Friday Finds - July 3

Friday Finds is hosted by MizB from Should Be Reading and it asks us 'what great books did you hear about/discover this past week?

Here is my find for the week... (one children's book and two adult)

Simon and Schuster is rolling out Beach Lane Books, new children's imprint beginning in the Fall of 2009. I was so surprised and thrilled to receive an advance copy of: All the World, by Liz Garton Scanlon and illustrated by Marla Frazee.

The book was neatly packaged in a square box complete with shells and sea glass which I took a picture of...just a lovely touch:"Rock, stone, pebble, sand...body, shoulder, arm, hand....a moat to dig, a shell to keep...all the world is wide and deep". and the story continues, full of lovely illustrations. Sure to please the younger readers.

Thank you Simon and Schuster.


Now for some of us adult readers how about: Sima's Undergarments for Women, by Iliana Stanger-Ross

From Booklist
Nestled in a tight-knit Brooklyn community, 65-year-old Sima Goldner’s discount lingerie shop is a prime business in her orthodox Jewish neighborhood, and, more importantly, it is also a haven for the many women who frequent her small basement store. Discontented with her marriage to a bumbling, retired schoolteacher named Lev, Sima pours herself into her business and her varied customers, many of whom use the privacy of her shop as a forum to ruminate about their relationships, families, and lives. Sima’s everyday routine is indelibly changed with the arrival of the young, vibrant Timna, an attractive Israeli expatriate who applies to work as a seamstress. As the relationship between Sima and Timna evolves, Sima finds herself confronting the realities of her infertility and the complexities of her past, long shrouded in shame and adolescent regret. Backdropped by the shop’s colorful patrons, Stanger-Ross’ engaging novel follows Sima as she struggles to find balance in navigating her newfound relationship with Timna while exploring the intense depths of personal reconciliation and redemption.

or, then there's this one I found at the library:

The Turtle Catcher, by Nicole Helget

From Booklist
New Germany, Minnesota, is home to German, Swedish, and Norwegian immigrants and has a tumultuous past, from Indian attacks on settlers to seething racism, particularly in the years surrounding WWI, the focus of this story. Leisl Richter is a strange, secretive, and independent young woman living in New Germany, and her would-be suitor is kind but slow Lester Sutter, brain damaged from his father’s beatings. Even as conflicting loyalties tear apart the German community, hatred seethes among other townsfolk, especially for prosperous farmer Wilhelm Richter, who’s always happy to buy foreclosed land and farm equipment. Historical fiction with a slight touch of magical realism, The Turtle Catcher is a moving portrait of difficult times and vividly realized characters. Winner of the Minnesota Monthly Tamarack Prize, judged by NPR’s Scott Simon, this appealing first novel will attract historical-fiction readers, especially in the Upper Midwest.

What looks good to you this Friday?