Is that or is that not one cool dude? Write to us about your favorite books. If you come to Imaginon and get your free book, we'll post your picture too. Then you can show the world your unbelievable coolness. If you live far away, write to us anyway--your book review will show your great coolness.
PS--you probably can't see the title, but the book's called Missing by M. Sobel Spirn.
Dragonslayer. Bill said it was the slowest one of the series. Well, if that one was the slowest, the others must be non-stop excitement! I loved it. I'm going to start #5 soon and then go back and catch the earlier books. I'll tell you about them later. Until then, take care and write to us!
Hi, everybody, and happy post-Gobble-Gobble Day. Take a gander (get it, gander? Hahaha, I kill myself) at my new ride and look below. It was kinda an accident but the flame is really cool and helps me see in the dark. On the bad side, setting my pillows on fire every night when I try to go to bed really stinks--along with the no flesh on the face. Oh well, lets talk about some really good books I've read lately:
really great series of books about a much younger Jack Sparrow and his early adventures before the "Black Pearl." In this first book, Jack begins his quest for the famed magical Sword of Cortes. To accomplish this goal he must recruit a crew to man his ship, the Barnacle, which he does very haphazardly, with his first two recruits being a young barmaid named Arabella and a wealthy adventure enthusiast named Fitzwilliam. He also unwittingly makes a very dangerous enemy in the person of the pirate Captain Torrents (a most bloodthirsty pirate by anyone's account), who also wants the Sword of Cortes, and pursues Jack and his crew--and not because he wants to be their friend! Well, I've given you the set up so give this series a chance. You won't regret it; pirate's honor!
Spider-Man hating newspaper giant J. Jonah Jameson. When the older Jameson finances the making of a Human Fly Super suit to protect the citizens of New York City, he recruits ex-Navy Seal Buzz Bannon. Buzz and the young JJ become good friends and when Buzz get killed by some very bad people, JJ decides to take the Human Fly Suit and become the hero he saw in Buzz. He even names his new superhuman identity "The Buzz" after Bannon. Action and adventure follow as this new superhero learns what it takes to be a true hero. Darkdevil is also the story of a new young superhero named Reilly Tyne. Darkdevil is given powers by the demon Zarathos who hopes to inhabit the boy's body for his own evil purposes. Fortunately for Reilly, Daredevil and reformed enforcer Kaine step in the picture to save the boy. They do defeat Zarthos and force him out of the boys body but at the price of Daredevils life. Reilly decides to take up Daredevil's role as a superhero, with the new found powers gained from Zarthos, and under the tutelage of Kaine begins his path to becoming a true hero.
I used to watch wrestling a lot when I was a boy growing up in Memphis, Tennessee. We had a great TV show, Studio Wrestling with announcer Lance Russell, every Saturday at noon. I'd be in front of that set every week, watching the guys throw each other against the ropes, jump from the turnbuckles, or whack their opponents with folding chairs. Then, on Monday nights, my dad and I would go downtown to the auditorium and watch Lou Thesz or Dick the Bruiser tussle. (This was way back in the day--I won't say how long, but, to give you a hint, Lyndon Johnson was president and the Beatles had been on the charts for only a year) We had terrific characters like Tojo Yamamoto, who was supposed to be Japanese (he wasn't, but he did like to whack his opponents with his wooden clogs)
or Jackie Fargo with his famous "Fargo Strut" 
might a little out of date, but it would still be fun to read about the early days. 
appreciate all those brave men and women who have served in the military, especially those who have fought a war. I said in an earlier post that the reason we're free to read what we like is because we have a Bill of Rights. Well, one reason the Bill of Rights still stands is because a lot of veterans fought for those rights. In honor of them, I'm going to talk about a couple of good, informative, and interesting books. Both of them are DK Eyewitness books. You've probably read one or two of them sometime, especially if you were looking up homework stuff. They're really valuable for getting quick overviews on just about any subject you could think of.
