who got behind the wheel of the first cars and paved the way for change. The automobile has always symbolized freedom, and in this book we meet the first generation of female motorists who drove cars for fun, profit, and to make a statement about the evolving role of women. From the advent of the auto in the 1890s to the 1920s when the breaking down of barriers for women was in full swing, readers will be delighted to see historical photos, art, and artifacts and to discover the many ways these progressive females influenced fashion, the economy, politics, and the world around them. Color photos and images throughout. Hardcover. 96 pgs. $18.99 |
 Filled with quizzes, games and the most fascinating facts about the most powerful office on earth. "Presidential Trivia" is the perfect book for the novice history buff and covers the years between President Washington 1789 and President Bush 2008. Chapters include: running mates, first ladies, presidents under fire, presidential nicknames, presidential record setters, and more! Paperback. 148 pgs. $9.99 |  The 56 men who dared to sign their name to this revolutionary "Declaration of Independence" knew they were putting their reputations, their fortunes, and their very lives on the line by boldly and publicly declaring their support for liberty and freedom. Who were these brave men? Their lives are illuminated here. Woodcut illustrations throughout. Hardcover. 164 pgs. $22.95 |
 Historical fiction: Go along with ten-year-old George as he visits his sea captain grandfather on Mount Desert island, Maine in 1908. Even with his tendency to exaggerate he couldn't have imagined what amazing stories and adventures he would find, and what he would discover about himself. An engaging chapter book enjoyed by young listeners or independent readers - and grownups too. Paperback 114 pages $8.95 |  Elwyn Brooks White loved words. As a child, he chased them through dictionary pages and crafted them into poems. When he was a young man, words led him to writing jobs at big-city newspapers and The New Yorker. In this stunning first-ever fully illustrated biography of the legendary author E. B. White, Melissa Sweet uses White's letters, photos, and manuscripts-as well as her original collaged art-to convey the true story of one of the most beloved authors of all time. Color illustrations throughout. Hardcover. 162 pgs. $18.99 |
 Joe Wood has big dreams. He wants to be a newspaperman, and though he's only thirteen, he's already borrowed money for the equipment to start his own press. But it's April 1861, and the young nation is teetering on the brink of a civil war. He has to help Owen, his young assistant, deal with the challenges of being black in a white world torn apart by color. He needs to talk his best friend, Charlie, out of enlisting. He wants to help a young spiritualist, Nell, whose uncle claims can she speak to the dead. And when Owen disappears, it's up to Joe to save him. Lea Wait skillfully draws on the lives of real people in Maine's history to tell this story of three young adults touched by war and the tensions it brings, forcing them into adulthood before they may be ready. Hardcover 210 pages $16.95 |  When her parents are forced to cut short the family's visit to their summer cottage on a Maine island, eleven-year-old Allegra Sloane and her sisters - thirteen-year-old Alice and seven-year-old Edith (aka Minnow) - decide they'd much rather spend a week alone on the island than languish in steamy Boston. So the ever resourceful Allegra concocts a plan for herself and her sisters to surreptitiously remain behind. At first everything proceeds according to plan; the girls slip away from their parents (and avoid a visit to stuffy Aunt Edna) and the promise of freedom beckons brightly. Unfortunately, their plan has a few holes in it; when the girls return to the cottage they find it emptied of food. Allegra realizes it's up to her to provide for her impractical sisters. The bookish Alice is more interested in reading Nancy Drew stories and declaiming Shakespeare and Minnow is preoccupied with gluing seashells to every canister in the house. Forced to fend for themselves, the girls learn to live off the land, gathering berries and chanterelles in the woods and mussels from the shore. Allegra learns perhaps the most important lesson: how stressful parenting can be. But the girls' adventures in survival are only half the story; for years rumors have suggested that their house contains a hidden treasure and this is enough to send the sisters off on a treasure hunt. The treasure they find is not buried gold but a trove that binds them closer to their family's history and to New England's literary heritage. Anne Lindbergh's timeless seaside story is suffused with the carefree pleasures of childhood. Full of summer sun and mischief, set on her own summer home of North Haven, it confirms her place among the best storytellers the region has produced. Paperback: 127 pages $12.95 |
 Find out the top ten sites to see or things to do in the Pine Tree State! We'll explore Maine's outdoor adventures, historic parks, fun-filled museums, and fascinating history. The Maine by Map feature shows where you'll find all the places covered in this book. A special section provides quick state facts such as state motto, capital, population, animals, foods and much more. Take a fun-filled tour of all there is to discover in Maine! Color photos throughout. Paperback. 32 pgs. $7.95 |  Winner of the Moonbeam Children's Book Award, the book introduces the reader to remarkable Maine women such as Margaret Chase Smith, Dahlov Ipcar, Martha Ballard, Louise Nevelson, Molly Ockett and many others. Ages 9 and up. Paperback. 136 pgs. $16.00 |