To Save Civilization. The great war that was supposed to end all wars. "When will they ever learn..." But I digress. The political situation in Europe in 1914 was really tense. Seemed like everybody wanted a part of someone else's country or somebody wanted part of their country back. All it needed was one spark to set off a war and that's what happened when the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated on June 28, 1914. Before long, everyone declared war on everyone else and The Great War started. This was the first war in which armies used modern technology like airplanes, tanks, and machine guns. Nobody was prepared for this and the war dragged on for 4 years. (America didn't enter the war until 1917, when Germany tried to get Mexico to invade the US!) This book will tell you about great battles like Verdun, The Somme, and the War in the Desert. You'll find out about life in the trenches, gas warfare, and what "going over the top" meant. Really great reading.
place after World War I. Germany lost that war and the terms of surrender were so humiliating that the Germans never forgot them. So about 20 years later came a man named Adolf Hitler who told the German people that if they followed him, he would make Germany the world's greatest power. World War II started when Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. Hitler had spent a long time preparing for this war and, once again, the rest of Europe wasn't ready when he swept through country after country. (The US came in when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941) This book is full of epic battles like Stalingrad, D-Day, and the Battle of Britain. You'll learn how spies operated behind enemy lines, why the army wanted old pots and pans, and what it was like to be young in England, Germany, or Japan during the war.
This Graphic Novel begins with famous German General Rommel setting up defenses for the Atlantic coast of German occupied Europe that would likely be most inviting for an Allied Army attack. He starts to late and the Allied Troops begin the invasion of German occupied France on June 5, 1944 (D-Day) on both the beaches of France and by Paratroopers through the air inside France. The invasion of France by the Allies is shown to be extremely difficult, especially at the Omaha landing location, with casualties for both Allied and Axis Powers quite high. The Graphic Novel does a wonderful job of telling the story of D-Day from beginning to it's final success.
important fights in World War II between the German Forces and the Western Allies. This surprise attack around Christmas 1944 would determine if the Allies would defeat the German Army or be forced to sign a peace treaty with them. This was a great and terrible battle on which the very outcome of the War would be determined. Read this Graphic Novel to learn about the battle, the heroic individuals who took part, and much more.
and bad news. I guess I' ll start with the bad news. ): I finished my PS2 game, Marvel Ultimate Alliance. I was really having a blast with this game and hated to see it come to an end. I especially enjoyed playing Wolverine!!!! If you have a chance, you have to visit Tech Central here at ImaginOn where we have a PS3 with this game.
got to meet one of my heroes and talk to him when I drove him to a local Charlotte School to do a presentation during Novello. This person was the one, the only, the great Jeff Smith!!!!!!! This is the guy who both writes and draws the Bone Graphic Novel Series and DC has just released his Shazam Graphic Novel ( we have the Bone Series at the library and I hope we can acquire the Shazam Graphic Novel because it is so excellent). Also on Wordplay Saturday, (also a part of Novello) I got him to sign some of the graphic novels of his that I own. It was a great experience as he was a very cool and extremely nice guy.
Jeff Smith talking
Mr. Smith drawing 
Pretty silly, huh? Just remember, guys, it could have been me in that dress!
book is rightly called The Adventures of Marco Polo. What an adventure he had! Marco Polo was the first European to visit China and write about it. This was back when China was "far Cathay," a place of legend. Marco left home in 1269 (when he was 17) with his father and uncle on a mision from the Pope to visit the Great Khan, ruler of China. After spending three and a half years traveling thousands of miles and escaping sandstorms, bandits, and man-eating animals, they arrived on the border of China, where the Great Khan was waiting for them. What Marco saw there surpassed any legend he'd ever heard. His book about his travels surprised and rocked the European world so much that people called him "the man of a million lies." Some wonder even today if he made most of it up. Did he? Or did he tell the truth? Only way to know is to read this book! 
Europe was trading with the Middle East and China for spices and other goods, but it was getting too expensive and dangerous to use the overland route that he had used. So some brave explorers looked for ways to get there by sea. Yet most of the world to Eurpeans was the vast Unknown. Who was really brave enough to go there? And what would they really find? This book talks about the bold sailors like Ferdinand Magellan (first to sail around the world), Amerigo Vespucci (America was named after him), and many others including, of course, Christopher Columbus. Each story is like an epic sea voyage--incredible tales of hardship, endurance, and courage. Really exciting stuff. 
good to read before we went. It's chock-full of interesting facts, funny illustrations, and science experiments (like how to make your own Martian soil). It's a good read about our neighbor in space.
